Our Next Great War

by Martin Archer

  I didn’t have a chance to even begin taking evasive measures before the torpedo blew off the Resolute’s bow and knocked down almost everyone to the deck including me. It was a massive explosion and it threw some of the men on the crowded main deck into the water. The lookout and the other men who’d been standing on the bow disappeared along with the bow itself.

  Surprisingly, the Resolute did not immediately sink and I was able to get back on to my feet even before the ship’s forward momentum stopped. One look down at the damage and I knew what I have to do. It’s strange; somehow I feel very calm.

  “All engines full reverse,” I shouted. I did not give the order to abandon ship because, more than two hour agos, before we got everyone on deck, we’d shut and tightened all the bulkheads and doors. Maybe they will hold.

  ******

  Vehicles and equipment in the army military staging area at the port of Kalingrad exploded and caught fire as the Chinese cruise missiles landed one after another every three or four seconds. Each landed with a big bright red flash followed by a massive boom and much smoke.

  Kalingrad’s staging area was a scene of utter devastation as the Sian and Canton slipped back below the surface to start the long trip back to China. The men on the submarines cannot see it, of course, but numerous vehicles were burning or tipped over and just about all the personnel that had been working on them were either dead or injured.

  Two hours later the fires were out, the secondary explosions from ammunition cooking off had ended, and the place was swarming with uniformed rescuers and every fireman, fire truck, and ambulance from miles around.

  The survivors were already in the local hospital by the time the Russian naval infantry general in charge of the staging area had time to stand on the hood of his Jeep and survey the destruction.

  He was surprised as he realized what he was seeing and what he would report.

  Yes, almost all the men working in the area were casualties. And, yes, a large number of vehicles have been destroyed and damaged. But there weren’t many men working here in the first place—because all the armor and other high priority vehicles and equipment that could be loaded had already sailed and the men needed to operate them sailed with them. The Chinese hit a relatively unmanned storage area and destroyed a lot of trucks and low priority supplies.

  “This won’t have much effect on the war” will be the essence of his report.

  It is late afternoon when the flash message with the NSA transcript of the general’s report to Moscow reaches The Detachment. For all their efforts, the Chinese submarines have not accomplished much of anything that will affect the outcome of the war now raging in the east.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Uncertainty.

  “Yes, Mister President,” I agree. “The opening hours of the war appear to have resulted in a number of initial Chinese successes as we all expected.

  "Perhaps most important and unexpected development of all, is that the key airfields at Irkutsk and Angarsk have been captured by the Chinese and are already being cleared for use by the Chinese air force. That is a major loss for Russia.”

  And that was the truth, but perhaps not the whole truth. China’s invasion forces were indeed across the Usurri towards Vladivostok and across the Amur towards Khabarovsk; the Russian air force in the east has been largely destroyed even though most of the Chinese air assaults on the Russian airfields seemed to have failed to hold them.

  I also knew something else which I had not mentioned yet because I was still not sure.

  Jack Flanigan spoke with Chief Matthews this morning to get a report on last night’s operation against the Chinese bridges. It took a bit of doing to track him down because the Chief and his four-man team of American instructors unexpectedly found themselves running from some Chinese paratroopers who came down near their camp instead of their intended drop zone.

  In any event, Matthews and his men were now safe. Jack finally reached him when Chief Matthews reported in to Colonel Lindauer at Danovsky’s headquarters. Matthews downplayed his brush with the Chinese. But I got the impression from Lindauer that it had been a damn close call.

  According to Chief Matthews’ report to Colonel Lindauer, some of the helicopters bringing back the Russian swimmers diverted to alternative fields when they found their primary fields under attack. But the swimmers who were able to get back before the attacks reported success. Similarly, the helicopter pilots who radioed in to report they were diverting also reported their swimmers seemed to have been successful.

  It was all very encouraging—but not a surprise given the amount of money we promised to pay to each of them if he was part of a successful team. We would know soon enough what really happened—analysts both here and in Washington were already looking at the latest satellite photos and listening to Chinese radio and telephone intercepts.

  Interestingly, the Chinese rail bridges were not mentioned anywhere in the latest NSA intercepts. That may be significant because the NSA communications intercepts are usually accurate. At least, we think it is usually accurate.

  In other words, because there was no mention of them, the report I just read suggests the decision makers at Red Banner Street may not know they have lost a number of crucial bridges. On the other hand, if the bridges were really taken down, it might mean that our intercepts are not accurate and we are being fed misinformation.

  Hmm. Yes. The Chinese are obviously focused on what they think are more important things. When the teleconference ends I’m going to have Jack Flanigan call Chief Matthews and have him offer another twenty thousand dollars to every swimmer who will go out again, preferably tonight before the Chinese wise up to what’s being done to them.

  Bill Hammond and I had just finished explaining to the President and Security Council that the war was only a few hours old and both sides seemed to think it was proceeding as they had hoped and planned. On the other hand, the only unexpected developments from the Russian point of view were serious—the much heavier than expected aircraft losses and the loss of the airfields west of Lake Baikal.

