Armageddon

Chapter 11

Admiral Togo received the news with some dismay. He was in the briefing room aboard the fleet flagship, battleship Mikasa, and the signals had just been decoded from Kamimura. As he stared at the characters on the scroll he had just been handed, he could hardly believe what he was reading. All five cruisers had been engaged and damaged badly enough that they were forced to break off and seek shelter in the hidden bays of the Oki Island group. All but one, the armored cruiser Adzuma, sustained damage sufficient to force retirement to Maizuru and lengthy repairs. Yet this was not the real shock.

Kamimura had laid a skillful trap for the enemy. His cruisers had sat quietly, their boilers suppressed enough to control smoke as the ships lay hidden behind the islands. He had cleverly posted coastwatchers with good telescopes on the highest hills of the islands, and they had seen the approach of the Russian dreadnought and correctly lit their signal fires. Only then did he order the boilers fully fired to get up enough steam to make the attack speed required. Yet the instant they were seen the enemy opened fire from extreme long range again, 18,000 meters! The cruisers were taking a pounding as they tried to close, and none got much closer than 9,000 meters. They ran broadside to the enemy at about that range for ten minutes, firing every gun they had, but without much success.

By contrast, the Russian guns had found their targets with uncanny accuracy. Almost every round fired was scoring a hit! This was remarkable in that gunners relied on the tall water splashes from their near misses to adjust fire to get those hits in a running gun battle like this. The Russians gunnery was truly astounding! But the real blow had come later, after the cruisers were forced to flee to the safety of a channel protected by Dozen Island.

Kamimura had one last card to play, his two battleships also lying in wait there in the central bay at the heart of the three smaller islands. They, too were able to successfully surprise the Russian ship when they charged boldly into battle, and this time at least their larger guns were able to open fire at a range of about 11,000 meters. But what he read next seemed incomprehensible. The Russian ship had fired a weapon of terrible power and speed, a kind of flying bombshell, a rocket of some type. Such weapons had been used for centuries, since they were first discovered by the Chinese, but they seemed mere toys compared to the much more accurate fire that could be obtained from rifled cannons.

Yet these rockets were as accurate as the Russian guns! Two had been fired, one striking each of his battleships, and the resulting damage was catastrophic. Dragon Fire, that is what the survivors called the weapons. They flew low over the sea, impossibly fast, then struck with thunderous impact, penetrating side armor and gutting the ship with hideous incinerating flame. Both Tango and Mishima, two ships captured from the Russians, had been completely immolated and sunk. The entire well planned surprise attack had become a naval disaster. The whole Russian Baltic fleet could not inflict that much damage when we fought them at Tsushima, he thought with some amazement. How was it possible that this single ship could so decisively defeat Kamimura’s squadron?

Now the ship was heading south and might soon be approaching the island of Mishima where Vice Admiral Dewa was posted with his 3rd Cruiser Division and Commander Suzuki’s 4th Destroyer Division. There were not even battleships in this force, and if Kamimura’s fate was any guide, it would easily be destroyed, or brushed aside by this powerful new Russian dreadnought. His plan had rested upon the assumption that each division he deployed would have the ability to adequately engage and defeat this ship, but that was now proved to be entirely wrong. With that thought in mind the Admiral quickly called a staff adjutant to the conference room.

“Sir!” The man bowed politely as he entered, then saluted, civility before military protocol.

“Send a signal to Vice Admiral Dewa. He is to immediately bring his force south to lie off the straits west of Shimonoseki. If he requires fuel I will have colliers waiting for him south of Oshima Island, but it is essential he rejoin Vice Admiral Kataoka’s 5th Division as soon as possible.”

The man bowed again and rushed to the telegraph room to have the order coded and transmitted. Togo turned his gaze to the map now, considering the situation. The Maizuru squadron under Kamimura was one of the strongest in the fleet! It had six armored cruisers and two battleships, and they were all effectively out of the campaign now, with Tango and Mishima stricken from the fleet register forever.

It was clear to him that he would need to mass the greatest part of all fleet divisions currently available in these waters. But where? The map would tell the tale. Once Dewa moved south to Oshima and re-coaled his ships, he would order both his division, and that of Kataoka, to a position northwest of Iki Island. Yet after reading the results of Kamimura’s engagement, he doubted if even these two divisions could successfully engage this new ship.

