Jmurman
Veteran Member
The unthinkable is being acted out…a devastating surprise nuclear attack on The United States of America. Who is behind this murderous act and can they be stopped? If they were to succeed, what would that mean for our country?
Can we survive?
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Insatiable in their appetite and lust for destruction, they did not see or acknowledge themselves as madmen, doomed to the same fate they desperately sought to inflict on others.
Sitting beneath a small bush gave him an unobstructed view of the two-lane graveled border crossing. The heavy European-made binoculars enlarged and sharpened the view into a crystal clear image. The repercussion from the hours spent silently watching in the brisk bone chilling cold, was tired and cramping muscles. Movement along the road caught the observers’ eye; a convoy of three olive drab military trucks ambling slowly towards the checkpoint. Scanning the trucks, he saw it was the middle vehicle where the package was hidden. The chalk mark that he had made previously on the side was clearly visible from this distance.
The trucks approached the checkpoint and stopped. The border guards verified paperwork and credentials, then allowed entry into the Peoples Republic of North Korea. Once inside; the drivers stopped and exited the fully laden transports, switched drivers with the North Koreans and then picked up three empty transports for the short drive back into China.
The observer smiled as his North Korean counterpart would soon continue the deception, bringing the package and its contents to the underground testing facility 150 kilometers away. This transfer would be the last, numbers Ten and Eleven. The baseball sized round gray metal plutonium spheres with their explosive outer casings along with their corresponding Tritium triggers were transported in a sealed and shielded container, giving no indication to the orbiting American satellite, which the observer knew was overhead.
The observer stood and resisted the urge to look for any satellite, it was there, he knew for a fact that it was and he didn’t want any possibility of his face being seen…knowing that even from such a great distance it was possible. Looking at his watch he saw that his flight to Fujian Province in Eastern China was just a few hours away.
Walking the short distance through the brush and to his waiting car hidden beneath a large tree, the observer acknowledged his bodyguard, who waited with the door opened.
“General, how did it go?” The guard asked
“Perfect, just as planned.” The Peoples Liberation Army General, Husian Hua replied.
* * * * *
Moving the curtain aside and smiling, Rick felt the joy of another Christmas Day. A mound of wrapping paper grew as Lacy and Jake ripped at the carefully wrapped packages. Linda sat smiling, in her well worn flannel pajamas, snapping photos of the ecstatic kids.
Looking over at his wife, Rick smiled at another successful Christmas. It was getting harder to plan and hide gifts from the kids, especially the six year old detective Laci. Although she was still fully believing in Santa Claus, they both knew that one day that magic would vanish.
Laci brought her latest of many just opened gifts over to Rick and say on his lap. “Daddy, look, it’s what I’ve always wanted…a Bug Barn!”
“I see that, what does it do?” He asked, smiling and hugging her.
“Well, you can catch bugs and put them in here and they’ll grow up. Hey, do you think we can grow a butterfly?” She asked, her morning breath making Rick move slightly away.
“We certainly can try to grow a butterfly, baby.”
Laci thought for a moment, it was one of those precious times that only a five year old would come up with. “Daddy, today is Jesus’ birthday, right?”
“Yeah it sure is.”
“So, can we bake Him a birthday cake?”
Rick smiled, “Absolutely. What do you think that He’d like?”
Without hesitating she replied, “Jesus likes chocolate cake with chocolate icing.”
So it was; a chocolate cake along with a large and high calorie Christmas dinner. The day went smoothly, with a football game, and a few drinks. Little did Rick and his family realize this would be their last Christmas together. In less than four months, everything they all knew, everything they loved and cherished, would be completely destroyed.
CHAPTER ONE
A soldier rapped on the brown wood door, three times crisply. After receiving a muffled verbal command he entered and stood at attention. When relieved of the rigid stance, he handed the manila envelope to his superior and quickly exited the room.
The return address read: PLA, Second Artillery Headquarters, Qinghe.
