Condition Zebra: The Next War - 2025

Chapter 25

“Kazan and Kursk report missiles away, sir,” said Nikolin.

“Understood,” said Karpov, waiting. He wanted to see what kind of defense the enemy would have against the stealthy Onyx, a missile every bit as good as the Chinese YJ-18. In fact, Karpov deemed it better. It was a high supersonic weapon throughout its entire flight path, capable of reaching 1600 knots, and it was stealthy.

The salvos from Kazan were parried, for there were actually four Chinese ships in the target group, a single Type 052D destroyer, Kunming, and three frigates. The follow up salvo from Kursk would break through to score a devastating hit on that destroyer, blasting open its hull. Frigate Zhaotong took the next hit, in spite of a brave defense. Then Huangshan would be struck amidships, leaving only frigate Shaoguan afloat in the forward screen, desperately trying to pull men out of the burning sea. All the stricken ships had been stationed at Mischief Reef at the outset of the battle, ordered to join Admiral Wu’s fleet muster, but they would never see those coral reefs again.

Frigate Yangzhou was out on the northern horizon, all alone as an intermediate radar picket. They saw the stream of missiles coming, and began firing HQ-16’s at 17:52. After getting five hits, that frigate would succumb to a withering hit aft, which would send it down within minutes. After that kill, the remaining missiles were beginning to enter the main body, the leading Vampire now just 13 miles from the carrier Shandong. They were getting flanking HQ-9 fire from Chilong the Fire Dragon, and Type 052D destroyer Yinchuan. Several of the Onyx missiles malfunctioned in the intense jamming, and none would get through.

Angry at the attack, the Chinese Admiral ordered an immediate counterattack. Most elements of the fleet had now mustered to form a large 20 ship force. A total of 32 missiles would come off the destroyers, with 16 allocated to each of the two Siberian Ships.

Karpov expected a counterattack, but he knew he had a much quicker punch. He would go after the carrier Shandong this time, and with a two handed attack.

“Samsonov, put four Zircons out here, about 30 miles northeast of that carrier. Then sneak four more here, on a more direct vector. Let’s see if our first salvo can draw their fire to allow the second to get through.”

It was a clever ploy, and a flurry of HQ-9’s were out after the first salvo, when the second suddenly appeared on radars, coming from a different direction. Three of those four were killed, but the last found the carrier. All the ships saw the explosion, but when the report got to the bridge, no vital systems reported damage. The hull was charred and burned where the missile went through above the water line, but it struck non vital spaces. Karpov’s uncanny luck in hitting prized high value targets like carriers persisted, but his work was not yet done.

Minutes later, the Chinese counterattack began and a combination of YJ-18 Sizzlers and YJ-100 cruise missiles came in at the two Siberian ships. The next few minutes were quite harrowing, and Fedorov stood near Nikolin’s post, seeing how the younger officer gripped the arm rest of his chair as the missiles began to rush off the deck, and the sky began to fill with dark explosions. The tension on the bridge was palpable, because the YJ-18’s were sprinting, and getting in very close. They could see the Gargoyles hissing at them like venomous snakes, and the AK-600 Gatling guns began to rattle out their fire. The sound of the explosions shook the windows on the bridge, but then it was over. All the enemy missiles had been killed, and a dark haze of grey white smoke settled around Kirov like a shroud.

Karpov smiled. “I don’t think they like us, eh, Samsonov? We have put down four ships, hit both carriers, and yes, they are clearly not happy with us. Good. We will keep it that way, but let us open the range a bit. They have shorter range missiles on their frigates, and we do not want them in the equation. Helm, come to 180, and we will take the range outside 200 miles.”

“Sir,” said Rodenko. “We’ve lost signal integrity on the surface contacts. The uncertainty factor is increasing each second. Chinese fighters just took out that AEW plane over Singapore, and we were relying on that for a good position fix.”

“Another good reason to open the range now, as we have no way of knowing whether the British have assets on Singapore that can refine those contacts any further. It may be that our best bet now is to wait for the Americans. Where is the British task force?”

“As of 19:20, they were 86 miles northwest of Singapore, in the Malacca Strait.”

“So it’s clear they are withdrawing. And the Americans?”

“They are 590 miles east of Borneo, about to enter the Celebes Sea south of Mindanao.”

“Very well…. Then I think we’ll bide our time, unless the Chinese hit us again. In that event, I just might get angry.”

Turnabout, they say, if fair play, and even more so in time of war. As the Chinese fleet concentrated, an old British warrior was slowly creeping up on them at 12 knots. Eleven miles out, the sub Trafalgar slowed to five knots, listening to the sound of all those screw rotations. The sonar station was working up solutions, and Captain Samuel Wood, soon had five Spearfish ready to get out and look for some vengeance after what the navy had been through of late. They knew what Anson did north of Madagascar, and they were eager to weigh in.

So just before 18:00 local, as the sun was low on the horizon to the east, five Spearfish went out for the hunt. The targets were the frigate Xuchang, Type 052D destroyers Hefei and Changsha, Type 055 heavy destroyer Shanshen, the Mountain God, and the older Type 051B destroyer Shenzhen. All but the last were just inside eight miles, and the swift Spearfish could run twelve miles at its top speed of 80 knots. In this attack, detecting the incoming torpedo quickly was the difference between life or death for the targeted ships.

