Xi smiled at the bluntness. “Finally, a general who isn’t afraid to speak his mind, even if it might get him killed.”
Xi depressed an intercom button and instructed several PLA colonels to come in and provide General Yang with an update on the war. The Minister of Defense also brought him up to speed on their military production capability and ability to support and sustain the war.
For the next three hours, the colonels presented Yang and Xi with an update on each sector the Allies were attacking from. The last brief was on the country’s economy, its financial health, and then the overall morale of the people. It was a lot of information to take in.
Xi had no intention of losing power. If he had to make a peace deal with the Allies, then the only one he’d accept was one that left him still in control. He hoped General Yang could accomplish that task.
After the colonels left the room, General Yang sat silently looking over the materials they’d left behind. First, he looked at some of the maps and initial statements of what was happening in the north, then he focused in on Shanghai, and then his own theater, the south. What astounded him the most was how effective the Allies had been at deceiving them with their invasion of Shanghai — the PLA leadership had been caught completely flatfooted by the invasion.
The other thing that confounded him was what that American Army group was doing in the western part of China. It appeared a large American Army group had invaded through Mongolia last fall and that, when spring had come, they’d entered Inner Mongolia. Even now, they were driving nearly unopposed on Beijing from the west. The Allies had truly encircled China and were slowly chopping her up into smaller, more manageable chunks.
Looking up at Xi, Yang asked, “You know how you eat an elephant, Sir?”
Snickering at the question, Xi replied, “One bite at a time.”
“Exactly,” Yang responded. “In this case, the Allies knew they couldn’t defeat us by attacking from one front, so they’ve opted to attack us from multiple directions. They also knew they needed to destroy our Air Force and our ability to protect the skies and our ground forces. The army that rules the skies tends to win.”
President Xi nodded, but he didn’t look very pleased. “You’re not telling me anything I don’t already know,” he quipped. “Why do you believe the Allies invaded Shanghai and Guangdong Province? It would have made more sense for the Allies to marshal all their forces in the north and sweep down across the country from a land border they had already secured. Why did they deviate from that conventional wisdom?”
Leaning back in his chair, Yang knew exactly what Xi was after and why none of the generals before him were still alive. Holding his chin out a bit, Yang replied, “If you will indulge me, Mr. President, I’ll attempt to explain why the Americans have done what they’ve done and why the other generals failed to see it.”
Xi nodded for him to continue. He also signaled for an aide to bring them more fresh tea and some food as well. General Yang was grateful for that — it was likely they’d be there most of the evening, talking.
“As you already know, Mr. President, I grew up in America,” Yang began. “I was educated in their schools and I even went to the prestigious American military academy, the Citadel, in the state of South Carolina. While studying to become an American military officer, I was extensively taught American military history and how their generals think. As a cadet, I was taught what every officer in the military is taught, how to lead soldiers and to accomplish the mission, to think outside the box and bend the rules when necessary. I was also able to attend the prestigious advanced infantry school’s Ranger program my senior year.”
President Xi nodded, but it was clear his patience was wearing thin.
“I tell you this because I’ve been trained to think like an American officer. Many of the American colonels and lower-level generals we’re fighting now are some of my classmates from twenty years ago. The reason the Americans are attacking us from Inner Mongolia, northern China, and the Korean Peninsula is simple: they wanted our focus and attention to be on northern China. They wanted my predecessors to move all our forces toward the north, and to that end, they were very successful.”
Xi leaned in at this point and interrupted him. “Are you saying the Americans wanted us to believe these three fronts they’ve been attacking us from in the north for what, eighteen months, were a ruse? A well-groomed trap?” he asked incredulously.
Yang leaned forward as he replied, “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“Explain,” Xi said, voice tense.
“When the Americans launched their massive offensive in the north, General Wei Liu moved nearly all of our reserve forces there and to the west to deal with them. While this move has largely stalled the Allied offensive, it has also left us with very few reserve forces to deploy anywhere else. Let’s also look at the air side of things. The American stealth bombers, or what’s left of them, have focused nearly all their attacks not on going after our command-and-control headquarters, communications nodes, or even our Air Force or military units — they’ve focused their attacks on key railheads, bridges and tunnels linking northern, central and southern China together.”
He pulled out a series of rail maps the briefers had left behind and showed Xi what he was talking about. “Once we had committed our forces to the north and stopped their offense, the Americans invaded Guangdong Province.”
Xi obviously became annoyed with the history lesson and slapped his hand on the table “I know this! Tell me why!” he demanded angrily.
“To go after our manufacturing base and our finances. If we can’t produce the tools of war — the drone fighter planes, infantry fighting vehicles, small-arms munitions — then we can’t fight. By attacking Guangdong Province, they’re hoping to capture more than forty percent of our military manufacturing base.”
“Then why did they also invade Shanghai?”
“Because Shanghai accounts for more than thirty percent of our tax base. With the Shanghai region and Guangdong Province in their control, the Allies will occupy more than fifty percent of our military manufacturing base and more than sixty percent of our tax base. They’re going to starve us financially and cripple our manufacturing ability to sustain the war.” Yang concluded his explanation of the Allies’ strategy as he saw it.
President Xi had this look on his face as if a literal lightbulb had just illuminated in his head. “Is the war lost?” he asked.
“That’s an incredibly loaded question,” thought Yang. He looked at the empty chairs before him and considered carefully whether he should tell the truth as he saw it or lie and try his best to prolong the war as long as possible.
Xi must have seen his perplexed look. “General, please give me your honest opinion. I’m not going to have you shot for telling me what I don’t want to hear. Unless we acknowledge the obvious, we can’t hope to find a solution.”
Yang nodded and let out a deep sigh. “Mr. President, the war is lost. We can’t reverse the damage that has been done. At this point, it’s more about managing the loss. The Americans have a presidential election coming up. For the next twelve months, their political parties will be fighting amongst themselves to win or retain control of the government. As I see it, we have two options: we can either try for a peace deal with the current administration, or we can try and prolong the war and hope the opposition party wins control of the government and we can achieve a better peace deal.”