by Chuck DeVore
“Nothing,” the senior staffer replied, “We really don’t have a grasp on the situation in China yet. We were focused on the situation in Kuwait. The Iraqis just seized three Kuwaiti border crossings. At least one Kuwaiti border guard was killed.”
Another staffer volunteered, “And North Korea is heating up as well. Maybe the Chinese are conducting a feint to draw our attention away from a potential North Korean invasion of South Korea.”
Donna’s stomach tensed. Time was wasting away; decisions needed to be made. “Look, gentlemen, the actions by Iraq and North Korea are in support of China’s actions, not the other way around. I believe we know enough. First, we know that the PRC has launched a large-scale assault on Taiwan using nuclear weapons. . .”
“Hold on there!” the senior staffer cried, “we don’t know that for sure. You can’t. . .”
“What is your name again?” Donna asked with a hint of femininity, brushing back a renegade strand of curly red hair.
“Ken Maus. . .”
“Mr. Maus, none of us knows for sure anything about the situation. We’re not there, now are we? Even if we were on the ground, there is no possible way we would know everything—we would only know what we thought we saw at a particular place and time. I’m simply giving you what the CIA knows to be happening right now. You have a different analysis. May I continue?”
Lindley looked intently at Klein, “Yes, Ms. Klein, please. . .” Lindley looked at Maus disapprovingly.
Donna wanted to push herself away from the table and give a stand-up briefing, but the chairs were too confining to easily get up. She instead squared her shoulders and began to address Lindley with an occasional glance to the other three staffers, “We know China has launched an assault on Taiwan, probably using nuclear weapons. These weapons were exploded high in the atmosphere over Taiwan, most likely to minimize casualties on the ground and maximize the EMP effect. In fact, one of our nuclear early warning satellites was damaged by the explosion as were some commercial communications satellites. We also know from the last transmissions of the Belleau Wood Amphibious Ready Group that they were observing a probable Chinese air strike on Taiwan—an air strike involving several hundred aircraft at the least. The Belleau Wood was sailing with 2,200 Marines just outside of Taiwan’s territorial waters. The major news organizations have not yet caught on to the war,” Donna said nodding at the televisions, “Which probably means that the EMP knocked out Taiwan’s ability to communicate with the outside world. Lastly, we know that we sent an RC-135 electronic recon aircraft from Okinawa into the Taiwan Strait to establish contact with the Belleau Wood. It was intercepted by Chinese fighter aircraft over international waters.” Donna paused, “Does the President know about this?”
Lindley looked at Maus. Maus looked back.
“Well,” Lindley demanded, “Does the President know?”
“About what? Unconfirmed rumors? Hell, it’s not even on the news yet,” Maus protested. “Besides, he’s at a $10,000 a plate fund-raiser in Philadelphia right now.”
“Well, if it does get on the news and the President is caught flat-footed and unaware by a reporter I think he will have wished he was informed.” Lindley was agitated—he could lose his job over this if it got out of hand.
Donna wondered how to ask the key question that was troubling her. Like most things she did, she decided on the direct approach. “I was wondering. Our RC-135 turned back when it was challenged. Who ordered the aircraft to turn around?”
Maus looked at Donna and leaned over to whisper in Lindley’s ear.
Lindley gave a strained smile and said, “Ms. Klein, the CIA itself recently indicated that China’s military build-up opposite Taiwan was more likely for show than for substance. When Taiwan began warning us of a possible Chinese attack on Quemoy the President gave standing orders for the military not to interfere in the opening stages of any potential cross-Straits crisis. He didn’t want to limit his freedom of action. If China was simply saber rattling he didn’t think it prudent to react aggressively, especially since Sino-American relations are still on the mend since the embassy bombing. If China were to invade Quemoy as the Taiwanese fear, the President thought our remaining uncommitted would enhance our ability to mediate the conflict diplomatically.”
“What if China were to invade Taiwan itself?” Donna demanded.
Lindley was unshaken, “Well then, that would take a fair bit of time to accomplish, wouldn’t it? I don’t see how an early and modest American military response could do anything more than tip our hand to the Chinese that we intend to support Taiwan.”
