A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or anything associated with it.
EMPIRE
TWENTY TWO
Aboard HMS Iron Duke, Lord Alexander Fleet Flagship
On Transit, Malta to Gibraltar,
April 24, 2015
The advent of HMS Dreadnought in 1906 changed many things in naval warfare, and the most notable of these changes was the fact that naval warfare would now no longer be fought while confined to the surface of the water. Warships can now take to the air, and it was in the air where they would now exchange naval artillery and cannon fire as they tried to enforce their superiority over the other.
There are, however, some things about naval warfare that would always remain the same, and the construction and positioning of the guns of a warship was one of those things that are unlikely to change anytime soon.
The positioning of the guns of a warship – with the main batteries placed fore and aft of the ship in massive rotating turrets – meant that the most optimum position of a warship when exchanging fire would be when the target is to the side of the ship. This meant that all of the guns of the ship could be brought to bear against the target, while the target could only answer the challenge with their batteries positioned to the fore of their warship.
Of course, with the formation of choice being the single line – in order to facilitate easy communication with flags and lights as well as for torpedo security – this meant that only the ship at the front of the formation could actually return fire with their main batteries positioned to the fore of the ship.
In naval parlance, this was called 'Crossing the T', and many a naval commander had attempted to Cross the T of his opponent in order to bring to bear every gun that he has under his command against the limited response that his opponent could bring.
That was exactly the position that the 9th Battleship Division and the North African Armored Cruiser strike force found themselves in as the armored cruisers approached the position of the battleships.
HMS Iron Duke actually shuddered as if she was hit by a small earthquake every single time that her main batteries – twelve of the largest naval guns in service – would mark their presence. It was as if the hull stabilizers of the ship were being going to give up at any time and the huge ship – which weighed in at more than a hundred thousand tons – would plunge into the sea below it, but those aboard the warship knew that the stabilizers were more than capable of handling the stress.
The huge guns of the Iron Duke were supplemented by the relatively smaller eight-inch guns that are the intermediate battery of the ship. Unlike the twenty-inch artillery, the eight-inchers do not make the ship shudder, but everyone knew that those at the receiving end of the massive artillery bombardment are shuddering.
Especially when one considers that the four other battleships of the 9th Battleship Division – all armed with twelve eighteen-inch guns – are also stamping their presence at the field.
As he stood at the port side of the bridge with a pair of binoculars pressed against the lens of his glasses – so much so that his glasses was cutting an indention on the bridge of his nose – Harry watched – through his binoculars – as the surface of the water above of which the North African armored cruisers were sailing. Geysers and fountains of water would erupt from the surface of the Mediterranean every now and then as Britannian shells exploded underneath the surface of the water.
The battleships had just opened fire a mere two minutes ago, and while they have already established the range, the gunnery directors had not yet requested permission to load the more efficient proximity-fused armor-piercing shells. Rather, the guns were still firing the normal high explosive rounds. Harry knew that the proximity-fused high-explosive shells are not being loaded because the warships carry precious few of them. Although more efficient, standard Britannian practice was to cement the range first with the high-explosives before switching to armor piercing.
There was also the fact that armor piercing shells work better when the target is closer to consider.
Harry removed the binoculars from his eyes at the same time that he turned his attention toward the man who stood beside him. Lord Alexander also had a pair of binoculars pressed against his eyes, but unlike Harry, the General-Admiral of the Britannian Grand Fleet had his full attention toward the approaching armored cruisers.
Harry supposed that that was normal. After all, Lord Alexander is the commander of the Grand Fleet, and the man wants to be able to watch the developing battle with his own eyes, even if his field of vision was limited.
The fact that his senior staff – Admiral Cline, Vice Admiral Ashford, and Vice Admiral Granger – were also scanning the horizon with their own binoculars – or in the case of Vice Admiral Ashford, with a more powerful pedestal mounted field telescope – would not change the fact that Lord Alexander only has a limited field of view of the developing battle. The General-Admiral would have to depend upon the data that would be provided by other ships and systems in order to be able to see a larger portion of the battle, but even with all those, in the middle of the battle, the field of vision would always be limited.
Behind Lord Alexander, the skipper of the flagship – Captain Nelson – continued to fight his ship, coordinating with the various sensors, communications, and weapons department in order to attain maximum efficiency and to score some hits. The flagship has already been credited with one kill – a North African light cruiser that attempted to close in with the flagship for a torpedo shot – with the secondary batteries, but Captain Nelson – and his crew – was determined to get at least one armored cruiser kill today.
By this time, the North African strike force had already lost two destroyers and a light cruiser, while two more light cruisers were observed to be on fire as they ran away at flank speed. The story is the same for two more North African destroyers.
In contrast, reports indicate that the 9th Battleship Group had only suffered two destroyers damaged, one heavily enough for Lord Alexander to send the destroyer straight back to Malta rather than allow it to risk the journey back to Gibraltar. At Malta, emergency repairs would make the destroyer seaworthy enough to make the journey to Gibraltar and its more extensive ship repair facilities.
