Meanwhile, at the same time, one hundred and fifty meters below the position of the first Imperial Yamato Fleet, a copy of the Collins Class diesel-electric submarine, His Imperial Ruthenian Majesty's Ship Morzh Class Submarine stealthily trailed the enemy fleet at a speed of three knots
The submarine was under the command of Captain Vasily Aleksandrovich Arkhipov. They are tasked to trail the enemy fleet covertly all the while informing the Ruthenian High Command of their whereabouts.
The Yamato Empire's current sonar capabilities couldn't detect any noises produced by the submarines except for the wailing of the whales or the fish wagging their tails. It was all thanks to the Stirling engine integrated into the ship, making the ship almost quiet and vibration free, making it hard for the enemy sonar operator to find them.
What's more, the submarine also utilizes a confidential propeller design inspired by that of an Ohio-Class Submarine, preventing bubbles from building up along the blades of the propeller, which we call cavitation, that pops like bubble wrap, giving away the location and the acoustic signature of the ship.
The Collins Class Submarines may not be American-made and have a plethora of problems during the design and construction phase. With Alexander's knowledge of modern shipbuilding, he was able to eliminate the flaws of the design such as the hull shape, the engines, and the propellers.
Well, he would have constructed better submarines than the Collins but the cost of building one is astronomical, so he planned on building nuclear-powered submarines. Not only the cost is the problem but also because of the new concept, nuclear propulsion is unheard of in this era, so convincing the military and the government to ask for such funding would be a challenging one.
But now, times are different, a progressive and radical change swept across Ruthenia where new ideas, be they absurd or stupid are accepted. Making it easy for Alexander to introduce new technology that would further the capabilities of the Ruthenian military.
"Captain, we've been trailing the Yamato fleet for five hours, what's the plan here?"
One of the junior officers raised a question.
"Don't take your eyes off of the monitor, Stevan," Vasily answered without looking at him. "Our orders remain the same, we report the position of the enemy fleet to the high command and await further instructions."
"But sir...I don't get it, why aren't we attacking? They are wide open. They don't even know that we are directly under them. This is our chance, why is the Ruthenian High Command not giving us a green light to shoot?"
Vasily sighed. "You still don't realize it don't you? There's politics at play here, officer."
"Politics?" the junior officer tilted his head to the side, confused. "What do you mean by that, captain?"
"For starters, the Ruthenian Government spends an enormous amount of money to modernize and rebuild our fleet. And now they are looking for justification of why they cost so much."
"Well, they would get their answers for that, they only need to authorize us to shoot. I mean, we have them in our sights, our acoustic-homing torpedo is aimed right at them. With a push of a button, we can sink their capital ships, including their flagship, the Amagi-Class Battlecruiser."
"I understand your frustration, officer, if I were in your position, I would say the same thing, but orders are orders. Besides, the submarines are not the only one that needs justification, there are other vessels as well."
The junior officer rubbed his chin as he pondered. And then, he realized where the admiral was getting into. But before he can have his chance of telling, Vasily continued.
"Our battleships, the battlecruisers, the aircraft carriers, the destroyers, and the cruisers. Each of those ships will have its chance to prove itself in the battle, including us. So I'm going to tell you this again, no, to all of you, hold your horses. Don't get too excited. The plan is already orchestrated by the Ruthenian High Command..."
"Captain!" the communication officer suddenly interjected. "We've received a transmission from the Imperial Imperator Aleksandr IV vessel. They want to confirm the numbers, the bearings, and the distances of the first Imperial Yamato Fleet."
The communication officer handed Vasily a note. He read the deciphered message and nodded. "How many ships are there in their fleet?"
"Around 45 surface vessels, Primarily composed of Battlecruisers, Battleships, Heavy Cruisers, Cruiser, and Destroyer. Most notably, the Two Kawachi class, two Fusō class, two Ise class, two Nagato class, two Tosa class, two Kii class, four Amagi-Class Battlecruiser, four Kongō-class battlecruisers."
"Who would've thought that the Imperial Yamato Fleet boasted such a fleet? With that fleet, they could force any country weaker than them into submission," Vasily remarked. "Inform them of their current location."
"Yes sir!"
Outside, the submarine released a tether that slowly rose up to the water surface, it contained a communication device that allows the submarine to communicate with the outside world without risking being found out. The device floating and dancing in the wave is so small that no Yamato ships noticed it.
They don't have to worry about breaking radio silence as the Ruthenian Navy uses a classified frequency that the radio intelligence officer of the Yamato Empire won't be able to crack.
Back in the vessel, Vasily approached one of the stations and had a look at its monitor. "The sonar reading is so clustered, I can't tell who is who. But nevertheless, we are certain that their flagship is above us," he looked up into the ceiling as he said that, imagining an image of a flotilla of battleships floating above him.
"Sir, we've successfully delivered our transmission to the Imperator Aleksandr IV and they just replied…Noted?"
"Rise to the periscope depth, I want to see the exact location of the flagship," Vasily ordered.
"Copy that sir, rising to periscope depth," the helmsman acknowledged and carried out his order.
The submarine tilted upwards until it reached the periscope depth. A cable from atop the submarine was released, retracting until it reached the water's surface.
Vasily pulled down the handlebar of the periscope before peering through the scope. He swiveled around, looking for the Amagi-Class battle cruiser that the admiral of the first Imperial Yamato Fleet was sailing on. One minute later, he found it.
A smile crept up Vasily's face. "Inform them with new coordinates. Bearing zero nine zero, distance five thousand five hundred meters relative to their position."
The communication officers of the submarine immediately transmitted a new message to the Ruthenian Fleet.
"Man battle stations," Vasily spoke again. "A battle is about to break out in these very waters."
***
5,500 meters away from the 1st Imperial Yamato Fleet. The new Ruthenian Pacific Fleet sailed towards the enemy fleet to meet them.
The captain of the Imperator Aleksandr IV Sergey Gorshkov was sitting comfortably in his captain's chair, giving him a panoramic view of the sea. He looked out at the horizon and saw nothing else but vast ocean waves. But he knew that beyond the horizon was the enemy with an intention to clash with them decisively.
"Sir, the coordinates have been confirmed by our submarines in the area," his junior officer reported.
"Good, let's give them those Yamato a shellacking, turn to portside and aim all our main batteries towards the new coordinates."
With his words, the helmsman began turning the wheel to the right all the while the main cannon of the battleships, the 12 406 mm/50 cal guns turned opposite. It creaked ominously as the barrels pointed at the enemy fleet's location.
"Sir, the guns are ready. Permission to fire."
"Blow them up," the admiral simply gave an order, and suddenly, a thunderous roar tore through the air followed by another and another, and another.
The Imperator Aleksandr IV just unleashed a full broadside. Twelve armor-piercing shells each having a mass of 1,225 kilograms were fired from the main batteries. They hurtled across the sky in a parabolic trajectory at a speed of 762 meters per second, closing the distance of 5,500 meters in just 7.30 seconds.
