The Long Hard Road

Chapter Thirteen: Island-Hopping

War Room

Canberra, Australia

15^th April 1942

Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, Prime Minster of Australia, was feeling vindicated. In the original history, he’d lost the premiership to Curtin in the elections, but his stance had been proved right. With the aid of Britain, the Japanese attempt to invade Australia had been defeated and crushed utterly. Darwin was a mess, of course; the Japanese refusal to recognise when they were beaten had forced the Australians to dig them out of the city – the few parts of it they’d taken.

He looked up at the map. The Royal Australian Navy had been rebuilt and prepared for its first major action. It wouldn’t be major – the Japanese fleet was almost completely destroyed – but it would give Australia a boost of confidence. The mood was vengeful; the citizens wanted blood.

“This will please our imperialists,” he said, nodding politely to the future ambassador. “They always wanted their hands on the islands.”

David Atwell, Australia’s future ambassador to Britain from 2015, nodded. “In my time, the islands were in chaos, constantly threatening to spill over to Australia,” he said. “If they’re under your control…”

“They’ll never pose a threat,” Menzies said. He smiled. “As well as building Australian prestige within the Commonwealth.”

He grinned openly. The Australians had captured some islands from the Germans during the First World War, only to lose them at British insistence. This time… the entire Dutch East Indies, which would be known as Indonesia in the future, would be Australian.

”The trick is to make certain that we have a democratic state there,” Atwell said. “We have to defeat the Japanese before they exterminate the natives.”

Menzies shuddered. Enough of the new Australian SAS – men trained directly in Britain – had scouted around the Dutch East Indies to discover what the Japanese were doing. The videos of slaughtered and enslaved islanders, of women being forced into sex slavery and Japanese control had shocked the Australian population. The Japanese seemed determined to utterly destroy the natives.

“They’re playing at being the Draka,” Atwell said, when Menzies didn’t answer. “We owe it to them to liberate them from the Japanese.”

Menzies nodded. Finding out who the Draka were could come later. “The assault forces are ready,” he said. “Once we exterminate the Japanese from the islands, we can move in and help the civilians.”

Atwell nodded. “And, of course, help them to develop their resources for their own good,” he said.

Menzies grinned again. He’d made a private agreement with the British Prime Minister covering the redevelopment of the islands. The Australians would send teachers and developers, treating the natives as equals. A program of medical development, using the knowledge of the future, would eradicate the diseases that they suffered from and keep their numbers down, stabilising the population.

“Give us a twenty-year mandate and the islands will be a lot more peaceful,” he said, and meant it. “It’s time for the main briefing.”

Admiral Harold Turtledove, Royal Navy, was also feeling vindicated. The stain of the Battle of the Indian Ocean had been washed away by the glorious success of the Battle of the Pacific Ocean. The Japanese hadn’t stood a chance and he’d used his advantages ruthlessly, sinking their ships with ease.

As he stepped into the War Room, he nodded politely at Menzies, and then at the two Australian Army commanders. Sir Thomas Albert Blamey, the Commander in Chief of the Australian Army, nodded back; General Sir Leslie James Morshead smiled openly. It had been Turtledove who’d insisted that he be knighted, even though his service had been different than in the original timeline.

Perhaps they’ll even knight me now, he thought, although he wasn’t really concerned. A knighthood meant less and less every year with the current King, even through it had impressed the Australians. Morshead had deserved the award; the defence of Darwin had chewed up and spat out the best divisions of the Japanese Army.

“If I could have your attention, please,” Menzies said. Turtledove looked across at Menzies, along with the others in the room. “We are gathered here to discuss the plans for Operation Advanced Redemption. General?”

Turtledove frowned. He’d been opposed to Operation Advanced Redemption for several reasons, even though the Japanese had sent seven divisions to fight and die in Australia. Why waste the flower of Australian manhood when the Japanese could be starved out. Atwell’s argument – that Australia needed access to the resources of the islands and the natives needed assistance in developing a modern state – hadn’t impressed him. Still, if one of the battlegrounds of the war on terror could be averted, perhaps it would be worth the cost.

