Admiral Collins was conspicuous by his absence. He was still aboard his
flag, the Guadalcanal, and had delegated his interest in the planning
session to Howell. In a way, Coyote thought, that was good. They could
brainstorm some rather wild possibilities here, without being
immediately overruled by the conservative MEU commander.
“At ease, gentlemen,” Brandt said. Walking to his accustomed place at
one side of the chart table, instead of Admiral Tarrant’s usual spot at
the head, he nodded to the others in the room. “Okay, people. We’ve had
to endure a lot of sudden changes, and chances are this is just the
beginning. I’d like to tell all of you, before we set out, that I have
no idea how I’m to fill Admiral Tarrant’s shoes. I’m not half the man he
was, not half the strategist, and I’m feeling a bit out of my depth. I’m
counting on each and every one of you here to see me through this thing,
to help keep me from making an ass of myself and putting this battle
group in jeopardy.”
He paused a moment, looking from face to face. “Okay. We’re here, as you
all know by now, to discuss our options. I don’t need to tell any of
you, I’m sure, that our situation as of this morning is not very
promising. Some of us have been working on the various alternatives that
have presented themselves, however.
“Let’s hear from you first, CAG.”
Coyote hesitated. It was the first time anyone had referred to him
officially by that unfamiliar title, and he still wasn’t very
comfortable with it.
Of course, he thought, Jeremy Brandt must be having the same problem
with his new role as admiral and CO of the whole battle group.
“Our major problem,” he told the others, “isn’t tactical. We’re more or
less hamstrung until we get definitive orders from Washington, and it
could be a day or so before that happens. In the meantime, all we can
really do is button up and maintain our own operational security.
“We are, however, maintaining full CAP coverage, and we’re continuing to
fly ASW patrols. We are also beginning to make plans for some sort of
operation aimed at getting CAG–Captain Magruder, I mean–and the rest
of the Americans ashore out of hostile territory.” He smiled. “We’ve
code-named it Operation Ranger, after John Paul Jones’s ship.”
“I thought that was the Bonhomme Richard,” Commander Barnes, the Air
Boss, said.
“Just for his big I’ve-not-yet-begun-to-fight engagement,” Coyote said.
“Before that, his ship was the Ranger.”
He pointed to the large chart, which showed the Crimean coastline.
Jefferson and the other ships of the CVBG, along with the vessels of
MEU-25, were all plotted, along with the current CAP tracks and ASW
patrols. A number of points had been marked in red, extending in a
ragged arc along the battle group’s perimeter. “Our principal tactical
problem is the Russian overflights, of course,” Coyote continued. “Their
attempted overflights. In the past five hours, our aviators have carried
out seven interceptions of various Russian naval aircraft, ranging from
Mig-29s to a Badger-G attack plane.”
During the bad old days of the Cold War, encounters between Russian
reconnaissance aircraft probing both the material and psychological
readiness of the American carrier defenses had been common. Most
aviators had treated it as a kind of a game, a way to show off to the
Russians and even pick up a souvenir or two. There’d been plenty of
cases of trades arranged by sign language or radio between bomber and
Tomcat crews–a Russian fur cap for a copy of Playboy, for instance. For
the most part, though, the Russian bomber pilots had tested the American
defenses, noting how soon they were intercepted by the Tomcats and how
far they could press the Tomcats before being forced to change course.
There’d been several accidents during the closest of those encounters,
but no cases of missiles or gunfire exchanged.
The situation was far more uncertain here, with the Americans completely
in the dark about Russian intentions. Any of those approaching aircraft
could be loaded with ship-killers intended for an all-out assault on the
Jefferson. Each had to be met and, if possible, turned aside.