Battlefield China

by James Rosone

  In less than a minute, the enemy attack fell apart and began to retreat. At the sight of the enemy falling back, the British troops that had just arrived charged forward, quickly followed by their armored vehicles. As Dayan watched them charge after the enemy, he felt nauseated; the tanks were literally running over both the dead and the dying that carpeted the street below.

  Staff Sergeant Dayan slumped to the floor and placed his face into his hands. He began crying uncontrollably, and he didn’t even know why. Perhaps he just felt overwhelmed by all the emotions of what he had just gone through, or perhaps the gruesome sound of the bones crunching under the advancing tanks had been a burden too heavy to bear. In either case, he wasn’t the only soldier to break down in that moment.

  *******

  Beijing, China

  PLA Command Bunker

  President Xi was practically beside himself as he listened intently to General Wei Liu, the overall PLA military commander, explain how their most recent attacks against the Allied invasion force in Shanghai had just failed. Somehow, three divisions of regular army forces and five divisions of militia had been badly mauled by enemy air and artillery attacks before they’d even made it to the front lines.

  “Sir, it was as if the Allies somehow knew exactly where we were forming up and when we would be moving in order to make these attacks,” General Wei concluded, forlorn.

  It was a theme. Somehow, over the past month and a half, the Allies had managed to anticipate every move, every attack, in advance. President Xi was beginning to suspect they had a mole somewhere inside the government that was feeding them information.

  General Xu Ding then took his turn regaling them with tales about the success of the Air Force’s new UAV fighter drone program. Xi did have to give the man credit; the new UAV fighter drones were actually performing pretty well.

  “It’s too bad we don’t have enough of them to really make a difference in this war,” he thought. Xi’s mind went back to what was happening in Guangdong Province. The bulk of China’s aerospace industry had been relocated there after the nuclear attack on Shenyang. It seemed odd that the Americans would launch such a massive invasion in southern China unless they somehow knew of the importance of Guangzhou and Dongguan to their production of these new drone fighters and their aerospace program.

  The Minister of Defense, General Kuang Li Jun, leaned forward as he glared at General Wei. “General, you have failed us and your country. Your services are no longer needed,” he stated. Then he waved his hand, signaling several soldiers standing near the exit to apprehend him.

  General Wei’s eyes grew wide as saucers as he attempted to protest his dismissal. “Mr. President, please! You can’t allow this to happen!” he exclaimed loudly. The guards rushed forward, grabbing him by his arms, pulling him out of the room.

  Shaking his head in disgust, President Xi stood as he signaled for the others to stay seated. “We have meticulously planned this war, collaborating on it with the Russians and many other allies. We should have won this war nearly a year ago. Instead, we find ourselves the last nation standing, our homeland invaded. What I want to know is how are we going to repel these invaders? Can we still defeat them?”

  The remaining generals and admirals in the room all squirmed a bit in their chairs, not knowing what to say. They certainly did not want to be the next person dragged out of the room. They all knew what was going to happen to General Wei and none of them wanted to suffer the same fate.

  Seeing that no one had the guts to look him in the eye, or even attempt to answer his immediate question, Xi sat down and then reached under the table and depressed a small button. “Since it appears none of you have any ideas on how to defeat the enemy or reclaim victory, it would seem I need to find new generals who do,” he said to the sudden shock and horror of the remaining generals. The side doors opened and a group of security personnel, the President’s personal bodyguards, walked in and moved to detain each of them.

  A short scuffle broke out as some of them pleaded with President Xi to save them. “Please, give me one more chance!” shouted one. “I’m the only one with an idea of how to defeat the Americans!” cried another.

  Xi just shook his head and waved them off with a flick of his wrist. Once the generals were removed from the room, he heard several shots fired as they were dispensed with in the hallway. It was a rule of his not to allow any chances for insufficient leadership to call to their commands for help.

  “Liquidate them and replace them before anyone can raise a fuss about it,” he told himself, rubbing his temples in frustration.

  “That went about as well as could be expected,” Chairman Zhang said. He took a sip of his tea, the entire scene having no effect on him. The Minister of Defense nodded in agreement.

  “It needed to be done many months ago, but this recent setback has given me the latitude I needed to do it and still maintain the confidence of the military,” asserted President Xi. He paused. “Bring in General Yang Yin,” he ordered.

  Zhang nodded and got up to head down the hall to a room where the general was waiting patiently. As the chairman left the room, Xi nodded toward one of his bodyguards, who proceeded to screw a silencer onto his pistol and quickly followed after Zhang.

  The Minister of Defense tried to keep his face as neutral as possible. It was obvious that Xi was purging the PLA leadership right now, and he was hoping that he was not next on the list.

  When General Yang Yin walked into the room, Chairman Zhang was noticeably absent as the security guard closed the door behind him. He noted the empty seats and read the name placards before him before looking to the center of the table at the supreme leader.

  President Xi motioned for him to take a seat opposite him, next to the Minister of Defense, who was looking a little pale.