The flagship shuddered once more as the twenty-inch guns once more marked their presence upon the field. Harry hurriedly brought his binoculars up in order to watch the shells as they landed amidst the North African armored cruisers.
At the same time that Harry turned his binoculars toward the direction of the lead North African armored cruiser, his vision was suddenly obscured by thick clouds of smoke that seemingly came out of nowhere. Harry knew, however that the smoke came from the fore batteries of the North African cruiser.
"They're finally returning fire," Lord Alexander commented, forcing Harry to turn his attention away from the approaching North African warships and toward his liege lord. He had turned his attention toward Lord Alexander just in time to watch the Archduke of England say, "It should not matter, though, because those guns are too small and too few in number to make a difference."
Seemingly suddenly becoming aware that Harry was staring at him, Lord Alexander placed his binoculars down and turned his attention toward Harry, "What would be the best move available to the North Africans at this stage?" he asked.
It was a text-book questions, Harry knew, and because Harry was an alumnus of the Naval Academy, he knew the answer. That, however, told Harry that his liege lord was seeking another answer, and it was not the answer that was at the text.
The students of the Naval Academy were taught aggressiveness, but they never forgot to instill a sense of caution and practicability in the psyche of their students.
"I would turn," Harry said simply a few moments later. It was not the text book answer. The text book answer was 'when confronted with a situation where you are forced to cross the enemy's t, you should raise to flank speed and charge the enemy with the intention of forcing a pell-mell battle.'
Lord Alexander smiled, and Harry knew that he got the correct answer, "Turn," Lord Alexander nodded, "The North Africans are qualitatively inferior, charging us would only mean that they would be suffering needless casualties," Lord Alexander returned his attention toward the direction of the approaching North African armored cruisers and added, "Fleets exist for functional purposes, and the function of the North African armored cruisers is not to fight against us, but rather, to remain as a fleet in being and force us to take them into account when we make plans."
'Which means that the objective of the ambush was already accomplished even before the first round was fired from the flagship,' Harry thought.
Harry also returned his attention toward the direction of the North African armored cruisers at the same time that the twenty-inch guns of the flagship marked their presence upon the field once more.
"They should be turning right about now," Lord Alexander said. The General-Admiral placed his binoculars down once more, but this time, he also turned toward the direction of Vice Admiral Ashford who had also abandoned his larger and more capable pedestal mounted field binoculars.
A look was exchanged from the two men, and Harry realized that both men had something planned. Given that Lord Alexander had already told Harry what he thinks is the best response on the part of the approaching North Africans, it stands to reason that whatever it was that Lord Alexander and Vice Admiral Ashford had planned, it was in response to the North Africans turning away from the battle line of the 9th Battleship Division.
"Should we launch, sir?" Vice Admiral Ashford asked.
Lord Alexander shook his head, "No," he replied, "Let them come, we will sink them with the sheer weight of our guns, but I think that whoever is in command of those cruisers would realize that to continue their attack would be a pointless waste of life," a grim smile crossed the features of Lord Alexander before he added, "for them."
Vice Admiral Ashford nodded before he returned his attention toward the direction of the approaching North Africans. By this time, the North African armored cruisers were already close enough that the chief military advisor to the General-Admiral of the Grand Fleet had produced a pair of binoculars out of nowhere to use, instead of the more powerful pedestal mounted field binoculars.
"Admiral," Captain Nelson reported, "The North African armored cruisers are close enough so that the gunnery directors are requesting permission to switch shells to the proximity shells."
Lord Alexander nodded, "Very well, order the switch, and pass along the instruction to the other ships in the division," Lord Alexander said.
"Yes, Admiral," Captain Nelson replied. There was a brief moment of hesitation, before the flag-captain added, "Sir, communications reports that the North African fire is inconsistent with targeting, they are firing on every single one of our battleships instead of focusing their fire on one."
Lord Alexander paused for a few moments, "They're not sure what they're doing," he concluded, "unsurprising given their relative inexperience with blue-water naval engagements."
"Not to mention their current position," Admiral Cline added, the chief-of-staff of Lord Alexander turned his attention toward his commander and said, "I would think we are within range of their guns by now, they should have maneuvered to parallel us."
"They know that they cannot match our firepower," Lord Alexander said. The General-Admiral paused for a few moments before he shook his head, "They will turn soon enough, or they would be destroyer by our guns as they continue to move forward, or if they were to parallel us and challenge us on a one-on-one basis, the results would still be the same."
Almost everyone inside the bridge nodded their agreement to that assessment. There just was no way that the armored cruisers could stand toe-to-toe with the battleships of the 9th Battleship Division. The North African armored cruisers may have been numerically superior – with eight hulls compared to the five hulls of the 9th Battleship Division – but in terms of quality, the North African cruisers were at the receiving end.
