by Dale Brown
Lung-9 battle stations. Yin picked up the telephone. "Battle Cry. Battle
Cry, " the Admiral said. His face was ghostly, muffled, almost
strangled-he could have had his protective facemask on, but he did not.
"Initial code verified, " the voice of the Fei Lung-9 weapon systems
officer on the other end of the line asked. "Targets, sir?" Yin paused,
his eyes trying to fix on something in the darkness beyond the slanted
windows of the flag bridge. He then said, "Davao."
"Understood, sir. Execution automatic. Awaiting authentication code."
Yin seemed to be frozen. "Comrade Admiral? Authentication code?"
"Red... Moon..." "Understood, sir. Authentication verified. Full
connectivity checked . . . received. Execution in three minutes . .
. mark. System automatic engaged, extreme range of system but coming
within range, attack profile confidence is good. Countdown hold in two
minutes. Combat out." The two-minutes-to-automatic-countdown hold
passed very, very quickly. The phone to Yin's panel rang and he raised
it to his lips. "Final countdown hold, sir. Target now within range.
Orders?"
"Orders... Dragon Sword. Dragon Sword, " Yin replied. "Understood, sir.
Final code verified." The sixty-secondlaunch warning to all decks
blared. And then there was another sound, except it was not a horn-it
was a high-pitched scream, rising in intensity to almost painful
proportions. Just as the scream became almost physically unbearable, the
destroyer was rocked by a spectacular explosion that dimmed the lights
throughout the ship and sent most of the flag staff sprawling. Jon
Masters had commanded the second NIRTSat reconnaissance satellite to
deorbit while it was still thirty thousand miles away. The satellite
had retracted its charge-coupled device scanners and sensitive radar
antennae within its protective housing, then powerful thrusters began to
slow the satellite at a precise moment. As the satellite slowed from
its orbital speed of seventeen thousand miles per hour, it began to
descend through the atmosphere. The thrusters kept the satellite's
protective tiles facing its direction of travel as it re-entered the
atmosphere, burning off bits of the ablative armor as it careened
through space like an asteroid. But unlike an asteroid, the NIRTSat was
still under control from a console on Guam. Once the satellite had
safely decelerated, Masters ordered the on-board sensors activated. The
satellite was right on course, right on the same track it had been
following since its launch-right over the Celebes Sea near Davao Gulf.
Masters had simply locked the synthetic aperture radar and infrared
scanner on the fleet of five ships; then, as it got closer and closer,
he positively identified the large destroyer and steered it directly
onto the aft deck of the Hong Lung. The satellite was of course not
carrying a warhead, but falling at over five times the speed of sound,
the destructive power of the titanium-armored four-hundred-pound
satellite was akin to a large torpedo. The force of the impact drove
the Hong Lung's stern down several meters; then the satellite crashed
through the engine compartment belowdecks and literally pushed one of
the diesel-turbine engines down ten feet through the keel. The engine
compartment began to flood, and the ship had already begun to heavily
list to one side and by the stern before enough watertight doors could
be closed to contain the damage. ... and, most importantly, the impact
and the momentary power interruption had automatically canceled the Fei
Lung-9 launch. Yin's last attempt at revenge and victory had been
stopped. Captain Sun stepped over to Admiral Yin, bowed, and said,
"Comrade Admiral, the flooding is nearly out of control. The frigate
Jiujiang is alongside. Will you transfer your flag, sir?" There was no
reply. Admiral Yin was staring blankly ahead, his thoughts a confused
jumble of his past, the present-and the dismal future. Returning to
China and facing the general staff would be devastating, utterly
devastating. His honor would be ripped apart in full view of the entire
world. His court-martial and execution would be public and brutal. He
would be totally, utterly humiliated. Yin turned to Captain Sun, and he
saw that the man's demeanor, far from being the attentive chief of
staff, now appeared to be more like a second at a duel, making sure that
Yin realized and fulfilled his obligation. His obligation . . . to
lead his forces into victory, or die. Sun understood the humiliation
that awaited the Admiral upon his return, and he silently reminded him
that he need not subject himself to it. Captain Sun and the Admiral's
flag staff watched with awe and, yes, a bit of admiration and respect,
as Admiral Yin Po L'un stepped toward the small personal shrine
installed in one corner of the Admiral's flag bridge, knelt before it,
withdrew his Type 547.62-millimeter sidearm from his holster, placed the
muzzle to his right temple, and calmly blew his brains out across his
flag bridge. THE PEOPLE'S HALL OF GOVERNMENT, BEIJING, CHINA MONDAY, 10
OCTOBER 1994, 0457 HOURS LOCAL TIME General Chin o Zihong marched
through the halls to the offices of the Premier of the People's Republic
of China. He was quickly escorted by the Premier's protocol staff to
the main conference room and asked to enter immediately. At least two
hundred heads swung toward him as he entered: it was as if the entire
Communist Party of China were assembled in that room. Cheung was alone
at the head of the conference table; the seat normally reserved for him
at Cheung's left was taken by Cheung's Home Minister. There was no way
Chin could reach his usual seat-and, after decades of studying and
developing military tactics, it was obvious that it was precisely what
Cheung had in mind. He stepped quickly over to the end of the long
conference table directly opposite Cheung, and the bureaucrats and
politicians of the Party closed in around the table. General Chin bowed
deeply from the waist. "Comrade Premier, I am reporting as ordered."