Colonel Jing Li slowly opened the envelope, scanning the letter for the words he was hoping to see. Colonel Li settled back into the plain wood chair, dejected. The letter simply stated ‘Request for a transfer denied.’
Another knock on the door caused the Colonel to stand, his legs shoving the wood chair behind as his dejection turned to anger. “Enter!” He barked.
The civilian, dressed in an expensive dark gray Shanghai tailor-made suit entered and stood facing the angry Colonel. “Is this how you greet anyone who comes to your door?” The civilian snapped. Hanging around his neck was a small laminated placard identifying him as a ‘Shao Jiang’, which was equivalent to the rank of Brigadier General in the United States military.
The Colonel snapped to attention, his anger rapidly faded. The General turned and closed the door behind him. “At ease Colonel Li.” The General turned around and walked slowly the few steps around the desk where Colonel Li stood.
Colonel Li’s eyes opened widely as he recognized his visitor. “General….” He stammered in disbelief.
“I know…I’m supposed to be dead.” The General smiled “As you can see, I am not.”
Colonel Li stepped over, ignoring protocol and embraced the man, his friend from many years ago. “I don’t know what to say Husian… I am speechless.” Jing Li and Husian Hua held each other at arms length, smiling. “How? I mean, you were dead…executed.”
“Jing, deception is everything.” General Hua paused and continued “I will explain everything to you in time.” He smiled again “Now, I need to show you this” General Husian opened his suit jacket and withdrew a folded off-white sheet of paper, handing it to the Colonel.
Reading the orders and fingering the strange texture of the paper, he looked up “I am being transferred to you?”
“Yes” Husian produced a small butane lighter and lit the corner of the paper. Instantaneously the page flashed in flame and as quickly burned itself out, leaving no residue.
“Spy paper? Are you a spy?”
“Spy? No…no, I am still a soldier like you. But I am on a mission where secrecy is of paramount importance. Like I said, I will explain everything to you.” Pausing again,
“Come, let’s take a walk outside and talk.”
The pair walked out the side door and into the cool air of Southeast China’s early Spring day. General Hua offered Colonel Li a cigarette. “Do you remember when you were first assigned to the DF-15?” Hua asked
Colonel Li looked at the General and nodded “Yes”
“It was I who had you assigned to this system.”
“You?”
“Yes. I know you wanted to be with the larger Inter-Continental DF-31 Ballistic Missile program, but I needed you here.”
Jing Li was confused and started to raise a question, when they were interrupted by the noise of a diesel powered truck rumbling by. The truck became the focus of their attention. The large eight wheeled olive green mobile missile launcher slowly stopped and turned away from them. It carried in its bed a white needle nosed missile, the nine-meter long, single stage Dongfeng-15.
“So, we are finally going to take back Taiwan.” Colonel Li muttered
“Taiwan?” General Hua paused and looked into the eyes of his childhood friend and now team member “No Jing…’Shashou Jiang,’ the time has come for the ‘Assassins Mace’…against the Americans.”
Jing Li looked and smiled at his superior, knowing that Shashou Jiang, meaning Assassin’s Mace, is a term used to describe a total and completely debilitating surprise attack. “General, I know I don’t have as much information as you do, but I do know that the DF-15 has only a range of six hundred kilometers.” Colonel Li paused, and then added, “Although we can carry a three hundred and fifty kiloton nuclear warhead, that in no way would be able to destroy the United States.”
“Like I said before, I’ll explain everything in due time.”
The Boeing 747 cruised at a comfortable 41,000 feet. The night sky was littered above with millions of stars, a sight that Jing Li hadn’t seen in years. The skies of China were under a constant blanket of haze and smog as their countries phenomenal growth came with a price. The skyscraper-strewn view, unclean water and gray, smog filled air was the price they paid for their drive to become the leader in the world’s race for power.
