Battlefield Taiwan

Two Months Prior

Following the surrender of the Japanese to the Allies in 1945, the Chinese Civil War heated up again. The communists were eager to pick up their fight against the Chinese Nationalist Party for control of the country and waged a successful campaign. Between 1946 and 1950, the communists had been able to gain control of the country, forcing the nationalist party to flee to the island of Formosa, now known as Taiwan. Although the new foothold in mainland China was firmly established, no armistice or peace deal was ever reached between the two warring factions. It was not until 1971 that the United Nations officially recognized the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as a separate state from the Chinese nationalists who had set up a government in exile on the island of Taiwan, and that declaration was only achieved through a warming of relations between the United States and China when US President Richard Nixon visited Mao in China in 1971.

Despite 67 years of relative peace between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, the communist government never gave up their territorial claim to Formosa or stopped denouncing what they claimed to be an illegitimate government. These tensions had nearly boiled over into renewed fighting on multiple occasions. The only thing keeping the communists in check was the knowledge that Taiwan had fallen under the protective umbrella of the United States. In the 1990s and throughout the 2000s, the United States not only increased its military aid to Taiwan, it began to sell the Taiwanese more and more advanced weapon systems to negate any technological or numerical advantage the PRC might try to leverage.

It was another hot, muggy August morning at the Hsinchu Kansai military training base as Colonel Wang finished his tea. Today was the final day of his brigade’s training exercise, and he was determined to see them do better than they had the day before. His armor brigade had just been outfitted with a series of upgrades by the American defense firm Raytheon, giving their M60A3 Patton tanks new life. With a shiny coat of brand-new reactive armor and a seriously improved fire support system, they felt like completely different machines. The main gun had been switched out from the old 105mm to a new 120mm cannon, giving them a lot more power.

Colonel Wang smiled. “These upgraded tanks are on par with anything the communist mainland can throw at us,” he thought with satisfaction.

Looking through his binoculars, Wang could see his battalions were still working out the kinks in the new equipment and getting their crews up to speed. Today was the final day of their annual training and unit certification, so they had to make the most of it.

Putting the specs away, he walked up the stairs to the observation and control room of the tank range. It was a beautiful day. Birds were chirping, the sun was out and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky — perfect range weather. A private who had been guarding the door stood to attention, snapping off a sharp salute. The colonel returned the gesture. Then, the door was held open for him to walk into the control room.

Once inside, Colonel Wang saw several officers with headsets on, directing the various units that were approaching the three tank trails that made up the exercise. A tank would head down one of the lanes and then move at different speeds from one point to another. At certain times, an enemy tank would appear, and the crew would have seconds to identify the target and engage it before they would be deemed killed. Some of the engagements were shoot-on-the-move exercises meant to test their ability to use the new targeting system, while others would have them come to a complete stop and fire at the target.

While this was happening, the crews in their tanks would hear the explosions of artillery landing nearby and have dirt and fake shrapnel thrown at them, courtesy of some sophisticated pyrotechnics. A couple of light machine gun crews would stitch the tanks up with some training bullets that would harmlessly ricochet off their armor. This simulation was meant to put the tank crews under the most realistic training exercise possible. If they handled themselves well in this situation, then chances were, they would handle them well in combat. If they failed, then they could focus on why they’d failed and work to correct those deficiencies before their lives were at stake.

Looking to his executive officer, Colonel Wang inquired, “How are the units shaping up today?”

His XO, Major Chin, smiled and nodded. “Much better than yesterday. The First Battalion did an exceptional job. Everyone passed. Second battalion had three crews fail. We’re going to run them through again for a second try. Third battalion is going through the exercise as we speak. It looks like only one of them is going to fail, so I would say this is a marked improvement over the past week,” he replied with a look of satisfaction on his face.

“A 93 % pass rate for the brigade is nothing to sneeze at,” thought Chin. “We can work with the few crews who struggled to help them improve.”

The colonel smiled and nodded in agreement. This was a marked improvement indeed.

Major Chin, who was still rather excited by the new upgrades, asked, “Are they still going to outfit us with the American Abrams battle tanks in a few years?”

Colonel Wang turned to look at his XO. “That is what I’ve been told, but sadly I will not be the brigade commander if and when that happens. It will be you younger officers who will have that distinction.” Explosions rumbled in the distance as the tankers that were running through the exercise engaged fictitious targets.

Wang’s expression hardened. “Major Chin, I’m not sure if a conflict will arise with the mainland soon or not, but we need to make sure the brigade is ready in case it happens. The air force and navy are not going to be able to prevent the mainland from landing a ground force. It will be incumbent on brigades like ours to push them back into the sea. Do you understand?”

His face also somber, Major Chin responded, “Yes, Sir, I understand, and so do the battalion commanders. If the mainland does attack, we’ll be ready to push them back to the water.”

Sergeant Lin was in a bit of a foul mood. His company had just arrived at the training range for a week of intense training on marksmanship and small-unit tactics, and the five new recruits that had joined his platoon out of basic training had rifle skills that were, to put it mildly, terrible.

The first couple of days at the range were spent going over the basics of their T91 assault rifle, which was essentially an American M4 rifle that used the standard NATO 5.56 x 45mm round. It was important for soldiers on the coastal defensive line to become excellent shots and learn how to fire accurately under immense stress. They also had to learn a myriad of other weapon systems, from the various heavy machine guns used in the bunkers to the anti-armor missiles that would be used against the amphibious assault crafts the mainlanders would use. This two-week annual exercise was meant to refamiliarize everyone with all the weapon systems, should they need to be used. While there was no indication the Chinese mainland was looking to start hostilities, their recent acquisition of Mongolia and the movement of a large number of soldiers towards their southern border meant there was definitely a larger plan afoot.

