China Attacks

by Chuck DeVore

  “At the moment, the ROC forces in the field in Taiwan equal the equivalent of nine infantry divisions and two tank divisions with two-thirds of an artillery division. Our forces on the ground equal approximately three infantry divisions without heavy equipment.” General Wei looked satisfied at his briefing.

  Fu Zemin had a drawn look on his face, “You mean we are outnumbered by almost three to one?”

  The general smiled reassuringly, “Comrade Fu, remember the damage we inflicted on the renegade province before our attack. Their military has been hard hit by our virus. They can only fight at about 50 percent manning—about six divisions. You see, they only outnumber us two to one.” The general smiled thinly.

  “Oh, I feel better already,” Fu let his sarcasm get the best of him. The general’s eyebrows arched.

  “Sir, I don’t want to sound overconfident, but the enemy divisions are without communications. Without the ability to communicate, they cannot react to our moves. Further, when a military unit has half of its people sick in bed it is at less than half effectiveness. In fact most major militaries of the world consider a unit with only 50 percent of its personnel to be completely combat ineffective.”

  Still looking worried, Fu changed the subject, “General Wei, you said we destroyed 40-60% of the ROC Air Force. I expected a better result. Why did we not destroy more?”

  “Sir, since our airborne surveillance aircraft and reconnaissance ships would impacted by the E-bomb we did not have them out collecting at the moment of detonation. As best as we could determine prior to the electronic attack, the ROCAF had only sortied about half of its fighters in response to our attack. This was a smaller response than we anticipated.” The general showed an air of resignation.

  Fu became angry. He wanted to rule Asia someday, but he didn’t want to get shot out of the sky in the process of doing so, “Did you military geniuses ever stop to think that a few pilots might be grounded because of the flu?”

  General Wei, stared at the seatback in front of him, not really focusing on anything. This man was obviously an intelligence professional, more concerned with data than with saving face. The general turned to Fu, “Of course!” His face lit up, “That’s got to explain it. I congratulate you Comrade Fu. I will relay this to the invasion headquarters immediately.”

  General Wei removed an odd-looking cellular phone from his equipment belt and dialed a number, “Raven here. . . Something to consider. . . Maybe too many pilots had the flu. . . Right. I recommend you recalculate the attrition rate and plan accordingly. Oh, I also need any information on the status of the American ships. . . Right, I’ll wait.”

  “General Wei, isn’t that a commercial satellite phone?” Fu was incredulous at the thought of a military intelligence officer using a regular commercial phone.

  Wei hit the mute button on the phone. “Why yes sir, it is. It’s an Iridium satellite system digital phone—good anywhere on Earth. Highly resistant to jamming. And, actually fairly hard for the Americans to intercept. Because it’s digital and the system handles so many calls world-wide, we calculated it to be more secure than our normal scrambled voice communications. We have equipped every commander down to the regimental level with one.” The general was glowing with pride.

  Fu was shocked that the PLA would place so much reliance on an American commercial communications system, “What if the Americans turn it off?”

  “Well, first of all, we don’t expect to be fighting that long. Secondly, we own part of Iridium. It’s technically not even an American company—it’s based in Bermuda and we even have two members on its board of directors. If the American government eventually shuts down our calling privileges we’ll be no worse off than we were before. We will simply shift to using traditional modes. . .” Fu could hear someone on the other end of the phone. “. . .of communication. Pardon me. Yes. . . Yes. Excellent! No, that is all. Raven out.” The general turned to Fu with a broad grin, “We found the American naval task force. Our reconnaissance aircraft report seeing one capsized ship. A destroyer is on fire. Another ship appears to be damaged. And. . .” Wei’s smile became still larger, “we have sighted the sinking stern section of their flagship, the USS Belleau Wood. Fortune smiles upon us.”

  “We attacked the Americans?” Fu was shocked at the implications. “Who ordered that?”

  Wei looked not least bit concerned, “I’m sure it was a ‘mistake’, sir. After all, the American ships were in a war zone. We warned them, didn’t we?”