We should be starving the bastards out, he thought, and knew that the Royal Australian Navy was going to try just that. Until recently, there had been too few submarines – and one had been lost – to really go medieval on the Japanese shipping… but now, the Australians had enough ships and the crews to man them. Hopefully, the Japanese would see sense when their merchant ships were swept from the sea and surrender, before other solutions had to be contemplated.

He scowled; they’d resisted upping the pressure until they were ready to deploy a really sudden hammer blow, but the Japanese showed no signs of being ready to negotiate.

“As you are aware, the build-up of forces has continued,” General Blamey said. “At present, we are deploying ten armoured divisions and twenty infantry units, as well as a handful of special divisions. These units remained stationed near Darwin for several months following the defeat of the Japanese invasion, answering concerns in Parliament about a second invasion.”

Turtledove frowned. He’d known perfectly well that such concerns were nonsense. “However, it has finally been concluded that the enemy has abandoned any thought of offensive action,” Blamey continued. “In the only theatre of contact between Commonwealth forces and Japanese forces, there has been no attempt to take the offensive, despite the Commonwealth leaving them alone. The opportunity, particularly with the deployment of the new navy, exists to take the offensive. Admiral?”

Turtledove nodded and took control of the display screen, displaying the new order of battle. He was the officer with the greatest experience and had been offered command of the entire naval war. Menzies, who was already talking about a united Commonwealth Navy, had pushed him forward, after Australia had lost most of her navy in the first battles of the war.

“We now have two hundred small diesel-powered submarines, making up the main underwater strike force,” he said, indicating the design. “While the torpedoes are of improved 1960 design, and therefore being made in Australia and fixing one of our bottlenecks, in most other respects the submarines are equal to the SSNs that have been deployed in Australian waters.”

He displayed a chart of submarine ranges on the display. “Their only major weakness, unfortunately, is that they have far more limited range than a nuclear-powered submarine, and require tanker support. We have three tankers modified for sea refuelling and have deployed them to locations well outside of Japanese aircraft range. With these ships and satellite coverage, we can finally sweep the Japanese from the sea for good.”

“Very good,” Menzies said. “General Morshead?”

“The gathering of home-built landing craft for infantry and tanks, using future designs that have been modified for our needs, has been completed,” Morshead said. The Australians had spent a lot of time and effort building bases along the north coast. “We have also conducted a lot of drills and exercise, concentrating on developing the ability to land large numbers of troops in the shortest possible time.”

He pointed with a laser pointer to the map. “The first target will be New Guinea,” he said. “We will begin with a massive bombardment from the air, using the new aircraft and missiles, and then we will land troops, targeting the Japanese strongholds. In the meantime, the Navy will strike at Truk, the main Japanese naval base, and occupy it.”

Turtledove scowled. There was no point in hitting Truk. It wasn’t what it would have been. Taking the islands was a good idea, just to make certain that Australia had a good claim on them after the war, but Truk was hardly a major target.

“Once we have taken New Guinea, we will advance over the Dutch East Indies and deliver them from Japanese rule,” Morshead said. “Once the Japanese have been driven from the islands, they will be one step closer to nemesis.”

“It’s already there,” Turtledove muttered. “They’re just too stupid to notice.”

“And they think they can retreat into China,” Menzies said. “We’ll slam that door shut on them.”

HMS Daring

Coral Sea

15^th April 1942

Ironically, the Daring had never been employed to fire at land targets before coming back in time. Her service in the war on terror had consisted of escorting troop convoys around; the only major encounter had been with Iranian jets during the Iran War. When she’d come back in time, along with the rest of Britain, she’d still only fired at Turkish targets during the Second Battle of Gallipoli.

Captain McTavish examined the display as the orders came in. They were simple and direct; bombard Japanese forces with land-attack weapons. The Daring, which had been on station near New Guinea, had been launching drones and moving closer to the islands, waiting for the orders.