"Do you have a status report for me, General?" Cheung asked in a
surprisingly strong, loud voice. "Yes, Comrade Premier.. ." He
stopped, realizing Cheung couldn't hear him, and raised his voice: "Yes,
Comrade Premier. But I would prefer the briefing to be given...
privately."
"Please give your report now, Comrade General, " Cheung said. "But sir,
some of these men are not cleared for-"
"They are authorized, General. Please give your report." This was not
a military briefing, Chin realized coldly-this was an inquisition.
Obviously word of the battle of Davao had already reached the
Premier-there was no use in trying to withhold any information now.
"Comrade Premier. First, I regret to inform you that the honorable
commander of the People's Liberation Army Navy South Philippines Task
Force, Admiral Yin Po L'un, is no longer in command of the people's
forces near Mindanao. Until a suitable replacement has been designated,
I have placed Admiral Lower Class Sun Ji Guoming, the Admiral's Ch
ief of
Staff, in charge of all forces in the south Philippines. Admiral Yin...
died an honorable death while engaging enemy forces in the course of his
duties to the people."
"Very tragic, " Cheung said. "He will be remembered as a loyal servant
to the people of the republic." That of course was the proper
response-in China, as in Japan and other Asian cultures, death by
suicide was as acceptable a form of death as any other cause, even in
this so-called enlightened society run by the Communists. Cheung,
however, did not seem too upset by the news, although by his facial and
body expressions Chin deduced that the Premier did not know about Yin's
sudden departure. "The operation to capture Davao and the airport there
is progressing; however, the American bomber attacks on our naval and
Marine forces have been severe. Along with airlaunched antiship missiles
and long-range cruise missiles, the Americans reportedly used fuel-air
explosives against Marine landing craft and soldiers entrenched on the
beach-these weapons are many times more powerful than conventional
explosives and create a devastating shock wave and fireball, very much
like a nuclear explosion." His words did not have the effect he
desired-he was hoping the words "nuclear explosion" would inflame this
audience a bit. They did not. "A second wave of attacks is now under
way. Admiral Lower Class Sun reports that he is organizing antiaircraft
defenses and can soon mount a defense of the people's warships. "I have
a plan of action to counter the American bomber attacks that I would
like to submit-to the Premier's Cabinet and senior Party members-for
your approval."
"General Chin, " the Foreign Minister, Zhou Ti Yanbing, chimed in,
"would it be possible for your forces to safely disengage and withdraw
to . . . Puerto Princesa, on the island of Palawan, or perhaps even
to Nansha Dao?"
"Disengage? Withdraw?" General Chin gasped. "Why would we withdraw?
We-"
"-still have the advantage? Will capture Davao and Samar Airport
without further serious loss of life? Will have a cursed navy after
this conflict is over?" Zhou asked. "We have weapons that we have not
yet brought to bear, " Chin said. "We sought to control this conflict,
to use ground forces and conventional weapons only. The Americans
escalated the conflict by employing B- I and B-2 bombers, Tomahawk
cruise missiles fired from battleships and submarines, and with such
terror weapons as fuel-air explosives. We should step up our efforts as
well. I have outlined a plan where we may "The conquest of Mindanao and
our support for a puppet like Teguina is not worth a war with America or
the loss of another capital warship, " Zhou said angrily. "I ask you
again, General-can our forces safely withdraw to Puerto Princesa or
Nansha Dao?"
"Do not speak to me of withdrawal!" Chin shouted. "You politicians can
organize a retreat far better than I." And Chin did something he
thought he would never do to a living premier-he turned his back and
left. "If you leave now, General Chin, you leave as the former commander
of the People's Liberation Army, " Foreign Minister Zhou said. "The
Politburo has already decided to open a dialogue with the Americans for
an orderly withdrawal. You can be part of the process-or you can retire
from your post and be done with it." Chin froze, then turned back to
face the assembly before him. In a loud, clear voice, he said, "I
command the most powerful army in the universe. I will lead them into
battle-I will not lead them in capitulation."
