India Company was set to take off within 30 minutes to try and get some feet on the ground on Taiping, but the danger zone was after the first Marines hit the ground but before enough forces could be built up to offer a serious opposition to the Chinese. To further complicate things, they still had no comm with the ROC Marines on the island, so there was the threat of friendly fire. The ROC had managed to obtain communications with one patrol boat outside of the blackout area, and it was supposed to precede them and let the garrison know that help was coming, but no one knew what the PLA Navy had in between the island and the boat. So the Philippines Air Force had agreed to send an OV-10 in first and land, letting the ROC Marines know that the Ospreys were friendlies.
The entire communications, satellite, and aircraft issue was causing panic right up to the White House. The MEU S-2 had briefed them that there was a full-court press to get to the bottom of what was happening. All US and allied forces had been put on the highest alert and techs were going over every piece of electronic equipment as well as software to determine just how deep the issue went. Currently, the effect seemed to be limited to around the Spratlys, but if the Chinese could do it there, the feeling was that they could reach anywhere.
The Chinese were denying everything, of course. Their non-involvement had to be considered, but all the evidence, meager as it was, pointed to them. From the anomalies in some of the recorded data to the Filipino overflights, the Chinese were the most likely aggressors. The S2 reported that NOAA had managed to re-power an old weather satellite and was getting it back online, and the initial reports were that it was sending back real-time data, but it would take awhile before it could be re-programmed to acquire militarily useful information.
And if it was not the Chinese, then who? The Spratlys were claimed as a whole or in part by China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Brunei. Although what had attacked the US systems seemed beyond any current capabilities, the only nation that could possibly have developed those capabilities was the People’s Republic of China.
The fact that it was all modern systems that were compromised was not lost on Pete. Older systems had been unaffected. OV-10’s and C-130’s could fly, even if not communicate. The ancient radar installation on Palawan had been able to track aircraft over much of the Spratlys. And now, a 30-year-old weather satellite seemed to be up and running again.
The Marine Corps was no different from any other organization—it relied on high tech for just about everything. Pete felt naked knowing that all the gadgets and weapons that helped make the US military unsurpassed in the world probably would not work on this mission. They probably no longer had that technological edge. When it got down to it, this might be one US Marine against one PLA soldier, man-to-man, on an even playing field.
He had less than an hour before his platoon was to take off, so he took his leave of Capt Niimoto and left the briefing room. High tech or low, his Marines had to be ready.
Chapter 9
Beijing
General Li took the handset and spoke.
“Senior Captain Chou, I gave the order over 10 hours ago for you to proceed to the objective and take it. Now, I am told that you are still hours away. I put you in command there to ensure there were no foul-ups, yet I see that there are. Can you please explain yourself?”
“General, the Changbai Shan has suffered a breakdown of one of its Pielstick engines, and that has seized up one shaft. We are proceeding forward at 12 knots.”
General Li did the quick calculation in his head, going from the archaic knots to kilometers before responding, “And the Jinggan Shan? Is it also down?”
“No General. It is functioning as normal.”
The general tried to control his temper. His authority was stretched further than was legal as it was, and the entire fate of his country was on a precarious perch. He could not afford alienate the idiot of a commander.
“Senior Captain Chou,” he said calmly, “The Americans are sending a task force to the islands now. They are still out of range for their tilt-rotor troop transports, but they will be in range sometime in the morning. If their plan is to reinforce Taiping, then you do not have the firepower to evict them. So I think it is in all of our best interests if you send the Jinggan Shan forward and take that island by morning. Is that understood?”
“Yes, General. I understand and will comply.”
General Li handed the handset back to the tech. He would rather have had someone more aggressive in command of the two ships, but Chou was reliable and trustworthy. He would follow orders without question.
He moved back to the plastic chair he had commandeered. It looked like he would be in the command post for the duration. His cell and tablet had been screaming for his attention, so he had finally just turned them off. Evidently, something had leaked out, but if he wasn’t at headquarters, he couldn’t be questioned.
“General Li, sir,” Air Non-commissioned Officer 3rd Class Yan interrupted, calling from his station, “we have some activity from the American task force.”
“The carrier group?” he asked as he stood up and walked over to him.
“No General, from the amphibious group.”
He pointed to the screen where icons seemed to be lifting off the main icon for the amphibious group.
“These are their Osprey aircraft, General.”
General Li looked at their position and calculated distances. They were still too far out, he thought. The tilt-rotor Marine planes had a range of about 1,600 km, and that meant that the planes could not fly to the islands, disembark troops, then return. He wondered if they were only going one way, to land on the island and then stay there. But that would mean that with the three planes that lifted off, there would be somewhere between 72 and about 100 troops sent to Taiping Island, a nuisance, to be sure, but nothing that even the one battalion on the Jinggan Shan couldn’t handle. He really didn’t want the US to get involved with any fighting, but he had always known that the risk of that happening was significant. The Americans had a habit of not considering their best interests before getting involved in the business of others.
