2

"It's too big."

Mizoguchi saw the information and murmured. The enemy has already come in the sensor range of the guard fleet. Now he can see the shape of the target more accurately than that he could get at the first encounter. But the figure seems too big for a high-maneuver torpedo.

Of course, He can't know the exact size and mass of it, however, he sees the fact sensitively from the unreliable data.

But what it can be if it is bigger than a high-maneuver torpedo?

One considerable case is that the enemy loads enough fuel to decrease its speed and change the orbit to return to the mother port after it has attacked the fleets. If the imagination is true, there is no wonder that it has twice or three or more than ten times as large mass as a high-maneuver torpedo has. If it were an automatic fleet with an ability for sailing, its scale will increase immensely because of its back-up-system for navigation besides the fuel.

But why? Why such a thing is at here?

Johnson informed Mizoguchi, who was staring changeful data without any answer for his question, with whisper voice.

"The project missile has finished to spread. There is no change with the target. At ten second later, the missile circle and the target will collide with. The relative speed is 800 km/sec."

Mizoguchi came to himself and piled up the position of the target and the missiles on the screen. Johnson made the missile break into the best position for attack. It was impossible for any unattended battleship to escape from the circle which was made by missile whether it had amazing accelerating ability or not. Even if it could escape from them, it'll become impossible for the target to take a orbit which would cross with guard cruiser and convoys any more.

Maybe, I am troubling myself unnecessarily.

Mizoguchi noticed a heavy fatigue was left in his mind, though his vague anxiety turned out to be a mere groundless fears.

He felt if the target would be destroyed on schedule, some strange feeling unable to explain would remain in him.

But such thought was easily swept away by the small shout of Datz.

"It started moving... keep straight plunging into the splinters circle. Oh..."

The last voiceless murmur was uttered by the three men in the cockpit at the same time. The accelerating target broke through the sphere consisted of burst splinters of missiles and then changed its orbit in sharp angle.

"Incredible! It is impossible to break through such short-distance and high-density splinters. By any chance, it should have collided with at least ten splinters."

"The future orbit of the target is to cross with the flag ship of the convoys. The accelerating stopped. I'll indicate the data of infrared ray sensor and acceleration on the line 4."

Datz having little experience was rather cool than Johnson, who was shocked by the fact his missile was dodged. Mizoguchi commanded rapidly.

"Transmit a red-signal to the convoys! Prepare for firing missiles. Calculate the orbit. Destroy the enemy before it approaches the convoys. If you need, to correct our orbit is allowed. Be careful for the amount of remaining fuel. It...it is 720 seconds later when we across the enemy."

Johnson who was in confusion for a moment, input the command to the keyboard savagely and Datz transmit the coded message to the convoys. But Mizoguchi changed his command in loud voice on seeing the data indicated on the screen.

"Cancel the red-signal command. Transmit black-down one, coding is not necessary. Hurry up!"

Mizoguchi stare at Datz, who looked at him with a suspicious look, Datz turned to the transmitter in a hurry.

It was natural that Datz looked at Mizoguchi with a suspicious look. Black-down was a command that ordered the captain of every convoy to throw away loads and to evacuate regarding the safety of the crew as a first priority. In general, such a obligation command that neglected the authority and of the flag ship was never announced. But Mizoguchi was firmly confident. The enemy must have been stronger than it had been expected. If they were unprepared, the convoys would have been damaged almost to the annihilation.

"What a guy! It put itself between the convoys and us. We can't project the missile in this situation."

The abuse of Johnson strengthen more the conviction of Mizoguchi. The screen in front of Mizoguchi indicated the data of the acceleration which the enemy showed only for a moment, the total mass of it calculated from the infrared reflection and assumed total engine propulsion energy. They showed their enemy was an unattended battle cruiser equipped with exceptional armaments.

"We received a reply from the convoys. They requested an explanation of the black-down command?"

"Forward these data to them and say 'If you don't want to die, obey our order.'"

Mizoguchi, staring at the screen, shouted. The enemy still stopped acceleration. Just a moment later, every ship of the convoys replied that they would throw away the loads and run away widely.

Actually it was their defeat, they easily allowed the enemy to get the position of the guard cruiser's dead angle and cornered until they had no choice but to dissolve the convoys. Moreover, from this present position, they could do nothing to prevent the enemies action.