Their main batteries – six twelve-inch guns each – and their secondary batteries – sixteen five-inch guns – were so small, they probably would not even dent the outer armor of the Hermione-class battleships of the 9th Battleship Division. The North African armored cruisers – renamed the Saladin-class in North African service – however, are equipped with torpedoes. Eighteen-inch torpedoes in bow tubes, though it remains a mystery why they have not opened fire with those torpedoes just yet.
"Sir," one of the radar operators in the bridge suddenly reported, and the way that he reported tore the attention of every member of the command staff toward him. Normally, that would have been very bad, and that would have caused the man who caused the disturbance to be embarrassed, but not this operator, because he has something important to report, "Approaching targets appear to be turning."
"Succession or simultaneous?' Captain Nelson asked, and though that question was meant for the radar operator, the flag-captain had his attention toward Lord Alexander when he asked that question.
There was, however, no confusion, because everyone inside the bridge knew who that question was addressed to, and the man who could answer the question was quick to answer, "It appears to be a simultaneous turn, sir," he replied.
"There was a Prussian admiral back in the early part of the 20th Century who incorporated such a maneuver in the maneuver book of his fleet," Lord Alexander commented almost immediately, "It was supposed to be a maneuver that would be placed into effect should they ever find themselves at the receiving end of the guns of our Grand Fleet."
"Well, the unit that is executing the maneuver is at the receiving ends of the guns of the our Grand Fleet, Admiral," Vice Admiral Ashford commented a few moments later, "And those ships, despite flying the North African ensign, are Prussian in design," a smile came across the face of Vice Admiral Ashford as he continued, "Why, those hips are so old, had Admiral Scheer lived for a few more years, he probably would have seen those ships."
Lord Alexander managed a smile at that, but that was his only outward reaction. A few seconds of pregnant silence descended inside the bridge as the command staff waited for further orders, and Lord Alexander was quick to seize the moment, "Signal to Huntington Lake," Lord Alexander commented, he turned toward the direction of the communications officer and everyone could see a small grim smile on the face of their General-Admiral as he added, "Let loose the dogs of war."
Aboard HMS Huntington Lake, Vice Admiral Christopher Baffin Flagship
On Transit, Malta to Gibraltar,
April 24, 2015
A grin came across the face of Vice Admiral Christopher Baffin when his flag-captain brought him the signal that had just been received from the fleet flagship. The order that he had received from Lord Alexander was one that had been received in advance and the signal was mere confirmation of the order, but it still brought a smile upon the face of the Vice Admiral who was in command of the 9th Light Cruiser Squadron.
Vice Admiral Baffin knew that light cruisers are not the capital ships that battleships, battlecruisers, and aircraft carriers are. Light cruisers are not even as heavily armed or armored as their bigger brethren, the armored cruisers and the heavy cruisers, but light cruisers are an essential part of a fleet precisely because they are light. That translated to being faster, more maneuverable, and more agile.
They also carry torpedoes, and the order that the commander of the 9th Light Cruiser Squadron had just received was to put those torpedoes into play.
Vice Admiral Baffin turned his attention toward his flag-captain and gave the man a nod. Like the squadron commander, the flag-captain was well aware of the orders that Lord Alexander had given in advance, and without another word being spoken between the two highest ranking men inside the bridge, the flag-captain turned his attention away from his commander and toward his communications operator.
"Signal to the squadron," the flag-captain ordered, "Commence 'Werewolf'."
It took two minutes for the order to be sent and for the three other light cruisers in the squadron to acknowledge the order, but once the order was acknowledged by every ship in the squadron, the command was given, and almost immediately, Vice Admiral Baffin felt the machinery in his flagship take to the task.
HMS Huntington Lake is a Lake Greenwood-class light cruiser – just like the three other ships in the squadron – and at full burn, the ships of the class can achieve thirty knots. That thirty knot was the speed marker that the squadron was trying to achieve as they accelerated toward the North African armored cruisers in order to put into action their most powerful weapon.
"Approaching torpedo range in five minutes," the flag-captain reported, he turned toward Vice Admiral Baffin and reported, "Torpedoes report ready to fire."
There are two sets of torpedo batteries aboard a Lake Greenwood-class light cruiser, with both firing the big twenty four-inch torpedoes. For this attack, the second battery of torpedo launchers – able to fire five torpedoes in one spread – would be employed.
Vice Admiral Baffin acknowledged the report at the same time that he raised his binoculars to his eyes so that he may see what was going on in front of him. Another smile came across his face as he watched the North African armored cruisers attempt their turn, and for the most part, they are successful, though trying to pull a turn like that while in the middle of an intense artillery bombardment from the huge guns of the 9th Battleship Division was probably motivated more by the fact that they are being fired upon by those big guns.
"Admiral," the flag-captain of his flagship tore Vice Admiral Baffin from what he was watching, and the commander of the 9th Light Cruiser Squadron turned his attention toward his flag-captain with a questioning look upon his face, "We are in torpedo range."
