by Dale Brown
“I understand the formal notification procedures, Mr. Secretary, and we will of course abide by them as well, ” Zhou said in his polished, fluent English-Oriental accent. “My government has already delivered an official letter of protest to the Secretary General, and I trust Ambassador O’Day will contact you in short order. But any nation that embraces peace, freedom, and human rights would surely desire to begin negotia tions to end all hostilities as soon as possible. You do not wish to fight a war, do you, Mr. Secretary? Will you simply make demands of us without opening any sort of dialogue?”
“We have no message or statements for your government, Mr. Foreign Secretary, Danahall said resolutely, “except that we expect your guaranteed promise to withdraw all military forces from the Philippines immediately. Do you have a message for my government?” There was a slight pause; then: “Mr. Secretary, please conAnd then the line went dead. THE PRESIDENTIAL RESIDENCE, BEIJING PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA MONDAY, 10 OCTOBER 1994, 0231 HRS. LOCAL “You will not capitulate to the Americans!” Chinese High General Chin Po Zihong said as he grabbed the phone from the Foreign Minister’s hand. Several other members of Premier Cheung Yat Sing’s Cabinet shot to their feet in absolute shock. Premier Cheung himself remained impassive, his hands folded on his desk, watching the spectacle with a stone-cold, expressionless visage. “How dare you disrupt a call to a foreign ministry like that!” Zhou shouted. “Explain yourself, Comrade General. You are violating a direct order from the Comrade Premier himself…”
“I am in charge of this military operation, Comrade Zhou, ” General Chin said. “Any communications that involve it must go through myself. I have full authority-“
“You are out of line, General, ” Zhou said angrily. “You were insane to begin this foolish military incursion, you were insane to place that criminal Admiral Yin in charge of an invasion force on Mindanao, and you are a fool to refuse to open a dialogue with the Americans.” He turned and motioned to a stack of reports piled on a granite conference table nearby. “You have read these reports. Four destroyers have been sunk out there! Four destroy ers! That is half of the destroyers assigned to Admiral Yin, and one-fourth of all the destroyers in the entire People’s Liberation Army Navy fleet! At first report, ten frigates and nearly thirty patrol boats were sunk or put out of commission as well. There is no report of casualties yet, but they must number in the thousands! This operation must be terminated immediately!” “Impossible!” Chin shouted. “Out of the question. We are hours away from final victory, Zhou Ti Yanbing. The invasion has already begun, and the early indications are that there is no resistance “No resistance? Four destroyers on the bottom of the Celebes Sea, and you say no resistance? You cannot hope to ever claim a victory in this debacle!”
“I was referring to rebel resistance in Davao, ” General Chin said. “We expected heavy losses from the very begin……. “You told this government that we could expect twenty to thirty percent losses maximum throughout the duration of this conflict, ” Zhou argued. “You did not say we would sustain thirty percent losses in three hours “The objective of the operation was to seize Samar International Airport and secure the island of Mindanao, ” General Chin said. “This government authorized that operation-you authorized it as well, Comrade Zhou, with your affirmative vote. That objective is still within my reach. Loss figures have not been verified, and all my reports indicate that the objective can still be achieved in less than six hours. So far only the American Air Battle Force has been involved in this operation. They have sustained heavy losses as well, and even if they complete their raids we can still achieve total victory. Once Samar International Airport falls, not one single American aircraft will be able to approach within five hundred kilometers of the Philippines again… “It appears obvious to me, General, that even if you do take Samar International Airport, you have gained nothing, ” Zhou said. “The losses we are experiencing are staggering. We must withdraw immediately or we will not have an army to land on Davao Airport when you finally take it-or should I add, if you take it.” Zhou turned to Premier Cheung, who had not said a word during the entire argument. “Comrade, I request, with all due respect, that General Chin’s operation be terminated and that we return-“
“You cannot do this, ” General Chin shouted. “You cannot abandon a military operation simply because of unverified reports of heavy losses in the first few hours of a battle.” To Premier Cheung, he said, “Comrade Premier, we know the Americans cannot mount a follow-on attack with the Air Battle Force-Admiral Yin estimates they are using two-thirds of their strength on this raid alone and are sustaining heavy losses. This is nothing more than a warning-the Americans want us to know that they are serious about the status of the Philippines. “But if we back out now, we have no claim to make for Palawan, Mindanao, or the Spratly Islands whatsoever. If we take Davao and secure Mindanao, we can negotiate for favorable terms. The Americans might even be forced to disengage if their losses are heavy enough and if both world and popular opinion turns against them, and then we begin our consolidation of the Philippines under Chinese stewardship.” He lowered his voice, stared the Premier straight in the eyes, and said, “I can guarantee you a victory, Comrade Premier. If I am stopped, I can guarantee you only embarrassment and defeat.” After several long moments, the aged Cheung rose, assisted by two bodyguards. In a low, creaking voice, he said, “You can guarantee nothing, General Chin, but death and destruction. However, for your sake, I hope you can inflict more on the enemy than he does on us. I will require updates every thirty minutes.”
