Fatal Terrain

by Dale Brown

  FATAL T ER RAI N 135

  PLAN missile launches on your position. We recommend you

  get the hell out of there. Do you copy?"

  There was no response, but, seconds later, McLanahan

  shouted, "I've got missiles in the air, high-speed, high-altitude

  ballistic, from the Kin Men again. Multiple high-speed mis-

  siles, probably Standard missiles programmed for anti-ship

  attack. Targeting the lead destroyer and the carrier. . . looks

  like the destroyer took a couple hits ... can't tell if the carrier

  got hit. It might've taken one hit or a near miss ... frigate Kin

  Men launching missiles again, subsonic sea-skimmers, proba-

  bly Harpoons, a couple at the destroyer and the rest at the

  carrier ... the Taiwanese fiigate is reversing course, looks like

  he's heading back to Quemoy ... about sixty seconds to Har-

  poon missile impact..."

  "PLAN destroyer launching antiair missiles," Vikram an-

  nounced. "Targeting the Harpoon missiles, not the Taiwanese

  frigate. "

  "Anything still tracking the Kin Men?" Cheshire asked.

  "They've got everything up and transmitting," Vikram

  said. "The PLAN fleet is still alive and probably mad as hell.

  Sung's never going to get out of there."

  ABOARD THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER MAO ZEDONG

  "Launch commit on all battle group anti-ship missiles!" Ad-

  miral Yi ordered after the report of inbound Taiwanese mis-

  siles was relayed to the bridge. "Sink both those ships! Now!

  Radio South Sea fleet headquarters, request air support for pos-

  sible follow-on surface and submarine attacks. Full counter-

  measures! I want-"

  "Bridge, combat, radar contact aircraft, close aboard, bear-

  ing three-zero-zero, range three-five kilometers and closing,

  altitude two thousand meters, speed four hundred knots, turn-

  ing!" the first officer shouted, relaying the message from the

  Combat Information Center.

  Suddenly, the reports stopped. Yi fairly lunged for the in-

  tercom mike. "Combat, continue report! Where is that plane?"

  "Bridge ... bridge, combat, we have lost contact!" the first

  officer reported in a high, squeaky, panicked voice. "No con-

  tacts. Attempting optical and then-nal contact, still negative.

  136 DALE BROWN

  Heavy jamming on search and uplink frequencies, all bear-

  ings."

  Just then, the unit-to-unit radiophone buzzed, and Yi picked

  it up himself. "Speak."

  " This is the Kang," came the reply. It was the captain of

  one of the destroyers, Commander Xiao Rongji. This was

  Xiao's first major command, and he was known in the Chinese

  navy as a bold, even rash, young boat commander; it was no

  surprise to Yi that he was the first to break tactical radio pro-

  cedures. "We have detected a small aircraft just over the ho-

  rizon, bearing two-three-four, range ten kilometers, altitude

  approximately five hundred meters." Xiao had detected one

  of the Wolverine "Screamer" decoy missiles that had strayed

  within range of the frigate's sensors. "Are we cleared to en-

  gage?"

  11 You will protect your ship and this carrier with everything

  you have got-including your life!" Yi shouted in reply. "Full

  air defense screen. Stand by to launch another missile salvo

  on my command. And keep this channel clear!" Yi hung up

  the radiophone in disgust.

  ' 'Carrier Mao, this is the Kin Men," the rebel skipper ra-

  dioed again. "All of your weapons missed their targets. The

  bomber is now targeting you and your capital warships. If you

  do not reverse course, they will attack."

  "Bomber?" Yi shouted. "Did he say 'bomber'? Combat,

  any contact on that aircraft?"

  "No, sir," the first officer replied. "Lookouts report occa-

  sional contact with dark contrails low on the horizon, possibly

  from a formation of small aircraft or a few large aircraft, but

  we have no visual or electronic contact."

  "Check your systems, make sure everything's working

  properly. Find whatever's out there now!" Yi sworn loudly,

  then fell silent once again.

