Once again the carrier decks emptied as aircraft made their way to a number of air facilities within Ukraine and southern Russia. The goal was to make them unusable in the coming days and weeks. The aircraft rose into the night sky and made their way unhindered by Russian aircraft. Although the Russian radars were operating, no alerts were issued. Most of the coastal airfields had already been hit by the battleships and Farragut destroyers. This left the airfields deep in the frontier. There were a lot of them. Even the abandoned ones from the cold war were hit just to make sure they could not be used as a backup.
It took only six hours. The aircraft swooped in and hit their targets while the people on the ground slept. They awoke feeling the earth tremble and hearing the sounds of bombs exploding in their ears. The men dashed to their stations only to find fuel depots burning, planes shredded and the runways marked with great holes. Missile defense batteries had been strafed by the fighters. The only thing they could do was try and put out the flames.
At the main Black Sea air base near Gvardeyskoye a number of aircraft were making their approach. They were replacements for the aircraft lost the previous day. The American aviators were surprised to see the base lit up and the runway lights on. It made it easier to do their jobs. Using their infrared optics and the link to avoid the incoming aircraft, they simply lined up ahead of the others and dropped their weapons. The Russian pilots panicked as they saw the base disintegrate before their eyes. Several banked away only to strike other planes in their formation. After dropping their weapons, the Americans turned and circled in behind the Russians, still trying to figure out what to do. Heat seeking missiles filled the air, downing thirty aircraft. By the time the Russian air controllers got in control, the Americans were already long gone.
***
The battleship Wisconsin turned her guns to starboard. She was within five miles of the coastal city of Vinogradar with its large airport. Using only the link and the few navigation points it could see, the navigator had plotted the ship’s exact position. The airport was conveniently identified on the chart they had. Down below, the gun crews had already loaded the general purpose rounds and backed them with the six 110 pound bags of powder. When all was ready, the captain ordered batteries released.
The night sky was lit from the flames of nine 16-inch guns disgorging their lethal cargoes. The shells took only a few seconds to reach their target.
The men and women in the airport control tower saw the flash of the guns and started to call out an alert when the shells began exploding along the tarmac in front of them. Three airliners began to burn as the shrapnel tore through the light aluminum skin and punctured their fuel tanks. The second volley came just over 30 seconds later as more shells struck the runways. In the moonlight between the salvoes the controllers could see gaping holes appearing in four different places down the runway and also along the snow covered taxiways. The dust and smoke began to fill the still night air as more shells rained down. The bombardment lasted twenty minutes. By the time the ship moved away, there was little left of the once fine airport except burning planes and cratered fields.
The destroyers concentrated their fire on the military airfield in Krymsk. Although only 22 miles away, and within range of the battleship’s guns, the Farraguts would handle this one. In the gun house, a gunner loaded the dart and its case into the electromagnetic rail gun. It was a dart about three inches in diameter made of stainless steel. Once fired, the case would fall away leaving the dart to make the journey to the target. There were no propellants to fire the round. The immense electromagnetic surge would propel the dart out of the gun at above Mach 7. There were four such guns on each ship and there were four ships in a line. On each ship, the guns elevated and fired. It was interesting to the gunners that there was actually a flame as the dart left the gun. The intense plasma generated did that. Only a few seconds later the guns fired again. Like in Vinogradar, the night crews were inside their hangars trying to repair damaged aircraft for a sortie that morning. No alarm was sounded. Suddenly one of the hangars nearly disintegrated as four of the darts struck the roof, went through, then hit the concrete floor. The kinetic energy of being hit by something going Mach 7 shattered the concrete and caused the roof to collapse on top of the men and equipment inside. The second volley struck the hangar next to the first. Controllers sounded the alarm just before one of the darts struck the base of the tower, knocking the entire tower to the ground. Like the battleship, the darts hitting the runway dug gigantic holes leaving the airport unusable. One of the darts struck one of the large cargo planes on the ramp. It went through the aircraft causing it to split apart, vaporizing the fuel in a tank and setting it alight before the ground under it appeared to lift the aircraft up and drop it like a toy.
After five minutes, the Farraguts ceased fire and moved on to other targets. There were several more airports and army facilities to hit before the night was over.
Captain Anton Suvorov was not happy. He and the Black Sea Fleet had been ordered to attack the Americans on the coast of Georgia. They had been given no exact coordinates just a general area. They were to attack the enemy fleet with their cruise missiles then return home. Then he learned that the fleet included several aircraft carriers. There wouldn’t be enough missiles in the fleet to stop all of them. Admiral Vladimir Kosygin had proclaimed to the crew they were going to lead the glorious attack on the Americans who dared to enter the Black Sea. He promised a great victory. Suvorov knew it was all bluster, as did most of the crew, but they had to do their duty. He was surprised they had made it this far across the Black Sea. Still, the Pyotr Velikiy was a good ship. Nuclear powered and armored more heavily than any other ship in the Russian navy there was a chance of getting back home alive. He held onto that chance.
Admiral Kosygin stepped onto the bridge. Even in the dim moonlight Suvorov could see he was in his dress uniform. He wondered who he was trying to impress.
“How long until we reach our launch position, Captain?” Kosygin asked.
Suvorov looked at his watch. “Another two hours, Admiral,” he said. “We will still be too far away for radar detection, but based on our intelligence, the bulk of the invading fleet is still off of Poti. A wide pattern should allow our missiles to locate the ships with their radars and
successfully make their attack. Between all of our force, we should have over fifty missiles to do the job.”
The admiral nodded. “That is very good. Also do not forget our small missile boats. They will continue until they too are in range. Between the two forces, things should work out nicely,” he said.
“I am still concerned about the aircraft carriers that were reported. I am surprised they have not attacked as yet,” said Suvorov.
“Be at peace, Captain. I have received word they are currently attacking some of our air bases. It is possible they do not even know we are at sea. Besides, this is the largest ship in our surface fleet. It is more heavily armed than any other ship, including the Americans. We do not have to worry.”
“But what of their battleships? If they came as well…”
“Our missiles would blow them out of the water. They do not call this ship a battlecruiser for nothing. Let us hear no more about it,” the Admiral said. “I will be in my cabin if you need me.”
“Yes, sir,” said Suvorov. He didn’t believe that blustering fool at all. Missiles like his had struck one three times during their Korean conflict and didn’t much more than scratch the paint. He prayed that those ships were nowhere near the Black Sea.