30
David and Susan were in General Schwartz’s SOUTHCOM morning war brief, listening from their seats in the back of the room.
“How many ships are in that fleet?” the general asked.
“We think as many as fifty, sir. At least two dozen dock landing ships. The newest Chinese variants.”
The display near the front of the room showed a map of the Americas. The missing Chinese ships were missing no more, the fleet having circled around the southern tip of South America before turning north into the Atlantic.
“The Chinese unloaded the shipboard PLA ground personnel and equipment at the major Pacific ports of Callao, Peru, and Buenaventura, Colombia, several weeks ago. That was the last time we had eyes on these ships. Our HUMINT sources provided video and photos while they were in port. However, within the past forty-eight hours, several of these same transport ships have begun showing up in ones and twos in Chile and Argentina.”
“So the Chinese are sending empty troop transports into the Atlantic?” General Schwartz asked.
The one-star Marine general giving the brief nodded. “That’s correct, sir. We believe the ground troops were unloaded near the Panama combat zone to provide the PLA commanders with reinforcements if they need it.”
The screen changed to show the aerial image of the Chinese ships, reminding David of a picture his father used to hang on his office wall. All of the ships were grouped close together, long tails of white water streaking behind them.
The briefer said, “This was taken from a Triton surveillance drone six hours ago. About six hundred miles northeast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.”
The group of military men and women began talking worriedly.
“We think this is the northernmost group, sir.”
General Schwartz said, “If they’re moving this Chinese fleet into the Atlantic, then General Chen doesn’t intend on keeping those troop transports empty. Where would he use them?”
“Chinese ground forces are massing in Venezuela. Our best guess is that this PLA Navy Atlantic fleet is headed there. The PLA Air Force is already engaged in daily battles with US planes over the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. Until now, we believed their strategy was denying us the ability to support war operations in Panama. But they may be trying to establish air superiority. To support their own naval operations and amphibious landings in the region.”
Another general said, “If they were able to stage a landing somewhere like Nicaragua, that could effectively cut off the US supply lines to Panama, allowing their main forces to break through the geographical bottleneck.”
General Schwartz lifted his head, blowing out a breath. “It appears that our naval victory in the Pacific was only a partial success.” He turned to face the lone admiral sitting at the table. “What are your thoughts, Scott?”
The two-star admiral said, “Sir, fifty ships, and only half of them warships? The fact that they are headed into the Atlantic is significant, but this is not an insurmountable challenge. Atlantic fleet will be ready. We’ve begun to considerably ramp up production of the Long Range Anti-Ship Missiles, as well as air-dropped mines and electronic attack drones, the kind we used at Johnston Atoll. Our ships are prepping in Norfolk, Kings Bay, and Mayport for a large-scale sortie. We’ve gathered just about every airborne asset capable of carrying the LRASM at the three main air bases near Norfolk. They’re undergoing maintenance and training before we redeploy them to bases throughout the southeast and to our Atlantic carriers. We’ll have a strong joint air attack plan ready to go.”
David leaned over and whispered to Susan, “The Chinese know that our Atlantic forces outnumber their fifty-ship Atlantic fleet. Something seems off about this.”
General Schwartz was looking right at him. “Something you’d like to add, Mr. Manning?”
David felt his face get hot as all eyes turned toward him. “Sir, the Chinese must be aware of the strength of our Atlantic fleet, and of our CONUS-based air assets.”
“What’s your point, David?”
“They must have a plan… to attack them… sir.”
The two-star admiral said, “With what? Their closest PLA Air Force base is several thousand miles away. We have sunk all but a handful of their submarines in the Atlantic. The ones that remain don’t have enough firepower to…”
General Schwartz held up his hand. “David, see me afterwards.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Admiral, by the end of the day, I want to see our plan to attack the Chinese Atlantic fleet.”
General Schwartz met with Susan and David privately after his briefing. David couldn’t help but glance at the five stars he now wore. He remembered having to memorize the names of the five-star American admirals when he was a midshipman at the Naval Academy.
“What have you got?” General Schwartz asked.
Susan said, “Rojas. The hypersonic weapons expert. We’re getting closer to identifying where the Chinese are holding him. The SF teams have narrowed it down to three camps.”
The general nodded. “Good. Will it make a difference?”
David said, “If we can bring him back to the States and have him show us how to create the coating, it would be a matter of weeks to implement. My team has already solved how to scale it. We’re working with STRATCOM on updating their hypersonic glide vehicles and warheads.”
“We’ll need you to speak with STRATCOM actual today.” David handed him a single-page document in a folder. “Here’s a list of things we need approved. That will need to be destroyed as soon as it’s completed. The moment we get Rojas in the States, we’re sending him out to them for implementation.”
A knock at the door.
“Enter,” the general called out.
His secretary stuck her head in. “General, you asked me to remind you that you’ve got five minutes until your two o’clock call with POTUS.”
“Thank you.” After the secretary disappeared out the door, the general looked at David. “I’m going to need to tell him about our break-glass-in-case-of-emergency plan.”
“Yes, sir, I thought you might.”
“He may not take it well. Politicians don’t like risks.”
David bit his lip. “Sir, given the current status, I think we need to execute the contingency plans you and I spoke about. I believe General Chen’s ascendance to power, and recent Chinese military movements, constitute an emergency.”
General Schwartz stood. “Agreed.”
“So do we need to wait for presidential approval first?”
“What’s the point of having a fifth star if you don’t get to piss off the president? You have my approval. Set things in motion. Any calls you need me to make, keep feeding me the information, like you have been doing.”
“Yes, sir.”
31
Lena sat next to her father as tanks rolled through the streets of Beijing. The military parade was his idea. A way to increase morale and patriotism. The military had been preparing for over a week, and the event went on for an hour. Rows of soldiers in dress uniform goose-stepping at right-shoulder-arms. Gleaming bayonets on modern black rifles. Newly designed mobile ICBM launchers. Squadrons of attack helicopters.
Crowds of underfed civilians waved red flags like their lives depended on it. And the all-seeing eyes of MSS-monitored CCTV cameras used facial-recognition software to identify each and every one.
Lena was numb to it all. But the endless display of military hardware delighted General Chen, who sat in an elevated box seat, surrounded by rows of fawning politicians and military commanders. Some of them were replacements of the recently executed.