Dale Brown - Sky Masters

“Sir… the embassy got a call from an officer who identified himself as a member of the Fleet Admiral’s Staff of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy South Philippines Task Force. He advises us that Admiral Yin Po L’un, the Fleet Admiral, has ordered that the city of Davao be attacked and destroyed with nuclear weapons if the American bombers do not withdraw immediately.”

“What?” Everyone in the command post was on their feet. “That was the ship… the guy… that launched the antiship nuclear missile . . . wasn’t it?” Masters asked Stone. No one replied, but the answer was clear. “It’s a bluff, ” Cal Jarrel said resolutely. “The message origin was verified, sir, ” the communications officer reported. “Came directly from the Premier’s offices themselves through military channels. The State Department is notifying the White House now. “Back up that call with one of our own, Stone ordered. “Get the President on the line for me immediately.”

“Can he do it?” Elliott asked. “Can his missiles attack ground targets?”

“Easily, and with pretty good precision, ” Stone replied. “The Fei Lung-9 has a range of almost two hundred kilometers-that’s over a hundred nautical miles. It was originally a mobile land-based missile, modified for shipboard use. “You can’t take this seriously, ” Jarrel protested. “We were expecting something like this. The next call that comes in will say that the Chinese will launch a sea-launched ballistic missile on Guam or Hong Kong or Okinawa if we don’t withdraw.” But faces were still grave-they were taking the threat very seriously. Jarrel said, “There’s nothing we can do anyway-the planes are over their targets now. In three minutes the B- Is will go over the target.”

“We can withdraw them, ” Harbaugh said. “That’s crazy, Tom. “Look at the board, Cal, ” Harbaugh said. “Your boys have done enough damage already. What’s the big deal if we abort the northern strike group?”

“The big deal is, the Chinese Marines will make it on the beach, ” Jarrel argued. “We would have used all the other bombers for nothing… we will have lost all those other crews for nothing.”

“We can’t take the chance that he’ll do it, ” Harbaugh said. “He’ll wipe out a bunch of his own guys, won’t he?” Masters asked. “If they’re already wiped out by the Air Battle Force, he might not care.” “Order a strike by the Tomahawk cruise missiles again, ” Elliott said. “What’s the range from the Wisconsin group to the Hong Lung?” But the measurement was quickly made and verified-it was over six hundred miles. The Tomahawk cruise missile crews would need at least thirty minutes to program a new strike, and then the missiles would take at least an hour to fly that distance. “We can order one of the bombers to attack the Hong Lung, ” Harbaugh said. “They can withhold a couple weapons, head south, and attack. We can use a couple of the B-1s in the northern strike group-they only have mines and fuel-air explosives left by now, but that should do the job.” He pointed at the high-definition monitor. “HongLung will need to move farther north, right to the mouth of Davao Gulf, before firing. That means we have about twenty minutes to get someone in position…”

“There isn’t time to send retargeting data to the B-Is, Tom, ” Jarrel said. “We’ve got two orders we can give the bombers now-attack or withhold. If we order two planes to withhold, they abort right in the middle of all that air defense. They have to traverse a hundred and twenty miles of stiff defenses, find the right ship, and attack. It’s crazy. I say send the B-Is in and finish the job. This is an obvious bluff, and we’re falling for it. “But if it’s not a bluff…”

“I have a suggestion, sir, ” Masters said. “I think I have a way we can strike that Chinese destroyer in time. And Jon Masters began to outline his plan to his audience. . MINDANAO, THE PHILIPPINES The frigate Xiamen had been hit by no less than six Harpoon missiles and was burning as fiercely as a volcano in the mouth of Davao Gulf-its patrol boat escorts could not get within five kilometers of it because of burning fuel oil on the water, the intense heat, and the occasional explosions in her weapon magazines. Three of Xiamen ‘s six patrol boat escorts had been hit by Harpoon missiles, which left Davao Gulf wide open for the strike package to enter. Two B-52s took heavy-caliber gun fire hits from patrol boats and were forced to jettison their ordnance armed before penetrating into the target area, and one was shot down as it withdrew from the area; all of the crewmen safely ejected and were taken prisoner. The destroyer Yinchuan, which had few antiair weapons in its arsenal, was the next to fall. Ten B-52s from the three southern strike packages descended on it and her escorts, filling the air with forty Harpoon missiles designated just for one vessel. Most of the missiles struck other vessels or were intercepted by Yinchuan ‘s escorts, but ten Harpoon missiles found the heavy destroyer. It sank in less than twenty minutes. The destroyer Dalian, which was equipped with the Hong Qian-9 I surface-to-air missile system, and its antiair-equipped escorts wreaked havoc on the six B-52s that were fragged to attack it. Two B-52s sustained heavy damage and were forced to withdraw; one crashed over land to the east of Bangoy Bay, while the other was attacked by fighters and destroyed as it tried to escape the target area. But Dalian had expended most of its weapons defending the amphibious assault force against Tomahawk cruise missiles, and it soon found that it could not defend itself against an onslaught of twelve Harpoon antiship missiles launched against it. Battered and listing to starboard, the destroyer’s captain finally decided to beach his vessel near Matiao rather than have it sink in Bangoy Bay. The vertical-plot greaseboard in the flag bridge of the destroyer Hong Lung was physically painful to look at. Destroyed vessels were in red, damaged and out-of-commission vessels were in black, damaged but operational vessels were in green-and-black stripes, and fully operational vessels were in green-and there were damned few of those. Fortunately, most of the green vessels were amphibious assault ships-the attackers still had not reached the Marines on the beach. “Flag, bridge, we have visual sighting on destroyer Xiamen, ” the skipper of the Hong Lung radioed to Admiral Yin. “He is signaling a request for assistance. Shall we come alongside?” Captain Sun looked at Yin, who silently shook his head. Sun considered asking the Admiral to reconsider, thought better of it, then radioed, “Bridge from flag. Tactical recovery only, longboats and stage-three damage-control parties. Maintain course and speed to establish patrol position. Flag out.” Sun shut off the intercom before the captain could argue as well. “Dalian reports he is safely aground, sir, ” a radioman reported. “Captain Yeng reports he can repair his fire-control system, estimated time to completion, thirty minutes.” Another silent nod from Yin. “Tell Captain Yeng to continue antiair coverage with electro-optical and visual means until his radar fire-control system is repaired, ” Sun said. “Add that the Admiral commends him for saving his vessel and for his confirmed kills, but that he is still the primary antiair warship for the invasion force.” Captain Sun stepped over to the vertical plot, studied it for a moment, then said, “We should have the transports evade north into Bangoy Bay-it will hide them better from any bombers that are still in the area. When the all-clear sounds, they can travel at flank speed south with their escorts to recover. “What escorts?” Yin muttered. “What escorts are left?”

“You see, sir, we have at least six patrol boats . . . and the Hong Lung group will be in position to cover their withdrawal, of course. Once past us, our air coverage will protect them until they dock at Zamboanga to load reinforcements.”