  As Yang sat down, Xi began to speak. “General Yang, I’ve called you here because our country is in grave danger, and none of my military leaders will give me an honest answer or provide a valid plan for how we’re going to defeat the enemy. You have served the people well in the war thus far. Your battlefield defeats are not yours alone. You were defeated because the generals above you gave you an impossible task to accomplish and did not heed your warnings or your pleas for support.”

  Yang nodded cautiously.

  “I’ve read your many requests for reinforcements, changes to battle plans and suggestions for how to turn the war around,” Xi continued. “Each of them fell on deaf ears, but not mine. I’ve heard your pleas for help, and your ideas for how to turn the war around. What I need from you now is to take charge of the military and lead us to victory. Can you do that?” President Xi asked. He leaned forward, staring into the eyes of the one general who had given China its only victories in this war.

  In that moment, General Yang seemed to understand exactly why these chairs were empty. He took a deep breath in and slowly let it out as he sat up a bit straighter. Doing his best to keep his face stoic, he said, “I need to know what the status of the country’s military force is if I’m to make an accurate assessment of whether the war can be turned around. As you know, I have been focused on fighting the Americans in the south of China, where my command is. I’m not fully aware of what the Allies are doing in the north or in Shanghai.”

  Xi smiled at the bluntness. “Finally, a general who isn’t afraid to speak his mind, even if it might get him killed.”

  Xi depressed an intercom button and instructed several PLA colonels to come in and provide General Yang with an update on the war. The Minister of Defense also brought him up to speed on their military production capability and ability to support and sustain the war.

  For the next three hours, the colonels presented Yang and Xi with an update on each sector the Allies were attacking from. The last brief was on the country’s economy, its financial health, and then the overall morale of the people. It was a lot of information to take in.

  Xi had no intention of losing power. If he had to make a peace d
eal with the Allies, then the only one he’d accept was one that left him still in control. He hoped General Yang could accomplish that task.

  *******

  After the colonels left the room, General Yang sat silently looking over the materials they’d left behind. First, he looked at some of the maps and initial statements of what was happening in the north, then he focused in on Shanghai, and then his own theater, the south. What astounded him the most was how effective the Allies had been at deceiving them with their invasion of Shanghai—the PLA leadership had been caught completely flatfooted by the invasion.

  The other thing that confounded him was what that American Army group was doing in the western part of China. It appeared a large American Army group had invaded through Mongolia last fall and that, when spring had come, they’d entered Inner Mongolia. Even now, they were driving nearly unopposed on Beijing from the west. The Allies had truly encircled China and were slowly chopping her up into smaller, more manageable chunks.

  Looking up at Xi, Yang asked, “You know how you eat an elephant, Sir?”

  Snickering at the question, Xi replied, “One bite at a time.”

  “Exactly,” Yang responded. “In this case, the Allies knew they couldn’t defeat us by attacking from one front, so they’ve opted to attack us from multiple directions. They also knew they needed to destroy our Air Force and our ability to protect the skies and our ground forces. The army that rules the skies tends to win.”

  President Xi nodded, but he didn’t look very pleased. “You’re not telling me anything I don’t already know,” he quipped. “Why do you believe the Allies invaded Shanghai and Guangdong Province? It would have made more sense for the Allies to marshal all their forces in the north and sweep down across the country from a land border they had already secured. Why did they deviate from that conventional wisdom?”

  Leaning back in his chair, Yang knew exactly what Xi was after and why none of the generals before him were still alive. Holding his chin out a bit, Yang replied, “If you will indulge me, Mr. President, I’ll attempt to explain why the Americans have done what they’ve done and why the other generals failed to see it.”

  Xi nodded for him to continue. He also signaled for an aide to bring them more fresh tea and some food as well. General Yang was grateful for that—it was likely they’d be there most of the evening, talking.

  “As you already know, Mr. President, I grew up in America,” Yang began. “I was educated in their schools and I even went to the prestigious American military academy, the Citadel, in the state of South Carolina. While studying to become an American military officer, I was extensively taught American military history and how their generals think. As a cadet, I was taught what every officer in the military is taught, how to lead soldiers and to accomplish the mission, to think outside the box and bend the rules when necessary. I was also able to attend the prestigious advanced infantry school’s Ranger program my senior year.”

  President Xi nodded, but it was clear his patience was wearing thin.

  “I tell you this because I’ve been trained to think like an American officer. Many of the American colonels and lower-level generals we’re fighting now are some of my classmates from twenty years ago. The reason the Americans are attacking us from Inner Mongolia, northern China, and the Korean Peninsula is simple: they wanted our focus and attention to be on northern China. They wanted my predecessors to move all our forces toward the north, and to that end, they were very successful.”

  Xi leaned in at this point and interrupted him. “Are you saying the Americans wanted us to believe these three fronts they’ve been attacking us from in the north for what, eighteen months, were a ruse? A well-groomed trap?” he asked incredulously.

  Yang leaned forward as he replied, “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying.”

  “Explain,” Xi said, voice tense.

