Fatal Terrain

by Dale Brown

  permission and without an approved plan from the General

  Staff?" Chin stammered.

  "General, as Admiral Sun has so accurately pointed out, it

  190 DALE BROWN 7-

  has become apparent that the Americans are waging a war of

  terrorism against us," President Jiang said by way of response.

  "The Americans are choosing to use their stealth aircraft and

  guided standoff missiles to destroy our forces and keep our

  government off balance. They could have destroyed our ships

  and killed thousands of People's Liberation Army Navy sol-

  diers and sailors, just as they did in their skirmish with the

  Islamic Republic of Iran.

  "It is now obvious that the Americans hold the Mao Zedong

  carrier battle group at risk with their stealth bombers," Jiang

  went on. "This situation has become intolerable, and drastic

  action must be taken immediately. In keeping with my wishes

  and those of the people to rid our waters and our legacy of

  illegal and harmful foreign influences, Admiral Sun has de-

  veloped a plan to do just that-first isolate, then cripple, then

  destroy the American air and naval forces operating off our

  shores. "

  General Chin's mind was spinning with confusion. Was he

  being replaced? Was his career in jeopardy from this young

  idealistic philosopher-quoting upstart? "Comrade President, I

  agree with everything you say," Chin said. "It is indeed the

  time to act. But are you proposing to place the forces of the

  world's largest military power in the hands of Admiral Sun Ji

  Guoming? He does not have the experience or the training. He

  possesses only rudimentary knowledge on how to deploy and

  command large naval forces, and very little knowledge or ex-

  perience in commanding large ground.and air forces."

  "We will not place our military forces in Admiral Sun's

  hands, General-you will retain your cormnand," Jiang said.

  "Admiral Sun will take command of certain ... irregular

  forces. "

  "Iffegular forces? What do you mean, sir?"

  "In time, you will be briefed on the deployment of his

  forces," Jiang said, rising from his chair and heading for the

  door. "In the meantime, Admiral Sun has full authority from

  the Central Military Commission and my office to conduct

  whatever maneuvers or operations he sees necessary. He is

  obliged to notify you prior to the start of operations, and he

  is.encouraged to seek your guidance and support, but he has

  no obligation to do either. Admiral?"

  "Thank you, sir," Sun Ji Guorning said, bowing deeply to

  Jiang Zemin. He then bowed to General Chin and said, "Gen-

  FATAL TER RAI N 191

  eral, you will order the Mao carrier battle group to withdraw

  from its attack on Quemoy and proceed at best speed to Xiang-

  gang-"

  "Xianggang? Xianggang?" Chin repeated in disbelief.

  Xianggang, formerly known as Victoria, was the capital and

  main port city on the island province of Hong Kong, which

  was set to return to Chinese control on the first of July. "Why

  should we sail it all the way to Hong Kong when it may be a

  critical weapon in the defense and occupation of Quemoy

  Dao?"

  "The Mao and its escorts will be used to help celebrate our

  Reunification Day festivities," Admiral Sun said. "We shall

  -stage fireworks demonstrations from its decks, invite guests

  and the international media aboard, even give cruises around

  Hong Kong on it."

  "Use our aircraft carrier, our most powerful naval vessel ...

  to give rides?"

  "After that," Sun said calmly, "it will be deployed for an

  extended shakedown cruise to Lfishun."

  "Liishun? Wh y sail it to Lfishun, sir?" Chin protested again

  to Jiang. Lfishun, once known as Port Arthur, was an important

  international shipping and naval facility located on the tip of

  the Liaotung peninsula, between the Bohai, or Gulf of Chihli,

  and Korea Bay, 250 kilometers west of the North Korean cap-

  ital of Pyongyang. "Do you plan to involve it in any attack

  operations in defense of North Korea, in case the Americans

  Or South Koreans invade? If so, I think that is a foolhardy

  plan. The carrier will be more vulnerable to air attacks from

  South Korea, Japan, even Alaska. If anything, we should send

  it back to the Nansha Dao to defend our rights to access to

  the South China Sea."

  "Comrade General, it is so ordered," Minister of Defense

  Chi Haotian intedected. "Withdraw the carrier battle group

  from Quemoy Dao and have them proceed to Xianggang at

  best possible speed."

  Chin looked at Chi, then Jiang, with a stunned expression,

  but at the moment therd was little he could do. He bowed and

  said, "Yes, Comrade Minister. Immediately. Any other de-

  mands?"

  "No, sir," Sun replied, bowing respectfully. "My thanks to

  YOU."

  General Chin Po Zihong ignored the gesture. He stood as

  192 DALE BROWN

  the president and the defense minister departed, then stopped

  Admiral Sun as he headed for the door. "So," Chin said

  haughtily, "you now have the ear of the president. I see that

  spouting all that ancient military crap has paid off for you."

