They watched as dozens of missiles sped quickly toward the Vipers. It looked like even a few of the F-35s were taking evasive maneuvers. Steadily, they watched as many of the missiles missed their marks. Unfortunately, they also saw more than a handful of the Vipers disappear from the radar screens. Even three of the F-35s went offline, indicating they’d been shot down as well.
“This is turning into a costly raid,” Pappi thought. Nine Allied fighters had been downed so far, and they were only halfway into the raid.
“Five minutes until we’re over the target,” Daniels said, doing her best to stay focused on the mission and not the inordinate number of enemy missiles being fired at the raiding party flying ahead of them.
Pappi started getting the bomber ready to release their deadly cargo. He pressed a few buttons on the weapons system, completing the arming sequence on the nukes as Daniels descended to their optimal drop altitude and speed.
Seeing that they were now ready for weapons release, Pappi said a quick prayer for luck as he depressed the bomb release button on the first bomb. Instantly, the aircraft lifted; dropping 800 pounds of ordnance certainly made a difference. With their first 50-kiloton nuke away, they continued their cruising speed and altitude for another thirty seconds before Pappi released the second bomb.
He quickly closed the outer bomb doors, and once the lights showed green, he gave a quick thumbs-up to Daniels, letting her know to increase their speed and get them out of the area.
“Raider One to Henhouse. Bombs away. Both bombs successfully released. Stand by for detonation,” he radioed in to their headquarters.
This was the first time they had ever broken radio silence during a bombing mission. Normally, they’d carry out their bombing mission and not let anyone know their status until they were out of enemy airspace. In this case, however, their superiors needed to know if they’d made it to the target and released their bombs.
Anxiously they waited, hoping their targets had hit home and were successful. Then again, when dropping a 50-kiloton bomb on a target, they didn’t necessarily need to hit it spot-on like a precision-guided strike. Still, they needed to get the bomb in close enough proximity to the hidden entrance so it would have the best chance of punching through the hundreds of feet of rock before detonating its warhead. Once the first warhead went off, the second would sail right in through the newly created hole before it had a chance to collapse in and would make it further into the core of the mountain before detonating. This would ensure that no matter how deep or reinforced this bunker system was, it would be destroyed, and with it, the leaders of the People’s Republic of China.
Having already turned the bomber back toward home, Pappi and Double D made sure the window curtains were fully closed to block out the blast light. Given this nuclear strike was happening during the day, even though it was underground, there would still be some light leakage, especially from the second detonation.
Suddenly their radar screen went fuzzy for a second and their radio communications cut out before returning, letting them know the first bomb had successfully gone off. Seconds later, their instruments let them know a nuclear flash had just occurred, as once again, their radar and comms blacked out for a second before returning to normal.
Pulling the curtains back, Pappi demanded, “We need to turn the bomber, so we can look back at the city.” He needed to see what had happened with his own eyes. Looking out to the west, he saw a rising plume from the side of a mountain — the kind of plume that only a nuclear bomb could create.
“Man, would you look at that,” he said. “I’ve seen videos of what a nuclear bomb looks like after it’s gone off, but I never thought I’d see one in real life and know that I was responsible for it.”
Daniels fought back her emotions, wiping her face to hide her crying.
Looking at his partner, Pappi replied, “It’s OK to shed a tear, Daniels. I never thought I’d drop a nuclear bomb either. Let’s just hope this was successful and the war will now come to an end.”
Chapter 29
End of an Era
General Yang Yin stared at the remaining PLA generals of the Air Force, Army, Navy, and Rocket Force as he finished reading over the final terms of the surrender. The looks on the faces of these generals indicated that many of them were not happy with the terms. Several looked like they wanted to openly challenge him for leadership of the country.
General Zhao Keshi, the general in command of the Eastern theater of operations, shook his head and then slammed his fist down on the table. “This is unacceptable! This humiliation is not something I can accept. We must fight on if these are the terms of the agreement.”
General Sun Jianguo blurted out, “I will not accept these terms! My army group will continue to fight if you agree to these terms!” He stared daggers at Yang.
Many of the generals seated before him were senior in age and time served with the military, especially in comparison to Yang. They had resented that President Xi had promoted him to Head of the PLA ahead of them, despite the fact that he was one of the few generals to bring China any military victories. General Yang became concerned over the possibility that the generals before him might openly revolt over the proposed deal.
He took a deep breath and let it out. While he was formulating a response, General Du Hengyan, the head of the PLA’s strategic rocket forces, spoke up. “I have to disagree, General Sun. These are generous terms, and in light of what has happened to President Xi and the rest of the CMC, I don’t see that we have a choice.” As the general in charge of China’s nuclear weapons, General Du held a lot of sway within the PLA. He was also the oldest general in the army. Despite his age, he had taken a liking to General Yang and, like Xi, had seen him as the future of the PLA.
General Sun responded, “You of all people should want to retaliate against the Americans, Du! This is the second time the Americans have used a nuclear weapon against China.”
“And we have already obliterated Oakland and San Francisco, Sun,” Du countered. “Do you not realize that to retaliate further would only invite further nuclear catastrophe on our people? Even now, the enemies are at the gate to this very city. They have us encircled. With the loss of Shanghai, and Guangdong, the war is lost.”
“The war is not lost until we accept defeat!” shouted General Sun. “I, for one, do not accept defeat. We have already been arming the populace, and we’ve formed nearly three million of them into newly created militia battalions. We can continue to create militia battalions until we’ve wiped these invaders from our land.” His eyes smoldered.
General Zhao nodded. “Even now, I’m readying an offensive that will push the enemy back from the capital. You have to let me launch my attack, General Yang. At least give me the chance to try and win,” he said, pleading for one more offensive.
General Yang sighed deeply. He’d personally reviewed the defenses of the city, and they were solid, the best defensive network he’d ever seen. He knew it would be difficult for the Allies to break through, but he also knew with no real way to stop the Allied air forces, it was only a matter of time until they bombed those positions into oblivion.
“They still can’t see that we are defeated?” Yang thought. He wondered how many more lives would need to be lost before they would accept that they couldn’t win.
Sitting forward, Yang looked each general in the eyes. Then he replied, “Zhao, let’s assume your offensive is successful and you push the enemy back from Beijing. Then what? What happens next?” He paused long enough for them to think about that question before continuing, “Our air force has fought valiantly, but they have been defeated and can no longer stop the Allies from attacking us at will. If we have no air cover, the enemy air forces will pound our forces into the dirt. If every armored column is attacked before it can even reach the battlefield, how can we mount a counteroffensive?