Kirov Saga: Hinge Of Fate: Altered States Volume III (Kirov Series) (31 page)

“Believe
one thing,” said Tovey. “This ship can fight. I have no doubt it can hold its
own on that watch. That said, I agree with your political assessment of the
situation. If, however, I ask the Russians to withdraw, then I shall have to
take up that watch myself in HMS
Invincible
, and leave the Iceland
Faeroes Gap to the debutantes.” Tovey was referring to the two new
King
George V
class battleships, still untried and out for their first combat
sortie.

“They
should be able to manage,” said Pound.

“Perhaps,
but it had been my intention to keep the battleships together with me and undertake
a more active campaign by entering the Norwegian Sea. Playing on the back row to
guard all the exits to the Atlantic allows the enemy to choose his breakout
point, and it will force me to spread very thin resources even thinner. If I
take all three ships north now, we might catch the Germans before they turn for
their intended breakout point.”

Their
Lordships discussed it further, but in the end Admiral Pound would have his way.
So Tovey caught a plane to Holyhead where he jumped on a fast destroyer to
rendezvous with HMS
Invincible,
already well out to sea. Home Fleet was
a full day out of port from Scapa Flow, now steaming at 20 knots to a position
southwest of the Faeroe Islands. With him Tovey had his two new battleships, five
cruisers, and a handful of destroyers. The carrier
Ark Royal
was already
further west approaching Iceland to use her air wing there on active search.
Tovey would take
Invincible
and the cruisers
Norfolk
and
Suffolk
to comprise his western task force. HMS
Illustrious
would stay on the
Iceland-Faeroes watch with the other two battleships and remaining escorts,
York
,
Glasgow
and
Newcastle
,

His
dispositions complete, Tovey signaled the remainder of his squadron farewell
and detached at high speed for Reykjavik, where he intended to meet with the
Russians and convey the decision Pound had forced upon him. He had some
misgivings about leaving the debutantes on their own, but had faith in his
Captains, Louis Hamilton taking a new post from Otway-Ruthven, who was taken
ill aboard
Prince of Wales
, and Wilfred Rupert Patterson as the Squadron
Flag aboard
King George V
.

Some
hours later Tovey got a signal from
Kirov
indicating that at least two
German warships seemed intent on trying a run through the Denmark Strait. They
had been spotted by the Russian Airship
Narva
approaching Jan Mayen. He
went to his chart room, laying out a ruler on the map. That was just over a
thousand kilometers to the north. If the Germans made good speed they might be
able to run the strait to a position west of Reykjavik on 24 hours. That gave
him plenty of time to get
Invincible
into position. He put on thirty
knots and aimed to be off Reykjavik in seven hours, one good night’s sleep
away. There he would meet briefly with Admiral Volsky to explain the Admiralty
decision and relieve
Kirov
in the Denmark Strait.

As to
Hindenburg
,
the weather was very bad, and no word had come from the north, where F.A.A.
planes had been out searching for any sign of the battleship. Last reported
near Bergen, the Germans could now be anywhere in an ever widening farthest on
circle. Initial reports had suggested there might be at least two battleships
in the German task force, which is why he wanted to stay with his two new girls
and maintain an advantage in firepower. As it was, his strength was diluted on
a much wider front now, largely at Admiral Pound’s insistence.

He
passed a fitful night’s sleep, with images of the dark silhouettes of distant
ships sailing through his mind. When morning came he shook off the weariness
and tried to clear his thoughts with a cup of stiff coffee. The weight of
command was now heavy on his shoulders, but the closer he came to his newfound
Russian allies, the lighter the burden became. If the Admiralty only knew the
full truth he had discovered about this Russian ship… He shook his head,
realizing that he could not breathe a word of what he knew and still be
regarded as sane by any man he had sat with at the recent meeting. Perhaps
Admiral Fraser might eventually be brought into the foyer. Fraser had always
given him a sympathetic ear and fair hearing, but how would he react to the
truth if it was finally revealed?