Jing sat back into the comfortable leather seat in the First Class cabin as an attractive flight attendant of questionable Asian descent stooped over and asked if he needed a blanket or a pillow. Jing smiled and accepted, as did the other passengers in the darkened chilly cabin.
As Jing sat back and relaxed to the drone of the jets powerful engines, his mind wandered through the past month. General Hua had removed him from his position at Second Artillery and into a luxury penthouse apartment in Hong Kong. Remembering the first time he stepped through the elevator and directly into the chandeliered penthouse suite overlooking the harbor, he was overtaken by the opulence. Stunning, he thought, staring at the millions of shimmering and dancing lights of the city.
Within a few minutes the General closed the curtains and showed Colonel Li a stack of books lying on an Italian marbled table. Manuals of the DF-15 missile and its launch vehicle; which the General emphasized that he should memorize. Jing Li smiled at the General’s response when he told him that he helped write those manuals in the beginning of the DF-15 program. The manual the General was most interested in was Colonel Li’s thesis on ‘Field Expedient Launch Systems for the Dongfeng-15.’
Jing’s mind swam in thought, especially since the phrase Assassin’s Mace had been brought up. Questions of exactly what the new surprise weapon was. Talk of this weapon was something only discussed within a circle of close friends; and then only in hushed tones. Speculation was that a new biological weapon was developed, or a space weapon was in the works. Nuclear weapons weren’t considered, as the in-kind nuclear response from the Americans would be too devastating.
Colonel Li was tiring, he unbuttoned the top button of his tailor made dress shirt, loosened his expensive silk tie, and relaxed further, drifting off into a restless sleep.
It seemed like a few minutes had passed, which in fact was a few hours later as the lights in the cabin were turned up. The flight attendant gently touched his shoulder, quietly announcing they would be landing soon. Jing looked outside at the gray dreary sky of western Washington State. The huge Jumbo jet touched down smoothly in the morning rain, spray from the wing vortices and engines creating an artificial cloud around the large craft which soon disappeared as they taxied into Seattle’s Sea-Tac Airport.
Jing collected his briefcase and overcoat and made his way along with the three hundred other passengers through Customs. Once through, Jing started noticing the people of the United States. They were much taller than those from his home; however it was their hair that drew his attention. Strange, he thought as he saw people with red hair, spiked hair, blonde hair and those that had artificially dyed their hair blue and purple and pink, strange indeed. He immediately took a dislike to Americans.
Collecting his one leather bag from the rotating baggage turnstile, Jing walked outside and hailed a cab. The cab driver was either Arab or an Indian, Jing couldn’t discern which, and not that it mattered.
“Where to Sir?” the driver asked
Jing took a small piece of paper and read off the Seattle address, he then answered the litany of small talk questions, “What do you do?” “How long are you here for?” More questions than Customs had asked. Maybe Customs should operate taxi cabs, he mused.
The rain had increased in tempo from a light misting to a steady shower, the worn wiper blades made a clacking noise on the windshield, leaving streaks of smeared water. It felt as if the cold went right through his clothes and into his bones. They arrived at the address, a Chinese Restaurant in mid-Seattle.
“Are you sure they’re open, Sir?” The driver asked
“They’re open.” Jing replied unemotionally.
The driver retrieved his bag from the trunk. Jing handed him a wad of dollars along with a meager tip, as his training had dictated. The door closed and the cab drove off, leaving him standing on the street with rain dripping down his face and spotting his eyeglasses. Jing turned as the owner of the restaurant opened the door, ushering him inside. Not one word was spoken between the two. The restaurant owner noted the name of the cab, and dialed the house telephone, ordering another cab from a different company.
Leaving his luggage and the briefcase inside the dining area, Jing was led into a small room in the rear of the restaurant. Inside was his first contact, his diversionary replacement. Jing stripped off all of his clothes and handed them to the man, who was very similar in appearance and in physical stature as Jing. He was told previously during his training, that this was a precaution in case the CIA had somehow slipped an electronic bug into his clothes or shoes. The fully clothed ‘double’ now walked out into the restaurants dining area and waited for the arriving cab.
