Reich Marshal of the Belkan Reich

RM Vol 2: National Development – Chapter 27: Hero of Comberth Harbor (Part 1)

Calm wind with and a clear sky, the Balear Sea will make for a fine sunny grave for an untold number of sailors today. Admiral Matias Torres has such an idle thought like that as standing tall on the bridge of the Tanager, a Littorio class battleship. She, alongside seven other vessels, is what makes up an interception task force. Their goal is to block the advance of the Sardegnian Navy, buying time for the total evacuation of the ships stationed at Comberth Harbor.

Now that Torres has the time to think about stuff on the open sea, the situation is ironic on many levels. The Spanish Inquisition Navy was funded by the Sardegnian Papacy for a period of time. Hence both sides use the same ship classes and mostly the same tactics in the Mediterranean. The departure from those is that Torres drills his Navy to the highest standard of skills to counter the Erusea presence in Gibraltar. An action the Papacy Navy disregards, failing to see the point in a rigorous training regime and being overconfident in their naval strength of a hundred surface ships. And unlike the freshly refitted ships of his interception force, the current Sardegnian Navy still hasn't incorporated technologies that are radar and sonar. However, these can be offset in visual range by their great optical rangefinder and fire-control system. This is why it's imperative for Torres and his force to kite the enemy.

"Sir," Torres' XO reported. "We received intel from the Belkan submarines. They're tailing the enemy convoy and have updated us on their location and composition. The enemy is 70 km away from us to the Northeast."

Torres then watches as the XO sketches a few lines on the naval map of the Mediterranean, showcasing the new position of the enemy fleet. Analyzing the map, Torres comments.

"They're running later than expected."

"It's probably due to the fact that this is the first major conflict the Sardegnian Navy has had in a long while. Their organization is not as good as they hoped." The XO hypothesized, earning a small nod from Torres.

"Whatever the case, we now know where they are. Change course Northbound. We will cut straight into the enemy's path before kiting them utilizing our superior range." Torres ordered, leaving the XO to handle the fleet maneuver while he headed outside.

As the Tanager gently turns to port, Torres lays his eyes on the rest of his force. Trailing the stern of the Tanager are the Santiago and the Biscay. They are the Zara, and Trento class heavy cruisers respectively. Forming a protective screening around the heavy fighters are the two Condottieri class light cruisers, Filip and Luis, alongside the three destroyers of the group. For the upcoming naval engagement, the lighter vessels are mostly there to deploy smoke screens and to hunt down the fast-moving Sardegnian destroyers. If there's one thing Torre is wary about then that is being swarmed by dozens of fast-moving torpedo ships. No matter how good their sonar is, they can't dodge a hundred torpedoes at the same time.

"Admiral, radar spotted enemy aircraft. Most probably enemy spotters, sir." The radar officer reported. "Though it seems they still haven't seen us yet."

"Relay their location to our CAP. I want them shot down to maintain our element of surprise." Torres said. 

Though he talked about surprise and all that, it's more like he doesn't want the enemy to split up and block his path, while the rest goes on their merry way. He wants them to bunch up into one big family before sending them to hell.

With the request for Combat Air Patrol coming through, Torres soon receives the good news that all their enemy spotters are shot down. However, the enemy fighters sortie in response, and their CAP is forced to lead them on a wild goose chase, meaning no air cover for the upcoming battle. Torres is not afraid, however, if intel is anything to go by, the Papacy has no bombers to field. Even if that's the case, the additional AA armament they have are more than enough to counter them. Anyway, the short time sailing till they reach radar range will be unbothered by enemy fliers. That's a fact Torres is thankful for.

The rest of the voyage is spent in a tense calmness, saved for a few regular reports here and there. Torres is once again pleased by the professionalism his men exuded, even before a seemingly one-sided battle. The Admiral is pulled out of his musing when the XO reports that they've spotted their enemy.

"Sir, radar has spotted the enemy fleet. Range, 45 km, due East, North-East. As expected, the heart of the enemy formation is three battleships. We're working on identifying the ships in the enemy formation now, sir."

Torres nods, ordering. "Fleet at half speed. Lay a course bearing 350. Guns lay bear on the bearing of the lead enemy battleship. Only fire when they are 35 km away from us."

"Yes, Admiral!" 

With the XO running off to perform his task, Torres is left to his own device. "Now we wait."

As he feels the Tanager making a gentle steer to the left, the Spanish Admiral falls into contemplation. Torres decided that an opening range of 35 km is the best they can go for, even if the 381 mm guns on the Tanager have a theoretical range of 42 km. At that range and even with the addition of a radar FCS, the shells will disperse too much with less than a 5% chance to hit. 35 km, which is still beyond the visual range of the enemy, is a nice middle ground for a few early salvos on the Sardegnians.

