Джон Шеттлер - Condition Zebra - The Next War - 2025

The “air assets” that Admiral Randall had referred to in his meeting with Shannon were fighters and support planes transferring in from US bases on Yap and Palau. There would be six Raptors, another flight of six Avenger II’s and an E-3G Sentry. Bombers from Guam were always available, and could weigh in with air strikes as needed.

As always, the US wanted to keep a sharp eye on what the Chinese were doing in the South China Sea, and waiting for satellites wasn’t always the best option. Guam also had a special asset, the SR-72 Aurora, a 2900 MPH strategic recon plane which was able to take a look at the situation from 85,000 feet, which was 5000 feet above the service ceiling of the Chinese HQ-9B, so the plane could loiter or scoot by with impunity, fuel being the only limiting factor, as Guam was a long way off, over 2000 nautical miles.

The report was sent to Captain Henry “Hap” Turner on the New Jersey , and he did the courtesy of sending in on through to Kirov . Karpov was on the weather deck when it came in, using his field glasses to see if he could spot the tall battlements of the American Battleship. Nikolin came out to say he had a message decrypt, and Karpov headed for the warmth of the bridge. He saw that Fedorov was hunched over the light table where the digital display was marking the positions of ships in the region. The Admiral hung his field glasses on the hook where he always left them and read the message.

“My,” he said, handing the message off to Fedorov. “Have a look at this.”

Fedorov glanced at it darkly, seeing the one thing that was cause for concern. “Twenty-five ships?” he said, giving Karpov a sour look.”

Even as he read the message, the digital display was already updating with the positions of the contacts being reported.

“The Chinese never do things small, Fedorov. They have regrouped, and here they come again. This crab like formation just south of the Mekong Delta is built around the carrier Shandong . It looks like the one we hit earlier is still in port, Zhendong .”

“That’s a relief,” said Fedorov.

“Oh? Look here, the intelligence indicates they think there is a second carrier— Taifeng . It would be in this group to the east. This means they’re upping their game here. That carrier is the flagship of the East China Sea Fleet, but obviously things are at a low boil there now, and this is a much more strategic situation. It means they could have as many as 60 fighters on those carriers. It makes sense, because the US took out their local bases and they were soft on air power. They can’t just rely on satellites. They need eyes in the sky to find and fix our position, and now they’ll be able to do that.”

“And we’ll need to find them as well, because that recon plane can’t loiter there very long.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that. The one thing the Americans do better than anyone else is reconnaissance. They’ll have the Chinese order of battle chapter and verse before long.”

“So, it looks like you’ll get another crack at a carrier.”

“Indeed it does.”

“Yet that’s a lot of ships, Karpov. We have only seven, ten if we count the submarines. We’re outnumbered over two to one.”

“Well,” said Karpov, “we have about 120 missiles we can throw with our ships. The American’s have another 150. That’s 270 offensive missiles, enough to put at least ten on every one of those enemy ships. So we’ve got some clout, and they’ll soon know it. It’s likely that we’ll get air support, and those three subs will be very dangerous for them. They haven’t really learned their ASW operations yet. But once bitten, twice shy. Zhendong is really still in port because that British sub put torpedoes into it. For my money, as good as my Zircons are, a torpedo is the most dangerous weapon in all naval combat. The Chinese may have subs out there too, so I hope Tasarov has the wax out of his ears.”

Wu Jinlong was a skilled and dedicated Admiral, but he was also a realist. Speaking with Admiral Zheng Bau, Chief of Naval Operations South, he asked the one question that still rankled the Chinese naval command structure.

“Suppose I reach Singapore in strength. What then? What am I to do there? Sun Wei attempted to bombard the port of Salaha in Oman, and sat there for nearly three hours wearing out his deck guns. Yet he was only able to put serious damage on one of the naval docks there. Surely you do not want me to attempt to destroy Changi Harbor the same way.”

“Of course not,” said Zheng. “Your mission is to control the Singapore Strait. From that position, you also shut down the Sunda Strait. So you must drive off any naval forces the enemy still attempts to muster there. This time, it is the Americans and Siberians. Consider it a defensive operation. They are using those waters, and we will take that away from them. If we had done so earlier, they would not have a second carrier ready to enter the battle for the Arabian Sea.”

Both men knew that was the main concern now, for things had not been going well in the Indo-Arabian theater. “So then you wish me to drive off these forces, and then maintain a strong naval presence there?”

“Precisely…. But one thing more. Putting pressure here may compel the Americans to recall that second carrier here again, and that would aid our operations in the Arabian Sea. We must think of these two campaigns as one. Sun Wei is the right hand, you are the left, and our Kung Fu must be good. Stated simply. If Sun Wei can prevent the arrival of strong American forces in Oman, then we hold a strong bargaining chip in Saudi Arabia. The Iraqis can trade ground gained there for all of Kuwait, and we can insist on nothing less.”

“And what if the Americans see that theater as the decisive front?” said Wu Jinlong. “That is where they did send that second carrier, and they leave only one small surface action group here guarding Singapore. My mission would be different here if we actually posed a threat to that island. Yet with the largest standing army on earth, we do not have the means of seizing Singapore. It’s disgraceful. Why did we commit all our airborne and Marines to the Ryukyus?”

“That was necessary to secure the First Island Chain, and as a prerequisite to further action against the Japanese.”

“The Japanese? What action? Don’t tell me we are contemplating the invasion of Kyushu!”

“Nothing of the sort, but we must end their meddling once and for all in this war. They will hanker for their islands back, and we must crush their navy to show them how futile their designs are. From this day forward, the Ryukyus belong to China, and that includes Okinawa. We have eliminated those chokepoints at the edge of the Pacific.”

“And what business do we have there? We saw what happened when we attempted to overreach and take Iwo Jima.”

“That was unfortunate, and perhaps premature, but we will go one day, and beyond. In time we will push all the way out to the Second Island Chain. Then it will be the Americans complaining when we make these so called “freedom of navigation” patrols through the Marianas. They have few bases left to roost here in the Western Pacific. If we are to truly control this region, we must push them out, push them east, all the way back to Hawaii.”

“Very ambitious,” said Wu Jinlong. “Well, I will tell you that we will never do this with the carriers we have now. We were not yet ready for a major conflict like this. We should have waited five more years, and conducted these operations in 2030.”

“Yes,” said Zhang Bao, “with at least two more fleet carriers. That is in the past. The situation is before us now, and we must act accordingly. So, go and show the Americans we can drive them off—and the Siberians. Yes, we have a bone to pick with them. Pass like thunder and lightning. Move like the wind. Topple mountains, overturn seas! If the Gods block you, slay them. If Buddha stands in your way, kill him! You must prevail.”