General Wei looked at Fu with admiration. “For a politician, you are a quick study in the art of war. Yes, the preparations for the invasion of Quemoy were part of our deception plan. Unfortunately, the arrest of Admiral Wong was not. The man is a traitor. After we extract as much useful information out of him as we can, he will be dealt with in the customary fashion.”
Fu was quickly forgetting about the slight the Party showed him by not revealing their true battle plans — after all, he was now the Party’s liaison on the province of Taiwan. That was reward enough to prove that he was not out of favor. “General, we have only 15 minutes before we land. Provide me as much detail as you can on our deception efforts. I believe a thorough understanding of this operation’s foundation is essential for my efforts on behalf of the Party.”
“Certainly, Comrade Fu. As you know, Sun Tzu said, ‘All warfare is based on deception.’ Our plan was simple: lead the Taiwanese into believing that we wanted to invade Quemoy and Matsu then, under cover of this invasion plan, prepare for the invasion of the Taiwanese main island. The reactionaries on Taiwan would believe what they wanted to believe and our preparations could continue without giving away our true plans.
“The leadership decided in January to accept your recommendations. You are to be lauded for that. I have read some of your memos and have heard about your briefings to the Party. However, it was the statement you made during the extraordinary session that was the clearest argument to date for acting now, rather than waiting. But, because of security concerns, the leadership announced that our military objectives would be limited. As was expected, this decision was communicated to our enemies on Taiwan. In fact…” the general’s face brightened as he had a revelation, “…yes, of course, that is why Admiral Wong was put in charge of the Quemoy operation! He was a traitor and we knew it all along! All of our preparations for the larger invasion of Taiwan itself were then masked by Admiral Wong’s invasion preparations for Quemoy and the communications he no doubt had with the enemy. The stage was then set for the enemy to believe what he wanted to believe — that we would only invade Quemoy and perhaps the other offshore islands.
“Once the enemy received word of our plans, later confirmed by the indicators of our offensive preparation, he reacted as we wanted him to. Only six weeks ago, Taiwan landed another division of infantry, a battalion of tanks and a battalion of artillery on Quemoy. This removed another five percent of the enemy’s active force from the decisive theater of operations!
“With half of Taiwan’s infantry divisions packed on to a few tiny, unimportant islands, we are now in the position of being able to do what the Americans did to Japan more than 50 years ago. We are simply hopping over Quemoy and Matsu to strike at the heart of the enemy. Once Taiwan surrenders, Quemoy and Matsu will fall to us like overripe fruit.”
Fu was awed at the magnitude of the deception and its success. Still, he was concerned about the fact that they were flying on to an island where the enemy outnumbered them and would do so for days. The course of action he recommended was to pummel the rebellious province into submission with missiles tipped with chemical and high explosive warheads. Obviously, they weren’t doing that. “So, now that we have the enemy where we want them, how do we achieve victory while outnumbered?”
“Very simple. We follow Sun Tzu’s advice; we follow the principles of Offensive Strategy against our enemy. We’ll take his state intact, capture his army, attack his strategy, and disrupt his alliances.”
“Alliances. What about the Americans?”
“Taiwan’s alliance with America is weak, at best. You’ll recall in 1996, when last we conducted large scale exercises to intimidate Taiwan — why do you suppose the U.S. fleet never ventured closer than 200 kilometers off the coast of Taiwan?” Before Fu could reply, the now animated general said, “One of our generals threatened the destruction of Los Angeles if the Americans intervened to save Taiwan! That’s why! The Americans were paralyzed, we called their bluff; they did nothing. They didn’t even demand the removal of the general or an apology. This shows the almost complete abandonment of Taiwan by her so-called ally. And, if that isn’t enough, Iraqi military demonstrations in the past couple of months have drawn off two divisions of U.S. troops — including the Marine division usually stationed at Okinawa while North Korea is conducting very impressive maneuvers within a few kilometers of the DMZ. I’d say the Americans have their hands very full right now.”
“Very impressive, general. But the Taiwanese have Sun Tzu too. Can we not expect them to develop plans of their own?”
“Of course, but we will shape the enemy and the battlefield. We will force the enemy to do what we want him to. Our plan is simple: degrade and slow the enemy by non-lethal biological, chemical and electronic attack. Land our forces along the length of the Taiwan to engage the enemy and tie him down. Quickly build combat power in the north. Cut off Taipei from the rest of the nation. Then defeat the inevitable counterattack to relieve the city. After that, the enemy is ours. Taipei is the enemy’s center of gravity. Destroying the enemy’s ability to relieve Taipei is the defeat mechanism. We will win this war because we have already won.”
Fu wasn’t entirely convinced. “General you know your Sun Tzu well, as should be expected by a professional military man. I too know some Sun Tzu and I believe you forget one thing, ‘The army destined to defeat fights in the hope of winning.’ I am confident, but I do not think it will be easy.”
The intercom broke their conversation. It was the pilot announcing that they would land at CKS International Airport within a few minutes. Fu Zemin was about to embark on his most important assignment yet for the Party.
The five LCACs noisily roared east at 35 knots. They could have gone faster, but Colonel Flint wanted to conserve enough fuel to make as many return trips as possible to the Germantown and pick up more Marines, equipment and survivors. Overwatching the LCACs were two Harrier jets. Just above the horizon about ten miles to the east of the LCACs the 31st MEU’s helicopters could be seen. Far behind the 11 Assault Amphibians struggled through the heaving southeasterly swell.
Colonel Flint’s Huey had just one working radio. The EMP attack destroyed most of his unit’s radio gear (few radios were shut down and disconnected in time to protect them). The lack of radio traffic presented an odd dichotomy. On one hand, no traffic was a sign of no contact with the enemy. In addition, a well-disciplined force doesn’t need to crowd the airwaves with jabber. On the other hand, a destroyed force doesn’t talk much either. Flint decided he’d go with the former definition. No news was good news.
He sent three of his Harriers (each with only one just-installed working receiver) ahead to scout out Kaohsiung’s port and the international airport five kilometers to the southeast of the city. They reported back a city almost devoid of any activity.
As the Harriers returned from their reconnaissance and flew over Chichin Island (which forms the seawall for Kaohsiung Harbor), they were fired upon. A shoulder-fired missile streaked out from the deck of a large dry bulk cargo ship. The Harriers dropped infrared decoy flares and dove for the water, ducking low over the east side of island about 30 feet above Chichin Beach. The missile veered onto a flare and exploded harmlessly in the air, looking like a small skyrocket.
The flight leader, Captain Hill, radioed Colonel Flint, “Bulldog One, Bulldog One, this is Dragon One One, over.”