Battlefield Taiwan

Outsourcing

As Deputy Minister Wu’s vehicle arrived at the side entrance to the presidential residence, he couldn’t help but marvel at the size and architectural design of the building. The residence used to be the Viceroy's house when India had still been under British rule, but now it was the seat of power for the President’s and Prime Minister’s offices. The building incorporated both Indian and British designs and was surrounded by hundreds of acres of beautifully kept gardens. It was an oasis of peace and tranquility in an otherwise overcrowded and busy city of twenty-one million people.

Once the vehicle Wu was riding in came to a halt at the covered entrance, a security guard dressed in a black suit opened his door and indicated he should follow him inside the building. Wu’s two bodyguards followed him, along with several Indian security guards. As they moved towards the corridor that would lead them to the President and Prime Minister’s offices, they were led to the guard station, where they were told they would be disarmed and searched.

Upon completing this formality, Wu was directed to an anteroom to wait to be called for his meeting. On entering the room, Wu spotted Ivan Vasilev, the Director of the FSB, sitting at a table near the window with his own bodyguards nearby. Wu signaled for his guards to wait by the door while he walked over to Ivan.

Ivan had seen Wu enter the room and was also sizing him up. While Ivan had met Deputy Minister Wu a couple of times, this would be his first time participating in a meeting with him without Chairman Zhang. He stood and extended his hand.

“Deputy Minister, it is good to see you,” Ivan said warmly. “I take it Chairman Zhang was unable to attend this meeting?”

Wu read the surprise and disappointment on Ivan’s face. “Hello, Ivan. It is good to see you as well. Unfortunately, Chairman Zhang has been sequestered in Beijing with the rest of the Central Military Commission for the time being,” Wu explained.

“Yes, I understand. President Petrov very seldom leaves the command bunker after the Americans tried to kill him in the opening days of the war. These American dogs are relentless in trying to kill the leaders of the countries they go to war with. No decency or civility in war with these Yankees,” Ivan replied with a bit of heat in his voice.

Just as they were about to discuss the purpose of their meeting, one of the aides to the Indian president walked in to inform them the President was ready to speak with them. Wu and Vasilek followed the aide, who led them to a very formal meeting room, where the Prime Minister of India, along with the President and two other senior aides, were waiting. As requested, only key people to the President and Prime Minister were present in the room for the occasion.

President Aryan Laghari stood as his two guests walked into the room. He immediately walked towards them and shook both of their hands, greeting each of them in their native languages. One of the key reasons President Laghari had won the presidency the year before was because of his critical role in brokering the normalization of relations between India and China. Of course, he had received a lot of help and prodding from FSB Director Vasilev and President Petrov, but the strategy had paid off, and he won the presidency by a large margin.

After the greetings and pleasantries were exchanged, Prime Minister Vihaan Khatri cleared his throat. “Gentlemen, please let us get this meeting going. We have a lot to discuss and not a lot of time to do it in,” he said, indicating with his arm for everyone to take a seat at the couches in the nearby room. Some hot tea and cookies were waiting for them, neatly arrayed on the coffee table between the two couches.

While PM Khatri still didn’t trust or like the Chinese, he did trust President Petrov, which was the only reason he had agreed to this meeting to hear the joint Chinese-Russian offer. As the group took their seats, Vasilev brought them up to speed on the war in Eastern Europe. Much to the surprise of India and the world, the Russians appeared to have accomplished the impossible. They had prevented the Americans from removing them from Ukraine, and had in fact inflicted a terrible loss on the Americans and NATO. The Indian leaders sat patiently, listening to Director Vasilev give them an unvarnished report of the war, which obviously differed from what the Western media tried to portray. Once Vasilev had finished his brief, they took a few minutes to refill their cups of tea and ask a few questions. All eyes then turned to Deputy Director Wu.

For the next half hour, Wu gave a similar brief on the status of the war in Korea and the annexation of Taiwan and parts of Southeast Asia. At some point, PM Khatri interrupted Wu to ask, “—Are you trying to lead us to believe that China is winning the ground war in Korea? We have all seen the media reports from the West, along with what the American Defense Department provides. The North Korean government has surrendered, and your army has been pushed back to the Yalu River.”

