Fatal Terrain Read online

fense suicide."

  "You might want to loosen up a bit, Patrick," Samson in-

  terjected, with a wry smile. "Those decisions are made far,

  far above our pay grade. Besides, it was the success of the

  heavy bomber that ielped kill it off more than anything else.'

  "What do you mean?"

  "After your overlying of China with a B-2 everyone

  thought had been destroyed, the world is scared shitless,"

  Samson explained. "Any talk of using strategic bombers in a

  conflict, especially with China, looks like a return to the Cold

  War days, and it has lawmakers on both sides nervous. The

  President has ordered all the Beaks back to Whiteman, and

  he's lying low, waiti ng for the 'lynch mobs' to quiet down."

  "Lynch mobs? Someone's upset that we struck back at the

  Iranians?"

  "Don't you read the papers, Patrick?" Samson asked with

  surprise. "Half of Congress, mostly the left side of the aisle,

  is howling mad at the President for authorizing those bombing

  missions against Iran. There's talk of an investigation, an in-

  dependent counsel, even impeachment. Nothing will come of

  it, of course-it's all political mudslinging, and few outside

  the Pentagon or the closed-door congressional military com-

  mittees know what we did over Iran-but the President's neck

  is stretched way out there."

  "We proved today that the B-52 is still a first-class weapon

  system," McLanahan said resolutely. "We've got five more

  Sky Masters can arm

  EB-52s sitting in storage right now, and

  them all with Wolverine attack missiles and Tacit Rainbow

  anti-radar missiles. The mission has changed, General, but we

  still need the B-52s."

  FATAL TERRAIN 49

  "The B-52s have already been fragged for the boneyard,

  Patrick, including the Megafortresses,', Samson said. "The

  money's already been spent to get rid of them. Minot and

  Barksdale go civilian by the end of next year-hell, my desk

  will be auctioned off by Christmas. Give it up,

  Patrick. I'll

  recommend that Air Force buy Wolverines, but not to equip

  B-52s-that's a losing proposition. Mate Wolverines with

  Beaks and Bones"-Samson used the crewdog nicknames for

  the B-2A and B-113 bombers-" and I think we'll have a

  deal.-

  But McLanahan wasn't listening-he was lost in thought,

  his eyes locked in the "thousand-yard stare- that he seemed

  to lapse into from time to time. Even though he ran checklists

  and did his duties as a B-2 bomber mission commander, he

  seemed to think about a hundred different things all at once.

  Just like Brad Elliott, Samson thought. Thinking about how he

  was going to twist the game to his advantage, turning over

  each and every possibility, no matter how weird or outlandish,

  until the solution presented itself. Elliott was famous ... no,

  infamous ... for that,

  "Twenty B-2s and sixty B-Is to cover all of the long-range

  strike contingencies around the world?" McLanahan muttered.

  "You can't do it, sir. Deploy the force to Diego Garcia for a

  Middle East conflict, then swing them to Guam for an Asia

  conflict? Maybe for a few days, but not for more than that.

  Who leads the way for the little guys?"

  "That's why we got the Navy and the F- 1 17, " Samson said.

  "Bombers aren't the only answer, MC, you know that. you,re

  forgetting the other twenty-five Air Force, Reserve, and Guard

  combat strike wings, the thirteen Navy air wings, the four Ma-

  rine air wings. . .

  "Tactical bombers need forward airstrips, lots of tankers,

  @nd lots Of ground support," McLanahan reminded the gen-

  eral, "and naval bombers need carriers that can sail safely

  within range of the target. A conflict in Asia, for example,

  could do away with all of these."

  "But a B-52 can't stand up to modem-day air defenses,

  Patrick," Samson said. "All of the reports and studies prove

  this. Even with two-hundred mile standoff weapons, a B-52

  can't survive. Put it in a low- or zero-threat environment and

  it could chew up a lot of earth, but it's not worth the money

  50 DALE BROWN

  to support a bomber that can only be used once the war's

  almost won."

  "General, the Megafortress will cream anything the Air

  Force, Navy, or Marines can put up against it," Jon Masters.

  "All by itself, it'll go up against a squadron of whatever you

  want to put up and 'destroy' every strategic target in the RED

  FLAG range-and it'll come out alive, ready to fight again."

  "Spoken like a true salesman, Doc," Samson said over his

  shoulder, with a broad smile. To McLanahan he said, "I'm

  not promising that anything will come of this, you two, re-

  member that. I did this flight test as a favor to you and Dr.

  Masters. You and Jon might not get a contract from the Air

  Force after all this is over, no matter how well your gear works

  or how much of your own money you spend."

  do, they'll make a

  "When the Air Force sees what we can

  t be able to re-

  deal," Masters said confidently. "They won

  sist.99

  "General, Jon's business is making money-we all under-

  stand that," McLanahan said earnestly. "But my objective is

  to build the best long-range rapid-deployment attack fleet pos-

  sible with our shrinking defense budget, and I believe part of

  that objective is the EB-52B Megafortress, combined with

  smart standoff attack and defense-suppression weapons. Jon

  and his company are backing my ideas. All I want is a chance

  to show the brass what we can do, and we need your help.

