“Shun Li,” Hong said, “you lack formal military training. Yet you are an excellent police leader. Tell me, in your opinion, in Oklahoma, can we turn defeat into victory?”
“I do not know how,” Shun Li said.
“Army Minister, how can we salvage this disaster?” Hong asked.
“We must retreat,” Chao Pin said. “We must trade space for time as we rush reinforcements from Mexico and Arizona. We can possibly stabilize the line in middle Texas.”
“You mean to run away with the Americans on our heels?” Hong asked. “Is that not inviting an even worse disaster, a total defeat everywhere?”
“This is a bitter day,” Chao Pin said, as his lips twisted with distaste.
“No,” Hong said. “This is the day we will smash the Americans and teach them a lesson they will never forget.”
Shun Li couldn’t help herself. She’d been listening to him but keeping her gaze focused ahead. Now she glanced at Hong. His dark eyes glowed with a strange power as evil stirred in him. He frightened her, and yet, she held the gun.
“I am forced to question your reading of the situation,” Chao Pin said.
“Can you solve our dilemma?” Hong asked the marshal.
“Sometimes, as painful as it is, the enemy outfights one,” Chao Pin said. “This has happened here. Now we must deal with it.”
“The answer is no, you cannot solve the dilemma,” Hong said. “But I can solve it.” The devious smile became sinister. “Tell me, Army Minister. What good are you if you can only grant us lost opportunities and defeats?”
“How can you possibly change what has happened in Oklahoma?” Chao Pin asked.
Hong turned his gaze onto the other Ruling Committee members. “Did you hear that? Chao Pin has finally broken down and asked the only one here with an answer to our problem. I find that illuminating. He claims to be a military expert, yet has nothing to offer us.”
“You spout rhetoric but fail to give us your vaunted solution,” Chao Pin said.
“Of course there is a solution. But I doubt anyone has the resolve to carry it out except for me.”
Chao Pin frowned, and understanding lit his eyes. “I hope you do not mean to say nuclear weapons.”
“Yes!” Hong said. “That is exactly what I mean.”
“The American ABM systems—”
“Bah!” Hong said. “Unless they can scramble hundreds of Reflex interceptors, the Americans cannot strike enough low-flying cruise missiles fired from northern Mexico.”
“There are no such cruise missiles in northern Mexico,” Chao Pin said, “certainly not in the abundance you’re implying.”
“But of course there are,” Hong said, “for I have foreseen the Army’s failure. Secretly, under East Lightning guidance, I have smuggled vast quantities of cruise missiles into North America.”
“You spout madness,” Chao Pin said. “Firstly, one or two warheads might get through the American antimissile screen. That wouldn’t be enough for your purposes.”
“You are wrong. Most would get through.”
“I must inform you that the Americans have mass produced tac-lasers and mobile particle beam platforms. Surely, you are aware that the new systems have driven our air force from the front lines. It is one of the reasons the enemy has made these breakthroughs and extended their penetration drives.”
“You surprise me, Marshal. Do you not know by now that I understand these things perfectly? You are, of course, quite correct. If we let the antimissile systems operate freely, they might destroy the majority of the cruise missiles. Those systems, however, will be too busy to focus on the nuclear attack.”
“Busy doing what?” Chao Pin asked.
“Why, destroying what remains of our air force as they make a close assault, letting nothing deter them. The Japanese had to train special units to make kamikaze attacks. Our pilots will sacrifice themselves simply because we order it.”
“This is madness,” Chao Pin said.
“You know it isn’t. Instead, why don’t you admit that you lack the resolve for the hard choices, Army Minister? What good is an air force if it cannot achieve air superiority? Why, nothing, of course—except as decoys. They will attack en masse, diving against the tac-lasers, the Patriot missile batteries and the particle beam platforms. The cruise missiles will follow from behind, detonating and destroying everything, including the American air units.”
Shun Li could hardly believe what she heard. From the shocked expressions around her, neither could the other ministers. Hong suggested vast butchery, and yet… as plans went, it sounded better than a horrible defeat.
Chao Pin shook his head. “What you’re suggesting would need large numbers of nuclear weapons. I wonder if you understand the magnitude of what you’re saying. To halt the onrushing American armor, you would condemn hundreds of thousands of Chinese soldiers to death. Perhaps as bad, the nuclear warheads would irradiate wide swaths of agricultural land. That would defeat the purpose of our invasion.”
“The enemy has already killed masses of Chinese soldiers,” Hong said. “The enemy has also used nuclear weapons on more than one occasion.”
“True,” Chao Pin said, “but the Americans have never used such weapons in abundance on land.”
“Santa Cruz wasn’t on land?” Hong asked.
“That was different,” Chao Pin said.
“You are wrong. Santa Cruz was just like Oklahoma. We face a disaster as they once did. They did not hesitate to solve the problem with nuclear missiles.”
“This is a matter of scale,” Chao Pin said. “The Americans used a single nuclear warhead, maybe two on Santa Cruz, wrecking the port facilities and our amphibious landers all bunched together there. You would have to use hundreds in Oklahoma against the dispersed enemy.”
“Scale, scale,” Hong scoffed. “It is a matter of usage. Today, I resolve to smash the Americans with atomic weapons in order to fix our problem as they once used a thermonuclear device against Chinese arms. Yet you are right in one regard. With this strike, I propose to kill a million enemy soldiers at a blow, maybe more.”
Silence reigned in the room. It was almost painful to Shun Li. The pistol threatened to slip out of her weakened grip. She had to make a conscious effort to tighten her hold.
Army Minister Chao Pin looked older, seeming to grope for words. “Why… for your outcome… We would need to saturate the battlefield with nuclear weapons. Doing so would murder millions of our soldiers and those of our SAF allies.”
“Why am I the only one able to see the logic of our situation?” Hong asked. “Perhaps I alone have the breadth of vision and the resolve to make the hard decisions. Can’t you understand that most of our soldiers are already enemy captives or will surrender in the next few days? In other words, they are already dead to our cause—they cannot die a second time to us. Therefore, we lose nothing by the nuclear weapons that we haven’t already lost. The choice is clear. Do we accept our present losses and run with our tails between our legs? Or do we expend our air force and use the cruise missiles and kill American armies? In fact, such a vicious strike might well end the war in stalemate in North America. That will give us time to deal with the Indians and Russians.”
Chao Pin sat in his chair blinking. Finally, he stirred, shaking his head. “I cannot agree with you. We have fought and lost in Oklahoma. Now it is time to retreat, save our armies and regroup for another battle. Unleashing these cruise missiles—in the mass you suggest—could well lead to a strategic nuclear exchange—and that would be the end of the world.”
“Your timidity startles me,” Hong said. “It shouldn’t, but it does. The Americans have shown the resolve needed for these decisions. Why, last year they destroyed the GD Atlantic fleet with nuclear weapons.”