It still has to be said that they can shorten the distance extremely fast though. Both sides use high-speed cruisers and destroyers so by sending them ahead to flank the Inquisition Navy, they can buy time for the battleships to get into visual range and retaliate. Torres does have a few tricks to deny them such a maneuver, sadly, most tricks require a few more ships to pull off. Ships he doesn't have, unfortunately.

With both fleets getting closer and closer, the radar operator also gets a clearer picture of the enemy formation. Though he did not become a shaking mess, Torres can see the lad tenses up as he relays ballistic data to the gunnery officers of the Tanager. As both sides gradually reach the promised 35 km mark, the guns on the Tanager turn to prepare the opening salvo.

Before that though, the XO updates the naval map with the classification of the enemy ship. Surprisingly, the leading battleship is not a Littorio but a Conte di Cavour. An imperceptible frown appears on Torres' face for a second at this information. There are pros and cons to putting a slower capital ship ahead of a quicker one, but it's stupid when you also sandwiched the quicker ship, a Littorio, with another slow ship from behind. When the need arises for the quicker capital ship to lead the charge, it will have to break formation and the resulting act will be formation hell. Whoever is leading the enemy sure forgot his brain back in Sardegna.

Regardless, it will be an advantage Torres is willing to utilize. Aside from the battleships, it also seems like the enemy aircraft carrier is not with the battleships' force but further behind them. Coincidentally, the enemy convoy can be separated into two fleets. The leading fleet is the capital ships fleet with the biggest guns and protected by half their smaller vessels. The trailing fleet is the transports, guarded by the aircraft carrier Aquila and the rest of their fleet. 

"Alert the fleet, the Tanager is now targeting the leading enemy Conte di Cavour. Have them on standby for high-speed interception and torpedo evasion." Having gathered enough information, Torres deemed it fit to say. "Fire on my mark."

Taking a look at the deck guns, Torres' experience allows him to have a mental countdown till the XO will come up to report that they're in range. "5...4...3...2...1."

"Admiral! The enemy breached the 35 km line!"

With a wave of his hand, Torres gives the order with a grin on his face. "Fire!"

All nine 381 mm L/50 Ansaldo guns unleash hell per his call.

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Hidden beneath the waves, some ten kilometers away from the leading Sardegnian fleet, is a Nassau class submarine, the Tannenberg. Thanks to the high magnification of the periscope, the Captain of the Tannenberg can even see the coffee mug on the hand of a Sardegnian sailor. Scanning the horizon, the female Captain fails to see anything amiss. Well, aside from the fact that the enemy is spooked due to their spotters being shot down. Thankfully, only the aircraft complement from the SMS Aquila was sortied, the rest of the enemy fleet performed no further action than continuing their leisurely voyage.

It's about to change, however.

"Captain Martha." Turning over to her right-hand man, Martha awaits his report. "The Tanager has open fired on the leading Conte di Cavour. ETA 20 seconds till impact."

"I see, status on the Stuttgart?" The RMS Stuttgart is the second Nassau class to be active in the AO.

"They're shadowing the transport fleet. Just like us, they're still undetected."

"Let's keep it that way until the torpedo bombers arrive. By that time, we will have free reign on dealing out some damage." Martha said while she returned to view the enemy battleship.

"Yes ma'am. Hopefully, we will be able to affect the outcome of this battle in a meaningful way." Her aide said, clearly sympathetic to the Spanish.

Martha responds with. "We're but two subs, Mark. Deadly ones, yes, but you have to know that High Command specifically ordered us to launch all of our bow tubes and get the hell out. Meaning we won't be hanging around to help out the Inquisition Navy, even if we wanted to." This earns a nod from Mark the aide. "It's up to High Command to plan how this war will proceed."

"The fishes are calibrated to target the transports, ma'am. The guys in the torpedo rooms are rearing to test out the torps on actual enemy vessels."

"They won't have to wait for long..." Martha then starts a countdown. "5...4...3...2...1... Splash."

Water columns suddenly rose amid the formation of the Papacy battleships, temporarily obstructing her vision of the leading enemy vessels. When the columns of seawater die down, Martha zooms in on the enemy ships, scanning for any damage. 

"Report this to the Tanager: One shell hit on the leading Conte. Moderate damage to its port side. The rest of the shells are dispersed in a 300 meters radius around the ship. The enemy is scrambling." Martha ordered the comms officer.

