Marshal Dong was on the line. Qin took a breath as he waited to be put through. Dong got right to the point.
“Qin Chung! The Chairman cannot abide one more mistake by the People’s Navy! Because of your fanatical mavericks we are at war now with our archenemy Japan, with our northern seas at risk. What’s next? Russia? India? Answer me!”
Qin had never received such a blast from Dong, from anyone in his career. He sensed his answer would save not his career but his life, and he had one second to form it.
“Marshal Dong, this is unacceptable to the People’s Navy, and we hold ourselves to a higher standard. I am relieving the Southern Fleet commander and submarine flotilla commander, and will recall our submarine to homeport and place the commander under arrest for disobeying orders.”
“You told me your forces would warn and disable, keeping casualties to a minimum! Have you seen the media video?”
“Yes, Comrade Marshal, and a case can be made that the Japanese were operating far outside the spirit and intent of our proclamation. They, and the world, now see how serious we are, that our statements are credible. We will reiterate to our forward commanders down to those on our ship bridges and in our airplane cockpits the importance of following the People’s Liberation Army Navy commands to the letter. The chain of command in this instance will pay for their failure to do so.”
“Comrade Admiral….” Before Dong continued, Qin detected that his own career, for now, had been spared. “…are you confident you are in control of your forces?”
“Yes, Marshal Dong, and we are solidifying our defense of the first island chain. We have control of sea lanes throughout the Southern Sea, with submarines deployed from Malacca to the Luzon Strait. Outside our Southern Sea, we have submarines to disrupt, militia to report, and aviation and rocket forces to destroy enemies that threaten our waters.”
“How can you deal with the Japanese now?”
“Our Northern Fleet acts as a threat to the Senkakus and Ryukyus to limit Japanese help to the Americans in the south. If they ignore our warnings, a well-placed rocket into their airfield at Okinawa may persuade their public to petition the Diet for peace. We do not want a wider war, Marshal Dong, and I’m confident we can manage the application of precise force going forward.” Qin waited a long five seconds for a response.
“Comrade Qin, we cannot fail. No—you cannot fail in this task.”
“Marshal Dong, seagoing combat operations have my personal and untiring attention.”
Wilson taxied his Rhino to Iwo Jima’s single runway. Air Wing Fifteen aircraft were scattered all over the airfield on any available parking space. Another C-17 was unloading equipment to support the carrier planes as Hancock helicopters continued to transfer men and supplies from the ship. All 49 fixed-wing that took off from the carrier in a historic action made it, but there was no respite from the pace. Before Wilson manned his jet, armed with bullets and a single Maverick missile, he learned that the Chinese had sunk the Japanese helicopter carrier Hōshō some 300 miles to the west. This stunned, and then angered, the island’s Japanese garrison, who now supported the American effort with enthusiasm. Wilson and another Rhino from the Sharks would be supported by a single E-2 from the Lookouts and a single EA-18 Growler. Another section of Rhinos led by Olive was going to search to the southwest. Mother Tucker chafed at his combat air patrol assignment around Iwo. He wanted to get into the fight.
Wilson roared down the runway under blue skies and sucked up the gear and flaps once airborne. He rolled right and headed west, staying low and slowing so his wingman Lieutenant Mike “Mongo” Mangrum could join up. Once joined, Wilson switched them to the briefed radio frequency for Lookout. The nearest “mainland” was Japan, over 600 miles to the northwest.
“Lookout, Flip. Flight of two up for your control.”
“Flips, roger. Search sector as briefed,” Lookout answered.
Wilson’s link display showed a pointer 68 miles to the west that Lookout wanted them to investigate. He centered it, and both Super Hornets cruised toward the linked surface contact. They did not expect PLA(N) surface ships, but Chinese merchants and militia fishing vessels were likely in these waters. Wilson and Mongo would stay high to avoid detection, using their targeting FLIRs to visually identify at range the contacts Lookout directed them to using data link. The reported Hōshō sinking position was another 250 miles beyond the surface contact, or “skunk,” they were investigating.
On the surface they saw a fishing boat, and Wilson was able to maneuver his FLIR to track it. The boat was a trawler, heading southwest, and Wilson took an image of it and sent it to Lookout. The E-2 crew classified the image; the boat belonged to the People’s Republic.
This boat had to be tracked, and Wilson stayed ten miles off and over 20,000 feet above to bird-dog it. He broke an unwritten rule and sent Mongo off alone to follow the link pointer to the next contact of interest, which turned out to be a car carrier heading south. Going from contact to contact, Mongo was able to help build the surface “picture” west of Iwo.
Wilson did not want to alert the fishing boat to his presence, and he watched it maneuver this way and that, in no particular pattern. It was 140 miles from Iwo Jima and could easily have listening antenna. If it detected American carrier aircraft here, that would indicate to Beijing either that Hancock was not 100 percent immobilized or that the Americans had somehow moved the jets to Iwo Jima.
On his FLIR display, Wilson saw an object ejected from the stern of the boat. It seemed to fly on its own, and Wilson tracked it heading east. As it flew under him, he identified it as a UAV with a single pusher prop.
“Lookout, the boat just launched a UAV, heading east. Let’s splash it.”
“Will pass that; obtaining clearance,” the E-2 controller responded.
Clear of the boat, Wilson yanked the power to idle and descended. From three miles above he could see the UAV with his naked eyes, light gray against the dark blue sea. It was motoring east, on course to overfly Iwo Jima.
He could not let it take images of the airfield.
Wilson called to Mongo and ordered him back to bird-dog the fishing boat. After coordinating with Lookout, Wilson made the decision on his own. He armed up and did a tight 270-degree turn to gain some lateral separation. He slowed and slipped the jet to get down as fast as he could. The UAV was indeed heading for Iwo Jima, only 70 miles on the nose.
Wilson knew somebody was monitoring the UAV and that it had a camera and IR seeker. His plan was to sneak up and gun it with a high-deflection shot so those monitoring the UAV would not know what happened.
The UAV was level at 3,000 feet and cruising along, oblivious to his presence. It was a small “battlefield” UAV, maybe ten feet long, that the boat had launched with a catapult. He resisted the urge to lock it with his radar, but squeezed off a burst to check.
Assessing the fall of shot, he pulled his nose ahead of the UAV and forced himself to wait. The little airplane grew in his HUD field of view, and, with a sudden start, Wilson knew he was close to overshooting it. Now!