  “Bill, can you get one of our satellites refocused away from the river crossings and have them run a scan on the bridges we targeted? We need to know, as soon as possible, which ones are still up and being used.”

  ****** Major Carpenter

  I had been trying for the past hour to get through to General Evans with a report. No luck. Colonel Chernenko’s communications center cabin took a direct hit from a mortar round and the radios in the tanks apparently don’t have enough range.

  What I wanted to report to General Evans was that the railroad from Vladivostok to Kharbarovsk was still open. The Chinese in front of Bikin have been relatively quiet since their big human wave attack failed this morning. The Chinese stopped firing their mortars when they pulled back and it’s too far to the tree line for snipers. Trains can still get through.

  Now that the smoke had dissipated we could see all the casualties in the field in front of us—mostly Chinese and a lot of them. Some of them were moving but many were not. The Russians took a heavy hit as well and their casualties were overflowing the village’s abandoned log houses which have been turned into aid centers. The Russians have some medics and a bunch of stretcher bearers, but not a single doctor. I don’t know how the Chinese wounded are doing but the Russians are going to lose some of these kids unless something is done pretty quickly to get them into a surgical unit.

  Finally! There is a “come on” wave from the door of the BMD Chernenko had begun using as his command center. I trotted over and picked up the BMD’s external phone.

  “Hello. Jerry Carpenter here”…. “Can you hear me?”

  “Yes Sir, it’s me. We’re still stuck in Bikin and there’s been a big Chinese attack.”

  “No idea, Sir. The helicopter crashed. And now its destroyed.”

  “It was close, Sir, but the Russians held and the railroad appears to still be usable. The Chinese tried a really stupid human w
ave charge. Bugles blowing and all. They used smoke for cover and got into some of the Russian positions. But then, for some reason, they stopped and pulled back.”

  “Yes Sir, the bridges just south of Bikin are still up. At least they were about twenty minutes ago when Colonel Chernenko talked to them on one of the tank radios. They haven’t been hit at all.”

  “No Sir, we won’t.”

  “Ah, Sir, the Russians have a couple of hundred wounded men here, teenage kids mostly, conscripts, and they don’t have much in the way of medics or supplies. All they’ve got are some medics and orderlies. They’re trying to use live blood donated by the surviving troops but that and morphine is about all they’ve got.”

  “Yes sir, it really is bad. Any chance we can get a medical drop in here?”

  “Thank you, Sir. I know you will.”

  ******

  Communist Party military headquarters on Red Swallow Street was packed with senior military and party officers and their aides. Some of them were weary from a night without sleep, or maybe even two or three nights, and they showed it. But they were all excited and generally pleased.

  There had been a great deal of anxiety and concern when reports began coming in of pre-emptive Russian air strikes before the scheduled start of our attack. But they didn’t cause all that much damage and there was a sense of positive excitement and comradeship everywhere.

  Our attack began almost three hours ago and the initial reports look good, very good. At least that’s what the army was reporting by phone to the Politburo meeting in the small coastal resort village of Beidaihe. It was on the speakerphone.

  “Yes, Comrade Chairman, I can confirm that we successfully defeated the enemy’s preemptive air attacks and the situation is developing almost exactly as we planned. Our parachute troops have landed and destroyed the planes on every Russian airfield and our assault troops are across both of the rivers.”

  “Yes, Comrades, all of them. Every single one.”

  “Yes, Comrade Marshal, our air force has definitely achieved air supremacy. Just a few minutes ago both of our airborne radar planes reported that there are no Russian planes in the air. No helicopters either. None at all. In contrast, our planes are either in the air engaging the enemy’s ground forces or have returned to their bases and are being quickly refueled and rearmed.

  Some of them are already attacking the Russian ground forces on their second or third missions of the war. It is a great victory for the Red Army.”

  ****** General Evans

  Things were popping at The Detachment. I was talking on two phone calls at the same time. On one I was talking to General Danovsky and Lieutenant Basilof. Colonel Lindauer was holding on the other—and patched in so he could listen.

  Then the President called. According to the note passed to me by Charlie, the White House aide who placed the call had the President had his National Security Advisor and the Secretaries of Defense and State on the line with him.

  I decided to stay with Danovsky.

  "I will be with him in a moment. Tell him I'm just coming in the door," I mouthed. Charlie's eyes widened and then he grinned and nodded.

  "Dick Evans here," I said less than a minute later.

  What I heard surprised me—the President wanted to talk about the Sian and Canton and about getting more SAMs to the Russians now that the Chinese appeared have air superiority. Sheesh, politicians getting involved in military decisions is never good.

  To my very real surprise, the President said he thought the Chinese boomers that attacked Kalingrad this afternoon should be sunk so the nuclear weapons they were thought to be carrying couldn't be used to hit Russia. Such an attack, the President said, might well trigger a wider nuclear war and that needed to be prevented.

  What he was counting on, the President said, was that the sinkings would be lost in the fog of war and, even more importantly, no one would know for sure who was responsible. Then, to my surprise, he asked me if I was prepared to give the order to do it. Me give the order?