"Launch torpedoes," Vice Admiral Baffin ordered, though before his flag-captain can acknowledge that order, the commander of the 9th Light Cruiser Squadron added, "Let's make sure we get some kills with this salvo, Captain."
"Aye, sir," his flag-captain replied, before the man turned toward his bridge crew and gave the order to launch the torpedo salvo.
It would take a few minutes before the orders could be relayed and before the torpedoes could actually be launched, and it would take a few more minutes before the torpedoes could actually reach their target, but Vice Admiral Baffin already had his binoculars pressed against his eyes and had them pointed toward the direction of the still maneuvering North African armored cruisers.
The commander of the 9th Light Cruiser Squadron barely heard the report of his flag-captain that the torpedoes have been launched, and the only indication that he gave that he heard the report was to place a tiny grin on his face. As he was looking toward the direction outside the ship – and away from his flag-captain – no one could actually see the grin on his face.
Vice Admiral Baffin could actually see the torpedoes that his ship had fired as it raced to intercept the North African armored cruisers. Twenty four inches at the bore and twenty seven feet in length, the torpedoes – nicknamed 'Little John' but was official called as Porpoise – travelled toward their target at a speed exceeding fifty knots. Inside their blunt armor-piercing warheads, high explosives waited for the command from their primitive sensors to detonate.
As one of the men who were actually credited with the production of the Porpoise, Vice Admiral Baffin could not help but take pleasure whenever he sees one of his torpedoes in action. He could very well remember the objections of the top brass to the deployment of the Porpoise, arguing that the relatively short range of the torpedo – and the fact that many torpedo boats were simulated to have been destroyed whenever they were sent in a simulated attack – and their relatively slow speed had made it obsolete.
Not to mention the fact that torpedoes are supposed to be employed against capital ships. Bigger torpedoes meant that they could no longer be mounted effectively on small ships – torpedo boats could only carry four or six of them – so the need to mount them on bigger ships like light cruises. The problem was that light cruisers, while small, are also large enough to be hit by the capital ships. It is conceivable that the light cruisers would be hit by the capital ships as they maneuver to get within effective range.
Lord Alexander was one of those that had championed the torpedo, albeit using a different employment method than that the Vice Admiral Baffin had imagined his boats are capable of. As an ambush weapon, however, Vice Admiral Baffin could concede that his torpedoes are giving results.
An explosion tore Vice Admiral Baffin from his reverie and the commander of the 9th Light Cruiser Squadron turned his attention toward that direction. The explosion was the result of one of his torpedoes – though he is unsure if it was launched from his ship – impacting the hull of the lead North African armored cruiser.
The ball of fire that resulted from the explosive detonation obscured the view of the side of the North African armored cruiser for a few moments, but it subsided relatively quick – though not without causing some fires on the deck of the ship that the crew was now desperately trying to fight off while attempting to rally anyone who could still help.
Vice Admiral Baffin watched as the crew of the armored cruiser – and the crew of her sister ships, no doubt – ran up and down the decks as they scrambled to reach their side-mounted machineguns. Small caliber bullets are relatively ineffective against the torpedoes – and one of the reasons for the twenty four-inch torpedo was because it can deflect the smaller caliber bullets more effectively – but it was the only defense that a ship could employ against torpedoes, unless, of course, one would count armor and torpedo bulkheads, something that the North African armored cruisers lacked.
A satisfied smile came across the face of Vice Admiral Baffin as his bridge was suddenly filled with reports coming from the different light cruisers under his command. All reports indicate that the torpedoes that he had helped designed and fought to be deployed had done exactly what they are supposed to do. The combat debut of his torpedoes is proving to be a success.
The smile on the face of the commander of the 9th Light Cruiser Squadron broadened even more as he received reports from his other cruisers that the torpedoes that they had fired had found their marks. Explosions at the North African lines lead credence to the reports that he had started to receive.
Aboard HMS Iron Duke, Lord Alexander Fleet Flagship
On Transit, Malta to Gibraltar,
April 24, 2015
Harry had his binoculars pressed against both of his eyes once more, and beside him, Lord Alexander was doing the same. Both men were watching as the 9th Light Cruiser reach a designated firing point before firing their torpedoes and disengaging, maneuvering wildly in order to get out of range of the relatively big guns of the North African armored cruisers.
While those twelve-inch guns could not do serious damage to the armor of a Hermione-class battleship, those guns could seriously damage a Lake Greenwood-class light cruiser.
"I imagine Vice Admiral Baffin is having fun," Lord Alexander commented as he removed his binoculars from his eyes. He turned toward his chief-of-staff and said, "He's been pushing for a chance to use his torpedoes in battle since the time that we got the Third Sea Lord on our side."
