“On the contrary, sir, I know their use is contemplated quite often,” Sun said, calmly but firmly. “I know exactly at what bases they are kept, how many, and which missiles and ships carry them — including the carrier Mao Zedong.”
General Chin looked as if he was ready to murder Sun with his bare hands. “Sit down, damn you, Sun!” he ordered from between clenched teeth. “Be silent!”
“I will not be silent!” Admiral Sun said. His voice rang like a shot through the Commission chamber, and it had the same effect as if a real gun had been fired in that room. “We seem content to have our foreign policy dictated by the Americans, even though the Americans have no cohesive policy with regards to Asia except the furtherance of fair trade— fair only to themselves, of course. The threat of American military intervention paralyzes this commission, even though we have it in our power to reduce or perhaps eliminate the force of American intervention, or even whether or not they will choose to intervene.”
“I order you, be silent, Sun!” Chin shouted. “Be seated!”
“Wait, General,” Jiang said. He motioned to Sun. “Speak, Admiral, but be warned — your fitness for your post will be determined by what you say here to this commission.”
“I will accept that, sir,” Sun said resolutely. “Comrade President, members of this commission, the Party and our government has said that it wishes our country first to reunify with the pieces lost to us by foreign conquests — namely, Senkaku Dao, Formosa Dao, and Nansha Dao — and second to make China the preeminent power in Asia for all time. These are worthy goals. I believe we have the support of the people, which Sun- tzu says is necessary before the ruler may charge the generals with preparations for war, and so we should carry out this mandate immediately.
“But it is obvious to me, as I am sure it is to you, that the United States, by its foreign policy and tremendous military might, is the dominant force in Asia now. We do not retake Formosa, Quemoy, or Matsu from the Nationalists because we fear American intervention. We do not retake the Senkaku Islands, taken from us by Japan, again for fear of retaliation from the Americans. But we have retaken the Nansha Dao, what the West calls the Spratly Islands, and America has done nothing — in fact, American companies help us pump oil and natural gas out of fields we took from other countries. America does not care about what happens in Asia, as long as it does not affect their bottom line — their ability to make money.
“But our very political and social framework is under attack by America. They try to influence our laws, tell us not to limit how many children our families can have, or tell us to buy more automobiles, televisions, and blue jeans or else they will not permit our goods to be sold anywhere in the world. This evil influence is strangling our very souls, comrades, and I see no solution except one: remove the Americans from Asia, permanently. This means destroy the American aircraft carriers and destroy the main American military staging base on the island of Okinawa. We have no choice, comrades.”
“You are advocating nuclear war with the Americans?” General Chin retorted. “Are you insane, Sun? It will spell certain annihilation!”
“Nuclear war with America is not inevitable, Comrade General,” Sun said. “America has almost completely eliminated its ability to wage nuclear war — they believe it is unthinkable and unnecessary, given their perceived conventional weapons technological superiority. In a war that does not threaten American lives or territory, my studies conclude that America, even led by a hawk such as their president Kevin Martindale, will not launch a nuclear strike against us. But if we are determined to win, then we must acknowledge that we shall use nuclear weapons against the Americans. We can be secure in the knowledge that America will not retaliate with nuclear weapons unless their homeland is attacked, and that even if they do employ nuclear weapons against us, we can withstand the attack as a nation.
“We can use our subatomic arsenal, our neutron bombs, to eradicate the Nationalist forces on Quemoy and Matsu — quickly, before the Americans can react,” Sun said. “We can hide the attack behind a blockade and bombardment, but the truth will be known soon enough anyway. But the Nationalists cannot hide from the effects of a neutron bomb in their bunkers and tunnels. Before the American carriers arrive, we will have retaken Quemoy.”
President Jiang was startled, even a bit intimidated, by Sun’s ideas and by the strength of his convictions — but he was also intrigued by them. Here was a military man who was not afraid to lead, Jiang thought. Here was an officer who studied Chinese military history and ancient Chinese military teachings, then employed those time-honored and time-tested ideas to solve modern-day problems. Here was a man of action, a man willing to lead a struggle of liberation against the most technologically powerful military force ever known — the United States of America.
And he was not afraid to use the most terrible weapons known to man: atomic weapons, especially the neutron bomb. The neutron bomb, developed from stolen U.S. plans ten years earlier, was a small, “dirty” nuclear device that killed by saturating the target area with radiation. The nuclear yield was small enough that blast damage was confined to a few hundred meters from “ground zero,” but the effects on human beings of the neutron radiation released by the weapon was devastating. Any living creature within two miles of the blast would die of radiation poisoning within forty-eight hours, no matter how deep underground they were; unprotected humans within five miles of the blast would die within seventy-two hours. Further, all significant traces of radiation would be gone within a week, leaving structures and machines virtually untouched and unaffected. The People’s Liberation Army could march in and take Quemoy without firing a shot.
“You speak of not conducting a direct engagement against American air or naval forces,” Jiang asked, “but you speak of destroying American carriers and bases. Can you explain how this can be done, Admiral Sun? Do you plan on exploding nuclear weapons all over the Pacific now? ”
The confident smile that spread across Ji Guoming’s face was filled with energy and enthusiasm — two emotions so alien in this old Commission chamber. “Comrade President,” Sun said, “Sun-tzu teaches us that the army goes to war in the orthodox, but is victorious in the unorthodox. That is the key to victory against the Americans.”
As Jiang Zemin and the other members of the Military Commission listened, it soon became obvious that Admiral Sun had carefully thought this plan out, and that he was highly intelligent and his staff highly competent. In just a few minutes, President Jiang actually believed that this man, this Black Tiger, could pull off the impossible.
“The admiral should be congratulated for the attention to detail and daring of his plan,” General Chin said, after Sun had finished. “But it is also a reckless and dangerous plan, one that could spell disaster to the republic if a full-scale confrontation breaks out. I feel that Admiral Sun wants vengeance, and that in his thirst for revenge he is not thinking of the people nor of the fatherland. Your ideas have much merit, Comrade Admiral, and may withstand serious scrutiny by the Plans and Operations bureau of the Military Commission. But I believe the president wishes us to formulate a strategy that will achieve the Party’s objectives quickly and effectively. The carrier Mao and the task force will accomplish those objectives.”
“Comrade President, I must say again, we must not send the Mao Zedong aircraft carrier battle group anywhere near Taiwan,” Sun said earnestly. “It would be seen as a large-scale provocation. I have a plan to draw the American carriers well within range of our shore-based attack planes. We would have the upper hand then. We must—”