He thanked Yan and went back to give Senior Captain Chou the new information. It wouldn’t change his mission, but he had to take into account the added US Marines to the ROC Marine forces on the island.
Chapter 10
Over the South China Sea
Major Hayden Cannon looked down at his calculations for the thousandth time. The numbers seemed correct, but as he looked out, he couldn’t see any sign of the KC-46 refueler.
They had taken off from the Makin Island knowing the distance was too far to take the infantry to Taiping Island and make it back to the ship. And with the comm all screwed up, a normal refueling link-up was out of the question. Mechanically, his Osprey flew fine—it was just that he couldn’t communicate with anyone else.
Without satellite navigation he had to use seat-of-the-pants flying, just like pilots back in WWI. At least he could get windspeed from his instruments, so his calculations should be fairly accurate. As a midshipman back at the Academy, he had to learn about set and drift, never in a million years believing that would ever come in handy. But the calculations for flying were essentially the same thing.
He was fairly sure that his flight of four planes was in the right area, but without the tanker, he was going to have to turn back. He could still reach the objective, but he wouldn’t have the legs to return. His orders gave him another 15 or 20 minutes to link up with the tanker before he had to abort. Then it would be back to the Makin Island to link up with the Osprey that had inserted the recon platoon and wait until the ship got close enough to the objective that they could make the round trip without refueling.
The sun was getting lower on the horizon. Visibility was still good, but it was getting darker. Aerial refueling an Osprey was not particularly difficult, but all things considered, Hayden would rather get the planes refueled while it was still light.
He glanced
down one more time at his knee board. Yes, the numbers were correct.
A small red light reflected off of his canopy, just like the movies when a sniper has his victim targeted. He looked off to his left. Off his wing, 1stLt Gravure, the co-pilot for Eight-Seven-Eight, was gesturing, making an exaggerated motion pointing to his left. He had the laser the Navy had given them all, something like a bulked-up laser pointer used for simple lectures and meetings. It had proven pretty effective for catching each other’s attention, and they had even been able to send a few simple messages via Morse Code.
Hayden didn’t need any Morse Code to know that he and Capt Kranovich had to have spotted the tanker. He pulled his own Osprey up a bit, and sure enough, in the distance, he could see the lights of a large plane.
He began a slow turn to meet the distant plane, the other two Ospreys guiding off of him. He knew the plane had to be the KC-46, but still, he was relieved when they got close enough to confirm that. The tanker had flown from Kadena AFB, so it had to reverse course once the linkup had been made so they would refuel while still closing the distance to the objective.
Although navigating like this was theoretically possible, he hadn’t been too confident that they could pull it off, the Ospreys and the tankers coming in from opposite directions and linking up. It had been worth a shot, though, and now it looked that taking that chance would pay off dividends. He would be able to get his PAX on the objective in another hour.
Chapter 11
Beijing
“You tell her that her Gong Gong is sorry he missed her party, but that he will bring her something special when he sees her,” General Chen told his wife over the phone.
The fact that he missed his granddaughter’s birthday party, while not a disaster on a national level, was just one more nail in the coffin of this horrible day. From the opening salvo, he had been scrambling to find answers and assuage everyone from the Politburo on down. To top it off, General Li was still missing, and he needed his deputy chief of staff as a sounding board. Too many of his subordinates told him what they thought he wanted to hear. Li Zhiyuan did not do that. He could be counted on to give an honest and thoughtful opinion.
The Americans, now joined by the Japanese, the Filipinos, and the Russians, were pressing the issue. It was not surprising that the Americans, Japanese, and Filipinos would cooperate in whatever game they were playing. All three were constantly maneuvering to diminish China’s power in the region. But now that the Russians were playing, that added a new wrinkle. Either they had been taken in by the American game, or they had their own game in play as well.
General Chen had assured the general secretary no less than four times now that there was no basis to the claims. He was still sure of that even if a few naval units were still out of any communications. That in itself was odd, but it wasn’t anything about which to worry.
His secretary announced Major General Guo, head of the Fourth Department, who had called a few minutes ago to say he needed to see him. He told his wife goodbye, assuring her that he would return home when he could, then looked up as Guo centered himself on his desk and saluted. He had a young Air Force captain in tow. The captain looked nervous as he shuffled a folder and his tablet.
“General Chen, I think you need to see something. I didn’t want to tell you over the phone, though. This has to be face-to-face.”
“Go on,” he told Guo calmly, but with a sense of foreboding building up inside of him.
“I would like to turn this over to Captain Xu Da Wu. He is the man who identified this possible anomaly.”
General Chen merely nodded as the young man stepped forward. He was clearly nervous, but he spoke with a surprisingly firm and confident voice.
“General Chen Jun, I want to report a problem with our communications systems…” he began before being cut off by the chief of staff.
“A problem with our communications? You are from the Fourth Department. Your mission scope covers enemy communications, not our own.”