  Fu fell silent. In the last few hours, China began a war of conquest and attacked the U.S. Navy. Everything had moved so quickly since the sudden arrest of Admiral Wong in his bunker. There had been no time to think. Only time to follow orders and react. It seemed like days ago, but it only happened less than four hours ago. Fu turned around in his seat and noticed the first passengers (all PLA officers) were four rows back. There was no one in the two rows of seats between them and the cockpit. He had his suspicions, but he had to know for sure. “General Wei,” Fu gathered himself to project his best aura of leadership and confidence, “Just how knowledgeable are you on the planning of this operation?”

  “I have been working on the contingency plans for the invasion of Taiwan for the last eight years,” the general’s statement was matter-of-fact. No pride—simple truth. “We have actually been making and revising invasion contingency plans since 1949. We have an entire secret staff section of the PLA dedicated to doing nothing but that.”

  “When did you learn of the actual approval for the operation?” Fu’s question was cool, but he was dying to know the answer for it would be an indicator of just how trusted an aid he was to the Party.

  “I was notified in January, six months ago.”

  Fu was crestfallen. With effort he kept his face impassive. This lowly PLA general knew about the operation shortly after the extraordinary planning session—the session in which Fu advocated a swift campaign to capture all of Taiwan and follow it up with a bold move to eject America from Asia—only his plan was rejected! Instead, the leadership approved a strategy of meek half-measures that he, Fu, was mandated to oversee.

  The true extent of the leadership’s brilliance was becoming clear. He was simply used as a pawn in a game much larger and more complex than he ever imagined. Now he knew for sure, “So, the planned invasion of Quemoy was simply a ruse? Was the arrest of Admiral Wong a ruse too?”

  General Wei looked at Fu with admiration. “For a politician, you are a quick study in the art of war. Yes, the preparations for the invasion of Quemoy were part of our deception plan. Unfortunately, the arrest of Admiral Wong was not. The man is a traitor. After we extract as much useful information out of him as we can, he will be dealt with in the customary fashion.”

  Fu was quickly forgetting about the slight the Party showed him by not revealing their true battle plans—after all, he was now the Party’s liaison on the province of Taiwan. That was reward enough to prove that he was not out of favor. “General, we have only 15 minutes before we land. Provide me as much detail as you can on our deception efforts. I believe a thorough understanding of this operation’s foundation is essential for my efforts on behalf of the Party.”

  “Certainly, Comrade Fu. As you know, Sun Tzu said, ‘All warfare is based on deception.’ Our plan was simple: lead the Taiwanese into believing that we wanted to invade Quemoy and Matsu then, under cover of this invasion plan, prepare for the invasion of the Taiwanese main island. The reactionaries on Taiwan would believe what they wanted to believe and our preparations could continue without giving away our true plans.

  “The leadership decided in January to accept your recommendations. You are to be lauded for that. I have read some of your memos and have heard about your briefings to the Party. However, it was the statement you made during the extraordinary session that was the clearest argument to date for acting now, rather than waiting. But, because of security concerns, the leadership announced that our military objectives would be limited.
As was expected, this decision was communicated to our enemies on Taiwan. In fact. . .” the general’s face brightened as he had a revelation, “. . .yes, of course, that is why Admiral Wong was put in charge of the Quemoy operation! He was a traitor and we knew it all along! All of our preparations for the larger invasion of Taiwan itself were then masked by Admiral Wong’s invasion preparations for Quemoy and the communications he no doubt had with the enemy. The stage was then set for the enemy to believe what he wanted to believe—that we would only invade Quemoy and perhaps the other offshore islands.

  “Once the enemy received word of our plans, later confirmed by the indicators of our offensive preparation, he reacted as we wanted him to. Only six weeks ago, Taiwan landed another division of infantry, a battalion of tanks and a battalion of artillery on Quemoy. This removed another five percent of the enemy’s active force from the decisive theater of operations!

  “With half of Taiwan’s infantry divisions packed on to a few tiny, unimportant islands, we are now in the position of being able to do what the Americans did to Japan more than 50 years ago. We are simply hopping over Quemoy and Matsu to strike at the heart of the enemy. Once Taiwan surrenders, Quemoy and Matsu will fall to us like overripe fruit.”

