Just when Sergeant Dayan didn’t think they were going to be able to hold the line, a British Challenger tank fired a canister round into the mob, cutting a huge swath of the Chinese soldiers down. Then a company worth of British soldiers ran forward and shored up the Israeli lines, and more British armored vehicles joined the fray.
In less than a minute, the enemy attack fell apart and began to retreat. At the sight of the enemy falling back, the British troops that had just arrived charged forward, quickly followed by their armored vehicles. As Dayan watched them charge after the enemy, he felt nauseated; the tanks were literally running over both the dead and the dying that carpeted the street below.
Staff Sergeant Dayan slumped to the floor and placed his face into his hands. He began crying uncontrollably, and he didn’t even know why. Perhaps he just felt overwhelmed by all the emotions of what he had just gone through, or perhaps the gruesome sound of the bones crunching under the advancing tanks had been a burden too heavy to bear. In either case, he wasn’t the only soldier to break down in that moment.
President Xi was practically beside himself as he listened intently to General Wei Liu, the overall PLA military commander, explain how their most recent attacks against the Allied invasion force in Shanghai had just failed. Somehow, three divisions of regular army forces and five divisions of militia had been badly mauled by enemy air and artillery attacks before they’d even made it to the front lines.
“Sir, it was as if the Allies somehow knew exactly where we were forming up and when we would be moving in order to make these attacks,” General Wei concluded, forlorn.
It was a theme. Somehow, over the past month and a half, the Allies had managed to anticipate every move, every attack, in advance. President Xi was beginning to suspect they had a mole somewhere inside the government that was feeding them information.
General Xu Ding then took his turn regaling them with tales about the success of the Air Force’s new UAV fighter drone program. Xi did have to give the man credit; the new UAV fighter drones were actually performing pretty well.
“It’s too bad we don’t have enough of them to really make a difference in this war,” he thought. Xi’s mind went back to what was happening in Guangdong Province. The bulk of China’s aerospace industry had been relocated there after the nuclear attack on Shenyang. It seemed odd that the Americans would launch such a massive invasion in southern China unless they somehow knew of the importance of Guangzhou and Dongguan to their production of these new drone fighters and their aerospace program.
The Minister of Defense, General Kuang Li Jun, leaned forward as he glared at General Wei. “General, you have failed us and your country. Your services are no longer needed,” he stated. Then he waved his hand, signaling several soldiers standing near the exit to apprehend him.
General Wei’s eyes grew wide as saucers as he attempted to protest his dismissal. “Mr. President, please! You can’t allow this to happen!” he exclaimed loudly. The guards rushed forward, grabbing him by his arms, pulling him out of the room.
Shaking his head in disgust, President Xi stood as he signaled for the others to stay seated. “We have meticulously planned this war, collaborating on it with the Russians and many other allies. We should have won this war nearly a year ago. Instead, we find ourselves the last nation standing, our homeland invaded. What I want to know is how are we going to repel these invaders? Can we still defeat them?”
The remaining generals and admirals in the room all squirmed a bit in their chairs, not knowing what to say. They certainly did not want to be the next person dragged out of the room. They all knew what was going to happen to General Wei and none of them wanted to suffer the same fate.
Seeing that no one had the guts to look him in the eye, or even attempt to answer his immediate question, Xi sat down and then reached under the table and depressed a small button. “Since it appears none of you have any ideas on how to defeat the enemy or reclaim victory, it would seem I need to find new generals who do,” he said to the sudden shock and horror of the remaining generals. The side doors opened and a group of security personnel, the President’s personal bodyguards, walked in and moved to detain each of them.
A short scuffle broke out as some of them pleaded with President Xi to save them. “Please, give me one more chance!” shouted one. “I’m the only one with an idea of how to defeat the Americans!” cried another.
Xi just shook his head and waved them off with a flick of his wrist. Once the generals were removed from the room, he heard several shots fired as they were dispensed with in the hallway. It was a rule of his not to allow any chances for insufficient leadership to call to their commands for help.
“Liquidate them and replace them before anyone can raise a fuss about it,” he told himself, rubbing his temples in frustration.
“That went about as well as could be expected,” Chairman Zhang said. He took a sip of his tea, the entire scene having no effect on him. The Minister of Defense nodded in agreement.
“It needed to be done many months ago, but this recent setback has given me the latitude I needed to do it and still maintain the confidence of the military,” asserted President Xi. He paused. “Bring in General Yang Yin,” he ordered.
Zhang nodded and got up to head down the hall to a room where the general was waiting patiently. As the chairman left the room, Xi nodded toward one of his bodyguards, who proceeded to screw a silencer onto his pistol and quickly followed after Zhang.
The Minister of Defense tried to keep his face as neutral as possible. It was obvious that Xi was purging the PLA leadership right now, and he was hoping that he was not next on the list.
When General Yang Yin walked into the room, Chairman Zhang was noticeably absent as the security guard closed the door behind him. He noted the empty seats and read the name placards before him before looking to the center of the table at the supreme leader.
President Xi motioned for him to take a seat opposite him, next to the Minister of Defense, who was looking a little pale.
As Yang sat down, Xi began to speak. “General Yang, I’ve called you here because our country is in grave danger, and none of my military leaders will give me an honest answer or provide a valid plan for how we’re going to defeat the enemy. You have served the people well in the war thus far. Your battlefield defeats are not yours alone. You were defeated because the generals above you gave you an impossible task to accomplish and did not heed your warnings or your pleas for support.”
Yang nodded cautiously.
“I’ve read your many requests for reinforcements, changes to battle plans and suggestions for how to turn the war around,” Xi continued. “Each of them fell on deaf ears, but not mine. I’ve heard your pleas for help, and your ideas for how to turn the war around. What I need from you now is to take charge of the military and lead us to victory. Can you do that?” President Xi asked. He leaned forward, staring into the eyes of the one general who had given China its only victories in this war.
In that moment, General Yang seemed to understand exactly why these chairs were empty. He took a deep breath in and slowly let it out as he sat up a bit straighter. Doing his best to keep his face stoic, he said, “I need to know what the status of the country’s military force is if I’m to make an accurate assessment of whether the war can be turned around. As you know, I have been focused on fighting the Americans in the south of China, where my command is. I’m not fully aware of what the Allies are doing in the north or in Shanghai.”