“Load land-attack missiles,” Captain McTavish said, hoping that he could hide the disdain from his voice. The new weapons, ones that made the Deathcloud look meek and mild, were dangerous beyond belief. He would have preferred to have been deploying standard weapons, but he had to admit that the Japanese made bunker-busters rather redundant.

“Weapons loaded,” the weapons officer said. “Ready to fire.”

“Confirm targets,” Captain McTavish ordered. The drones and the SAS had mapped out Japanese targets all over the islands; every ship in the fleet would fire at them, along with Harriers and Hawks from the mainland. Two tanker aircraft were already in the air, refuelling an aerial armada that outgunned the Japanese with ease.

“Targets confirmed, missiles designated,” the weapons officer said. The entire fleet shared its targeting data, sharing the targets out amongst themselves. Only the new anti-aircraft ships were excluded; they carried no land-attack missiles.

“Fire,” Captain McTavish ordered. Daring shuddered as the first missiles launched from her tubes, blasting into the sky and heading for New Guinea. The Japanese had no idea what was coming their way.

“Missiles homing in on target,” the weapons officer said. “Display on.”

The CIC’s main screen began displaying the images from the drones. New Guinea seemed peaceful… until the first warhead crashed down on top of a Japanese base. The sudden blast of burning fuel – nearly nuclear in its intensity – swept over the base, burning and choking the Japanese on the ground. The satellite took over, showing the entire stretch of New Guinea, burning in dozens of different places.

“Dear holy shit,” someone breathed, as the Harriers and Hawks swooped in. The surviving Japanese targets were attacked again, with FAE and napalm, the fires spreading out across the jungles.

“Sir, fleet command informs us that the invasion fleet is about to sail,” his exec said. “They want us to cover the landing ships.”

Captain McTavish grinned. “In our day, the invasion fleet would have sailed and the bombardment would have taken place just before they landed,” he said. “Ah well; move us into covering position.”

He smiled, watching as the blue icons of the landing ships appeared on the screen, heading for their landing zones. It beat thinking about the Japanese, burning under the FAE or blown to pieces by the high explosives. There was no sign of Japanese aircraft; all of their airfields had been hit twice, just to make certain that they were destroyed.

New Guinea

15^th April 1942

John Northcott, tactical commanding officer, stood on the prow of the landing craft as it reached the beach. He braced himself as the kneel bumped against sand, before driving itself firmly onto the beach. There was still some water, but that would hardly matter to the tanks. Northcott watched as the prow of the boat started to open, then climbed into his own tank. As the first tank rumbled off the landing ship, the jungle seemed suddenly to explode into fire as Napalm burnt its way through the jungle, widening a very faint road.

“Japanese ahead of you,” a voice said. Northcott blinked at the sudden warning from the SAS man, before the remaining jungle seemed to explode with Japanese infantry. They ran forward, throwing grenades and anti-tank rockets, heedless of their own safety.

“Cut them down,” Northcott snapped, unnerved by the suicidal tactics. Some of the Japanese were burning with the napalm flames, but they came on, even as the machine guns started to chatter. As quickly as it had begun, it was over; the Japanese were mown down in their hundreds.

“Fuck me,” the SAS man said. “Sir, you have a clear road, if a very hot one.”

“Thank you,” Northcott snapped. The Japanese had developed the road for their little tanks, not for Fireflies. The firebombs would have cleared the way for them, but would they be enough to bake it hard?

“No,” he realised, as the tanks entered the jungle. The heat was overpowering, even within the tank, and he felt sorry for the infantry. They were on their feet, spreading out to escort the tanks. The terrain was appalling; the tanks ambled forward slowly, slipping and sliding across the charred remains of the bomb strike.

“Good thing we prepared for jungle terrain,” his driver said, after the tank almost became stuck in mud. “How long until we reach the Japanese base?”

