Again, there was a loud ovation from the thousands of men who applauded the new name. The chairman shook hands with the six pilots, as the men below in long rows began to board the first aircraft through tall mobile stairs, each engineer waving to the platform as they entered through one of the three doors. Then, the 200 soldiers walked up the stairs, and 20 minutes later, the stairs were pulled away and the whine of Rolls Royce aircraft engines could be heard. Nobody moved. A tractor pulled the large aircraft around and out to the taxiway, making sure that the blast of the engines did not hit the platform.
The large aircraft taxied around to the main runway and with its engines screaming, the large 747 began to move faster and faster. It took a long time, but finally the aircraft could be seen a mile away climbing into the air for its long trip to John F. Kennedy Airport, 7,370 miles away. The 16 dignitaries walked back to the bus, got in, and were driven to the harbor area.
Shanghai Harbor was a massive metropolis of cranes and ships, but was dwarfed by the collection of shipping that had congregated from different ports along the Chinese coast just the night before. There again, thousands of the new and officially dressed Red Guards were on parade everywhere, in red with gold-edged military uniforms designed for parades. They were armed and all male. The bus swept into the main harbor area, and there were gasps of surprise from the men in the bus at their first sight of the new Zedong Navy.
The pride and joy of the new Navy was berthed in the most central location—its new aircraft carrier, the ‘Shi Lang’ with the number 83 on both sides of its hull and on the coning tower. Next to her were two modern destroyers, and next to them were two recently completed long-range frigates. On the other side of the harbor were five massive container ships, the biggest in the world, laden down with cargo and smoke already rising from their towers.
A second observation platform had been especially built for the occasion on the edge of the harbor, and the 16 men mounted the platform. The platform was again surrounded by thousands of parade-dressed guards and a speaker’s podium had been placed in the middle where the speaker would have his back to the awesome sight of the naval power of Zedong Electronics. The chairman headed towards the podium as the other men took their seats.
Comrade Mo Wang was shaken away from the awe of the view by his cell phone buzzing in his pocket. “Yes, Fung,” he stated abruptly into the satellite phone.
“Comrade, I have the latest reports for you,” stated the head-of-communications on the 29th floor of the building they had just left. “Report from the American airport: our men are at the airport and halfway to completing the clearance of the runway. They report no problems. The airport is totally empty of Americans. There are no American troops anywhere to be seen and they said that they have the two fuel pumpers and necessary equipment ready for refueling operation. The engineers are needed to start up the electrical systems and the two aircraft should be back in the air to Shanghai once the engineers have replaced the electrical fuel pump’s components. They believe there will be 33 plug-in electrical replacements.”
“Yes, yes, I know that, Fung. The two aircraft are on their way. It should take the engineers an hour to get the fuel pumps to activate the flow of fuel to the aircraft once they land. What else? I’m busy.”
“Report from Comrade Deng. They have arrived in the state of Alabama and are proceeding two hours ahead of schedule. They are expecting to meet up with Comrade Bo Lee Tang within 24 hours and complete their attack on the Raleigh airport, and then will immediately travel north. Do you have any orders for the other squads? You told me to remind you—to tell you about moving everyone towards New York.”
“I remember, Fung,” Wang replied. “Tell all squads to begin moving towards the New York airport called JFK and to report in at headquarters. They must not arrive until the morning of Day Eight. That will allow our Red Army troops to set up their control base and be ready for our squads to arrive.”
Comrade Wang suddenly realized that the chairman, the admiral of the Zedong fleet, another five high-ranking naval officers, and every one of the 14 other men were staring at him. The chairman looked rather angry at Mo Wang for ruining his special moment.
“Comrade Wang, your conversation was important enough to hold up our navy’s christening occasion?” the chairman asked sarcastically.
“My humble apologies, Comrade Chairman,” replied Comrade Wang, bravely. He was nervous enough to let his phone slip through his fingers and it bounced onto the hard wooden platform. He left it there hoping nobody had noticed the drop. “Unfortunately, I must be in contact with the operations in America at all times, Comrade Chairman. Without our satellite global positioning systems or our satellite communications and directional aids working on our aircraft, I must be informed about weather and runway conditions at all times. Once our aircraft take off and reach a certain point, there is no returning, Comrade Chairman. Good news though, the weather is good and the runway is half cleared, perfectly on schedule.”
“Relax Comrade Wang, you are worrying too much. Nobody can thwart our attack. Look at what we have to fight with against anything they could possibly find to fly or shoot,” he stated, lifting his right hand into the air and turning towards the magnificent scene in the harbor.
Mo Wang’s insulting action was quickly forgotten by the rest, and he quickly picked up the phone and put it in his pocket without checking it.
“Comrades,” began the chairman. “I give you Admiral Hun, the commander of our navy. He will explain each ship to you. Admiral Hun, please.”
“Comrade Chairman, glorious members of the Zedong Politburo, fellow naval personnel, I am honored today to present you the most powerful navy in the world—The Zedong Navy.” This was greeted by standing and enthusiastic applause from everybody on the platform.
“May I introduce to you our greatest naval asset, the Shi Lang, the only operating aircraft carrier in the world!” The applause continued. “The Shi Lang has a crew of 2,500 and 30 J-10 fighter aircraft especially adapted for her. She is the largest military vessel, which can actually pass through the Panama Canal with inches to spare. The aircraft landed on the Shi Lang for the first time yesterday, and our pilots will practice while we are sailing toward the Panama Canal and then into New York. Naturally, without our global positioning systems and satellite directional radar infrastructures, many of our weapons are not as accurate and their success ranges are limited, but against the United States of America, who has nothing, we are a very potent force.”
“Next, are our two ultramodern Type 052C destroyers—numbers 170 and 171. They are the best the world offers, fully armed for air and sea attacks, and our main defense for the Shi Lang. Third, our two modern Type 054 frigates—numbers 572 and 573. Both were launched less than six months ago and are the most modern frigates in the world. They have the same capabilities as the destroyers and are completely invincible against sea or air attacks. Here are our captains from each vessel, who are directly under my command,” the admiral introduced, pointing to the five men standing behind him.
“May I introduce you to five of the largest and most modern container ships in the world. We own ten of these new ships and these five are named ‘Xin New York I’ to ‘Xin New York V,’ and all are destined for New York Harbor. The other five super ships, still being loaded in other harbors are ‘Xin Los Angeles I to V’ and will leave two weeks after us and head for Los Angles. Two weeks will be adequate time for our naval fleet to escort the container ships into New York, and then return through our Panama Canal to meet up with the next five ships in the middle of the Pacific and escort them into the western capital of our new country. We have two military resupply ships already a day out from Shanghai, and they will be ready to refuel our military ships once they get through the Panama Canal. Comrades, I thank you for listening.”