Fatal Terrain
Page 66
"It's a lot of carriers within range of China's missiles,"
Freeman pointed out.
11 We can take care of China and her missiles," Balboa said
confidently. At that moment, one of Balboa's military aides
entered the Oval Office, stepped over to the admiral, whispered
in his ear, then departed again. "Seems like you have visitors,
Mr. President," Balboa said. "Air Force chief of staff Hayes,
Shaw from Air Combat Command, and Samson from Eighth
Air Force. They probably want to pitch another hackneyed
bomber idea to you. I heard rumblings from General Hayes
that Samson was kicked off the Combined Task Force in Stra-
tegic Command because he was resisting putting 'his' bombers
on nuclear alert."
"I'm not f thrilled about keeping them on alert either," the
President said bitterly. "But I don't want to talk with them.
Those three screwed up big-time with how they handled the
Megafortress project. Elliott, McLanahan, Masters, all their
weapons, and one of the Megafortresses are missing after they
apparently steal the planes, ignoring my orders, and now Fi-
negold and her committees are on my ass because they think
I was hiding them." The anger was evident on the President's
face-but Philip Freeman detected something else. A twinge
FATAL T ER R AI N "3
of sadness, perhaps? "Now we've lost all the Megafortresses
with the rest of Andersen Air Force Base. You handle them
the way you see fit, George. That's your chain of command."
"Yes, sir," Balboa said happily. He shot a smug, satisfied
glance to Philip Freeman, who had engineered the whole
bomber thing behind his back all these past months, but he
had stepped out of the Oval Office. Freeman had been shot
down just as surely as Samson and his precious bombers had
been.
"Get the carriers moving towards the Philippine Sea, and
we'll see what Jiang has to say to me," the President ordered.
"Jeffrey, stay in contact with Qian, keep the pressure on."
"Yes, Mr. President," Secretary of State Hartman replied.
11 Jerrod, call the Leadership, set up a meeting for us later
tonight so we can discuss what to do about China," the Pres-
ident said. "I might have to compromise with Finegold on
Taiwan, but Taiwan can take a backseat for now-I want a
united front beside me when I go on TV and tell the American
people about what the hell happened to Guam."
At that moment, Philip Freeman walked into the Oval Of-
fice, strode right up to the President, and handed him a note.
President Martindale gulped, swallowing hard, then dropped
the note on his desk in surprise. "Get them in here, now," the
President said to Freeman.
"What?" Balboa retorted. "You mean Hayes, Shaw, and
Samson? You're going to talk to those three? Why? I thought
you were going to leave them to me, sir?"
"McLanahan, Elliott, his crew, his plane-they're alive,"
the President said. "They were the ones who staged the attacks
against China, against the coastal air defense bases and the
bomber base. They led the last remaining Taiwanese fighter-
bombers in to attack China's invasion force."
"That's impossible!" Balboa shouted. -ftere are they?
'How could they possibly still be operating?"
"They're flying out of an underground base on Taiwan,"
the President said. "An underground air base!"
"That's bullshit ... er, I'm sorry, Mr. President, but I've
never heard of any such thing," Balboa said.
"Admiral, McLanahan and Elliott flew their Megafortress
bomber right up into central China," Philip Freeman said. "If
what General Samson says is true-and we'll confirm it with
satellite imagery-they may have knocked out a third of
444 DALE BROWN
China's long-range-bomber fleet in one night. We shouldn't
be questioning this development-we should be discussing
how to turn this unexpected windfall to our best advantage."
"I told you about Elliott, Mr. President," Balboa said an-
grily. "I told you he was a loose cannon. It was this unau-
thorized attack that prompted China to launch their ICBM
attack on Guam. Elliott's responsible for this disaster!"
"What Elliott and McLanahan are responsible for is getting
our asses moving and making things happen, rather dm sitting
around and waiting for things to happen," the President said.
The President was now ignoring his Joint Chiefs chairman.
"Get them in here," he told Freeman with a broad, hopeful
smile on his face. "They survived, dammit-4hey survived!"
OVER THE EAST CHINA SEA, NORTH OF TAiwAN
FRIDAY, 27 JUNE 1997, 2012 HOURS LOCAL
(THURSDAY, 26 JUNE, 0912 HOURS ET)
The 221st People's Maritime Patrol of the People's Republic
of China, based on Yuhuan Island thirty miles east of Wen-
zhou, Zhejiang Province, had been formed in 1955, flying rag7
wing biplanes off the coast every hour of every day for
forty-two years except in the most extreme weather conditions.
The group's mission was to patrol the coastline, Operating
roughly from Shanghai to the north all the way to Hong Kong
to the south, although the group's aircraft mostly patrolled the
Formosa Strait.