  Fu was awed at the magnitude of the deception and its success. Still, he was concerned about the fact that they were flying on to an island where the enemy outnumbered them and would do so for days. The course of action he recommended was to pummel the rebellious province into submission with missiles tipped with chemical and high explosive warheads. Obviously, they weren’t doing that. “So, now that we have the enemy where we want them, how do we achieve victory while outnumbered?”

  “Very simple. We follow Sun Tzu’s advice; we follow the principles of Offensive Strategy against our enemy. We’ll take his state intact, capture his army, attack his strategy, and disrupt his alliances.”

  “Alliances. What about the Americans?”

  “Taiwan’s alliance with America is weak, at best. You’ll recall in 1996, when last we conducted large scale exercises to intimidate Taiwan—why do you suppose the U.S. fleet never ventured closer than 200 kilometers off the coast of Taiwan?” Before Fu could reply, the now animated general said, “One of our generals threatened the destruction of Los Angeles if the Americans intervened to save Taiwan! That’s why! The Americans were paralyzed, we called their bluff; they did nothing. They didn’t even demand the removal of the general or an apology. This shows the almost complete abandonment of Taiwan by her so-called ally. And, if that isn’t enough, Iraqi military demonstrations in the past couple of months have drawn off two divisions of U.S. troops—including the Marine division usually stationed at Okinawa while North Korea is conducting very impressive maneuvers within a few kilometers of the DMZ. I’d say the Americans have their hands very full right now.”

  “Very impressive, general. But the Taiwanese have Sun Tzu too. Can we not expect them to develop plans of their own?”

  “Of course, but we will shape the enemy and the battlefield. We will force the enemy to do what we want him to. Our plan is simple: degrade and slow the enemy by non-lethal biological, chemical and electronic attack. Land our forces along the length of the Taiwan to engage the enemy and tie him down. Quickly build combat power in the north. Cut off Taipei from the rest of the nation. Then defeat the inevitable counterattack to relieve the city. After that, the enemy is ours. Taipei is the enemy’s center of gravity. Destroying the enemy’s ability to relieve Taipei is the defeat mechanism. We will win this war because we have already won.”

  Fu wasn’t entirely convinced. “General you know your Sun Tzu well, as should be expected by a professional military man. I too know some Sun Tzu and I believe you forget one thing, ‘The army destined to defeat fights in the hope of winning.’ I am confident, but I do not think it will be easy.”

  The intercom broke their conversation. It was the pilot announcing that they would land at CKS International Airport within a few minutes. Fu Zemin was about to embark on his most important assignment yet for the Party.

  * * *

  The five LCACs noisily roared east at 35 knots. They could have gone faster, but Colonel Flint wanted to conserve enough fuel to make as many return trips as possible to the Germantown and pick up more Marines, equipment and survivors. Overwatching the LCACs were two Harrier jets. Just above the horizon about ten miles to the east of the LCACs the 31st MEU’s helicopters could be seen. Far behind the 11 Assault Amphibians struggled through the heaving southeasterly swell.

  Colonel Flint’s Huey had just one working radio. The EMP attack destroyed most of his unit’s radio gear (few radios were shut down and disconnected in time to protect them). The lack of radio traffic presented an odd dichotomy. On one hand, no traffic was a sign of no contact with the enemy. In addition, a well-disciplined force doesn’t need to crowd the airwaves with jabber. On the other hand, a destroyed force doesn’t talk much either. Flint decided he’d go with the former definition. No news was good news.

  He sent three of his Harriers (each with only one just-installed working receiver) ahead to scout out Kaohsiung’s port and the international airport five kilometers to the southeast of the city. They reported back a city almost devoid of any activity.

  As the Harriers returned from their reconnaissance and flew over Chichin Island (which forms the seawall for Kaohsiung Harbor), they were fired upon. A shoulder-fired missile streaked out from the deck of a large dry bulk cargo ship. The Harriers dropped infrared decoy flares and dove for the water, ducking low over the east side of island about 30 feet above Chichin Beach. The missile veered onto a flare and exploded harmlessly in the air, looking like a small skyrocket.

