Джон Шеттлер - Condition Zebra - The Next War - 2025

The fourth ship Anson had hit was the Type 052D class destroyer Kanji , but it had only been damaged. Now it was turning for Mombasa as it fought to control flooding, escorted by the frigate Weifang . That effort would fail, and Drake would later learn that Kanji would capsize and sink enroute, making his attack a perfect four for four.

It was a spectacular success, completely disrupting the entire southern arm of the Chinese fleet. With four ships sunk and three more rescuing survivors, it had taken seven Chinese ships out of the fight, and Admiral Sun Wei had already detached four ships that had exhausted all their SAM’s in the fight, sending them home. This had reduced his fleet from twenty ships to nine, and now he gave orders to reduce speed, post ASW patrols and consolidate his remaining force.

When Admiral Wells received the report on the exploits of HMS Anson , he was very gratified. “Finally something the navy got right,” he said to Captain Kemp.

“That bloody well evens the score, sir,” said Kemp.

“Perhaps,” said Wells. “Honor is assuaged, if nothing else. Any word from Howe ?”

“There was no report in the last fleet update cycle,” said Kemp.

“Well let’s hope she’s lying low and still in the hunt.”

HMS Howe was indeed lying low, but she was not in the hunt any longer. The sub lay broken and lost, found by two Z-9 helicopters off a destroyer she had been stalking, Yingshen , the Eagle God . The attack sub had crept into the midst of the Chinese fleet, picked that target, and then sonar was unable to process a good firing solution. The boat hovered, trying to resolve the contact, but the alert put out by Admiral Sun Wei had been taken to heart. The destroyer immediately launched a helicopter, and dipping sonar had found Howe just six miles off the port side of the destroyer.

Needless to say, the Eagle God turned and ran, and also launched a second helicopter. In the ensuing game of cat and mouse, the mouse lost this time out, and a torpedo sent Howe to the bottom, her hull crushed and broken, over 11,000 feet deep.

Built just after Anson , it was the first boat in the class whose name did not begin with the letter A, and some said that would be bad luck. In fact, it was the only sub that had violated that unwritten rule in any submarine class still active in the navy. Others had said that modifications to the design of the sub actually warranted giving it a new class, and making it the lead boat in that instance. Two others were being built, and to reinforce this notion, they were to be named Holland and Hood , after two other famous British Admirals.

Wells would not get confirmation on the loss for some time, his mind now firmly focused on matters at hand. He had turned his back on the Chinese, and seen them claw at him as he withdrew, at great cost. The loss of Vengeance and her escorts still burned, but he subdued his emotions, and looked to the day ahead. He launched the last of the three planes in Sundog flight to take up the early warning watch. The ship had Merlins for AEW, but they were nowhere near as good as an F-35.

“Captain, our oilers are trailing behind, so I’ll want them covered. Launch six more fighters for that watch. Then I think we should try and dissuade the Chinese from making any further advance. We’ll move to the Tomahawks now. Target their leading ships.”

“Right, sir.”

Wells was thinking he would have liked to storm out after them with his fighters, but they had all rearmed with meteors for a defensive role. They can see where we’re headed, he thought. They must know that we’re going to take the Seychelles from their greedy grasp, but if they come any closer, they would have the landing ships in missile range of those YJ-18’s. So in spite of my urge to use the carriers offensively, I think it remains wise to keep the fighters in a defensive role. We’ve already lost too many ships in this fight, and SAM’s are running thin.

So what is this Chinese Admiral thinking?

He’s now 700 miles east of his supporting airfields and harbors in East Africa. His force has been attrited, as ours, but he still represents a powerful threat, and as long as he stays there, with those ports to sustain him, nothing can move round the Cape for the Middle East. All shipping is being held in South African ports until this issue is resolved, one way or another.

There were only three ships left in his task force that had missiles able to reach the pursuing Chinese ships. They were Dragon and Daring escorting Prince of Wales , which each carried Multi-Mission Tomahawks, and then Argos Fire, which still had 32 Long Range ASM’s. The shot he had just ordered over his shoulder used up 16 Tomahawks, without any confirmed hits. That now left him with a total of 64 missiles that he could use in any ranged combat with the enemy. After losing the TF Vengeance , he also had 64 Naval Strike Missiles, but the fight would have to be inside 100 miles for those.

We carry on, he thought. We cover the mission to occupy the Seychelles, and make that a Royal Navy base for the duration of this bloody war. I can only imagine what the headlines on this scrap will be like in London tomorrow. We’ve just had our Isandlwana here, but by God, Anson has given us our Roark’s Drift.

Captain MacRae might have known what Wells meant with that thought, as he had been explaining it all to Elena just before they suddenly found themselves literally swallowed by the famous hill of Isandlwana, which delivered them right into the history he had been pontificating on.

The battle had been a disaster, but the heroic defense of the mission and supply station at Roark’s Drift, where 120 men held off 4000 Zulus, was trumpeted by the London press. The government lavished Victoria Crosses on more men than in any other battle in British history. Would Anson’s stunning reprisal be enough to tamp down the hue and cry over the losses the fleet had sustained?

The blow had been a hard one, but Admiral Wells pressed stoically on towards his objective at Victoria, and every mile the Chinese fleet followed him took them further from their support bases in East Africa.

If you were to ask someone where the Seychelles were, they might respond that you could find them on many beaches, thinking you had asked about sea shells. The islands were nearly a thousand nautical miles from East Africa, and seldom in any news cycle. That was the way the locals liked it, living their quiet lives on a little island paradise… until war came.

The Royal Marine landing on the main island of the Seychelles at Victoria would be swift and painless, or so it was believed. The country had no military to speak of, a force of about 400 men tasked with maritime security and anti-piracy operations. Their “order of battle” included six BRDM-2 APC’s and six M-43 82mm Mortar Carriers, all unserviceable. Their lone RPG-7 rocket launcher wouldn’t work, nor would any of the SA-7 Strela air defense missiles. Their navy had a handful of small patrol boats donated by other countries, and their air force had eight planes, mostly for maritime patrol, with no combat role. The single battalion they fielded included a few troops of the so called Barbaron Commandos, but on the 20th of November, at the appointed time of 20:00, they were scheduled to make the acquaintance of real commandos, Number 47 Commando, the Royal Marines Raiding Group.