Qin nodded, and then turned to Li. “Clear the room of all but your component commanders and your chief of staff.”
Li barked an order and the three dozen staff officers who were arrayed along the walls departed in ordered silence. Qin’s aide handed his admiral a folder and was the last out, closing the door behind him.
Qin remained silent as the men at the table waited for him to begin. He looked at each one with purpose, the silence building to an uncomfortable level. Last he came to Li, and held his gaze for several awkward seconds.
“We will attack first,” Qin said in a low voice. He saw some nod their heads in acknowledgement. He let it sink in.
“We will target and disable their carrier Hancock after we find it again crossing the second island chain. Before they can react, Rocket Forces will disable their base on Guam and destroy their ISR and navigation satellites in low earth orbit. And the Subic Bay complex, especially the airfield. Li, once the order is given, your naval aviation regiment will neutralize the Vietnamese installations at Cam Ranh Bay and Haiphong, plus their tactical air bases from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi. We must secure our western flank before we concentrate on the American wave from the east, and you’ll have one day to do it.”
“It will be done, Comrade Admiral,” Li nodded, his faint smile betraying his eagerness to attack.
“At the same time, Heaven’s Shield will be deployed over the entire Southern Sea.” Qin sensed the admirals’ surprise.
“The entire southern sea, Comrade Admiral?”
“Yes. The People’s Liberation Air Force has over 400 air vehicles to employ in a 1,000 by 700-mile blanket over the Southern Sea. We’ll have the high ground with sensors and precision weapons. Anything that is alien to our territorial seas will be dealt with. Blood Moon, Fleet Commander, is vital to defeat any threats coming up from the south, and the outpost will have a 100-mile buffer at the edge of Heaven’s Shield.”
The fleet submarine commander spoke up. “What about our satellites, Comrade Admiral? Will the Americans destroy them in retaliation?”
“I would expect it,” Qin said, “and maybe not through kinetic means, but we cannot depend on full access to our satellites. Destroying each other’s satellites will hurt them much more than us.” The others nodded.
“Our strategy is predicated on overwhelming them at the outset, keeping them off balance and showing the world the high price even the Americans must pay for aggression inside our territory and territorial seas. Our media front is key. Pictures of destroyed American installations, planes, burning ships and even pictures of their lost sons and daughters will aid our efforts. Especially the image of a dead young woman. As we know, Americans are ruled by emotions.
“However, we must expect they are going to attack. They have a history of telegraphing their moves as they do now. Unlike weak Arab enemies, we have the means to fight at their level, but we cannot sustain it. Time is on their side.”
The naval aviation regimental commander now spoke. “Do we really think the Americans are going to attack our territory, Comrade Admiral? As you said, they are ruled by emotions and embrace weakness. They even coddle homosexuals! Their admirals and generals act like hysterical women in efforts to increase the numbers of deviants in their ranks to appease their taskmasters in Washington. The American military is focused on sexual excess and plush accommodations, hides behind automation to avoid risking their lives, and has no stomach to fight the People’s Republic! We will make short work.”
Qin’s eyes narrowed as he took the brash admiral’s measure. It was his pilot that ran into the American patrol plane in the Southern Sea and further steeled American resolve.
“It appears you put great stock in our own press clippings, Admiral. I do not share your unwarranted enthusiasm and overconfidence. The Americans are massing forces across the Pacific, and they are coming here. Surely they have imagery of this building and may know of this meeting right now. They may indeed run at the first sign of blood, but I do not believe they will, and I must be prepared that they will not. Have you met Admiral Clark?”
“No, Comrade Admiral.”
Qin pressed him. “Have you met any of their senior commanders? Have you visited to the United States?”
“No, Comrade Admiral.”
“Because I have, I do not share your view that Admiral Clark and the American military will turn and run. Yes, many, if not most, in their parliament are ignorant weaklings who prostitute themselves for votes. Their society is decadent and undisciplined, but their military is capable and proven. The pilots we will face are combat veterans. Do you have combat experience, Admiral?”
“Yes, Comrade Admiral, 1990’s actions against the Uyghurs in the frontier.”
“Commendable, Admiral. Unlike many of us here, you have been tried by fire. How many pilots in your regiments have a similar level of combat experience?”
The aviator shifted as he pondered how to answer. “Few, if any, Comrade Admiral.”
Qin nodded. “Most, if not all, of the American pilots have experienced combat since 2001. True, they have not faced your frontline J-11s or surface-to-air defenses, but they, including their women you disdain, fly hundreds of miles over enemy territory and the high seas to deliver firepower with precise effect. Their Tomahawks work, and their defenses have been tested. Are you willing to bet they will not attack Blood Moon Atoll?”
“I will go to Blood Moon myself, Comrade Admiral.”
“Good. Please have your wife — and son — accompany you.”
A chill came over the room as those at the table shifted. The aviator’s countenance became dark, and his eyes were locked on Qin. Neither one blinked during the long silence. Qin spoke first.
“Your pilots can gain experience against the Vietnamese once the initial attacks occur. Beginning tomorrow at midnight, I want you to be able to strike Cam Ranh and Ho Chi Minh City within two hours of the order. The Vietnam air-defense target set is your responsibility, the length and breadth of the country. I predict the Americans will then strike you at Blood Moon within 72 hours, but since you are confident they will not, I hope your family enjoys their tropical vacation. In the meantime, I suggest all of you prepare for war with the United States. They mean to do us harm. We must not let them.”
CHAPTER 25
Four time zones to the east, Hancock ploughed ahead through gentle seas, her bow rising and falling in easy motion. The midafternoon sun warmed all who were topside on the flight deck, either working or goofing off. To the east, Cape St. George was in position as “shotgun,” and the sharp silhouette of Earl Gallaher could be seen on the southern horizon. A clutch of nugget pilots in their green flight suits stood on the angle and leaned into the 30-knot wind, creating wind foils with their flight jackets as if to lift off the ship. They laughed as one aviator lost his balance and almost stumbled off the deck edge.
One deck below, Wilson, Weed, and the squadron COs were gathered in CVIC with charts of the Western Pacific clipped on easels. Off to the side was a tactical chart of the Spratly Islands, with multicolored SAM threat circles drawn around PRC installations like Blood Moon and Stingray Reef that covered almost the entire breadth of the South China Sea. Big double-digit SAM rings on Banyon Island intersected with those of the Spratlys, and all but a sliver of airspace along Luzon fell under the Chinese SAM umbrella, which could be filled by their guided-missile destroyers. As the aircrew studied the charts, they got a sense of the distances involved between mainland China and the first and second island chains, the lay of the land in the SCS, and the vastness of the Philippine Sea. With one look they could see their tactical problem involved long ranges, multiple in-flight refuelings and Chinese defense-in-depth. But what was their tasking? Knowing CAG Wilson had spent the morning with the admiral in flag plot, they figured they would find out at this meeting.