Donna sadly shook her head once, “To the contrary, Mr. Lindley, I’m afraid our actions in ordering the RC-135 to return to base have just given China the green light they need to know that we won’t intervene on behalf of Taiwan.”
“That’s your opinion.”
“No, sir, that’s my considered analysis. My analysis is that China intends to conquer Taiwan. If they’re successful, my analysis is that American power in Asia will evaporate. If American power in Asia evaporates, my analysis is that China will dominate the world in the 21st Century. . .” One of the secure phones began ringing. “. . .My opinion is that the decision was flawed and we’ll pay dearly for it.”
General Taylor gave Donna a modestly approving sidelong glance then cleared his throat, “I agree with the CIA’s analysis of the situation. There is one more very important factor you need to tell the President: it is very likely that U.S. forces have already engaged the Chinese and may in fact be on Taiwan itself.”
Maus looked ill. Lindley was in an almost blank-stared denial. “What?” Lindley managed to mutter.
“It is highly likely the Belleau Wood and the three ships with her were attacked. Our forces have standing orders to defend themselves in such a situation. We may have already exchanged blows with China.”
“Oh my God. . .” Lindley blanched. A staffer handed the phone to Maus who quickly handed it to Lindley.
“Lindley here. . . What! You’re absolutely sure? Shit!” Lindley was hit hard by the news on the other end, “Okay, right. We’re already on it over here. We already have a team assembled. . . The Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs is here. . . We’ll tell the President immediately. . . This may all be a horrible coincidence but,” Lindley looked at Donna, “I think we better treat the incidents as connected.”
Just as Lindley was hanging up the phone he was transfixed by a report appearing on MSNBC. “That was the Pentagon,” he said quietly while looking at the television, “The Panama Canal has...” Lindley drifted off. The TV was muted but the dateline at the bottom of the screen said Panama. Lindley grabbed the remote and cranked the volume.
There were flames and smoke framed by darkness on the screen. The TV blared “. . .a large cargo ship exploded in the Panama Canal this evening. Many people, perhaps as many as 50, have been killed or injured in the blast that broke windows in Panama City a few miles away. Damage to the canal is said to be extensive. It is unknown at this time what caused the fatal explosion. Unnamed authorities said the ship was a Chinese freighter which reported engine trouble just before exploding. . .”
“Oh God,” Lindley moaned, “What do we do?”
The muted television tuned to CNN began to flash a breaking news banner from Tokyo. Lindley grabbed the other remote and clicked off the mute. Both TVs were now competing for attention in the small, now breathy room.
“. . .we now go live to our CNN correspondent in Tokyo with a breaking story. Lynn?” The news anchor nodded. The picture cut to a young reporter, “I’m standing here outside Tokyo’s Norita Airport where it has been announced that three international flights into Tokyo from points in south Asia are missing. In addition, authorities here report a curious lack of communications with Taiwan’s air traffic control system. One aviation safety official here told me that Taiwan’s entire air traffic control net went down a little over two hours ago. It’s not known at this time if the missing aircraft
and the air traffic control system failure are linked. Unnamed U.S. military sources out of Okinawa also report that a flight of four U.S. Air Force cargo aircraft went missing some 300 miles west of Okinawa about two hours ago. . .”
“Shit!” Lindley pounded his fist onto the table. “Taylor, call the Pentagon and tell them they have a leaker! We can’t let word of this get out now.”
Taylor picked up a phone to call the Defense Department.
Lindley continued on his tear, “What the hell were those cargo aircraft doing so close to Taiwan, anyway? Ken, get the President on the line, I need to talk with him immediately.” Lindley turned to Donna and said quietly, “So, you think the Chinese may be invading Taiwan. What next? What do you think they’ll do?”
Donna paused. What she said next might well determine America’s opening moves in the most important military action of the 21st Century, “China will attempt to conquer Taiwan as quickly as possible. They will also strongly warn us not to interfere in their internal affairs. They will probably threaten nuclear attack on our cities as they last did in 1996.”