Jing dressed quickly in the chilly back-room into the clothes that were waiting for him. Wearing a pair of khaki pants and sweater with a dark blue nylon fleece jacket as his outer garment, Jing now looked like every other Chinese-American in Seattle. The owner spoke to Jing, small talk as he brought some broth and noodles for the traveler. Through the closed door Jing heard the electronic door chime which indicated that his body-double had left.
Jing sat in the small room anxiously waiting for his second contact. Within the hour a light rap on the door startled the Colonel. Gathering his overnight bag and walking out into the darkened hallway, the owner led him to the rear of the building, opened the back door and wordlessly left. A late model silver Toyota Camry sat idling outside, its exhaust smoke curling up and over the rear of the rain soaked vehicle. The passenger door opened from the inside; Jing climbed in, “General!”
General Hua smiled and spoke quietly “Set your bag in the rear seat.”
Jing did as he was told, turned and buckled his seat belt. General Hua moved the shifter to drive and the Camry crept forward, through the alleyway and onto the rain drenched street. Colonel Li started to speak but was stopped from doing so by a silent finger across the lips by the General. The two sat silently as the Toyota merged with the growing Seattle morning traffic.
Satisfied that they were not being followed or eavesdropped upon, the General spoke, “How was your flight?”
“Uneventful and long.” Jing paused and commented, “I’m surprised that you would be the one to pick me up.”
The General sighed a long breath. “Normally I wouldn’t, but I felt that I needed to talk with you further. I owe it to you.”
“Owe it to me? What do you mean?”
“Jing, you are like a brother to me. Growing up in that orphanage together, we were very close friends…brothers, right?”
“Yes General.”
“Look, while we are together for the next few hours…let’s set aside our rank, ok?”
“Agreed, Husian.” Jing and his childhood friend smiled at one another.
“When I say that I owe this to you, I mean that I have held you back Jing.”
“What?”
Husian searched for the proper words “What I mean is that I have held you back in your career with the Second Artillery, I needed you to be solely with the DF-15.”
Jing accepted the General’s decision and nodded slowly.
“Do you remember when we were at War College? We were given an assignment…to write a paper on how to effectively create a first strike against the Americans, do you remember that?”
“How could I forget that? It was that paper that led to your…execution.”
Husian laughed. “Yes it did.” General Hua paused and then continued “The paper that I wrote detailed my strategy for a first strike against the Americans. It was read by a Colonel General at the General Staff Department, and a decision was made to implement this as part of our long range plans. A separate group was set up, led by me…but I had to disappear. That’s why the deception of the execution.”
Jing nodded as he started to understand.
Husian continued, “I have been totally focused on this one operation for over twenty years now.” Husian concentrated on the road ahead, merging onto I-90 eastbound towards Yakima. No words were spoken for a few minutes as the Toyota headed towards the lush forested Cascade Mountains.
Jing broke the silence. “So, where are we headed?”
“Omaha, Nebraska.”
“We are driving the entire way to Omaha?” Jing asked, having a rudimentary knowledge of United States geography.
“No, we are driving to Tri-Cities, Washington; from there we’ll take a flight to Portland, Oregon and on to Omaha. I wanted to drive you the initial way to talk with you and to show you why we are doing what we are doing. Relax and enjoy the beauty of this land.”
Jing settled back into his seat, looking at the scenery on both sides of the highway as they continued into the mountains. Impressed, but at the same time disgusted with the American’s thirst for wealth and excess, as evidenced by their cars, houses and shopping malls. The road ascended through the picture-postcard Western Cascade rain forests and peaked at the snow covered Snoqualmie Pass. The long downhill grade towards the farming communities of Eastern Washington transitioned from snow to the less dense, drier forests on the east side of the mountains.
As they passed through Cle Elum and into Ellensburg, the forests gave way completely to large farms. General Hua broke the silence. “What do you think of this area Jing?”