  “When the Americans launched their massive offensive in the north, General Wei Liu moved nearly all of our reserve forces there and to the west to deal with them. While this move has largely stalled the Allied offensive, it has also left us with very few reserve forces to deploy anywhere else. Let’s also look at the air side of things. The American stealth bombers, or what’s left of them, have focused nearly all their attacks not on going after our command-and-control headquarters, communications nodes, or even our Air Force or military units—they’ve focused their attacks on key railheads, bridges and tunnels linking northern, central and southern China together.”

  He pulled out a series of rail maps the briefers had left behind and showed Xi what he was talking about. “Once we had committed our forces to the north and stopped their offense, the Americans invaded Guangdong Province.”

  Xi obviously became annoyed with the history lesson and slapped his hand on the table “I know this! Tell me why!” he demanded angrily.

  “To go after our manufacturing base and our finances. If we can’t produce the tools of war—the drone fighter planes, infantry fighting vehicles, small-arms munitions—then we can’t fight. By attacking Guangdong Province, they’re hoping to capture more than forty percent of our military manufacturing base.”

  “Then why did they also invade Shanghai?”

  “Because Shanghai accounts for more than thirty percent of our tax base. With the Shanghai region and Guangdong Province in their control, the Allies will occupy more than fifty percent of our military manufacturing base and more than sixty percent of our tax base. They’re going to starve us financially and cripple our manufacturing ability to sustain the war.” Yang concluded his explanation of the Allies’ strategy as he saw it.

  President Xi had this look on his face as if a literal lightbulb had just illuminated in his head. “Is the war lost?” he asked.

  “That’s an incredibly loaded question,” thought Yang. He looked at the empty chairs before him and considered carefully whether he should tell the truth as he saw it or lie and try his best to prolong the war as long as possible.

  Xi must have seen his perplexed look. “General, please give me your honest opinion. I’m not going to have you shot for telling me what I don’t want to hear. Unless we acknowledge the obvious, we can’t hope to find a solution.”

  Yang nodded and let out a deep sigh. “Mr. President, the war is lost. We can’t reverse the damage that has been done. At this point, it’s more about managing the loss. The Americans have a presidential election coming up. For the next twelve months, their political parties will be fighting amongst themselves to win or retain control of the government. As I see it, we have two options: we can either try for a peace deal with the current administration, or we can try and prolong the war and hope the opposition party wins control of the government and we can achieve a better peace deal.”

  General Yang’s heart raced as he waited for Xi’s reaction. When he wasn’t immediately executed, he slowly began to try and breathe again. President Xi didn’t say anything for a few moments. Yang could tell that the wheels were turning inside his head as he weighed his options. The general wondered what his decision would be as the leader of the country. If they tried to prolong the war, it would mean more of China would fall to the Allies, and if that happened, it would be harder for him to negotiate an acceptable peace deal. Then again, if he threatened to wage an endless guerrilla war if they didn’t accept his proposal, he might be able to gain a better deal.

  Finally, Xi spoke. “What about our nuclear weapons? What if we used them on our own soil to destroy the Allied armies? Could that be enough to turn the tide?”

  Yang paused briefly. “That’s a tricky question, Mr. President. The Americans know where our nuclear missile silos are, so using them is out of the question. They would move to destroy them all as soon as they thought we might use them. If we used our mobile launchers, I believe we could catch them by surprise, but personally, I’d recommend against using nuclear weapons. Once we do, you can bet the Americans will use them on us. We saw what they did to North Korea and to Shenyang
.” General Yang hoped the President would not pursue that path.

  Xi slumped back in his seat, the wind taken out of his sails. He had finally heard the sobering truth…Yang wondered what he would choose to do with that information.

  Chapter 18

  A Desperate Push

  Radar Station Ridgeline

  Sitting in the bottom of his fighting position, Corporal Jordan Wright looked at the sky above them, marveling at the beauty of the stars on full display. As he watched some of the glowing specks twinkle in the night sky, Wright thought these were some of the best times to be in the Royal Army, away from the hustle and bustling of London and his never-ending work at Google. He’d been telling himself that he was going to buy a place in the country one day, but thus far, he’d never gotten around to it.

  “Maybe I’ll sell a ton of my Google stock and just do it when I get back from this war,” he considered. Then he almost laughed aloud at the thought of trying to convince his lovely wife to live in a small village in the countryside, several hours from London. She was quite the London socialite, what with her yoga class she taught in the evenings and her work at an art gallery. She loved the high energy and fast-paced life of the city. Really, that was one of the things that had attracted him to her—she was a ball of constant energy, full of life and passion.

  Looking to his left, Corporal Wright saw that Private Nigel Flowers was still asleep. He’d let the kid sleep a bit more; they still had another twenty minutes until “stand-to.” They were nearing the scariest moments of the day now though; for some reason, the Chinese liked to use the time when the sun had just started to break through the evening darkness to launch their first attacks of the day.

  Wright heard a rustling behind him. He craned his head to the left, looking for its source. He gripped his rifle a little tighter and stood to see who or what was making the noise.