Brown, Dale - Patrick McLanahan 06 (19 page)

 
          
“The
attacks of course never materialized. We always thought it was mere rhetoric,
but ... I think it would be irresponsible to dismiss any country threatening to
use nuclear weapons.
China
has an advanced nuclear development
program, including neutron, fractional orbital bombardment systems, tactical,
battlefield, man-portable, and multi-megaton weapons.”

 
          
“Good
ol’ Admiral Yin Po L’un, firing nukes around the
South China Sea
and
Celebes Sea
from that huge-ass destroyer
Hong Lung
like spit- balls in a
third-grade classroom,” the President reminded everyone wryly. “We’re
very
lucky World War Three didn’t break
out. Thanks to Patrick and Jon here, we put a hole in that destroyer of his big
enough to drop a house through.”

 
          
“Well,
General Chin Po Zihong is still chief of staff of the People’s Liberation Army;
Yin’s former second in command, Admiral Sun, is now a deputy chief of staff;
and China has an apparently fully operational aircraft carrier that our sources
say may be carrying nuclear ballistic missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles,”
Freeman summarized. “Chin might be out for revenge for what we did to his navy,
and Sun might want revenge for what we did to his brand-new destroyer. A
nuclear weapon might be the only way
China
can dig the Nationalists out of the tunnels
and mountain fortresses of
Quemoy
.”
Two groups of islands just off the coast of mainland China were claimed and
occupied by Taiwan: the Matsu Islands northwest of Taiwan, no more than eleven
miles off the coast; and Quemoy, a large island directly west of the island of
Formosa and no more than two miles off the Chinese coast. Both Taiwanese
islands had been heavily bombarded by Chinese artillery and naval forces in the
past, but they had held firm—capturing them would be a major moral as well as a
tactical victory for the Chinese Communists.

 
          
“So
you’re saying we’re looking at the possibility of a nuclear war over
Taiwan
?” the President asked. “Any chance they’re
just going to sail all these ships down to
Hong Kong
to celebrate Reunification Day? ”

 
          
“Always
a chance of that, sir,” Freeman responded, “but a better bet would be an
invasion force or a covering force against one of the Taiwanese island
formations near the PRC coastline. The lack of landing craft in the task force
suggests it’s not an amphibious invasion, although the aircraft carrier itself
makes a very formidable troop carrier and it does have the capability to launch
amphibious assault ships. The task force could set up a blockade while their
invasion forces go ashore.
Quemoy
would be the most logical target.
Taiwan
garrisons approximately fifty- five to
sixty thousand Taiwanese troops there, along with antiaircraft and coast
defense missile sites, but they’re nothing but a political trip wire, designed
to inflame the world against the Communists if they attack. The attack would be
over quickly, probably well before we could do anything to assist.

 
          
“The
Communists will probably conduct an amphibious assault soon after the missile
or bomber attacks—they won’t make the same mistake they did in 1958,” Freeman
went on. “Then, the Communists bombarded the island for six straight
weeks
—it’s estimated that every square
mile of the island was hit by
two
thousand
artillery shells. Even after the offensive stopped, the Communists
continued to bombard the island every other day for
eighteen years.
But the Nationalists dug in, using a complex of
underground fire bases and supply tunnels. The Communists never were able to
dig out the Nationalists, so the invasion plans were shelved.

 
          
“That
won’t happen again. A neutron-bomb attack would destroy the island’s defenses,
and the People’s Liberation Army would simply march right in after the
radiation levels subside in a few months. Target date: right around July first.
Chinese Reunification Day. Maybe earlier, so victory could be won by Reunification
Day. ”

 
          
The
President seemed to swallow hard at that bit of news. “You think they’d start a
nuclear war
over
Taiwan
, even though
Taiwan
declared its independence and the whole
world will be watching?”

 
          
“I
think the Chinese military machine began gearing up for this offensive several
months ago,” Freeman replied, “and it’s too late to stop it. In fact,
Taiwan
declaring independence probably
guaranteed
they were going to go ahead
with an invasion.”

 
          
“Damn,”
the President muttered. “The elephant is getting ready to squash the flea.” He
paused for a moment, then asked, “Where are the carriers right now?”

 
          
“Admiral
Balboa should be here in a few minutes to brief you, sir,” Freeman said,
glancing at his watch, “but I’ll summarize. We have no carriers within striking
range of the Chinese task force or their missile bases, but that can be
remedied in about three days. The
Independence
battle group is closest, getting ready to
depart
Yokosuka
on patrol. It’s on its last cruise before
retirement, carrying a standard package air wing.
Indy's
replacement is the
George
Washington,
getting ready to depart
Pearl
, carrying an attack-heavy wing. ETE five
days.”

 
          
“Any
other air units in the area?”

 
          
“We
fly daily P-3 Orion anti-submarine patrols up and down the
Formosa Strait
,” Freeman responded. “We also have Air
Force reconnaissance planes flying nearby, RC-135 Rivet Joint
intelligence-gathering planes. Daily satellite passes as well.”

 
          
“I
meant strike or defense-suppression air,” the President said.

