Brown, Dale - Patrick McLanahan 03 (63 page)

           
“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 fines 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 fines 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.” .

           
“Why was a plan not developed to
secure the airport at Cotabato?” Yin asked angrily. “It was a major part of our
invasion operation. You had several days and plenty of support, Captain—why am
I now being told it is not safe to use this airport?”

           
“Sir, as I mentioned before to you,
we depleted the reserve forces of Group Two to dangerous levels during the
assault on Cotabato,” Sun replied. “As you know, we had to abandon our patrols
of most of the Sulu Archipelago and create the hundred-kilometer safe zone
around Zamboanga to form the invasion fleet for the Cotabato operation. It was
barely enough for the job. We have taken the airport at Cotabato, but the staff
and I agree that it is not wise to count on using it for the
Davao
operation. It is suitable as a landing
base, and our aircraft recovering there can be refueled, but. . .”

           
“Can we not rearm our fighters and
attack planes there as well?”

           
Sun shook his head reluctantly. “We
deemed it too dangerous to ship massive amounts of rockets, bombs, and missiles
to Cotabato, sir,” he replied. “Fuel trucks and bladders make poor targets for
guerrillas with mortars or RPGs, but bomb dumps or parked cargo aircraft make
convenient and inviting targets. Guerrilla attacks are too frequent...”

           
“Curse you, I should have been
advised of all this sooner!” Yin exploded. He waved his hand irritably at Sun.
“Continue, Captain. What other difficulties do you envision?”

           
Sun swallowed hard before
continuing: he had previously briefed Admiral Yin on the problems with air
cover if Cotabato was not secured, and now he was being blamed for not telling
him; he had also briefed Yin on the next topic, and it appeared likely that Yin
was going to forget about being advised of this as well.

           
“Sir, with the destroyers moving to
the north
Davao
Gulf
and their escorts taking their positions to
support the landing, we have decreased our air coverage of the eastern
Celebes Sea
to a dangerous level,” Sun said.

           
“What air attacks are you concerned
about, Captain?” Yin asked. “The American aircraft carrier is out of position,
it cannot launch its strike aircraft, and no other carriers are within range .
. .”

           
“The land-based bombers are our
biggest threat, sir,” Sun replied. “The American Air Battle Force has been on
the
island
of
Guam
ready to strike ...”

           
“The Americans will not use the
heavy bombers against us,” Yin said. “Our intelligence reports stated that the
American President did not even want those bombers there. Besides, you reported
that the Americans had only a handful of bombers there, less than thirty—is
that not so . . . ?”

           
“The count is accurate, sir,” Sun
acknowledged, “but each can carry a number of Harpoon antiship missiles and
bombs . . .”

           
“They have to get close enough to
use them first,” Yin snapped. “Even one of our small patrol boats can destroy a
Harpoon missile in flight. And the closer those bombers come to
Davao
during the invasion, the more effective our
antiaircraft guns become.”

           
Sun paused momentarily. Yin seemed
to have an answer for everything. Sun did not dispute his commander’s thoughts,
but he was being extraordinarily confident of his own fleet’s power and
recklessly unconcerned about the American Air Force’s power. “I agree with you,
sir,” Sun said slowly, “but I think it would be wise to augment our air-defense
preparations by moving the
Hong Lung
and some of its antiair-equipped escorts to the eastern
Celebes Sea
area. That would give us four ships with
surface-to-air missiles and four more ships with large-caliber radar-guided
antiaircraft guns. Zamboanga is secure—our presence is not needed here.”

           
Yin thought about the suggestion,
and he liked it—Sun would make a fine fleet commander one day. The
Hong Lung
was one of the most powerful
ships in the world, well suited for both antiair as well as antiship
operations. It was also a very potent weapon for simple show-of-force, but
since Yin liked to keep his warships mostly out of sight of the local
population, it wasn’t doing much good as a weapon of intimidation in Zamboanga.
His shore setups here were in place and operating well—it was time the
Hong Lung,
the Red Dragon, got back into
the fight.

           
“An excellent suggestion, Captain,”
Yin said. “I want one vessel to remain here, positioned so residents of the
city can see it clearly; the rest of the Fleet Master will accompany the
Hong Lung
to the battle area. Choose
your escorts and alert the fleet: we sail immediately for the eastern
Celebes Sea
.”

           
Sun looked much more pleased—it was
obvious he disagreed with Yin’s estimation of the American air threat— and he
bowed to acknowledge the order. “If there is nothing else, publish the orders
and proceed.” His flag staff stood, bowed, and exited the office.

           
Yin was alone in his office for
several minutes when his executive officer knocked. “Sir, you have a visitor:
Philippine President Daniel Teguina. He is requesting a short meeting with you
in private.”

           
Yin had to struggle to maintain his
composure. What in hell does Teguina want with
me
...
?
Since the coup,
Teguina had dealt exclusively with the People’s Liberation Army Supreme
Commander, High General Chin Po Zihong, on any military matters; otherwise he
dealt with Dong Sen Kim, the ambassador to the
Philippines
, or to the Foreign Minister directly. Just
a few weeks earlier, Teguina would have gladly kissed Yin’s feet if he had
helped him with his coup— now that the coup was completed, Teguina was actually
starting to believe the myth about
China
just assisting Teguina to defeat the
“rebels” and save his country.

           
“Tell him I’m too ... never mind.
I’ll meet him. Have this room cleaned and coffee and pastries served ... and
put his flags back, too, his stupid Aguinaldo flag and the Sulu flag. And make
sure our conversation is recorded and the video cameras are activated—I want a
complete record of this entire meeting.”

           
The executive officer nodded and
hurried off to issue the orders.

           
It was just like that pompous ass
Teguina, Yin thought, to make up new flags for his two new “countries” before
consolidating power—the flags only become a butt of jokes and an object of
derision if the coup fails.

           
Accompanied by a heavily armed
Marine guard, Admiral Yin made his way to the quarterdeck and onto the
receiving area. He was kept waiting as several escort vessels made their way
toward the Chinese destroyer, under the careful scrutiny of deck-gun crews. An
honor guard was quickly assembled, and several crewmen were-positioned on the
port rail, standing at parade rest, as Teguina’s liaison craft approached.
Teguina’s boat was stopped several times and inspected before being allowed to
dock at the
Hong Lung's
boarding
platform, and the new Philippine President started up the stairs. The honor
guard snapped to attention, and a broadcast was made on the public address
system announcing the arrival of the Philippine President.

           
Yin forced himself to raise a hand
to the brim of his cap in salute. Teguina ignored the Chinese colors and Yin’s
salute. “I must speak with you immediately, Admiral,” Teguina said without
preamble.

           
“By all means, Mr. President,” Yin’s
interpreter replied. He quickly translated both Teguina’s words and his own
hasty reply for the Admiral, and Yin scowled darkly as he followed Teguina
through the quarterdeck doors. A few moments later they were in Yin’s flag
briefing room.

           
“The Admiral wishes to extend his
warmest greeting to the President of the Democratic Federation of Aguinaldo,”
Yin’s interpreter said in English. “The Admiral considers it a great honor that
you have come for a visit and wishes to offer you . .

           
Teguina started talking, a long,
completely unintelligible diatribe. The interpreter tried to tell Yin what the
man was saying but was stopped by a sudden outburst of anger as Teguina angrily
spit out his words. “He said he wants an explanation of why the Chinese
government has made an alliance with
Vietnam
for the
Spratly
Islands
,” the interpreter finally said. “He is
angry that his country has lost all rights to the
Spratly
Islands
to the Vietnamese.”