"No doubt he would now be pushing for increased production with the Second Sea Lord," Admiral Cline commented. The Second Sea Lord – Chief of Headquarters – was the man who was in charge of production for the Imperial Fleet. Everything from the shells that are being fired to the huge ships of the Imperial Fleet cannot be constructed without his permission. Of course, one could just go over his head and straight to the First Sea Lord, the Chief of Fleet Operations.
"And they are proving to be quite effective anyway," Lord Alexander commented, but before his chief-of-staff – or anyone else inside the bridge – could say anything, he returned his attention to the battle.
The distance between the battleship line of the 9th Battleship Division and the now retreating North African armored cruisers was getting considerable as more and more minutes passed, and Lord Alexander was prepared to bet that the North Africans are running away for good.
The morale impact of seeing one of their armored cruisers suddenly obscured by a flash of flames – followed closely by more orange balls of fire as more torpedoes impacted the side of the North African armored cruisers – could not be underestimated, and Lord Alexander was sure that the crew and captains of those North African ships have had enough.
One could also not discount the fact that the battleships are still firing their main batteries against the North African capital ships even as the armored cruisers rapidly try to put as much distance as they could between themselves and the guns of the battleship line of Lord Alexander.
The Archduke of England, however, still has not had his fill. In the mind of the General-Admiral of the Britannian Grand Fleet, the more armored cruisers that he could sink in this engagement, the less worries he would have in the future regarding those capital ships. It would also present a serious propaganda coup against the Prussians.
After all, those armored cruisers were supplied by the Prussians, and though those armored cruisers are, at the most, second-rate equipment, they are still Prussian military equipment that the Britannian fleet had swatted out of the sky with the power of their guns and torpedoes.
The press back home would not bother to report that the 9th Battleship Division has some of the most advance war fighting systems of the Holy Empire of Britannia – including a Duke-class battleship – while the North African armored cruisers were more than twenty years old.
"Vice Admiral Baffin reports that all of his ships have fired torpedoes and have scored multiple hits," a communications operator reported, "He is requesting permission to launch a second strike against the North African cruisers."
Lord Alexander briefly debated internally about the request of his subordinate. A second torpedo strike would further shake the morale of the North African crews, perhaps, it would be the straw that would break the back of the camel and result into the disintegration of the North African formation.
Those are all good arguments for ordering a second torpedo strike, but at the same time, Lord Alexander knew that this time, the North Africans would be more than prepared to intercept. He had already received reports that the crew of the armored cruisers are manning their – albeit inadequate – anti-torpedo armaments. The Archduke also had no doubt that the North Africans are preparing to fire their main and secondary batteries as the light cruisers come into position.
"No," Lord Alexander replied barely five seconds after the request was relayed, "The enemy would be expecting their second strike and would be more than prepared to intercept, with their main and secondary batteries."
"We could not deny the impact that sinking more of their ships would have, however," Vice Admiral Ashford said.
"I know," Lord Alexander replied, "Which is why we would be chasing after the retreating North Africans," he turned toward Captain Nelson and ordered, "Relay my instructions, have the 9th Light Cruiser Squadron rejoin us at a rendezvous and support us as we chase down the North African capital ships, at the same time, have our destroyers rejoin us to protect our flanks."
Captain Nelson acknowledged the instruction before he turned toward his communications operator to relay his own instructions. A short time later, the flag-captain barked instructions to his helmsman and in response to the command of the enlisted officer who was manning the tiller, the behemoth super-dreadnought that is the flagship of Lord Alexander turned toward the general direction of the retreating North African armored cruisers.
"Would it be in our advantage to engage the enemy in a melee?" Harry asked a few moments later.
Lord Alexander shook his head, "I am aware of what you are trying to tell me, Harry," the Archduke replied, and with a smile, he added, "It just so happened that a melee and close combat is exactly what would be in our favor right now."
Harry paused for a few moments as he tried to digest the claims that Lord Alexander had just given, and a few moments later, his eyes widened when he realized that Lord Alexander was correct in his contention.
It was standard Britannian doctrine to not engage the enemy in close combat and melee, but that standard doctrine was formulated with the Prussian Fleet – and other first rate fleets – in mind. The risk of losing a warship, not to destruction of the warship but to capture – especially from the elite Prussian luftlancers– was too great. The technological superiority of Britannia could not be allowed to fall into the hands of anyone, least of all Prussians, and much as the Britannian marines are well trained, well respected, and eager for a fight, there just was no way for a single marine to actually go toe-to-toe with a man encased in steel that is heavily armed with flamethrowers and could fly – well, actually, leap from the deck of their ship to the deck of another ship with the use of relatively simple jump-jets.
In a match with a second – some would argue third – rate naval power like the North African League, however, a closed-in melee is exactly what the Britannian fleet would need. At very close range, there is no need to aim the main batteries, and with twenty-inch and eighteen-inch guns at their call, the battleships of the 9th Battleship Division would – literally – dissolve the North Africans. It would also give the secondary batteries – eight-inch and five-inch guns – much needed exercise.
