Pulling out another cigarette to replace the one he had just finished, Ivan responded, “Just be cautious with the Indians. They are probably the only country that can cause you problems in Asia. We have some influence there as well. I will see what we can do to try and strengthen our economic and military ties with them. Perhaps we can use that relationship to keep them on the sidelines of your adventure when the time comes.”
Russia was in the midst of concluding a large arms sale with India. The Indian Air Force had just signed a deal to purchase 160 Su-34s (Fullbacks) and one hundred Su-57 stealth fighters in their bid to modernize their air force. Once the Americans sold the Pakistanis’ F-16s to fight the Taliban, the Indians had felt that they needed to upgrade their air force after decades of neglect.
The two men continued to talk for several more hours about the finer points of the plans. President Vladimir Petrov was on board with everything they had discussed; the trick was going to be getting President Xi to go along with the plan. That task was what concerned Ivan. If Zhang was not able to sway him, then he would need to be removed. As the afternoon turned into early evening, the meeting concluded, and the two men shook hands and said their good byes.
A sinister look stretched across Zhang’s face. “So, we will meet again in three months,” he said. “By then, we should know if Xi has agreed to be a part of the new world order, or if he is going to have an ‘accident’ somewhere along the way.”
Ivan chuckled. “I always did like how you think, my friend.”
As the Chinese group left the secretive meeting room, Ivan pulled a folder labeled “Red Storm” from his secured vault. Not trusting electronic documents, Ivan kept the details of the operation in a folder he regularly worked from. Everything was compartmentalized electronically in pieces, never revealing the whole picture, and when one piece was finished, it was printed and added to his master folder, which held all the pieces of the puzzle together.
During the flight back to Beijing, Liang leaned over to ask his boss a question. “Mr. Chairman, do you believe the Russians can pull off their part of the plan?”
Zhang quietly put his book down and then sat up even straighter in his leather chair. “Yes, Liang. I believe the Russians can and will.” He sighed. “What gives me pause is wondering who will win the American election. The former Secretary of State is more of a hawk on foreign policy and more likely to intervene in Ukraine and Asia. I don’t know enough about the other candidate to know how he will respond. That is something I task you with finding out.”
Liang seemed a bit unnerved by the question. Zhang continued, “I want you to put together a full dossier on this other candidate. Try to understand him and show how he can be manipulated to stay out of Asia, or if he will pose a threat. I will handle the rest of our people, but I need to know as much as I can about this Republican cowboy in case he is elected.”
“Of course, Mr. Chairman,” responded Liang dutifully.
Preparations for a New World Power
It was a cool autumn morning as Chairman Zhang walked out the sliding door to the observation deck. He was on the top of the Jiangnan Shipyard Headquarters building at the edge of the shipyard. It provided him with an exceptional view of the second Kuznetsov class aircraft carrier that China was finalizing construction on. Like its sister ship, the Liaoning, it leveraged a ski jump takeoff system. While this limited the number and type of aircraft they could launch, it provided China with the ability to project power beyond its national borders as it developed its first blue water strike group. It also improved tremendously on the Liaoning, with a stronger propulsion system, more modern electronics, and a tougher air-defense capability.
Zhang was there to meet with Wen Jiabao, the director of China’s shipyards. Once the two men had exchanged the necessary polite conversation, Zhang jumped right in. “When will the Moa be operational?” he asked, somewhat gruffly. He was feeling impatient.
The Moa Zedong was going to be China’s first supercarrier to displace more than 110,000 tons. It would be similar in size to the American Nimitz class supercarrier, but not as large as the new Ford class.
Wen smiled, knowing he had good news to share. “Mr. Chairman, the Moa was officially launched as of two days ago by the Dalian shipyard. Per the committee’s instructions, we have restricted all access to the ship and kept it hidden under a construction dome. Since we have also placed all Panamax freighters under construction domes, no one has suspected a thing.” Wen was proud that his idea to hide the construction of such a large ship in plain sight was working.
Zhang nodded in approval. “It was a brilliant idea to move the construction of all of the Panamax freighters under construction domes three years ago,” he thought to himself. “It allowed us to start building the Moa without anyone knowing about it.” He smiled wistfully. “Soon, we will unveil China’s very own supercarrier to the world.”
Zhang offered some rare praise. “The President and the Ruling Committee are most pleased with your clever idea of the construction dome, Wen. How soon until the Moa will be able to join her two sister ships?” Zhang asked, hoping things were still on track.
“The delivery is still on schedule,” insisted Wen. “I have four construction shifts working on the Moa around the clock, seven days a week. We have even incentivized the workers by rewarding them with extra pay for completing various tasks ahead of time.”
Wen held up a hand before Zhang could respond to his last statement. “I know that is against party doctrine, but please, hear me out. I conducted an experiment doing this. The crews that had this incentive worked twice as hard, and the quality of the work was better than the ones without the incentive. I know this goes against the teachings of the Communist Party, but the timeline must be met. The Moa is too important to our future. I hope you will forgive me this transgression,” Wen said as he lowered his head, completely unsure how Zhang would respond.
Zhang thought for a minute, then nodded in agreement. “Wen has broken party doctrine, but it was only in service to the party,” he thought. “This sin can be overlooked, but I will need to make sure it does not spread to other areas of the country.” While China had become more of a capitalist version of communism, it still relied heavily on the ideology of collectivism. “People should be motivated to serve the party and China because it is the right thing to do, not because of money,” grumbled Zhang to himself.
“Wen, the Moa is important. Please keep this idea to yourself, but I will allow it to continue. When will the Moa be ready for its sea trials?”
Sighing out of relief, Wen responded, “We will be ready to unveil the Moa to the world on May 1st, during the May Day celebration. It will be ready to begin sea trials that same week. It will then be up to the People’s Liberation Army Navy as to when it will be combat ready,” he announced proudly.
“Excellent, and the submarines? How are they coming?” asked Zhang.
China had deployed the Type 093 nuclear-powered fast attack submarine in the mid-2000s. NATO called these ships the Shang-class. The improved version, the Type 093G, had been introduced in the mid-2010s, and provided China with a fast attack submarine that was on par with the American Los Angeles class of submarines in terms of its quietness and ability to stalk its prey. The Type 093G subs were of great concern to the Americans, who had gone to great lengths to try and infiltrate the program to learn more about them, albeit rather unsuccessfully.