The frigate Xuchang got wind of both the sub and the torpedo first, heading its way, as they were the first ship targeted, but it was a bearing only detection, with much uncertainty. That was enough to force the Captain to come about and go all ahead flank, and all the ships that were off his port side did the same. Then the uncertainty dissolved, and there were suddenly four more torpedoes out there, all in a line from north to south in a classic torpedo fan spread. The entire Chinese fleet now lurched east like a herd of sheep beset by five ravenous wolves.

Then Xuchang blew up, and one by one, tall water spouts rose up on all those destroyers. The Spearfish had been deadly accurate, and so fast that there had been no time to evade. Trafalgar was relentless, the crews reloading those tubes, and four more fish were soon in the sea, this time with the carrier Zhendong in their sights, just eight miles out.

Minutes later, Admiral Wu Jinlong heard and felt an explosion, and now he knew his ship was doomed. A second hard thump cemented that, as Zhendong rolled with the hit. As he reached for the arm of his chair to steady himself, he saw the horrific second explosion ravage Shanshen, and the Mountain God began to roll over heavily to its starboard side. Destroyer Changsha was also hit a second time, and now he knew his enemy was exacting a terrible vengeance for the many ships his own submarines had sunk earlier that day.

The British fleet had been like Daniel going into the Lion’s Den, only the outcome for Admiral Pearson’s ships had been very bad. Now brave Trafalgar was David facing Goliath alone, and his sling was deadly accurate. That single sub had run up on the flank of a massive Chinese formation, and gutted it. Admiral Wu now had no choice, giving the order to make a boat ready so that he could transfer his flag to the carrier Shandong.

Of the ships hit, only destroyer Changsha and the carrier Zhendong were still afloat, attended by a destroyer and frigate. As the Admiral made his way towards Shandong, the fleet reorganized around that carrier, still fifteen ships strong. In spite of a diligent search by helicopters, the marauding sub escaped detection. The news that destroyer Changsha had also sunk that hour lay like another lash upon Admiral Wu’s broad back.

They have used all their torpedoes, thought the Admiral, and with terrible effect. Perhaps they are still out there, lurking, and we must be vigilant. I was remiss in failing to deploy a strong ASW screen. That must be corrected immediately.

Chances are that Zhendong will not survive this ill-fated mission. That carrier still has 11 valuable J-31’s aboard, but conditions do not permit them to launch and transfer to Shandong. Sending Zhendong to Ranai will do no good, as there are no facilities there. No, it will have to be detached to the oil terminal at Vung Tau, Vietnam. We invested a great deal there, and now the Vietnamese can repay us. Zhendong can only make 11 knots, and it is over 400 miles to that port, so it will be vulnerable at sea for a good long while.

Clearly, I will have much to answer for when I make my report to Beijing. At the very least, I must fulfill my mission with the ships still under my command. I have already driven the Royal Navy from their nest at Singapore, but how long can I stay here to control these waters? The Americans are coming….

At 22:30 hours, the darkness around the American carrier Independence was lit up by missile fire from two of her escorting destroyers, Sherman and Sheridan. This time, the target was Ranai Airfield, as the American plan to “prepare the battlefield” entered phase II. The airfield at Miri would be hit again by DDG Hancock, and now Ranai would get the same treatment, removing all local land based air support from the Chinese hand. When Independence got closer, the carrier wanted to rule the skies, uncontested.

That night the oil burned long in Beijing as the naval command tried to determine how to proceed. Admiral Zhang Wendan, Chief of Staff, took a late meeting with Admiral Zheng Bau, Chief of Naval Operations South.

“The situation with our South Seas Fleet has changed,” said Zhang. “This submarine attack has complicated matters a great deal. Zhendong is badly damaged, and must seek a friendly port.”

“Yet we still have Shandong active,” said Zheng Bau.

“True, but the attacks at Miri, and now Ranai, continue. Satellites have finally located the position of the American carrier Independence. It is now entering the Celebes Sea, and coming west.”

“Of course, where else would it go in this situation?”

“Well, that is a problem.” The Chief of Staff was clearly the more cautious of the two, seeing things in the situation he did not like. “Without land based air support, Wu Jinlong can only rely on the planes he has aboard Shandong —eighteen fighters.”

“Four more are on the way from Miri. They got the airfield in good enough shape to get the remaining planes out.”

“That makes 22 aircraft. How many will the American bring on their carrier? Forty? Sixty? Without Miri and Renai, our J-20’s will have to come all the way from Tan Son Nhat in Vietnam. That is over 500 miles north of Wu Jinlong’s present position. What exactly is he to do now? Hasn’t he already accomplished his assigned mission? The Royal Navy has fled up the Strait of Malacca.”

Zheng Bau tapped the map table. Pointing to the Strait of Malacca. “Sea control,” he said. “That is the root and stem of his mission. Driving off the British was the flower, but at root, that is why we sent that fleet south, to secure the Strait of Malacca.”