 
          
Freeman
nodded. “We’ve got Marine F/A-18 Hornets and A-6 Intruders on
Okinawa
, but they need heavy aerial refueling
tanker support,” he replied. “The Orions can carry torpedoes and Harpoon
missiles in a strike configuration. We made the decision not to load up the region
so as to avoid provoking
China
during their Reunification Day
celebrations.”

 
          
“But
it seems to have had a reverse effect,” Secretary of Defense Chastain cut in.
“President Jiang sees an opportunity. He has the people whipped up by all this
reunification talk and solidly behind him, he got the Politburo and military
behind him, and it looks like they’re going for it.”

 
          
The
President had little reaction except to ask, “Submarines?”

 
          
“We
have two Los Angeles-class attack subs,
Springfield
and
Pasadena
, assigned to shadow the Chinese task
force,” Freeman replied. “Two more Sturgeon-class subs are patrolling the
Formosa Strait
itself, and the
Honolulu
is shadowing the Chinese nuclear sub
Xia.
Two more subs are on patrol in the
South China Sea
. All seven subs have relief on the way. ”

 
          
“Two
subs versus a fifty-ship task force is a bit skimpy,” Secretary of Defense
Chastain interjected.

 
          
“We
can have two more subs on station in five to six days,” Freeman said. “But
Taiwan
has two, maybe three subs between the task
force and
Formosa
, and so the Chinese are aggressively hunting subs.”

 
          
“All
the more reason to put a few more in,” Chastain argued. They all looked at the
President, waiting for guidance.

 
          
The
conversation fascinated Patrick McLanahan. This was the White House Oval
Office, the center of world power—but thorny questions were discussed and
massaged and examined as if they were all sitting around in a farmhouse kitchen
in Iowa, discussing the weather and the markets and the crops and trying to
decide whether to begin the harvest now or wait another couple days. McLanahan
was also surprised at Martindale s hesitancy. Kevin Martindale had never been
shy about committing U.S. military forces anywhere, anytime—but the political
fallout from the conflict with Iran, and especially the decision to fly a B-2
bomber secretly across Chinese airspace to get at Iran from the “back door,”
was murderous. Impeachment had been mentioned more than once in interviews with
the opposition party, and the media seemed to be fanning those flames.
Martindale s presidency was less than six months old, and it was already
seriously in hot water.

 
          
“Send
them,” the President ordered. “Two more subs, specifically against the task
force, plus two reinforcements. Right away.” Arthur Chastain made a note to
himself to cut orders. The President paused for a moment, then said, “We need
more firepower out there, gents, but we don’t have the time. The Navy is our
best bet this time, but they’ll take a few days to get set up.” He paused, then
said in a contrite, almost embarrassed voice, “And I want this done quietly.
I’m getting hammered by the Democrats and the press on the use of the B-2
bomber against
Iran
. I can’t use the active duty or Reserve bombers. I don’t even like the
idea of sending in aircraft carriers, because to me it forces the conflict to a
new, deadly level—and it gives the media and the Democrats more ammunition to
use against me.”

 
          
The
President looked at McLanahan and Masters. “General Samson and Air Force chief
of staff General Hayes briefed me on the new Megafortress project—of course,
I’m well familiar with the previous Megafortress missions,” the President said.
“I understand you have eight planes altogether, but crews and weapons for only
five. Correct?” Masters nodded. “We need all you can muster for an armed patrol
over the
Formosa
Strait
.”

 
          
“You
got it,” Masters replied immediately. “When and where do you need them?”

 
          
“This
isn’t a sales meeting, Dr. Masters,” Philip Freeman interjected sternly. “The
President is asking you to provide flight crews and experimental strike
aircraft for a secret armed patrol mission. The crews could be in serious
danger. You could lose the crews, all the aircraft, and your entire investment,
and you’d have no recourse or legal redress to recoup your losses. If your
crews are captured, they will be tried as terrorists, spies, or armed
aggressors, subject to all Chinese criminal laws, without any support or
protection from the
U.S.
government. Think about it first.”

 
          
“Okay,”
Masters responded. He fell silent for about two heartbeats, smiled, then said,
“When and where do you need them?”

 
          
“We
thought about it already,” Patrick McLanahan said resolutely, by way of
explaining his boss’s weird reply. “I speak for the aircrews, Mr. President,
and we are ready to fly. The planes are fueled, armed, and ready to go. We even
have our own aerial refueling tanker fleet, and they’ve been sent to Sky
Masters, Inc.’s, facilities in
Hawaii
. We just need secure basing at Andersen Air
Force Base on
Guam
.”

 
          
“We
can do that,” Freeman said. He turned to the President and said, “There’s one
option ready to execute, Mr. President.”

 
          
“How
would you be able to help out there, Patrick?” the President asked.

 
          
“The
Megafortresses carry four different standoff weapons: jammers, antiradar,
antiair, and anti-ship,” McLanahan explained. “Nothing is activated until there
is some sign of hostilities, and then the response is graduated, depending on
what the Chinese do. Our plan is to match, never exceed, the PLAN’s level of
hostility. We defend ourselves with every weapon we have, but our primary
purpose is to defend the assigned area.”