“What do you mean, ‘nuclear attack’?” the NSC staffer asked.
“In March of 1996 when China was launching missiles into the waters off Taiwan to bully them before their presidential elections one of the PRC’s generals threatened to nuke Los Angeles if we intervened,” Donna coolly replied.
“You can’t seriously think they’d do that? We outnumber them better than 100 to one in nuclear missiles,” the staffer protested.
Donna shot back, “I take everything the Chinese say seriously. Nothing they ever say officially is by mistake. The leadership in Beijing had the general threaten Los Angeles to see what our reaction was. Our reaction was no reaction—we didn’t disappoint them. They took this as a signal that we would not abide by the Taiwan Relations Act and come to Taiwan’s aid in the event of an attack.”
Lindley looked at his young staffer, “I think Ms. Klein’s point is well-taken. China has attacked Taiwan. Let’s keep an open mind towards her views right now.”
Donna knew she didn’t have much time and continued quickly, “As I was saying, they will also seek to intimidate Japan and South Korea. It is important to note that China’s invasion effort is extremely vulnerable to a U.S. naval blockade. China knows this and will seek to delay our response by a week or two. That’s probably why they attacked the Panama Canal—to delay our ability to surge additional naval forces into the Pacific. Anyway, within a week or two they no doubt expect to have secured the island.” Donna’s eyes were intense, “It is critical that we have a strong response. We also need to initiate a diplomatic offensive with Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines, Australia, Thailand and India.”
Maus now had the President on the secure line, “Mr. Lindley, the President.” Maus gravely handed the phone to Lindley.
“Sir, we have a growing problem over here. . . Yes. I suggest you get over to the White House as soon as possible. . . China looks to have attacked Taiwan. . . No, not Quemoy, Taiwan itself. They probably used nuclear weapons in the attack and U.S. forces may be in the middle of it. . . No, the news is only reporting the explosion in the Panama Canal and the mysterious loss of civilian and U.S. Air Force aircraft in the vicinity of Taiwan. . . The CIA representative here thinks the Chinese deliberately destroyed the Canal. . . Yes, of course. . . Yes, sir. . . Yes. . . Goodbye.” Lindley gently hung up the phone and looked at Taylor and Klein. “The President wants to establish a Taiwan crisis ops center. He also wants to prevent any premature leakage of information from the military or anyone else. He wants the White House to control the information flow. He’s concerned this could get out of hand very quickly. Taylor, you talked to the Pentagon, right?”
“Yes sir.”
Lindley looked at Donna, “Klein, tell your boss at the CIA that we’re short handed over here and could use your assistance for a while. In fact, who’s your boss?”
“Jack Ramsey.”
“Tell Mr. Ramsey that I want him over here too. The two of you will be on 14-hour shifts until we don’t need you anymore. I want you to be here tomorrow morning and ready to go at five o’clock. You’ll work until seven. I want Ramsey to work from five in the evening through seven in the morning. Call him now and tell him to get over here. He can track the day’s events in Asia and brief you on them before we give the President his morning briefing at seven-thirty.”
“Yes sir.” Donna should have been happy. She would be briefing the President every morning. Instead, she felt as if she was about to play a minor role on the losing side. Tonight was the Sabbath. She decided she’d go home and pray—something she hadn’t done for too long.
24
Grapple
Fu placed the SATCOM phone on the table for General Wei to hang up. Wei told him he had a phone for him too, but Fu was embarrassed to ask the general how to use it. Fu remained content to have the general to serve as his secretary. I’m sure the Chairman doesn’t answer his own phone, Fu smugly thought.
The call to Beijing went well. He spoke to the Chairman, Premier and Interior Minister for three minutes, then spent another five minutes speaking with Soo, the Chairman’s military affairs advisor (with the others no doubt listening in on the speaker phone). They were all pleased by the progress and seemed not at all concerned about the unexpected appearance of the American Marines on Taiwan. Detecting their nonchalance about the Americans, Fu decided to press an aggressive idea to further show his martial ardor, “We should demand the Americans surrender their forces. If they comply, Japan and South Korea will be shaken to their foundations and Asia will be firmly in our grip!”
