Stephen Coonts - Combat

“I’m ravishing two gorgeous women at the same time,” he declared. “It’s a Manly Man kind of thing.”

Carol Delight settled more comfortably in her husband’s arms, both hands around his neck. “I’m glad you’re in a manly mood, dear,” she said sweetly. “Jane took me shopping on the way back from John Wayne Airport.”

Delight shifted her weight in his arms. “That’s as manly an airport as there is. I hope you spent a lot of money.”

Carol cocked her head, as if studying him. “Did you get enough oxygen on the way over here?”

“Darlin’, I don’t need oxygen as long as I’ve got you.”

That saccharine statement prompted a chorus of “Yuuuk” sentiments when Chief Wilger appeared. “Excuse me, folks,” he intoned. “You might want to come listen to the portable radio.”

“What is it?” Peters asked.

“Well, apparently the Chinese and the Vietnamese are shooting at each other.”

At eight that night most of the instructors and their wives gathered in the Peters’s suite at the old visiting officers’ quarters. Two security guards from the firm contracted by Wei stood outside, guarding the door.

“I want you all to know what’s going on in Vietnam and how it affects us,” Peters began. He stood by the television set that was turned on but muted. The news graphic headlined, “War in the Tonkin Gulf.”

“First, apparently it isn’t really a war. It seems to be a limited naval action involving the same area that was disputed several months ago. China and Vietnam both claim the area where petroleum was found, and Vietnam has been drilling there for a few years. You’ve heard the same news reports I have, but a couple of my D.C. contacts have more detail.”

Peters paced a few steps, staring at the carpet. “Congressman Ottmann is coming out here tomorrow or the next day at the latest. So are a couple of Navy representatives involved with the PRC carrier program. From them, I’ve learned that Chinese marines occupied two of the three drilling platforms.”

Robbins interrupted. “Terry, what’s Washington say about the Chinese carrier program? If the chinks are the aggressors, won’t that result in some kind of sanctions?”

“I’m just coming to that, Rob. Washington has chosen to treat this as a local feud. Even though Beijing is technically the aggressor, the State Department waffles it enough to say that both sides should stand down.” He raised his hands. “That’s just diplomatic BS. The president and Congress are in bed with the Chinese too far to back out. The bottom line is markets and money, and in that contest, Hanoi loses every time.”

“So you’re saying we’ll continue with the CarQual schedule?” Ostrewski sat on the floor between Vespa and Thaler.

“Well, as of now I haven’t heard anything different. Rob, you were out to the boat yesterday. How’d it look?”

“Fine. Captain Albright was happy with things, and he said he can give us twenty-eight knots. Oh, we heard from Pensacola. Two landing signal officers are inbound tomorrow. They’re supposed to clear us instructors for preliminary CarQuals before the Chinese begin trapping.”

Peters scanned the crowded room. “Any other questions?”

Liz Vespa voiced the thought in a dozen minds. “Only about a hundred, skipper.”

Peters convened the briefing in Ottmann’s suite. Zack Delight, Rob Robbins, Ozzie Ostrewski, Psycho Thaler, Liz Vespa, and Chief Wilger were seated around the dining-room table.

“First,” Peters began, “for those who haven’t met Congressman Tim Ottmann, I’ll introduce him by saying he’s on the House Military Affairs Committee. He chairs the Tactical Airpower Subcommittee, which has oversight of the Chinese carrier program. Before that, Skip made a poor but honest living as an Eagle driver.” Ottmann shared the group’s laughter.

“Before Skip explains the reason for this meeting, one thing has to be clear.” As usual when he wanted to make a point, Peters paused. “Everything that’s said here stays here. What we’re planning is potentially dangerous, and the legal implications are not clear-cut. Zack and I are in, but you have to make your own decisions. So, before we continue, anybody who wants to withdraw, do so now.” Peters waited but nobody stirred. Peters then turned to Ottmann, standing at the head of the table.

“Thanks, Terry.” Ottmann cleared his throat. “Folks, in no more than seven days Mainland China will invade Taiwan.”

Vespa’s hand instinctively sought Ostrewski’s. Chief Wilger voiced the unspoken sentiment of everyone else. “Holy shit.”

“I know your first concern,” Ottmann said. “You wonder why the Chinese would pick fights with Vietnam and Taiwan at the same time. Well, the Vietnam feud is strategic deception — a manufactured crisis to draw our attention away from Taiwan.

“The real reason behind the upcoming invasion is, well, time. The old guard in Beijing — the hard-line Maoists — are dying off. They want China ‘reunited’ before they go to Marxist valhalla. The new generation is more pragmatic.” Ottmann gave an ironic smile. “By ‘new generation,’ I mean those who don’t remember the Long March in 1936.

“Now, they’ve been very patient. They went along with the so-called internal reforms we wanted because they needed American technology. But there is nothing to prevent the Communist Party from reverting to its old ways once it has what it wants — control of Taiwan. It’s a purely cynical view, but remember, these folks insist that Mao Zedung was ‘too great a man to be bound by his word.’” Ottmann shrugged. “It’s a cultural attitude that we can’t change.”

Ostrewski leaned forward. “Mr. Ottmann, I don’t know much, but I know if China invades Taiwan, there’ll be war with the U.S.”

“Previously I’d agree with you, but things have changed.” Ottmann stopped to organize his thoughts, then continued. “The reason the PRC has initiated its so-called reforms is to increase its influence here. You all know about the scandals that never went anywhere. Well, by making themselves financially necessary to three administrations, the Chinese bought themselves more than political influence. They bought political souls.”

Robbins was tempted to mutter, “No such thing” when Liz Vespa spoke up. “My God, how did it ever go this far?”

“Well,” Ottmann said, “the Bush administration continued normal relations after Tiananmen Square. Clinton, who hammered Bush for his China policy in the campaign, not only continued that policy, but expanded it.” He grinned sardonically. “Hey, Washington runs on hypocrisy like jets run on JP-4.

“Anyway, besides the millions of dollars in campaign money, you had major corporations clamoring to do business with one-third of the human race. After all, most other Western nations already were in bed with Beijing, and our CEOs didn’t want to be left out. So they leaned on their politicians, and things just snowballed.”

Robbins raised his voice. “Sir, how do we fit into this?”

“Okay. Beijing knows that America can’t just lean back while PRC troops walk over Taiwan. There has to be a publicly acceptable reason for us to sit it out and pass some window-dressing sanctions. We’ll probably impose embargos again.

“However, the Chinese are hedging their bet. They have a new long-range missile, the DF-41, with technology we either sold them or they stole from us. France and Israel also contributed, by the way. So, in the next few days we expect China to launch a ‘test’ that’ll hit about two hundred miles off the Washington coast. That’ll be a warning shot that says, ‘America, you don’t have any better missile defense than we do.’ So ICBMs are a standoff.