Because the convoys were near the turn point and driving at full speed, the enemy could reach the central part of the convoys in about 10 minutes without accelerating. But the guard cruiser would need almost two hours to reach the convoys position even if they reduced speed at all their power. In that two hours, the enemy would escape with the retained propulsive fuel.

"I confirmed the dissolve of convoys. All the fleet except for the flag ship, threw away all loads. The abandonment of the flag ship is delayed."

"The flag ship...intends to became a decay. Maybe, they aim at shooting it with that old-fashioned laser canon."

Johnson murmured, hearing the report of Datz. Mizoguchi also well understood the intention of the captain of the flag ship though he conveyed nothing to Mizoguchi because he might be afraid of interception. He intended to lure the enemy by setting the flag ship itself at the position where enemy could easily attack and to shoot it with the laser beam at the moment of their intersection.

--- Maybe, it would finish in vain. The enemy has a very high-power laser which can make all the splinters of the missile evaporated in a moment. By the perfunctory laser of the transport ship only could be ruined together at best.

Mizoguchi judged so and chased the pattern of the scattered convoys. They would finish to expand to a range of 2,000 km in diameter until the enemy intersect them. The enemies high-power laser could shoot enough to a range of 1,000 km, but it could shoot only one or two fleets when the relative speed and the waste time for aiming or posture control were took under consideration. Or it would destroy the containers which were abandoned and left at the center of the scattered convoys and continued inertia flying. In this condition, they could collect the abandoned loads easily after the enemy's attack finished.

But what would happen if the enemy stay on the inside of convoys?

Mizoguchi hit upon the idea, and then denied it.

By the accelerating ability of it, the enemy could adjust the relative speed with the convoys until it reach the position of them. But in that case, they could aim at and shoot it by missiles. Johnson, who knew well about the accelerating ability of the enemy, could make a dense splinters circle in the shortest range and not allow the enemy to escape from that. They could destroy it by missiles before it would approach the convoys.

The enemy still continued inertia flying. On the other hand, if one saw these scene from the space around them, the thing which moved was only the convoys and the guard cruiser and the enemy had almost no speed.

"It is a laser fleet, isn't it? What an amazing new armament it is! It isn't deployed to our camp yet."

"Do you say 'be not deployed to us'?"

Johnson turned upon Datz with a furious look.

"Aerospace Force never produce such a foolish armaments! If we mass-product it, we will never get enough war results to pay the cost. Why did it hide in this area? Why did they arrange such a foolishly big laser lie in waiting for a convoys, moreover, a convoys which only transports strategic commodities? Taking the trouble to arrange it along the patrol lines under consideration, it never pay. I can't imagine how hundreds are needed to cover the lines."

"Maybe it is a trial machine."

Mizoguchi murmured in a low voice to the Johnson who engaged in a heated discussion. Datz, who are bawled out and cowered, looked at Mizoguchi in a little bit astonished look.

"Superior Planets Association made the cruiser as an experiment. They are pressed by the urgent war situation and try to test the ability of the armament they are now developing by throw it in an actual fighting.

But it is not a complete model, maybe it is a cruiser consists of some engines of high-maneuver torpedo and loads a very big laser cannon instead of warheads. If the result of test is good, they will produce cruisers which load much bigger engine and stronger laser cannon."

There was left less than five minutes before the convoys approach the enemy fleet the closest. The fact that the distance between the guard cruiser and the convoys was almost the twice of the distance between the moon and the earth flitted momentarily through Mizoguchi's mind. He felt the existence of convoys, which were to be attacked, was something very far from him.

"But..."

Datz said timidly. But before his words had finished, the Johnson's ill-humored voice interrupted.

"I can guess what you want to say. You want to say that the available range of a laser bombardment is 1,000 km at most, don't you?"

Mizoguchi easily understood that Johnson only wanted to go on speaking because of fear. This was the evidence that Johnson was younger than him. He noticed that fact and felt relieved a little. Johnson continued the explanation.

"But on a theory, the available range can be extended to 10,000 km or 100,000 km if the enemy and we don't move. Actually, I once heard a rumor that our force itself was also planning to design a satellite attacker battleship which would load such a foolish big laser cannon.

