Collisions of the Damned: The Defense of the Dutch East Indies (The Usurper's War: An Alternative World War II)

My God, we are losing this war.--Lt. Nicholas Cobb, USN March 1943. The Usurper's War has resumed, with disastrous results for the Allies. In Hawaii, the U.S. Pacific Fleet lies shattered after the Battle of Hawaii. Across the Pacific the Imperial Japanese Navy, flush with their recent victory, turns its gimlet eye towards the south and the ultimate prize for their Emperor: The Dutch East Indies. For Commander Jacob Morton and the other members of the Asiatic Fleet, the oncoming Japanese storm means that the U.S.S. Houston and her Allied companions must learn to fight against overwhelming odds against an enemy who claims the night as their own. In the skies above Houston and the other old, tired vessels of the ACDA Fleet , Flight Lieutenant Russell Wolford and his men attempt to employ the Allies' newest technology to even the odds. With full might of the Japanese Empire falling on them, the ACDA's soldiers, sailors, and marines must fight to hold the line long enough for reinforcements to come. On the Japanese side, the Dutch East Indies Campaign quickly becomes a maelstrom that they did not expect. Vice Admiral Yamaguchi, commander of the Kido Butai and victor of Hawaii, finds himself fighting to preserve the First Air Fleet's carrier wings rather than fritter them away in a battle of attrition. For even as brave pilots such as Lieutenant Isoro Honda and his fellow Shiden pilots cut a bloody swathe through their Allied counterparts, Yamaguchi realizes that his remaining carriers must prepare for one thing: The Decisive Battle. Collisions of the Damned is the continuation of the Usurper's War series. Picking up where Acts of War left off, this book contains even more relentless combat and breathless naval actions than its predecessor. As Japan confronts a divided United States and its desperate allies, ordinary men and women are forced to make decisions that will have far reaching consequences for both themselves and their nations.