  It had to be an American stealth bomber, he thought. The

  American stealth bombers almost destroyed the Mao, then

  known as the Khomeini, in the Gulf of Oman just a few weeks

  earlier. It stood to reason that the Americans would track the

  carrier with the same stealth bomber so it could strike. If so,

  there was nothing he could do. His radars couldn't detect it-

  the intermittent contacts were probably when the bomber was

  releasing attack missiles.

  "Bridge, Combat!" the intercom buzzed to life. "The Kang

  FATAL TERRAIN 137

  locking fire control radars on unidentified aircraft!" Yi swung

  around to starboard and raised his binoculars to his eyes-just

  as the frigate opened fire with its 100-millimeter dual-purpose

  guns.

  "Sequence the fighter launch and get Interceptor One off

  the deck before the P-500 or M-11 missile launches," Yi

  shouted. "Find that American bomber!"

  ABOARD THE EB-52 MEGAFORTRESS

  "Drum Tilt fire-control radar up from the northwest de-

  stroyer," the EB-52 Megafortress's DSO, Emil Vikram, called

  out on interphone. "Drum Tilt radar ... radar locked on, looks

  like he's tracking one of our Wolverines ... or he could be

  tracking us! "

  "He can match bearings back to us-we've got to turn!

  McLanahan shouted on interphone.

  At that same instant, they heard on the secure radio channel,

  "Headbanger, Headbanger, this is Kin Men, northwest Com-

  munist destroyer just opened fire!"

  "Emitter, what do you got?" Elliott shouted.

  "Just the Drum Tilt fire control," Vikram responded.

  "Constantly changing bearings-I don't think they have a

  lock-on, or they're locking on false targets and have to man-

  ually break lock to try to reacquire a real target."

  "Good enough, DSO,- Elliott said. "Don't fire up purjam-

  mers unless we become an item of interest. Patrick!"

  "We don't have authorization to launch Striker missiles,"

  McLanahan said immediately, anticipating Brad Elliott's order.

  "Besides, we're not an item of interest. My nose is cold."

  "What else do you need, Muck-you want to see how fast

  that frigate can go down with a Granit missile in its gut?

  We've got to launch an attack before the Chinese carrier or

  that destroyer can take a shot."

  "Brad, I've got the missiles ready to fly-as soon as we get

  the order," McLanahan insisted. "We're not going to attack

  unless we're given permission or we come under attack our-

  selves, and then it'll just be to defend ourselves. Nose is cold."

  The redeploying Chinese patrol boats looked like little ants

  crawling forward around their queen, McLanahan thought as

  138 DALE BROWN

  he watched his God's-eye tactical display being beamed to him

  by the NIRTSat reconnaissance satellites. "I'm showing eight

  small, fast patrol boats moving north, overtaking the lead de-

  stroyer," he reported. "Looks like they're
getting into missile-

  firing position. I've got six ... no, eight more going after the

  southeast Taiwanese vessel."

  Checks," Vikram. said, watching the new threats as well.

  India-band targeting radars up. The northern group is in max-

  imum missile-firing. range now; they'll be in optimal missile-

  firing range in about ten minutes. The southeast group is

  closing fast and will be in optimal firing range in two

  minutes."

  Elliott was already on the satellite transceiver: "Hey,

  Buster, do you see what the hell's happening? Give us per-

  mission to launch before it's too late! How do you copy?"

  COMMAND CENTER, U. PACIFIC COMMAND

  HEADQUARTERS, HONOLULU, HAWAII

  THAT SAME TIME

  "Hey, Buster, how do you copy?" Elliott repeated. "That

  Taiwanese frigate and its buddy are going to be blasted to hell

  any minute now. Give us permission to take them out!"

