Chapter Forty Two: Victory At Sea

Arc Eleven: The Pacific

Opening: "Sarishinohara" - Rib

While the first phase of Operation Tsunami experienced a huge success in taking Hawaii and seizing its vast military assets, there was no way the Japanese could hold the archipelago, nor would they attempt to. Hawaii was too close to the Britannian homeland, and too far beyond Japan's bases of power projection. As soon as everything of value was taken or destroyed, the plan was to withdraw to a more defensible position somewhere between there and Taiwan, which was certainly nothing if a lot of legroom.

However, the Britannians were not going to give up a chance to blast a significant chunk of the Japanese military while they were stuck trying to get off an island. While the seizure had gone quickly, it had not ended by the time the Britannian Second Fleet was upon them, trying to find their convoys and starve out the men on looting on Honolulu.

Fortunately, the Japanese now also had a Fleet. Commanding the Light Cruiser JRNS Kitakami as part of the effort to secure the landing group an escape was Captain Yuri Ryuga, currently stood at the head of his ship, looking up at the sky, and frowning confusedly.

"Where in the bloody hell are all these Knightmares coming from?"

At present the Kitakami, as a small, quick screening vessel by the standards of the open seas Fleet, was at the head of the Fleet proper, and was thus the first target for incoming aerial attacks, but the number of attacks were surprising, given how far away they were from Britannian air bases. The Britannians travelled in four men air squads, dropped bombs from range, and vacated. It was a consistent pattern, and one that left Yuri and his fellow sailors baffled.

Keeping a close eye on the horizon for targets, he added "I mean, the transport logistics must be absurd to travel this long in this many small, repeating groups.", to which his First Officer Shu Yamagata commented "I'm not sure about that. A big horde of Knightmares leaving at once doesn't sound like a joy to organise. Sending them out in batches could have been easier"

Yuri pondered this, absentmindedly replying "You could be right."

However, he wasn't certain if this was the case. He made a mental note to keep an eye on where these Knightmares were coming and going from.

At present they were still within sight of their own Heavy Cruisers and Capital ships, who were mostly back to the South West, who were largely unwilling to risk the archipelago's shallow waters without knowing where their targets were. Yuri didn't mind being left without heavy support; more chance of him getting the glory.

Yuri had joined the Japanese Navy as soon as he had left Secondary School, as his family had done for several generations. His father had died in the first week of the 2008 war against Britannia, and in spite of having a snowballs chance in hell Yuri applied to join the Britannian Navy through the Honourary Britannian system, though all he got was misery for his efforts. Yuri cared deeply about the naval traditions, and was up for a fight.

"Sir! Target ahead, slightly to starboard!"

And one had found him. The captain, alert, returned his focus to the water, and saw the foe immediately, sat between a pair of small islands slightly to their right, another Light Cruiser that was accelerating out from the menagerie of islands into open waters.

"Fire on target, LC, about 20 degrees to starboard!"

The array of naval guns swung round and his word and began to unload high calibre explosive round downrange. The range was too great for reliable hits, but the volume of fire was more than sufficient to harass the enemy boat, which was pretty much their role at the point in the fight. However, it did not take too long for the cruiser to return fire on the Kitakami, at which point it was forced to snake about to evade the enemy shells.

"Captain, Knightmares incoming!"

The shout came from Shu, and Yuri didn't have to hear twice. A good deflection shot from a Knightmares could end the battle a little earlier than ideal, and so he gripped the controls of the craft and hurled the Kitakami to the left as the world exploded into vast noise.

It was enough, as the hard turn presented a bad angle for the aerial attack, and the bombs and missiles flew into the drink. The tough g-forces had forced his head down, however as the boat stabilised he was able to catch a parting glimpse of their attackers.

Four Knightmares, all white, booming out of the area to the North East.

He paused to watch as they flew out the of the area passed the island to the far side of the Britannian Cruiser. He frowned at them, and asked "Are… are those the same four Knightmares?"

Shu was a bit distressed to respond initially, but as he restored himself he replied "That soon? Where in the hell did they resupply from?"

Yuri paused, considering Shu's point. They were firing 400 millimetre anti-shipping missiles, which took up considerable space and would have to be restocked after firing, hence the one-and-done nature of the attacks. There wasn't an enemy supply base anywhere nearby, so how could they get more missiles if they were the same Knightmares going back and forth?

Yuri however, was unconvinced. "Keep an eye out for them. We have bigger fish to fry"

And so they did. With the ship now stabilised, the gun crews resumed their duties of sending absurd quantities of high explosive down towards the opposing Cruiser, who following a collection of hits was looking a little worse for wear. Judging by his heading, which had changed while the Kitakami was busy finding its feet, it was making a break for the North Eastern island, which parallax eventually revealed to be a pair of islands in a line parallel to the Kitakami. It appeared that the captain was hoping to lick his wounds before lurking in the darker realms of the archipelago ready to flank the approaching Grand Fleet.

