United States Embassy officials met Overhalt near the circular central information desk. On the way down the wide corridor to the Arrivals Hall, he saw the officers in meetings in the First-class Lounge. There was an echoing sound of army boots and weapons, of a country going to war. The Immigration and Customs desks were unmanned. Crews of armoured personnel carriers stood vigil where hotel cars and taxis had been only a week earlier. There were military checkpoints on both sides of the airport expressway into Beijing. The Embassy's Lincoln Continental slowed at each one and was let through. A squadron of Chinese fighter aircraft took off and screamed overhead to go to war against Japan in the Yellow and East China Seas.
The British and Commonwealth task force led by HMS Ark Royal was having to defend itself, mainly from China's guerrilla-style submarine warfare. The Ark Royal and her escort vessels were caught in a network of Romeo and Ming submarines patrolling the Spratly Islands in boxed-off areas. Each submarine commander was under orders to attack any vessel which came into his zone of control. The diesel-electric submarines waited very quietly for the targets to approach them. The Ark Royal's captain wrote in his diary that it was like being on a jungle patrol where the enemy was hidden in the undergrowth and a sniper could attack at any time.
`I was reminded of films about guerrilla jungle warfare. The only difference is that we were in the open sea, with blue skies and a clear horizon. It was frighteningly empty, but we knew the enemy was in the waters beneath us. We were aware it wouldn't mind losing three or ten vessels to our one. Our opponents were Mao's barefoot submariners. We were NATO's digital navy. We found some of them. But mostly they hid like snipers, mocking our technology. It was only when we detected the streak of the torpedo that we knew we were under attack. And by then, it was often too late. When it was over I felt obliged, as a naval officer, to salute their courage and daring.'
The first ship to be attacked was HMS Liverpool. A torpedo exploded 3 metres under the hull. The blast destroyed the engine room, killing twenty-three men. Then there was a direct hit astern. Another five men died with the initial impact. Seventeen more were dead by the time the ship sank. Half an hour later the crew of the attack submarine HMS Triumph avoided a salvo of three Chinese torpedoes. The commander at first speeded up, then turned away and slowed down. His decisions were partly based on guesswork that the Chinese torpedoes would be of the same type that had sunk the USS Peleliu and would not change course with countermeasures. Minutes later he was given a firing solution for the Romeo which was destroyed with one Spearfish wire-guided torpedo. Merlin helicopters from the Ark Royal hit another submarine using sonobuoys and a Stingray torpedo. HMAS Rankin, the Australian Collins class submarine, was the only vessel able to play the Chinese submarines at their own game. By adopting the Chinese tactics and waiting silently, sometimes on the bottom, the Collins commander was able to pick off two more of the enemy, giving him the highest hit rate of any submariner since the Second World War. He returned to the Darwin Naval Base a hero.
There was no official announcement from the White House, Pentagon, or State Department, but within an hour of the satellite photographs arriving on the President's desk, CNN broke the story of an imminent nuclear strike. The network, which had been running rolling news, abandoned even the existing schedules. Rival networks followed and soon every channel was a mix of analysts' comment and live contributions from correspondents across America. The impact was chilling. Discussions swiftly moved from the threat of China, to the threat within the United States itself. Speculation began on the ability of the security forces to keep control, and then shifted to the impact on the medical system, communications, transport, and banking.
`Are you telling us that if a nuclear bomb hits America, the government infrastructure will be unable to handle it?' asked one anchor.
`I am telling you,' replied the commentator, `that people had better make sure they have money, enough food in the cupboard, a full tank of gas, an up-to-date first-aid kit and the view that no one will look after their families except themselves.'
No one was sure what sparked the riots, but that was the most likely broadcast. The first looting officially linked to Operation Dragonstrike was on a delicatessen in Hollywood. One witness said she thought it was a drive-by shooting and took cover in an alleyway two blocks from the shop. The attackers shot down the ground-to-ceiling window with automatic weapons and a pump-action rifle. Then they backed a station wagon onto the pavement and loaded the food into the back. They sped off, firing their weapons into the air. Police logged the time as 1917. By midnight, hospitals, gas stations, and supermarkets throughout the country were being ransacked.
Mr Jiang Hua, the Chinese Ambassador, was a man of great dignity and never tired of reminding people of it. He swept into the Oval Office, apologized for being held up in traffic, and mentioned nothing about being called to the White House at such a late hour. His composure remained unruffled even when the President, abandoning diplomatic courtesy, confronted him. `What in God's name does your government think it is doing?' he began. He threw the folder containing the photographic intelligence on the coffee table before the Ambassador.
Everyone in the room was standing. The Ambassador remained silent for almost half a minute, then replied: `I have no idea what you are talking about, Mr President.'
The President gave a blunt response. `Don't play dumb, Ambassador. These photographs show Chinese missiles being prepared for a strike on the United States.'
The Ambassador shuffled his feet. `I have been instructed to inform you that the government of China is prepared for every eventuality. May I point out that the United States has brazenly supported the splittist activities of rebellious groups acting against the Chinese people? You have sold sophisticated weapons to our enemies and given sanctuary to those trying to overthrow our government. Therefore it is necessary, resolutely and forcefully necessary, to hit back at these rude acts of interference, subversion, and extortion by the American hegemonists. The officers and men of all ground, naval, and air units are ready to take orders from Comrade Wang Feng and the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee.'