Invasion: China (Invasion America) (Volume 5) (32 page)

Was this his fate
then? Would he fight while others back home misused power? What difference did it make to him if the Chinese ran the Detention Center or Americans? Well…the Chinese had killed many fellow soldiers, friends of his…

What had ever happened to Goose and the
Lieutenant? The siege of Denver had been something. The war had felt righteous back then.

“Whoa, look at her,” Chet said, shoving the magazine and a brunette pictured there into his face.
Jake could see her nipples thrusting against the bikini fabric.

“Nice tits,” Jake said.

“Nice everything,” Chet said.

“Do you ever wonder why we’re fighting?”

Chet gave him a quizzical glance. “For this,” he said, shaking the magazine. “If we let them, the Chinese will take every girl on the planet. All they have is men in China. They aborted all the chicks. Now they want ours. I say, screw ’em. No. Forget that. Kill them.”

“
This is all ’cause of chicks?” Jake asked.

“Hell
, yeah,” Chet said.

Jake thought about the
dark-haired stripper, about Sheila. He wouldn’t want a Chinese bastard to get her. Chet was right about that. Maybe that’s why the Militia officer there had sent him to the tribunal. Sheila had smiled at him that night instead of to the Militiaman.
Is war just about girls and money, about power?

“Do you think we’re going to survive this
one?” Jake asked.

“Sure,” Chet said, as he turned the page.
“We survived the nukes. We can survive anything.”

“Maybe we used up all our luck surviving the Red Dragons.”

“No,” Chet said. “Luck is like a muscle. The more you use it, the better it gets.”

“That’s why we’re on this train
then, because we’re lucky?”

“I don’t know. Don’t sweat it so much. Relax.” Chet turned the page.

Jake scowled. He wished he could just sit back, looking at swimsuit issues, not worrying about anything. The nuke, getting sick, getting rail-thin, and surviving for months in a Detention Center cell—it had changed him. The Detention people had stolen something essential from him.

They took my heart. They made me see how everything is BS. It’s just one group of goons after another
doing whatever they want because they can
.

The Chinese had invaded America. Now US soldiers had to make sure the Chinese couldn’t come back. But what Jake really wanted…

I want to break the Detention Center system. I want to stop penal battalions. How do I do that in Manchuria? I’d rather be stalking through Colorado, shooting Militia guards and their officers
.

As he watched pine trees flash past
, Jake nodded. He was going to have to survive Manchuria. He didn’t see how he would. China was a huge land. But he was going to have to survive and get home. Then he was going to use what he’d learned these past few years…

From now
on, I’ll tell the people in charge exactly what they want to hear from me. I have to survive this. Then, when I get my chance, I’m going to kill someone important
.

Jake grunted softly. He’d started out protesting the President
, holding up a sign as a college kid and marching around shouting slogans. That hadn’t worked. They’d sent him into the Militia. The next time he protested, he’d use violence to let the powerful know he meant it.
I’m going to go Jefferson on them, go George Washington. It’s time our country was really free again
.

BEIJING, CHINA

Shun Li
listened in silence, knowing this was an eventual death sentence for her.
What did I do wrong? Why doesn’t the Chairman trust me anymore?

The full Ruling Committee met on the second floor
in the Cho En Li Building in Mao Square. The old Navy Minister was gone, the spot filled with one of Hong’s new creatures. A young general in his fifties was the new Army Minister. Just like the old days, Lion Guardsmen lined the walls, with submachine pistols in their fists. Hong was in complete control again and he meant to stay there.

The Chairman stood at the head of the table. He wore a black suit, saying, “I trust Shun Li implicitly. She has been a wise Police Minister, and she has seen us through very difficult times. It is why I am doing this. Mother China needs her talents, and Shun Li will march in obedience to the call.”

“Gladly and happily,” Shun Li said.

“
Her absence from the capital will only increase my burdens,” Hong said. “But I am no different from the lowliest peasant. When China summons me, I obey. Therefore, as of today, I will take upon myself the duties of Police Minister.”

Several Ruling members glanced at Shun Li.

Her face felt frozen as fear bubbled in her. She had returned from Australia to a debacle. The terrible Russians had fooled everyone. She had an impulse to bray with laughter and point out that the Chairman had trusted Konev. China would not be in this predicament if the Chairman had accepted defeat in North America. Instead of stuffing troops there, he should have put them into Kazakhstan and Siberia.

“Shun Li,
” Hong said, “after the meeting you will head to the Northeast China Front. There, you will become the Guardian Inspector of the East Lightning Department heading the guerilla action. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you the importance of your post. I expect extreme brutality from you. Your people will turn the Chinese into mud. They will clog the wheels and tracks of the enemy machine, using their flesh and blood if need be to stall the Russians and Americans.”

As he spoke,
Hong eyes shined. “The Russians and Americans yearn for their old positions of power. But their day has long set. It is China’s hour.” He laughed, a devilish sound. “I accept this invasion and rejoice in it. Finally, our Russian enemy has revealed himself. He has thrust his head into a trap. The defensive form of warfare is stronger than the offensive. We have learned that in North America. Now, I envision trapping the Russian Army and annihilating these paltry Americans. After we have dealt with them—”

Chairman Hong frowned. “Yes, Industry Minister?”

A small old man lowered the arm he’d been holding up. “I wonder, Chairman, if you mean to use all Northeast China as a trap, or only the most northern province of Heilongjiang.”