“More easily said than done,” said Zhang. “The British can still exert control sitting north of Sumatra. Surely you will not want Wu Jinlong chasing them through that narrow waterway. He could be trapped there, and forced to enter the Indian Ocean, which would remove too much strength from our South China Sea. Furthermore, if you say Wu Jinlong should now turn and fight the Americans, then he is in the wrong place at this moment. He would have to be sitting just west of Miri airfield to get his cruise missiles into the Celebs Sea. What will he do at Singapore? I say he should be recalled at once. First escort Zhendong north to Vietnam, and see if we can gain the support of their navy again to recoup our losses. Then let us see where the Americans go, and what they are planning. The South China Sea must not be left exposed.”

Zheng Bao nodded. Yes, he knew he could not send that fleet into the Strait of Malacca, or the Indian Ocean. It was the heart of the defensive force for the South China Sea, which was his primary charge. They had doubled down in their effort to defeat the Royal Navy at Singapore, but there were limits to what they could do there. Surely they would not harm or bother the hundreds of ships hovering off that port. They would need them to come to China one day soon, or so he believed.

“The Americans,” he breathed.

“And the Siberians,” said Zhang Wendan. “How did they get so far south from the Beihai Sea? They were the ones who drew first blood, with those terrible hypersonic missiles. We must make every effort to get our hands on that technology.”

“Nothing was discovered at Haishenwei while we occupied the port,” said Zheng. “But we did learn enough to develop the missile that had been the bane of the Royal Navy, our YJ-18. Very well… I will agree that we should and must make every effort now to see Zhendong to a safe port. Then the fleet can refuel at Veng Tau, and we will discuss the situation further when we see what the Americans do.”

“Agreed,” said Zhang Wendan. “Discretion now, valor later.”

The new orders would reach Admiral Wu at 02:00 local time on the 30th of November. He was awakened by an aide with the news, rubbing his eyes as he read the message decrypt.

“Inform the Captain. The fleet will come about to 20 degrees north and make a rendezvous with Zhendong. That is all.”

As they moved north there would be another submarine scare that morning, when frigate Jingzhou reported a torpedo in the water. It was the RSN diesel boat Swordsman, and her Captain took an unlucky shot at the frigate. Unfortunately, he did not have very sharp teeth, The TP-613 torpedoes he was carrying could only range out a little over five miles at their best speed, and to go farther, they had to reduce to just 25 knots.

FFG Jingzhou had the alacrity to outrun the torpedo, and then the Captain bravely turned the tables on the sub, and came about to go hunting. He got his helicopter up for a search, went to active sonar, and closed the range. It was at some risk, but he got close enough to use his Type 87 ASW rockets, and killed the Swordsman that had taken that swipe at him, recouping just a little lost honor after so many of the fleet’s valuable ships had been killed by the silent enemy below.

Submarines….

This is why Karpov hated them so. Kirov’s superb long range radars could not see them. His Gargoyles could not reach out and kill them as they could with enemy missiles. Posting round the clock helicopter ASW patrols consumed both fuel and time, and often, the submarine Captains would just hover in the sea along your path, waiting to strike when ships came within range.

Submarines… They had sunk eleven ships in this second contest near Singapore, and largely decided the battle on both sides. The losses they inflicted caused each combatant to reconsider, regroup, and withdraw to safer waters.

So as the last six J-20’s that got out of Miri arrived, they took up a covering position, circling over the stricken carrier Zhendong, like a flock of dark crows.

Chapter 26

OMCOM was looking over the satellite data, noting that the Chinese Feet was beginning to muster out to sea in the Indian Ocean. That was the real matter at hand, and Admiral John David Randall was calling the tune.

“Alright gentlemen,” he said, wielding a laser pointer. Behind him a digital map covered the entire wall on a massive screen, and the audience of staff officers quieted when he spoke.

“What you’re going to see on the screen here is the current state of the Chinese Indian Ocean Command and fleet as of 15:00 today, and I will say at the outset that 90% of it is haze grey and underway.”

Randall was tall, broad in the shoulders, a sandy haired man that had come up through the carrier ranks, with service on Eisenhower, Truman, and Lincoln. He was a go getter, and a man that had been relied upon to get difficult jobs done, but he never downplayed the rigor of what might lie ahead.

“This is what we’re looking at. Out east off Somalia, we have two Surface Action Groups, both under overall command of Admiral Sun Wei. This is the force that tangled with the Royal Navy north of Madagascar, and they were tough—14 warships with two support ships. If they hold present course, they are making for a rendezvous with these two groups out of Djibouti and Aden, and that adds nine ships, bringing that command to 23 ships. A raptor out of Mogadishu flew 500 miles to get that intelligence, and its good. ”

The admiral circled the rendezvous point with his laser pointer, somewhere east of the Horn of Africa. Then a fleet icon lit up to the east, off the southern tip of India.

“This is the Colombo group, usually on patrol in the Bay of Bengal, but now moving west above the Maldives—twelve ships. Lastly, up north they have their Arabian Sea Group, which sortied from Gwadar three hours ago. Our Task Force Able out of Muscat tangled with them briefly, and they retired, but they’re back at sea—ten ships. So if you’ve done you math, that adds up to a grand total of 45 warships…..”