Dewa had only four armored cruisers and four destroyers under Suzuki. This was meant to be a screening and reconnaissance force, but Togo now believed the course the enemy would choose was inevitable. Kataoka had a much stronger force with the battleship Chinyen, five armored cruisers, and four fast destroyers. On paper it seemed more than adequate to seal off the eastern segment of the Tsushima Straits between that island and Iki. This would allow him to patrol the western segment of the straits with his own squadron…but it would also allow the enemy to decide the location and time of the battle by choosing which strait, which side of the Tsushima Island group they would use to break through.

This was most unsatisfactory, and one look at the map provided him with the only solution that seemed promising. The answer lay in speed and surprise. He would have to send his faster torpedo boats and destroyers out as pickets. All the destroyers had mines aboard, and upon sighting the enemy they could deploy those mines and then flee to a pre-designated rendezvous point. If the enemy pursued them, they would lead the unwary Russian Captain toward the main fleet, and perhaps the Russians would even be unfortunate enough to hit one of their mines.

Where to put the main fleet? Where to mass sufficient power capable of smashing the enemy while also preventing him free passage of the straits? The only place was just off the southern nose of Tsushima Island. Strong eyes watching from Mount Ontake to the north of that island would look for the approach of the enemy, just as Kamimura had been warned by his coastwatchers.

They must choose one side or the other, thought Togo. Mount Ontake is seventy kilometers to the north. If they are spotted from there, that distance gives us the time needed to muster forces at the southern end of the island in the proper channel. Then, each group, my fleet and the squadrons under Dewa and Kataoka, will be in position to join and mutually reinforce one another. Black smoke from Ontake will mean the enemy has chosen the Korea Strait, and white smoke will mean they have taken the eastern approach. The whole fleet will be like a pendulum dangling from the tip of Tsushima Island, and it may swing left or right to cover either approach.

This was a good plan, he thought, but it had one flaw. It would be best if the enemy moved down the eastern side of Tsushima. Iki Island forms a strong outpost there, and we would be fighting close to our home ports. Those waters could also be effectively mined to restrict and hamper enemy movement. Yet if the Russians chose to go west of Tsushima, then what? That portion of the straits is 60 kilometers wide, and if they were to skirt northwest near Korean waters they might easily slip through, particularly if the rumors and reports of this ship’s speed are true. They could avoid battle altogether, because a fleet massed off the southern tip of Tsushima Island might never be able to get northwest to find or stop them before they were through.

Suppose that happens, he thought? I must have a plan for that contingency as well. Where would they be going if this Russian Captain perceives this weak point and sets his course as I fear? The answer to that is again right before me on the map. They have brazenly stated they would quarantine the Yellow Sea, so they will certainly have to go there to make good on that boast. This would take them on a course between Jeju Island and Korea, yet those waters will not make for a good patrol zone. They are too wide! It is 500 kilometers from Korea to Shanghai, much too wide for a single ship to patrol. Yes, they could stand off Shanghai and interdict all the commercial traffic from that port, but the Chinese are not our friends, and they will not be re-supplying the Japanese garrisons in Manchuria and Port Arthur.

No. The Russians would have to transit the Yellow Sea and go further north, to the waters between Weihaiwei and Korea, which are only 200 kilometers wide. Even that much sea room would be a lot for a single ship to patrol, but from there they could cause a great deal of trouble. If I were this Captain I would just sit off Dailan or Port Arthur itself and challenge any ship to come or go from those ports.

So that is where this Russian Captain is heading, and that is why I must keep the heavy squadron, with all our remaining battleships, on the western segment of the Tsushima Straits. If he chooses the eastern Tsushima Strait, it will mean I am last to the fight, but I believe the pendulum will swing west. I am certain of this. So if I cannot find or stop them there in the straits, then I will pursue them into the Yellow Sea, where they must surely go.

Then another thought occurred to him. The British China Station had a decent cruiser division at Weihaiwei. The British were also their allies at the moment. If Naval Minister Saito could be persuaded to contact the British, those ships could prove to be very useful in this hunt.

Yes…that is what this has now become. It was a hunting expedition. He was gathering all his available ships into two fighting groups, like the two faithful hounds he would always take with him when he was hunting in the hills. Only this time it will not be a pheasant or two, he thought darkly. This time the fate of the nation is again at stake. Our ships are old, and will soon be obsolete. It will take us time but we will build new ships like this Russian dreadnought. I must see this ship myself! Only then can I take the full measure of my enemy.

