He rested the barrel of the Chinese QBZ-95 bullpup assault rifle on top of the dead body in front of him, targeting the far end of the corridor through the weapon’s iron sights.
His finger rested on the trigger, and as the first man turned the corner from the side hallway, he opened fire, shooting him in the head, the man who followed him in the chest.
The others leapt back to safety, but then the stairwell doors opened, and the elevator doors, and Cole aimed again, but … what the hell?
Jake Navarone and Julie Barrington came bursting out of the elevator, the other three members of the Force One team crashing through the stairwell doors at the other side, and Cole watched in amazement as they opened fire down the hallway in front of them where the Chinese soldiers had retreated.
Cole was on his feet in moments, racing down the corridor to fight by the team’s side, their superior skills quickly overcoming the token resistance of the basement guards.
Ten seconds later it was all over, gun smoke pouring through the hallway and the unpleasant, though familiar, smell of coppery blood hanging in the air.
‘Secure that corridor,’ Navarone ordered Grayson and Collins, who raced off down the hallway to make sure there were no others soldiers.
‘What the hell are you guys doing here?’ Cole asked Navarone in amazement.
Davis answered before Navarone had the chance. ‘We saw you on the news, Mr. Secret Agent Man. We came back here to save your ass.’
Cole smiled. ‘Well, don’t think I don’t appreciate it,’ he said, ‘but how did you guys manage to break in here?’
‘We had a bit of help,’ Barrington explained as she checked her rifle, quickly changing magazines.
Navarone nodded. ‘She’s right,’ he agreed. ‘Let’s get this level secure, and then we’ll go back upstairs. You’re gonna love it.’
Navarone was right; Cole did love it.
The entire command center on the basement’s upper level had been taken over by Captain Liu and a contingent of ‘Hunting Leopards’ special operations soldiers.
Brought into the Zhongnonhai on official duty, they had quickly overpowered the ill-prepared guards, using the element of surprise to huge advantage.
Apparently, Liu had not known whether they would go along with his plan, or whether they would want to remain loyal to the military regime; but it turned out that they had been waiting for such an opportunity, as disgusted with Wu’s behavior as Liu had been.
And when the Hunting Leopards had raided the Zhongnonhai and captured most of the senior officers of the Central Military Commission and the de facto military regime, other local special operations units had also re-pledged their loyalty to the People’s Republic and the leadership of the Politburo, and had joined them in securing the government compound.
The Force One members had liaised with Liu upon their brave return to Beijing, and Liu had guided them inside and sent them down to secure the lower basement levels.
‘So what’s the current status?’ Cole asked, ignoring the pain that was starting to creep back across his body. He already knew that the Politburo had been successfully rescued, and had also learned the details of the proposed Chinese invasion of Japan.
His mind had flickered again to images of Michiko, trapped there, but he had cut them off at once. There was nothing he could do about that now; in fact, the best thing he could do was try and stop the invasion from happening at all.
‘This is the main control center for our military forces,’ Liu explained, coming over to them. ‘We have control over air defenses, missile systems, radar and satellite surveillance.’
‘So we can shut down the invasion from here?’ Cole asked.
Liu shook his head. ‘At the minute, no. Only the generals can access the systems and — although they’ve surrendered — they’re not talking.’
‘Would the Politburo members also have access?’ Cole asked.
‘Yes,’ Liu said, ‘I believe so.’
‘Good,’ Cole said. ‘Can you get me President Abrams on the line?’
Navarone smiled. ‘We’ve just called her.’
7
‘What?’ General Wu cried out, furious. ‘Tell me that again! What did you say?’
‘The Politburo members are alive and well,’ came the voice from Captain Ling Sushan, the commander of the Liaoning which had already appeared on the helicopter’s radar screen. ‘They are in contact with the American government, and have ordered the invasion to be called off.’
‘But surely nobody is listening to them?’ Wu asked, unable to believe what he was hearing, a feeling of terrible impotence coming over him.
‘The Zhongnonhai has been captured,’ Ling continued, ‘and most of our leadership has been arrested.’
‘This is preposterous!’ Wu screamed. ‘When I land there, have no fear — the operation will be going ahead as planned.’
‘I am afraid the Politburo has passed the command codes to the people now in control of the Zhongnonhai central command center, they have shut down satellite surveillance, and the air defenses over the Chinese mainland.’
‘No!’ Wu cried out, almost as if in physical pain, all of his hopes and dreams shattering to dust before him.
‘Can you give the order from there to hit the USS Ford?’ he asked, desperate to gain some measure of satisfaction.
‘No,’ Ling responded, ‘I am afraid not; the location of all our ballistic missile launchers has been transmitted to the Americans, and they’re under threat of destruction if used. US forces are flying over the area again, and building up a full surveillance picture.’
Wu shook his head to himself. When he got aboard the Liaoning, he could get things back on track — he would lead the battle himself, with Zhou beside him.
The helicopter navigator gestured to his screen — two small blips had detached from the aircraft carrier and were headed towards him.
‘Gunships,’ the man said.
‘What is the meaning of this, Captain Ling?’ Wu asked, although he was afraid he already knew. ‘And where is Admiral Meng Linxian? Let me speak to him!’
‘Admiral Meng is under arrest,’ Ling said evenly, ‘and we have received orders from the Politburo to arrest you too, general,’ Ling said evenly. ‘Those aircraft will just accompany you safely down to the carrier.’
‘You little son of a bitch!’ Wu screamed, all his worst fears confirmed. He spun back to the pilot, pulling him round, eyes fierce. ‘Take us back to the mainland! Immediately!’
He calculated times in his head, working things through; with the distance between them, the gunships wouldn’t reach him in time.
And if the mainland’s air defenses had been disabled to allow the Americans safe passage, then there would be nothing to stop him either.
‘Where are we going?’ Zhou asked.
‘The Taihang Mountains,’ Wu spat bitterly. ‘The Great Wall.’
It was the only thing left to do.
8
‘He’s done what?’ Cole asked in sudden concern.
Several hours had passed now, and the situation had looked as if it was coming together nicely; with the generals of the Central Military Commission safely in the custody of the US-backed special operations teams, the rest of the military had ultimately surrendered too, accepting the rule of the Politburo’s government-in-exile. And it wouldn’t be in exile for long either — when the situation had calmed down some more, they would be repatriated to Beijing, flown in on aircraft from the USS John C. Stennis.
The invasion of Japan had been halted in its tracks, the East Sea Fleet just a few short kilometers from Japan’s front gates.
General Wu — flying out to meet the Chinese carrier battle group — was supposed to have been arrested upon landing, and that would essentially have been the end of it.
Except that General Wu hadn’t been arrested.
‘He avoided the escort from the carrier group,’ Liu explained, translating the messages he was receiving from Beijing’s air surveillance batteries, ‘and he’s flown straight back over the mainland. We’ve lowered our defenses to open us up to military counterstrikes from the US if the invasion went ahead, but he used that window, flew straight through those open defenses.’
‘When did he pass through?’ Cole asked, and Liu relayed the question.
‘An hour ago,’ Liu translated. ‘With all the chaos, everything that’s going on, his chopper was missed, the information wasn’t relayed to us directly.’
‘And where was he headed?’ Cole asked, scared that he already knew.
When the answer came, Cole was already moving.