Jing looked at the expansive apple and pear orchards along both sides of the freeway. “This is amazing, the amount of farmland here is truly incredible, Are these apples?”
“Yes, apples, pears, cattle, potatoes and wheat…from now until we reach Omaha, all we will see are farms, cities, and mountains. The Americans agriculture production is beyond belief.”
Jing agreed in nodded silence.
“This land will soon be ours Jing.” Husian said confidently.
“So we are using Biological weapons.” Jing commented.
The General chuckled “Is that what the current consensus is for Assassins Mace?”
“Yes, Biological or some sort of Space weapon.”
“It is neither of those Jing. It will be Nuclear.” General Hua said flatly.
“Nuclear?! Husian, a nuclear attack will not only destroy this country, but ours as well.” Jing was suddenly uncomfortable.
“My friend, how much do you trust me?”
“More than any other person Husian.” Jing said slowing his racing mind.
“Good, then hear me out and if you can find fault with this plan, then speak.”
Colonel Li nodded in acceptance.
“Like I said, we have been working on this for twenty years. We have nuclear weapons that will be delivered to selected cities and military bases, then detonated. The Americans will be completely caught off guard. Their world will come to an end.”
“General, you know as well as I do that nuclear material leaves its own separate fingerprint. The Capitalists will be able to see that.”
“True...”Husian paused, “…do you remember a few years back when the North Koreans stated they had nuclear weapons and began their testing?”
“Yes, the whole world went crazy over that.”
“Exactly…the North had contracted with a Pakistani named A. Q. Kahn to build them a working facility to make weapons grade plutonium. The North tried and succeeded at a primitive level to do this. We, meaning our group, took their materials and sent it to a secret underground laboratory near the Gobi desert for reprocessing. Now, this lab had not released any materials before. It is completely isolated and secure in its operation.” Husian paused to allow Jing Li to process this information. “We placed an agent in the North, and used this agent to give the CIA a minute sample of this reprocessed material. The material stated to come from the North’s underground processing facility.”
Jing nodded as he followed Husian’s story. “Go on”
“This took place a few years before the North announced their nuclear weapons program. Anyway, the North built their bomb, a simple fission device. If all went according to their plans then this weapon would have a yield of about fifty kilotons, no more. However when it came time for the actual test, the weapon’s triggers malfunctioned…it was a dud, with less than one kiloton of yield.”
Jing Li again nodded
“The important thing was that the Americans sent a spy plane to gather atmospheric samples of the nuclear material that had escaped. Those samples matched exactly with the samples our agent gave them years before. We have confirmed this through our sources in the CIA.”
Jing commented, “I don’t understand.”
“The Americans now have verifiable proof of the North’s nuclear material. We have created enough of this exact material for forty eight weapons. The North now has enough material for eleven weapons; our agent has told the CIA they have enough for forty eight.”
Jing rubbed his eyes at the complex spy game and then exclaimed. “Ok, so the North has eleven weapons, the Americans think they have forty eight….that means when we strike, the Americans will think that it was the North, right?”
“Exactly.”
“The American’s response will crush the North; I thought they are our allies.”
“They are, to a certain extent…but they are an uncontrollable and insane culture.” General Hua paused. “It is for the greater good, Jing.”
The greater good. The mantra used as a basis for everything the People’s Party did. It was an understood statement; one must accept that ‘for the greater good’ meant giving up your personal deSires and plans, for the ‘people and country’. Jing’s thoughts came back to his role. “So, how do I fit in with your plans Husian?”
“You are going to build an improvised launcher and launch a DF-15 missile.”
“The DF-15 doesn’t have the range to reach America Husian.” Colonel Li stated.
“It doesn’t need to…it’s already here.”
“You have a DF-15 here…in the United States?”
“Oh yes, remember that we have worked on this for a long time…you know the saying ‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step’”
“I’m impressed. So how did you smuggle in a nine meter, 6200 kilogram guided missile unnoticed?”
