It took over an hour before the lead aircraft showed up on the less-powerful radar screens in the airports, and the air traffic towers from different airports watched as the 23 blips on the screen slowly came closer and began to merge into two different lines.
Thirty minutes later they were just over 100 miles out and the aircraft slowly turned into long final approaches to both JFK and Newark, just as Colonel Patterson had hoped for.
Just in case some of the aircraft could peel off and still go into La Guardia, he waited until they were 20 miles out before telling all the troops at La Guardia who had access to motorized transport to get aboard and head over to JFK. It would take them an hour, but at least 1,000 more men driving in to assist the 20,000 troops already in place on the roads out of JFK would help if need be.
As the sun rose over the horizon, a small sliver of light between the ocean and the lower cloud layers, the silhouetted shapes of aircraft could be seen by nearly everybody as they glided in, a mile apart, into the two airports—ten coming in from the northeast into JFK and 11 from the southeast into Newark.
It didn’t look like any would change direction towards La Guardia and the waiting became long and slow for the airport soldiers. It was still very cold and the air around them was totally silent of noise.
Everybody who had a part to play at the airports got ready and the aircraft came swooping into the coast of the United States from the orange-colored Eastern horizon one after the other. The engineers, both Chinese and American—the Americans all wearing the well-used clothes of the termination squads long since dead—waited patiently on the runway.
At JFK, they had set up ten refueling generators, each able to pump fuel through one pipe only. Two were normally used, one under each wing to refuel a 747-400 with up to 64,000 gallons, or an Airbus with over 70,000 gallons with a pump and pipe. At least 45 minutes to an hour would be needed for each plane. Since nobody expected the aircraft to fly further than McGuire or Andrews, one pipe would pump in enough for the short trip and only 20 minutes of fuel was needed to be pumped into each wing.
The colonel had reckoned on 20 minutes for the incoming pilots to be disabled and hidden somewhere in the aircraft. He also prayed that apart from the pilots who would stay aboard, none of the Chinese troops on the ground would know anything about refueling aircraft and how long it should take.
Newark only had eight generators ready to pump fuel into the 11 incoming and thirsty aircraft. It wasn’t enough, and nobody had been told where the aircraft were going to land. Lee Wang had monitored satellite calls and only two calls in the last two days had been received from the enemy. One was to ask if everything was going according to plan, from a voice he didn’t know. He told them that the three airports were secure and that they would be ready within 24 hours of the phone call. He had been asked about refueling, with the other end of the call not giving away any information, and he had stated that the pumping systems were operational and ready.
The second call was from the incoming pilots telling them that they expected to be refueled and out of America within the hour. Lee replied that they would do as good a job as possible and that there was food and drinks in the terminals for the pilots. The pilot in charge responded that they were not allowed to leave the aircraft, but they would appreciate food and refreshments being carried aboard. The plan was set and the American pilots got ready with trays of food and tea urns and even wore captured engineer white coats to look as official as possible.
One by one the aircraft gently came in and landed at the two airports. It was a beautiful sight for anybody who loved flying to see the long final approach of lines of majestic aircraft as far as the eye could see. A group of 30 Chinese engineers headed by Major Wong at Newark, and a second group under Major Chong at JFK got ready in the termination squad uniforms to welcome the troops and make it look like they were ready for their arrival.
Over 300 snipers covered the apron area on the roof tops of the terminals, dressed in white camouflage and invisible to the incoming aircraft with white sheets pulled over their rifles and bodies, which blended with the deep snow perfectly.
Men with batons directed the first aircraft into their refueling positions and mobile stairs were towed by old cars and trucks into position by the left side doors facing the terminal, three to an aircraft. As the first engines began to die down, the fuel lines were connected to the empty wings and jet fuel began to flow. Immediately, Chinese troops dressed in green camouflage descended down the stairs and a commander walked up to the majors who waited for them at both airports.
The Chinese commander at Newark spoke rapidly to Major Wong, bringing out a map to discuss the movement of his troops. The major responded, showing him the way out of the airport, then pointed at the map, showed him the direction of the bridge as the first aircraft slowly emptied hundreds of armed men. Wong gave several orders to his squad in Chinese, and they ran forward to assist the American Air Force technicians with the refueling underneath the first eight large aircraft.
Much the same happened at JFK. As soon as the first aircraft stopped disgorging heavily armed troops, the men in white coats were ready to climb the stairs to “feed” the pilots. Once the new pilots, all armed with Tazers on heavy stun and automatic pistols with silencers beneath their white coats, and with tea urns full of extra ammo entered the empty aircraft, the stairs were immediately pulled away to be towed to the next aircraft waiting to disembark. This move was planned to stop any of the Chinese troops from getting back into the aircraft.
The strategy went according to plan at both airports. Once the incoming troops realized that the airports were secure and that there would be no fight there, they relaxed a little as they stretched and slowly got into formation for their march to the harbor. Many had run out to surround the aircraft with a defense perimeter and that had been expected, no American troops were anywhere close to the apron area. Jokes were made by Wong and Chong with the incoming commanders about their ability to secure the airport, and slowly the troops were brought back to line up with the rest in front of the large refueling 747s and Airbuses.
At Newark, and only with 747s to refuel, Major Wong recognized the colonel he had run past in Shanghai’s tower, but with the cold weather they all had their faces covered, apart from their eyes, and all the people waiting for the aircraft on the aprons were mostly the Chinese engineers heavily bundled up with winter clothing.
It didn’t take long for the first companies of hundreds of men to move off towards the airport exits and out of the way. The soldiers in marching formation, sticking out like sore thumbs in green camouflage, started marching to the cleared roadways to get them out of the airport and in the direction of the harbor. By the time all the aircraft were empty 30 minutes later, the first troops were already a quarter of a mile away and still marching in ranks, moving down the allotted and cleared highways, unaware that they were being watched by thousands.
The first refueled 747s, already under the control of the new pilots, were beginning to start up their aircraft and move the rears of their engines around so they faced the exits, and made the last of the troops move even faster to get out of the noise and wind blowing behind the massive engines.
Much like the operation at Shanghai Pudong Airport, as the first aircraft began moving, all the refueling stopped. The equipment was pulled away and the remaining aircraft began a rapid deployment to the end of the runway for take-off as fast as possible.
At Newark, it took 30 more minutes for the larger number of troops to get out of the apron area. The most forward troops were already yards from the middle of the Newark Bay Bridge as the jet engines started. Shots and muffles could be heard by Major Wong in a couple of the aircraft and the stairs were quickly pulled back from the last aircraft where it sounded like a fire fight was taking place inside. The refueling hoses were immediately hauled away, and somehow a small puddle of fuel ignited underneath one of the aircraft. The men refueling the aircraft must have lost some as they hurriedly dragged the equipment away, and suddenly the whole undercarriage area broke into flames.