  We're the best, General. We need the chance to prove it."

  Samson smiled and shook his head in amusement. "You

  better watch yourself, Colonel-you're starting to sound an

  iott."

  awful lot like that old warhorse friend of yours, Brad Ell

  tor. "He's a good

  McLanahan smiled at the mention of his men

  buddy and one fine man, but he sure got stung by the hornets

  from all the nests he stiffed up. A friendly word of caution:

  don't be like him."

  judging by the silence, Samson guessed that McLanahan

  hadn't heard a word he said.

  -I pop-

  FATAL TERRAIN 51

  CENTRAL MILITARY COMMISSION CONFERENCE

  ROOM, GOVERNMENT HOUSE, BEIJING,

  PEOPLE'S REPU13LIC OF CHINA

  TUESDAY 27 MAY 1997., 2341 HOURS LOCAL

  (MONDAY, 26 MAY9 1041 HOURS ET)

  "Loyal fathers of the Party, stand and pay respect to our Par-

  amount Leader!"

  The assembled general officers and ministers of the People's

  Liberation Army stood and bowed deeply as the president of

  the People's Republic of China, Paramount Leader Jiang

  Zemin, entered the conference chamber, bowed slightly to the

  others, and took his place at the head of the table. They re-

  inained standing, all bowing at the waist except Jiang, until

  the Chinese anthem, "Xiang Yang Hong," or "East Is Red,"

  was played. They stood at attention until after the In
tonation

  of Strength and Solidarity was read; then the ministers ap-

  plauded the Paramount Leader as he took his seat. The Into-

  nation was a solemn promise to support and defend the

  Communist Party, Zhongguo Renmin Gongheguo, the Peo-

  ple's Republic of China, and the people; but unlike the Amer-

  ican Pledge of Allegiance, the Intonation contained a threat of

  the particular punishment one might expect if he or she did

  not sacrifice one's life for the Party and for the people-dis-

  grace, humiliation, death, and public dishonor of self and one's

  ancestors.

  Jiang Zemin carefully watched the faces of the assembled

  ministers and generals as the Intonation was read, looking to

  see if anyone's eyes glanced over toward his or to anyone

  else's-the threat of death and humiliation in the Intonation

  was sometimes enough to make a guilty or conspiratorial man

  fidgety. It was of course possible to bury any outward signs

  of treason,. but Jiang knew that a man bent on betrayal some-

  times looked for reassurance from coconspirators or for evi-

  dence that he was under suspicion. Jiang was an expert in

  detecting such subde, outward signs of a man's innermost

  fears.

  Paramount Leader and President Jiang Zemin was seventy-

  one years old, in excellent health and looking far younger than

  his years. He had a square, tough-looking face with a high

  forehead and thick, dyed black hair combed, straight back. He

  52 DALE BROWN

  wore a simple olive short-sleeved open-collar rough-cotton tu-

  nic shirt belted at the waist, with matching pants. His horn-

  rim spectacles were plain; he wore no jewelry except a

  wristwatch. Educated as an engineer but trained in Communist

  Party doctrine and theory in Moscow, formerly the mayor and

  Communist Party chief of China's second-largest city, Shang-

  hai, Jiang was a master at power politics in China, a man well-

  suited to run his nation's large and complicated Party

  mechanism. d's most po

  Today, Jiang Zemin was president of the worl P_

  ulous nation and, as such, arguably the most powerful man on

  planet Earth. Among his many responsibilities and duties, the

  engineer from Jiangsu Province was general secretary of the

  six-member Chinese Communist Party Secretariat, the genesis

  for all political thought in China; chairman of the Politburo,

  the group of twenty-one senior Party leaders who determined

  all Chinese political ideology and direction; chairman of the

  Standing Committee, the highest policy-making body in China

  and the body who actually wrote legislation (the 3,500-

  member National People's Congress always rubber-stamped

  their approval of all legislation drafted by the Standing Com-

  mittee and Politburo); chairman of the powerful Military Com-

  mission of the Chinese Communist Party, who deterriiined

  Party policy in military affairs; chairman of the Central Mili-

  tary Commission, responsible for implementing Party military

  nder in

  policy in the People's Liberation Army; and comma

  chief of the People's Liberation Army-a force of two hun-

  dred million regular, reserve, paramilitary, and militia troops.

  Jiang not only had the power to enforce laws, but also made

  laws and even created the philosophy and ideas behind the

  laws, the ideals that formed the very basis of Communist Chi-

  nese thought. He was not only leader and chief executive of

  the most populous nation on earth, but was also commander

  in chief of the largest military force on the planet-and now

  he was planning to set that huge machine in motion.

