Uncomfortable with her gaze, he looked away and said, “Do not waste my time like this again.” He turned and walked out, followed by his smirking underlings. One of them, while looking at her scarred neck and face, make a comment, and the others laughed on their way out.
She stared at the Ecuadorian men as they left the tent. Then she gestured to Natesh and the Chinese lieutenant colonel. Lena said, “Colonel, could you clear the room for a moment? I wish to speak with you two alone.”
The officer looked at the Chinese soldiers in the tent and waved for them to leave. A moment later, the three of them were alone, standing over the large map on the center table.
“So that man is what you have been dealing with here?” She looked back and forth between the two of them.
“Unfortunately, yes.” Natesh said.
“Is he impeding your progress?”
Natesh sighed. “We have a host of impediments. He is just one of them.”
“Give me your update, Natesh. I don’t want to wait any longer.”
Natesh wobbled his head from side to side. “You need a supply chain created from scratch. That is what Jinshan has asked me to work on here. I’ve done the math. Do you know how big your inventories will need to be to support the flood of troops that you will have arriving?”
“How big?”
“In dollars, the inventory level is equivalent to that of the entire North American automobile industry. Enormous. But the automotive companies have had decades to put their supply chain in place. They have teams of thousands of expert purchasers and material supply managers. Men to plan the manufacturing, so that they have the right quantities of materials produced and available to them at the right time. Men to manage the transportation, so that it is delivered to the right warehouse at the right time. Men to manage the warehouses themselves, so that when one is filled up, the excess inventory gets moved to a backup location and doesn’t clog up the trucks and trains.”
She tapped her foot. “And you are saying that we do not have this in place?”
“I’m saying that there is a complicated network that needs to be set up, and no one has started filling those roles until now.”
The lieutenant colonel frowned and said, “The Chinese military has an enormous group dedicated to logistics—”
“The Chinese military isn’t fully on-boarded to this plan yet,” Natesh said. “You know that. And more importantly, the Chinese military has been static on Mainland China for generations. They have neither the experience nor the expertise to do this.”
The officer said, “I don’t see why it is so complicated. Just order the supplies. Get the fuel and bullets. We will do the rest.”
“You are kidding, right? These Chinese military and intelligence men I’ve been working with know nothing about what is needed. They can plan for how your army will attack just fine. But then they will run out of bullets and fuel and it won’t matter. You will need a river of supplies constantly flowing to feed your army as it marches through Central America and Mexico. The moment this Slinky of tanks and jeeps expands and slows, your chances of success will as well. Trust me, I’ve read every book on war that I can get my hands on, and I know modern supply chains. The logistics and supply chain is quite possibly the most important factor in a military victory. And this one has yet to be created.”
Lena observed him. She knew just how intelligent he was and took his words to heart. “What is your solution?”
Natesh held out his hands. “I mean…” He half-laughed in exasperation. “I mean, you are asking for a miracle. This timeline wasn’t supposed to be so near-term. I was told—”
Lena raised her voice ever so slightly. “You were told what you needed to know. Do you have a solution?”
“I will need help. Assistants. Ones who have experience in this sort of thing.”
“What do you need?”
“I need a team that can support me. A competent team. Not just college students from China. I need the members of my consulting firm to assist me in this.”
“From America? You can’t be serious.” She thought about it. “We will get you help. Chinese consultants versed in the Latin American supply chain. We cannot risk using Americans.”
He paced back and forth over the map, his words rapid. “Fine. Just make sure they are good. And get them here quick.”
Lena crossed her arms. “Done. But we’ll need them under close observation. And there will be strict rules on what they can communicate and with whom. You’ll need to make that clear. I’ll have some of the colonel’s men overseeing things to make sure there are no security breaches.”
Natesh nodded. “I understand.”
Lena said, “So do you have any good news?”
“The tent camps on this base are being set up quickly and efficiently. The Chinese soldiers that are already here have prepared well for the imminent arrival of the Junxun students. The students will live in these camps. They will be trained by the Chinese commandos who are already here. The first step will be military indoctrination. After the first week, I will begin using them in logistics roles.”
“Good. What else is working well?”
“I have been pleasantly surprised by how many Chinese-made weapons and weapons systems are already in place.”
The Chinese colonel nodded. “We have built up a sizeable amount of Chinese weapons and military vehicles in Latin America these past few years. It is being used by different national governments. Different pieces of hardware are in different locations. For instance, many of our armored personnel carriers are at a single base in Venezuela. But there are several hundred anti-aircraft missiles located in Ecuador. And we have done a great deal of military trade with Bolivia, as well.”
Lena said, “How long will it take to transport all those supplies here?”
“To Ecuador?”
“Yes.”
“About two days by rail from Venezuela,” Natesh said. “But it’s through the mountains, and out of the way if the convoys will be heading north. What the colonel and I had discussed was sending a contingent of our men — those with experience using the vehicles that would be requisitioned — to Venezuela. They would meet us just north of the Panama Canal. The Bolivian convoy would be traveling about three days up the coast before meeting us here.”
Lena saw the nervousness in Natesh. “What’s wrong?”
“These movements would be open and obvious. They could only be safely executed after a total communications blackout occurs. And we would need air defense to ensure no reconnaissance flights picked up what was going on.”
“Colonel?”
“He’s right. That will be a major challenge. We will need to protect multiple large convoys from US air power. Once we get to Mexico and the continental United States, their aircraft won’t even need tankers to refuel. They will then be able to rapidly and continuously target our land forces at that point. How will we prevent this from occurring?”
Natesh looked at Lena.
“Colonel,” Lena said sharply, “that will be enough for now. While I respect your expertise and the work you are doing for us, you are not yet privy to the entire scope of our operation. When we are ready to divulge further information, you will be informed of our plans. For now, please continue to train your men and prepare this base for the imminent arrival of our troops. That information in itself is highly confidential, and I implore you to keep it to yourself.”
“Yes, ma’am. Of course.”
Lena looked at the map and then up at the two men. “Soon this base will become the first military outpost in China’s expansion into the West. Keep working to make that a success.”