  “Um…Yes, Mr. President. I think I am.” He may be right. Probably is. But why is he telling me this instead of ordering me to do it?

  “Good. General Evans, I am herewith giving you, as the NATO commander, permission to use the American submarines assigned to NATO to destroy any non-NATO submarines with nuclear capabilities found in NATO waters.

  Permission? Verbally? Well now I know. If the Chinese ever find out it wasn’t the Russians, the sinking of their subs could be blamed on NATO and me, not the White House.

  Bill Hammond called back a few minutes later.

  “You do understand why the President wants you to give the order instead of the Chief of Naval Operations, don’t you Dick?” Bill asked.

  “I think I do. He wants someone other than him to take the heat if things go south. The orders are going out as we speak. I sent them with a NATO communications identifier.”

  “Good man. Probably best not to mention anything about the President wanting you to do it until you see what develops. That way if it turns out good he can take the credit; if it goes bad, you will.” The sarcasm and disgust in Bill's voice was clear.

  “Figured as much. But better late than never.”

  Bill grunted his agreement, and changed the subject.

  “This is probably the last time you’ll be hearing from me, Dick. At least officially, that is. The Senate is going to confirm Tommy Talbot tomorrow morning and my retirement parade and press conference with the President is tomorrow afternoon.

  "I guess I’m gonna have to learn how to play golf. Anyhow I want you to know that I’ve always liked Boy Scouts like you. It’s been good working with you all these years and I … Uh... Oh hell, Dick. Good luck.”

  ******

  Captain Randall Sheets of the Burgall was not a happy camper on the first morning of the Chinese War. The Burgall was still tracking the Sian but he was absolutely disgusted that he had sat there and did nothing when it surfaced and fired its missiles at the Kalingrad navy yard. He’d spent his entire adult life preparing to command an attack sub and sink enemy ships—and never once had he had an opportunity to fire a shot, not even during the recent war.

  “It just isn’t fair,” he was thinking when the flash NATO message came in and changed everything. It ordered the Burgall to sink all non-NATO missile submarines in NATO waters that might have nuclear weapons on board.

  The NATO commander sent similar messages to the captains of the Grayling and Pargo. They had been shadowing the Canton for some time. Both had been nearby and heard the Canton surface and fire its missiles.

  All the other subs assigned to NATO were simultaneously sent a different message reminding them to immediately report and begin tracking any non-NATO subs they came across.

  ******

  Alarms continue to clang as Resolute shuddered to a halt in a great spray of water. One look through the bridge window and I knew what had to be done.

  “Damage control party report status,” I shouted into the voice tube as I threw the switch to its all-speakers setting. “The bow is gone. Are the bulkhead doors holding?

  I continued without giving Damage Control a chance to answer.

  “Engine room report status. Keep the turbines running. We’ve lost the bow and I’m going to try to back her in.”

  “Harbor depth?” I shouted over my shoulder to Lieutenant Shoppel as I pushed the wheelman aside and took over the controls. “What is the depth next to the piers?” For a second Aleksandr looked at me dumbly, as if he didn’t understood the order. Then light dawned in his eyes and he rushed to the book of harbor descriptions. It was already open to Vladivostok.

  “Attention all hands. This is the Captain. Do not, repeat do not, abandon ship. We are going to back the Resolute into the port and tie her to the dock.”

  My rapid fire announcements were too late for some of the men on board. Although only seconds had passed since the torpedo struck, two of our six big lifeboats, all loaded to the gi
lls with infantry and all on the starboard side, splashed into the water before my order came not to abandon ship.

  The boat commanders had responded to the explosion by instantly throwing the launching levers that released their cables and dropped them into the water.

  Worse, the third boat on that side also tried to drop, but only the cables in the back of the boat worked. That threw the men packed in it over backwards into the freezing waters—and they were mostly naval infantry without life jackets.

  “Catapult starboard rafts two and three,” I shouted into the voice tube as the Resolute slowly began to move backward in a big circle so that its stern was pointed towards the harbor.

  A couple of my deck crew took off their lifejackets and threw them into the sea as we slowly swung around and passed through the desperately waving men and bodies in the water as we slowly backed towards the harbor entrance. Noble fellows.

  ******

  The briefing General Wu gave the Central Committee at its regularly scheduled noon briefing in Beidaihe was even more positive than his 0900 briefing.

  “Comrades, I just got off the phone with Army Headquarters. I am pleased to inform you that all of our airbases attacked by the Russians preemptive strikes, every single one of them, are either operational or expected to be operational within the next few hours. All the Russian air bases, in contrast, have been totally closed by our paratroopers and almost all their planes have been destroyed either in the air or on the ground.”

  “Our situation is equally promising on the ground. Our troops have successfully placed armor-carrying bridges over both rivers and are continuing to advance towards Khabarovsk and Vladivostok despite fierce enemy resistance. I am also pleased to inform the Committee that both of our missile submarines in the Baltic have reported successful attacks on the Russian army staging area at Port of Kalingrad.”