“Likewise, Mr. Prime Minister,” answered Xi. “I’m glad we were able to meet and discuss these important matters of state in person. I hope you don’t mind my suggestion that we meet in your lovely gardens? With the flowers in bloom and the air so fresh, I couldn’t escape their beauty. The clean air helps to clear the mind.” The two men began walking down another row of blossoms.
“Not at all,” responded Khatri. “The flowers are beautiful, and I’m sure you must miss being able to stroll around wherever you choose.” This statement was a nod toward the security precautions President Xi had to take in China. If the Allies caught wind of where he might be, there was a decent chance a cruise missile would find its way to the location.
Turning to look at his counterpart, Xi started the conversation. “I felt it important for us to speak in person to discuss the war. I was shocked and aghast at what happened in Russia. Who could have imagined Petrov’s own head of personal security and the FSB turning on him like they did? This never would have happened had Ivan Vasilek not been replaced.”
Prime Minister Khatri grunted before he replied. “It’s terrible. The surrender of Russia also sent nearly 140,000 of our soldiers into captivity, and a large part of our air force is also interned. Between our military losses in the Far East and western Russia, our armed forces have been greatly degraded. It will take us many months before we are able to replace the losses in tanks and aircraft.”
The two walked for a few moments as Xi digested what Khatri had just said. “Is he subtly telling me India is not going to continue the war?” he wondered.
“I won’t lie, there have been some major setbacks in the war,” President Xi admitted. “It hasn’t turned out how we had thought it would or how our planners had predicted. However, it’s far from lost. While some of our initial objectives are no longer feasible, many others still are. China still maintains control of Southeast Asia and some parts of the Philippines and Malaysia. The South China Sea is still firmly in our grasp.” He paused, looking at Khatri before continuing. “If India continues to stay with us, we can defeat the Allies when this war turns into a ground campaign. They can’t occupy us or hope to defeat our vast militia force.”
Khatri thought about that for a moment. Their alliance had certainly lost some major battles. They still possessed some of their initial gains, though, and the war-weariness of the Allies would soon begin to sap them of their energy. If the conflict dragged out for several more years, then there was a good chance they could force the Allies into accepting a peace that favored them. The question his colleague, President Aryan Laghari, continued to ask was how much longer the people of India would continue to support the war. With the loss of their armies in both western and eastern Russia, there was a growing undercurrent of unrest among the wealthy members of society.
The prime minister sighed. “You know the Americans issued us an ultimatum last week. We have until tomorrow to end our involvement in the alliance and seek an alternate peace deal with the Allies or face severe retaliation until we capitulate.” Despite the serious topic at hand, the two continued to walk at a slow pace through the gardens, pausing every now and then to admire a bed of flowers.
“The Allies have a fleet sailing toward our waters even as we speak,” Khatri explained. “I have the support of the people right now, but that might change if we were directly attacked. Is there any chance the Allies will entertain a peace settlement now?” he asked, almost pleading for some tidbit of insight.
Xi took a deep breath in and out and walked over to another bed of flowers. Then he turned to look at Khatri again. “The only terms of peace we’ve received from the Allies are contingent on total and unconditional surrender. That is not something I, or the people of China, will ever accept. If the Allies would be willing to sign an armistice, we could end this war tomorrow, but a total capitulation is not something we will accept.”
President Xi continued, “Prime Minister, I want you to think about something for a minute. Even if the Allies did attempt to land forces on your coast, India has such a vast army and population that you could simply overwhelm them at the beach. The Allies can attack you from the sea, but they can’t threaten you on land. China still has some new superweapons that we will be unveiling against the Allies in the near future. I’m confident these weapons will change the dynamics of the war. When the Allies launch their ground invasion this summer, they will be met with such overwhelming numbers of militia forces that we will simply overrun them. Then our new superweapons will be unleashed, and we’ll be able to severely damage their air force, the one branch that has prevented them from being completely overrun in Asia up to this point.
“The war in Europe and against us has destroyed more than 50 % of the Allies’ tier-one aircraft,” President Xi explained. “These are expensive and complicated aircraft to produce and cannot be replaced overnight. As we degrade them further, the tide of war will change in our direction. I just need India to hold strong, at least until the end of summer. Then you can make a fair assessment as to whether or not our new tactic will have worked.” Xi’s voice almost pleaded with Khatri not to abandon the alliance, at least not right away.
Khatri studied Xi’s face. He must have seen the look of sheer determination in his eyes because his own expression softened.
He nodded his head. “Fine,” he responded. “We’ll stay with the alliance for a short while longer, but your new tactic had better work. I’ll issue the order to our navy to attack the Allies as best they can. We’re going to lose what navy we have in this attack, but hopefully it will further hurt the Allies enough that they won’t be able to properly threaten our country.”
President Xi smiled.
Prime Minister Khatri looked around as if he wanted to make sure no one else could hear them. He leaned forward, “There is one thing I should tell you as well,” Khatri said in a low voice. “Our cyberwarfare division infiltrated one of the American banks.”
President Xi gasped. “When I give the order, they will completely erase the bank’s entire electronic records and their backup records at Iron Mountain,” Khatri said with glee. “This will cause considerable chaos in the American banking system. I hope this attack will help to persuade them into looking for more amenable peace terms.”
The two leaders talked for a while longer before Xi headed to the airport and back to Beijing. Both parties had a lot of things to get ready for.
Cyber Saturday
Dennis Hall placed his Starbucks latte on his desk as he pulled out his laptop from his backpack and began the process of linking up to the corporate network. Between his three computer monitors, keyboard, and mouse, he was now officially ready for the day. This was the one Saturday a month he worked in his security department’s weekend rotation.
Dennis loved writing code; he was fascinated with the concept of cyberattacks. To him, the ability of a single person or group to penetrate a company and completely run amok in their systems was amazing. He had been with JP Morgan for more than twelve years and had watched the organization evolve and grow, especially after the 2008 financial meltdown. He had just finished college the year before the collapse with a bachelor’s degree in computer science and network administration, and he counted himself lucky to have landed the job when he had. When he’d started at the bank, he’d quickly risen through the ranks as a knowledgeable cyber leader, eventually becoming one of the department heads in charge of the bank’s cyber defenses.