The 221st was like an exclusive club. There were only one
hundred members in the unit, and there would only ever be
one hundred members-no more, no less. Prospective mem-
bers had to be recommended by three other members, screened
by a selection committee, and approved by the commander.
Members served for life, and the only vacancies were the ones
caused by death or court-martial, never by resignation. The
group had several members Over the age Of ninety Who still
strapped into the back of their patrol planes and stared out the
observation windows looking for enemy ships or ships in dis-
tress-the same as they had done for the past forty-plus years.
In 1985, the 221st was given a new class of aircraft, its first
FATAL TERRAIN 445
metal-wing plane: three Hanzhong Y-8 maritime patrol air-
craft, a copy of the old Soviet An-12 "Cub" transport. The
plane was over twenty years old then, but it represented a
significant upgrading of the group's patrol capabilities. Along
with numerous observation windows, the Y-8 carried elec-
tronic radio direction finders, which could scan for radio trans-
missions and provide a bearing to the transmitter. With two or
more bearings, the operator could fix the location of the trans-
mitter with surprising accuracy. The Y-8 was a four-turboprop
smoke-belching monster that could barely fly above 10 000
feet, but it could stay aloft for as long as twelve hours an@ fly
in almost any kind of weather. The members of the 221st, old
and young alike, 1&ed it.
One of the 221st's planes was on patrol one evening over
the East China Sea, north of Taipei, when the radio DF op-
erator caught the first bearing to an unidentified aircraft. A
second bearing fix established the target's course and speed-
&nb
sp; out away from the Chinese coast, heading to the north of the
island of Formosa. The operators were also able to identify
the VHF radio frequency of the target and eavesdrop on their
uncoded conversations-they were speaking not Mandarin
Chinese, not even Taiwanese or Hakka, but English! The Y-8
crew decided to pursue the targets out as far as they could to
the east to find out where they were headed.
Several DF bearings on several frequencies told the Y-8
crew members that there was more than one target in the
area-they counted six so far, all heading east-northeast-but
not toward Taipei, as the crew would've guessed. The targets
all flew well north of the northern tip of Formosa. Because
there were no fighter patrols up over the Nationalist capital-
the airfields had been very effectively bombed out by Chinese
missile and bomber attacks-the Y-8 crew decided to fly low,
only 1,000 feet above the East China Sea, and cut east, close
to Taipei. That way, they could track the targets no matter
which way they headed.
Their strategy worked. The targets gradually turned south,
down into the Philippine Sea, and the Chinese Y-8 crew was
able to follow them. The VHF radio transmissions became
more frequent. They also started receiving VHF bearings from
Formosa-near the military base at Hualien. Was that possi-
ble? Hualien had been hit and destroyed by Chinese nuclear-
tipped M-9 missiles days ago-that had been confirmed. Could
446 DALE BROWN
it be possible that the Nationalists had rebuilt the base so
quickly?
There was only one way to find out-go take a look. Ile
Y-8 crew started to fly south along the eastern Formosa coast-
line. Slowly, careful to avoid any ships or clusters of lights on
shore, throttled back with minimum propeller pitch to cut
down on noise, they inched their way along the coast toward
Hualien. Soon, the target bearings were turning ... turning
westbound, right in front of the Y-8! Westbound? Hualien's
runways were oriented generally north-south-the coastal
mountains in this area to the west rose steeply out of the
sea . . . . . . and suddenly, the Y-8's observers on the starboard side
spotted the military base at Hualien. It was as flat as a pancake.
Not much detail could be seen, but the crumbled foundations,
the large pieces of debris scattered everywhere, and the fires
still burning in many places told them that the base was com-
pletely unusable.
So where in blazes were the Taiwanese targets going?
The Y-8 crew continued southbound until the radio DF
bearings started to shift toward the north. According to their
charts, the high terrain in this vicinity was over 12,000 feet,
just fifteen miles to the northwest, but the alluvial plain south-
west of Hualien was almost ten miles wide and would allow
them to stay low while turning around. They started a star-
board turn over the coast, looping around back to the northeast
If they kept the town of Hualien just off the starboard wingtip,
they would be clear of the transmission fines along the high-
way to the west and well clear of the-
The Y-8 crew heard a sudden rushing sound, which quickly
grew into an ear-shattering roar. . A jet fighter had just missed
them! It had flown underneath them, about 200 feet lower than
the big Y-8, heading northwest! That was insane, impossible!
There was nothing to the northwest except 10,000- and I 1,000-
foot mountains....