The captain looked up at his immediate boss, who was avoiding eye contact with anyone.
“Yes General Chen, that is our mission, of course. However, in order to determine if any enemy has penetrated our own systems, we do examine and test them. This is akin to you scanning your home computer or tablet for worms or viruses.”
“OK, go on,” the general prompted him, not liking the direction in which this conversation was going.
Capt Xu took a deep breath before continuing, “Nothing was evident at first, but I noticed a few anomalies. It’s hard to describe them even now, but they were like little dust balls, innocuous, but out of place. That made me look deeper and with more care, and I found what I believe to be some serious breaches in our systems.”
“And what do you mean by ‘breaches,’” the general asked.
“Sir, I can’t say just yet what they are and how they act, but I can say with all certainty that they are there. There are tracks, if I can call them that, all over the place. They have to be doing something, but I just can’t tell you what yet.”
General Chen felt a rise of elation.
“I knew it! The Americans are behind all of this. I’ve got to let the general secretary know about this!”
He started to get up when the captain held up a hand to stop him.
“General Chen, I have to inform you that these tracks were not made by the Americans,” Xu said quietly.
“Not the Americans? Then who?” he asked in a confused voice.
“I am ashamed to tell you, General, that they were made by us. By the People’s Republic of China.”
General Chen flopped back into his seat, stunned. Someone in China had manipulated the PLA’s computer systems? Was this in-house, possibly a coup? But surely he would be aware if the Army was planning the first coup in the PRC’s history. It couldn’t be the PLA.
If not the PLA itself, then who?
Then his heart dropped. If it wasn’t the PLA, then it had to be the party or the state, not that it mattered as they were one and the same.
He asked Captain Xu to show him the data. He was sure that the captain was correct, though. What he had to figure out now was what to do about it. If this was a party plot of some kind, he needed to determine who were the players and who stood to benefit. Once he knew that, he would then decide what to do to protect the PLA. If that also served to protect him, all the better, but his priorities were to the PLA and to the nation as a whole.
Chapter 12
Aboard the USS Mississippi in the South China Sea
Sergeant Jesus “Jay” McNamara did a final equipment check of his team. They would be the second team to lock out. SSgt Lesean Tolbert’s team was already in the lock-out chamber with the lieutenant, and his team was waiting for it to cycle through.
The Mississippi was a Virginia-class attack sub, and as such, it had the integral lock-out trunk, capable of letting eight divers exit the sub. This was the first time Jay would lock out of an actual trunk. In training he had locked out through a torpedo tube, which was claustrophobic, to say the least. From what he saw in the walkthrough, though, this looked pretty high-speed-low-drag.
The last few hours had been hectic, to say the least. Not just the last few hours, the last day. It was only about 30 hours ago that he had been sitting down at a Pattaya bar to grab a beer and ogle the dancers that the recall had been made. From there the amphibious group had made its mad dash to the South China Sea with the Marines and sailors in frantic planning mode. When the lieutenant had finally given them their op order, they had almost no time to fine-tune anything. They would have to execute and adjust as necessary.
First team was assigned to go with India Company to the Taiwan-held island, leaving Tolbert’s Second Team and his own Third Team to go with the lieutenant to the Filipino Thitu Island, what they called Pagasa Island.
Sergeant McNamara was a boot sergeant, perhaps still a little green to be a team leader, but when the shit hit the fan, he was still a Marine
and expected to perform like one.
Getting to the sub had been a mission in and of itself. They had boarded one of the Ospreys in the late afternoon, then flew over the water for a couple of hours before somehow finding the Mississippi in the middle of nowhere. With the Osprey hovering, they fast-roped down to the rolling deck of the sub. A submarine on the surface is not the most stable platform in the world, and the target portion of the deck was pretty small. One Marine, LCpl Mater actually missed the small flat area and hit the sloping sides of the sub as it rolled, falling into the water. He was immediately fished out by the Navy crew, but it was a reminder that this was the real shit.
Somehow, they all made it aboard along with their gear. The Mississippi didn’t have a Special Operations Forces Stowage Container, so they had to bring all their own tanks as well as the gear needed for the mission.
While the Mississippi steamed (Jay didn’t know if “steaming” was the correct term for a nuclear attack sub) to the objective, both teams went over their gear, making sure everything was in top working order. When locking out of a submarine at 70 feet below the surface, it didn’t pay to have anything malfunction. They also made good use of the galley. The food was surprisingly good, and they even had ice cream.
The lieutenant and the gunny went over the plan several more times, making some minor modifications. Jay wasn’t sure the changes would make any difference given their lack of accurate intel, but they couldn’t hurt, he figured. Jay’s team was assigned to the main buildings to try and gather information as well as to protect the civilians in case the Chinese decided to take retribution on them once Kilo arrived. SSgt Tolbert’s team was assigned to take out the Chinese anti-aircraft battery.
The Return of the Marines Trilogy Page 48