Chimera

Chen realized that the answer to that question was difficult. As his gaze moved down the line of army officers to Colonel-General Liu and his two senior Generals from the 2ND Artillery Corps, Chen realized that those three officers and their service branch had survived the purifying wartime purges suffered by the army, air-force and soon, Chen was certain, navy officers as well. It certainly wasn’t because they were any cleaner than the rest. It had to do with the fact that they remained untested in combat thus far. Chen shuddered internally to think of what constituted as “combat experience” in that particular service branch.

The thing about nuclear weaponry was that by the time anyone found out that it didn’t work, everybody would long be vaporized in a flash of fire and gravel from the enemy’s arsenal.

So perhaps that is where the confidence for these officers came from!

They knew that theirs was an endgame force. If they won, they would be honored for their victories and the other Generals in this room chastised for their failings in conventional combat. If they failed, there would be no-one left to complain…

“… and what of the losses we suffered when the Indian ships sank our commercial ships? How did that happen? Who is responsible for that embarrassing defeat?” Peng asked the Admiral as Chen pulled himself out of his thoughts and leaned forward at his end of the table.

He saw Huaqing visibly lose blood from his cheeks as he speculated on the answer to that question in his mind. Peng wasn’t finished either:

“And is it also true that not only have the Indians sunk our convoy, but are now also going further up the Arabian sea to find and destroy individual ships? What is our naval task-force we sent to the Indian Ocean, doing about it?”

Wencang shared a look with Chen as both men realized the isolated position the navy commander found himself in. Nobody else in this room would dare say anything to support him at the moment. Huaqing finally found his power of speech:

“Sir, the naval task-force is maneuvering to engage. We received communications from the commander that he is being trailed by Indian long-range patrol aircraft from the south. Our satellites confirm that the bulk of the Indian navy centered on their single aircraft-carrier is now about to enter within range of the supersonic missiles onboard our fleet combat ships. Once we sink their carrier, we will take their naval force apart,”

Somehow Chen and the others found the statements devoid of conviction.

But who can blame the poor bastard… Chen thought.

Besides, what else was he going to say?

That our ships are going to get slaughtered in combat just like the two supposedly state-of-the-art Frigates we lost with the commercial convoy? That the only reason the Indian fleet commander has not engaged is because he is luring our force into a combat setting of his choice and conditions and not the other way around? That despite everything, our navy is still not suited for long-range expeditionary combat? Huaqing may be have lost all his hair to old age, but not his willingness to live.

Or his sanity for that matter!

“Admiral, I certainly hope you are right for all our sakes,” Colonel-General Liu stated authoritatively and continued: “If our navy cannot secure our maritime lines of commerce, we will be left with little choice but to force an end to this war while we still have control…”

“Surely we are not in as dire a situation as losing control of this war, General? I mean, fo…” the vice-party chairman stopped midsentence when Liu raised his hand to interrupt the minister:

“I meant control of this country. Not the war. For now the people are listening to our broadcasts and our control of the external media availability within the borders of China has been effective. Do not expect that to continue when the people find out that their supplies of oil, gas and other commodities is being cut back or reduced. If that were to happen, we would have riots throughout the countryside and a revolt outside this building within hours, not days!”

“What are our reserves for fuel and other imported commodities? For the war, I mean,” Peng asked the PLA commander.