Chapter 268
Comrade Admiral of the Union Lucas stood on the hill where ComPac headquarters were since the dawn of time and looked out over the expanse of Pearl Harbour, where at last, after almost a year of war, the last damages of the massive Japanese attack were being cleared up, even though the twisted metal of what had been one Americans newest Carriers[1], APNS Liberty could still be seen. The wreck of the carrier wasn't blocking the entrance, so the removal was a low priority. Battleship Row on the other hand had been cleared immediately, and even now two Carriers were moored there and APNS Karl Marx[2] was steaming past the Liberty to meet her escorts.
“Comrade Admiral, the staff is waiting.”
Admiral Lucas turned around and briskly walked back into the Headquarters. Like most senior Officers in the American Military he was incredibly young for his job by European standards, but unlike the Stalin after the Purges, the Polit Bureau in Washington had learned the hard way that the important appointments needed to be guided by ability, especially during the war. There was still an emphasis placed on political reliability of course, but Lucas' predecessor had been politically reliable but utterly unsuited for this job, he now commanded the Fishery Protection forces on the West Coast of the continental Union.
Inside the almost palatial Headquarters the staff was sitting in not very comfortable Army-issue metal chairs around an improvised map table.
“Comrades, the situation is, to put it bluntly, FUBAR.” Lucas opened. “Since the Japs took Midway, we've had three more Carrier raids on this very base, and frankly I am sick of it. Washington agrees and has directed the Pacific Fleet to do something about that. The problem with that is that they still outnumber us almost three to one in Carriers, not speaking of their Battle Line and seem to have no intention of diverting their attentions south like we hoped. That is probably because the British have reinforced the Allied Pacific Fleet yet again, this time with an Australian and a Canadian Carrier, and the Japs know that the Limeys have come a long way since the Nazis trashed their Home Fleet. Sooner or later they will have to take care of them, but Intelligence indicates that the Japs want to take us out completely first before turning on the Allied Forces in the south. Without taking Singapore, the remaining Dutch Colonies and maybe even Australia they can't drive the Allies from the Pacific, and they know that even our small fleet is too big a threat to leave at the flank.”
Lucas paused and then looked at his Intelligence Officer.
“Jack, what can our Comrades in Intelligence tell us about British intentions?”
“Nothing much new, Comrade Admiral. Since they changed their military and diplomatic Codes last month,[3]we can only rely on what they actually tell us and that isn't much beyond staking out operational areas.”
There was a hint of disapproval in the Officer's voice. He was one who had argued against the agreement as it stood now. True, Island hopping through the central Pacific along the Midway-Wake-Iwo-Jima route was the shortest way to the Japanese Home Islands, but that left everything south of Guam and Okinawa to the British, most importantly the Philippines, which, in the eyes of especially the young Guard of post-Civil War Officers in the Navy, were rightfully part of the American sphere of influence. Of course many also believed that the Philippines would eventually drift into the American sphere anyway as the British had never had long-term interests in the central Pacific, and even if they did not, they posed no threat the the American position in the World's largest ocean.
“In any case,” he went on, “the British are quite obviously gearing up for offensive operations once the monsoon period ends. Before they changed their codes we intercepted a message that indicated that the Canadian Marine Division was shipped to Java, and during the last port visit I myself saw a large assembly of ships, landing craft and supplies at Darwin and from stories that were told..under the influence...a small Island off Perth..Garden Island I believe.. is being enlarged massively. All this indicates that in 1943 the British plan on going onto the offensive, Comrades.”
“What about our own actions?” the Pac-Com Information officer asked.
Lucas answered this one. “Comrade, we can do nothing this year but try and interdict these f**king Jap Carrier Raids on these Islands. We are going to get three more Carriers by New Years, but before that the disparity in Carrier Decks is too overwhelming.”
Before the Party man could protest, the Admiral raised a hand. “However, in 1943 we will not only have close to equality in the number of Carrier decks but also we will have most of our shore-based Air Squadrons re-equipped.”
