The Longboats
Chapter 15

Hagan was on the small bridge of his ship as they traversed the waterway south, toward Amsterdam and the dreadnought. He had three boats counting his and all fitted with the new gasoline engine Mac and Greg had installed, along with the new radio and they were running perfectly and hardly any noise at all, he noticed and, without any smoke! They both put what they called a muffler on the engines so they wouldn’t be so loud but he was told these could not go on the planes because it would make them too heavy to fly.

For the next few hours they had a wonderful trip in the cooling fall air and just as he neared Amsterdam he could see the sun’s rays start to come over the hills to light up the city. From several miles out he could see their lights from buildings that were still in the shadows of night as his boats came around a finger of land that jutted out, away from the coast. He would have to stop here and drift until he could hear the incoming planes so he ordered all boats to stop by using his new radio. That too amazed him as if the Gods themselves were watching over them with a close eye. His thoughts went to the two dreadnoughts that were just around this turn and his angle of attack as the planes came in.

Their timing had to be as near perfect as possible. He would wait until he heard the sound of the plane’s engines then have his boats go full speed towards the dreadnought. He would be in their line of fire but the Gunny thinks that when they see a flying machine coming at them, they would balk and he could open fire at close range with his guns at their water level, hopefully sinking the ship. So he waited and had a cup of tea from his galley brought up, then leaned on the railing on the bridge to watch the sunrise.

The Skipper was sitting in the Great Hall near the communicator at the telegraph waiting for the first messages to come in of the attack. Yngvildr sat in a chair not far away and she looked like her mind was a thousand miles away as she stared at the table, waiting. The communicator sent a message for a check of the lines and received a check in return proving the lines were still in working order. This made Yngvildr and the Skipper jump somewhat and lean forward.

“Just a radio check,” the operator said, then turned back to his machine.

Then the telegraph began to spit and sputter as a message came through.

“What’s it say!” Yngvildr jumped up and came near the operator.

“Hagan. In position waiting for flight to arrive.”

Yngvildr let out a loud sigh then slumped back into the chair. The Skipper too seemed unnerved at the message. Then the telegraph seemed to go crazy with messages all of a sudden. There were three communicators there and all three were receiving messages at the same time.

“Attack underway!” the operator said.

I could see Amsterdam coming up on our left wing from a distance and I would guess it was a few miles miles away then turned and looked at my flight. All were in formation but bobbing up, down and left to right with the wind currents but staying in formation as best they could. I began searching for the dreadnought in the early morning sun as it spread its sunshine across the water but I saw nothing yet. I flew further over the city then turned left and there they were! They were behind a hill near the coast and what looked like a very large buildup of supplies and troops at a dock. Then I looked right to replace Hagans boats and saw him with a large white stream of water around and behind all three boats which showed he was at full throttle heading straight for the enemy ships behind that hill. I noticed also that we were just barely gaining on Hagans boats so they must be going faster than he had even hopped for. I looked at my airspeed and it said one hundred and thirty miles an hour or knots so Hagan must be doing around eighty knots then.

Looking to my right and left, I used hand and arm signals I taught the pilots in class and told them to follow me in ( I would be glad when they install our radios!). I continued straight a little further until I was certain I was clear of the hill, then reduced throttle and pointed my nose down towards the long dreadnought at anchor. It looked very thin and I would have to get close to hit it with these bombs because of that but, it was not moving and that would make a good target.

Hagan hung onto the railing of the bridge and leaned forward as his boats bounced on each wave, splashing sea spray into his face with each slap of the water. His hat flew off his head as the boats made its top speed that was faster than anything he could ever imagine. He had to hold the railings tight to keep from being bounced in the air and onto the deck. Looking to his right, he saw a crewman squatting down as he held the railing with a look of terror on his face. Hagan smiled broadly and yelled.

“Feel the power! FEEL THE POWER!” He yelled with a laugh. He was having more fun than he had ever had in his entire life.

“WHOOOO HOOOO!” He yelled as the crewman looked at him as if he were a crazy man.

He leaned over to the radio window next to him, still holding the railing tightly and reached in for the hand set.