General Hua smiled coyly. “Piece by piece…then we reassembled it. Keep in mind that we ship thousands of containers of cargo into the United States each and every day. It’s impossible for the Americans to inspect every one.” The General paused and redirected a question “So, can you build this launcher?”
“Of course, as long as I have the Lower Launch Docking Station and Control Panel.”
“We have this and have stockpiled the other materials that you listed in your paper.”
“Please don’t think that I am being negative, but I need to know something.”
“That’s why we are talking like this Jing.”
“How can one DF-15, which I am assuming will have a nuclear warhead, create an Assassins Mace effect on the Americans? One weapon will certainly destroy a city or a military base, but it won’t deliver a crushing blow to this country.”
“No…one weapon won’t. However, we have more than one…” Husian paused to have its effect on Jing “…and these weapons are not simple fission lower yield weapons either, but 450 kiloton thermonuclear weapons. This will crush the Americans, once and for all.”
Jing’s eyes grew wide at the thought of the weapons, each with more than thirty times the destructive force of the Hiroshima bomb.
“Jing, we are not mad men…we have to do this. It is for our continued growth and survival as a nation…” General Hua paused as he caught a glimmer of despair in Jing “…when you see our country, what do you notice?”
Jing shook off the nightmarish thoughts of nuclear annihilation and focused on the General’s question. “I see our country growing at a rate that is the envy of the entire world. We have money, success and the will to take our place as the world’s leader.”
“Exactly, but do you see where our cities are growing? They are moving into once productive farmlands. Even with our ‘One Child’ policy, we have a tremendous growth in population and business that must go somewhere. The farms are being left behind as people move to the cities in search of higher paying jobs.” General Hua paused momentarily “We are also in the third year of severe drought. What you have been told by our leaders is that ‘Everything is Fine and as Planned’. Well, Jing I have seen the crop reports and I can assure you, everything is not fine. Even though we have a massive cloud seeding effort all over the country, the rains we get are either monsoons or insignificant. So, if you calculate the rate of our growth and our decreasing food productivity, it doesn’t take a scholar to realize that at some point we aren’t going to be able to feed ourselves and must rely more and more on imports.”
Jing agreed with this commentary.
“Now, with the sky-rocketing price of oil, the Americans have started to use their corn as a fuel source. This means that the price of food has increased substantially. Take wheat for example, years ago it was about $4.00 US per bushel, it’s now $13.00 US and climbing. We cannot rely on the American’s goodwill to sell us food any longer, if we are to continue on our planned course.”
“So this is all about food?”
“There are many reasons why the Americans must be destroyed; food is at the top of the list.”
They traveled in silence for a while as Jing processed the information he was just given. On both sides of the highway were large farms, which seemed to stretch from horizon to horizon.
The General broke the silence. “What are your thoughts Jing?”
Jing’s mind swirled with thoughts of famine in his country, combined with the destruction of the American’s land, her people and the operation itself. “I think that with the Americans out of our way we can prosper as the nation we have been working for…but I am concerned with this plan.”
“How so? Do you see any faults?”
“First, I am concerned that the CIA might have knowledge of this.”
“If they did, I can assure you we would not be alive right now.” Husian said confidently.
“General, you asked me to listen to you, and maybe to find any flaw in your plan…”Jing paused “…do you mind if I ask more questions?”
“Not at all. This plan can still be modified or even cancelled at this point.”
“Thank you. You say that there is more than one nuclear weapon. How many are there?”
“Thirty four; not including the one on the DF-15.” General Hua stated.
“Thirty Four!” Jing’s eyes grew wide with the unexpected revelation. “General, that is a huge amount. Won’t the fallout from those weapons ruin the lands that we need?”
“I gave it plenty of thought and to do the job correctly, this is the right number. As far as the fallout, we won’t move in for a few years, and at that point the fallout will have degraded to a miniscule amount.”