That made the Air Force representative cringe. The APAF had been mauled even more than the Navy, almost 15% of its pre-war strength had been lost in the last year, and what remained was equipped with obsolescent and obsolete planes.
Taking his cue he spoke up.
“Comrades, that is my cue. By next year we will have phased out the remaining B-21 and -22 flying with our bombing Squadrons; while our Fighters will finally be getting the improved F-40 mod-41.”
XF-40 mod-41 prototype.[4]
“We started production of the mod-41 or rather the F-40/41 under the new designation system some six weeks ago, and the first Squadron should have finished converting to them by the end of the month. They are slated to be transferred to here way before that though, in fact they are scheduled to arrive tomorrow.”
“Just a flight of B-17s coming in from the mainland...” Captain Tyler, in command of the Air Defence Radars around the harbour said, quoting the unfortunate Officer who had held the same command during the Day of Infamy.
“Comrade Admiral,” he went on, “we have around three full Squadrons worth of -40/39s on Ohahu alone. I request permission to use a few of them to calibrate the Radars in my Command, most of the new systems haven't even been fully tested yet, and we don't want to repeat the unfortunate performance of the Day of Infamy.”
“So granted, Comrade Captain.” nodded Lucas.
“Comrades, what remains now is to determine our course of action beyond the parameters forwarded from our leadership. Ironically we have the landing craft and the fleet train to do it, what we are chronically short of is Capital ships. The Joint Chiefs have laid out a broad strategy and we must be prepared to implement it next year no matter what. I believe that we all know that the liberation of Midway Island must be our first priority....”
Strategy discussions went on for several more hours and by the time the sun sank at the end of the day, the American Pacific Command had hammered out a very, very rough plan which would soon be given to the various sub-committees for detail planning, because quite obviously the old Warplan Orange wasn't going to happen.
“Comrade Admiral, I almost forgot.” the Army Staffer said. “It seems the engineers have finally solved the problem of Tanks.”
That was the biggest failure of the American War Industry. American Tank development had essentially screeched to a halt when the U.S. Army Arsenals had been destroyed in the fighting and much to the shame of the American Army the Japanese had outpaced them recently. The last battles, especially on Guam, had shown that the L3/39[5] Light Tanks were outclassed by the Japanese Type 1, and Washington knew that the European Armies had Armour that was several generations beyond that, in fact when the British Ambassador and the military attaché had witnessed the Victory day Parade last June it was clear that they had been less than underwhelmed by the display of the 44th Independent Tank Brigade, in spite of the diplomatic niceties that had been exchanged. The American Embassy in London had reported back that the latest British Tanks wouldn't even notice the paltry 37mm gun of the L3, and rumour had it that even the improved copy of the L3 that the British were using with their Cavalry on the balkans were due to be replaced by, of all things, an upgraded variant of their own Valentine Light Tank that had seen limited production before the War and the British abandonment of the Light Tank idea.
“This, Comrade Admiral, is the M4/40 Medium Tank. We have tested the gun against all known forms of armour, ours, theirs and even the few lights the limeys gave us, and it can penetrate all of them easily, especially with the high-velocity AP shells we developed.”
“How soon?”
“Apparently 1st Tank Division is already half-way through the conversion and can be expected to be operational within two-three months, but since we will have to break them up into independent brigades anyway until we reach the Japanese mainland the first brigade is ready for deployment...end of the week. They are unloading from the transports as we speak, Comrade Admiral.”
[Notes: Comments, questions, rotten tomatoes?]
[1] Think of it as an additional Yorktown, no OTL equivalent.
[2] What? I suck at making up names from a different cultural realm than my own, and besides, this AAR is focusing on the other Anglophone Navy.
[3] Courtesy of Admiral Canaris.
[4] NO BUFFALOS! You know who you are.
[5] Basically the M5 Stuart.
[6] M4A1, with a slightly less useless gun. No, I am not a fan of the 75mm. Oh and of course a Diesel engine. All American military vehicles have one.