That got a murmur started through the whole audience, and Admiral Randall voiced the obvious heart of the reaction. “Gentlemen, they know we’re coming. They know where we want to go, and needless to say, these guys mean business. Now… Here’s what we have operational as of today. In spite of significant losses, the Royal Navy has consolidated at Diego Garcia with a 15 ship task force, including carriers Prince of Wales, Victorious and Ark Royal. They will be escorted by four destroyers and seven frigates. Our Roosevelt group adds seven ships, including two cruisers, and ARG Makin Island has that ship and two more destroyers. These forces will rendezvous with ARG Solomon Sea, which left Mogadishu four days ago to get out of harm’s way. Those three ships are about 650 miles east of Admiral Sun Wei. Mister Harper?”

“Sir, why didn’t the air assets at Mogadishu take a swipe at the West African Group as it moved north?”

“Because we told them to keep their powder dry and wait. All we have there that can get after a ship at sea are a pair of Raptors and six SuperToms. That would put a dozen LRASM’s in the air, but they wouldn’t put a dent on the bumper given what Sun Wei is floating. Those assets will have to coordinate any strike with our operations.

“Alright, the last of our surface war fighters are with Force Darwin, which is hauling the Marines out to Diego Garcia. That force has a US cruiser and three destroyers, with three Australian frigates and three of our amphibious ships, but they’re escorting 16 more ships with a lot of lives and equipment on board. Throw in two Seawolf class subs and that brings our forward deployed warship total to 30, with six in reserve. So this is about to be the biggest naval engagement since the Action off Fiji in the last war, and we may have more at stake here than Halsey did in that fight.”

The Admiral switched screens, now showing a large map of the Arabian Peninsula, where a prominent red line marked the current front.

“That red line is where Saddam and his minions have pushed as of 03:00 this morning. Our own 82nd airborne just stopped them here, at Rivet Joint One, and here, as they tried to cut off the defense at Al Jubayl. We’ve proven we can stop them, and God bless the 82nd Airborne out there, but we don’t have the muscle to roll them back. 1st US Marines needs to get in there, and as fast as we can move them. Behind them we have a full armored BCT from 1st Cav, and they’ll be more coming.”

“Sir, will 7th Fleet get in on this?”

“We’ve asked for the support, and Carrier Strike Group Independence is already heading our way. That said, the next screen I’ll show you has the situation in the South China Sea. As you know, Royal Navy Admiral Pearson got into a scrap with the Chinese some days ago as they made a move on Singapore. They held the fort, but at some cost. The South China Fleet, Commanded by Admiral Wu Jinlong, came south again for round two at Singapore. This time the British couldn’t hold. They ran afoul of a pair of Chinese diesel boats and lost six ships.”

Admiral Randall let that one sink in a bit before he continued. He wanted to impress the importance of ASW operations on the audience, something he had advocated coming up through the ranks.

“Admiral Pearson has withdrawn his remaining task force, just five ships, and he will be up off the northern tip of Sumatra by now. On the other hand, a British attack sub returned the favor and gored the starboard side of the Chinese fleet as they were heading south. Gentlemen, he got five ships, including one of their hot new Type 055’s, and then put two torpedoes into one of their carriers. The Chinese have withdrawn, and so we’re going to call that one a costly draw, for both sides.”

There was quite a stir when the Admiral tallied Trafalgar’s score, even going one up on HMS Anson’s exploits earlier that week. Then he turned back to the main screen.

“What this means is the Carrier Strike Group Independence has been put on notice to be ready to move into the Indian Ocean to support our operations, but that decision is still pending recon and assessment of what this Wu Jinlong does in the South China Sea.

“What about India, sir?” asked a staffer.

“Good question. They’re the elephant in the room, still neutral at the moment, as is Pakistan. If, however, the Chinese push Pakistan over the line, chances are that India would come in on our side. They already have a carrier group operating off Mumbai, and they would be most welcome. Now we get to planning and strategy.”

Admiral Randall switched screens again, showing a broad display of the Indian Ocean.

“Gentlemen, for the moment, the whole Arabian Peninsula should be considered to be behind enemy lines, and our mission is to break through and get reinforcements in there. But the Chinese also have an enclave here in the Maldives and at Sri Lanka at Colombo. So it will be our job to take those bases down as part of this operation. Their other land based support is in Yemen. They’ll have air assets at Sana’a, Aden, Riyan on the middle coast and Al Ghaydah up near Oman. They can also fly from Djibouti, and to some extent from Massawa in the Red Sea area. Because they have no carriers, we think they will muster their fleet somewhere within range of that land based air support. That at least allows them some means of contesting the airspace, or at least using it.”

“Not for long, sir,” someone put in.

“Well said. So one mission will be to deny them use of that airspace, and the bases that allow them to operate there. The bases in Yemen help them close the Red Sea. Colombo guards their maritime silk road from Burma, around India to the Persian Gulf. It’s their principle energy lifeline and the fleet they have here is tasked with securing and defending it. That’s what this is about—oil. Suez is closed and the Trans-Arabian Pipeline was shut down four days ago when the Iraqi’s crossed it. The British were unable to back this Admiral Sun Wei down, and so, for the moment, nothing is getting around the Cape of Good Hope. The last of the oil that was on the water when this war broke out should be making port in the US about now. After today, nothing else gets through until we open the sea lanes to permit that.”