He
would think it preposterous, thought Tovey, even as I did when Turing first
began to open that Pandora’s box of photographs and reports. The shock of
seeing his own hand writing on those documents was still profound. He clearly
heard his own voice in the line and letter of those reports, just as he might
have written them, yet it was all… preposterous. That was the only reaction a
sane man could offer.

Word
came from
Ark Royal
that the forward scout planes had sighted a large
warship on an intercept course.
Kirov
was approaching, and he turned the
bridge over to the able hands of Captain Bennett to get down to the aft boat
deck.

* * *

“Your
airship has done me a great service,” said Tovey as he shook hands with Admiral
Volsky and Fedorov again aboard
Kirov
. “It appears that we have wind of
the fox loose up north, but there is still a wolf at large.” He shared his
report concerning the German battleship
Hindenburg
.

“That
would be
Jötnargruppe
, from a word referring to ancient Norse giants,”
said Fedorov, and Nikolin translated.

“Well
named, because this is a monster of a ship—a match for my flagship
Invincible
,
which says a great deal. We are not yet certain as to its intentions, but coast
watchers reported it leaving Bergen ten hours ago and heading north. It may be
planning to join with these other contacts to form one powerful battlegroup. In
this event, I should be grateful for your assistance here, though I do have
some news to share with you.” He told them, as diplomatically as possible, what
the Admiralty had decided.

“This
does not come as a surprise,” said Volsky. “We have already quarreled with the
Germans on two occasions, and the situation is somewhat delicate. Thus far I
have exercised considerable restraint, but if we were to engage again, and sink
a major German capital ship…”

“I
understand the implications,” said Tovey. “If at all possible, I should like to
bear the burden of combat here, though your assistance in finding the enemy
would be much appreciated.”

“But
what if the Germans do form a battlegroup too large for your single ship to
engage?” said Fedorov.

“They
must choose one passage or another,” said Tovey. “Indications are that they are
looking at the Denmark Strait again. That is the opinion of the Admiralty. But
I have two good ships posted in the passage east of Iceland should they take
that route. Given the circumstances, it would be my decision to fall back and
recombine Home Fleet if either of my present task groups is overmatched. A
position a couple hundred miles southwest of Reykjavik would put me in a good
location to intercept a German task force in either passage as it exits into
the Atlantic.”

“A
sound tactic,” Volsky agreed. “Well we have certain assets that may assist your
search. We have set up one of our radars on the northwest cape of Iceland. It
will see any ships as they enter the Denmark Strait, with coverage nearly all
the way out to the Greenland Ice floes, about 200 kilometers for surface ship
contacts. How might we cover the passage east of Iceland, Mister Fedorov?”

“The
airship
Narva
is meeting us here in six hours, sir. They have an
Oko
Panel radar system aboard, and if we send them out to a position on the
northeast coast of Iceland, that will see any ship attempting to take that
passage. The airship can loiter over land indefinitely.”

“Good,
that will be much better than using our KA-40. Well, Admiral Tovey, I think we
can assure you that if the Germans come anywhere within 200 kilometers of
Iceland, we will find them.”

“Thank
you, Admiral. I am truly grateful for your assistance. We’ve a number of
convoys to and from Liverpool, and we wouldn’t want to let the fox into the
chicken coop.”

“Or the
wolves,” said Volsky.

Tovey
smiled, wondering how to bring up his next question, then he decided to just
come out with it. “As to the other matter revealed in that Enigma intercept,”
he began, “you say it bore the code name Felix?”

“Yes
sir,” said Fedorov. “It was a German operational plan for an attack on
Gibraltar.”

“I see…
Well, you will forgive me for wanting to take a peek at the cake while its
baking, but I cannot help myself. This operation Felix… Does it succeed?”

“We do
not know,” said Fedorov flatly. “It was never attempted in the history we know.
If it does take place, then it would be a major divergence in the course of the
war as we know it. I must tell you, however, that if the Germans do launch such
an operation, at least as planned, I believe it has a very good chance of
succeeding.”

