by James Rosone
Looking behind the colonel’s desk and out the window, Chief Lee could see the wind was really starting to pick up. There was supposed to be a tropical storm moving through the area in a couple of days, so the island was starting to experience some of the outer bands.
Major Witten raised his hand a bit and made sure he had Lee’s attention. “Chief, we have a problem right now in China. As you have likely already heard, Chinese airborne forces invaded Mongolia a week ago.”
Chief Lee snorted. “Sir, with all due respect, they did not just invade Mongolia a week ago--they captured the entire country in twenty-four hours. That’s a feat we did not believe was possible, at least not according to you intelligence weenies,” Chief Lee retorted. He hated it when intelligence officers liked to state the obvious without adding anything of value. This was Special Forces, not the regular army; they did not need to be spoon-fed intelligence.
Major Witten smiled at the feisty response before continuing, “Yes, they secured the entire country in twenty-four hours. Now it appears they are getting ready to gobble up a couple more countries.”
“So, what does that have to do with us and our JCET?” Chief Lee asked again, a bit annoyed at being led to an answer rather than just told it.
“One of the countries they are looking to annex next appears to be Vietnam.” He paused for a second to let that sink in. “Then most likely they will go after Laos and Myanmar. As of right now, they do not appear to be threatening Taiwan, Japan, or South Korea. Thailand and Cambodia also do not appear to be in their crosshairs either,” he explained.
“Before you ask, we do not know when they are planning to invade, but we anticipate it to be very soon, which is why we are recommending to Group Headquarters that the JCET be cancelled. We do not want you guys to be caught in country if they are invaded.”
“Does this have anything to do with what is going on in Europe?” Chief Lee asked, wanting to see if there was a larger connection. He had friends in 10th Special Forces Group, which were now fully deployed to Germany as tensions with Russia grew. Nearly half of 10th Group was already in Ukraine as advisors. “Shoot, half of my unit wants to transfer to Europe to fight the Russians,” he thought.
Major Witten leaned forward, speaking in a lower voice as he responded, “Look, this needs to stay between us. The consensus is split right now. The CIA and State Department believe the Russians are just posturing right now, that at the end of the day, they will blink. However, the DIA and even the Ambassador on the ground in Ukraine believe otherwise, and so does the Secretary of Defense (SecDef). As to China, no one knows for certain. If I were the Chinese, I’d be using the situation in Ukraine to my advantage. Have either of you heard of the term ‘Greater China’?” he asked.
Both men shook their heads to signal, “No.”
“OK, up until 1911, the Chinese national border used to encompass Mongolia, parts of Vietnam, Laos, Taiwan, Myanmar, and the Koreas. They lost a lot of that territory during the two world wars and their own civil war. The intelligence sources on the ground hear that Chinese officials have been saying that they want to unite Greater China once again. Until now, no one really took them seriously or thought they would, but with their recent annexation of Mongolia and the massive troop movements to those border countries, it now looks like they are going to move in that direction.”
LTC Mitchel held his hand up for a second and interrupted, “Wait, I thought you just said the Koreas and Taiwan are also part of this Greater China…they are not moving forces to those border areas like you mentioned?”
“No, they are not,” Major Witten replied. The intelligence reports I’ve read from DIA about this (as well as a report from at least the one from the Beijing Embassy DIA rep, which I believe is probably the most accurate) is that the Chinese do not want a direct confrontation with the US, at least not yet. They are leaving what are traditional US allies alone for the time being, and going after countries we do not have a strong relationship with.”
“It makes sense,” thought Chief Lee. “The US is less likely to get militarily involved in preventing China from annexing Vietnam or Myanmar than they would be if there were action in Taiwan, Japan, or South Korea.”
“OK, so let’s assume the JCET is cancelled. What do you want us to do about this information? Should we start preparing to deploy to these countries, or just concentrate on our allied nations?” Chief Lee asked.
LTC Mitchel jumped in, “Right now, Chief, keep training the men like we are heading to war with China, just like we always do. Whether we get sent to South Korea or Vietnam won’t matter. We’ll still be facing the same enemy. The terrain may be different, but the Chinese soldiers we face won’t be. Also, we are not getting those two replacement captains we had thought we would. Apparently, a lot of the SF qualified officers have been rerouted to 10th Group to support operations in Ukraine. It looks like you and Chief Limski are going have to remain in command of your two teams for the time being.”
With that, the meeting broke up and Chief Lee went down to the team room to break the news to his soldiers. There would be a lot of broken hearts over not going to Vietnam.
Start of Red Storm
Pingxiang, China
110 Miles Northeast of Hanoi, Vietnam
General Yang Yin looked out the helicopter window as they approached his headquarters building. In nearly every direction, he could see the various units that made up his army group encamped, uncertain of what would come next. He had been rigorously training his army group for four long months. In that time, they had spent more time at the range honing in their shooting abilities than they had in the past two years. In addition, they spent every day down at the field simulators, working small unit tactics and practicing combat in a combined arms environment. His generals, colonels, and majors had spent hours of classroom time watching videos and conducting tabletop exercises on how to effectively employ armor, artillery and mechanized infantry forces into an attack.