  The flight leader, Captain Hill, radioed Colonel Flint, “Bulldog One, Bulldog One, this is Dragon One One, over.”

  Flint keyed his mike, “Dragon One One, this is Bulldog One, go ahead over.”

  “Bulldog One, we got some fire in here. Looked like an SA-7 launched from a cargo ship in the harbor.”

  Colonel Flint knew if anyone was hit Hill would have said so, “Did you get a look at the ship, over?”

  “Wait one.” Captain Hill had expected this question. He had brought his jet to a hover and slowly increased his altitude until he could just see the ship over the nice houses on Chichin Island. The ship made no secret of its identity—a red flag with one large yellow star in the upper right corner cradled by a crescent of four yellow stars proudly snapped in the northwesterly wind. “Bulldog One. Got a positive ID on the ship. People’s Republic of China. I say again, the People’s Republic of China, over.”

  Flint processed this new information. He called for his intelligence officer in other UH-1N, “Red Two Two, Red Two Two, this is Bulldog One, over.”

  “Bulldog One, this is Red Two Two, over.” Major Ramirez responded quickly.

  Colonel Flint smiled, he imagined Major “Rez” Ramirez holding the mike, not letting the XO touch it. “Did you copy last transmission, over?”

  Ramirez paused and thought, but only for a moment, “Roger. Looks like the enemy sent a ship or two in to seize the harbor. Probably more to follow. Surprised the airport’s clear, over.”

  “Recommendations, over?” Flint already had a good idea of what he wanted to do, but Rez’s advice would confirm his thoughts.

  “Bad guys probably have no clue we’re here. We can secure the airport. Place LP/OPs at the north and south end of Chichin. When their reinforcements arrive we can send the Harriers out from the airport and bomb the ships as they’re entering the Harbor, over.” Rez was in top form as usual.

  “What about our M1s or AT weapons, over?”

  “Like a popgun against a 20,000 ton ship. Use them to secure the airport and leave the ship-busting to the Harriers, over.”

  “I agree. Mercury Three, Mercury Three, Bulldog One, over.” Flint was calling his LCACs – any LCAC with a working radio.

  “This is Mercury Three, over.”

  “Mer
cury Three, I want you to land just north of Kaohsiung Talinpu. There should be beach there. You probably can’t find a place to land in the harbor, plus there’s a boat-load of bad guys in there, over.”

  “Wilco.”

  Flint loved the reply “wilco”—it was the ultimate in military efficiency, meaning, “I understand and will comply.”

  Flint’s plan was deceptively simple. He figured he had more than 1,000 Marines and a little more than 100 pilots, aircrew and sailors. He would establish a beachhead southeast of Kaohsiung, then rapidly push north to secure the international airport. He’d take the airport with two rifle companies, two platoons of the weapons company and the tank platoon. He’d leave the remainder of his battalion to guard the beachhead and establish a rest, refit, and refuel spot for his aircrews. These Marines would also keep an eye on the southern approach into the harbor. He planned on sending his reconnaissance platoon and the four LAVs he managed to save to the north of Chichin Island where they could watch the northern approach into the harbor as well as observe Kaohsiung itself. With luck, they’d establish an LP/OP on top of the hill at Shoushan Park overlooking the city and the harbor.

  “Red Three Three, Red Three Three, this is Bulldog One, over.” Flint was calling his S-3 (Operations Officer), Lieutenant Colonel Cook.

  “Bulldog One, this is Red Three Three, over.”

  “Red Three Three, we need a frago (fragmentary order) to seize the docks at Kaohsiung and destroy the enemy force there. After we secure the airport and the beach I want to be prepared to go into Kaohsiung Harbor and prevent the enemy from bringing in further reinforcements.”

  “Roger Bulldog One, we already prepared the branch plan onboard ship. We’re ready to go, and Hammer One has already been briefed. ”

  “Roger, Bulldog One, out.” Flint didn’t have time to be pleased with his staff. If they lived to tell about it, that would be reward enough for most of them.