The Secretary of Defense paused, adjusting his tie as he mulled over the options. Finally, he turned to Katelyn. “Ms. Mackie, does your source know for certain that these UAVs are ready to be deployed now? And do we know how many of them are currently ready for use? Lastly, what if the Chinese suddenly decide not to take down the global satellite infrastructure at all but to keep things as they currently are?”
Katelyn pulled up some other information she had on her laptop. “Sir, up to this point, the information our source has provided has been nearly 100 % accurate. He wasn’t able to tell us how many of these fighter UAVs are currently available for use, but clearly, from both the source in Vietnam and our guy, we know it’s real. As to your last question, if the Chinese suddenly develop cold feet about taking down the global satellite network and they opt to not use the Y’an UAVs, then we’ll have to keep fighting them the way we have been. We almost need to hope they take down the satellites, so we can gain access to their military communications systems.”
The SecDef, Katelyn, Tom, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs bantered back and forth for another fifteen minutes while the President listened silently. As they spoke, Foss grew more and more concerned about the current invasion plan. A ground war in mainland China would be messy, no matter how they looked at it.
“OK, people, I think I’ve heard enough,” the President finally asserted. “I know this is going to ruffle some feathers, but we’re going to change our current tactics. Instead of launching diversionary invasions in southern China and an offensive drive on Beijing, I want us to focus on going after Guangdong Province. That will disrupt their aerospace manufacturing base and interrupt their collection of tax revenues.
“Next, I want to go after China’s piggy bank. We need to attack Shanghai and the surrounding area — that will take down their financial and tech sectors in one fell swoop. I was just reading a white paper written by the Institute for the Study of War that emphasized the strategy of depriving the Chinese government of the ability to pay for the war and disturbing the manufacturing base needed to sustain the PLA. I know this kind of throws a wrench into your plans, Jim, but what are your thoughts?” the President asked. He surveyed the faces of his military leaders and tried not to be amused when he observed that most of them were just doing their best not to look irate that their Commander in Chief had just thrown out their yearlong invasion plans.
Jim didn’t say anything for a moment. He put his index fingers together and leaned into them, thinking it all over. “Mr. President, you’re the Commander in Chief,” he finally said. “If you want us to revamp our invasion plans, then that’s what we’ll do. I haven’t read that same white paper, but I believe I know who wrote it — a retired colonel, Kyle Buller, if I’m not mistaken. He had worked many years in the Pentagon’s procurement program and at DARPA. He’s a smart fellow. We hadn’t initially looked at that angle under President Gates since he favored a more direct attack strategy against Beijing, but I can also see the merit in considering the path you just outlined. If I may, would you allow us a few days to give this a good study and see how feasible it would be? We’ve spent a lot of time positioning war stock for the original plan, so I need to evaluate whether we would need to shift most of that war stock around, or if we could still use it in its current positions.”
The President nodded his approval. He knew he couldn’t spring a major change like this on the military without allowing them a chance to look at its viability. “That’s fair enough, Jim. And, yes, it was Kyle Buller who wrote the white paper. I believe it was written maybe four months ago. I’ll give you some time to look into it all, but I’d like an answer within a week. If we’re going to make this change, then we need to do it quickly.”
With that said, the meeting broke up. The various parties went to work on getting the country ready for the eventual loss of satellites and preparing for a possible change in the invasion strategy.
Chapter 2
Calmer Heads Prevail
At 0830 hours, the air was already hot and muggy as General John Bennet, the Supreme Allied Commander for Asia, walked into the central meeting room of the Ripon Building. As soon as he entered, he was met by Major General Alan Morrison, the Australian Commander of Allied Forces in India. Behind him waited a small cadre of staff officers as well as Rear Admiral Shelley Cord, the commander of Task Force 92, the naval fleet supporting the ground operations. The new Secretary of State, Philip Landover, was also seated at the table along with several of his staff. When General Bennet walked in, Secretary Landover walked over to Bennet and heartily shook his hand.
The pleasantries were short, even by military standards. They had a lot to discuss. Once everyone was seated, General Bennet started the meeting. “All right, General Morrison, I’d first like a quick update on the disposition of the Allied forces in India,” he announced.
General Morrison stood. “General Bennet, five days prior to your arrival, we successfully offloaded the remaining Allied units and supplies for our next offensive campaign. As of right now, Operation Jade Tiger, which will capture Bengaluru in the center of the country, is still ready to launch when you give the order. I have two Australian divisions, one New Zealand brigade, one British armored division, and two American mechanized infantry divisions ready to move.
“To cover our right flank and ensure the continued occupation of Chennai, I have a Canadian light infantry brigade, a French brigade and a German tank brigade, along with numerous other support units. If the Indian government doesn’t want to pursue peace, then we’re still ready to prosecute the war until they will,” General Morrison said, a full grin on his face.
General Bennet smiled too. It was obvious the man before him was truly loving his position as the Allied commander in India. After all, within the last month, he’d gone from having a small contingent of 32,000 soldiers to over 73,000, with more on the way.
Secretary of State Landover inserted himself. “I’ve read over your progress up to this point, General — very impressive. You’ve certainly succeeded in humbling the Indian government.”
“General Morrison, please excuse Secretary Landover,” said General Bennet, shooting a scornful look at Landover. “I have a few more military matters to discuss before we move to politics.” He didn’t like being interrupted. This was his turf.
“My apologies, General,” said Secretary Landover, his cheeks a bit red. “I was getting ahead of myself. I’ll wait until we’re ready to discuss tomorrow’s meeting.”
Bennet turned his attention back to the Australian. “General, I’m pleased with your progress up to this point. You have done a superb job with the forces given to you. You managed to pull off some impressive wins. Chennai was captured with very few casualties and very little civil unrest, which is fully attributed to the way you had the Army carry out its initial seizure of the city and the port.
“I spoke with President Foss, who has spoken with your Prime Minister, and they’ve accepted my recommendation that you be given a third star and continue to remain the overall Commander of Allied Forces in India. I have multiple divisions en route to Asia from Europe, and depending on how tomorrow’s meeting goes, I may have those divisions placed under your command for you to widen the war in India. I hope that doesn’t happen, but if it does, then we’ll begin discussing additional objectives beyond Operation Jade Tiger.”
General Bennet paused. “OK, then, Secretary Landover, it’s over to you now.”