They had also watched countless videos of the American invasion of Iraq and the earlier Persian Gulf War, examining how these tactics were used to great effectiveness. For all their faults and misgivings, the Americans were the masters of warfare in the air, the sea, and on the ground. No nation on earth knew how to kill people more efficiently and effectively than the Americans. It was for that reason that General Yang placed such a heavy emphasis on learning their tactics and then working to implement them into his own army group. While other army groups trained their men according to standard Chinese military doctrine, he opted for a more aggressive unconventional plan. His efforts would be tested soon, and he would either prove to be a brilliant military leader or be replaced for not trusting in the traditional military doctrine.
Yang’s helicopter began to circle the landing pad, coming in for its final approach before settling down on the grassy knoll not far from the building he had commandeered to be his forward headquarters command. It had been a quick, whirlwind meeting with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) General Staff in Beijing. He was eager to get his part of the operation moving and prove to his superiors that his training program would work.
General Yang was not like a lot of the traditional Chinese Generals. He came from an aristocratic family, but unlike many other generals, he had grown up in the United States. His father had been a wealthy businessman and owned several factories in the US and China. During his teenage years in America, his father had enrolled him in a military school when he expressed an interest in serving in the Chinese military when they returned to China one day. His father encouraged this interest and did whatever he could to give his son a competitive edge when entering the People’s Liberation Army. However, when Yang graduated high school, instead of returning back to China to join a Chinese military academy, he applied to, and was accepted into a prestigious American military academy, the Citadel.
During his four years of study at the Citadel, he attended the US Army jump school, and was among the few students select
ed to attend Ranger School. Being a foreign student, he was given a lot of opportunities that most students would not have gotten until after they had joined the active duty military. Yang kept quiet about his career goals of returning back to China. It was not that he did not like (or even love) living in America--he did. Yang had many American friends, but his true love was for his ancestral homeland, China.
He wanted to see China succeed and become the dominant world power. While he loved many aspects of American culture, he deeply resented the culture of identity politics, various forms of racism, and the never-ending pursuit of money at the expense of others in society. The Americans seemed to value making money over taking care of their own people. In Yang’s eyes, while China might have a lot of problems, it provided its people with free education, free healthcare and a stable government that did not swing from one political spectrum to the other after each election. It provided what Yang thought was the most important, stability.
After completing his studies at the Citadel, Yang rejoined his family in China and was introduced to several high-ranking party officials and military generals that his father routinely did a lot of business with (his father’s factories produced a lot of military equipment, so he was well connected in those circles). Once they learned that Yang had not only attended one of the top American military academies but had gone through the American Ranger School, the men had tremendous admiration and respect for him. It was decided that they would become Yang’s patrons, and these men would help mentor and guide Yang through his career in the military to become a general and a leader in the new PLA.
Twenty years later, Yang was now the Commanding General for the Southern Theatre of Operations. When he had been read in to Operation Red Storm, he moved his headquarters to Pingxiang to be closer to his command when the annexation of Vietnam eventually began. Unlike a lot of other generals, Yang wanted to be near the action, so he could adjust tactics quickly if the situation warranted it.
General Yang’s force, Army Group A, consisted of the 14th Army, 41st Army and the 42nd Army. He had roughly 69,000 soldiers spread across six divisions, all ready to roll across the border. He had been told his objective was to secure Hanoi and the surrounding area, then let General Sheng’s Army Group B (which consisted of the 20th Army, the 27th Army, and the 38th Army) pass through his lines as they moved further south and secure the next set of objectives.
Never in his entire military career had General Yang seen such a large display of Chinese military might in one place, ready to be sprung. When he had been recalled to Beijing four weeks ago, he thought he was going to be replaced. Yang was a relatively young general by Chinese standards, only forty-four; however, his patrons in the Politburo had been advocating for years to update the military not just in terms of weapons and equipment, but also in bringing in a younger generation of generals who were tuned into modern technology and tactics. Unfortunately, one of his key patrons had suffered a heart attack a few months ago, and that left Yang uncertain of his future as the youngest army group commander since the revolution.
When General Yang arrived in Beijing, instead of the nasty surprise firing he had anticipated, Yang was read into a secret military operation that had been put together by Chairman Zhang, arguably China’s most forward-looking leader. He might be the third ranked person in the Chinese government, but he was probably the most powerful. As General Yang read through his portion of Red Storm, his eyes grew wide with excitement. China was finally going to ascend the global stage as a real superpower, not just an economic superpower, but a military superpower and the dominant leader of Asia. This was why he had wanted to join the military, to help lead his country into that glorious future.
