Against the Tide Imperial: The Struggle for Ceylon (The Usurper's War: An Alternative World War II B by James Young (story reading txt) 📕

"I don't think those thunderheads are going to make your combat air patrol's job any easier," Farmer observed grimly, then suddenly tensed. "And it seems like the game's afoot."

"Sir, Massachusetts is ordering a heading change," the talker behind Jacob shouted. He looked across at the massive battleship, her bow wave and wake raised behind her as she began to accelerate.

She's doing at least twenty-five knots. Almost as fast as Repulse while packing a much heavier right hook.

"Understood," Jacob said, watching the flagship's signal mast.

"Looks like the CAP has begun their work," Farmer said, pointing. Jacob glanced quickly over and felt his heart stop at the numerous dots now approaching, having just exited the thunderheads roughly thirty-five miles away. Farmer was correct in that someone had to be dying, as there were numerous plumes of smoke starting to fall from the sky.

I just hope it's not that many of ours.

Hope, or more correctly Ares, was not in the mood to succor the Houston's captain. With Vice Admiral Fletcher having so heavily weighed his strike's fighter escort, albeit with good effect, there had only been so many Hellcats and Wildcats to go around. The air staff had believed radar and good fighter direction would give them time to shift their forces to cover either TF 25 or TF 24. What they had not foreseen was the long time it would take to recover their strike and attempt to respot for CAP operations. Nor had they planned for the massive line of thunderstorms that played havoc with TF 25's radar sets.

As a result, the first eight reinforcements for TF 25's CAP were still 20 miles away when the Kido Butai's riposte pierced the wall of squalls to the east. Having done so, it took ten minutes for Lieutenant Commander Takahashi Sadamu, Kaga's CAG, to corral some of his wayward charges. In that time, the escorting Shiden and Zeroes summarily dealt with the four Hellcats and equal number of Wildcats orbiting over TF 25, then moved on to engage the approaching eight Hellcats from the Bonhomme Richard. The melee that followed was pitched, but only conclusive in that it cleared the way for the Japanese strike force to descend upon TF 25.

Surveying his prey, Sadamu quickly identified the Massachusetts, Indiana, and Repulse. Giving rapid orders over the radio, he assigned twelve Tenzan apiece to each of the large vessels, then ordered the remaining two chutai to concentrate on the Baltimore. That done, Sadamu then sent the Suisei to attack the Houston, Exeter, and Tallahassee before descending to lead the assault on Repulse.

"Well, looks like the CAP wasn't quite strong enough," Farmer observed grimly. The task force had quickly shifted into its circular anti-aircraft formation as the Japanese began screaming in towards them. Jacob watched with professional detachment as the wave seemed to shift like a swarm of bees.

The single-engine jobs definitely seem to be a lot more nimble than the land ones, Jacob thought, watching as the Japanese swung wide. Then it was bedlam as the outer screen opened fire.

"Port twenty degrees," Jacob called calmly, seeing the Massachusetts starting to come about. The Houston's anti-aircraft guns began to fire as Japanese dive bombers turned towards their target. Jacob felt the deck starting to lean to starboard as the bow was swung around to the left. Looking up, he saw three of the Japanese bombers clearly angling for the Houston as the others chose their target.

"Increase rudder to forty-five degrees!" Jacob barked, hearing the talker relaying the command. The Houston heeled even further over, and Jacob risked a quick glance along the heavy cruiser's path. The Hudson was heading on a collision course, but Jacob could see the destroyer's bow already starting to come around.

We should clear the…

"Sir look out!" someone screamed. The next instant Jacob was getting tackled as suddenly 20mm shells were exploding all around open platform. The two offending Shiden fighters roared past, the sounds of men screaming from just below telling him that there were casualties among the anti-aircraft guns.

Jacob had barely processed that before there was the sound of another aircraft engine just above the Houston's mast, followed immediately by an explosion right off her starboard side. The near miss shook the cruiser violently, and was followed immediately by another just astern.

"Missed us, you f–" a talker began to shout.

The man was cut off as the final Suisei's bomb struck the Houston just aft of her forward stack. Passing inboard of the starboard catapult, the 1,000-lb. bomb easily penetrated the heavy cruiser's thin deck armor, its fuze finally activating just above the forward boiler room. The resultant explosion immediately killed every man in the compartment beneath, either through storm of fragments or flesh stripping effects of superheated steam. The Houston's starboard catapult was blasted from its mountings as the cruiser's hull moved buckled upwards and whipped from the blast's effects.

Atop the pilot house, the vertical shearing movement bounced Jacob's head hard off the deck with a hollow thunk. Seeing stars, Jacob dimly heard and felt the passage of splinters all around him, accompanied by screams of wounded from below as scalding steam billowed upwards from the cruiser's hull. Shaking his head to clear the cobwebs, Jacob registered the sounds of fire and smells of burning flesh as the Houston continued to vibrate hard from the impact. The rising wails to aft were abruptly stopped, with various crewmen starting to cry out in alarm.

"Man overboard!"

"Oh Jesus, he jumped!"

This is starting to become a goddamn trend.

Jacob’s hands shook as he tried to stand. It was only then that he belatedly realized something had his legs pinned. He quickly slithered out from under the dead weight, looking down to see the decapitated body of one of Houston's lookouts. Scanning the pilot house roof, Jacob saw that Commander Farmer was calmly speaking into a sound powered telephone, the Houston's movements indicating she was still under control.

Have to fight the ship, Jacob!

With that, he shook off the momentary