Jinshan waved off the comment in disgust. “The Americans have now seen the technology firsthand. They already are developing a plan to defeat it.”
The admiral in charge of the PLA Navy said, “Nothing short of nuclear weapons will destroy it, Chairman Jinshan.”
General Chen looked up, his eyes brightening. “And if they do that, the Russians will attack them with their ICBMs. Either way, we will be victorious.”
Jinshan frowned. He looked at the head of the Ministry of State Security. “Show them.”
The head of the MSS snapped his fingers and one of his underlings came over, connecting a computer to a monitor next to the conference table. The monitor began flipping through a series of reconnaissance images. Some were taken from submarines, others from drones.
The minister of state security said, “The Americans are preparing a defensive perimeter around the Hawaiian Islands. Our sources tell us that within a few days, they will begin deploying enormous minefields in the Pacific Ocean, in the areas between French Frigate Shoals and Johnston Atoll. These minefield perimeters will extend around the Hawaiian Islands. At both the French Frigate Shoals location and Johnston Atoll, the Americans are setting up these antennae.”
The image showed very large metal antenna towers being constructed on sandy islands, small transport aircraft on runways in the background.
“They had been attempting to use Midway Island as one of their gateways, but apparently the distance was too great. Not enough mines.”
Admiral Zhang said, “What is this? What gates?”
Jinshan said, “It seems that the Americans have identified a way to defeat the Jiaolong-class ship’s technology. These antennae are part of their own directed-energy weapon.”
The head of the MSS explained the American strategy of using a perimeter of mines and gateways to let friendly ships in and out.
General Chen said, “But… but…” He looked around the table, frantically searching for an answer. “Does this mean the Jiaolong is no longer useful?”
Jinshan said, “A week ago, General, you were telling us all that it was not important to our Pacific strategy. Now that we have lost two of our carriers to one American carrier in open sea combat, I see that you have changed your mind. A pity that you needed to see evidence for yourself.”
After a moment of silence, General Chen said, “Chairman Jinshan, what would you have us do?”
This constant question was Jinshan’s penalty for being in complete control. Even his generals couldn’t think for themselves. This one in particular.
Jinshan said, “The Hawaiian Islands need a constant influx of commercial shipping to bring in food and supplies. The Americans plan to surround themselves with mines. Fine. Let them. But they must leave open a gateway to allow commercial shipping and their warships to pass. And we cannot let them control a gateway in and out of the island chain. We must take one or both of those gateway islands before their directed-energy weapons are operational.”
One of the Central Committee members said, “How will we know the progress?”
The head of the MSS said, “We have an intelligence source. We will know before the Southern Fleet arrives.”
When the meeting was over, Jinshan left and went into his private quarters, allowing the other military leaders in the room to ponder the details of this secretive operation. They needn’t know that Lena Chou was inside the United States, and that she would confirm the American plans. And the head of the MSS would revel in keeping it from them. Jinshan knew that each of the men around the table was studying him, watching for the tiniest misstep. Hoping that his health would continue to decline so that they could steal his throne.
A part of him wondered if his efforts were justified. None of the fools at his leadership meeting were worthy of this undertaking. Only Lena was, he thought. Lena more than anyone else would be responsible for China winning the war. The Americans knew Jinshan’s fleet was moving towards Hawaii. It would take them another ten days, perhaps, but the melee would come. The whole world knew there was to be a battle. The exact timing and the victor were the only questions. Within a few days, Lena would send him a message, telling him how to best attack Hawaii.
32
The aircraft and equipment had been priority-transported to Dillingham Airfield, on the northern side of Oahu. The military units that were part of Victoria’s program had completely taken over the airfield, and roadblocks kept civilians out of camera range. They ate, slept, and trained in a series of trailers and old buildings at the foot of Oahu’s majestic green mountains. Maintenance crews worked on the aircraft in the warm sun. The sound of waves crashing against the shore a few hundred yards away. On either end of the airstrip, Army SAM crews had set up their Patriot missile batteries, large rectangular box shapes sitting on the back of trucks, angled towards the sky.
It was day one of training, and Victoria took her seat in a classroom filled with helicopter pilots, aircrewmen, and members of the Navy’s DEVGRU, also known as SEAL Team Six.
She knew most of the aviators by name. There were eight pilots, including her. Each was a top-rated pilot from the two helicopter squadrons embarked on the USS Ford. Four were from the Helicopter Sea Combat (HSC) squadrons and flew the MH-60S. The other four were from Victoria’s Helicopter Maritime Strike (HSM) community and flew the MH-60R. The latter group included her and Plug. Choosing them from separate communities had been intentional, as they would have different roles in this mission. The aircrewmen were also the pick of the litter. A few of the pilots saw Victoria as they entered the classroom and gave her the standard “sorry for your loss” condolence. No doubt the entire Navy had heard of her father’s passing.
Plug arrived last, as expected. She hoped that she hadn’t made a mistake in recruiting him for this. She’d had to put in a word with the helicopter squadron CO, who was still adjusting to her newfound rank. But while Plug had many shortcomings, his skill as an aviator wasn’t one of them. Even the skipper had agreed with that assessment.
The sixteen tier-one special operators from DEVGRU sat along one side of the room, the Navy aircrews on the other. Quiet conversations, all covering the same topic. What the hell were they doing here? Victoria was the only one who knew, and she kept her mouth shut.
The door to the trailer classroom opened, and General Schwartz, wearing green digital camouflage utilities, walked towards the front of the room, two civilians in tow.
“Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. I have good news and bad. The bad news is, the Chinese have a new technology embedded in one of their warships. This ship is the central unit in the largest modern armada ever to put to sea. And our intelligence reports say they’re headed this way, to attack Hawaii.”
The general looked around the room. “The good news… is that you all get to do something about that.”
Between the general and the two intelligence officers he had with him, they covered all aspects of the mission. He introduced Victoria and the DEVGRU commander.
“Commander Manning will have tactical control of the mission until the assault team puts boots on deck. At that point, it’s DEVGRU’s show. We’ll be bringing in some special equipment today that will be installed in the aircraft. Tonight we’ll have a team-building mandatory-fun-ex for you at the local tiki bar. I’m buying. Training begins tomorrow at zero eight hundred. Does anyone have any questions? No? Then let me begin.”
The general and the two civilian aides went over the strategy, which had been developed by some joint CIA-military team he kept calling SILVERSMITH. Whatever the hell that was. The basic idea was that the US was now developing a new type of electronic attack weapon. A directed-energy technology that would enable them to use both Johnston Atoll and the French Frigate Shoals island as gateways. These gates would allow friendly ships in and out of a giant perimeter of mines that would surround Hawaii.