“This is boat ONE to all boats. Do not fire until we are within five hundred yards of the enemy ship...do you copy?” He yelled into the hand set.

“Boat two, copy. Boat three, copy!” He heard then gave the hand set back to the operator who was sitting in a chair, leaning forward as he held onto the anchored down table.

He stood up again, holding the railings tightly and looked up to see Gunny and his light blue planes flying overhead, going straight for the closest dreadnought. They seemed a beautiful sight to him!

“Get some!” He yelled and now knew what the Gunny meant when he heard him yell the same thing last year.

“GET SOME! GET SOME!”

I could hear a whistling coming from the wires in my wings as I gained speed in the dive and the idle of the engine seemed loud in the wind. Glancing at my speedometer I saw I was getting close to maximum airspeed and I was still not close enough for a good hit, I had started my dive too high. Leaning forward I tried to aim but I knew that was impossible, I had to aim with the nose of the aircraft but I could see their sailors just standing on the deck looking up at us, not knowing what was coming. I held the joy stick as it began to vibrate, then reached to my left side for the ‘D’ ring to pull for the bomb release. My plane was at maximum speed when I pulled hard on the ‘D’ ring and felt the plane jump upwards with the release of the weight of the bombs, then banked right to fly out of the way for the next plane.

Looking over my shoulder to the right, I saw all seven planes in a line diving on the ship then my plane shuddered slightly with the explosion of bombs. Leveling out and banking left I looked over the side and saw the dreadnought on fire near the center, next to the bridge. My last two planes dropped their bombs when I saw flashes from below; Hagan had engaged the enemy ship at less than one hundred yards away from them! My first thought was that he would be slaughtered but as I flew around to the rear of the ship I saw his guns were getting hits at the ships water line.

I waved my hand over my head for the flight to rally so we could make a few strafing runs when I felt my plane shutter. I looked left then right and on the right side I saw holes in my wing with the fabric ripped and flapping back in the wind. The Greeks had managed to elevate their machine guns to fire at us.

I rolled over to the left and pointed my nose at the ship with reduced throttle. I waited until I was close enough to see them running away then pulled the trigger and saw flashes and sparks on the steel frame where my rounds were hitting near the front machine gun positions, causing several to fall wounded or dead. Pulling up I watched as my pilots make their runs, strafing the deck of the ship one after the other until there was no more machine gun fire coming from her. Hagan had turned and was going as fast as he could away from the enemy ship and all three of his boats were still there. And I took a deep sigh of relief as I watched his three boats and their wide white water wake behind them speed away.

I waved my arms for the flight to assemble and we formed up into a ‘V’ formation and headed for home. We flew over the city instead of the water for a short cut and as I looked down I could see what seemed thousands of people in the streets waving at us. They were using large pieces of cloth, hats or just waving their hands at us as we flew by. I held my left arm over the side and waved at them as we flew over then looked at my flight and they did the same thing.

“Hagan reports the dreadnought is taking on water. Air bombs set enemy ship on fire amid ship. Trying to make our get away with enemy fire behind us. Flight of nine planes on the way home.”

Yngvildr sat in the chair with a deep breath and seemed to relax as the Skipper paced back and forth.

“We don’t know if any of our planes were hit yet.” He said as he slowly walked back and forth near the communicators.

“They still need to get back here safely.” He said as he chewed on his finger nail.

“But they did not get shot down so the Greeks were not able to elevate their guns.” Yngvildr said.

“At least from what we know any way.” The Skipper said.

Hagan looked back and saw the fire on the Greek ship as it grew in intensity. Leaning forward, he thought he saw one of the smoke stacks fall but he wasn’t sure because of all the black smoke around it. The bow of his boat was bouncing over the waves as they sped across the water to get back home but he was just enjoying the wind and spray in his face with this incredible speed.

