“Blind and defenseless,” Colonel Flint said under his breath. He looked at the horizon, then up at the sky. There was nothing in view except a handful of cumulus clouds, but his instincts were screaming danger again, louder than before. Gathering himself up, he turned to his command team. “Prepare to disembark the MEU. We will remain on station until the recon pilot reports back, then select our landing sites.”
“Sir,” his XO piped up, “wouldn’t that be committing U.S. ground troops for the defense of Taiwan?”
“Those are my orders,” Colonel Flint said firmly, projecting the command presence that his Marines would follow into the Gates of Hell itself. “Carry them out — now.” His subordinates leaped into action.
All but one. Lieutenant Colonel Burl quailed under Colonel Flint’s fierce gaze, but stood his ground.
“Alright, Colonel Burl,” Colonel Flint said easily. “You want an explanation. I’ll give you an explanation. We have been attacked by the Chinese in international waters. That is a de facto declaration of war.”
“But all that happened was that some radios, computers and wiring got fried,” Burl protested. “No one was killed.”
“Just because no one got killed doesn’t mean that we’re not under attack,” Colonel Flint replied. “Look, Colonel, it is not my intent to drag America into a conflict the Commander-in-Chief hasn’t yet authorized, but it’s my responsibility to ensure the safety of the Marines in my charge. I am going to take them out of harm’s way. You know as well as I do that we are completely defenseless out here. Anything could take us out.”
“You’re right, sir,” the XO admitted grudgingly. “It’s just that…” The first of the CH-53s lifted off, drowning out the rest of his sentence.
“I don’t have time for this right now.” The MEU commander’s voice began to escalate. “Have you become ball-less like the rest of them? Like the Joint Chiefs, like the Commander-in-Chief? Look, it’s easy to start a war when the bastards can’t shoot back very well, or when they don’t have nukes. But these guys are playing for keeps. XO, if they win, they get all the marbles — you can kiss the U.S. of A goodbye in the 21st century. Damn it, I’m not going down quietly with the ship. I’m taking my Marines and making a stand on Taiwan.”
The XO sighed and looked at his feet. Behind him another helicopter rose into the sky, then another. The catapult whooshed and yet another Harrier took flight. The LCACs were emerging from the flooded bay of the USS Germantown. “My heart tells me you’re right,” he said finally. “My head tells me that helping to start World War Three would not be a good career move.”
“I’m glad you’re with me, Colonel,” Colonel Flint said dryly. “Now go take up your post as the head of B Command.”
“Yes, sir,” the XO said, not bothering to salute.
Colonel Flint watched his Marines running for their helos. Within two minutes six CH-46 Sea Knights were orbiting the USS Dubuque while the USS Belleau Wood had five CH-53 Super Stallions and eight Sea Knights airborne. The bay doors of the USS Germantown opened, and the LCAC floated out, then cranked up their fan rotors to put some distance between themselves and the ship. The slower Assault Amphibians then emerged, looking like awkward sea turtles bobbing up and down in the waves. These were his problem, he realized, for they could only travel five knots in calm seas. By the time these men got ashore they would be puking their guts out.
The commodore of Amphibious Squadron Eleven, Captain Bright, watched the helos head for shore, followed by the swift boats and LCAC, and the slow, clumsy, turtle-like Assault Amphibians. He heaved a sigh of relief.
American intelligence knew about the Chinese C-301, also known as the HY-3, long-range supersonic anti-ship missile. They thought it was not yet deployed and in service with the People’s Liberation Army-Navy. Unfortunately, this was not so. The Chinese tested the missile in 1997. They decided it had so much potential that they ordered 1,000 be built within 18 months with 1,000 per year built thereafter through 2004. The missile could be launched from ship or from land. It had four solid rocket boosters and two kerosene-fueled ramjet engines which together, boosted the missile to a speed of Mach 2.0 (covering the distance of a mile in about 2.5 seconds). It had a range of 150 miles and used commercially obtained GPS receivers to achieve 10-meter accuracy to a waypoint. It would cruise at about 500 feet, then dive to 100 feet just before the active-radar terminal phase began. Its 800-pound warhead was very destructive, especially to modern warships, most of which lacked armor.
Prior to launching the first wave of 300 C-301s, the Chinese computed all known locations of ROC naval shipping and input the coordinates into the missiles. With the coordinates, the missiles would fly out to a pre-set location, then begin searching for targets in the target “box.” Once a target was identified, the missile would dive in for the kill.
Normally, the fast, large and unmaneuverable missile was easy prey for CIWS (Close-In Weapon System) such as the U.S. Phalanx. In a fair fight, the Chinese planned to use saturation tactics, launching as many as 50 of the powerful missiles at a single capital ship. Of course, one of the central objects in war is not to engage in a fair fight. The E-bomb attack was expected to neutralize the ROC fleet’s advantage in advanced electronics and defensive systems. This in turn would ensure a field day for the C-301s.
At Central China Coastal Defense Headquarters in Quanzhou, about 130 miles across the Strait from Taichung, Taiwan, the PLAN admiral in charge of sweeping the seas of the enemy faced a dilemma. His targeting efforts bore much fruit. He estimated his missile strike, timed to launch only ten minutes after the E-bomb attack (giving the missile crews time to re-connect crucial electrical systems in case the E-bombs were a little more powerful or less focused than expected) would sink or seriously damage 50 % of the ROC fleet. The remainder of the enemy ships were in port or underway out of range. This was exceptional. The PLAN would rapidly and easily achieve naval superiority in the Straits. Combined with the PLAAF strike on ROCAF air assets, the rebellious island would be stripped bare of its defenses and ripe for the taking.
No, the admiral’s dilemma was not due to a lack of success, it was due to too much success. His targeting efforts had also revealed the location and speed of the USS Belleau Wood task force. These four United States vessels together possessed an impressive array of defensive and offensive firepower, as well as the training and the record to prove it. The admiral hated to admit it, but he admired American naval and military prowess.
He knew there was a very strong likelihood that the American ships would at least be temporarily blinded by the E-bomb attack as they were only 20 kilometers off the coast of Taiwan — well within the projected envelop of electronic destruction. The question was whether or not to purposefully attack the Americans.
He noted the presence of a small, but important ROC naval group only five kilometers away from the Americans. If he targeted these ROC vessels, surely a stray missile or two would attack the American fleet. An accidental attack in these situations might be viewed by the Americans as an attack on purpose. This would certainly propel the Americans into the war on the side of the Taiwanese as surely as the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor sealed the destruction of the Axis powers.