Where was the defensive line, and where was the Blue Army’s attack? The Red Army’s position? He couldn’t even be certain of the existence of two huge armies, since all he could see was distant bomb targets and a few smoky mountains, which looked less like a pitched battle than a few lonely signal fires. Was this really a fierce engagement of five field armies?
Next to him, the chief laughed. “I know the kind of war you’re thinking of: a broad, flat plain, the attacking enemy force lined up in an orderly formation, charging over like they’re on an inspection parade, and your defensive line is like a Great Wall crossing the entire battlefield; as supreme commander, you stand on high ground beside the front lines, taking in the whole battlefield like it’s on a sand table, mobilizing units like pushing pieces on a chessboard…. Perhaps such a war existed in the age of cold weapons, but even then, it would have been limited to small conflicts. Genghis Khan or Napoleon would only have personally witnessed a small part of the battles they fought. In modern warfare, battlefield terrain is far more complicated, and highly mobile, long-rage heavy firepower further separates the opposing fighting forces, who conceal their movements. That means the modern battlefield is practically invisible to a distant observer. The approach you’ve taken may be suitable for a captain commanding a company. But like I said before, forget war movies. Let’s go back, back to the high commander’s spot.”
When they rejoined the command center, things had substantially changed. Its former calm had disappeared, and groups of adult and child officers were shouting into phones and radios; beside the sand table and maps, children, aided by adult officers, were urgently positioning markers according to the information transmitted through their earpieces; the situation maps on the big screens were in constant flux.
Motioning to all the activity, the chief said to Lü Gang, “Do you see it now? This is your battlefield. As high commander, you have a more limited range of motion than a lowly private, but from here, your eyes and ears can encompass the whole battlefield. You’ve got to adapt to your new senses and learn how to use them. To be a good commander, you’ve got to be able to create a realistic combat map in your mind, with every detail true to life. That’s not easy.”
Lü Gang scratched his head. “It’s still weird, thinking about issuing directives from here in this cave, based on intelligence from these computers and radios.”
“If you understand the nature of the intelligence reports, you won’t find it weird,” the chief said as he led him to one of the big screens. He picked up a laser pointer and, drawing a small circle, said to the child captain operating the computer next to them, “Blow up this section, fella.”
The little captain dragged a box around the designated area and enlarged it to the size of the screen. “This is a situation chart for hills 305, 322, and 374,” the chief said. Pointing to the two neighboring screens, he said to the captain, “Display charts for the same region but from two different intelligence reports.” The kid struggled for a while, and eventually an adult major took the mouse from him and flipped two situation charts up onto the screens. Lü Gang noticed that the three images showed identical geography, contour lines around three elevated points in an equilateral triangle, but there were significant differences in the number, direction, and thickness of the moving red and blue arrows.
The major described the charts to the chief. “Chart one is based on intelligence from D Army, Division 115, Third Regiment, which is defending hill 305. The report says two Blue Army platoons are attacking that region, focusing on hill 322. Chart two is based on aerial surveillance from D Army’s aviation regiment, and says the Blue Army has dispatched one platoon to this region in an assault focusing on hill 374. Chart three comes from F Army, Division 21, Second Regiment, which is defending hill 322. They say the Blue Army has put an entire division to attack the three hills, with a focus on hill 305, and is attempting to flank hills 322 and 374.”
Lü Gang asked, “These reports were sent at the same time?”
The major nodded. “Yes, half an hour ago, from the same region.”
Lü Gang looked at the three screens in confusion. “How can they be so different?”
The chief said to the major, “Bring out all of the reports on those three hills from that same time.” The major took out a stack of paper as thick as a copy of Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
“Wow. That’s a lot!” Lu Gang exclaimed.
“There is an overabundance of intelligence from the battlefield in modern warfare. From a comprehensive analysis of all of the information, you need to find some direction that will allow you to judge correctly. What you’ve seen in the movies, where a hero infiltrates the enemy and then the commander uses the one intelligence report he sends back to decide strategy for the entire battle, is frankly ridiculous. Of course, it’s not like you have to read every single report. That’s a task for your advisors, and for taking advantage of the C3I system to process the enormous amount of information generated during battle. But the ultimate decision is still in your hands.”
“It’s really complicated….”
“It’s even more complicated than that. The trend you identify in that ocean of information might not even be real. It might be strategic deception on the part of the enemy.”
“Like when they had Patton command the Bodyguard deception during Normandy?”
“That’s right. Next, let’s see you determine the primary direction of the Blue Army’s attack from these reports.”
MSG AND SALT
A small motorcade heading northward from Beijing arrived at a quiet spot ringed by low hills. The cars stopped, and the president and premier got out, along with three children: Huahua, Specs, and Xiaomeng.
“Look, children,” the president said, pointing ahead to a railway, where a long freight train was stopped on a single track, a line of cars stretching off in an enormous arc that bent round the foot of a hill with no end in sight.
“Wow, that’s a long train!” Huahua exclaimed.
The premier said, “Eleven trains in all, each with twenty cars.”
The president said, “This is a test-loop track. It’s a big circle where new locomotives were sent from the factory to test their functions.” Turning to a staffer, he said, “It’s out of use now, isn’t it?”
The staffer nodded. “That’s right. For quite some time. It was built in the seventies, and isn’t suited to high-speed-rail cars.”
“So you’ll have to build another one,” the premier said to the children.
“We might not need to test high-speed-rail cars,” Huahua said. When the president asked why, he pointed up at the sky, and said, “I’m envisioning a sky train, with a powerful nuclear airplane for a locomotive, pulling a chain of unpowered gliders. Much faster than a regular train.”
The premier said, “Fascinating. But how will your sky train take off and land?”
“It’ll be able to,” Specs said. “Precisely how, I don’t know. But there’s a historical precedent for it. In World War Two the Allies used a transport plane to tow a chain of gliders carrying paratroopers.”