Fatal Terrain
Page 15
heartbeats, smiled, then said, "When and where do you need
them?"
"We thought about it already," Patrick McLanahan said
resolutely, by way of explaining his boss's weird reply. "I
speak for the aircrews, Mr. President, and we are ready to fly.
The planes are fueled, armed, and ready to go. We even have
our own aerial refueling tanker fleet, and they've been sent to
Sky Masters, Inc.'s, facilities in Hawaii. We just need secure
basing at Andersen Air Force Base on Guam."
"We can do that," Freeman said. He turned to the President
and said, "There's one option ready to execute, Mr. Presi-
dent."
"How would you be able to help out there, Patrick?" the
President asked.
"The Megafortresses carry four different standoff weapons:
jammers, antiradar, antiair, and anti-ship," McLanahan ex-
plained. "Nothing is activated until there is some sign of hos-
tilities, and then the response is graduated, depending on what
the Chinese do. Our plan is to match, never exceed, the
PLAN's level of hostility. We defend ourselves with every
weapon we have, but our primary purpose is to defend the
assigned area."
"How would they be employed?" the President asked.
"Two groups of two, plus one ground spare, for the armed
surveillance role," McLanahan replied. "One plane just out-
side Chinese long-range radar coverage, the other over the
assigned defense area. From the refueling track near Okinawa,
it's one hour to the southern tip of Taiwan, near Quemoy Is-
land, so each bomber can stay about four hours on station. Just
FATAL TERRAI N 95
before the first bomber is scheduled to depart the station to
refuel, the other bomber takes its place. The teams rotate every
sixteen hours, so the second team gets a full eight hours of
crew rest on the ground. If fighting breaks out, we switch into
surge mode-we recover, rearm, refuel, and relaunch bombers
as fast as we can, at least two at a time."
"And how long can you possibly keep that up?" Secretary
of Defense Chastain asked. "Aren't you afraid of exhausting
your crews?"
"The limiting factor is the planes, not the crews," Mc-
Lanahan answered. "On patrol, it's all high-altitude cruising
time. All combat flying is stressful, but the high-altitude cruise
legs will give 'the crews a little opportunity to decompress.
During a combat surge, the crews will only be in actual hostile
territory anywhere from ten to twenty minutes maximum-
that's the power we have with standoff weapons. In a combat
surge, we anticipate running out of weapons before running
out of combat-ready aircraft. Of course, we're just a covering
force, sir-we'd expect support from the Navy and Air Force
within three to four days."
"Pretty optimistic," Chastain sniffed. "I haven't heard you
give any estimates for combat attrition."
"Attrition? You mean, how many Megafortresses will we
lose?" Masters retorted. "I'll answer that one, Art-zero. Zip.
Nada. The EB-52s will be grounded because of systems fail-
ures before China even gets a shot off at one."
"That's pretty arrogant of you, Dr. Masters," Chastain said.
"If I'm not mistaken, the PRC got a couple of your EB-52s
in the Philippines conflict."
"The planes we're using now are a generation more ad-
vanced than the ones we used three years ago-the weapons
are, too," Masters said resolutely. "The bad guys won't touch
us. We're a lot safer than those subs you got shadowing that
battle group, I guarantee that."
"All we ask is that you let us act with a great degree of
autonomy, once you send us into the area defense 'basket,' ' I
General Samson said. "We can set up real-time datalinks to
provide thetask force commander with a look at everything
we're looking at, but we're vulnerable and weak if we can't
act right away."
"That can't be helped, General," Chastain said. "A B-52
bomber loaded to the gills with cruise missiles, taking on a
96 DALE BROWN
Chinese naval battle group-we're going to insist on absolute
control."
"Although we're using strategic bombers, sir, we're actu-
ally flying a close-air-support-type mission," Samson ex-
plained. "We're flying close to the enemy, staying out of sight
but zooming into lethal range when it's time to strike, then
bugging out of lethal range again. We must be given authority
to shoot when it comes time to do so-we can't loiter within
lethal range hoping to be given the order. As Patrick explained,
sir, our objective is to match, and never exceed, the level of
force used by the enemy-but we need absolute real-time au-
thority to shift our level of response. As good as Dr. Masters's
surveillance and communications gear is, it's not perfect nor
one hundred percent reliable. Our guys must be given authority
when to shoot. That's why we're here, sir."
President Martindale shook his head and gave them a weary
smile. "Can't believe we're considering using a private com-
pany to fight our battles for us," he said. "I feel like I'm hiring
mercenaries."
"Then make us part of the military, sir," Patrick Mc-
Lanahan said.
Several mouths dropped open in surprise-the President's,
Freeman's, Samson's, even Masters's. "What did you say,
Patrick?" Samson finally asked.
