“For how long?” an Army general whispered.
Byrne continued. “The Philippines has neutralized itself, acknowledging Chinese hegemony and renouncing all claims in the China Sea. Japan’s called its navy home, and is mulling the proffered cease-fire. India, Vietnam, Australia, and South Korea are still aligned with us. Indonesia may be coming in. They can add little in the way of forces, but — location, location, location. Canada and Britain are cheering us, but from the sidelines.
“We’re still fighting. The Koreans and the U.S. Second Division are holding, but isolated and reduced to in-place logistics.” Byrne looked at Dan. “The South Korean Navy, led by Admiral Min Jun Jung, retreated shoulder to shoulder with the United States Navy, after a daring raid into the strait led by Captain Daniel V. Lenson. Who is with us here today.” Men and women craned to look in Dan’s direction. “They plan to fight on alongside us, and someday soon, return.”
Byrne lifted a finger, and a wall screen lit. A heavyset Asian in a military uniform and black plastic-rimmed glasses stared out at them. “Captain Lenson, I believe you know this man.”
Dan stared into Zhang Zurong’s expressionless, chilling gaze. The sensation was like pressing his eyeballs against cold, polished steel.
He’d met the smooth-faced, pudgy Zhang decades before, in a Chinatown restaurant, at what had seemed at the time like a family party. But “Uncle Xinhu” had turned out to be a senior colonel in the Second Department, China’s equivalent of Defense Intelligence. Dan had turned over fake Tomahawk schematics in Operation Snapdragon. But by the time the FBI had showed up on Zhang’s doorstep, he’d decamped for his homeland. Leaving a dead girl on a towpath in Georgetown… an innocent, idealistic woman Dan had loved.
He dragged himself back to the present as Byrne said, “Zhang’s executed his rivals and consolidated his position as both Party general secretary and state president. He now holds all leading titles in the state.
“On the diplomatic front, he proposes peace on the basis of ‘union and demilitarization’ of the two Chinas and the two Koreas. He offers to return Okinawa to Japan. But in exchange, all remaining U.S. bases in Japanese territory must be vacated, and alliance ties dissolved.
“He also warns that anyone who offers America basing rights is the enemy of what he calls the ‘Associated’ or ‘United’ Powers — China, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Laos, and ‘Miandan,’ their puppet state in northern Myanmar.
“Finally, Russia has announced major aircraft and ordnance sales to China.” Byrne paused. “Any questions?”
One of the generals lifted a hand. “Energy supplies?”
Byrne flicked slides and briefed on stockpiles, consumption, and imports. “Seaborne imports are essentially zero, but roughly two hundred thousand tons a day of oil and liquefied natural gas are flowing in via a pipeline across Xinjiang from Pakistan.”
“Can we cut that?”
Yangerhans twisted in his chair to say over one shoulder, “It’s deep in Chinese territory, and well protected… but it’s a possible target.”
Dan felt reluctant to speak up, but finally did. “We have weak points too. Iran’s threatened to close Hormuz before. If they do—?”
Byrne said, “CentCom has plans against that contingency. If they try to close the strait again, we land an armored regiment to occupy Qeshm Island, on the eastern side of Hormuz, and cut off all Iranian exports by sea. We’ll see how they like that.” He waited a moment, then stepped back.
Yangerhans pulled his feet in, got up, and paced back and forth. He tucked his elbows like a boxer. “One thing Jack didn’t brief is the domestic reaction. They’re still suffering from power and network outages back home. The financial markets have reopened, but most folks have lost half or more of their net worth. And Zhang’s threats are having an effect, especially on the West Coast. The civil defense program’s been reactivated. People are stockpiling. Defense industries are reporting difficulties keeping labor forces in place. We’re taking steps to fix that, but they’ll take time.
“That and the focused cyberattacks on defense industries mean production is not going well. Missiles and torpedoes, especially, are in short supply. I’ve called the Canadians, Australians, British. They’ve promised to ramp up production, but their capacities have always been limited compared to ours.”
A lifted hand. “The Europeans?”
A grim look. A negative headshake. “They’ve got their own problems, with the Russians.”
Another hand; an Air Force uniform. “Admiral, the Franklin Roosevelt battle group was wiped out with a nuclear missile. Can you enlighten us on the rationale for not retaliating in kind?”
Yangerhans paced again, fingers twining behind his back. “I won’t go into my exchanges with national command authority on that issue. Suffice it to say they were… frank. The bottom line, I guess, is that as long as we don’t respond, we hold the escalatory advantage. Zhang won’t know where, or how hard, we’ll counterpunch. Only that we owe him one.”
“He won’t see it as a sign of weakness? That we took ten thousand casualties, lost six ships? And didn’t hit back?”
Dan twisted in his seat, but didn’t see who’d asked that. Yangerhans grimaced. “Like I said, that’s above even the theater commander’s pay grade. A lot of people don’t believe retaking the western Pacific is worth risking Los Angeles. The pundits thought the elections would give us a clear signal. They didn’t. If we want leadership, we’re not going to see it from Washington.”
The four-star turned brisk. “All right… outlining my intent.” Instead of a new slide, the display went to bluescreen. Yangerhans gazed off above his audience’s heads. “We’re digging in on the line Honshu-Saipan-Guam, the second island chain. We’ve bought, or been granted, a breathing space while Zhang, and his naval staff chief, Admiral Lianfeng, consolidate their gains. Taiwan, Korea, Okinawa, Vietnam — those battles will determine whether this so-called People’s Empire pulses outward again.” Yangerhans eyed Dan. “One of our officers has said, ‘We’ll be back.’ But to do that, we have to keep our logistics open, and concentrate on building up our warfighting capability.
“We face a lot of negatives. Ordnance is short. We have high ship and airframe losses. The enemy’s on a roll. But we can’t simply hold. If we do, that solidifies into the new status quo. Somehow, we have to push back. Even if we come a cropper, it keeps the Allies in the fight.”
Nods from the audience, but also doubtful looks.
Yangerhans nodded, and the next screen showed the South China Sea. “We already have a left hook started. On hold at the moment, but it can resume once we beef up our shipping numbers, and reassure the Australians and Indonesians they can release some of their covering forces. Next, please.”
A kidney-shaped island. “Let’s look more closely at Taiwan. An idea a think tank in DC’s pitching. How solid is the mainland’s grip? Granted, they hold the west coast, the plain, and the northern metropolis — Taipei, and its industrial and residential suburbs. But that’s not the whole island. And everything they fight with has to come across the strait.
“Like every struggle in the Pacific, this will be conducted across vast distances, dependent on access, production, reinforcement rates, and logistics pipelines. The good news is, we can make life hell for the enemy too. We’re redeploying from Europe and the Atlantic. As our sub numbers in the strait and the south ramp up, we’ll be able to reduce his shipping, start starving his deployed forces.