Now the Admiral displayed a map of the Chinese maritime silk road, showing the sea lane connection from the Persian Gulf, around Sri Lanka, and on to ports in the Bay of Bengal at Burma, and through the Strait of Malacca to the South China Sea.

“That is the Line of Communications China has to the Middle East, much shorter than ours, but just as vulnerable, particularly with the US Navy out here. Our job is to decisively cut that line, and show Beijing just how much they have to lose by persisting with this madness.”

“Sir, why are they persisting? What’s their endgame?”

“Another good question,” said Admiral Randall. “This thing started with a scrap over the Ryukyu islands when the Chinese figured they were finally going to square things with the Japanese. We stood up, and that put them face to face with the United States Navy. They started stopping tanker traffic in the Med, probably to make a point that there could be a lot more at stake than the Ryukyus and Japan’s ruffled pride. Then, as it so often happens in war, one thing led to another. The Chinese knew they had no real play in the Mediterranean, so they shook the place up, and then pulled out. The same goes for their bases in the Atlantic along the African coast. The operation into the Arabian Peninsula had to be a major wartime contingency plan—all the marbles, gentlemen. It really all comes down to this—the Indian Ocean. This is where the war will be won or lost, because the most vital sea lanes on the planet are right here. If we win this thing, they may have no choice other than to throw in the towel.”

“How soon do we get started, sir?”

“24 hours will see all parties to this argument in combat range. The only wildcard will be what happens with the Independence. And let me tell you what the difference is going to be in this one—four aircraft carriers. We are going to get fighter recon patrols up with the Hawkeyes and find them first. The rest is done with mirrors. Find them, target them, hit them, kill them. Now I’m a carrier man from way back when, but I want you to think about what those two Chinese diesel boats did yesterday in the South China Sea, and what HMS Trafalgar did in return. This is a fight that we’ll take to them over, on and under the sea. Never forget that. We’re headed for the greatest full domain engagement since WWII.”

Four carriers…. Roosevelt, Prince of Wales, Victorious, Ark Royal, and maybe a fifth, Independence, would weigh heavily on the scales. The difference was air power you could take out into the Deep Blue when there was no land base that could serve you there. The Western Allies had that capability, and the Chinese did not. They brought two of their five carriers to the South China Sea against Admiral Pearson and saw both damaged, one by Karpov and Kirov, the other by HMS Trafalgar. Here, in this most important theater, they could not sail with a single flattop. In effect, the Chinese carrier arm was consigned to the littoral seas bordering China, and not a Deep Blue service arm at all.

That meant any deployment of Chinese air power had to come from the ‘String of Pearls,’ the many bases they had been building through the region for the last decade. As they had done in the second battle for Singapore, the US had a plan to prepare the battlefield before they engaged, and that meant denying the enemy the use of those key land bases they had to rely on.

Sri Lanka was therefore at the top of the list, a base that would allow the Chinese to interdict all traffic headed from the Arabian Peninsula and Persian Gulf to the Strait of Malacca. It had to be neutralized. The small field at Hambantoa was not a threat, with only a few helicopters based there, but the much bigger base at Colombo was hosting 45 aircraft, including 18 J-10’s, 18 more J-20’s, two AEW planes and ASW patrol craft. The big sealift convoy had a pair of US destroyers in escort, Benning and Anderson, and each one was carrying 56 TACTOM’s. They were therefore given Colombo as their primary target, and cleared to fire at 18:00, on the last day of November.

The explosions began to rip open the night when the missiles found the base, and when it was over, there were nine J-20’s and fifteen J-10’s left burning on the tarmacs, a major loss of more than a full squadron.

Immediately behind the point of enemy concentration were the bases in Yemen and Djibouti. They could provide defensive support, and long range recon flights by J-20’s to help locate targets. DDG Burnside, with the Solomon Sea ARG, would get the mission to strike the small Yemeni field at Al Ghaydah close to the border of Oman. Fighters from that field had already dueled with US CAP patrols defending an E-3 Sentry that was keeping watch on the Chinese Gwadar group. DDG Fremont would target the coastal field further south at Riyan.

That would exhaust the TACTOM’s carried by the destroyers, though most still retained their MMT’s for anti-surface warfare. But the preeminent strike asset for land targets was not cutting waves with its bow that day. It was deep beneath the sea. SSGN 726, the venerable Ohio, had been converted from a ballistic missile boat into a cruise missile platform, and each of her 22 missile cells could hold seven TACTOM’s. They was adding 154 missiles to the battle, and these were going to target the bigger air bases at Al Anad near Aden, Djibouti, and the big airfield at Sana’a in northwest Yemen. This put some 250 missiles in the air, all coming from deep within the Indian Ocean, so they would not be seen on Chinese radars for some time.

