The President understood the challenges; the Pacific was a big ocean. Despite the defeat of the Chinese fleet, they still possessed dozens of submarines and other surface ships. They had also established a network of military bases throughout the South China Sea that had been turned into missile bases. Penetrating the Chinese missile swarms to get close enough to their shores and industrial heartland was going to be difficult, but not impossible.
“What I want from everyone is a realistic plan of how we are going to bring this war to a close. We have popular uprisings that we are supporting in the Philippines, Vietnam and now Japan. The Chinese will squash these uprisings if we are not able to offer more assistance. What are your suggestions?”
Admiral Juliano jumped in saying, “Sir, I have redirected our SUDs to the South China Sea to start engaging Chinese shipping. We are also going to start placing a bigger emphasis on going after the shipping between the African Confederation and China as well. Not nearly enough has been done to try and sever the mineral and natural resource pipeline between Africa and China that is keeping their factories going. I also believe we should step up our insertion of Special Forces to these countries.”
General Branson agreed. “We need to send more Special Forces to these countries to help. I also think we should increase the number and type of weapons we provide them. The Chinese are deploying their own version of the M5 AIR, so I do not believe we should hold out on providing them to the insurgent forces any longer. These weapons would greatly increase their ability to conduct hit and run attacks.”
“I agree” echoed CIA Director Rubio. “We held these weapons back in the past because we needed them for our own forces. Now it’s time to step up the scale and type of weapons we provide them.”
“All right then,” said the President. “General Branson, Director Rubio, move forward with the new plans, and let’s see what more we can do to help sow some chaos. In the meantime, I want to know — what is our strategy and plan for liberating Japan and the rest of the Pacific? What forces do we need, and when will we have them?”
Admiral Juliano brought up a new image on the holographic monitor for them to look at. “Sir, what you are looking at is our initial plan for re-securing the Pacific. We have four of our new Reagan class Supercarriers and three of our older Nimitz class Supercarriers in the Pacific. We also have four of our Webb class Battleships.” On-screen he also showed the list of cruisers, destroyers and frigates that were also assigned to the Seventh Fleet. It had taken several years, but the navy finally had the ships it needed to take the Pacific back.
“Our plan is to liberate Japan first, then move to assist Taiwan. To free Japan, we are going to need to secure a launch platform from which we can move in air support to help on the main Island. We have identified the island of Hokkaido as our best location to use for housing our aircraft.” A map of the Island was brought up with several identified landing zones, airports and other strategic targets that would need to be secured.
“The assault against the Kola Peninsula in Russia with the EHDs was a resounding success. We are going to use that same strategy to capture Hokkaido. Four of our American class amphibious assault ships are currently being outfitted with EHD simulator pods just like the ship that we used in Russia. These four ships will be able to carry an assault force of 8,000 Reaper drone operators. Once the key objectives have been secured, we will begin to ferry in tens of thousands of Raptor-equipped soldiers to capture the rest of the Island. With the Island under our control, we’ll begin to move in additional men and material and get ready to liberate the rest of the Japan.”
The President looked over the information, and asked several clarifying questions, but in general, he agreed with the premise of the plan. Then he probed about a more pressing issue. “What I want to know is when this plan will be ready to execute?”
General Branson saw this as his opportunity. “Sir, it is going to take time to get everything ready and in position. We anticipate launching the invasion of Hokkaido in February, and then moving to the rest of Japan in May of 2043. At that point, we will have 12,000 EHDs available for the operation, and the necessary ships to support the mission.”
After thinking about the information provided, the President responded, “I’d like to take the rest of the evening to think about it. Why don’t we dismiss the meeting for now, and we can come back tomorrow?”
There were no arguments from the group, so the President returned to the Residence to mull things over.
The Man No One Was Supposed to See
The loss of the Kola Peninsula was a heavy blow to Russian morale, and the darkness sat in the air. As President Mikhail Fradkov sat in his office, he was wondering why Petr Gromley had insisted they meet today. Today was not a good day for a surprise visit; he had a strategy meeting with his foreign minister and military leaders to discuss the Pan Asian Alliance. He wanted to see if there was a way for Russia to join the alliance and still maintain their sovereignty. Fradkov knew Gromley and the men he represented were against the deal, but he did not care. He was the President, and this alliance was Fradkov’s way of ensuring he stayed in power despite what Gromley and his benefactors thought or said.
Mikhail had woken up that morning feeling a bit strange. He was more tired than usual, and his heart had been racing all morning. As the palpitations continued, his hands started to feel clammy, and he thought to himself, “I had better check in with my doctor after my meeting with Gromley. Petr had better have a really good reason for insisting on meeting today. I have a busy schedule, and this meeting is an interruption.”
As President Fradkov got up from his desk and began to walk towards the door in his office, the pain overwhelmed him. He grabbed his chest. It felt like an elephant was sitting on him. He could not breathe. He was frozen there for a moment before he realized that he must be having a heart attack; he gasped for air, but could find none. As his world turned black, he couldn’t help but wonder if this was Gromley’s doing.
Petr Gromley’s smartphone vibrated slightly in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw the message; President Fradkov had had a heart attack and was confirmed dead. The President’s doctor would confirm Fradkov had died of a massive coronary arrest, citing “natural causes” and leaving no suspicion that he had actually been assassinated. As Gromley approached the entrance to President’s office (where the other leaders of the Russian government were expecting to meet with Fradkov), he reveled in what was about to take place.
The double doors were opened for him by the President’s personal guard, who had been personally selected by Gromley and his associates. As he walked into the room, he saw General Gerasimov, the Head of Russian Military, LTG Igor Dmitrievich Sergun, Director of the GRU (Russian military intelligence), Sergei Puchkov, Minister of Defense, Nikolai Bortnikov, Director of the FSB, and several other members of the ruling council.
Nikolai Bortnikov was not able to hide his facial expressions when Gromley walked in the door; his eyebrows seemed to reach for the ceiling. He was also the first to speak. “Petr — what are you doing here? We are about to meet with President Fradkov.”