"Make us part of the military again," McLanahan ex-
plained. "Recommission the B-52 bombers-but make it a
fleet of EB-52 Megafortresses instead. Right now, you have a
fleet of eight converted bombers. Dr. Masters and I have iden-
tified thirty H-model B-52s in the fleet that are suitable for the
conversion. Within two years, maybe less, we can have a wing,
two squadrons, of EB-52 Megafortresses flying. They can do
any mission you can think of: reconnaissance, drone control,
defense suppression, minelaying, strategic or tactical precision
attack, heavy bombardment, even air defense and space
launch. Reactivate Dyess Air Force Base in Texas as the initial
base, or colocate the unit with Jon's facilities in Arkansas."
"I think we've got plenty on our plate right now without
having to digest that idea," Chief of Staff Jerrod Hale inter-
jected. He made it obvious he didn't think much of the idea-
but Freeman, Samson, Masters, and even Secretary of Defense
Arthur Chastain suddenly wore thoughtful expressions as Hale
continued, "You've got ten minutes before you need to be on
P-
FATAL TERRAIN 97
the road for that speech, Mr. President. I suggest-"
Just then, there was a knock on the Oval Office door, and
before the Secret Service agent could fully open it, Admiral
George Balboa, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stormed
into the room. "I'm sorry, Mr. President," he thundered, "but
my aide was given a message by someone in the communi-
cations center that the meeting had been postponed an hour.
But there's no record of any such message. Then, as if by
some weird coincidence, I find Brad Elliott outside in the re-
ception area. Brad Elliott. Would somebody tell me what he's
doing?" And then Balboa noticed General Samson, Patrick
McLanahan, and Jon Masters in the Oval Office, seated with
the President and his military advisors. "Would somebody
mind telling me what's going on?"
"Brad Elliott?" the President asked in a suddenly squeaky
voice. "He's here?" And then everyone understood why Bal-
boa was late for this meeting with the President. He smiled
mischievously and shook his head, saying, "Nooo ... no, El-
liott wouldn't dare."
"Wouldn't dare leave a phony message with my aide so he
or his cronies can talk with the President of the United States
alone about some cockamarnie secret stealth bomber attack
plan?" Balboa asked in a breathlessly sarcastic tone. "Hell,
sir, I'm surprised he didn't try to ambush my car with one of
his robot drone missiles. But it worked, didn't it? You've been
talking about some covert air patrol of the Formosa Strait
against the PLAN."
"We're discussing what China's next move might be,"
Freeman said, "and what we should do about it."
"Do ... what we should do?" Balboa asked, with consid-
erable restraint evident in his voice. Balboa was a hot-
tempeted but dynamic and well-respected Navy veteran,
strong-willed and intelligent, just the way Martindale liked his
advisors. "Oh, yeah, the Air Force's scheme to put those ex-
perimental 'stealth' B-52s out there." Balboa said "B-52" as
if it were the punch line to a very bad joke. "Mr. President,
I'm prepared to brief you on the Joint Chiefs' recommenda-
tion."
"The carriers," the President guessed. "Full-court press."
"It's the best response-maximum firepower if we need it,
maximum visibility otherwise," Balboa said. "Send both In-
dependence and Washington into the Formosa Strait right
98 DALE BROWN
away. When Vinson replaces Lincoln in the Arabian Sea, we
send Lincoln into the theater until things calm down, then ro-
tate it with Indy and send her home for her decommissioning
party.' I
"I'm reminding the President that there are powerful ele-
ments of the Japanese parliament that see this administration
as more hawkish when it comes to Asia in general and China
in particular, and they're fearful of us using military force if
it means threatening trade and instigating military and eco-
nomic conflict," Freeman said. "The carriers are a powerful
weapon-maybe too big a stick. The bombers could keep an
eye on things without stirring up too much hostility."
"He's right, Admiral," the President said. "Two, three car-
riers in the Formosa Strait-that's an awful lot of firepower,
almost Desert Storm-sized. It's bound to make China ner-
vous."
"It's supposed to make 'em nervous," Balboa said with a
loud laugh. "Mr. President, we're totally exposed right now.
If the Chinese try an attack against Quemoy, Matsu, or any of
Taiwan's islands, we pound on 'em. My guess is, they'll back
off with two flattops parked in their front yards.
"Mr. President, the Chinese wouldn't dare try an invasion
of Taiwan," Balboa went on with a confident tone, punctuated
with an exasperated glance at Freeman, "but if they're con-
templating following up their attacks on Quemoy with a play
on the island of Formosa itself, we can have the carriers stand-
ing by ready to respond. The carriers'll discourage the Tai-
wanese from getting too frisky too. We'll see to that."
