“Sir! ” a voice responded. “This is Major Dai, senior duty controller.”
“I want to speak with the commanding officer of the carrier Mao Zedong right now,” Sun ordered. “And put up a chart with locations of naval air units in the Quemoy area and unit resource report data on our Sukhoi- 27 wing.”
“Yes, sir,” Dai replied. In moments, a hastily sketched map of the Formosa Strait region went up on a rear-projection screen in front of Sun. “Sir, naval air units in current mission-ready status in the Quemoy region include the Nineteenth Air Wing at Quanzhou, with thirty J-6 fighter- attack planes, and the Seventh Air Wing at Juidongshan, with twenty- two J-6 fighters. In addition, the Fifty-first Air Wing at Fuzhou is operational with nineteen H-6 bombers.”
“I want all three wings put on immediate combat alert,” Sun said. “Any units on ready alert right now?”
Another long wait; then: “Negative, sir.”
“Beginning today, those three air wings shall have one-third of their flyable planes on twenty-four-hour combat alert,” Sun ordered. “I want as many J-6 fighters loaded with air-to-air weapons and cannon ammunition and launched as possible, and be sure they have functioning gun cameras. Their target is any unidentified aircraft in the vicinity of the Mao carrier group. What about the Sukhoi-27s?”
“The Second Air Wing at Haikou currently has twelve Su-27 fighters operational.”
“Twelve?” Sun retorted. “It was reported all forty planes allotted for combat operations were operational! Damn you, Major, it is the command section’s responsibility to see to it that the general staff has accurate information!” Dai stiffened and lowered his head in submission. It would be far too late to launch the Su-27s, Sun thought — the J-6s would have to do. “Get those J-6s airborne, and I want an Ilyushin-76 radar plane launched as well to assist in the search. Where is the chief of staff right now? ”
“I will check, sir,” the senior controller said. His staff was working more quickly now. “Sir, the chief of staff is in quarters. Shall I ring him?”
“Negative. Notify me at once when the chief of staff checks in with the command section.”
“Yes, sir… Sir, Admiral Yi on the carrier Mao is on channel two.” Sun switched his communications selector to the proper setting: “Admiral Yi, this is Admiral Sun. How do you copy?”
The transmission was heavy with static — obviously this was an HF shortwave radio patch, not a satellite hookup. “I read you, sir,” replied the voice. “Do you wish a status report?”
“Go ahead with your status report, Admiral.”
“We are in visual contact with a Taiwanese flagged warship, the Kin Men, a guided-missile frigate,” Yi reported in a loud voice, as if he were shouting across the sky. “The frigate has opened fire on my group, hitting the destroyer Kang with missile fire. The Kang suffered minor damage and is still operational. The Mao destroyed several inbound missiles with terminal defenses but was hit by small anti-radar missiles launched by a suspected stealth aircraft operating in the vicinity in concert with the rebel ship. Minor damage only. We are still operational. We attempted to return fire but have encountered heavy jamming and anti-radar cruise missile attacks, and we are currently running silent and relying on passive sensors. I have launched two fighters in air defense configuration. We are still in contact with the Nationalist vessel.”
“Have you made contact with the stealth aircraft?” Sun asked excitedly.
“Negative,” Yi replied. “We get intermittent radar contacts, but nothing solid. We are currently attempting to make contact via Optronics, and our fighters are airborne and beginning the search. Over.” “Admiral Yi, you will destroy that Nationalist frigate,” Sun ordered. “Order a full-scale attack by every vessel in your battle group. You are permitted to use every weapon in your arsenal…” He paused for a moment, then emphasized, “… every weapon. Do not allow that rebel frigate to escape under any circumstances. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” Yi replied.
“Admiral Yi, you will then launch an immediate attack on Quemoy Island from long range,” Sun said. “Again, you are ordered and authorized to use every weapon in your arsenal. Do you understand?”
There was a very long pause, during which Sun thought they had been cut off; but then: “Comrade Sun, I must have clarification,” Admiral Yi radioed. “You are authorizing and ordering me to use any weapon in my battle group to attack and destroy the Nationalist military forces on Quemoy Tao. Is that correct?”
“Yes, that is correct,” Sun said. “Any and every weapon in your arsenal is free to use. Your attack will commence immediately. And find that stealth bomber and blow it out of the sky! ”
When Sun looked up after that interchange, he saw almost everyone in the command center staring at him. The senior controller’s eyes were bulging. “Sir… I am sure you are aware that the Mao battle group carries nuclear attack weapons. Your order to the Mao could be interpreted that you ordered a nuclear attack against—”
“I ordered nothing of the kind, Comrade Dai,” Sun said. “Only the minister of defense or the president can issue such an order, correct?” The senior controller nodded blankly. “Now, what I want is an immediate launch of those fighters. Crews should be responding to their planes by now. ”
“Yes, sir,” the aide said. “The alert has been issued. I shall type up the order and submit it to the chief of staff for his approval.”
Sun swung on his aide angrily and shouted, “Did I order you to type anything or submit anything to General Chin? I want those fighters in the air in less than thirty minutes — I will notify the general and get his approval. I want to be notified personally of every development immediately. Now, move!”
As the aide hurried off, Sun knew that he was never going to tell Chin or anyone else of this — until and unless the American stealth bomber was brought down. Then his hope was to personally deliver a gun camera tape of an American stealth bomber being shot down to President Jiang — and use it to begin his campaign to rid China’s waters of the United States and its lackeys.
In attack mode, AGM-177 Wolverine missiles moved too fast to be tracked by NIRTSat satellite snapshots, but the missile’s datalink information allowed McLanahan to watch in absolute fascination as the missiles closed rapidly on their quarries.
All Wolverine missiles were programmed to execute a turn shortly after launch so the enemy could not simply trace the missile’s flight path directly back to its launch point; missiles coming from many different directions also made it appear as if there were more attackers out there. Each Wolverine missile executed its “dogleg” as it glided down from launch altitude to sea-skimming altitude, between fifty and one hundred feet above the sea, guided by a pencil-thin radar beam that precisely measured the distance from the belly of the missile to the waves. During the glide, the missile automatically opened its turbojet engine air inlets and exhausts, warmed up the electronics for its radar and imaging infrared sensors, and activated its threat sensors, countermeasures system, and GPS satellite navigation system. With the GPS locked on to at least three satellites, it now had target circular error accuracy of less than thirty feet; once it locked onto eight satellites, its navigation precision was good to within six inches in both position and altitude. Just before reaching its cruise altitude, the computer commanded the turbojet engine to start, accelerating the missile to over four hundred miles an hour.