  11 Why in hell doesn't Elliott shut up?" Admiral William

  Allen, the dual-hatted commander in chief of U. Pacific

  Command and the U. Navy's Pacific Fleet, asked of no one

  in particular. He, along with General Terrill Samson and a

  group of aides and technicians, were studying a large three-

  by-four-foot computer monitor that showed the tactical situa-

  tion near the Taiwanese island -of Quemoy, downloaded by

  Sky Masters, Inc.'s, NIRTSat "Martindale" synthetic aperture

  radar-imaging satellites. Allen called out, "Range from the

  closest Chinese patrol boat to the northern Taiwanese frigate."

  Before one of the Navy technicians could answer, Masters's

  voice-recognition computer replied in a curiously seductive fe-

  male voice, TWENTY-TWO KILOMETERS AND CLOSING AT FIVE'

  HUNDRED METERS PER MINUTE.

  "Goddamn gadgets," Allen muttered, afraid to raise his

  voice lest the computer make a snide comment in return.

  FATAL TERRA I N 139

  "Shut that computer voice thing off. Combat, sing out with

  all further reports."

  I 'Aye, sir. "

  "Range from PLAN patrol boats to southeast frigate."

  "Eight miles and steady."

  "Well, serves him right for not bugging out sooner," Allen

  muttered. "Elliott doesn't know squat about PLAN missile

  attack tactics. He'd better shut up and stay off the radio or I'll

  recall his ass. Any word from Washington?"

  "No, sir," the tactical action officer (TAO), the senior of-

  ficer in charge of the combat response teams in the command

  center, responded. "Repeating your priority request."

  "Where did those Taiwanese ships come from, anyway?"

  Allen asked rhetorically again-the Navy veteran was fond of

  thinking out loud, which he thought encouraged the officers

  around him to speak up. "My mission was not to baby-sit a

  Taiwanese warship while it launches a suicide attack on a Chi-

  nese career battle group. And I did not order Elliott to launch

  anything! I'm going to see to it that he's thrown in jail for

  what he's done!"

  "He was responding to an attack by the PLAN destroyers,"

  Samson offered.

  "That Taiwan precipitated!" Allen interjected. "My orders

  were to monitor the situation and prepare for the eventuality

  of hostile contact, not dog-pile on when some asshole wants

  to play hero to Mother Taiwan. We are not at war with the

  People's Republic of China, General Samson. But the Tai-

  wanese frigate fired first, and Elliott launched right afterwards

  without getting permission. This is exactly what George Bal-

  boa warned me about: Elliott popping off and pulling the trig-

  ger before receiving proper authorization." He slumped in his

  command chair and carefully studied the tactical display.

  "What in hell is the PLAN going to do now? Chase that frigate

  all the way to Formosa?"

  Samsow couldn't argue with CINCPAC-but now wasn't

  the time to just sit and fume over Elliott. "Sir, it looks like

  the northern Taiwanese frigate is bugging out," Samson ob-

  served. "He can probably outrun the big ships and hold his

  distance against the smaller patrol boats, and the 'Screamer'

  decoy cruise missiles will be orbiting for another few minutes

  unless the PLAN manages a lucky shot and shoots them

  down."

  140 DALE BROWN

  'So what?"

  'The Megafortress crew needs to know if they have au-

  thority to counterattack if the PLAN starts to launch more

  missiles against the frigate," Samson said. "They can help

  defend the frigate."

  :'More decoys?"

  'Yes, the Megafortress is carrying four more Screamer

  cruise missiles-"

  " Who in hell came up with these comic-book names?" Al-

  len interrupted. "Megafortress? Screamers? Sounds like Elli-

  ott's warped mind at work."

  --but they're also carrying anti-radar cruise missiles,"

  Samson went on, "that can shut down a dozen emitters in use

  on the PLAN warships. They can also use their antiaircraft

  missiles to-"

  That B-52 is carrying antiaircraft missiles?" Allen ex-

  claimed incredulously. "Sidewinders?"

