Standing on the bridge of the
Sovietsky Soyuz, Admiral and Commissar Kuznetsov couldn't help but wonder what was on the mind of the enemy.
Only one week ago, Germany had completed it's 3rd year of War, and the results could hardly be more devastating. Hitler's Navy was almost non-existent, thanks to the Red Fleet, his armies were colapsing on every front, even his once-renowed airforce was afraid to operate.
Kuznetsov was proud that his Navy was an important part of it, even now that the Kriegsmarine didn't dare leave port.
Just in the last month, the Black Sea Fleet helped break into Bulgarian controled territory...
...and the Naval Infantry again proved it's worth as an elite force in Cracow.
Back in Leningrad spirits were high as well. That reflected in productivity and busy minds. By the end of August new proposals on better Carriers were presented, considerably improving range, number of aircraft on board and defence capacities.
The Commissar was growing more and more convienced of the carrier's usefulness as support vessels, especially for recon tasks. The Americans were using them as offensive weapons, but apart from a lucky attack on
Bismarck, this remained an unproved strategy. The
Sovietsky Soyuz class, by contrast, was the most successful of the War.
Keen on not losing the edge on a new technology, but mindful that support was the only tested and proven use by the Red Fleet, the Commissar ordered even better models to be developed.
And he was still here, where he had been the whole month - off the Northwestern German coast, blockading Wilhelmshafen.
But today was different. Because today he finally recieved the report he'd been waiting for. The Marines took the harbour! They didn't capture any operational ships, but forced the Kriegsmarine out. And now he was waiting for it.
The wait was shorter than he'd expected.
Under Großadmiral Erich Raeder himself, the last German battleship didn't even try to go unoticed, knowing Kuznetsov had every avaliable recon plane in the air. Instead, he used the dozens upon dozens of stranded submarines to create a war with which to keep the Soviets away long enough for him to escape to the west.
It wasn't a bad idea, and the Soviet Admiral had to recognize to himself, he probably wouldn't have come up with something as good if it was him in this situation.
Then again, he wasn't in Raeder's situation. His Navy was larger, stronger, and in better shape. He didn't need any cunning tricks, he just needed to order an attack. And so he did.
The destroyers destroyed and scared many a submarine, and what they couldn't force down or to the side, they were ordered to ram. Same went for the larger ships.
Soon it was obvious the demoralized German crews had no wish to die for pointless last stands, and the capital ships of the Red Fleet quickly caught up with the damaged
Friedrich Der Große.
The outcome of a concentrated barrage by no less than 5 battleships was what the Admiral expected.
Admiral Kuznetsov finally could feel free to bask in Glory! The USSR had nothing more to fear from the seas, as the Kriegsmarine was no more!
Already a shadow of it's former self before, it was now rendered non-existent on the surface, and terrified to operate it's U-boat fleet.
...or almost so.
A mere 9 hours after the
Friedrich Der Große slipped under the waves, the last Romanian submarine, the
Delfinul, now under German command, was spotted heading for the Straight, possible to attempt to pass.
Free from his shore support duties by the taking of Varna, and feeling this symbol of fascist stubbornness should be erased once and for all, Admiral Golovko ordered an all out attack on this old submarine.
Considering his aircraft suited for the job, the captain of the
Minsk proceeded to orient his carrier into a position from which he could launch his small detachment of bombers.
Considering his cannons suited for the job, the Admiral ordered the battleships to open free fire on the submarine's direction.
4 hours later, with all survivors rescued, Admiral Golovko set sail to Sevastopol, as ordered, feeling his chances for career progression had been cut somewhat short...