“Yes, Comrade Premier, ” Chin said, bowing. “Be assured, we will see victory today.” Cheung ignored Chin’s boasting. To his Foreign Minister, Cheung said, “Comrade Zhou, I will speak with you for a moment.” Chin was not invited in on the brief discussion. Cheung said a few words to Zhou, who bowed deeply and hurried off. Chin was left alone with his thoughts. The Americans were doing incredible damage to his fleet in the south Philippines, Chin thought grimly. There was a very real possibility that he could lose this conflict-if the American bombers managed to sweep across to the landing ships, every last one of the Marines landing near Davao could be wiped out. He would be completely disgraced. He could not allow a defeat in Davao… Zhou criticized him for putting Admiral Yin Po L’un in charge of the invasion, but suddenly a fearsome thought occurred to General Chin that Admiral Yin might provide a way out of this mess. The question was: was Admiral Yin really insane enough to do it? He stepped quickly out of the Premier’s office suites and directly to the palace communications center to put through an urgent call to Admiral Yin on the destroyer Hong Lung. The answer to his question: yes, Yin was that crazy. ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, GUAM “General, we got the satellite picture back!” Jon Masters said. Generals Stone, Elliott, Harbaugh, and the rest of the Joint Task Force staff crowded around the reactivated high-definition computer screen. It showed the entire Davao Gulf area in extraordinary detail, with IFF data blocks on every American aircraft, and computer-generated data blocks on the Chinese vessels. “Great, Jon, just great, ” Stone said. The staff studied the board for several moments. “We’re going to have to divide the screen up between the staff and prepare a summary of the Chinese ships that are still out there. We’ll have to make a decision about the second wave pretty soon.” After checking that the individual consoles were working out properly, Stone assigned each staff member a section of the Davao, Celebes Sea, and Philippine Sea areas to search for Chinese ships. “Looks like the southern packages are coming off the target, the eastern packages are over the target, and the northern packages are two minutes out, ” Calvin Jarrell summarized. “The southern group got hit pretty hard… the eastern group looks almost intact. . . God, the northern planes are taking a beating from that one ship right there near the airport.”
“It’ll take awhile to see which ships have been hit or not, ” Masters said, “but several are showing zero velocity-we can probably assume those were struck. Luckily we’ve still got
memorized satellite data, so we can retrace a ship’s movements along with our aircraft and determine whether or not someone hit it.” Elliott called Stone over to his console after only a few minutes. “I think you better see this, Rat Killer, ” he said. There were two large vessels and three smaller escort vessels in a small group, farther west than the main battle group. “Obviously reinforcements, ” Elliott said. “But the ISAR radar report that Cobb and McLanahan got for us said something about this group… As Stone watched, Elliott zoomed in on the group of five vessels, zoomed in on the largest one in the group, then switched to an ISAR view of the ship. Using ISAR, or inverse synthetic aperture radar, mode, the motion of the ship itself as well as the motion of the satellite created a very high-definition three-dimensional view of the vessel, which when run through a computer’s stored catalog of ships could yield the identity of the ship itself. And when they found out, Stone muttered a curse to himself. “Hong Lung, ” he said. “They’re sailing Hong Lung itself back into battle . “General Stone, ” one of the battle staff communications officers said. “Sir… the base operator received an urgent phone call-from the embassy in Manila.” The officers turned to face the communications officer-they could tell from the man’s voice that something was happening. “What is it?”