In addition, there is the possibility of sending over a couple of marines – unarmored and equipped with more conventional weapons, perhaps, but effective against the North African crews – to take a sample of men, possibly even a sample of a ship.
With a silent nod, Harry conceded that the decision of his liege lord to engage in close combat was the correct one, and with a steely determination, he returned his attention toward his liege lord with the intention of asking permission from the man to leave the bridge and head over down to the marine detachment to join with the coming fight.
Civilian Sector, Gibraltar
Gibraltar, Holy Empire of Britannia
April 24, 2015
In a small territory like Gibraltar, it was not unusual for the people to see heavily armed patrols in armored vehicles, especially when one considers the fact that the Holy Empire is actually at war.
No excess attention was, therefore, paid when a column of four Britannian Ground Forces light utility vehicles – all with full crew that are heavily armed – turned toward one of the back alleys of the Britannian possession.
It was a routine patrol, and the fact that there are four vehicles instead of the usual three was not something that most people are concerned about. After all, it was just one additional vehicle, and many of those that watched as the patrol moved about their business are not even aware that the standard Britannian patrol formation in Gibraltar is composed of only three vehicles.
Amongst those who were inside the vehicles, however, this was no routine patrol. Almost all of the soldiers that are now busy checking their equipment – AR22 Assault rifles with mounted grenade launchers for a few of the men, plus P7 pistols – were not even aware that they are now under the control of Imperial Central Intelligence, but nothing would have changed even if they had been made aware of that fact, the men would still be there to do their job.
At the lead vehicle, Sirius Black was too busy coordinating the strike with Imperial Central Intelligence Headquarters to bother checking his equipment. In any case, he was not actually as heavily armed as the soldiers that would be accompanying him for this raid are.
Aside from his non-standard pistol – as a member of Imperial Central Intelligence, he had been trained to make it a point not to use Britannian-standard equipment, just in case – the man who is actually Deputy Station Chief for Gibraltar, Imperial Central Intelligence, has a knife, two concussion grenades, a signal grenade, and his wand. The last, of course, was a weapon of ultimate last resort, because the men with him, or at least most of them, are not aware of the existence of magic.
The mission was one that was given just a few hours ago, and that is the reason why Sirius is not familiar with most of the people that are operating under his command. Nevertheless, it was a mission that came straight from the flagship of Lord Alexander, and HMS Iron Duke– fresh from having just beaten off a North African attack that had cost the North Africans at least four ships, including at least one capital ship – had not yet even reached the halfway point from Malta to Gibraltar.
Sirius, however, knew that the mission was one of vital importance, and he knew that it was a mission that Lord Alexander had approved upon recommendation of his own godson. Where Harry had obtained the intelligence that would point to impending action by Prussian agents in Gibraltar, Sirius knew that he would know as soon as the boy arrives at the Britannian bastion and they had been hustled into a secure room for the debriefing.
Sirius shook his head and forced himself to return to the present. As he was seated at the front seat – beside the driver – he could already see the corner that he and the men with him had memorized. He knew that behind that corner awaited Prussian agents who may or may not be aware of their impending arrival. Either way, it would not do him any good to be thinking of something when he and the men under his command – even though it was just temporary command – was about to go into action.
Imperial Intelligence would have been happy leaving behind the Prussian agents alone, because intelligence knew about them anyway, and as long as they do not do anything that might endanger the security of Britannia in the area, the agency was willing to let them stay.
Things changed when Harry passed on the intelligence – where he got them, Sirius really intends to ask his godson about – that there is the possibility of Prussian action in Gibraltar. Whether or not that intelligence is actually reliable, however, had been ignored because it was Lord Alexander who had made the call.
The suddenness of the operation was so much so that Sirius actually has no idea exactly – or even vaguely – of what mission it was that the Prussians are supposed to be launching that would necessitate the fall of the Britannian hammer at them.
The lead vehicle suddenly accelerated, but the men inside the lead vehicle hardly noticed that. Aside from the driver and Sirius, there were four other men inside the Husky Fast Response Vehicle, and all four pulled the charging handle of their assault rifles the same moment that the vehicle accelerated, precluding them from noticing the sudden acceleration.
Behind the lead vehicle, the three other trucks also accelerated, but they only matched the speed of the lead vehicle so as not to cause them to crash into the tail of the truck. At the appropriate distance, the driver suddenly eased his foot off of the acceleration pedal. The vehicle did not actually slow down one bit, but the roar of the engine did subside.
The driver pulled hard on the handbrake at the same time that skillfully turned the steering wheel so that the vehicle was oriented toward the direction of the alley where the Prussian agents were waiting. There was no way that the screech of those brakes, or the sound of the tires burning, could have been kept quiet, so Sirius knew that everyone would have been alerted as to their approach.