"You have already led them to defeat, General, you and Admiral Yin, "
Premier Cheung said. "Will you not lead them in reconstruction and
retraining as well? You can leave here known in history as the man who
had a fleet destroyed in the Philippines-or you can be known as the man
who led the People's Liberation Army into the twenty-first century. The
choice is yours. He knew that he should not accept this, Chin told
himself. The honorable thing would be to leave this place and do as Yin
did-put a gun to his head or a knife to his stomach and kill himself...
But he did not leave; instead, he stepped toward the conference table
and seated himself. No one was more surprised than he when the assembled
politicians applauded. If these idiots ever found out, Chin thought
grimly to himself, that I ordered Yin to use nuclear weapons to destroy
Davao, they would certainly not be applauding-they would be calling for
my execution. Sun and the rest of Yin's surviving flag staff would have
to be bribed, exiled, or killed to ensure their silence, but that was an
easy matter. General Chin Po Zihong's power, his authority, were still
....... and with the blissfully ignorant best wishes of the government
raining down upon him, Chin began to plot his revenge on Jose Trujillo
Samar and on the Americans who had razed his forces so badly. Yes,
revenge... ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, GUAM It was daylight by the time
Patrick McLanahan and Henry Cobb crawled out of their damaged B-2
stealth bomber into the already warm, humid tropical air. It seemed ten
times stickier than usual-but to the two crew members, it felt like
heaven. The flight back from the Philippines was quiet, despite the
damage they had sustained. The autopilot, electronic flightcontrol
computers, and electronic stability systems were useless, and the
mission commander's side controls were inoperable, so the two crewmen
took turns in the pilot's seatMcClanahan flew the straight and level
portions while Cobb napped, and Cobb flew the air-refueling hookups that
they received every thirty minutes because of fuel leakage and the long
overwater legs. The crew then spent another hour orbiting Guam while
two-seat F- 16 fighters with engineers and maintenance crews on board
examined the damage to the flight controls and landing gear. Exhausted
but riding yet another adrenaline rush, Cobb overrode all suggestions to
eject and attempts to get more opinions from Stateside, and he made a
picture-perfect landing at Andersen's left runway. Somehow the damaged
left landing gear held, and the Black Knight bomber was shut down at the
north end of the runway, surrounded by fire crews. Although McLanahan
and Cobb climbed out of the plane on their own power, because of the
observed damage to the Black Knight they were settled into gurneys and
transported to a massive green tent set up near the flight line that
acted as a triage center for returning crews. Doctors found Henry Cobb's
pulse and blood pressure sky-high, so he was ordered into a separate
tent where crews that were well enough could be debriefed by
intelligence officers while under a doctor's care; that was when General
Elliott found him and McLanahan shortly after he was taken there.
"Henry, Patrick, damn your hide, good to have you back, " Elliott said,
giving his officers a hearty handshake and a pat on the shoulder.
"Terrific landing, Henry. How do you two feel? You look okay. Henry,
how do you feel?"
"I'm fine,
General, just fine, " Cobb replied. "I'm in adrenaline
withdrawal, that's all. I'm too old for this shit, sir."
"I think half the base is on an adrenaline high, watching you bring that
B-2 in, " Elliott said. "I think the cheer that went up could be heard
in China." He looked at McLanahan and smiled a knowing smile. "You
brought back another bent bird, Patrick. This time the commendation
will be public-nothing red-jacketed this time. For both of you."
"I'd be happy if we could just finish this thing and go home, " the
navigator said. "So what kind of losses are we looking at?"
"We've taken some serious hits, " Elliott admitted. "Sorry to tell you
this, but we lost John Cochran's Megafortress. A BUFF saw them go down.
They couldn't see chutes in the darkness, although they heard plenty of
emergency locator beacons. The crew is still listed as missing." Along
with Major Kelvin Carter, Lieutenant Colonel John Cochran was one of the
High Technology Aerospace Weapons Center's pioneers in the application
of the strategic battleship escort concept; they had all worked very
closely together for many months. "His was the only HAWC crew to go
down. His crew got six confirmed kills, though. Every Megafortress got
at least three-an incredibly awesome display."
"I hope they find him, " Patrick said. "How about the rest?" Elliott
took a deep breath. "Five B-52s, one B-I, one B-2, " he said in a quiet
voice, his face hard and somber. "No confirmed KIAs, though."
"And how goes the war?" Elliott's face brightened a bit as he replied,
"Preliminary post-strike data is hard to believe-I mean, really hard to
believe. It's too early to tell for sure, but we might have sunk or
damaged as many as one-third of the damned Chinese navy's destroyers.
We've counted as many as fifteen frigates sunk or severely damaged, and
we lost count of all the patrol boats we nailed. Even better, we've got
reports of several amphibiousassault ships damaged or destroyed in Davao
Gulf, and we're still receiving shortwave radio messages from Samar's
troops broadcasting from the airport. The broadcasts talk about