Tango and Mishima smashed in a single blow…That news continued to harry the Admiral. Mikasa was a sturdy ship. She had taken many hits during the battle of Tsushima, and yet fought on bravely to prevail. Togo had her sister ship Asahi with him, and also the battleships Shikishima and Fuji. Two other armored cruisers, nine destroyers and four torpedo boats rounded out his squadron. Yet these few battleships were the heart of the fleet. Iwami, another captured Russian Borodino class battleship, was at Yokohama and too far away to participate in the action. The loss of Tango and Mishima was sour grapes. Those were Russian ships in the first place, but it would be years in the shipyards before his precious capital ships could be replaced if they were lost here.

That is my dilemma, he thought. I must be bold and aggressive here, but also cautious. I cannot allow this fleet to be destroyed. If that happens, the sixteen battleships of the American Great White Fleet will overshadow Japan and relegate us to the status of a third rate power again in the Pacific.

That thought set his mind on his last reserve, Vice Admiral Uyru’s Squadron in the Inland Sea. It was merely a screening force of cruisers and destroyers, no bigger than Dewa’s, and sent to show the flag to the Americans when they arrived in Japanese waters. Let us hope Saito is very wrong and the Americans do not have any ideas about bold action of their own. It would be most embarrassing if we were unable to catch this renegade Russian ship, and they came along to finish the job.

He did not know exactly where the American fleet was now, only that it was several days at sea after leaving Hawaii on the 16th of July. It would take them a long week to reach Yokohama and one more day to sail to Kure. The earliest they could be a factor here would be the 24th of July. Tonight Dewa comes south and I should have my dispositions complete by mid-day on the 22nd. If this brigand is coming, that should give me more than enough time to sink this Russian ship and then muster the fleet for action in the event…He did not want to think about the prospect of having to face sixteen American battleships at sea, and there was no reason why that should happen. Even so, he had the distinct feeling his navy was already overmatched by the Americans, and it would be a difficult job to catch up to them, particularly with the battleship construction program still relying on foreign ship builders for many of its planned additions to the fleet in the years ahead.

His flagship Mikasa was already a wounded warrior. After surviving the last war with Russia, the ship’s magazines had exploded while in home port at Sasebo and the battleship wallowed in 33 feet of water, resting on the bottom until it could be re-floated and repaired. Some of the crew on the hard fought ship said that the spirit of the ship itself exploded in protest over how the war ended, with the treaty of Portsmouth such a grace to Russia. This fallen warrior has already risen from the dead, he thought. Let us hope the Gods are not jealous of her now.

The ship was back in fighting trim again by 1908, 15,200 tons, with her hull painted black and a white superstructure. Her bow was crested with a gold chrysanthemum, and her twin black stacks were detailed with three bold white stripes, just like those on the Admiral’s cuff. She was a proud ship, and renowned in the empire now for her glorious battle history.

Behind Mikasa the battle line of his squadron stretched out in a long sea train, the skies charred by the dark smoke they left in their wake. The Oki Islands were only 400 kilometers to the northeast. If this Russian ship made twenty knots, and it has always been reported as making at least that speed, then it could be on his horizon in as little as ten hours. If Dewa acted quickly, and steamed south at his best speed from Mishima, he might reach Oshima and the colliers in four hours. Three hours to take on coal is all that could be spared if he was to reach Iki Island and be in a position to join the battle that would surely come the following day. It was going to be a very long night.

Togo sent for his adjutant one more time.

“Send a second message to Vice Admiral Dewa. Tell him he must complete his coaling operation at Oshima no later than 05:00 hours, and then sail to the straits west of Iki Island by 08:00 hours tomorrow morning. He is to join with Vice Admiral Kataoka there, and he must not be late.”

“Very good, sir. Baron Dewa has acknowledged your first message and is already heading for Oshima. He inquired concerning Vice Admiral Kamimura. Shall I relate news of that action to him, Admiral?”

“You may tell him the outcome was not to our advantage. Nothing more. The details are not important for the moment. The only thing that is important is that he bring his ships south at his best speed, and be here tomorrow morning, ready for battle.”

When the man had left him Togo looked to his tea and saw that it was cold. Here we are at the edge of what may hopefully be the final battle in these waters for a good many years. Armageddon… Is that not the name given to a great final battle? We come off a tremendous victory against Russia, and we will have overwhelming odds for success here again. This should be nothing more than a last resounding peal of thunder from that great storm cloud. But why this darkness in my soul?

He reached for the teapot to warm his cup. At least a man should have hot tea on the eve of Armageddon, neh?

Note: For a map of Admiral Togo’s dispositions please visit: http://www.writingshop.ws/html/k-viii-maps.html