Wu sat there stoically listening, not conveying any emotional response. He had expected these comments. Wu smiled softly and responded, “You must keep in mind, during the first day of the war, we succeeded in sinking one of the American supercarriers and severely crippled the 7th Fleet. Our armed forces have also secured Formosa, Mongolia, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam. Our navy is about to begin an offensive to secure parts of the Philippines and the Japanese islands, which will extend our naval perimeter—”

PM Khatri interjected, “—You still have not answered our question about Korea and the fact that a large Allied army is now on the very doorsteps of your border.”

“Did this pompous idiot not hear any of the accomplishments China has achieved up to this point?” he thought, anger starting to build a bit within him.

“PM Khatri, we have let the Americans and their allies deliberately push our forces to the Yalu River. We had to allow them to believe they were winning to lure them into the trap we have set for them. They are advancing faster than their logistical lines can keep up with. In addition, their rapid advance is burning through munitions and resources at a faster rate than the US’s logistical capabilities can replace them. As December turns to January, the burn rate of their supplies is going to become a critical problem. At that point, we will launch our counteroffensive, which will push them back down the Korean Peninsula,” Minister Wu explained, taking pains to remain calm and composed. “Furthermore, our navy continues to expand our maritime border by capturing additional islands and territory, which will make it increasingly difficult for the Allies to operate in the Pacific and keep their supply lines operational.”

PM Khatri and President Laghari sat back on the couch, soaking in the totality what Wu had said. They had not previously ascertained the method behind the Chinese madness.

After a moment, Khatri leaned forward. “What is the end state of this war with the West? What do you want the world to look like after you have achieved your goal, and how does India fit into that world view?” asked the ever-astute Prime Minister.

Deputy Minister Wu eagerly responded, “The end goal of this confrontation with the West is to remove the old world order and replace it with a new world order. For nearly a hundred years, the West has led the world. In that timeframe, they have led the world into multiple wars, fueled religious and economic conflicts, and perverted the world with their immorality and lack of common decency. China is a nation of 1.6 billion people. Together with Russia, we control 11 million square kilometers of the entire landmass of the world. Our nations are no longer going to be subjected to the economic and political whims of the West. They have had their time to lead, and they failed. Now it’s our time to lead,” he said, concluding his passionate speech about the goals of Red Storm.

This statement appeared to have pleased the Indian leaders, who smiled and exchanged a few brief comments. When the two Indian leaders were finished with their side conversation, Laghari asked the obvious question: “What exactly is it that Russia and China want from India?”

Ivan leaned forward, wanting to answer this question before Wu stepped in. While Chairman Zhang was a natural businessmen and salesman, Wu was more of a bureaucrat — an effective bureaucrat, but still a bureaucrat nonetheless. “What Russia and China are requesting from India is access to your ports and manufacturing base. As you undoubtedly know, NATO is hitting parts of our industry and transportation system pretty hard. Russia, for our part, could certainly use your assistance in producing certain war products that are more difficult to produce. You would profit an economic gain, and we would have the supplies we need to end this conflict.”

“Ivan, what specifically does Russia need our nation to produce?” PM Khatri asked casually as he sipped on his tea.

Vasilek answered in his typical matter-of-fact tone, “Armata tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, S-400 surface-to-air systems and missiles, and our Zhukov series of drones.”

Once Ivan had said his piece, Wu moved forward with China’s request. “There are several American and Australian submarines operating in the Indian Ocean that have proven to be quite effective in going after Chinese shipping of raw materials from Africa to our ports. We would like to request that we source our raw materials through Indian-flagged ships and have those ships deliver the goods to Indian ports, then transport those materials to our borders. Our industrial base is more than capable of meeting our war production needs, but we lack the raw materials to keep them fully operational.”

President Laghari nodded at this request, knowing that the one weak spot to China’s industrial might was their lack of natural resources. Their manufacturing base was enormous, but it was limited by their ability to find the resources to keep it humming.

The two Indian leaders leaned in closer to each other, whispering softly in their own language. Finally, President Laghari responded, “Gentlemen, we have heard your requests, and while we are sympathetic to your nations’ plight, we have some concerns. First, our nation wants to remain neutral in this war. We do not want to appear to be taking sides or get drawn into direct conflict. With that said, we will agree to produce whatever equipment your nations are willing to license for production in India. We will also make available our maritime capabilities to move the raw materials China needs.”

The President paused for a second before adding, “If the Americans question us or confront us over this, we will let them know that we are remaining impartial in this war, but we will not be bullied into not trading with one nation over another…”

The meeting continued for another hour before the representatives from Russia and China departed the presidential residence and began their separate journeys back home.