But then they saw the glow of light from a wide chasm cut
into the rocks, and the Y-8 pilot instinctively banked to port
to head toward it-as long as he could see light, there were
no mountains in the way. 'Me light grew, expanded ... and
then, to the crew's amazement, they saw sequencedflashing
landing lights! There was an airfield down there! It was un-
believable! Impossible! The Y-8 banked hard to port and de-
FATAL T ER RAI N 447
scended-and then they could clearly see inside the huge cave,
and sure enough, there was an entire airstrip inside that mon-
strous cave! It was a secret rebel Nationalist airfield, actually
built inside the mountain!
This was too important a discovery-they had to break radio
silence. The Y-8's communications officer immediately sent
out an emergency position report on the shortwave-the UHF
radio would certainly not get out this deep in the mountains.
He did not listen for a reply-he just continued to transmit the
position as best he could estimate, adding that they had dis-
covered a secret rebel airfield.
Suddenly, a flash of light and a streak of fire erupted from
the north part of the cave. In the blink of an eye, the streak
of fire reached out across the sky and struck the number four
engine. The engine exploded in a burst of fire, shearing off
seven feet of the starboard wingtip along with it. The rebels
had obviously detected the Y-8 crew's HF transmissions and
had instantly homed in on them, and the base was obviously
very well defended. They added that bit of information to their
continuous radio reports-and now it was time to get out of
there as fast as they could!
Full power on the other three good engines, full pitch, and
the Y-8 started a slow climb. The pilots were flying on a prayer
now-thank the stars the Y-8 was a tough bird. Only the quick
work of the copilot to shut down the engine and cut off fuel
from the right wing kept them from crashing in a ball of flame.
As best they could estimate, they were heading for the Mei
River valley, which cut westward up through the Chung Yang
Mountains. They were at 3,000 feet and climbing at 1,500 feet
per minute. On either side of the valley, the mountains rose
very steeply-within five miles north and south of the river,
the peaks were as high as I 1,000 feet! It was completely pitch-
black outside. He would have to trust his compass and his
navigator to keep them in the valley long enough to climb to
a safe altitude. The Chung Yang range was not very wide-
in twenty miles, less than six or seven minutes, they would be
at the summit. Once on the western side, they could hug the
mountains until they were sure they could not be tracked, then
pick their way west until they could get back over the Formosa
Strait, then-
The two Sidewinder missiles fired from the pursuing Tai-
wanese F-16 fighter each hit and destroyed an engine, tearing
"S DALE BROWN
them off the wings in a huge ball of fire. The Y-8 burst into
flames and veered sharply right, and it hit the granite wall of
the mountains seconds later.
But the Y-8's radio operator had made over a dozen position
and contact reports in that short period of time, and almost
every one of his transmissions had been received by military
listening posts in mainland China.
The secret Taiwanese underground airfield at Kai-Shan was
a secret no longer.
OF
FICE OF THE PRESIDENT, GOVERNMENT HOUSE,
BEIJING, CHINA
A SHORT TIME LATER
"We have them, Comrade Admiral!" Jiang Zemin said joy-
ously as Admiral Sun Ji Guorning was ushered into the pres-
ident's office. "General Chin has just briefed me. A secret air
base! Do you believe it? A secret underground air base in
eastern Formosa, just a few miles west of Hualien, cut into the
mountain itself. We have its exact location." Admiral Sun did
not react to the news. "Now is your chance, Comrade Ad-
miral. You can attack and destroy the rebel Nationalists' re-
maining air forces with ease."
Sun bowed to President Jiang and the chief of staff, General
Chin, but remained silent for several long, uncomfortable mo-
ments. Finally: "Comrade President, I request permission to
be relieved of duty."
General Chin rolled his eyes incomplete exasperation. Jiang
laughed and said, "Relieved of duty? You are a national trea-
sure, comrade! And victory is within your grasp, the victory
you told me we could achieve before Reunification Day! One
of our maritime patrols tracked a group of rebel F- l6s back to
their secret lair, an underground air base near Hualien. We
sent in commandos, who verified their location. We must draw
up a strike plan and destroy that facility immediately!"
"Comrade General Chin's forces are more than capable of
destroying that facility, sir," Sun said. "You do not need me
any longer. I am of no use to you now."
" Why do you say such things, comrade?" Jiang asked.
FATAL TER RA I N 449
"Are you ill? Did you suffer some family misfortune?"
"I am unable to continue my duties because I feel we have
lost our tao," Sun replied solemnly.
"What in blazes are you talking about, Sun?" Chin ex-
ploded.
"We have lost our way, our reason for going to war in the
first place," Sun said, keeping his eyes averted. "We may
achieve a victory over the rebels, but we cannot win this con-
flict now. The tao we follow will not lead to a true and hon-
orable victory."
"That is nonsense, comrade," Jiang said. "You have done
well. It is your right, your destiny, to deliver the final blow to