“You
know of this plan?”

“It was
well documented. The Germans would commit at least three full regiments, all
veteran troops, and they will also have two divisions in reserve on the Iberian
Peninsula to forestall any move you might make by landing troops in Portugal. I
can give you the exact German order of battle, though it may have changed from
the history we know.”

“I will
gratefully pass it on to the War Cabinet, though I don’t know what good it will
do us to know just how steep the odds are. A landing in Portugal? I’m afraid
that is out of the question. It would take months to plan an operation on any
scale that would make a difference, and we’re still on invasion watch.”

“Admiral,
if the Germans do launch Operation Felix, then I think it is safe to say their
plan to invade England has been cancelled. We have followed the radio reports
on the air battle over Britain. You have done remarkably well in checking the
Germans there, just as it occurred in our history.”

“Yet
not without great cost. It was very thin with the R.A.F. at times, and I was
tempted to ask you for one of those radar sets. As it happened, we managed on
our own. The pressure seems to be easing now. In fact, we’ve learned that the
Germans have pulled out several bomber squadrons for other deployment—possibly
this operation Felix we are discussing.”

“That
would be very likely,” said Fedorov. “I must also tell you the German Plan
Felix also contained provisions for the possible occupation of Spanish Morocco,
and the Canary Islands.”

“That
would be a matter of some concern to us. We do have plans to kick a little sand
in Jerry’s face should he get pushy at Gibraltar. We have several operations,
some underway even as we speak. It will be our intention to immediately seize
the Azores, and then Madeira. Our recently failed operation against Dakar will
be revisited, this time with adequate naval force to deal with the French. And
Wavell has been ordered to begin an offensive against the Italian advance into
Egypt.”

“Operation
Compass.” Fedorov knew of the operation.

“You
know of it?”

“Yes
sir, though it did not occur quite this early in our timeline.”

“Yes, Wavell
tells us he’s not quite ready,” said Tovey. “But the War Cabinet has urged him
to do anything possible to defend Egypt. My God, the thought the Germans may be
coming for the Rock is enough to deal with, but we simply cannot lose Egypt…”
His eyes carried the obvious question, and Fedorov could see the terrible
dilemma. Here they were holding the keys of time and fate, with knowledge of
the entire course of the war, at least as it once played out, and Tovey was
knocking at the gate and asking to be let in.

“Wavell
may surprise you,” said Fedorov. “But I’m afraid that if the Germans do launch
this operation, the war will hold many more surprises, even for us if we remain
here. Everything will change and I can only take an educated guess as to what
may or may not happen. Will Wavell and O’Connor hold off the Italians? They did
in our history, but if the Germans attack Gibraltar it may mean they have
chosen the Mediterranean as the main focus of their war effort in the next
year. That could mean you will be facing more than the Italians in the Western
Desert, and possibly very soon.”

Tovey
took a deep breath, and his anguish and worry were quite evident. “I must tell
you, gentlemen, that this whole affair is on the razor’s edge at the moment.
When you arrived on the scene in June we had only seven planes on Malta,
another vital outpost. We’ve 36 there now, and plans to deliver 12 more
Hurricanes
in a few days time. We have exactly three radar sets in the entire
Mediterranean theater—one at Gibraltar, one at Alexandria and the last at Aden.
The operations we have planned against the Azores and Madeira will involve no
more than a single Royal Marine Brigade of three battalions. We’ve got one more
teed up with the Free French to have another go at Dakar, or perhaps the Cape
Verde Islands. Our effort now is purely defensive. We must seize these outposts
to secure the convoy route to Freetown, South Africa and by extension to Suez
and Egypt. But I must tell you that it will be some time, perhaps as long as
another year, before we can build up enough strength to contemplate further
offensives. We’ll be fighting to hold Egypt for the foreseeable future. The
question now is when will Russia and America join in?”