Of less concern were the bases in Pakistan, which were too far away to really matter, and politically sensitive, so they were not on the list. Nobody worried about striking the bases in Yemen, but Pakistan was another matter, a nuclear armed “client state” of China that was still sitting on the fence in this war. Yemen had been sparring with the Saudis for years, trying to export its Houthi rebellion to Saudi territory.

In considering this phase of the campaign, the great virtue of the Tomahawks would be seen, low and slow, but with a whopping 1600 nautical mile range. They represented seaborne strike capability that had no equivalent on the Chinese side. Beijing had built and deployed excellent anti-ship missiles, but few that were dedicated to striking land targets. That said, the only bases that would matter to the Chinese would be the three airfields the US was using in Oman, and Berbera AFB on the southern shores of the Gulf of Aden in Somalia.

That base was being targeted by some of the few planes the Chinese had in the region with any standoff land strike capability. They were nothing new, the old JH-7A, but they could carry the KD-88 Land Attack Cruise Missile, with a 100 mile range. All they had to do was take off, point their noses south, and fly about 40 miles into the Gulf of Aden to get in range of Berbera, which is what they did.

The US had a foil based there for that very reason, the new F-24A Hellcat. It had been one of the planes competing for the role the F-22 won, but here, instead of dropping the program, it stayed in development as a possible successor to the Raptor, and with a new long lance missile, the AIM-152B, sporting a 160 mile range. Six were up to patrol the Gulf, and they saw the strike package on their radars, with escorting J-20s. Then they let those lances fly.

That started a little air war, seeing four J-20’s downed in short order, the Chinese KJ-500 AEW patrol destroyed, and all the J-7’s chopped up by those new US missiles. Unfortunately, they had already fired their cruise missiles, so the attack they had been sent to make was coming in regardless of the plane losses. The Chinese scrambled the rest of their squadron, another nine J-20s, but the Hellcats earned their name, and had missiles out after them before they even knew they were there. All nine would be destroyed, establishing the F-24 as a dangerous new air superiority asset for the US.

As darkness shrouded over the sea, the Tomahawks were making a slow approach to their targets.

Chapter 27

About an hour after sunset the Tomahawk storm was sweeping over the ocean, and the Chinese ships began firing at the missiles, until they realized they were just simply flying past them to other destinations. They got many kills, but the major strikes had been vectored over the Horn of Africa, and now the loss of that KJ-500 AEW plane out of Djibouti meant the Chinese were oblivious to the impending storm of flying metal and explosives heading their way.

The local commander at Djibouti had been shocked to see his entire squadron of J-20’s wiped out by the new American fighters. The only one killed on the US side was hit on the ground after it landed by one of the cruise missiles the JH-7A’s had fired.

Then reports came in that Al Anad AFB was under heavy missile attack, and he scrambled his last AEW plane to see what was happening. Even as it taxied to the runway, Tomahawks began falling on the revetments to the east. The plane took off amid smoke and fire rising from the field, and when it switched on its radars, the wave of missiles coming for the base was finally seen. Djibouti was about to take a pounding, and a missile would soon find him as he gawked at the scene from his control tower. The last thing he saw were the hangars and Avgas bunkers erupting with fire.

Half an hour later, planes in open parking at Sana’a started exploding as the Tomahawks reached that airbase. The resulting damage to all the targets was significant, with the loss of many planes on the ground and terrible disruption to operations. The control tower at Al Anad had also been destroyed, inhibiting the control of flight operations there. The interdiction strikes had done exactly what the US planners wanted, seriously reducing the ability of the Chinese to provide land based air support from any of those bases. That night, the satellites would look down for BDA analysis, and if necessary, Ohio was standing by with another 60 missiles ready for follow on attacks.

All of this added up to one great liability that now hampered the Chinese Fleet. How would they find the enemy? With air assets unable to fly deep recon missions into the Indian Ocean, they were relying on just one thing, satellites, and one in particular, Yaogan-13. It had just updated the general position of the Allied fleet, which was advancing in two groups, one where analysts had identified the British Carriers. By default, the other group had to be the Americans.

Their surface fleet had bullied the Royal Navy by getting just enough intelligence to target them at ranges between 200 and 400 nautical miles. In that donut, the Chinese could hammer them with the YJ-18 and YJ-100, leaving the British unable to respond, as their Harpoons and even the new Naval Strike Missiles had no more than 100 mile range. It meant the Royal Navy carriers were the only longer range strike asset, and the density of the missile attacks had forced those fighters to deploy as a defensive shield for the fleet.

That situation would remain unchanged for Admiral Wells, but the addition of the Roosevelt Strike Group had changed the equation dramatically. It was now the US Navy that had the dominant standoff naval strike weapon, the Multi-Mission Tomahawk, which they had in droves. Every destroyer carried them, giving the US an excellent first strike option in any engagement.

“Stick, Bravo One. Skunks on the water. Over.”

“Roger Bravo One, Stick Copies. Standby. Over.”

The US had the general position of the Chinese task forces east of the Horn of Africa, but they needed more refined data for targeting. A Hawkeye was up, but Captain James Simpson on the Roosevelt was a stickler for fighter recon missions, and he had a flight of four US F-35’s 200 miles out to nail things down. Bravo One was reporting to the Big Stick, that he had independent confirmation on the Hawkeye detections.

