How I am supposed to play this? I never imagined that Bai was such a bumbling idiot and couldn’t find his way to Nung. He’d been waiting a long time to hear that everything proceeded as planned. What had happened to that fool Bai?
Licking his lips, Jian told himself that instead of Bai it could have been him lost out on the Arctic ice. It was a logistical nightmare keeping such a large body of troops supplied with their daily needs over thousands of kilometers of pack ice. The Army generals who had concocted this mess had no idea of the foolishness of their plan.
Jian shook his head. There was no way to explain all that to the Chairman now.
You need your wits, Jian. This is the moment.
He sat down, cracked his knuckles and ran a hand through his hair. Then he turned on the monitor. The sickly Chairman regarded him on the screen.
Jian bowed with grave respect.
“It has been some time, Comrade,” the Chairman said.
“I have been hard at work carrying out your command, sir.” With those words, Jian realized that he would lie to the end. If needed, he’d make sure that everyone here who knew of his deception died. Yes, he’d slip their corpses through the ice. Let the seals and polar bears eat their carcasses.
“I am glad to see that you are safe after such a harrowing journey,” the Chairman said. “Yet why haven’t I heard about any victory-news from you? Why did you sit so long on the pack ice?”
“I have lit a fire under General Nung, sir. I have also reorganized the supply situation. It was a—”
“Do not tell me what you did. Tell me when Nung is going to give me the oilfields. You’ve seen him. You’ve judged his competence. Has the American nuclear attack rendered him and the taskforce immobile?”
“I have taken pains,” Jian said, “to render the American submarines useless.”
“Explain that to me.”
“Firstly, sir, our submarines hunt the American vessels under the ice. Secondly, I have spread out the supply depots, making the targets unworthy of their limited nuclear torpedoes.”
“How does that help you attack Alaska?”
“We have carefully moved into attack position, sir,” Jian said. He hoped that was true.
The Chairman squinted at him, creating a thousand wrinkles on that old face. “You are to return to Beijing immediately. I want face-to-face news of Nung and news of conditions on the ice. As you no doubt have learned, a terrible storm blocks us from the final assault against Anchorage. Once the storm passes, Admiral Ling will hand me Anchorage, which he assures me will give us the rest of the state. If your General Nung can take the oilfields at the same time, I believe the Americans will capitulate.”
“I couldn’t agree more, sir,” Jian said.
“I want you here when the Americans plead for peace. If you’ve done your part and truly unleashed Nung, all will be well.”
“Yes, sir,” Jian said, bowing and wondering how he could free himself from this mess.
“Until tomorrow, Comrade, I wish you well.”
Jian bowed once more. When he looked up, the contact was broken. He turned and blinked at a wall. It had a tiny porthole window, showing the bleak winter landscape outside. He hated Ambarchik and the endless headaches involving Army supply. It was time for a purge here. It was good more of his personal security team had arrived. Yet he must do this carefully. He would have to think more on the matter.
So much depended on what Nung achieved. Why didn’t the general attack? What was going on over there?
During the last few days in the Arctic darkness, General Shin Nung had gathered his hovertanks from the outlaying bases. He had them topped off and added fuel pods to each. Then he’d readied sleds as backups.
“Some of the snowtanks must follow us as you gather more fuel,” Nung told Bai in a command caterpillar. They were in the primary base, four hundred kilometers from the North Slope. “After we leave and as soon as you can, send those fifty tanks after us. Then top off the next fifty as soon as you can gather them together.”
Nung had been hard at work reversing Ping’s dabbling, pulling in the many soldiers, vehicles and planes from the scattered bases. The nuclear attack had frightened the commissar. Well, it didn’t frighten him. Nuclear just meant a bigger explosion, nothing more.
“If we remain stationary at this base for too long,” said Bai, “the Americans will pinpoint our location. Then it will be the end of the polar taskforce.”
“It’s a risk,” admitted Nung. He had thought about that last night. “Use half the helicopters and keep them on air patrol. Before you launch the last tanks, send every helicopter to the North Slope. Land as close as you can to the oilfields.”
“Sir, if we fly that far, the helicopters won’t have enough fuel to make it back to base.”
“We’ve reached the point in the campaign where it will be a one way journey for the helicopters. I need soldiers in Alaska now!”
“Supplies for them—”
“The helicopter-borne soldiers will carry enough supplies to storm the American bases,” Nung said. “Our soldiers can then feed off the captured stores. The need for hot food and shelter will spur our men to acts of heroism.”
Bai grew thoughtful. “Can I ask where you will be during all this, sir?”
“I’m riding in the saddle, as the Russians call it. I will lead from the front, as a tank commander should. In other words, I’ll go in with the first wave of hovertanks.”
“Yes, General,” said Bai.
Nung knew that look. Bai didn’t like it, but his logistics officer had never appreciated his smash-through tactics. “Once you’ve topped off the last snowtanks, you will return to Ambarchik Base. Talk the Politburo minister there into rolling up the long tail across the ice. With the loss of so many cargo planes and caterpillar-haulers, I cannot see how we can keep the stretched line intact.”
“That would cut you off from supplies, sir.”
“How very perceptive of you,” Nung said. “I have learned a valuable lesson this campaign.”
“Would you care to share it with me, sir?”
“You should understand the lesson better than I.” Nung concentrated. “This is a nightmare land. The limitations of vehicle speed, particularly the snowtanks, the vicious cold and the blizzards—it eats a mechanized army. It devours men, supplies and machines. The longer one remains on the pack ice, the worse the situation becomes. I do not believe it is possible to keep our forces in North Slope Alaska supplied for long, at least not across the ice and not with darkest winter coming. What one can do is move fast, taking everything in one fell swoop. Unfortunately, our hovertanks are too delicate for such a long crossing. I wish now I’d used my sleds and caterpillar-haulers to haul my hovertanks as close to Alaska as I dared. I’ve had to cannibalize nearly half our remaining hovers just to keep the other half viable.”
“How will we re-supply you then?” asked Bai.
“Submarines and icebreakers seem like the vessels of choice.”
“What you’re saying, General—this is no longer a taskforce meant to conquer the North Slope, but to raid it.”
“Maybe you’re right,’ Nung said. “Whatever I do, I start today.”
“You will need air cover,” said Bai.
Nung nodded. “See to it, but make sure you launch the first fifty snowtanks. If you find that you cannot, then send thirty tanks. I want something coming to reinforce what I take.”
“I understand, sir.”
“Good luck, Bai,” Nung said.
“Good luck to you, sir. I dearly hope you grab the oilfields as you grabbed Yakutsk in Siberia.”