Battlefield Korea

Greater China

Chairman Zhang did not usually attend the secretive meetings of the CMC, but President Xi had been including him in them since the start of Operation Red Storm. Zhang was responsible for State Security and was the lead facilitator between China and Russia; he was also a shrewd political operative as the Chairman of the National People’s Congress, and someone Xi wanted to keep a close eye on.

As the military leaders of China began to take their seats for the meeting, Chairman Zhang took his seat next to the President. As the stewards brought everyone their drink, President Xi brought the meeting to order. His bodyguards quickly led the stewards out of the room, so the location was completely secured. No electronic devices were allowed in the room, aside from what the security service had already inspected and deemed secured. Any presentations that were to be given first had to be cleared first by the information technology security group, to ensure the files did not potentially have any malware or other spy software attached to them. The IT department under Zhang’s State Security was completely paranoid about the NSA’s spy capabilities and scrutinized everything.

“General Wei Liu, please bring us up to date on the progress of the annexation of Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar,” President Xi requested, as a way to open up the meeting. He had been briefed on the progress a couple of hours ago by the Defense Minister, General Kuang Li Jun, but for the sake of everyone else, he felt it important to reiterate the information.

General Wei cleared his throat before he began, then signaled for his aide to begin the PowerPoint presentation. The first slide showed a map of Myanmar, with various unit symbols and arrows pointing in different directions. The military incursion there was now in its second week and was showing some real progress. Already, a third of the country had been occupied to include the Capital. Naypyidaw, the capital city, had been captured the first day by PLA Airborne Forces.

“Mr. President, our airborne forces were officially relieved two days ago by elements of the 31^st Army. We have traditionally had good relations with Myanmar prior to our incursion, and we have used that relationship to our benefit. Our social media campaign was very effective in painting our forces as saviors to the needy of the nation, and as our troops have moved across the border, we are distributing food and offering free medical clinics in each of the villages and cities our forces enter.”

“Before our invasion of Myanmar, we liaised with their military and informed them that as long as they do not resist, we will integrate their army into the PLA as a colonial army, and even offered to pay them in Chinese dollars in accordance with their ranks. This has proven to be exceptionally effective, to the point that we have only had eight armed confrontations. Three of our soldiers have been killed, while close to one hundred have been injured, but this was mostly from a bridge that collapsed when several troop transports crossed what they thought was a stable bridge. Aside from these few engagements, the majority of the military and the political leaders of Myanmar have welcomed us with open arms.”

The other members of the CMC asked a variety of questions about the operation, but otherwise appeared content with the progress being made in Myanmar. In less than a month, the rest of the country would be occupied by the PLA, and then the integration of their economy and armed forces would begin. One of the first priorities would be to bring in a vast amount of specialized farming equipment to increase the country’s rice and other agricultural production to maximum capacity. China would also begin a series of massive infrastructure projects, connecting the rail lines in western Yunnan province with the ports in Yangon and the other major cities in the country.

Once additional farming equipment and proper infrastructure were developed in Myanmar, the country would be able to provide up to 11 % of China’s demand for rice and 14 % of its demand for other agricultural products. Myanmar would also provide China with a seaport on the Indian Ocean, greatly shortening the transportation time of moving goods to and from Europe.

As the group finished discussing the situation in Myanmar, General Wei moved on to the next slide in his presentation, which showed a map of Laos, a fellow communist country. Unlike Myanmar, Laos had a souring relationship with Vietnam. Throughout the late 1970s and into the 1980s, Vietnam had both invaded and then occupied parts of Laos. It was not until the late 1990s that Vietnam had fully withdrawn its forces from the country.

General Wei explained, “As you know, the People’s Republic of China has spent the better part of the last seven years developing enhanced economic relations with Laos. The commitments we’ve made there to increased foreign aid and economic development seem to be paying off. We implemented the same strategy with Laos as we did with Myanmar in terms of offering to pay any Laotian armed forces that are cooperative in Chinese Yuan. We also bribed key senior military and political officials there when we found a holdout or it was needed to smooth the transition.”

General Wei nodded in acknowledgement towards Foreign Minister Yong. “Our compatriot here also spoke with key state officials in Laos to make it clear that once Laos was successfully annexed, all of its foreign debts to China would be forgiven and its other international debts would be taken care of by the People’s Republic.”

“So, how is the military advancement going there, given these enticements?” asked a more cantankerous advisor.