Roosevelt was an old gal, with her keel laid down on Halloween, 1981. A few Old Salts called her “Spooky” because of that, and she was commissioned five years later in 1986. Now she was just shy of her 40th year of service, and looking forward to a rest for some maintenance. Her Midlife Refueling and Complex Overhaul had been completed in 2009, so there was plenty of time left on the hull.

The business end of the ship had two dozen F-35’s, 18 Super Tomcats, and six Growlers. By this time, the long serving F/A-18’s had all been retired, put into reserve or sold to Allied states. The Navy had doubled down on the F-35, and the SuperToms were an odd addition to the flight deck. They were not simply upgraded planes, but all newly manufactured with the advanced equipment built in, and other improvements. A big aircraft, they could carry loads of ordnance that were not yet able to fit in the internal weapons bay of the F-35, most notably the LRASM and SLAMMER for standoff strike capability. They were also often used for “Heavy Barcap,” or barrier CAP, where they could loadout with all of eight of the new AIM-152’s. It reminded the older officers who had flown the first Tomcats in their youth of the venerable Phoenix. The Toms would eventually be replaced by the new Avenger-II stealth strike plane, but that was only flying on the three newest carriers, Independence, Enterprise and John F. Kennedy.

Bravo One had just nailed the position of the nearest Chinese Surface Action Group, now about 415 miles away. The fix was good enough to go to the Tomahawks, and the weapon’s officers were already assigning targets to the escorts. Destroyers Hooker, Reynolds, and Ward would get the fire orders, each targeting three destroyer contacts in the eight ship formation. The three US ships were carrying identical loadouts, and for surface action they had 24 MMT’s and another 24 of the newer LRASM, the only three destroyers carrying those in this task force.

The targets were all ships of Admiral Sun Wei’s victorious group, now called the Dragon Gods after the Admiral’s Flagship, Longshen. They had won what history would call the Battle off Seychelles, even though those islands had been occupied by the British. Now he was first on the firing line again, having been appointed to overall command of the Indo-Arabian Theater.

The American plan was to lead with the missile strike, and follow with an air strike off the Big Stick. Simpson was going to throw a heavy punch, looking for an early round knockout. He would send 12 F-35’s with the Small Diameter Bomb, eight in each weapons bay. Twelve more Tomcats would fly on the flanks, six with slammers and six with the LRASM.

The Alarms on the Chinese ships sounded at 21:45 when the first two Vampires were seen on radar, just ten miles out. Because they were clocked at 600 knots, the Chinese knew they were not Tomahawks, and suspected that they were the new, more stealthy American cruise missile. How else could they get so close before being detected.

The formation was moving due east, with DDG Nanchang as the group leader, a Type 055 heavy destroyer. It opened fire first, along with DDG Kaifeng. There were six destroyers and two frigates in this group, and just over the horizon to the north, three more destroyers cruised with Admiral Sun Wei in his flagship. The first two HQ-9’s missed. The next two missed, and then the Chinese loaded up and finally brought down those two missiles inside three miles. Just as they died, the Tomahawks were seen crossing the 20 mile range marker, and orders were given for all ships to go weapons free.

At 21:54 the alarm sounded again and the next wave came in. It was destroyer Nanchang that held the fort, pouring out a lethal stream of HQ-9’s. The ship began the action with 53 in her VLS bays after taking pot shots at the TACTOM’s earlier, and ended it with 28, but the Vampires were defeated. The smoke had barely cleared when the first inklings of the air strike began to register on radar.

The Tomcat flights had been in range for some time, just waiting for the F-35’s to come up and find their release point. They began climbing to 50,000 feet, to give the GBU-53’s the best glide range possible. Meanwhile, the flight of four escorting F-35’s were painting the targets with radar to keep a firm lock, and sharing that data with all the other planes. Then the Growlers started earning their name with offensive ECM.

“Stick, Tomboy one. Slamming away.”

“Roger that.”

“Tomboy two is Winchester.”

“Roger, Tomboys. RTB. Over.”

Now the twelve F-35’s went to military speed, hastening forward to reach that sixty mile range marker. All that extra speed would be imparted to the bombs they would release, which made the GBU-53 a silent killer, with very little in the way of a radar or infrared signature. When it came to bomb design, no one could match the US, which had a dizzying array of ordnance for all occasions.

Now the Panthers were ready to rumble, and the Chinese would soon see two tight clouds appear as if from thin air on their radar screens. No whisper of the planes that had delivered those bombs was detected. The Tomcats released and turned for home, and there was not a single defensive missile able to reach or touch any of the US fighters. Unlike the British carriers, which really had nothing in the way of standoff ordnance except the Brimstone, Roosevelt had muscle.

Those 96 GBU-53’s were going to draw over 100 missiles from the enemy if they were to be defeated, and that was going to deplete many ships by the time the Slammers and LRASM’s arrived behind them. Every ship was firing, a waterfall of blue on the screens as the SAM’s raced out into that target cloud, like barracudas knifing through a school of fish.