Shun Li nodded. Northeastern China
, or Manchuria as the old people called it, was composed of four provinces: Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning and part of Inner Mongolia. The most important province, the heart of Manchuria, was Liaoning Province, which bordered old North Korea on the Yalu River.

“Speak freely,” Hong
told the Industry Minister. “Explain yourself.”

The old man bobbed his head. He hadn’t been on the Ruling Committee long
, nor would he last if he kept interrupting the Chairman. “I expect we shall lose Harbin.”

“Get to the point,” Hong said
, testily.

“
Our heaviest industry lies in Northeast China, Leader. I know you know this.”

“
Of course I do.”

“We must stop the Russians before they reach Shenyang and rip into the heart of
Liaoning Province. Otherwise, tank production will take a terrible dip.”

“Do you seek to instruct me in military strategy?” Hong asked.

“Certainly not, Leader, but I feel I must point out the importance of Shenyang and Liaoning Province. It accounts for thirty-two percent of our tank production and twenty-nine percent of our artillery—”

“I am well aware of the importance of Liaoning Province. Why do you think I’m sending Shun Li to the front?”

“We’ve heard of your work in Australia,” the Industry Minister told her. He coughed, and it sounded as if he had phlegm in his throat. Was he sick? “You broke the Australian resistance with a firm and steady hand.”

Lies
, Shun Li thought to herself.
I played a part and have been branded as a mass murderer for it
.

Hong graced her with a grin. “She will excel in Northeast China, instilling her
will into my East Lightning generals.” The Chairman turned to the fifty-year-old Army general. “Will your soldiers fight as zealously?”

“Yes, Leader,” the Army Minister said. He had been one of the toughest defensive fighters in North America, a man noted for his harshness and inflexibility. “I have a program mapped out
for them.”

“Excellent,” Hong said. “Now—” He raised his eyebrows. “Shun Li, you have a question?”

Normally, she would never ask it, but the Leader had arranged this beforehand. He could have told her about the demotion then. Why had he sprung it on her like this? How had she failed him?

“Shun Li?” Hong asked.

She cleared her throat. “Leader, why don’t we ferry home some of our elite formations out of Mexico?” As she spoke, Shun Li noticed how several ministers leaned forward or opened their eyes a little wider. Hong must have known this would be on their minds, but who would dare to ask him such a question? Clearly, he wanted to lay the idea to rest.

Chairman Hong frowned at Shun Li, as if he disliked the question. “I have honored you with your new post,” he said.

“I thrill at the chance to serve China in my new capacity,” she said.

“I’m beginning to wonder if that’s so,” he said. “You seem to desire the
Army to save you from your task. No. The Mexico-based soldiers will remain in North America for several reasons. For one thing, it is better to fight the Americans there than here.”

“But you just said it
was good the Russians fight us here,” she said.

Hong rapped the table with his knuckles. The Lion Guardsmen along the walls grew more alert.

“Have a care, Police Minister.”

She looked down, berating herself for being careless. Maybe it was better to leave the Chairman’s
close orbit. Too many people around him died.

“The Americans fear us,” Hong said, “because they fear our Army
in Mexico. For too long, they have hidden behind their oceans. We are ready to spring to the attack once again. It is a matter of timing now. I was going to save this information for later, but I wish to inform all of you that the South American Federation has agreed to fully supply our forces in Mexico. That means our merchant marine will no longer make the dreaded journey to the Mexican coast. The American submarines have grown too thick for us. We need a breathing spell while we increase the number of our drone tenders. That is the other reason why we don’t bring home the troops. The Americans would sink too many transports, drowning useful Chinese soldiers. No. We will strike again in North America, never fear. Instead of losing those transports in North American waters, we will use them to ship home nearer garrison troops from Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan. The trained soldiers will swell our continental numbers.”

He sipped from a glass of mineral water, setting it down with a clunk.
“We need time, just a little more time to prepare. If our soldiers already in place combine with fierce guerilla resistance, we can buy enough time to gather a large army. That force will keep the Russians and Americans out of Liaoning Province.” He faced Shun Li. “That is why you must instill the guerilla forces with terrible resolve. If that means throwing their bodies before enemy tanks…that is what they must do for China. If that means igniting hidden nuclear weapons, why, we will not hesitate to do so. This invasion will fail because the Russians and Americans will run out of time. Then we will swarm them to death with our numbers.”

Shun Li closed her eyes. She was becoming a guardian inspector
once again. Australia had been bad. This was going to be terrible. Chairman Hong was returning to a Mao Defense of China, at least until the country rebuilt its home army. This was going to be a deadly game of distance and speed.

AMUR RIV
ER, SIBERIA

On the first day of the Manchurian Invasion, Jake figured everything would be down to a science, especially with the American veterans.

He’d had known it wouldn’t be so, but he hadn’t expected such a screwy beginning.

The sun crept up from the east before the artillery in their sector opened up. The tubes were supposed to have started two hours before dawn. No. They were late. Only the ground-attack planes and drones had started on time, roaring over them in the dark.

The platoon waited for the signal from company headquarters. The men huddled behind long bulrushes, the lazy Amur River hidden from sight. Each team had a six-man inflatable with a small motor in back.

As they waited, Chet kept checking the time.

“Don’t bother,” Jake told him. “When you hear the artillery you’ll know it’s for real.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Chet said. He kept checking until finally he lay down and closed his eyes, going to sleep.

Jake winked at Grant. The lanky black man just nodded. He looked zombie-tired, as he hated waking up in the dark.