  "Yes, sir," Sun responded simply.

  "You may speak freely now, Admiral," Chin said. "We

  are practically colleagues, contemporaries." Sun's eyes nar-

  rowed at that very sarcastic remark. "Please. Tell me about

  your plan."

  Sun Ji Guoming hesitated, not knowing whether or not to

  trust Chin's sudden friendliness; then he responded, "Sir, my

  staff has prepared a briefing for you and the general staff,

  outlining my ideas and suggestions. But this operation is not-

  under my command, sir. I am merely advising the defense

  minister and Paramount Leader as to-"

  "You are nothing more than a bold, loudmouth upstart,"

  Chin said, "tossing about ancient maxims that no longer apply,

  to old men who were spoon-fed that crap since they were

  young boys and who long for a time when Maoist psycho-

  mystical garbage could conquer the world."

  Admiral Sun smiled and actually appeared to relax when he

  saw the anger rising in Chin's words. "You do not believe in

  applying the teachings of Master Sun-tzu to today's chal-

  lenges, General?" Sun asked. "We have spoken on this many

  times. "

  "Forget that Art of War shit, Sun," Chin intedected angrily.

  "What will you do against the Americans? I must know!"

  "I am going to humiliate them, sir," Sun replied hotly. "I

  am going to show the Americans that they cannot roam freely

  over our waters and our region. I am'going to make their allies

  turn against them, isolate them; then I am going to make the

  American people isolate and hate their own military forces."

  "How? How will you do all this? What forces will you

  need? How many ships, planes, divisions?"

  11 This is not a mission for conventional military forces, sir,"

  Sun said. "My forces will be everywhere, but nowhere; they />
  will be as light as ghosts, but as powerful as the largest ships

  and the most powerful bombs in the world."

  Chin saw he was going to get no more concrete information

  than that from Sun, so he shook his head and turned to leave.

  "It shall be a pleasure for me to see you collapsed and dis-

  graced," he said over his shoulder at Sun Ji Guoming. "Quot-

  FATAL TER RAI N 193

  ing a bunch of dead philosophers will not help you when the

  American stealth bombers head over the horizon to decimate

  our cities and armies."

  "They will not be able to launch anything against us, be-

  cause they will have no targets on their radarscopes or sonars

  to attack," Sun said. "They will see nothing but empty

  ocean-and their own allies, out of control."

  THE WHITE HousE OVAL OFFICE

  TUESDAY, 3 JUNE 1997, 2105 HOURS ET

  "My fellow Americans, good evening," President Kevin Mar-

  tindale began his televised address to the nation. "I have some

  important news of a serious disaster that may have potentially

  serious implications for Americans both at home and overseas.

  "At approximately six forty-five P. East Coast time, two

  large-scale explosions were reported in the vicinity of the

  southern portion of the Formosa Strait, between mainland

  China and the island of Formosa, the home of the newly in-

  dependent, democratic Republic of China. Unconfirmed re-

  ports indicate that both explosions were nuclear, with yields

  measuring somewhere between one and seven kilotons.

  "I want to assure the American people that we are com-

  pletely safe, and the situation is under control," the President

  went on, deliberately slowing his delivery and speaking as sin-

  cerely and as firmly as he could. "First, no American military

  forces, except for some surveillance units, were in the area at

  the time of the blast, and the last reports I was given stated

  that there were no American casualties as a result of the ex-

  plosions. Second, these explosions were not a prelude to a

  nuclear war between China and Taiwan or anyone else. It is

  not yet certain if the explosions were a result of an accident,

  a deliberate attack, or an act of terrorism. In fact, it is too early

  to tell precisely who launched the attack in the first place,

  although our suspicions rest with the naval forces of the Peo-

  ple's Republic of China's Liberation Army, which have been

  threatening the Republic of China with attacks for many years.

  However, both sides in the conflict in the Formosa Strait suf-

  fered many casualties, and so we are still investigating. In any

  case, no one retaliated with similar weapons; no other attacks,

  194 DALE BROWN

  nuclear or conventional, took place; and no nations have de-

  clared war upon anyone else. Third, there is no evidence so

  far of serious nuclear contamination or fallout. There are re-

  ports of Taiwanese and Japanese nationals fleeing their homes

  for fear of radioactive fallout, so as a precaution we are ad-

  vising against travel into eastern China, Taiwan, or southern

  Japan until the panic has eased and we can assess the danger.

  "Fourth, and most importantly, the United States is secure.

