Джон Шеттлер - Condition Zebra - The Next War - 2025

“Sir,” said XO Ripley, “ Independence is now 500 miles east of Sri Lanka, which puts them about 1800 miles from our position.”

“Good, but that’s sour grapes.”

“Well, word from Salaha is that only one of the four docks was damaged beyond easy repair. They’re already working on the other three. Salaha may still be an option for the Marines.”

“We’ll cross that bridge later,” said Simpson. “The Chinese have ships at Aden, and their main group now looks to be heading northeast.”

“Gulf of Oman, sir. They want to head us off, and get Pakistan to cover their backs.”

“Not if we get up there first. Ripley, you tell the destroyers we’re going to start turning the screws in another half hour—ahead flank. I’m not going to let them cut us off and block access to the Gulf.”

So as the Chinese fleet ran northeast along the coast, the Allied fleet was 330 miles out to sea, but on a parallel course. Between the two forces, there were three submarines, HMS Anson , USS Seawolf and Seatiger , all trying to get into position to ambush the Chinese as they advanced. Another kill, and Captain Drake would be top dog in the undersea world, and with the Chinese ships running at 25 knots, they would not hear these stealthy boats easily.

What Admiral Sun Wei dearly needed now was some air cover. He had three J-20’s at Ras Karma on Socotra, but the runway access point was a deep crater surrounded by bubble, and there were no earth movers at hand. The work had to be done the old fashioned way, with pick and shovel, and that took time. So those three Dragoons were shut in for the foreseeable future.

A Squadron of twelve J-10’s was based at Riyan airport, and six of those took off to cover the movement of the wounded frigate Liuzhou , which had been making for the coast near Al Ghaydah in north Yemen. There were AEW assets at that field, but they could not fly without fighter cover. So that J-10 flight would be reassigned to Al Ghaydah, There were six J-10’s left at Al Anad AFB near Aden, six more at Massawa on the Red Sea coast, and 15 at Sana’a, but that was 6550 miles to the west. No J-20’s were available at all on the Arabian Peninsula or Red Sea district. Any that remained were in Pakistan, at Gwadar and Jinnah near Karachi.

The planes at Gwadar, a dozen J-20’s, were the only assets he might call on as he moved northeast, and he angrily thought they would not be enough.

The Americans will have fighters at Muscat, and closer at Masirah. Those planes would be able to intercept anything flying south from Gwadar. This is simply unacceptable! And I have been remiss. Hong Buchan was to have brought his Bengal Bay Squadron to join our main fleet, but he stubbornly stayed well east of our position, thinking he ruled the Arabian Sea. Look what that got him. Now his ships are at the bottom of the sea, and he complains to Beijing that we failed to support him.

The Admiral was so upset that he sent a terse coded signal to Naval Headquarters in China:

“We have put heavy damage on the port of Salaha, and now move to interdict Muscat and the Gulf of Oman. Yet victory will elude us for lack of adequate air support. The enemy carriers strike us at will! This is unacceptable. Requesting all available J-20 Squadrons be transferred to Pakistan at once in support of this fleet before further losses are inflicted by enemy air strikes. Furthermore, request all units of Arabian Sea Fleet to be under my immediate command.”

Admiral Shen Jinlong, Commander in Chief of the Chinese Navy, made this request to the air force, demanding support, and made certain that the message was copied to appropriate civilian leadership. Wang Ziwen, Chief of the Air Force, had most of his better squadrons assigned to the Siberian front, and he might have said that no J-20 squadrons were available, but the drawdown of hostilities there was the excuse he needed to answer this call.

To make such a transfer, the planes would first have to fly all the way over the Taklamakan Desert to the farthest reaches of Xinjiang Province. There were no regular bases there, but two reserve fields could be used to refuel the planes, one at Kashi near Kashgar, and another at the old desert Silk Road city of Khotan (or Hotan). From there it would be an air ferry of a little over 1000 nautical miles to Gwadar or Karachi, up over the roof of the world in the Himalayas. Transport aircraft would also have to lift in more missiles for the planes, and diplomatic channels had to clear the way first with Pakistan.

It was clear to Beijing, at least on one level, that their fighting Admiral was instinctively moving to maintain communications with Pakistan, and by extension, the homeland. If he had gone to Aden, there is no doubt that the entire fleet would have been isolated, and either have to fight its way out of the Gulf of Aden, or simply sit out the war in the Red Sea.

As to their other fighting Admiral, Hong Buchan, a private communique from Sun Wei to Beijing revealed his lack of cooperation, and the subsequent destruction of so many ships when they were isolated from the main fleet. Hong was therefore ordered to assume a new post as Military Liaison to Pakistan, and facilitate the buildup of air units as planned, much to his chagrin.

“Sun Wei seeks to blame me now for his incompetence!” he would complain to subordinates. “He must have poisoned the tea in Beijing with my name, saying I am to blame for the loss of those ships, while it was he who insisted on bombarding that port, losing valuable time. The fleet needs to be near the Gulf of Oman! Now the Americans are increasing speed to try and get there first. Liaison to Pakistan? See that the air reinforcements are properly based? I am not in the Air Force. I am a Navy Admiral!”

He complaints fell on the ears of all around him, but he did not say anything further to Beijing. Yet his heart darkened with ill will towards Sun Wei, and he was scheming on how he could recover face, and besmirch the Admiral, making all right again under heaven and earth, and with him in charge of the Indo-Arabian Fleet.

Captain Sir Francis Drake was on the prowl again, and he had come a long way to get into the position he now held. There were seven contacts ahead, skunks on the sea, and the closest had been identified as DDG Chaoyong , Type 052D. The destroyer was the outer picket of a formation moving at 25 knots, hastening up the coast of Oman. Behind it, five more contacts were detected in its wake. Chaoyong was now about 9 miles away, and Anson was creeping at 5 knots. As the destroyer came on, the range would diminish rapidly to about eight miles, and he would fire his first Spearfish.

“We have to be stingy here, gentlemen,” he said. “We’ve only four Spearfish left, so make tube one ready.” Normally, he would have used two torpedoes to ensure his kill, but the ammo was running low.

“Tube one ready, sir!”

“Sonar?”

“We have him sir. Generated bearing good. Solution confirmed.”

“Range to target?”

“Sir, eight point five miles and closing.”

“Good enough,” said Drake. “Shoot on generated bearings. Then come left twenty degrees and steady at five knots. Make your depth 500 feet.”

“Sir, aye, torpedo away, coming twenty degrees left to 380 and diving to 500 feet.”

“Torpedo running true,” said the fire control station. “Sir, torpedo has not acquired. Circling…. Reacquired target, and closing at 80 knots….”

“Explosion in the water,” came the sonar report. “It’s a hit!”

“Good show. Give me fifteen knots.”