“Sir… the embassy got a call from an officer who identified himself as a member of the Fleet Admiral’s Staff of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy South Philippines Task Force. He advises us that Admiral Yin Po L’un, the Fleet Admiral, has ordered that the city of Davao be attacked and destroyed with nuclear weapons if the American bombers do not withdraw immediately.”
“What?” Everyone in the command post was on their feet. “That was the ship… the guy… that launched the antiship nuclear missile . . . wasn’t it?” Masters asked Stone. No one replied, but the answer was clear. “It’s a bluff, ” Cal Jarrel said resolutely. “The message origin was verified, sir, ” the communications officer reported. “Came directly from the Premier’s offices themselves through military channels. The State Department is notifying the White House now. “Back up that call with one of our own, Stone ordered. “Get the President on the line for me immediately.”
“Can he do it?” Elliott asked. “Can his missiles attack ground targets?”
“Easily, and with pretty good precision, ” Stone replied. “The Fei Lung-9 has a range of almost two hundred kilometers-that’s over a hundred nautical miles. It was originally a mobile land-based missile, modified for shipboard use. “You can’t take this seriously, ” Jarrel protested. “We were expecting something like this. The next call that comes in will say that the Chinese will launch a sea-launched ballistic missile on Guam or Hong Kong or Okinawa if we don’t withdraw.” But faces were still grave-they were taking the threat very seriously. Jarrel said, “There’s nothing we can do anyway-the planes are over their targets now. In three minutes the B- Is will go over the target.”
“We can withdraw them, ” Harbaugh said. “That’s crazy, Tom. “Look at the board, Cal, ” Harbaugh said. “Your boys have done enough damage already. What’s the big deal if we abort the northern strike group?”
“The big deal is, the Chinese Marines will make it on the beach, ” Jarrel argued. “We would have used all the other bombers for nothing… we will have lost all those other crews for nothing.”
“We can’t take the chance that he’ll do it, ” Harbaugh said. “He’ll wipe out a bunch of his own guys, won’t he?” Masters asked. “If they’re already wiped out by the Air Battle Force, he might not care.” “Order a strike by the Tomahawk cruise missiles again, ” Elliott said. “What’s the range from the Wisconsin group to the Hong Lung?” But the measurement was quickly made and verified-it was over six hundred miles. The Tomahawk cruise missile crews would need at least thirty minutes to program a new strike, and then the missiles would take at least an hour to fly that distance. “We can order one of the bombers to attack the Hong Lung, ” Harbaugh said. “They can withhold a couple weapons, head south, and attack. We can use a couple of the B-1s in the northern strike group-they only have mines and fuel-air explosives left by now, but that should do the job.” He pointed at the high-definition monitor. “HongLung will need to move farther north, right to the mouth of Davao Gulf, before firing. That means we have about twenty minutes to get someone in position…”
“There isn’t time to send retargeting data to the B-Is, Tom, ” Jarrel said. “We’ve got two orders we can give the bombers now-attack or withhold. If we order two planes to withhold, they abort right in the middle of all that air defense. They have to traverse a hundred and twenty miles of stiff defenses, find the right ship, and attack. It’s crazy. I say send the B-Is in and finish the job. This is an obvious bluff, and we’re falling for it. “But if it’s not a bluff…”
“I have a suggestion, sir, ” Masters said. “I think I have a way we can strike that Chinese destroyer in time. And Jon Masters began to outline his plan to his audience. . MINDANAO, THE PHILIPPINES The frigate Xiamen had been hit by no less than six Harpoon missiles and was burning as fiercely as a volcano in the mouth of Davao Gulf-its patrol boat escorts could not get within five kilometers of it because of burning fuel oil on the water, the intense heat, and the occasional explosions in her weapon magazines. Three of Xiamen ‘s six patrol boat escorts had been hit by Harpoon missiles, which left Davao Gulf wide open for the strike package to enter. Two B-52s took heavy-caliber gun fire hits from patrol boats and were forced to jettison their ordnance armed before penetrating into the target area, and one was shot down as it withdrew from the area; all of the crewmen safely ejected and were taken prisoner. The