“The 12^th Army moved throughout the country unhindered, and has secured their armed forces. We have encountered virtually no resistance to the annexation there. The rest of the Laotian government should be fully integrated over the coming weeks. Once the military actions are complete, both Laos and Myanmar will become provinces of China; the leaders of each respective country will remain in power as long as they support the authority of the Chinese government. As soon as these countries come under the umbrella of our authority, we will all begin to benefit; our Minister of Agriculture is confident that his department will be able to start integrating Laos’ food production into our economy starting next week.”

The various advisors and political officials in the room all nodded, happy with every word that had just come out of General Wei’s mouth.

Then the next slide in the presentation came up, and a collective groan could be heard. Even the stoic men before him could not help but express some frustration at the sight of a map of Vietnam.

China and Vietnam had had a troubled relationship since the end of the American war with Vietnam in the mid-1970s. Soon after that conflict, Vietnam interfered in Laos, and since China maintained close political ties with Laos, they invaded Vietnam to “teach them a lesson.” That military incursion lasted for several years and resulted in a humiliating defeat for the Chinese army. The Vietnamese had become extremely battle-hardened after fighting the French and the United States. They were also militarily backed up by the Soviet Union, which provided them with numerous military advisors and also a significant amount of military equipment. The result was a drawn-out war that resulted in the PLA being humiliated at the hands of a much smaller nation.

The PLA had an axe to grind against Vietnam, especially since their country had somehow managed to thaw their relationship with the US and were actively considering allowing the US to build a naval base in their country. Vietnam had also laid claim to the Spratly Islands, which were clearly part of China and held vast oil and natural gas reserves. General Wei was not at all surprised by the change of mood in the room.

Wei glanced at the slide; the picture was not pleasant. Unlike Myanmar and Laos, several regions of Vietnam were bogged down in heavy fighting. He took a deep breath before he began. “Mr. President, we invaded Vietnam with the forces from the Southern Theater of Operations, led by General Yang. We bolstered his army group with 100,000 militia forces. Because of this, our army has been able to capture Hanoi and the surrounding area in less than two weeks. Our airborne forces have secured the critical port area of Hai Phong, which will allow us to better supply our military there and bring in additional ground forces.”

He then moved to a slide that showed the southern half of Vietnam. “The PLAN was able to offload their naval infantry to secure the coastal cities of Huế and Da Nang. We also landed a substantial force not far from Ho Chi Minh City, which they should secure by the end of next week. Our three carriers have been providing exceptional air support to the naval infantry, and proven they can operate as an effective combined air, land, and naval force.” As he spoke proudly about the achievements of the PLAN, its leader (who was seated several seats away) swelled with pride.

President Xi smiled. “Congratulations are in order to Vice Admiral Ning Sheng, I see. Your efforts to modernize our navy and turn it into a fully integrated combined arms force have clearly been very fruitful.”

The President turned to the Commander of the Chinese Air Force, General Xu Ding, and asked, “How have our new aircraft and bombers been performing in Vietnam?”

General Xu smiled proudly. “The Chengdu J-20 has performed beyond our expectations. During the opening hours of the war, it successfully shot down 12 Vietnamese fighters that attempted to interdict our airborne forces. It has continued to provide exceptional air superiority over Vietnam, shooting down another 14 aircraft.”

He switched over to a couple of his own slides to discuss some of the assessments they had conducted during the war. “We were able to successfully test the effectiveness of several of our naval cruise missiles from the Xian H-6 bomber. These missiles are now going to go into full production. We also tested several air-to-ground stand-off cruise missiles and guided munitions with the bomber as well. This was critical as this was the first time we were able to see how a number of our missile and bomb platforms would perform during a live combat scenario. This combat drill also proved that we can effectively engage and sink a foreign naval force with our anti-ship cruise missiles.” As he spoke, he showed several images of the H-6 firing a variety of different missile platforms.

Before he concluded, a devilish smile curled up on the left side of his face. “Unbeknownst to the West and the rest of the world, we also successfully tested the H-20, our subsonic stealth bomber that has some similar characteristics to the American B-2 Spirit. The H-20 penetrated the Vietnamese airspace undetected during the opening hours of the incursion and carried out a series of strikes. We have continued to test various bombing tactics and ordinance with the H-20 in Vietnam and believe we have identified the few remaining flaws in the system. If we need to use it against the Americans, we now know it’ll be effective.”