Part 14: Naval War
Since Russia's declaration of war on Ukraine, the Union of Britian had launched a series of Carrier strikes on Russia's ports and airfields in St. Petersburg. Omega, who held a very pessimistic view about the quality of the Russian Navy, refused to allow the ships in St. Petersburg to give chase. But the month of September would see the greatest naval battle in the history of mankind....
St. Petersburg: September 29, 1939
Captain Alexei watched as the British planes flew back towards the Gulf of Finland. Yet another British raid on St. Petersburg. It wasn't even as like the planes ever did anything. They just flew around a bit, occasionally blew something up, then flew away. The raids seemed more like attacks on the navies moral than on the port itself. As he walked back to his cabin, a young pilot ran into him.
Pilot: "So-so-sorry sir! Didn't see you! Um.... Would you happen to know where I can find the Vice Admiral?"
Alexei: "The Vice Admiral? Sure, I'll show you where he is. What's with all the rush?"
Pilot: "I fly one of the recon planes, sir, and when I was flying over the Gulf of Finland, I saw that there was only a single carrier out there! No escorts of any kind! If we attack now, we might destroy it before the rest of the British fleet can catch up!"
Alexei didn't need any further convincing. In seconds, him and the pilot were sprinting across the ship, to get the the Vice Admiral.
Gulf of Finland: September 30, 1939
Captain Alexei grinned to himself as the sun rose over his battlecruiser. Today would be the day the Russian Navy finally proved its worth.
Sailor: "Ship sighted!"
Alexei ran with the rest of the crew to the railing, and saw the lone carrier trying to make it's escape. But there would be no escape now.
Alexei: "Everyone, to there positions! We're gonna catch that carrier, and make it pay for all the raids against us!"
Sailor: "Sir! More ships spotted ahead! Er... And aft! And starboard! And port! We're surrounded!"
Alexei: "
IT'S A TRAP!"
Gulf of Finland: October 15, 1939
PrinceScamp surveyed the chaos beneath him as he flew above. The battle had been going on for 15 days, with neither side willing to give an inch. It had gotten to the point where Tsar Omega had moved three squadrons of planes to assist, under the command of PrinceScamp himself. But as long as the British had that blasted carrier, they could match Russia in the skies. But that was going to end today. PrinceScamp had already lost numerous planes in attacks on the carrier, but this time, he was going to personally command the attack.
PrinceScamp: "We're launching our attack run! Form on me!"
Instantly, 6 planes formed on PrinceScamp's wings as they flew towards the carrier. The intense flak fire from all the ships underneath knocked out 4 of the planes within minutes, leaving only PrinceScamp and two wingmen to destroy the carrier.
Wingman 1: "We've got enemy fighters behind us!"
PrinceScamp: "Stay on target."
Wingman 1: "They're closing in!"
PrinceScamp: "Stay on target."
Wingman 1: "I can't shake them! I can't-ARGH!"
The plane to PrinceScamp's right exploded in a fiery ball, and fell towards the sea. Bullets zoomed by his plane, barly missing.
Wingman 2: "My propellors damaged! I'll be no good to you out here."
And then wingman 2 flew back to base, leaving PrinceScamp alone to destroy the carrier. He evaded the bullets as best he could.
Unknown British Pilot: "The Force is strong with this one...."
PrinceScamp checked his targeting computer to see how far away the carrier was. Then, he heard the Tsar's voice speaking to him....
Omega: "Use the force, PrinceScamp!"
PrinceScamp looked out the window at the carrier, then back to his targeting computer.
Omega: "Let go!"
PrinceScamp gave one final look through his targeting computer, then shut it off.
Radio: "You've turned off your targetting computer. Is everything all right?"
PrinceScamp: "Yeah, I'm fine."
Then, a bullet hit PrinceScamps wing. He could still fly, but evasive actions would damage the plane only more....
Unkown British Pilot: "I have you know."
Just them, bullets flew out from above, shooting down the three British planes.
"Yeehoo!"
PrinceScamp: "Kan? Chewie? Is that you?"
Kan: "You're all clear, kid! Now lets blow this thing and go home!"
PrinceScamp dived towards the carrier. Seconds away from crashing into it, he released his bomb and pulled out of the dive. The bomb hit the carrier, and it sank to the bottom of the sea.
(PrinceScamp's destruction of the British Carrier)
Gulf of Finland: November 11: 1939
Alexei: "FIRE!"
The guns of his battlecruiser launched tons of highly explosive shells into the enemy destroyer, causing a massive explosion that sank it to the dephs. Alexei's feeling of joy was quickly cut short when an explosion rocked the ship.
Alexei: "What hit us?"
Sailor: "On the starboard side! Enemy battleship!"
Alexei's face paled. A battleship.... Not one of the ships in the entire fleet could hope to defeat one of those in open combat. He needed to think of a plan....
But before he could, another explosions knocked him off his feet.
Sailor: "Sir! Part of the ships caught fire! We can't take another hit like that!"
Alexei slowly got back onto his feet. Someone had to stop that ship before it sank the whole fleet....
Alexei: "Hard to starboard!"
Sailor: "But sir.... We'll be heading straight for it!"
Alexei: "You heard me! Now turn this ship!"
The ship tilted dangerously to its side as it turned to face the battleship.
Sailor: "What now, sir?"
Alexei looked at the sailor. There was a mad gleam in his eye.
Alexei: "RAMMING SPEED!"
(The last ride of Alexei)
Gulf of Finland: December 2, 1939
Captain Gregory looked around from the top of his surfaced submarine, seeing what was left of the Russian fleet. It wasn't much. Only a handful of surface ships were left. The rest were submarines, and most of them were in pretty bad condition. The British fleet, on the other hand, still had enough strength left to continue its dominance over the seas. There were even rumors of a single British battleship that still survived. If that was true, then any hope for a Russian presences on the seas now or in the future were crushed. It looked as if this battle was going to end in a failure....
Sailor: "Sir, the Vice Admirals on the radio. He wishes to speak with you."
Sighing, Gregory went belowdeck. His men waited nervously. Was the Vice Admiral going to admit defeat? Would the honor of the Russian Navy be lost forever?
But when Gregory came back up, his depression was gone.
Gregory: "Everyone, to your stations! Prepare to attack!"
Sailor: "What? Attack? The sea is full of British ships!"
Gregory: "Well, that just gives us a bigger target to shoot at! Now stop gawking! Get moving, right now! The Vice Admirals ordering the whole fleet to attack, so we can do as much damage to the British as we can!"
And with that, the Russian fleet charged at the British.
The Battle of the Gulf of Finland was the greatest naval battle of all history. Lasting from late September to early December, it is also the longest. The battle ended with both the Russian and British fleets completely crippled; both saw their entire above-water fleets destroyed, leaving them with only submarines. The Russian fleet itself was reduced to only 3 flottillas of submarines. But what is truly amazing is the fact that the Russian fleet, which was only half as large as the British, and which had very little training and using outdated ships, was able to do so much damage to the obviously superior British. In recognition of their heroism, and as a way to admit he was wrong about the uselessness of the navy, Omega gave every sailor who had participated in the battle, whether alive or dead, some form of medal, and ordered for plans to reconstruct the fleet to be drawn up immediantly. But what truly amazed the people of Russia (And got movie directors fighting for the rights to make a movie about the battle) was the sailors who fought in the battles willingness to sacrifice their lives. Alexei's ramming attack, the charge of the shattered renmnants of the Russian fleet to the obviously superior British one, these became icons for Russian people everywhere, filling them with nationalist pride. Which fell perfectly into the plans of Omega....