The man promptly communicates with the Tanager about the effectiveness of the firing solution. A dozen seconds later, he reports. "Captain, the Tanager just fired another salvo."

"Let's see whether it strikes gold then." Martha acknowledged the report.

Even though the Conte di Cavour was struck with a surprise attack, it befuddled Martha to see that the enemy still hasn't reacted overtly. "Why the hell are they still sticking to the same course? That's just clearly asking for trouble." 

"Take a look at this, Mark." Martha stepped away from the periscope, letting Mark takes her place. 

"What the...? And... another shell lands on the stern of the Conte. Though I think it's an overpen, the ship may or may not have a leaking bottom." Mark said, clearly amused by the action of the Sardegnians. "Are they that stupid to not notice the fact that the enemy is beyond visual range?"

"Seems to be that way." Martha snickered. "Continues to relay the situation to the Tanager. Though they're asleep now, they may wake up soon."

"Yes, Captain."

"Speaking of the Tanager. The first salvo hit the target somewhere around 32 to 33 km away from the Tanager. That's gotta be a record, I reckon." Martha commented.

"That's way past the previous record by 10 km or so, I think. That hawkeye Admiral sure is a miracle worker for the Spanish Navy." Mark added.

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On the other side of the periscope, the Sardegnians are scampering about in confusion aboard the Enrico Dandolo as they were hit two times in quick succession. As the crew is working to stop the aft flooding, the Captain of the Enrico reports to his Fleet Admiral about the general situation.

"As I said, we are unable to maintain our cruising speed! We need you to take the lead in the formation!" The Captain of the Enrico almost shouted his spittle over the comms. "That's the point! We don't know where the shells are coming from! The guys on the tower are unable to see any smoke on the horizon, much less a damn ship!"

The Admiral on the other end then says something that causes the Captain to stop for a second. "... I see. We will be turning starboard and letting the Roma take point. After that, we will be falling in line with the Aquila."

Having said that, the Captain then orders the helmsman to break the formation and make way for the flagship. As the battleship Enrico Dandolo starts slowing down to let the transports catch up to her, the sky starts whistling before nine 381mm shells impact its previous position. 

Unwilling to endure being bombarded without seeing the enemy, the Admiral of the Sardegnian fleet sends out a detachment of six ships to scour the general direction where the shells are coming from. The six vessels are steaming forth at flank speed, determined to find the Inquisition Navy as soon as possible. Trailing behind them while performing a zigzag maneuver is the battleship fleet, maintaining a speed of 19 knots due to the low top speed of the Conte di Cavour class.

After eight minutes of being on the receiving end of four more salvos, with two hits causing moderate damage to a Trento class cruiser, the Admiral of the Papacy receives good news. The enemy has been spotted at bearing 257 and at a distance of 29 km away from the Roma. 

Ordering the main fleet to head for that bearing while telling the gunners to work on a firing solution by cooperating with the scouting ships, the Admiral has a twisted grin when he knows that the enemy is now on the run after being spotted.

"Run all you want but God wills you to sink!" A sense of overwhelming satisfaction arose in the depth of the Admiral's psyche when the Roma retaliates with her main guns.

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"Fleet to cruise speed. Divert to bearing 340." Torres ordered.

"Aye, aye, Admiral!"

The Admiral then asks. "Status on the six ships that are on approach?" 

" Two cruisers and four destroyers, sir. At the rate they're going, they should be looking to intercept us with a torpedo run."

"Sir! The Roma has opened up on us!"

Though he is unperturbed, Torres still tenses his voice in warning. "All hands, brace for impact!"

Five seconds later, harmless splashes arose around the Spanish formation. 

"Good, it seems like they are still stuck working on a proper firing solution for now." Torres commented. "Cease fire on the enemy battleship, I want all guns to train on the cruiser that is leading the torpedo attack. While secondaries aim for the nearest destroyers. Have the escorts do the same with the Condottieries and the destroyers prepare to charge in and finish the job on my command."

"I will relay the information right away!" Torres' XO ran to the comms station.

Torres then watches as the main turrets on the Tanager readjust for the new target, lowering their barrels while slightly turning to the right. He can also see a shift in his fleet formation with the escorts on the port side slowing down before reinforcing the starboard screen.

"Sir, firing solution acquire!"

"Open fire!" Torres waved his hand. The main batteries then sing, complemented by a significant amount of cruiser-level firepower from the fleet.

