Dragon Fire

Military Headquarters, Western Hills, China

‘Nuclear air-burst over Chengdu?’ said General Leung. ‘Where, exactly?’

‘Unclear. We have lost contact.’

President Tao remained silent. He sat in an office chair, his chin in his hands, staring at the huge map in the war room. Hari Dixit had more nerve than he had anticipated. If India and China slugged it out city for city, India would lose eventually, but China would not be an outright winner. The progress of the last quarter of a century would be wrecked, and the Motherland’s standing in the international community would be in tatters. Yet if Tao stopped now, China would be a defeated nation. He pushed the chair back, stood up and walked over to the wall map, his shadow moving across it like a storm cloud.