As General Yang exited his helicopter and walked towards his command building, a commandeered government building, he signaled to his officers that he wanted them to follow him to his office. Once he had walked into the room that had been designated as his, he neatly placed his bag down in an almost robotic way, and then grabbed the water bottle next to his computer. After taking a long drink, he looked at his executive officer and six division commanders, who were staring at him, waiting for instructions.
“We have been given the orders,” Yang began. “We are to invade Vietnam in forty-eight hours. I want you to get your divisions ready.” He paused long enough to pull out several folders from his bag, handing one to each of the division commanders and another to his executive officer (XO).
“These are your division orders and objectives,” he directed to the division commanders.
The men nodded, beginning to pour through the flood of new information.
Pointing to his XO’s folder, he indicated, “Your folder holds our Army Group orders and objectives. Obviously, I want them gone over by our planners to make sure we have everything covered.”
Yang sighed. “Before you ask, I do not know what the other divisions or army groups are doing. I only know our orders and what we are supposed to accomplish. Please move to have your soldiers prepare to carry out the orders given to us. The eyes of the world and China will be upon us. We cannot fail.”
His future, his life, depended on the ability of the men in front of him to execute the orders they had just been given. The PLA did not look fondly on failure, and neither did the generals above him. He would be equally as hard on his own generals and their officers. The State must prevail at all cost.
Basement Dwellers
Hanoi, People’s Republic of Vietnam
US Embassy
Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Lisa Kowalski was overwhelmed by the continued screaming of the air-raid sirens, which continued to wail all around her. Another wave of Chinese bombers began to hit strategic areas around the city. Several bombs landed close enough to the Embassy that it caused the building to shake violently, even from Lisa’s vantage point in the basement. Fortunately, the reinforced bulletproof windows were holding so far, and none of them had burst from the impacts.
As Lisa looked around the basement of the Embassy, she could see fear written across the faces of those huddled under the various tables and desks. Like her, the CIA station chief sat in a chair, trying to read a book and wait out the bombing. Others looked at them like they were crazy for not trying to hide and take further shelter.
The CIA guy got tired of the looks and asked, “Do you really think a table or desk is going to save you if the floor above us collapses?” Then he went right back to reading his book.
Lisa giggled at the interaction. She had been deployed several times to Iraq and Afghanistan during the height of the war, so she remembered what it was like to wait out a bombing. There really wasn’t much point to hiding under a table or desk if the multi-ton floor above you collapsed; it was just as likely to kill you if you were under a desk or sitting in a chair reading a book.
The Embassy had been warned by the DIA about forty-eight hours ago that the Chinese might attack Vietnam. The State Department, however, insisted that China was just making a show of force along the border, that they would not invade.
Two hours ago, when the first bombs and missiles began to hit the capital city of Hanoi, the Ambassador sent an urgent message to headquarters asking what to do. They had been directed to get all non-essential personnel out of the country as best they could and to hunker down in the basement of the Embassy. Supposedly, headquarters was working on coordinating things with the Chinese government to make sure the Embassy and its staff were not targeted by whatever the Chinese were currently doing, but that brought little comfort to those hunkered down with Lisa in the basement. There wasn’t anything to do but wait, however, whether nervously or curled up with a book.
Run Pappi, Run
Nasva, Russia
Lieutenant Colonel Rob Fortney (“Pappi”) was exhausted. He had been trudging through the woods, farm fields, dirt roads, and streams, evading Russian search parties for nearly a week. He was not sure how far he had traveled on foot, but at some point, he stopped hearing dogs and helic
opters, so he figured he must have moved far enough away from the search party that they had lost him.
“I hope Ricky made it out,” he thought to himself as he surveyed a farmhouse not far from the edge of the woods.
As he looked at the dwelling, he squinted to see if they had a vehicle. He knew he would never be able to walk out of Russia, but it occurred to him that unlike the Soviet Union, a person could drive from one region to another within Russia without special papers. He figured he could hotwire a car, drive it as close to the Latvian border as possible, and then cross on foot. He had been scoping out this farmhouse for hours now though, waiting to see if there was any activity, and wondering if someone might come home later in the day.
Around 1900 hours, he saw a middle-aged man pull into the drive in a Lada Priora, and he instantly knew he had found what he was looking for. The man got out of the vehicle carrying what appeared to be a bag of groceries and walked to the house and went in. Several lights turned on inside as the man began his evening routine. Pappi waited almost three more hours, until the lights slowly began to turn off and he believed that the man was now in bed, asleep
To be absolutely certain, Pappi waited another hour before he started to move cautiously towards the Lada. As he approached the vehicle, he gently lifted the door handle, hoping with everything in him that there was no car alarm that would go off, alerting the man in the house to his presence. As he lifted it, the door slowly opened without incident.
“No car alarm, thank God,” he thought to himself.
Pappi knew if he started the car there, chances were the owner would hear it. Instead, he placed the vehicle in neutral and undid the parking brake. Then he positioned his hands on the frame of the driver side door and began to gently push the car backwards down the driveway. As he neared the road, he turned the steering wheel slightly, angling the car onto the road.