Between all eight ships, the defensive fire was good enough to stop the GBU’s but at great cost in ordnance. Formation leader Nanchang was down to 17 HQ-9’s. No other ship had that long range missile left, and DDG Kaifeng was completely depleted. Admiral Sun Wei did not yet see them on his radar screens, but another 24 missiles were still inbound, the SLAM-ER’s and LRASM’s off the Super Tomcats. At 22:10, they were finally detected 30 miles out, and Nanchang began to fire the last of its HQ-9’s. They would get eight of the twelve Slammers, and then the ships had to sit there and wait for the remaining Vampires to get real close. Nanchang had 47 HQ-10’s, but they had a four mile range.

The only other ship that had anything better was the frigate Huanggang, which had six HQ-16’s that could range out 21 miles. So the tense wait was on as the Vampires closed on the task force. There would be little time for those short range missiles to find targets inside the four mile range marker. About 18 miles out, Huanggang fired, getting three of the four Slammers with the help of Nanchang’s HQ-10’s. The last went for DDG Kaifeng, without any missiles left, but the 30mm guns saved the ship from harm.

That was the easy part. The LRASM’s were more stealthy, and twelve more were still on their way in. Aware of the danger, Admiral Sun Wei now ordered his flag group of three destroyers to turn and hasten south at flank speed, and also ordered the main body to swing north. He was riding to the rescue in case more Vampires were out there, and all electronic jammers were wailing in their wake.

At 22:20, the LRASM’s were finally detected, pursuing the Chinese ships at 600 knots. As he watched on radar, he could only think of how he had sent his missiles out after the retreating British ships, picking off one frigate after another as they tried to escape his steely reach.

They were coming in pairs, as fired by each of the Tomcats, and trailing the formation, DDG Haian was the first to challenge them with its short range HQ-10’s. It got the first missile, but saw the second surge through its gunfire to strike the ship with a rending explosion, low on the waterline. The hull was fatally opened to the sea, and a catastrophic flooding was underway in seconds. Reeling with that hit, Haian continued to fire its HQ-10’s bravely defending its comrades as its speed fell off and it began to wallow. Its 24 YJ-18’s were now out of the fight, and Admiral Sun Wei knew that entire screen of eight ships would have to be detached to seek a friendly port to rearm with SAMs.

The American carrier, he thought. We are just outside the range of our YJ-100’s, but they can strike us with impunity. We never saw the F-35’s that delivered those bombs, and they drained the life from our SAM defense in a matter of minutes. We were lucky to take only one hit in that attack, and I must commend the brave sailors on Haian, who fought so hard to defend their comrades. That ship will probably be lost, and I must make every effort to rescue those crewmen.

My impulse is to turn on them and close the range, but I must be cautious here. We are strong when gathered as one, but weak when one of our task groups is isolated, as I was just now. Yet it will be some hours before the Americans can rearm their planes for another big strike, and in that time, I can work to concentrate the fleet.

In the meantime, our SSGN Submarine Jin Hua is in position to make a surprise attack on the British. Those are the only ships we still have a reliable fix on until Yaogan-13 orbits this way again.

That sub, like the US Ohio, was a modified boomer carrying 32 YJ-18 Sizzlers. It fired two salvos, thinking to steal away the life of Ark Royal and her escorting frigate, Diego Garcia. The British ships were due east of the sub, and about 100 miles away, but when the missiles fired, unseen ships to the south suddenly intervened—with Standard Missile-6.

The best naval based SAM in the world, those missiles were able to cover the British with little difficulty, catching the Sizzlers half way through their flight path, while they were still low and slow. It sent Jin Hua deep, her Captain hastening to get away from the scene as fast as possible, because he knew helicopters would soon be out in the hunt.

Cruisers Gettysburg and Vicksburg were already sending up a pair of Seahawks, and they were hastening northwest toward the last reported position of the missile boat. It would not take them long to find it, as it was nowhere near as stealthy as a Western sub. Two Barracuda Torpedoes later, Jin Hua was gone….

Frustrated, Admiral Sun Wei now contemplated what he might do. The Nanchang SAG was retiring, and with it went 100 strike missiles, including 80 YJ-18’s. The lone Type 055 destroyer had 20 YJ-100’s, but the nearest target was at the very edge of its range capability, 425 miles away. He had no choice but to send that group to the closest port, which was Aden.

His Flag Group of three ships had Longshen, the Dragon God, Yingshen, the Eagle God, and Type 052D destroyer Naning. Between them they had another 112 strike missiles, for the Eagle and Dragon had been configured with heavy strike loadouts. That was more offensive power than any other group in the fleet, but should he use it now? He had just seen what had happened to Jin Hua. Would the Americans be able to still cover the only reliable target he had?

Do not be hasty, he told himself. We have seen what they can do, a combination of cruise missiles and air strikes. While our losses were minimal, seven other ships were forced to retire and replenish. But that was only a quarter of our strength, and they cannot make such an attack again for another five or six hours. Nor can they do so against the totality of our fleet. So I will wait for the convergence of our other task forces. The Americans are recovering and rearming. There is time. At dawn we will be in a much better position, and when we strike, the Eagle and Dragon will lead the way.