  Jiang was presiding over a crucial late-night meeting of the

  Central Military Commission, made up of civilian and military

  members in charge of the key divisions of the military infra-

  structure: the Minister of National Defense, Chi Haotian; High

  General Chin Po Zihong, chief of the general staff of the Chi-

  nese People's Liberation Army (PLA); General Yu Yongpo,

  chief of General Political Affairs of the PLA; General Fu Qan-

  FATAL TERRAI N 53

  you, chief of the PLA General Logistics Department; the chiefs

  of staff of the army, air force, navy, and the East China Sea

  Fleet; and the chiefs of China's ten military and civilian in-

  telligence agencies and institutes. als, there is a saying

  "Comrades, loyal ministers and gener

  in the ancient military philosophy of Zhongguo that the gov-

  ernment must evaluate not only the enemy, but evaluate itself

  before pondering the beginning of hostilities," Paramount

  Leader Jiang Zemin said. "I am here to inform you that the

  Party and the government have looked deep within ourselves,

  at the state of our nation and of the people and our way of

  life, and we have seen that our nation is being pulled apart

  piece by piece by the encroachment of the Western world. It

  is time to end the rape upon our nation, our people, and our

  way of life. In China, as it should be throughout the world,

  the government must govern, and that is the will and the task

  of the Party.

  "The disintegration of the state is seen in the usurpation of

  several regions on the periphery of our nation," Jiang went

  on, "including India, Kyrgyzstan, Vietnam, Mongolia, and

  threats against our Communist brothers in North Korea; and

  three critical regions belonging to China since- the dawn of

  recorded history: Senkaku Dao, taken from us by Japan in

  World War Two; Nansha Dao, taken from us by European

  imperialists and by Asian anarchists and dictators using West-

  ern governments as their puppets, and Formosa Dao, taken

  from us by the Nationalists and now protected by the United

  States. The Party's stated goal is simple, comrades: The

  twenty-third Chinese province of Taiwan will be ours once

  again. The Party demands that our attack plan against Taiwan

  be activated.

  The ministers and generals nodded dutiful) , but Jiang was

  surprised to hear applause from the commission! Rising to his

  feet while continuing to applaud his president's words was

  Admiral Sun Ji Guoming, the first deputy chief of the general

  staff and General Chin's expected successor. Moments later,

  other generals followed Sun's lead, rising and applauding, and

  even some of the aged ministers clapped, their soft, withered

  hands making virtually no sound. It was unheard of, totally

  out of character for a Chinese to express himself so openly,

  especially a military officer.

  "You dishonor yourself by such a pretentious and disre-

  54 DALE BROWN

  spectful display, Comrade Sun," General Chin, the chief of

  staff, said in a low, croaking voice. "Be seated."

  Sun bowed to both Chin and Jiang. "Forgive me, com-

  rades," Sun said, without being given penrnission to speak.

  "But I welcome the Paramount Leader's words with great joy-

  I meant no disrespect." He quickly dropped back into his seat

  and apologetically averted his eyes-but only for a moment.
r />   "Comrade Sun's enthusiasm is shared by us all, Comrade

  Jiang," General Chin said, after giving Sun a deadly stem

  warning glance. "Implementing the Party's wishes will be a

  challenging but ultimately victorious task. I urge the Central

  Military Commission to order the aircraft carrier Mao Zedong

  and its new battle group into position to take Quemoy im-

  mediately, so the Taiwanese Nationalists cannot use them as

  staging or observation bases against us," Chin said. Quemoy

  was a large Taiwanese-occupied island just a mile from the

  Chinese mainland, used as an observation outpost and tourist

  destination. "We can blockade the island with ease with our

  task force, cut off their supplies, and starve them into submis-

  sion. The task force can land five thousand troops on Quemoy

  right away, and we can eventually move three thousand troops

  a day onto the island. In two weeks, we can retake the island

  and claim it."

  Jiang was surprised at Chin's comments-he expected re-

  sistance from the People's Liberation Army. Bloated, gargan-

  tuan, hopelessly encrusted and weighed down with decades'

  worth of nameless bureaucrats, the military seemed. to require

  a full ten years of preparation before embarking on the sim-

  plest program or operation. Under Deng Xiaoping, Jiang's

  predecessor, the People's Liberation Army had been reduced

  in size by one-fourth and the militias reduced by almost half,

  but there were still over three million active-duty troops in

  China and over two hundred million men and women that

  could be mobilized for military service.

  The centuries-old "sea of humanity" concept of warfighting

  was being replaced by modem ideas, but it would take several

  generations to eliminate the old ways-and the old inertia.

  Chin Po Zihong was a daring leader who truly believed China

  was destined to rule Asia, but he was not the best tactician. It

  was Chin who had tried to form an alliance with a socialist

  government faction in the Philippines; it was Chin who had

  devised the current alliance among China, North Korea, and

  FATAL TER RAI N 55

  the Islamic Republic of Iran. Although both programs had