Had the Lijiang encountered one of these warships? And was it detected attempting to stalk them? If this was the case, there was no way that Captain Lee would needlessly compromise his command to broadcast a radio report.
A fresh gust of cold wind hit him in the face, and Liu looked to the western horizon from where this breeze blew. They were passing Jia Point now and a small red launch carrying the harbor pilot could be seen approaching them.
The great port city of Tsingtao came into view as they rounded the point. Its modern skyscrapers and dozens of commercial structures extended down to the crowded docks, with the air itself heavily polluted by thick, yellow loess conveyed all the way from the interior by the incessant western winds.
This was the face of modern China. Cities such as Tsingtao were playing an all-important role as the ports where the motherland’s abundant exports and vital imports were handled. Since a good majority of this trade was by sea, warships such as the Zhanjiang, and the dozens of PLA Navy vessels that soon came into view anchored at their docks, were instrumental in protecting this maritime activity.
With the transfer of the harbor pilot, the Zhanjiang slowed further, its bow swinging toward the half dozen piers reserved for the PLA Navy.
Liu spotted a trio of formidable-looking Luda-class destroyers, with five T-43 minesweepers tied up alongside. These were the same vessels that had recently participated in the successful East China Sea Red Flag exercises. Used to screen the impact area of their ground-launched ballistic missiles, this capable flotilla had helped them send a strict warning to both Taiwan and the other countries who dared support the outlaw nation.
Red Flag was planned before the ascendancy of their new president, and was Liu’s creation. It was originally formulated to intimidate the Taiwanese government, which was getting much too cocky of late for China’s good.
Deng Xiaoping’s passing had left a power void, and Liu and his conservative supporters foresaw a dangerous turn of events if Taiwan were to be allowed to continue flaunting its unlawful powers. A group of liberal politicians that Li Chen was rumored to be part of was said to be advocating an actual splitting of the People’s Republic. It was to be patterned after the breakup of the old Soviet Union, and would find the rich provinces of the southeast forming their own independent nation, under the guidance of the commercial powerhouses of Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Taiwan. This would leave the poorer, industrial north alone to fend for itself, and effectively put an end to Mao’s dream of a united motherland.
Liu shuddered to think how such a frightening scenario would affect the great navy that he had sacrificed the best years of his life to build.
At 260,000 men and 1,150 vessels strong, this fleet was the world’s largest.
Not about to give up his life’s work without a fight, Liu looked out at the approaching docks. Tied to the end of the pier here, with quick access to the channel if needed, was one of the very vessels that he was depending upon to protect the integrity of his great dream.
She was known by her crew as the Yellow Dragon. A byproduct of the same modern, high-tech engineering skills that produced such warships as the Zhanjiang and the Lijiang, the Yellow Dragon was a Xia-class, nuclear powered ballisticmissile submarine. As such, only the upper portion of her sleek black hull was currently visible.
It was evident from the activity visible on this end of the dock that the Yellow Dragon was getting ready to put to sea. This particular patrol could very well be the missile sub’s most important ever, and Liu was relieved to find that they would be heading to sea on schedule.
The Yellow Dragon was a huge vessel, 160 meters long and displacing over 13,000 tons. It sported a teardrop shaped hull and a rather squat, streamlined sail, from which the hydroplanes extended.
Most of her length was aft of the sail, where a humped casing held sixteen SS-N-18 missiles. Stored in two parallel rows of eight missiles each, the SS-N-18 was an awesome offensive weapon. It was the first PRC submarine-launched ballistic missile to carry multiple independent reentry vehicles. Each of these MIRVs carried three 200-kiloton warheads. The solid-fuel missiles had a range of over 4,000 nautical miles and could be delivered with an amazing degree of accuracy. This gave the Yellow Dragon the ability to hit a wide variety of targets. The sub didn’t even have to leave the pier to effectively wipe out such diverse cities as Taipei, Manila, Tokyo, Seoul, Vladivostok, Calcutta, Singapore, Sydney, or Honolulu.
By moving farther east into its normal patrol zone in the North Pacific, the Xz’a-class submarine could hit targets up and down America’s West Coast, including Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego. When properly positioned, there was hardly a city on earth that it couldn’t destroy, making the Yellow Dragon one of the most potent warships ever to sail the seas.
The boat’s current commanding officer was Capt. Ma Zhu-lin. Ma was a PLA Navy veteran. At fifty years of age, he was a tried-and-true old-timer, whose reputation as a strict disciplinarian was something of a legend.
There was no better man to have at the helm if missile-release codes were to be received, for Ma would carry out any legitimate order without question.
The ranks of armed PLA soldiers standing on the pier beside the Yellow Dragon were further proof that she was equipped with a full load of warheads. As with most nations that deployed nuclear weapons, China had a strict command and control policy in place. The PLA’s nuclear forces had their own chain of command, separate from the rest of the military, in which Liu was but a single link.
China’s president had the ultimate responsibility for ordering the release of nuclear weapons and Li Chen had sole possession of the warhead-release codes. This top secret, numeric sequence was always kept within close reach of the president in a briefcase carried by a trusted military aide and called the Cobra. In the event of hostilities, this code would be transmitted to the commander of China’s nuclear forces, who would in turn broadcast it to the desired units.
Then it would be up to the individual field commanders to utilize the unlock codes to arm the warheads and deliver them. Altogether it was a rather foolproof process. Liu was aware that he who controlled these nuclear codes controlled China’s destiny.
“Admiral Liu, sir,” an unexpected voice broke in from behind him.
Liu turned around and couldn’t help but find his expectations rising upon spotting the thin figure of the Zhanjiang’s radio officer. He stood somewhat timidly beside the veranda’s open hatchway and Liu anxiously beckoned the young officer to join him beside the railing.
“Yes, comrade,” said Liu eagerly.
“Admiral, you need not worry any longer. Headquarters has just informed us that less than five minutes ago, they received a brief, high-speed radio transmission from the Lijiang. Though heavy static masked a good portion of the message, the course coordinates that they were able to relay put them in the northern reaches of the Greenland Sea, off the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen.”
Liu fought the urge to hug the bearer of this fantastic news, and the dark, sullen mood that had possessed him for the past few days suddenly lifted.
“That’s wonderful news, comrade,” managed the smiling veteran, who noted that the radio officer apparently had something else to tell him.
“Yes, comrade, there’s more to the message?”
“Not exactly, sir. It’s just that moments after I received the coded dispatch from Command telling us of the Lijiang’s successful transit, a cellular phone call from Beijing arrived for you. The caller was from the Bureau of Foreign Affairs, and he instructed me to inform you that the president has safely arrived in New York and is presently in the process of boarding the QE2.”