Northcott frowned as some brown-skinned natives appeared, staring at them. The women were bare-breasted, he noticed, and they showed signs of beatings. Had the Japanese insisted on them walking about naked?

“Japanese tank ahead,” the radio squawked. Northcott smiled; at last a real target. He peered through the periscope, watching for the first sight of the Japanese tank. He smiled as it appeared, slowly making its way down towards the landing site.

“You’d think that they would still be stunned,” he muttered, as he carefully sighted the main gun on the target. “Fire!”

The tank shuddered once as the gun fired, and then the Japanese were on them. They lunged out of the jungle, firing madly again and throwing grenades. The machine guns started to chatter, their bullets pinging off their allies armour as they cut into the Japanese. The tanks started forward again, firing madly as the Japanese climbed on top of the tanks, trying to prise open the hatches and drop grenades inside.

“Bastards,” Northcott swore, as a Firefly exploded. “Get them off the tanks!”

“Firing,” the gunner said, sweeping the machine gun across the other tanks. The hull began to vibrate as the other tanks did the same to them, slaughtering the Japanese. Finally, peace regained as the last Japanese died, leaving two dead tanks and three damaged ones in the field.

“What the hell are we fighting?” The driver asked. “They’re mad!”

“I think our tactics need work,” Northcott observed. “That could have been very nasty.”

War Room

Canberra, Australia

15^th April 1942

HMS Ocean had been damaged in the Battle of the Indian Ocean, but she had been repaired and pressed into service again with the Royal Marines. As Turtledove watched on the display, the Marines slammed into Truk, firing madly as they assaulted the Japanese base.

He scowled grimly. It wasn’t that Truk wasn’t a priority target; it was that Menzies wanted it as a naval base for the Royal Australian Navy or the Commonwealth Navy, depending on the outcome. Menzies had been like a man who saw the future; Australia’s best hope lay with the new Commonwealth, and he’d worked hard for the Commonwealth Protocols.

Turtledove shrugged and turned to scowl at the reports from New Guinea. The Japanese had fought like mad bastards – how else – and they’d nearly stymied the first assault. Even the massive aerial bombardment hadn’t shaken them enough for the tankers to dig them out; even now, one of the large bombers was delivering a MOAB to the main Japanese base.

“You’re not happy, Admiral?” Menzies said. Turtledove blinked; the Prime Minister had a gift for wandering around quietly. “Has the attack failed?”

Turtledove studied the display for a long moment. The icons for the Marines were closing in on the main Japanese centre of resistance. “No, Prime Minister,” he said, acknowledging the irony. “The attack is going better than I dared expect.” He smiled. “If they’d hit us on the beaches, they could have seriously embarrassed us, but digging into mountains is useless when we can bomb them out.”

Menzies nodded. Turtledove, who’d known that some people had suggested the use of nerve gas, was relieved. The edict from Prime Minister Hanover forbidding its use had remained in place. “And you have concerns,” Menzies said.

“This is a land grab,” Turtledove said, taking his career in his hands. Menzies said nothing. “You’re using your soldiers to grab territory for future use.”

Menzies nodded. “There is a limited window of opportunity to solve two problems at one time,” he said. He gazed at the map. “In the future, the richest countries are the ones with access to resources and Australia needs the resources of the East Indies,” he said. “At the same time, despite their wealth, the… ah, Indonesia posed a constant threat to Australian security. If we take control and help to develop a democratic state, we might just succeed in averting that problem.”

Turtledove frowned. He had to admit that the logic was compelling. How much of this had been Atwell’s idea? The man had written books about how Australia should impose a peace on Indonesia; it had been why he’d been sent to Britain. The Australian Government might have found the logic compelling as well, but the world of 2015 would not have tolerated it.

He blinked. Would the world of 1942?

“The submarines are on their way in, Prime Minister,” he said, changing the subject. “In a couple of weeks, the entire force will have exterminated the Japanese merchant fleet.”

Menzies smiled. “And secured Australia’s dominance over the Pacific,” he said. “That’s worth fighting for, I think.”