The Chairman loved Fu’s advice. Fu wondered what it would be like to rule the world’s most powerful nation.
* * *
The 287 uninjured crewmembers onboard the USS Curtis Wilbur had never worked so hard nor so ingeniously in their careers. Seamen, many barely 20-years-old, made decisions and repaired key components without being told to do so. They knew their situation was tenuous at best and did all they could to enhance their chances of survival.
Unfortunately, the massive electronic destruction caused by the E-bomb attack disabled much of the ship’s advanced automatic fire suppression and damage control systems. Fortunately, after the Chinese missile hit the engine room, much of the potential for more serious damage onboard was precluded by two members of the ship’s crew. They risked their lives, making their way through fire and smoke to activate the engine room’s fire suppression system manually. The two seamen were now in sickbay along with ten other sailors. Their actions allowed the crew to restore power to one of the four GE LM 2500-30 gas turbine engines. The propeller shafts were still damaged by the missile attack, but the working engine restored some electrical power to the ship.
After working to rescue 807 sailors and 312 Marines from the USS Belleau Wood and USS Dubuque, the USS Germantown hooked a towline to the Curtis Wilbur. Together, the two ships began making their way to Kaohsiung at eight knots. Within another hour they’d be just off shore.
A little more than an hour after the attack, lookouts spotted several fast movers heading east at high altitude. If they were enemy reconnaissance birds it would only be a matter of time before they got some more unwelcome attention.
The Curtis Wilbur’s skipper, Commander Meade, desperately wanted back both eyes and fang. The crew exhausted themselves, but couldn’t get any of the major radar systems up and running. The damage to the receiver circuitry was too extensive to repair at sea. The only functional radar-guided defensive system was a solitary 20mm Phalanx mount. Without a targeting radar, the ship’s Harpoon, Tomahawk and Standard missiles were virtually worthless. Commander Meade conferred with his Fire Control and Strike/Missiles Officers on the bridge (with nothing but the Phalanx operational, the Combat Information Center yielded precious little information).
“What’s your systems status?” Meade asked of the Strike/Missiles Officer.
The Lieutenant replied, “All the missiles in the VLS (Vertical Launch Systems) must have been shielded from the EMP, they’re fine. The Harpoons check out too.”
The captain turned to his Fire Control Officer, “Can you get a missile to its target yet?”
The harried Lieutenant JG shook his head, “Everything’s still down. But...”
“But what?” Meade demanded.
“. . .well, sir, it’s a crazy idea, but it might work and it’s all we have right now. . .”
“Out with it!” The junior officer’s hesitancy made the already notoriously impatient skipper even more on edge.
“Sir, one of my Fire Controlmen suggested we send out spotters from the Marine air wing. Two or three Harriers or helicopters might be able to spot ships and call for fire sort of like the Marines do with artillery. . .”
“Hmmm. . .” the captain’s sound was uncommittal.
The young officer decided to press on, “Anyway, many of the aircraft have working radios and they all have inertial navigation equipment. Some of them may even have decent targeting or navigation systems that survived the EMP. If we still don’t have any radar up by nightfall, the Marines even have some night vision capability that could help us.”
Meade pursed his lips, then looked at his officer and grinned, “It looks like your Fire Controlman just invented the ‘Mark One Marine’ early warning and targeting system. Make it happen!”
It had been a busy two hours. The Marines of the 31st MEU were coming ashore and establishing themselves. The task was, in a way, much easier than it should have been. For one, the Taiwanese were not shooting at them (which might have been the case had the Chinese attack not stunned them so completely). For another, all the Marines had been briefed on the mission prior to the landing due to Colonel Flint’s relentless training. The leadership knew exactly where to go (they had maps) and were already familiar with the terrain (due to the practice L-Forms). It was one of the most amazing bits of luck in military history. No, Flint corrected himself, not luck, you make your own luck in this business.