Sergeant Lin gritted his teeth as he saw another new soldier making stupid mistakes. It was as though they had suddenly developed amnesia under the pressure of their new platoon sergeant.

“No, Private!” he yelled, loud enough to gain the attention of the other soldiers nearby. “You hold the rifle tight into your shoulder, and then you lean your cheek into the stock of the rifle with your noise gently touching the charging handle.” Sergeant Lin demonstrated the proper posture for holding the assault weapon, making sure the other soldiers also saw what he was doing.

“Then you close one eye and look through the scope with your dominant eye, placing the red dot on the target you intend to hit. Next, you gently squeeze the trigger, making sure not to jerk it. The rifle will kick once you fire it, but keep your cheek tucked in tight to the stock, re-aim and repeat. You do this over and over again, until you run out of ammo, and then restart the entire process again. Understood?” he shouted, surveying the nearby soldiers like prey.

“Yes, Sergeant!” they all yelled in unison, hastily retrieving their rifles to resume practicing what they had originally been shown in basic training. They loaded their first thirty-round magazines, took aim at the targets down range and began to fire. Most of their shots were now hitting the mark, and their aim was steadily improving.

The company commander, Captain Kuo, walked up to Lin. “How are the new guys coming along, Sergeant?” he inquired.

Sergeant Lin smiled wryly as he turned to face the captain. “They are green, but they will learn. I’ll have them ready in a couple of days. Any word on whether we are moving to the beach or staying in garrison for a while?” he asked.

“Once our training is complete here, the orders from the brigade are to move to the beaches to begin a series of fortification improvements. It looks like the mainland may be making a move on Vietnam again, and if that happens, they may also choose to attack us,” he replied in a voice that lacked conviction.

“You don’t sound like you fully agree with that sentiment, Sir,” Sergeant Lin observed, the left side of his mouth curling up in a mischievous smile.

Captain Kuo laughed, knowing that he had been caught. “Unless the Americans become bogged down in a new war in Asia, we can count on them to prevent the mainland from doing anything stupid. Should that situation change, then we’ll have something to be worried about. In the meantime, headquarters wants us to make sure the beach defenses are as ready as possible.”

The two of them talked for a few minutes longer before the captain headed off to inspect the next platoon and Sergeant Lin turned his attention back to his new recruits. They both hoped that all of the work they were currently doing would turn out to be completely unnecessary, but Murphy’s Law could come back to bite them at any time, so it was best to be safe.

The weather was starting to turn cool as the young men from the small village of Wanzihu filed into the school auditorium to listen to the political commissar from their province speak. As Lei Wei entered the auditorium, he was surprised to see how full it was.

“They must be offering something special to have gotten this many people to attend the meeting tonight,” Lei thought as he slid past one of his friends who had saved a seat for him. Just as he was about to say something to his friend, the evening’s speaker walked onto the stage and tapped the mic to capture everyone’s attention.

As Colonel Li Qiang, the political commissar for the city of Yuanjiang, looked out at the faces of roughly two hundred young men from this small village, he saw a softness that concerned him. He realized that he was going to have to train these men hard if he was going to secure the necessary military victories that would allow him to advance his career. Li Qiang was determined to use the coming war to move up the ranks, and he was fortunate that his militia regiment had been chosen to be a part of the invasion of Formosa. However, as he surveyed the gentlehearted men before him, he realized that although he was still confident he could lead his regiment to victory, most of those sitting in tonight’s crowd would likely be killed in the process.

Colonel Li cleared his throat. “Good evening, everyone. Thank you for coming tonight,” he began.

“As if we had a choice,” thought Lei Wei.

“I am here to inform everyone that the Yuanjiang’s militia has been officially called up for duty,” Li Qiang announced to audible groans and gasps, a highly unusual display of emotion. “All young men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-eight are to report to this auditorium in two days to start military training. We will be formed up as the 27^th Infantry Regiment.”

Lei Wei sat in stunned silence. As he surveyed the room around him, he was surprised to find that some of the others actually appeared to be excited by the news.

Colonel Li lifted his hand to signal for everyone to be quiet, then signaled to a man nearby, Major Zhang Jun, to come up to the podium. Major Zhang was a regular army major in the People’s Liberation Army, and he would be responsible for the bulk of this regiment’s military training.

Everyone in the room settled down as Zhang walked up. Calmly and methodically, the major went over what they would need to bring with them when they returned to the auditorium in two days. He also informed everyone that they would be given some forms they would need to sign before they would be allowed to leave.

Two hours later, Lei Wei walked back to his family’s small home at the edge of town. He told his parents what had transpired during that evening’s dinner. While his father beamed with pride, his mother’s face fell. She was clearly scared for his safety. Like many families in China, Lei was an only child. His family relied on him to help manage the family’s small farm, and more importantly, they would rely on him to take care of them in their retirement years.

Seeing the concern his mother harbored, Lei promised, “I will send my military pay home to you each month to help you with managing the farm. I only want you to save a small portion of it for when I return home with my medals and become the village hero.”

His mother wiped away a tear, filled not with sadness but with pride.