“If the Razak is harbored by another nation, then I agree that threating amphibious military action is beneficial. But why did you mention just the frigates to accompany the floating dock?”
“I wouldn’t deprive the dock of frigate support. But I’m taking our nuclear submarine and the corvettes and breaking off to search for the Razak.”
The executive officer’s eyes glowed with suspicion.
“I see, sir. That will give us better search speed. But how do we make it happen? The task force commander receives suggestions unfavorably.”
“I will go over his head. I will make use of my connections.”
An announcement of flash message traffic drew the executive officer’s attention.
“I understand, sir. Will you excuse me while I investigate our new message?”
“Yes. Brief me after you’ve read it.”
Wong sipped tepid tea and gazed through the window at the moon’s reflection shimmering atop the waves. Moments passed in an instant, and his executive officer marched back into his view.
“Sir!”
“Something interesting?”
“Yes. There is heavy shipping movement around a Philippine-claimed Spratly landmass.”
“The Philippines?” Wong asked.
Wong reached into his trouser pockets for his phone. He pulled it out and digested the report.
Several amphibious docks had made landfall — rather, their landing craft had made landfall while the docks loitered beyond the coral reef — on the Philippine’s largest claim, Thitu Island. Satellite photographs showed pictures of truck-mounted mobile anti-air systems, identified as American Avengers and also pictures of bundles of shoulder-mounted American Stinger missiles.
Parked excavators and slipform pavers appeared in a makeshift construction zone, poised to extend and concretize the island’s runway and its causeway. The small military presence seemed to be taking over the island.
Wong’s mind worked in bursts, drawing a rapid conclusion.
“Do you see a coincidence that a Malaysian submarine draws our attention to the southern fringe of the Spratly Islands while the Philippines multiply their military presence on their largest island to the far north?”
“I would, sir, if I believed in military coincidences.”
“Well said. I do not believe in military coincidences either. Forget my plan of splitting the task force. We have a new ground zero. This entire task force must head to Thitu to challenge this Philippine uprising.”
“What of the Razak, sir? Retribution for your brother?”
“The Razak will be near Thitu, defending it.”
A watch officer announced the arrival of a new message. Orders from the task force commander aligned with Wong’s wishes. The Chinese ships would leave the Malaysian waters and head north.
Ten minutes later, he turned the Chengdu north and joined his task force’s journey to Thitu and its new potential adversary.
As the sun set on the following day, shimmering shadows stretched over the sea. Wong paced across his bridge, fearing that the Razak had somehow passed through the layered defense of his task force and lurked below him, awaiting its perfect timing to deliver a death blow.
Recognizing his paranoia, he stepped into the moist air, leaned, and pressed his palms atop a bulwark. A deep sigh escaped his lungs, and he lowered his head between his shoulders.
As the door opened, he craned his neck and saw his executive officer.
“We have our new orders, sir. We’re officially attacking Thitu within three hours.”
“Is Captain Zhang ordering us to provide cannon support for his landing teams?”
“Yes, sir. Just as we did against the garrison at Mariveles Reef.”
“There are civilians on Thitu. One errant round of ammunition will destroy any diplomatic leverage we have. For the moment, the international community sympathizes with us for the unwarranted attack on my brother. But if we kill Philippine civilians, we would force the United States to become involved, working against us with international support.”
“Given Captain Zhang’s personality, I don’t think he considers those factors.”
“He’s an imbecile,” Wong said. “He’s going risk political destruction of our mission while he sets up the naval combatant vessels as targets against the Razak. I won’t die and fail in my revenge due to his stupidity.”
“What can you do, sir? You know he is stubborn.”
“Have you shared these orders with anyone else?”
“No, sir.”
“Good. Get our helicopter ready for personnel transport and watch what I do.”
As the sun dipped below the horizon, Wong stood on the bridge wing and watched his helicopter angle towards the Chengdu’s fantail. He ducked through the door and darted out the back of the bridge. Moving with determined agility, he traversed the length of the destroyer and stepped out the rear of its superstructure.
Rotor wash whipped his face as he approached the crew that assisted the helicopter’s landing. Once his men lashed the aircraft to the deck, he ducked and trotted to its door.
Within its cramped cabin, he recognized the four commanding officers of the task force’s frigates and corvettes seated behind his two-man flight crew. The occupants stirred at his arrival.
“Stay seated gentlemen!” he said.
The commanding officers, all junior to him, obeyed. He turned to his flight crew.
“Except you two. I need privacy with your passengers. But don’t go far. I need you to return them to their ships in ten minutes.”
As the aviators stepped out, Wong crouched in a tight huddle with his surface combatant colleagues.
“You’ve all received orders from Captain Zhang to provide gunfire support against Thitu, have you not?”
A chorus of confirmations of the order and its absurdity filled the cabin.
“We agree then,” Wong said, “that it would be foolish to bombard Thitu and that limiting our maneuverability to launch that attack would make us easy targets for the Razak. We got lucky when the Razak failed to appear at Mariveles Reef, and I don’t expect we shall see such fortune again at Thitu. Instead, I expect that our submerged target will expose itself in defense of this Philippine-claimed island.”
“So you believe the Malaysians and Philippines are united against us,” a lieutenant commander asked.
“It’s the only solution that makes sense, other than random coincidence, which I refuse to accept.”
“I agree,” a second lieutenant commander said. “But we face the challenge of our task force commander’s myopia on the amphibious assault.”
“I have a solution for that,” Wong said. “That’s why I flew you here in person. We are going to disobey his orders, and I will take personal responsibility for the deviation.”
Silent heads nodded, their faces blank with disbelief but flush with hope and relief.
“As commander of the surface combatant contingent of this task force, I will deal with this. By protocol, Zhang will be trapped. Once he issues the order for us to provide him gunfire support, you will all then technically report to me and must follow my instructions on how to carry out his order.”
“I don’t see how that solves the problem,” a commander younger and subordinate to Wong said.
“When you are all under my instruction, I will issue an order to conduct anti-submarine warfare operations prior to beginning bombardment. I will cite the reason as protecting the task force.”
“That’s logical, but risky,” the commander said. “What if the forces at Thitu resist Captain Zhang’s landing teams? We will have failed to weaken them, causing casualties to our own comrades.”