With nothing further to say, Xi got up to head back to his own building.
As President Xi and the rest of his entourage left, Yang began to compose a message in his head. He’d need to find a way to draft a message, and soon. His opportunity had just arrived.
“Mr. President, we’ve received the message you’ve been waiting for,” JP announced.
“We’re sure this is for real and not some trap?” asked the President nervously. He still wasn’t completely confident they could trust this Chinese general.
“I have my concerns, Mr. President, but this is the best option we’ve got,” said Secretary Castle. “I’ve met General Yang, and I do get a sense that he knows there are no good options left. Either he helps us end the war in a fashion that still saves some of his country, or he oversees the destruction of his nation.”
The President sat back in his chair for a moment thinking about the plan. If things went according to plan, then General Yang would assume control of the country and move to end the war. “But what if this doesn’t go according to plan?” he wondered. Yang could just as easily use Xi’s assassination to mobilize the country around himself and continue the war.
Looking back at his advisors, the President asked, “If this plan goes south, what’s the alternative? How will we still bring about the end of the war?”
Admiral Meyers leaned forward. “We continue with the current plan, Mr. President. Right now, we have nearly two million US and Allied forces less than 100 kilometers from Beijing, we’ve got another one and a half million Allied forces in the Shanghai region, and nearly that same number in Guangdong Province in the south. By this time next year, we’ll occupy more than fifty percent of the country, and seventy percent of the Chinese population will be under Allied control.”
The admiral paused for a second, letting that sink in. “We have another thing going for us as well, Mr. President. General Yang lived in America for ten years — he studied at one of our most prestigious military academies. He knows our capabilities inside and out, and more importantly, he knows we won’t stop until we win. He’s been given an out, an opportunity to save his country, and I believe he’ll take it.”
Nodding at the logic, the President finally consented. “Order the strike, but make sure you kill Xi. If he or anyone else from that meeting escapes, it could prolong the war.”
With the final order given, the staff went to work on executing what everyone hoped would be the final operation to end the war.
The past few months had been horrendously busy for Colonel Fortney and his partner, Major Daniels. They had been putting the B-21 Raider through its paces over the battlefield. Despite the bomber still being “experimental,” it had been successfully carrying out bombing missions over mainland China for nearly two months. They had tested the bomber’s radar-absorbent material by flying over some of the most heavily contested airspace over China, ensuring their antiradar skin was as good as the manufacturers had advertised.
Other missions had tested the bomber’s ability to carry out precision strikes by guiding ten JDAMs to a target, then increasing that number up to the full capacity of one hundred smaller 500-pound JDAM bombs. In each test, the software, flight instruments, and targeting computers performed as good as or better than the manufacturers had said they would.
The B-21 Raider was proving to be the dream stealth bomber the Air Force had hoped it would become and a solid replacement for the B-1 and B-2 airframes. With the essential tests having been completed, the entire B-21 line of bombers started full production. The second test bomber was immediately flown to Yokota, giving Colonel Fortney command of the only two bombers in the service.
Two days earlier, the first day after the temporary ceasefire had ended, both bombers had flown to the city of Tianjin, 115 kilometers southeast of Beijing, and paid the city a visit. In a single bombing run, they’d released one hundred 2,000-pound laser-guided bombs, smashing the city’s manufacturing plants, port facilities, and two enemy divisions who’d hunkered down in a heavily populated neighborhood. It was a devastating attack by any standard, and it had been carried out by a mere two bombers.
Walking into the briefing room, Pappi could tell this wasn’t going to be an ordinary bombing mission they were sending him on. There were several armed guards at the exits to the room, a handful of folks in black suits, and a few uniforms with stars on their collars. Whatever was up, it was big.
Turning to look at the pilot chairs, Pappi spotted his partner in crime and made his way over to her. Plopping down next to her, he leaned in. “What have you heard?” he whispered.
Double D shook her head. “Nothing yet. I got here ten minutes ago to go over some notes when all of these new faces started arriving and the security forces guys locked the room down.”
Nodding, Pappi opted to just sit back and relax. Whatever was going on involved them and their bomber, and when the powers that be decided to bring them in on it, they’d be there, ready and waiting.
Ten minutes went by as a handful of additional people filtered into the briefing room, way more than what was required or normal for any of their previous raids. They were, after all, a secretive bomber program that no one was fully aware was operational yet.
One of the men who had filtered into the room was a two-star general. As soon as he walked in, he immediately approached the lectern and silenced the room.
“Everyone, take your seats,” he announced. “It’s time to get this meeting going.” All the attendees quickly followed his instructions.
“There are a lot of people in this room, so I’m going to go over some introductions for our two bomber crews,” the general said. “I’m Major General Erik Latrell, from Joint Special Operations Commands. To my right are National Security Advisor Tom McMillan and Ambassador Max Bryant. To my left are Major General Tom Breedlove and Katelyn Mackie from the NSA.” He paused for a moment as the two aircrews nodded. A captain handed everyone a small dossier of the mission along with a nondisclosure agreement and a signature form for the Special Access Program this operation was being classified under.
“What I’m about to brief you on is a highly classified SAP program by the name of Operation Valkyrie. Once you all have signed the NDA and the SAP signature page, there will still be less than fifty people in our entire country who will know about this mission and what it entails. Needless to say, if any of the mission details leak, there are only fifty of you who know about it, so we will find out who you are, and I guarantee you’ll be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Do I make myself clear?” he asked, voice close to a drill instructor’s in intensity.
Once everyone had agreed, and the signatures had been collected, General Lattrell continued. “Roughly ten weeks ago, President Xi carried out a purge of his senior military generals and political advisors. This placed a series of much younger, more innovative and aggressive generals in charge of the country. The new head of the PLA is a general by the name of Yang Yin. What’s unique about Mr. Yang is his family background. His father is the head of a major Chinese electronics manufacturer, and his family lived in America for ten years while he oversaw the American side of their business. During that ten-year period, Yang’s father had his son enrolled in a military preparatory school in America, and upon graduation, his son was accepted into the Citadel as a foreign student.