“I suppose so,” said Tovey. “But we haven’t time to gawk and ask questions now. Billy Wind is out there in the Italian Fleet, and he’s heading our way. We’re going out to meet him, and you will see the rockets fly soon enough, just as I did north of Iceland. Certainly you heard about that.”
“Hearing is one thing, but standing on this ship quite something else. The Russian Director put it right when he invited me to take hold of the elephant’s tale. This whole thing is double Dutch, yet here it is.”
“And here we all are,” said Tovey as Admiral Volsky came in with Kamenski and Nikolin. They had been touring the bridge with Mister Dean as host, and were now ready to rejoin the conference.
“Ladies and gentlemen.” Tovey played the role of chairman of the board again. “So we’ve all had a good stiff drink from that cup Director Kamenski referred to so artfully. Now it’s time we decide what we can do about the present military situation here in the Mediterranean. I sent the main body of the fleet south to lend a hand off Tobruk while we’re here, but we will soon rejoin them, and point our bows west for Malta. We must decide how to set our order of battle. I propose Admiral Cunningham lead the main body as planned, with his flag on Warspite. I will sail with you, Admiral Volsky, though we will remain in close supporting range in case ABC gets into more trouble than his three battleships can handle. Any thoughts on how things will play out?”
“I see this ship has helicopters,” said Volsky. “And we also have two aircraft carriers. I propose that you use any reconnaissance assets to quickly locate the enemy fleet, and then my ship, and perhaps that of Miss Fairchild here, would be well disposed to engage at very long range. This attack might even be combined by a strike mission from your carriers. What our intention should be is to strike first, and narrow down the odds.”
“From what we know,” said Tovey, “the German fleet has reached Toulon from Gibraltar. Hindenburg and two of their newer ships were there, and we believe they will sortie with the French Fleet soon. The Italians are already at sea, so we do not yet know what the enemy intends. It may be that they plan to rendezvous into one grand fleet, which would be somewhat imposing, if I dare say. The French will have the Normandie, which proved to be a very formidable ship when engaged off Dakar, and they’ll throw in two battlecruisers and plenty of supporting cruisers and destroyers.”
“It will be my intention to target the capital ships,” said Volsky. “Past experience has shown me that the shock of seeing a battleship on fire, with no clear enemy on the horizon, can be quite disconcerting to the enemy. May I ask if you know who commands the German Task Force?”
“Admiral Lutjens, a cautious, professional officer. It was he who led the attack on our Faeroe Island base very near the place we met, Admiral. He slipped away to Brest, and from there down to Gibraltar once that fell into German hands. Now the best ship in the German navy is here in the Mediterranean, a match for my own HMS Invincible, as I daresay the Normandie would be as well. As for the Italians, they have been somewhat timid at sea in the early going, but that seems to be changing. They have strong new ships that we would be wise to respect.”
“Undoubtedly,” said Cunningham. “But you say you suggest we use all our carrier borne aircraft in a strike role, Admiral Volsky. May I remind you that the enemy air presence will be thick as we approach Malta, and I’m given to understand that the Germans have a carrier with the Hindenburg. If so, how will we protect the fleet?”
“I’ll lend a hand there,” Captain MacRae spoke up, “with assistance from Kirov. We’ve a good magazine for air defense, nearly full, and I can extend a defensive umbrella out over thirty kilometers with our Sea Viper system.”
“That will be a good second line of defense,” said Volsky. “Our own S-400s have a considerably longer range, so we can provide the initial salvos against any incoming air strikes. Between the two of us, I believe we can adequately discourage an enemy air strike, depending on its size. But it will be necessary to coordinate on IFF codes. We should program each of our systems to treat all missiles as friendly.”
“A good point,” said MacRae. “I suppose we can send some people aboard your ship, or vice versa, and take care of that.”
“Good enough.”
They worked out the details, and the Russians made ready to depart with Admiral Cunningham. It was decided that they should rejoin the main British fleet and move west at their earliest opportunity.
“Admiral Tovey,” said Fairchild. “I wonder if I might have a word with you before you depart.”
