Both sides had hordes of tac-lasers and particle beam platforms. China also had the strategic ABM sites and their own version of Reflex interceptors. Americans, and Russians by example, had learned the correct lesson from the Red Dragon attack in Oklahoma: have masses of antimissile systems. That made it very difficult for jets, bombers, drones and helicopters to move about the battlefields. It’s why Hong did it this way, with buried nuclear devices.
Shun Li sucked in her breath as her Xiang’s tires thumped over the boards of the latest shelled bridge. They were close to Harbin. On the horizon, she could see the tallest skyscrapers.
Her dilemma concerned the Militia major. Shun Li had loved to read fantasy novels as a teenager. Of particular delight had been the dark stories of Nee Lang. The tale of the emotionless swordsman had been her favorite. A wizard had deposited the soul of the swordsman in a cat. If someone destroyed the little feline, the swordsman would die. Once the swordsman realized this, he hunted the Earth for the cat and then he guarded it with his life until he found a White Wizard to transfer the soul back into his own body.
To Shun Li, the Militia major carried her tainted soul. That made it very simple. If the major died, Shun Li would die hideously. She had saved her life once already by sparing the major. Yet what would happen to her soul if the major perished in a nuclear holocaust in Harbin caused by Shun Li’s actions here today?
I am doomed, Shun Li thought wearily. If I bury the warheads in Harbin as ordered, I die. If I fail to bury them, Chairman Hong will murder me.
She’d heard no word from her scouts sent up G1011. Did that mean the Americans had killed them? It was possible. That might meant the Americans were near Harbin, possibly ready to overrun the city.
In the back seat of the Xiang, Shun Li made a fist, pressing it against her heart. The Chairman had given her direct orders. How could she possibly disobey them?
If I do obey him, I am dead.
Deciding then, Shun Li leaned toward the driver, “Stop the car,” she said.
The East Lighting operative put his foot on the brakes and began to pull over to the side. They were already off the bridge.
“No!” Shun Li said. “Stop in the middle of the road.”
Someone else might have asked why, but not her East Lightning driver. He knew how to obey.
They stopped. Soon, from outside, Shun Li heard air brakes hiss as the haulers came to a fast halt behind her.
Her heart hammered in her chest as she stepped outside. The spires of Harbin glistened in the distance. She could not return there with these. She must defy Hong and survive.
What can I possibly say to him?
Her enforcers hurried to her. “Listen to me,” Shun Li told them. “I have reason to believe the Americans know about our convoy. We must turn around and head to the Lao military base. From there, I will request further instructions from Chairman Hong.”
She waited for one of them to question her orders. None of them did. She marched toward the big haulers. At each one, the driver opened his or her door. She gave each one the same orders.
Soon, the convoy had turned around, the nuclear warheads headed away from Harbin and toward the military base.
I am dead, Shun Li told herself. It is over for me. Should I kill myself? No. I will wait to see what karma has in store.
Failing to put the barrel of her gun to her head and pulling the trigger was, perhaps, the most courageous decision she had ever made. She dearly hoped she didn’t have painful reasons to regret it.
Stan rode in his observation helo as the 10th Armored Division headed almost due west along the G1011 Expressway. They had passed Xiangyangxiang and thundered toward Harbin several miles distant. The 10th and V Corps with it were south of the Songhua River, which divided Harbin in two.
Because he was high enough, Stan could see the entire 10th AD, and it was a sight. Three large wedges of massed vehicles moved east to west, throwing up great clouds of dust. The top wedge was 1st Brigade, with three armored and one infantry battalions. 3rd Brigade held the center, with one armored, one armored cavalry and two infantry battalions. At the bottom roared 2nd Brigade, with two armored and one infantry battalions. Divisional artillery followed.
A screen of Chinese infantry attempted to halt them with desultory mortar fire and a thin line of dug-in soldiers. The 10th annihilated them in a classic overrun. None of the brigades deployed, but roared through the shocked Chinese, leaving smoking corpses and crushed mortar tubes behind.
The rest of First Army followed V Corps. At the same time, US Ninth Army came at Harbin from the west while Eighteenth Army stuck from the north.
Stan had his orders from General Taylor. He executed them to perfection. The G1011 circled Harbin in a giant expressway. As his lead elements reached the great loop, they turned sharp south, following the highway. The expressway loop was the marker, the limit First Army would go and no farther, which included 10th Armored Division.
No doubt, confused Chinese observers watched from within Harbin, wondering why the Americans didn’t begin entering the city.
In an hour, 3rd Brigade reached Chengggaozizhen, and stopped. The Chinese tank traps lay west of the G1011 Expressway Loop. Maybe the Chinese would think the traps had foiled the Americans. As Stan took up position, other divisions of V Corps deployed north of his location behind the highway.
We’re showing the Chinese they’re surrounded. Now, will they take the bait?
It would depend on several imponderables. Stan imagined that US High Command was counting on the Chinese desire to save an entire army from annihilation.
A half hour passed. Stan landed, walked around, took a piss and saw one of his aides sprinting to him.
“General, General Higgins!”
Stan already knew what the boy was going to say. In a way, it surprised him. The Chinese knew Mongol history, or they should. Maybe this generation of Chinese was too proud to study barbarian tactics.
Old Genghis Khan had a famous trick. That was to surround an enemy and attack hard from all sides. Then, almost as if in oversight, a lane magically opened in the rear. A chance at life beckoned the defenders. And in more than one battle, Genghis Khan’s foes took the bait, trying to race through the opening and escaping to live another day.
It was easier to kill a fleeing enemy than to fight him face to face. That had been as true with swords and arrows as with machine guns and tanks.
“General Taylor is calling, sir,” the aide said.
Stan ran to the observation helicopter. He put on headphones and grabbed a microphone.
“Higgins?” Taylor asked.
“Yes sir,” Stan said.
“III Corps of Eighteenth Army has entered Harbin,” Taylor said. “They’re meeting almost no resistance.”
“We used a massed frontal attack?”
“I just told you that, General. Yes.”
“I see, sir,” Stan said.
“Do you remember watching videos of the 2001 Desert Storm “Highway of Death” between Kuwait and Iraq?”
“I believe I do,” Stan said.
“Well, major Chinese elements are already fleeing Harbin, heading due south on the G1 Expressway. It looks like the big plan is going to work. I still think your trick on the Songhua River has them freaked out.”
“I’m glad to hear it, sir.”
“Don’t be modest, Higgins. It was a great plan and you pulled it off. Now we’re seeing yet another dividend from it. I want your Cherokees in on the kill.”