Fortunately, the Prussian agents had failed to place lookouts outside of the building where Intelligence suspects them to be, though the Deputy Station Chief was prepared to bet that that was because those agents judged that being concealed is better than being prepared. Sirius was going to make them regret that decision, at the same time that he thanked the fates that the Prussians had made that choice.
The doors of the trucks were opened and men were jumping out and heading toward their targets even before the trucks had actually stopped. Each of the three trucks that followed behind that of Sirius had a mounted weapons station at the roof, and a soldier from each of the truck quickly clambered up to the roof to man the heavy machinegun that was mounted there, ready to provide covering fire should it prove necessary.
The man who is in charge of protecting the whole of Gibraltar against foreign spy operations watched calmly even as the soldiers that had been placed under his command for this operation assembled, falling into neat lines with their assault rifles at the ready.
There are three houses that are supposed to be the target of this operation. The one at the center is the one that Imperial Intelligence had identified as the safe house of Prussian agents – it was identified through a two month long observation and clandestine investigation process – while the two houses at the side would be targeted in order to prevent the Prussian agents from fleeing into those houses and into the open.
It was for that reason that the force that would be sent into those houses would be relatively smaller than the nine men heavy assault team that was going into the house in the middle.
The sound of compressed gas being released from its pressurized container tore Sirius out of his reverie and he turned his attention toward the source of the sound.
The mean-looking hook, together with its tube firing mechanism and the chain that dangled from behind the tube was officially referred to as BW2 Breach Mechanism, but the troops who are used to using the weapon refer to it as the Trident.
Sirius watched as the man who fired the Trident ran toward the direction of one of the utility vehicles. After he had attached the chain behind the hook to one of the tow mechanism of the vehicle, the soldier signaled and the truck accelerated forward. Not fast enough to actually get out of the street, but enough to generate enough force in order to pull the wooden door of the house at the center out of its place, creating an instant breach where alert soldiers started tossing flash grenades into.
Although not lethal, the flash grenades are an essential weapon in the arsenal of soldiers going for breach. Containing enough chemicals in them to temporarily blind and deafen people caught within its blast radius, it is necessary when the goal of the operation is to capture rather than to kill, and this is a capture mission.
Of course, those flash grenades do not chose who they would affect. That is the reason why the soldiers who tossed them were careful not to be caught by the explosion of the same.
As the soldiers entered the building, they were shouting at the top of their lungs for everyone inside to raise their hands. With the effect of the flash grenades, no one inside the house was raising their hands. It was not that they cannot, it was just that they are temporarily blind and deaf. Even if they want to, they would not have been able to hear the instructions.
At the same time that the soldiers that are part of the assault team tossed flash grenades into the breach, the soldiers of the two blocking teams entered the two houses at the flanks. Unlike their assault at the Prussian safe house, the two teams entered using a more normal method, forcing the doors of the house to open through the use of low explosives.
Not powerful enough to actually destroy the house, but enough to destroy the doors.
Not for the first time, Sirius actually wished that he could join the troops that are going into the houses, but mindful of his position within the hierarchy, the former Marauder successfully – though there are quite a number of close calls – kept his penchant for action in check, and he did this by recalling the choices that he had made in the past that had led to the position where he is right now.
Unlike his best friend James – who had opted to take a 'public' career – Sirius joined Imperial Intelligence practically the moment that he had arrived in mainland Britannia. Never had Sirius imagined – or at least, back when he was still unaware of the long arms of the Holy Empire – that the muggle government would be aware of what was going on in the magical side of the great divide, so he reacted with surprise when what waited for him in the port where he had disembarked was not a gorgeous young woman – granted, Sirius had not arranged for that, so even if things had been normal, there would be no gorgeous woman waiting for him – but a reception committee composed of four men in dark and neat pressed suits that broadcasted the fact that they are government.
Sirius would later learn that they are members of the Imperial Investigative Bureau, and through those agents, he was able to contact Imperial Intelligence. It had not been an easy journey, but over the course of the past few years – more than two decades of working with Imperial Intelligence – he had been posted all around the world.
His first assignment was in the Far East, specifically, in the Empire of the Rising Sun where he helped the local police hunt down Imperial subjects that are operating a smuggling and drug ring in the capital of the Empire. Shuttling from Tokyo, Hong Kong – then a Britannian possession – and Manila, Sirius performed admirably. Those Imperial subjects turned out to be former Death Eaters who had disappeared following the death of their master. Almost all of them had been executed, though a few managed to escape across the Yellow Sea and into the Celestial Empire. By the time that Sirius had arrived at the Celestial Empire, the trail had gone cold, forcing him to conclude that the former Death Eaters had gone underground and could no longer be found within reasonable time.
When Harry was sent to Hogwarts, Sirius was at South America, the Confederate State of the Amazons where he operated under the nose of the local domestic security agency. Sirius had set up a massive clandestine organization that operated from within and without the government of the Confederate States that, more often than not, Imperial Intelligence was more aware of the things going on at the central government than those at the periphery of said government.
