Dale Brown - Sky Masters

“They will not be permitted to enter the Celebes Sea, ” Admiral Yin said solemnly. “That I can promise. When Davao has been taken, Group One and Group Two will form to oppose these task forces until additional forces arrive from the mainland.”

“Yes, sir, ” Sun continued. “This leaves the greatest threat to the southern Philippines task force, in the estimation of our intelligence section: the American Air Force. The First Air Battle Wing currently deployed on Guam reportedly has two dozen B-52 heavy bombers, perhaps eight long-range supersonic B-1 and F-1 11 bombers, nearly a dozen medium-range F-15 supersonic bombers, two dozen F-15 and F-16 fighter escorts, and various support aircraft, including reconnaissance, early warning, intelligence, and aerial refueling aircraft. Unverified reports from our patrols in the Philippine Sea say that the Americans might have sent B-2s as well. “This force can strike within three hours with enough standoff weaponry to devastate large sections of our deployed battle groups. They have been flying reconnaissance flights as far west as Talaud Island, within radar range of our warships outside Davao Gulf. One U-2 spy plane was shot down last night by the destroyer Zhangyhum. we estimate the U-2 was able to get pictures of our vessels in Davao Gulf itself.”

“It does not sound like much of a threat to me, Captain, ” Admiral Yin said. “Only thirty-two long-range strike aircraft, most of which are over forty years old? I see no substantial threat.”

“Their medium-range bombers and fighters are also a threat because of their aerial-refueling capability, sir, ” Captain Sun replied. “And we should not underestimate the payload capability of the B-52. Fully armed, they can carry twenty-four Harpoon antiship missiles, which can strike from as far as one hundred and fifty kilometers-“

“Yes, the heavy bombers are a threat, Captain, ” Admiral Yin said, “but once we secure Davao Airport, we can launch twenty fighters for every one of their bombers. The odds are clearly in our favor. The closest American air base on Okinawa is almost sixteen hundred kilometers from Manila, and the American air base on Guam is over two thousand kilometers from Davao. Even if the Americans were granted permission to use the British air base at Bandar Seri Begawan in Brunei, that is still eight hundred kilometers to Zamboanga and twelve hundred kilometers to Davao-plenty of time to organize our air, ground, and surface defenses. Once reliable radar earlywarning networks are established around the Philippines, no American planes would be able to approach any Chinese positions without being detected…. “The key, however, is our impending attack on Davao. What is the status of our forces and the status of our operation against Davao?” Yin asked. “The Admiral’s headquarters fleet afloat reports fully operational, ” Captain Sun replied. “All vessels report fully manned, ready, and combat-capable, with no operational defects. “The schedule briefed yesterday is still valid, sir, ” Captain Sun continued. “At two A.M. tomorrow morning, Marine paratroopers will land on the coast outside the city of Davao and secure the Subasta and Sibuyan highways. Other Marine units will take Talikud Island and seal off the coastal towns of Samal and Bangoy on Samal Island. This will allow the minesweepers to enter Dadaotan Bay ahead of the destroyers and landing craft transports, without fear of attack in the narrow channel.” That was the same objective during the invasion of Zamboanga, when the heavily populated Santa Cruz Channel had to be sanitized before Yin’s fleet could take up positions, except then they had more air power flying from Puerto Princesa and the element of surprise. That was gone now-unlike Zamboanga, Davao was ready for a siege. Many things were different between Davao and the relatively easy siege of Zamboanga. Davao was the heart of the Samar government and the capital of the autonomous proIslamic government on Mindanao. Few officials and residents here were from Luzon-although Davao had as much natural beauty as Zamboanga and was the largest city on Mindanao, with a population of over seventy-five thousand, it was considered an isolated, remote, untamed frontier town and never gained the popularity of its more contemporary sister city to the west. Davao had no large military base, so there was no large-scale government facility from which to stage a “popular revolt.” Nevertheless, Yin was determined to see Davao fall. “By five A.M. the destroyers should be in place, and the LSTs will begin deploying landing craft, ” Sun continued. “The Air Force will move in to soften the beach area, and the destroyers with their escorts and shallow-draft patrol craft will secure the bay and harbors and provide gun support for the landing craft. The landing should begin at six A.M. and should be complete by eleven. Sometime tomorrow afternoon, perhaps earlier, Samar International Airport will be ours. “The Air Force will continue to patrol the area, especially the six private airstrips within fifty kilometers of Samar International-these are known marshaling areas and resupply points for the Samar militia. Army troops should have these areas secured by day after tomorrow, along with the Cadeco River valley. General Yuhan’s forces should have also secured the radar site on Mount Apo and the Cagayan Highway to the north. With the Mount Apo radar site, we can scan the region for almost five hundred kilometers in all directions-we can detect a flock of birds or a group of whales approaching the Philippines. “Once this is accomplished, Group One can begin patrols of the east Celebes Sea and provide escorts for supply vessels entering Davao Gulf. Group Three can begin resupply sorties to Davao via sealift until the Davao-Cotaban Highway is secure or until the area around Samar International Airport is secure and we can begin airlifting in supplies. We have no firm timetable on this as of yet, however. Our best option is to secure the sea-lanes for resupply until substantial numbers of troops are in place on Mindanao-it may take as long as a month. “We can reasonably expect the fall of Davao to split the rebel forces into at least three separate groups, located roughly on the east coast, the southern coast, and the north-central parts of Mindanao, ” Sun concluded. “This will reduce their ability to fight and dramatically disrupt their own resupply chain. We will force them into more and more austere conditions and reduce their ability to fight.” Yin nodded thoughtfully. He was impressed with Sun’s briefing. If Sun had started briefing tactics and weapons, Yin would have been upset and concerned. Tactics and weapons did not win invasion campaigns-logistics won invasions. Everything his fleet and ground troops did ultimately had to open and secure supply lines or the invasion was doomed to failure. They were going to pour thousands of men and millions of tons of warships into Davao just to be able to land a few cargo aircraft at the airport or dock a supply ship in the harbor. Sun’s briefing emphasized resupply-that was the way it should be. If the supply lines were cut, he was doomed. “Excellent, Captain Sun, ” Admiral Yin said, bowing from the neck. “I congratulate you and your staff for a well-organized plan, and I wish us all success. Now tell me about areas in which we are weakest.”

“I see two areas of concern for this operation, sir, ” Captain Sun replied. “Both relate to the remote possibility of counterattack from American or ASEAN forces. “First, our close air support and fighter aircraft must launch from Zamboanga Airport-Cotabato Airport is still not secure enough for aircraft operations because of rebel activity. This means our fighters must fly four hundred kilometers one-way to reach Davao Gulf, and almost six hundred kilometers to intercept bombers carrying antiship missiles capable of hitting our warships in Davao Gulf. With the return trip and combat reserves, this leaves almost no loiter time for all our aircraft.”