Yuri was not planning on letting that happen, and after barraging the top deck a lucky strike detonated the Cruisers ammunition storage, creating a spectacular explosion that disabled the craft. He smiled with satisfaction before complimenting his gunners on good shooting and scanning the waterline for a slightly more meaty target.

It didn't take long to find one, as the islands opened up with the movement of the Kitakami towards the interior of the array of islands, now arranged in a square around them. The main Fleet, still outside the low waters and now far to the West, and they were now being engaged by a Battleship and several Destroyers. Yuri's first instinct was to leap into the battle and aid the Fleet, whom he had separated from in engaging the Cruiser from before, but something in his gut told him to pause and think.

Yuri trusted his gut like he trusted his wife, his lawyer, or his social media feed. There was, in his opinion, a fundamental element within all good sailors that told them when to chase after the tides, and when to wait for a better wind. While things have scaled up here, Yuri still believed in that fundamental principle.

And his patience was quickly paid off, as a Destroyer came into view, slinking out from behind the North-West island to go around the battle and flank in towards the Japanese fleet. Unfortunately for him, he wouldn't go much further, as Yuri yelled out "Focus fire on that Destroyer, 15 degrees to Port!"

The Japanese Cruiser unleashed a volley on the Destroyer as it turned to Port, swinging its nose West, to bring its guns to the broadside, which was just as well, as it appeared the Britannian vessel had brought a friend.

"Captain, there's a second Destroyer!"

Yuri smiled, and ordered the rear gunner to suppress the second craft as the first caught fire. Sensing an opportunity, he then ordered Shu to unload the torpedo's on the first destroyer as it passed by, its crew still trying to put out the fire. Unable to maneuver, the Britannian ship went down in flames, leaving the second to quietly realise its doom as the entire armament of the Cruiser swivelled round towards the smaller boat.

"FIRE!"

The Destroyer was not long for this world after a few high explosive shells hit home, and detonated from an internal explosion after four or five volleys. However, there was trouble on the right hand side, as another Cruiser, much heavier visually than the first one the Kitakami encountered, sped through the water to their right, separated from its fleet by the Kitakami.

And it was evidently none too pleased about this development, as it began to lob some high explosive of its own towards the Japanese ship, with two shells striking the front portion of the Kitakami. There was a cry of "Hull breach!" from down below, but Yuri was focused on the target, ordering his gunners to load AP with no degree of sympathy, mechanical or otherwise.

This transition took a moment, and in that moment the enemy Cruiser was able to unload another salvo, again focused on the nose of the craft as Yuri had pointed the Kitakami directly at the meaty side of the Britannian cruiser as it turned broadside to present all its guns a target.

Fortunately, Yuri had a plan, as he fired both throttles up to maximum and ploughed through the waves straight towards the other boat.

"Sir, they're firing again-"

The voice was Shu's, shouted up from on deck, to which Yuri replied "I know what I'm doing, Shu, forward!"

"But they can't miss from this range!"

Yuri could almost laugh. That was the point. While he knew little about the Cruiser he was facing, there was one thing that was evident from one look at its flat, grey sides, and that was the fact it sure as hell did not contain sideways firing torpedoes. Neither did the Kitakami, however Yuri had made sure the Cruiser was faced towards its target.

"Fire Torpedo tubes one and three!"

Facing broadside against an enemy was a double edged sword. Due to ships being longer than they were wide, exposing your sides could allow you to present the full array of your armament to a target, exponentially increasing your firepower. Unfortunately, you also exposed your rather large hull to shells and torpedoes.

And, at such close range, lethal but slow torpedoes that could normally be avoided had a very low chance of missing, and everyone onboard the Kitakami breathed a sigh of relief as the two submerged lances pierced their target and detonated from within, engulfing the Cruiser in flames. They were so close in fact that Yuri could feel the physical heat all over his body.

With the sector now wholly clear, Yuri hoped to swing back in towards the battle and flank the Britannian Battleships now engaging the rest of the Japanese fleet, however he was interrupted by the very loud, very familiar whirr of air being compressed at near supersonic speeds.

"Knightmares overhead!"

Yuri ducked for all the good it would do, but the noise carried through to the end of the Doppler effect, indicating that the Knightmares had found something more interesting to harass. Following them with his eye, now relaxed for being out of danger, he saw them proceed towards the Battleship Nagato and fire four pairs of missiles in a row down the centre spine of the Capital Ship, lighting it up in fiery explosions, though it didn't appear as if the hull was significantly breached.

While Yuri's initial instinct was to help, the Kitakami was extensively damaged from engaging the Heavy Cruiser, and would need a patch repair to halt the flow of water into the bow. Due to this, he was given an opportunity to watch the Knightmares streak across the sky, and took careful note of their heading, as it almost seemed they were drawing a line in the sky that read 'Follow me!'

