The nearly eighty-year-old general officer waved a withered hand to tonight’s briefer, Colonel Lieutenant Ai Peijian—“young” in his case meant about age fifty-five — who moved to his feet and bowed respectfully. “Welcome, comrade, to our status briefing regarding our standing war plans for the glorious pacification and reunification with the rebel Nationalist Chinese on the island of Taiwan. Before I begin in detail, I am happy to report that our plans are in perfect order and await only the command from our Paramount Leader to execute the war plan. In less than one week, we can destroy the Nationalists’ defenses, capture the Nationalist president and his key advisors and Kuomintang leadership, and start the process of reunification under the Communist Party of China.”
“That will be for me and Comrade General Chin to decide, Colonel,” Sun said, impatiently waving a hand for the briefing to begin.
Just two minutes into the briefing, Sun knew that not much had been changed — this was the same briefing he had been given every two weeks for the past year now. This military committee — the Operations and Plans Committee, part of the Military Command Headquarters Targeting Taiwan, or MCHTT, based here in Juidongshan — was in charge of continually revising the war plans drawn up by the Central Military Commission, Chinas main military command body, for the initial attack, invasion, occupation, and subjugation of the rebel Chinese Nationalist government on the island of Formosa. Every two weeks, the MCHTT was required to brief the Central Military Commission or its designated representative — that had been Admiral Sun Ji Guoming for quite some time now — on any changes to the war plan made because of force or command changes on either side.
But it was a farce, typical of the huge, bloated People’s Liberation Army bureaucracy, Sun thought. No member of the lowly MCHTT would dare make any substantive changes in the war plans drawn up by the Central Military Commission — that would be an act tantamount to treason. Colonel Ai was the commanding officer of the planning division of the MCHTT, but he was such a junior officer that if he worked in Sun’s office of the chief of staff, his day would be spent mostly making tea and emptying wastebaskets for all the middle- and upper-class flag officers there. If the Central Military Committee wanted any changes made as to how Taiwan was to be “reunited” with the mainland, the CMC would tell the chief of staff, who would tell Sun, who would tell the MCHTT to make the changes. That process might take six months — six months spent by each bureaucrat in order to make sure that his superior wasn’t trying to screw him, each bureaucrat making sure that the orders made him look good if it worked and made someone else look bad if it didn’t work.
The initial thrust of the attack on the island of Formosa was to destroy the island’s thick air and coastal security units from long range. Seven fixed bases and ten mobile presurveyed launch points in east- central China were programmed to launch up to twenty Dong Feng-15 intermediate- and short-range missiles each on Taiwanese targets per day, that was one hundred and fifty to three hundred missiles per day, an incredible bombardment. The attacks were programmed to last as long as a month, but of course would be halted right before the amphibious invasion began, or upon the rebel’s unconditional surrender. The high- explosive missile attacks would be followed by tactical air strikes to mop up any surviving targets, escorted by waves of fighters to ensure air superiority and to fight off an expected counterattack by Taiwanese air forces. An amphibious invasion was deemed unnecessary — the thought being that loyal Communists on Taiwan would rise up, throw off their Nationalist oppressors, and welcome the People’s Liberation Army ashore peacefully — but the aircraft carrier Mao Zedong, formerly the Russian carrier Varyag and for a short time the Iranian carrier Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and its battle group would be used to ferry troops and supplies ashore if necessary, while providing air cover against any resistance.
“Hold please, Colonel,” Sun finally said. “You show the employment of seventy-five DF-15 missiles on Longtian to launch against Taoyuan and Hsinchu Air Bases on Taiwan.”
“Yes, sir…?”
“Yet I was briefed two days ago that there has been extensive flooding on Longtian peninsula and that the base and city are not fully repaired,” Sun went on angrily. “The undamaged missiles were removed and sent to Fuzhou. What forces are covering Longtian’s targets while their missiles are evacuated?”
Colonel Ai seemed stunned at Sun’s question. “The evacuation was merely precautionary, sir,” he responded. “We expect the missiles to be back at their presurveyed launch points in just a few days…”
“But then you are in fact telling me that Taoyuan and Hsinchu are not really at risk right now” Sun insisted. “You are saying—”
“Comrade Admiral, Longtian covers the initial bombardment of Taoyuan and Hsinchu,” General Lieutenant Qian said in a loud, irritated voice. “Colonel Ai, continue the briefing—”
“But, sir, I just said there are no missiles at Longtian,” Sun interrupted. Although Qian was senior to Sun, they were both of equal rank and authority, and it was certainly within Suns purview to question anything in this briefing. He turned to Colonel Ai and asked, “Did you bother to move any bombers from the interior or from the north to cover those targets? Zeguo Air Base can perhaps handle twenty or thirty B-6 bombers; Hangzhou and Fuzhou might be able to handle thirty each as well. One hundred bombers might be able to cover those two Nationalist cities until the DF-15s can be replaced at Longtian. You might be able to get a number of Q-5s to cover the targets, but it might take a hundred and fifty or more, depending on the status of Taiwan’s Tien Kung-2 antiaircraft missile deployment that was scheduled for this month at Hsinchu. But the weather is getting a bit better, so the Q-5s might have a good chance.” Sun paused, regarding Ai. He still looked absolutely petrified with confusion, his eyes shifting back and forth from Sun to Qian. “Are you getting any of this, Comrade Colonel?”
“Yes, sir,” Ai said, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down as if he were choking on his own tongue. But a warning glare from General Qian got his attention, and he pressed on: “Ah… yes, as I was saying, Longtian’s DF-15 missiles will destroy the air defense bases at Taoyuan and Hsinchu, with secondary targets at Taipei and Lung Tan available when intelligence reports the destruction of these two air facilities—”
“Comrade Colonel, are you listening to what I am saying?” Sun interjected angrily. “You cannot destroy any air bases with weapons you do not have. Now, I have told you that there are no missiles at Longtian, and I have suggested using bombers or attack planes to cover Taoyuan and Hsinchu until the missiles are operational again. Why do you continue to brief outdated information?”
“I… because, Comrade Admiral, the plan calls for Longtian to attack and destroy those two Nationalist bases,” Ai said. “It is all in the plan, sir…”
“Yes, I know, but the plan is wrong,” Sun said. This caused a gasp from Ai and from most of the officers attending the briefing — and an absolutely explosive grimace from Qian. “It is wrong because… Damn you, Colonel, you can see it is wrong. Change it. We could be called upon at any moment to execute this attack plan, and I want to be sure it is perfect. ”