A multitude of shells then bombarded the six Sardegnian ships that dare to get closer than 20 km. It's noteworthy that the Tanager manages to score two more hits on the enemy Condottieri cruiser while it's unknown what ship hit an unlucky destroyer. The former received crippling damage to its stern while the latter seems to be better, only receiving light damage to its port bow. Not willing to be outdone, the enemy cruisers retaliate with their 152 mm guns. 

Due to the great optical rangefinder aboard both sides' vessels, acquiring a firing solution is easy enough. By the third salvos, the enemy cruisers have scored a strike on heavy cruiser Biscay. They report to Torres that the damage is moderate on the starboard side but above the waterline, still they did lose a secondary turret to the enemy. It's not good news considering that they need all the firepower they can get against a numerically superior force. And the long-range firepower from the enemy battleships isn't helping at all.

As the main guns on the Tanager scream vengeance again, Torres receives a report that an enemy destroyer has been sunk while another crippled. Picking up his binoculars, Torres quickly spotted the sinking vessel with the entirety of its topside burning up. He also sees another smoking destroyer falling behind the formation, turning tail and running away with a destroyed smokestack. Under the intense fire from the Inquisition Navy, the leader of the detachment has ordered for a smokescreen to be deployed but much to Torres' delight, the Tanager strikes true on the damaged enemy cruiser.

An explosion that rocks the open sea appears as the ship is torn half from a possible ammo explosion. If there's one weakness about a Condottieri is that it's very lightly armored, ammo storage being cook-offed is one of the top ways to go out aboard such vessels. The sailors aboard the Tanager can't help but whistle in good morale as a turret of the enemy Condottieri is shot high up into the sky by a pillar of blueish flame.

"Confirmed. Cruiser Raimondo Montecuccoli, sunk!" The XO reported. With one cruiser and a destroyer sunk, another destroyer limping away while the last three vessels are being battered by a plethora of shells, Torres is now confident enough to send out a clean-up crew. "Have Luis lead the destroyers out to mop them up before enemy reinforcement arrives. The last thing we want is to be overwhelmed by a dance party."

Receiving an affirmative from the XO, Torres returns his attention to the enemy. They're fortunate that the enemy mistakenly sent a small detachment first, this allows Torres to confidently thin out their number in advance. 

Right at the moment his vessels detach themselves to clean up the enemy scouts, a large caliber shell strikes the rear battery of the Tanager. Torres frowns as a high pitch noise reverberates across the ship. "High pitch is good, it means the AP shell bounced." He then watches as the XO runs to verify the damage.

True to his words, the XO soon lays down the ship intercom, saying. "Sir, C turret reports minimal damage by a bouncing shell. Though they will have to clean their ears later."

The jest from the crew doesn't fail to bring a smirk on Torres' face. "Outstanding."

The smirk is short-lived, however, the radar operator soon reports that a major enemy detachment is heading straight to them. "Inbound 11 vessels! One battleship, four heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, and four destroyers! Sir, it's the Roma!"

Torres' face is now full of seriousness as he hears that. "ETA?"

"Ten to fifteen minutes till they reach Luis' group at 30 knots!"

"I want them to deploy a smoke screen at five and prepare their torpedoes for the Roma and her cruiser escorts." Torres ordered as the last of the enemy scout vessels are sunk while shelling from the Roma landed harmlessly around the Tanager. "Formation to full!"

With the enemy being spearheaded by the Roma at a max speed of 30 knots, Torres knows that they have to incur a reduction in accuracy in exchange for a higher speed. The Sardegnians will catch up, sure, but not anytime soon. "Primaries on the Roma! Secondaries on the nearest enemy ship. All other vessels engage anything that comes close! Is the Luis ready with its torpedoes?"

"They just launched, sir, but the enemy has already taken an evasive maneuver before that!"

"We don't need them to hit, we need to buy time. Have Luis and the destroyers regroup with the Tanager. Be ready for a pincer attack by the enemy fast movers." Torres ordered. "Have the Air Force on standby with their bombers. Once we are done thinning the herd, they will be needed."

"Yes, Admiral!"

Suddenly, a shell hit the Biscay, causing a major explosion amidship. Torres snaps to the side, eyeballing a thick column of smoke and fire coming from the engine deck of the Biscay. It doesn't take a damage report to know that the Biscay's lost its primary propulsion. "Signal the Biscay to retreat. With a knocked out propulsion like that, she will be singled out by the Sardegnian in no time."

"... Will do, sir." The XO answered subduedly. 

Though they took out 6 enemy ships out of 37, they also lost 1 out of 8. With the Biscay heading out of the battle zone, a big chunk of their firepower follows it. By the time most of the enemy fleet is either sank or disabled, Torres has a feeling that only the Tanager will be left.