Cyber Warfare and the New World Order

Bird or Plane?

After the destruction of the Seventh Fleet at Pearl Harbor and Japan, the U.S. Navy was concerned that the PLAN might be able to move ships close to the West Coast and attack the naval facilities and critical infrastructure along the shoreline. They identified thirty positions where anti-ship railguns systems could be built to deter any coastal approach by the PLAN; they could also be used to shoot down any incoming cruise missiles. Battery Twenty-Six on Catalina Island was part of this series of railguns emplaced around the various approaches to Los Angeles.

The sailors at Battery Twenty-Six were busily manning their positions, like any other day. Seaman Paul Rodgers was coming on his shift, relieving the night guard, when he suddenly heard some loud explosions in the distance.

“What was that?” exclaimed Seaman Arturo Gomez, the night guard.

“I don’t know…let’s find out,” Rodgers replied. The two men scanned the coast around them for signs of any kind of smoke or unusual action.

Gomez finally asserted, “It must be coming from L.A. There is no sign of activity here on Catalina Island.”

Rodgers moved his head like a dog listening to a strange noise, then interjected, “Hey, do you hear that? It sounds like helicopters.”

The two men put their hands above their eyes to block the sun and see if they could try to catch a glimpse of where the sound was coming from. In the distance, there were indeed a few choppers on the horizon.

“Is that a Japanese flag?” Gomez asked. “That seems a bit odd. Why would they be out here?”

“Hey — they just turned to head towards our facility,” Rodgers stammered, confusion in his voice.

“What the — Rodgers, they are coming in for an attack run!” He slapped the warning alarm button on the wall next to him in the guard tower, and they both grabbed their weapons. Seconds later, the tower was completely ripped apart by the nose gun of the incoming helicopter. As the chopper continued on, it launched a few missiles at the railguns.

In less than a minute, the two helicopters moved further down the island to the next gun position. In mere moments, they had succeeded in destroying the two anti-ship railguns at their fortified position. As they moved to attack the next railgun site on the island, the crew was prepared for an incoming attack. One of the sailors reacted quickly, and fired off one of the shoulder-mounted surface-to-air-missiles. The projectile whistled violently into the air, hitting one of the Japanese helicopters just as the gunner onboard fired one of his own missiles. The other JDF helicopter launched three missiles at the Americans and then quickly ducked behind a bend in the terrain, preventing the sailors from counter-attacking. With the cat out of the bag, it was going to be a lot harder taking out the remaining gun positions.

Within an hour of the first attack, five other groups of attack helicopters had destroyed their targets, reducing the number of anti-ship railgun positions along the coast from thirty to just six (only sacrificing seven helicopters for their efforts). Those six railgun sites would be targeted by a small contingent of PLA Special Forces, which had been offloaded at the Port of LA. The JDF needed to destroy all the gun batteries before fleets and transports started their seaborne approach to LA and San Diego. The next twelve hours were going to be critical to the success of the seaborne invasion.