Battlefield Korea

Pecking Order

The Chinese takeover of Myanmar and Laos had both surprised and shocked the world. Their capture was nearly bloodless, which made it even more astounding. The invasion of Vietnam was a bit more of a concern for the Asian Pacific nations, who still remembered how Japan had nearly conquered most of the Pacific 70 years prior. The Vietnamese were putting up one heck of a fight, but it looked like they would probably fold within another week or two.

It took the PLA two weeks to capture Hanoi and begin to move down the rest of the country, but Ho Chi Minh City collapsed after the People’s Liberation Army Navy launched a successful seaborne invasion that no Western military expert would have ever imagined that they could pull off. The performance of the Chinese Navy’s blue water force had been a tremendous surprise. The Navy showed that it could effectively support a ground invasion with both naval guns and cruise missiles. What caught the Western militaries off guard the most was the introduction of a series of new cruise missiles, smart munitions, and aircraft. The PLA was using the invasion of Vietnam to test a series of new weapon platforms that the US, Australia, and Japan had been completely unaware of up to that point.

Now that the operations in Vietnam were complete, the CMC decided to meet to discuss initiating phase two of Operation Red Storm.

As the leaders took their seats, President Xi smiled happily. “I want to congratulate all of the generals and everyone else present on the success of phase one,” he opened. “The annexation of Myanmar and Laos have gone smoothly, and we will soon begin our projects there to increase agricultural production and improve infrastructure.”

Then Xi cleared his throat as his voice took a much more serious turn. Turning to the generals, he inquired, “How soon can North Korea begin their attack?”

The Defense Minister, General Kuang, replied, “They can commence operations within four days of us giving them the order… however, before we do that, I would like permission to begin transferring additional fuel and munitions to them now, so they will be in place prior to the attack.”

The other generals at the table nodded their heads in agreement. When the attack did finally start, the North Koreas would chew through enormous amounts of ammunition and fuel. It was imperative that their attack succeed as it would tie down tens of thousands of additional US Forces and pull the Japanese into the conflict.

Chairman Zhang felt he should ask a question, as this was a critical aspect of Operation Red Storm. “What if the North Koreans use their nuclear weapons?” he dared.

The generals at the table turned and looked at Zhang, surprised that he would pose such a question or even think the North Koreans would use their nukes without seeking permission first from China.

General Wei Liu leaned forward in his chair and addressed this question. “Mr. Chairman, we have told the Koreans they are not to use them, that this war is to stay conventional. If, by chance, the Koreans do use their nuclear weapons, then we need to fiercely hope that they succeed in whatever they hit, and it truly hurts the Americans.”

Zhang asked a follow-up question, “What about the American carriers? Don’t they have two of them in Japan with a third on the way right now? They have also deployed nearly 60,000 Marines to Japan.”

The Defense Minister spoke up this time. “Mr. Chairman, I understand that you have been the brains behind Operation Red Storm and coordinating this effort with Russia, but these are military matters. You have given us the political and military goals, and we have developed a series of plans to achieve them. This is a military matter, and we are not going to share all the details of our operations with you as they do not concern you. We will continue to keep you informed of the progress of the objectives you have given us, but we will not go into the minutia of how we are going to execute them.”

This was a rather sharp rebuke the Defense Minister gave to a senior Politburo member, but he felt the need to intervene before this politician thought he had the authority to get involved in their inner workings.

The President saw the exchange play out and was rather amused and happy to see the drama unfold. He supported Zhang, but he also wanted the Chairman to know that his support had limits, and that Zhang’s authority did not include control of the military or the CMC, despite his status with State Security.

Zhang could feel everyone looking at him and knew he had asked too many questions. The President had given him the opportunity to sit in on the secretive military meetings, so he could better coordinate things with the Russians. That did not mean he had any authority to order the generals to do anything they did not want to do. Only the President had that authority. He lowered his head slightly and acknowledged the Defense Minister’s rebuke.

“Go on and gloat, you old goat. When Operation Red Storm succeeds, I’ll become the next President of China,” Zhang thought to himself as his cheeks burned red from the embarrassment of the rebuke.

Xi raised a hand to stop any further discussion. “General Kuang, Chairman Zhang does bring up some valid points about the Koreans’ nuclear weapons; I want it reiterated to them that they are not to use them unless the Americans use them first.”

“The Koreans had better not use the ICBMs at Paektu Mountain, or there will be hell to pay,” thought Xi.

The President continued, “I want you to move forward with the next phase. Get our frontline units out of Vietnam and start moving them to the Formosa sector. Also, get our northern forces ready to intervene in Korea, if needed.” He turned and looked at his admiral, “Move your forces into position, and execute the plan we had discussed.”

That evening, several Shang-class nuclear-powered submarines began to move closer to the American carrier battlegroups in the Pacific, along with ten Yuan-class advanced diesel submarines. America was about to receive a rude awakening.