  The government is functioning, and we are carrying out the

  people's business, right here in Washington, same as ever. As

  commander in chief of our nation's military forces, I have not

  ordered any retaliatory strikes, and we have not mobilized any

  of our nuclear forces, nor do I intend to do so. I have ordered

  our overseas military bases around the world into a heightened

  state of alert, and I have ordered the Pentagon to hold meetings

  with high-ranking officers to determine the best course of ac-

  tion to take, but at this time none of our forces anywhere on

  earth are on a wartime footing. We are ready to respond if

  necessary, but so far all nations of the world are responding

  to this tragedy with patience and intelligent reasoning, and so

  I see no reason to elevate the level of tension by mobilizing

  any of our forces to a higher state.

  " The United States stands ready to assist any countries who

  request aid, no matter who pushed the button. The nuclear

  genie has somehow sneaked out of the bottle after being safely

  sealed away for so many years, and the United States govern-

  ment pledges to do all it can to help see that the genie stays

  locked away again forever. I assure you, myself and all of my

  top advisors, civilian and military, are hard at work investi-

  gating this horrible tragedy. I will report back to you as soon

  as possible with more details.

  "I'd like to leave you with one last thought, if I may," the

  President said. "When I was a kid, I remember a gag poster

  of an old crusty Navy guy, had to be a hundred years old, at

  the helm of an old weather-beaten wooden rowboat, with about

  a dozen more old sailors crowded into the little boat manning

  the oars, all lit up by a single lantern, and the caption on the

  poster said, 'Sleep tight tonight, the U. Navy is awake.' All

  joking aside, my fellow Americans, I can tell you that a good

  portion of the United States Navy, along with their comrades

  in arms in the Air Force, Army, Marines, Coast Guard, and

  all of the other paramilitary, Guard, Reserves, and civilian

  FATAL T ER RAI N 195

  members of the best fighting force in the world, the United

  States anned forces, are awake tonight, watching and ready to

  defend our homeland, our freedom, and our way of life. Give

  them your support and trust" and sleep tight-we are awake.

  Thank you, good night, and God bless America."

  The President knew enough to keep his eyes straight ahead,

  looking into the camera, until well after the red light was off

  and technicians started coming over to unplug the mikes from

  his suit jacket lapels. He shook hands and offered thanks to a

  few of the technicians, the director, and the all-important

  makeup person, then made his way to his private study while

  the cameras and sound equipment were removed from the Oval

  Office, where Chief of Staff Jerrod Hale had the bank of six

  regular-screen TVs and two big-screen TVs on in the Presi-

  dent's study. Already in the study with Hale was National

  Security Advisor Philip Freeman and Secretary of State Jeffrey

  Hartman; Communications Director Charles Ricardo followed

  the President.

  The study was where Martindale did his real office work-

  the Oval Office was usually reserved for important meetings

  and "photo opportunity--type office work, like signing im-

  portant legislation. The study had two curtained bulletproof

  windows, but unlike the Oval Office, the Kevlar-reinforced

  curtains were always kept closed. Along with the bank of tel-

  evisions, the study had two computer systems, with which the

  President was thoroughly educated; it had an exercise tread-

  mill, plenty of seats for secretaries and staffers, and wall-size

  electronic monitors to display computerized charts, d
iagrams,

  or images. It was a good place to watch and listen to the

  media's reaction to the President's address. Afterward, the

  President's "spin doctors" would prepare Q&A point papers

  for all of the top advisors, and within minutes of the address

  they would be sent out to talk with the press and put some

  finer finishing touches on the President's remarks.

  "Good speech tonight, Mr. President," Ricardo offered.

  "It sucked," the President said grumpily, retrieving a can

  of Tab from the little refrigerator near his desk. "Too skimpy

  on details-the press will be clamoring for more from anyone

  they see. The rumors are going to start flying. Let's get the

  point paper done and get the staff out there so we can head

  off the rumors as much as possible. First thing I want to know

  is, what about the screwup with the Democratic leadership

  196 DALE B ROW N

  getting on Air Force One? What in hell happened?"

  "The Secret Service screwed up, Mr. President-there's no

  polite way to put it," White House Chief of Staff Jerrod Hale

  replied. "I'll talk to the Presidential Protection Detail chief

  myself. The PPD got confused because they were still escort-

  ing the press out of the building when the choppers showed

  up and they got word of an 'actual' evacuation. Anyone they

  didn't recognize or specifically not accompanying you were

  held back."

  "They didn't recognize Finegold? She was on TV more

  than I was during the last five months of the campaign!"

  "When the Secret Service realized it was an 'actual' evac-

  uation rather than an 'exercise,' " Hale went on, "they went

  a little bonkers. They should have escorted everyone from the

  Cabinet Room into. a chopper and taken them to Andrews with

  you. But once you were on board Marine One with an 'actual'

  evacuation warning order, they ordered all choppers to launch.

  If this continues to be an issue in the press, I'll get the chief

  of the PPD on the morning talk shows to explain the mix-up."

  "No," the President snapped. "No one takes the heat for

  'mix-ups' around here but me."

  Hale was flipping through a small stack of messages that