TF Amethyst

TFA2 20.2 - Sea Blockade

 

In the war strategy room at frigate Toppo-01, Admiral Jarros kept taking a deep sigh. Previously, he decided that Sommer Island had to be seized as quickly as possible to minimize the damage. So he scrapped Duke Fogel’s plan to soften the defensive line on Sommer Island by launching a continued salvo of footbow and trebuchets. From the first wave of attack, he directly sent the landing troops.

 

Unfortunately, his decision was met with a catastrophic failure. The defender wiped out the landing troop to the last man. And now, even though the number of warships under his command was still quite huge, he knew for sure it would not be enough to conquer Sommer Island. He also couldn't put the whole fleet at risk of getting wiped out without consulting it first with Prince Dellan.

 

And so, Admiral Jarros asked Prince Dellan to decide the next step he had to take. After waiting for three hours, one of the staff officers finally approached him while holding a portable crystal communicator.

 

“Admiral, Prince Dellan wanted to talk with you in private.”

 

“I see."

 

The staff officer immediately handed over the crystal communicator before leaving. Admiral Jarros then started the long-range conversation.

 

“Your Highness, I'm ready to receive your instruction.”

 

[Admiral, I had read the report you sent. For now, just maintain a blockade on Sommer Island from a safe distance.]

 

“Your Highness, even if I put up the blockade, TF Amethyst's aerial asset is still continuing to land on Sommer Island. So far, our crystal sensor has detected that at least two flights have landed over there.”

 

[The point is that you shouldn’t provoke them, but you have to be ready to take decisive action when the time is right. 

 

They put a serious defensive measure on this small rocky island. It means they put something valuable over there, and I want you to seize it no matter what the cost is.]

 

“As you wish, Your Highness.”

 

[Good.] After a moment of pause, Prince Dellan continued, [Actually, my situation is also not too good. I lost around 300 Riders in the span of two hours.] 

 

In an instant, a deep shock flashed in Admiral Jarros’ eyes, but he managed to suppress it. “Buriek’s Rider definitely used the same tactics as the ones they used to defend Sommer Island."

 

[It seems so. Unfortunately, we have no survivor to tell us the details. But at least, I managed to pull back the remaining Riders before they got wiped out.]

 

"Your Highness is wise," replied Admiral Jarros in a tone full of flattery.

 

[For now, I have switched my priority from conducting heavy harassment to securing human shields. I predict the survivors of our harassment tactic will go to the nearby fortress city after sunset. I will send cavalry elements to intercept and capture them.

 

Once I have enough human shields, I will send some to you, along with Riders and landing troops. Then, you can continue your offensive.]

 

“Understood, Your Highness.”

 

[Good. Keep sending me daily update, even if there is no new development.]

 

“As you wish, Your Highness.”

 

Once the conversation ended, Admiral Jarros immediately smiled. Initially, he thought Prince Dellan would replace him, but it seemed he still had a chance to fix his failure.

 

‘As long as I have enough Riders, landing troops, and human shields, the defensive line on Sommer Island will crumble sooner or later,’ muttered Admiral Jarros as a cold gleam flashed in his eyes.

 

---   

 

At noon, Lt. Colonel Gillray went to one of the ammunition depots in FRS Goblin. During the trip, he met Buriek's sailor who had just harvested the arrows from the second defensive line.

 

All of the Kingdom of Buriek's elite units had already adopted the rapid-loading crossbow as their primary weapon, but the regular and reserve units were still using footbow and longbow. Therefore, the arrows would be very useful for them. Not to mention, it was numbered for more than 20.000 arrows.

 

'They are very casual, even though this station is still on high alert,' muttered Lt. Colonel Gillray as he parked his Humvee.

 

Then, as soon as he entered the ammunition depot, Lt. Colonel Gillray immediately saw some mechanics using a pulley to install 16 Harpoons into four Mk.141 Launching Systems. Wasting no time, he immediately approached Major Hannesson. 

 

“Major, do we have problems deploying the Harpoon?"

 

"Technically, we are good, but I have other concerns, Sir."

 

"Well, I'm all ears."

 

Without delay, Major Hannesson explained, “The Harpoons are already armed and packed in the launching canister. So we don’t need to assemble them. It makes our job easier, but it also makes each Hercules only able to carry eight Harpoons on each trip. Overall, it will take 72 hours before all Harpoons from Sandhur Region arrive here.

 

Not only a lot of things may happen while the Harpoon is being airlifted, but the number is also too small. So, instead of Harpoon, why don't we ask for additional ammo for our existing weapon systems? Considering that this morning they were very effective in defending this station."

 

In a calm tone Lt. Colonel Gillray replied, “I had sent that request to Castle Lagra. They agree and the next pair of Hercules will bring us spare parts and ammo for our Ripper and other toys. The amount will be enough to increase our capability to defend this station for the next ten days.”

 

"I see."

 

“At the same time, until the Ashore Aegis Combat System in this station receives its missiles, Harley Quinn decides to station the entire Harpoon here."

 

“Understood, Sir.” After taking a breath full of relief Major Hannesson continued, “Now, about the Harpoon launching procedure. Before I explain it, may I know how deeply you understand this issue, Sir?”

 

“Major, I have zero technical knowledge or experience on Harpoon,” Lt. Colonel Gillray replied honestly.

 

After nodding his head a few times, Major Hannesson started explaining, “Harpoon is actually a simple system. We can launch it from Hornet, Poseidon, small attack craft, land-based launcher, or Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. 

 

The launching console needs only one table, one operator, and a small power supply. After setting the coordinates and the course for the target, the operator can launch one Harpoon into the air.

 

However, it will need a 22-second interval between each launch. And as Castle Lagra sent us 10 launching consoles, our rate of fire will be 10 Harpoons every 22 seconds.”

 

“It's too low." Lt. Colonel Gillray pondered for a moment before continuing, "Can you connect the launching console to our Aegis and shorten the launching interval?"

 

“I already did.” Major Hannesson calmly continued, “But Harpoon is not part of Aegis Combat System and it doesn’t have time-share radar illumination capability to enable engaging multiple targets in quick succession. It will still need a 22-second interval between each launch." 

 

In an instant, Lt. Colonel Gillray frowned. As a former USAF officer, he had to pass Aegis Combat System’s course before becoming CO of FRS Goblin. So he knew that in a configuration of 96-cell Vertical Launcher, Aegis Combat System could send 12 missiles to 12 different targets in one go, even though the doctrine dictated that each high-level threat had to be intercepted by two missiles to increase the rate of success.

 

As for FRS Goblin which was equipped with a total of 64-cell Vertical Launcher, it would be able to send eight missiles in one go towards four mid-size dragons that came from four different directions. However, in the Aegis Combat System's course, he did not find a class that discussed Harpoon. Now, he knew the reason.

 

“Damn. No wonder the Navy wants to kick Harpoon out of Burke-class destroyer.” 

 

Major Hannesson gave a nod and said, “In the Cold War, we need every single missile we have at disposal. That’s why the Navy put Harpoon in the first-generation Arleigh Burke-class. However, when the Cold War ended, Harpoon lost its main value, the huge number of stockpiles. 

 

This is one of the reasons why XO can procure 800 Harpoons silently. Unfortunately, so far less than half of the number has arrived.”

 

“I see.” After taking a deep breath, Lt. Colonel Gillray then turned his gaze to Major Hannesson. “Major, I will bear it in mind, 10 Harpoons every 22 seconds.”

 

“Yes, Sir.”

 

After some small talk, Lt. Colonel Gillray then returned to Command Center.

*****