  "Scorpions, sir," Samson responded. He had briefed'all this

  information to Allen and his staff as recently as yesterday-

  and he was just as surprised then as he was now-but it didn't

  hurt to tell it all again. "Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air

  Missiles, about thirty miles' range, radar-guided, total of eight.

  They have to move in closer to the PLAN fleet, but the AM-

  RAAMs are capable against ballistic missiles and anti-ship

  sea-skimmers too. The anti-radar cruise missiles will home in

  on radar transmissions; if the radar shuts down, it'll orbit over

  the area for up to fifteen minutes until the radar comes back

  on. Also, the offensive Wolverine missiles. can drop cluster

  munitions on three targets, then impact a fourth-the Mega-

  fortress carries six. If the smaller patrol boats try to attack the

  Taiwanese frigate, those'll be the best weapons to use on them.

  The larger warships can be attacked by the Striker missiles-

  they're small, supersonic, and lethal. If we can shut down the

  PLAN's radars with the Tacit Rainbow missiles, the Striker

  missiles will have an excellent chance of hitting their targets."

  Allen shook his head in exasperation. "You got more toys

  than Santa Claus, General," he muttered. He studied the Gods-

  eye display carefully and fell silent.

  " The helicopter that launched from the Taiwanese frigate

  has been shot down by antiaircraft fire," one of the combat

  technicians reported. "Three guided-missile patrol boats clos-

  ing quickly on the northern Taiwanese frigate. Should be in

  FATAL T ER RAI N 141

  missile launch position in three minutes. Five more in pursuit,

  but they are not closing and remain at estimated max launch

  range. The lead PLAN destroyer has slowed to five knots; the

  carrier is overtaking"

  "Looks like Taiwan got one," Allen said. "My guess is

  that the carrier will rendezvous with the destroyer." He fell

  silent once
again; then: "No, I don't want that B-52-Mega-

  plane, Megabomber, whatever you call it-launching any

  more missiles. Tell them to-"

  "PLAN missile boats launching against the southeast Tai-

  wanese vessel," the combat technician reported. "Numerous

  missiles ... two salvos ... direct hit. The southeast Taiwanese

  vessel is dead in the water ... direct hit by second salvo ...

  lost contact with southeast Taiwanese vessel."

  The ferocity of that attack stunned even Allen, who watched

  the scene played out on the God's-eye view in silence. "Jesus

  Christ," Terrill Samson breathed. "That boat went down in

  less than a minute ... it must've been hit by a dozen missiles."

  "Overkill," Allen said. "The PLAN wasted a lot of mis-

  siles, and those little guided missile patrol boats don't have

  reloads. They're out of the fight."

  "Admiral, for God's sake, you've got to make a decision

  about the northern Taiwanese frigate," Samson said, not quite

  believing that Allen could be so detached and unemotional

  about the loss of the Taiwanese frigate and the apparent deaths

  of hundreds of Taiwanese sailors. "Or do you want to see the

  PLAN chase down and sink another Taiwanese frigate?"

  "This is not my damned fight, General," Allen shouted. ' 11

  was only supposed to observe and report. Taiwan threw the

  first punch, and Elliott only helped aggravate the situation."

  "So you're going to let the PLAN sink that frigate?" Sam-

  son asked incredulously. "You're going to sit back and watch

  and do nothing?"

  "If it happens, it'll be his own damned fault," Allen said.

  "Anyway, the score's even now-one PLAN destroyer for

  one ROC frigate and helicopter. Good time for everybody to

  break it up and go back to their comers." He was handed a

  telephone just then. "Trident. Go."

  "This is Wrangler," Admiral Frederick Cowen, the Chief

  of Naval Operations, said, using his call sign. -JCS and NSC

  got your message; NSC asked me to give you a buzz. What's

  happening?"

  142 DALE BROWN

  "Shit's hitting the fan, sir," Allen replied. "Two Taiwanese

  frigates closed on the PLAN carrier battle group and attacked.

  One PLAN destroyer damaged. One of the ROC frigates has