I looked around me to count my planes and found they were all there, in formation around me as we headed back home. Every few seconds I would glance at them to make sure I didn’t see a fuel leak or something else that would make for a forced landing. Then I thought of what we had accomplished today and it was amazing. The dreadnought was in flames as we left, Hagan got away with all three of his boats and that makes it a successful surprise attack. Not a pilot or sailor lost. The rest of the flight was boring and we just flew the hour and a half flight back home without incident. As we approached our field we circled once to make sure the air field was clear then I went in first to land, followed by the rest of my flight. We taxied to the end of the field near the hanger and I gave the engine a burst of throttle to turn the tail around to the front then shut it down. I was so tired I just sat there in the cockpit for a few seconds when a dozen people came running up to me to get me out.

“How’s the rest of the flight? Is anyone wounded?” I asked as I climbed out and onto the ground.

“One slightly wounded in the upper leg and a loss of blood but she made it.” A Corpsman said as he turned to go help the wounded to the hospital.

“GEESH Gunny!” Mac and Greg were on the other side of my plane when they yelled out.

“What the hell did you run into?” They were looking under my plane as well as the right side of my cockpit.

“You got holes all over this thing!” Mac said as he looked at me. “And you ain’t hit?”

I moved around to the right side and saw what must have been a machine gun that caught me in their sights. We counted twenty-eight holes and the tear in my wing had grown to be three feet long and a foot wide by the time I landed.

“You are the luckiest man alive!” Greg said as he ran his hand across the holes near the cockpit. “Look!” He said as he climbed up the side of the plane and pointed at the holes on the other side of the cockpit.

“The rounds went right over your legs without a scratch!” He smiled.

I stepped back and saw Yngvildr standing nearby, her arms folded across her chest so I walked over to her.

“Did we get that damn ship or not?” I asked her and she threw her arms around my neck.

“Next time I’ll be up there with you.” She said.

Jackson had been with the English for months now and the last few weeks he had been trying to get a group of people to Skavateland for this pilot training but the local King was afraid to make a move. There were several of the Norse boats at the docks waiting for him but this King wouldn’t make a move until Major Welsh returned from Skavateland with his information. He was frustrated by all this but all he could do is wait it out until Major Welsh came back. Then he got word of the surprise attack on the Greek dreadnought with the sea and air attack. That was enough for him; he decided to return without anyone and went to the docks to tell the ship’s captain to shove off.

Sigrun decided to return to Amsterdam and meet with General Hendricks and Colonel Dominador to check the situation there. He boarded the train south, along with several train cars full of ammunition and supplies for the Germans and took a seat next to a female officer wearing the Valley of Death ribbon. He needed to get one of these uniforms but he hasn’t really had the time for it yet, he thought. As the train began to lurch forward, he leaned back and felt his eyes close then realized he hasn’t slept in three days.

Hagan brought his boats into the harbor towards the docks when he saw Gunny and a large crowd gathered there waiting on him. He heard cheering as they tied up and he got off. There was slapping on his back, shaking hands and broad smiles as Gunny came to him, still dressed in his pilots clothing with a dirty face except around his eyes where the goggles were.

“Damn good job, Hagan!” The Gunny yelled over the crowd.

“We made history today, Gunny!” He yelled back and saw the Gunny nod in agreement.

“Come on. We have to give the council a debriefing!” The Gunny yelled into his ear.

They pushed their way through the crowd towards the Great Hall where they sat for the next several hours talking about their attack and how they would accomplish the next. However, they knew the next attack would not be so easy with the Greeks on the lookout for aircraft. It seems they would more than likely run into heavy anti-aircraft fire next time and possibly even Greek airplanes. The Gunny agreed that he needed to start teaching them aerial combat maneuvers that he has only read about but never done. He assured them he has read everything there was to read on how to accomplish these tasks so he would try them first then report his replaceings to the flight school.

Skipper too, had started flight school and was about to solo so he could teach classes between that and flight time along with Yngvildr, who was also going to solo soon. More candidates were volunteering after the attack but Doc was throwing most of them out in his ‘flight physical’ he insisted they have. Out of every ten that volunteered, only one or two would be chosen for flight school. One thing the council agreed on was they needed those tanks on the ground with more airplanes and boats before the Greeks used this technology against us. The Skipper too, had small wings made for all pilots that graduated flight school and became a well-known part of the uniform.