He reached for his binoculars to examine them more closely as they crossed the sky. Looking in, he got a clear glimpse of their form; white, with green streaks and labelled BF 45, with numbers 8 through 12 finishing the visual callsign. Their missile pylons dangled empty as they retreated from the Battleship they had just assaulted.

"Sir, what now? Should we turn in towards the battle?"

Yuri didn't answer Shu, instead following the Knightmares with his eye as they passed over an island to the North East that was still in Japanese hands and disappeared from view below the islands horizon. After a moment, he answered "How long until we have full power?"

"Thirty seconds, we're clearing flooding."

The Captain grimaced, before announcing "Set a course to the North East, we're following those Knightmares!"

"What?"

Shu sounded ready to continue his objection, but he fell over in the wake and was forced to take a moment to right himself before joining the Captain on the bridge. After finding his feet, Shu raised a finger in anger and proceeded to complain.

"Sir, with respect, we have to help our Battleships!

"But this could be our chance to take out their air cover! If we just take this risk-"

"Listen to me for a second!" Shu roared. "That Fleet needs us now! Not after you take a jaunt round the side of an island to check if there might be a few Knightmares there, they need us now!"

Yuri paused as he digested this point, before looking over. The Nagato was taking a pounding from a pair of Britannian Battleships, and if they entered combat now they could possibly relieve pressure from the flagship, however Yuri still hesitated. The possibility was too great to eliminate the source of the enemies Knightmare support.

This was an opportunity to prevent the enemy from keeping air superiority. It was the duty of a good sailor to take the risk and initiative in a situation like this. However, the extreme situation warranted more evidence for him to make a decision. Yuri looked away from Shu off the stern to see if the Knightmares could still be seen.

However, the Knightmares that had passed by the Kitakami seconds earlier were nowhere to be seen, in spite of having been buzzing the Cruiser moments earlier. As Yuri looked around for an explanation, it arrived in the unconventional form of four Knightmares, with wing mounted missiles freshly attached, rising up over the island, barely moments after the last set had disappeared from view.

And the lead one was labelled BF 458.

"They're there! They're right bloody there!"

There was a very high chance that some manner of floating runway was parked on the far side of the North Eastern island, now separated from its Fleet. They had been flying back and rearming within a stone's throw of the battle, which allowed rapid resupplying, however it had allowed Yuri's ship to catch it napping.

Before Shu could say anything, Yuri gunned the throttles towards the island and swung round as the form of a massive, floating rectangular platform, fit for landing Knightmares and with next to no defensive armament grew into vision.

He grinned, and ordered its shelling, the Kitakami's 20 cm cannons turning towards the meaty carrier and opening fire on it, detonating satisfyingly against it's smooth, flat surfaces, with service crew abandoning ship by the dozens as spots, barely visible as they splashed against the water.

While it took a while to finish off, it didn't put up much of a fight, with the supply of bombs for Knightmare landings eventually detonating within the hull.

However, Yuri's decision had had consequences.

The Second Battle of the Hawaiian Coast concluded early on September 12th as the last Logistics Officers and Supply Managers left on the evacuation boats, and with them Operation Tsunami finished. The objective, to pirate Britannian military equipment to springboard their arsenal, was achieved, as four Battlecruisers and eight Light Cruisers were successfully commandeered, as well as a number of small Convoys, battle plans, and a wealth of Britannian ammunition. This success was partly due to the fact that Knightmares could no longer attack shipping vessels with ordinance once the carrier had been sunk. However, the evacuation effort was marred by the loss of the Battleship Nagato, one of only three Japanese capital ships.

Several distinguishing honours were handed out, however of note was one dishonourable discharge, that of Captain Yuri Ryuga, for not coming to the aid of the Nagato and leading to its eventual sinking at the hands of the HMS Mendel. While the affect his decision had on the war to come has been tossed back and forth by historians, who contrast the value of a carrier with a battleship, he faced vast ostracism among his circle of colleagues, and would die several weeks later, killed in Tokyo by a violent street gang who were suspected to have profiled and stalked the disgraced Captain. His funeral was poorly attended. In spite of widespread community criticism, close friends later mentioned how he bitterly still felt he had done the right thing.

His body was dumped in the sea, as per his last will and testament.

This Chapter is the other side of Tora! Tora! Tora!, with not just the conclusion of Operation Tsunami and its sub-Arc with the raid of Hawaii and subsequent evacuation, but the approach from the sea up compared to the sky down ties the two together. While I'm not as pleased with Victory At Sea as I was its predecessor, it serves to blend the micro with the macro of the War, with a focus on a personal decisions combined with real effects for the rest of the war. As ever, thanks for reading, stay safe, and keep an eye on the heading of your enemies. You may be able to sneak up on them if you pay enough attention. See you for Chapter 43, Wait For It, and please rate and review.

~Eth0