Chimera

“Chen, how did we get here? What went wrong with our plans? What more could we have done to ensure victory instead of this sinking quagmire towards nuclear war?” Wencang muttered. Chen did not respond because the question was rhetorical and self-reflective. “My friend, did we do our duty towards the people of China?”

To that Chen did reply: “Yes. We did.”

NEW-DELHI

INDIA

DAY 12 + 1400 HRS

“You think it will send the message?” the PM asked. The voice of Air-Marshal Iyer came through on the phone a few seconds later:

“Yes sir, I think it will. If the rumblings we keep hearing are true then this is an effective counter-force response.”

“But I want to make clear that we suspect this might happen. We really don’t know for sure, do we?” the PM continued. Chakri stared in silence across the conference table. After a second he leaned towards the phone:

“Iyer, I want to emphasize that what the Prime-Minister stated is true. We expect a Chinese ballistic-missile attack in response to our own. And we expect them to restrain it to conventional warheads only. But we can never be sure what’s happening over there in Beijing. We want to be prepared, of course, but not appear overly aggressive and provoke a preemptive strike. Do you get what we are trying to say?”

“I understand sir,” Iyer replied and continued: “but I want to add that the fact that Chinese nuclear missile forces are already deployed in northern Tibet and it is not really something they are attempting to hide. They know that we know they have nuclear-tipped missiles deployed there. Now we do have eyes over them via our long-range aerial drones that I requested the air-force to transfer over to us for now. But even so, if they launch first, we will have minimal response time to launch a counter-force attack. That is, if we are not fully deployed as well.”

“But we are deployed, aren’t we? I mean our missiles are?” the PM asked in confusion.

“Yes sir, the land-based ballistic-missiles are,” Iyer responded calmly. “That part is correct. But I want to get our triad deployed right away to ensure that Beijing knows that nuclear-cards are off the table. That said, I don’t think it will be considered escalatory in any sense of the word.”

“But you are not sure!” the PM retorted.

“Negative,” Iyer replied after taking a deep breath which was audible on the other end. “I cannot physically go inside the C-M-C meetings in Beijing. I can only guess at their plans and thought processes based on visible and actionable intel.” Chakri noted a hint of irritation in Iyer’s voice. He looked up at the PM and saw that he had detected the same…

“Air-Marshal Iyer,” the PM replied, “I want to emphasize that we are not trying to second-guess your authority on this matter. But you will have to forgive me for being dense. I do have an additional question. Please indulge me if you would.”

“Of course, sir”

“What are the chances that if we take this step, we won’t actually give the Chinese the pretense they need to go nuclear?”

“Sir, it is possible that they might consider this action on our part as escalatory,” Iyer offered. “I can see how they might use that against us. But that said we know exactly what the flyover schedules of their satellites are. We know they are keeping a close watch on our missile groups. We have to remove the very idea of the feasibility of a decapitating pre-emptive nuclear strike from their minds. Once their satellites see that our nuclear forces are also deployed and in the field, they will lose that thought.”

The PM looked at Chakri who nodded agreement.

“Very well, Air-Marshal. I concur with your assessment. Go ahead as planned. Keep us informed.”

JUNWEI KONGJUN

BEIJING

DAY 12 + 1430 HRS

“Yes General, I understand the concern. I will take care of it.”

Feng put down the phone and rubbed his eyes. The commander of the 19TH Fighter Division had called up to express his reservations about the upcoming operation.

He isn’t the only one… Feng thought as he fished into his uniform coat pocket, pulled out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. He was about to light it when he saw Major Li, his adjutant, giving him a silent look. Feng saw it and then glanced at the sign on the wall that said ‘Jin Zhi Xi Yan’

No smoking.

Feng sighed, shook his head and put out the lighter flame before throwing the lighter back into his coat pocket. He saw Li turn back to his papers.

Feng watched in silence as the officers and NCOs at the center walked about in their sharp looking uniform coats and ties. It could be yet another day out here had it not been for the war. But there was something else in the air that Feng could almost sense and feel. He thought he felt the disappointment in the air. Maybe even defeat. And it came to him in different signs. On some it was the way the shoulders were slumped. In others it was the eyes that gave it away.

They knew the war was not going well.

And Feng knew that they knew.