Джон Шеттлер - Condition Zebra - The Next War - 2025

The missiles raced in, the Asters speedy enough to catch them, and the defensive missile stream was slowly eating them up—but they just kept coming. There were still six more at the tail end of the missile train, and the ship was down to its last four SAM’s. Two of those six Sizzlers were going to get through, and that would end the career of yet another Type 45. Lightning would sink at half past noon.

Type 23 Class frigate Sutherland had been 16 miles ahead of Lightning , running for all she was worth at 34 knots. Then the Captain and crew saw a train of eight missiles coming for them, and with SAM’s dry, it was down to guns and chaff. It seemed as though the frigate was doomed, but to the amazement of the crew, they saw the demons tip nose down and knife into their boiling wake. It was their speed that saved the ship, for the enemy had fired at extreme range, and the missiles simply ran out of fuel. The margin of safety had been slim, just five miles being the space between life and death for the ship and every soul aboard.

Yet the measure of life granted them was equally brief. At 12:33, another series of eight YJ-18’s locked on to Sutherland and this time they had the energy to ride its wake all the way to the ship. Elation would soon turn to utter misery. The frigate blazed away with its Gatling guns, got two of the eight, and then the rest stormed in to blast Sutherland from the sea. Only three men would survive.

Next it was Gloucester’s turn on the hot seat, with eight more Sizzlers storming over the horizon. The destroyer had 52 Sea Darts in the magazines, but could only fire them in pairs. The first four YJ-18’s were hit and killed, but the number five missile skewered the ship, damn near blowing the entire aft section of the destroyer apart.

The enemy was slowly killing one ship after another as the British fleet fled northeast, and Admiral Sun Wei was beaming ear to ear with the news when his radar crews would confirm those kills. The death of Type 26 Class frigate Coventry was the last for that action, all but eliminating every ship that had sailed with HMS Vengeance . Admiral Wells now had 2500 souls in the sea to try and save.

The Royal Navy was bleeding out, having suffered the loss of fifteen warships since the opening of hostilities in the Med. Of those, eleven had been killed by the dread YJ-18, which was proving to be a war winner for the Chinese Navy. The British had nothing to match it, and very little that could kill it when it was out on the hunt. That made for the painful loss of so many proud ships, and the men and women who served on them. Helicopters would flutter off the decks of the two carriers to save as many as possible, but Admiral Wells’ worst fears had come home to roost on his bridge.

As Admiral Sun Wei gloated over his rather decisive victory, he was now to be reminded of the uncertainty and danger inherent in every moment of war. There had been two Astute Class attack subs attached to the fleet, and instead of running escort, they had moved out towards the enemy, sailing right across their line of advance. Moving fast and deep at 32 knots, they were able to get into position to attack as the churning ships above pressed home their pursuit.

Anson and Howe bore the names last hung on a pair of King George V Class battleships from the WWII era, and now they were Britain’s most stealthy and dangerous attack subs. They had crept into the heart of the Chinese advance, like wolves stalking a fold of sheep, and they were completely undetected.

Anson had taken position just north of the Chinese Golden Dragon Group, composed of Type 55 destroyer Jinlong , a pair of Type 052D destroyers, Chaowu and Kangji , and the Type 054A class frigate Sanya . The British Captain on Anson had a famous name, Francis Drake, and he was perfectly cast for this part, an undersea pirate of the highest order.

Drake was using the new Advanced Common Combat System, which was integrated with all the boat’s sensors and sonars to track and process its firing solutions. The first torpedoes, the heavyweight Spearfish, were not even seen by the enemy until they were just three miles out, and they were coming at 80 knots. The Chinese ships had no weapon capable of targeting the torpedoes. Steaming at 30 knots, all they could do was turn and scatter in a desperate effort to evade the enemy lances.

Kanji had launched its ASW helo, and then turned completely about, the water surging about the ship, as it ran due west. Seconds later, the first spearfish hammered its sister ship, and Chaowu was gutted by a big explosion, the watersplash rising high above the mainmast. Three more Spearfish were hot in the turbulent wake of the Golden Dragon, which was now racing southwest with Sanya . The three torpedoes were just too close, and neither ship had the ghost of a chance at evading them, or surviving this attack.

The Chinese helo had deployed dipping sonar, at last getting a general idea of where the British sub was. In desperation, Jinlong fired an Asroc YU-7 torpedo at the fleeting contact, which would put it very close to Anson , forcing the sub to cut the wires on its torpedoes and run.

“Decoys!” said Captain Drake. “Come to 270 west and dive. All ahead flank!”

“Two-seven-zero and diving, sir.”

“Make your depth 780.”

Anson had fired while at 420 feet, and was now trying to disappear into the Deep Blue, still quiet as a mouse, even when running all out at 32 knots. It left a pair of decoys behind it as the nose of the sub tipped downward, hoping to fool the pursuing YU-7 torpedo.

“Conn, Sonar—three explosions.”

That was Chaowu, Jinlong, and Sanya , all going down that hour when the 300KG warheads in the Spearfish broke their backs and opened their hulls to the sea. Anson dove, knowing an enemy torpedo was in hot pursuit. Sonar reported it tracking true, then thought it was circling a moment before tracking true again. Then the sound of the torpedo was completely lost. The YU-7 Asroc had very little fuel, which is why it had to get quite close to its target to get a hit. In this case, the torpedo had run out of energy after 4 miles. It had come to within 2000 meters of the British sub, then died….

A fourth explosion reported by sonar made for a clean sweep, and in that single hot minute, HMS Anson had avenged the terrible losses just suffered by the British. It took a minute for Captain Drake to realize what he had just accomplished. They had even bested the remarkable attack that had been made by HMS Triumph in the Med, when Captain Peter Hill had scored three hits on a Chinese TF.

“My god,” said Drake. “We’ve buggered them good.”

“Torpedo in the water!” There was no time to celebrate.

“Come right, and circle to 130 degrees southeast. Ahead flank.”

Anson danced in the deep, another YU-7, this time off the hunting helicopter, was now hot in its wake, but the quick maneuver had confused it. The torpedo lost contact, circled, reacquired, and started its attack run. But the British sub had put on speed, and it would evade this lance as well, by the narrowest margin.

The British sonar was now tracking three more Chinese ships, all coming up to assist their stricken comrades. Word of the attack was flashed to every ship in the fleet, and Admiral Sun Wei was red faced with anger. He knew he had made the same mistake as his comrades had made in the Med.

Fools rush in, he thought, and then issued a fleet wide order for all ships to post ASW patrols, with pickets assigned to sprint and drift, and advancing ships were to take evasive maneuvers and alter course immediately. It was the old zig-zag, not as viable a tactic as it had been in WWII, but better than simply rushing ahead in his mad pursuit of the British carriers.