"The carriers aren't in position, Admiral," Freeman argued.
"We've got four frigates in the area ready to assist Taiwan,
sir, plus land-based attack planes out of Okinawa," Balboa
said. "Plus the Taiwanese are no slouches when it comes to
defending their islands. Indy will be on station in two days,
and George will be on in five, tops. Just the news that two
American carriers are on the way will scare that PLAN task
force right back to base. They'll back off, just like they did
last March."
"Admiral, we're marching towards a huge naval confron-
tation by racing to put two aircraft carrier battle groups in the
Formosa Strait to oppose China's task force," Freeman said.
"Yes, it might scare them into retreating-or it might provoke
them into firing first. Putting a couple of our EB-52 Megafor-
FATAL TER RAI N 99
tress stealth bombers in the area will keep things quiet and
give us plenty of firepower in case the Chinese task force tries
something. No one'will know we ever had the Megafortress
bombers on station."
"Is that what you said about the B-2 attacks against Iran,
General?" Balboa retorted. The conflict in the Persian Gulf
region between Iran and the United States was still classified
top secret, but the rumors and the heated debate over the mys-
terious attacks on Iran's secret military bases and warships in
the Gulf of Oman were just beginning. " 'No one would find
outT Then why is it that half of Congress is calling for an
investigation into an alleged illegal overflight of several Asian
countries, including China, by a B-2 stealth bomber? Why is
it that some loudmouth congresspersons are calling for the
President's impeachment?"
Jerrod Hale's head jerked up angrily at that word, but before
he could react, the President said, "Hold on, now, Admiral,
but no one's going to impeach me, and sure as hell no one's
going to intimidate me into responding or not responding."
That sentence was aimed as much at Balboa as it was at the
few opposition party legislators who'd actually suggested an
independent prosecutor investigate the President for his actions
during the Iranian conflict. "The bottom line is, the B-2 stealth
bomber attacks over Iran and the Persian Gulf forced the Ira-
nians to stop their attacks and back off. If China, Afghanistan,
and Congress are upset about us flying one lousy stealth
bomber around to do the job, that's tough."
"Mr. President, the American people are upset because you
conducted a secret, covert war," Balboa said. He saw Hale's
face flush, but ignored him. "The American people don't like
secret wars, sir-the fallout from our escapades in Central
America prove that." Everyone realized that Balboa's remark
was aimed directly at the President, who, as the ex-vice pres-
ident, had engineered many of those secret military missions
in Central America in the aftermath of the James spy incident.
Martindale had been severely criticized for initiating so many
"dirty" skirmishes in Central America.
But Martindale could dish it out as well as take it. "You
wouldn't happen to be upset, Admiral," the President said,
"because I chose to keep the Abraham Lincoln carrier group
out of the Persian Gulf but sent in a B-2 bomber to bust Iran's
chops; that I allowed
the Lincoln to get shot at by the Iranians
100 DALE BROWN
but didn't give them a chance to retaliate?" It was no secret
that many in the Navy were upset at prec ' isely that point: Iran
had attacked the USS Abraham Lincoln with long-range cruise
missiles and shot down one of its E-3C Hawkeye radar planes,
but the President had not allowed the Lincoln to spearhead a
retaliatory strike.
"Don't be ridiculous, sir," Balboa said, his voice showing
the slightest hint of irritation toward his commander in chief.
"We're all on the same side. True, the Lincoln was ready to
conduct their counterattacks, destroy the Iranian bomber bases,
sink the Iranian carrier, and rescue those CIA operatives long
before the stealth guys got on the scene. True, we were cut
out of the game unfairly and unnecessarily. But I'm not going
to prefer the Navy over any other service just because I wear
a Navy uniform." Eyes turned away from Balboa at that in-
stant, and the reply "Bullshit" came to many of their minds.
"But this Taiwan operation is totally different. The Navy is
in a much better position to assist Taiwan than these ... things
the general wants to send in."
"We need to make our involvement deniable and perfectly
black," Freeman said, "or we risk starting a war on the high
seas in the entire region. That's the advantage of using the
aircraft we suggest."
"Does the Joint Chiefs have a problem using Air Force
assets in the Pacific?" the President asked.
"Sir, I apologize if I sounded too ... argumentative to Gen-
eral Freeman, and of course CINCPAC will use any and all
assets available in his theater if needed, including the Air
Force," Admiral Balboa responded, saying the words as if
they were part of a well-rehearsed boilerplate speech-very
little sincerity in those words at all. "But I think we've already
seen the harmful result of using renegade, secretive units in
military operations. The B-2 bomber operation the general put
together against Iran could have been a complete disaster and
a major embarrassment for the United States."
"Instead, it was a major victory and completely stopped all