As team leader of the Intelligence team sent to the Scandinavian Union after the sighting of Albus Dumbledore and his ilk at Trondheim, Sirius was personally responsible for the identification, capture, interrogation, and eventual execution of five couriers that operated across the North Sea, providing Albus Dumbledore a means of communication between where he is hiding and his supports that remained at the British Isles. His work had been the basis for the eventual destruction of the courier system, cutting off the former Headmaster of Hogwarts for his land of birth.
Sirius was sure that there still operated those loyal to the Headmaster, but for the time being, that was not his concern.
As a reward for his success, Sirius was transferred from the frozen north and into the more temperate climates of Gibraltar and his superiors struck him behind a desk as Deputy Station Chief with the understanding that he would be station chief as soon as his immediate superior retires in as little as six months.
"Sir," the voice of the major that had been the leader of the unit that Sirius had been assigned for this mission tore Sirius from his reverie, and he turned his attention toward the man with a questioning look upon his face, "the men are coming out."
Indeed, there were men coming out from the breached house. The first people off of the house showed signs of still suffering from temporary blindness – some fell after having been pushed out of the house, and with their hands securely zipped behind their backs, even if they could see, they could not have protected their faces from meeting the ground – as they were herded out of the house.
A few minutes later, the leader of the men that went inside the house reported to his immediate superior and Sirius, "Prussians, sir," he began, "We have several caches of explosives inside the house, as well as various small-arms."
"Any indication that they are going on a mission of any sort inside the house?" Sirius asked, at the same time that he let out a small sigh of relief that – fortunately – no one noticed. He was prepared to order the soldiers to plant explosives inside the house if there were none inside as a way of justifying the raid, but it appears that there would be no need for that anymore.
"Some maps of Gibraltar with markings, sir," the soldier replied, "Including some of the dockyards and the military base, sir."
'Bingo,' Sirius thought with a nod toward the soldier who made the report. The nod was acknowledged by the soldier who saluted before he left to rejoin his men in herding out the captured agents.
"Sir?" the major asked toward the direction of Sirius a few moments later.
The Deputy Station Chief returned his attention toward the man who stood with him and said, "Round up the prisoners, then radio headquarters for transports," he ordered, "I want these bastards to be already aware of how hospitable we could be to enemy agents by this time tomorrow."
As he gave the order, Sirius silently vowed that he would be there when the interrogation starts.
Imperial Britannian Embassy
Madrid, Kingdom of Spain
April 24, 2015
Security of an Imperial Britannian Embassy was not something that the marines that are stationed in the embassy take for granted. Redundant patrols, surveillance cameras, and checkpoints littered the compound that houses the representatives of the Golden Throne to the Kingdom of Spain, and no one is spared from the rigorous security checks that every person who wants to access the embassy had to go through.
Hermione was one of the regulars in the embassy who undergo the security check. Unlike Lady Emma – who, as ambassador to the Kingdom of Spain, has her official address inside the embassy compound – Hermione maintains a separate flat in the city. She had reasoned that it would be a way for her to get out of the embassy and to have a place where she could entertain Harry whenever he would come for a visit. So far, however, Harry had only been able to visit twice since Hermione had been posted to the Iberian Peninsula.
A small frown came across the face of Hermione as she thought about that, but that frown was quickly replaced by a smile as she was waved through the entrance by one of the marines that were guarding the compound.
She gave a brief nod to the marine and was about to lift her foot off of the brake pedal of her car when, purely by chance, she turned her attention toward her right side. There was a man there, walking along the sidewalk toward the entrance to the embassy, though he was still a few feet away from the outermost perimeter of the embassy.
He appeared to be a homeless vagabond – Madrid, for all its modernity and strict laws regarding vagrancy and mendicancy, could actually do very little against homeless vagabonds – that was pushing a small cart as he approached the embassy.
Standard practice would be for the marines to shoo the man to the other side of the street as soon as he approached the outer wall, and indeed, a marine had moved to intercept him.
Hermione blinked at the sight of the man, and the man blinked when he realized who was staring at him. Both Hermione and the man instantly realized who the other was, but it was the man who reacted first.
His reaction was to suddenly forget about the cart that he was pushing and quickly turn around before breaking into a run.
The reaction of Hermione, although slower than the man, was to shout for everyone to take cover.
The marines were quick on the uptake and they threw themselves to the ground at the same time that Hermione exited her vehicle. She was not about to chase after the man, but she did run, though in her case, she ran toward the opposite direction.
The explosion, when it came, was quite localized and it would later lead the muggle bomb technicians to conclude that the bomb was a small one, likely intended to merely scare the people inside the embassy and not to kill anyone.
Of course, when Britannia sent investigators including witches and wizards, they came to a different conclusion. It was a magical bomb, and the reason that the explosion that it caused was localized was because the bomb was intended to be charged magically through a small ritual a few minutes before it was supposed to explode.