destroyer Yinchuan, which had few antiair weapons in its arsenal, was the next to fall. Ten B-52s from the three southern strike packages descended on it and her escorts, filling the air with forty Harpoon missiles designated just for one vessel. Most of the missiles struck other vessels or were intercepted by Yinchuan ‘s escorts, but ten Harpoon missiles found the heavy destroyer. It sank in less than twenty minutes. The destroyer Dalian, which was equipped with the Hong Qian-9 I surface-to-air missile system, and its antiair-equipped escorts wreaked havoc on the six B-52s that were fragged to attack it. Two B-52s sustained heavy damage and were forced to withdraw; one crashed over land to the east of Bangoy Bay, while the other was attacked by fighters and destroyed as it tried to escape the target area. But Dalian had expended most of its weapons defending the amphibious assault force against Tomahawk cruise missiles, and it soon found that it could not defend itself against an onslaught of twelve Harpoon antiship missiles launched against it. Battered and listing to starboard, the destroyer’s captain finally decided to beach his vessel near Matiao rather than have it sink in Bangoy Bay. The vertical-plot greaseboard in the flag bridge of the destroyer Hong Lung was physically painful to look at. Destroyed vessels were in red, damaged and out-of-commission vessels were in black, damaged but operational vessels were in green-and-black stripes, and fully operational vessels were in green-and there were damned few of those. Fortunately, most of the green vessels were amphibious assault ships-the attackers still had not reached the Marines on the beach. “Flag, bridge, we have visual sighting on destroyer Xiamen, ” the skipper of the Hong Lung radioed to Admiral Yin. “He is signaling a request for assistance. Shall we come alongside?” Captain Sun looked at Yin, who silently shook his head. Sun considered asking the Admiral to reconsider, thought better of it, then radioed, “Bridge from flag. Tactical recovery only, longboats and stage-three damage-control parties. Maintain course and speed to establish patrol position. Flag out.” Sun shut off the intercom before the captain could argue as well. “Dalian reports he is safely aground, sir, ” a radioman reported. “Captain Yeng reports he can repair his fire-control system, estimated time to completion, thirty minutes.” Another silent nod from Yin. “Tell Captain Yeng to continue antiair coverage with electro-optical and visual means until his radar fire-control system is repaired, ” Sun said. “Add that the Admiral
commends him for saving his vessel and for his confirmed kills, but that he is still the primary antiair warship for the invasion force.” Captain Sun stepped over to the vertical plot, studied it for a moment, then said, “We should have the transports evade north into Bangoy Bay-it will hide them better from any bombers that are still in the area. When the all-clear sounds, they can travel at flank speed south with their escorts to recover. “What escorts?” Yin muttered. “What escorts are left?”
“You see, sir, we have at least six patrol boats . . . and the Hong Lung group will be in position to cover their withdrawal, of course. Once past us, our air coverage will protect them until they dock at Zamboanga to load reinforcements.”
“Six… patrol… boats…” Yin said in a low, wavering voice. “Six. . . I began this operation with eight destroyers, twenty frigates, and nearly sixty patrol boats. There are no capital ships left that can escort the amphibious assault ships back to port? None?”
“Sir, most of our frigates and patrol boats are still operational and still on patrol in the Philippine Sea, ” Sun said. “We have recalled a few of them, along with the destroyer Zhangzhou, to holster our inner defenses.” Sun stepped toward Yin, straightened his back, and said, “Sir, you deployed your forces like a true master tactician. You fought a superb battle against the best the Americans could throw at us. Your objective, the Marine invasion and the occupation of Davao and Samar International Airport, is almost complete. You have won, sir. You have-“
“Sir! Enemy aircraft inbound from the northeast and east of Davao, ” the radioman reported. The vertical plot technician began drawing in the aircraft reported inbound, and the number seemed to grow to alarming size every second. The northeast aircraft were farther behind the eastern group, but were moving in rapidly. “What kind of aircraft are they?” Sun ordered. “The Admiral needs type of aircraft. Get it!”