The problem exists in the control of shooting. The ability of present radar establish the limitation of shooting range at 1,000 km when the fleets pass each other in the space at high speed. Both capital battleships and guard ships load the same types of laser cannons which effective shooting range is 1000 km because there is no use to load more convergent laser cannon,

So, if a more resolute and sensitive shooting-control radar is developed, the shooting range of the laser cannons loaded on battleships will expand. Do you understand, boy?"

But Datz, seemed not be confident, asked Mizoguchi at this time.

"Skipper, do you think that the SPA developed such a long-range laser cannon?"

"Yeah."

Mizoguchi replied in a dull voice. Datz went on asking earnestly.

"But if it has such a high accurate shooting control radar, the battleship itself would be astonishing big one. Or it needs to prepare some independent sensor groups besides it.

Therefore, if it loads convergent laser cannon, it will become a very high-cost large battleship, won't it? If they produce such a large battleship, the range and the accuracy of shooting can't be expected to progress to pay their costs. Does the SPA, which productivity is inferior to us, produce such a high cost battleship?"

Johnson groaned with admiration. Mizoguchi answered Datz thinking that he was an competent lad.

"The inferior productivity is the very reason why they produce a large battleship. Do you know Yamato-Class battleship in the old navy?"

"Yes, but roughly... I was fond of the history of battleships and studied it a little in my mercantile marine school days."

"It is easy to explain if you have some knowledge. In short, Yamato-Class battleships were produced to compete with the American shipbuilding ability by Japan whose industrial productivity was inferior to USA. Japan, regarding USA as a hypothetical enemy country in naval battles, knew that they wouldn't be able to supply the same amount of production as USA would do, and intended to hold out with the fleets in stock until the war would be over.

The Yamato equipped 18-inch main cannon because the battleships produced before Yamato had 16 inch main cannon equipped at large. American navy couldn't load a cannon which caliber was larger than 16 inch because they reigned the Panama Canal and, in this case, it became a weak point. Even if loading 16-inch cannons in spite of many problems, the battleships was unbalanced in defense.

Be calculated simply, the warhead-weight of a 18 inch cannon is 1.4 times as heavy as the one of 16 inch cannon and the shooting range and the defense force will increase according to the fact. So, they deduced a hypothesis that the battleships equipped with a 16 inch main cannons couldn't defeat a battleship equipped with a 18 inch main cannon even in a bunch. Do you understand the feeling of Japan, who had no way but to produce very large battleships spending what little money they had?

To supplement more to this tale, Japanese navy was to produce the battleships equipped with 20 inch main cannon, after they had produced at least 4 Yamato-Class battleships.

They knew that they had to possess the battleships which always had cannons bigger than enemy's.

However, Yamato-Class battleships were attacked and sunk by fighting planes and it was the end of Japanese Navy."

"But, if there were such a fact..."

Datz murmured discontentedly,

"The productivity of SPA sharply dropped because the Titan and both Trojan Groups had surrendered. I can't believe that they can produce such a large fleet with their present industrial productivity."

Mizoguchi fixed his eye on the screen. Only tens second was left until the enemy approach the convoys the closest. But it showed no action yet.

"The development of arms is astonishing."

Mizoguchi said so and held his tongue. He was afraid of mentioning a possibility. He also thought that the SPA didn't have such a productivity to construct such an large battleship. But he doubted if the limitation of shooting range of a laser cannon loaded on a battleship was really 1,000 km and if the cost increased limitlessly to make further shooting range laser cannons.

Mizoguchi knew that the answer was no, although he had no firm basis.

For example, when Napoleon Bonaparto used cannons in the European battle fields, the shooting range of them was only some kilometers. But people dreaded them as a ultimate weapon that could send cannonballs to the far place where voices couldn't reach. In W.W.I, 100 years later from the Napoleon's reign, large cannonballs were driven into Paris from 60 km distance and Drednote-class battleships were sailing at full speed and shot each other on the sea.

Before long, missiles which had longer shooting range than cannons appeared on stage and it's range gradually developed to cover all of the earth.

A weapon is the very thing which continues developing forever.

The technical common sense of arms today will be overwhelmed tomorrow. The overturn causes the appearance of another new weapon.

But the unattended enemy cruiser is...

The eyes of Mizoguchi glared.

On the screen, the enemy cruiser started accelerating furiously.


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