Jing, schooled on nuclear research and fallout, knew that this point was correct. “So…what are the targets?”
“First of all, the political base in Washington DC, along with the Pentagon, CIA and NSA at Ft Meade. There are the more important military targets at Norfolk, Whiteman Air Force Base, McConnell Air Force Base, Minot Air Force Base, San Diego Naval Station, Jacksonville Naval Base, the submarine bases at Kings Bay, Georgia and Bangor Washington. There are more but these are the most important. Now, there are some bases where we will not strike, for example Wright Patterson Air Force Base. This is a major intelligence area and we would like to have this one intact, along with the secret bases in the Nevada desert. The rest will go to major cities, especially the ones with ports.”
“New York City?”
“Of course; along with Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia and the Port in Baltimore. We also have Kansas City, Denver, St Louis, Chicago and Dallas. Those are off the top of my head, but there are others. We will leave Portland Oregon intact. This will be our port for future food shipments. We will also leave Houston and Detroit. Houston has oil refineries and Detroit has the manufacturing base that we can use in the future.”
Colonel Li nodded “I’m concerned that more military bases aren’t included, especially the Army bases.”
“Jing, we wouldn’t be able to knock out all of their military, they are too formidable a force. Instead we are striking their jugular vein; they will bleed out after it is severed and die.” The General saw that Jing understood the targeting, but not the overall scope of the mission. “Let me explain what we know will take place and what we feel will happen afterwards.”
“Please.”
General Hua pulled into a public Rest Area outside of Yakima. Both men left to make use of the facilities and after returning General Hua continued. “First of all, the Americans will not see this coming…there are no inbound ICBM’s, no aircraft launched cruise missiles, and no submarine launched missiles. The weapons will be delivered on the ground. All of the weapons will hopefully be detonated simultaneously.”
“We have these weapons on the ground…now?”
The General nodded affirmatively.
“How did you manage to smuggle nuclear weapons into the country?”
“Again, it was done over time and it wasn’t as difficult as you might think. Our first move was building an underground facility beneath our Long Beach Port. This facility is completely secure and equipped with the machinery necessary to assemble the weapons. The weapons themselves are a copy of the Americans W-88 device, very small and extremely destructive. We created secure containers, lined with lead and other nuclear shielding materials, and then began to ship the ‘Peanuts’ to Long Beach for assembly.”
“Peanuts?”
“Yes, that’s what the Americans call the actual nuclear assembly. It is a two stage thermonuclear device that resembles a peanut. We thought originally that between two and five would suffice. However, when we saw the ease at which we could move these weapons into America, we kept adding them until we had the numbers needed for the maximum deSired effect.”
Jing smiled at the creativity and dedication which typified his countrymen. “You say that the weapons will be delivered from the ground. Is this secure?”
“So far it is. Obviously since 9/11 the American’s security has increased dramatically. The delivery vehicles are a copy of a nationwide retail Office Supply Company. We have modified these trucks to support the added weight of the lead shielding and the weapon. The weapons are disguised as large photo-copiers and we have gone so far as to create invoices to the delivered areas.”
Jing nodded, accepting the delivery method. “What about the people driving the trucks, can they be trusted?”
“Good question. People are always the weakest link. All it takes is one person to say something and the operation is jeopardized…” General Hua paused “…We have North Korean drivers.”
“North Koreans!”
General Hua chuckled “Yes, North Koreans. Do you remember when I said that the North is insane? Well, they are, but they are also uncompromising in their security precautions, and in their hatred for the West. When I conceived the plan to truck in the bombs, what concerned me most, was the drivers. I approached the head of North Koreas Special Forces and requested his most dedicated troops for a mission of ‘national importance and glory’.”
Jing exhaled and allowed the General to continue without further questions.
“I went to inspect the troops and the NK General paraded me in front of them. He then took out his pistol and handed it to one of the men, and told him to shoot himself. That soldier, without question, took the pistol, cocked it, put it in his mouth, and pulled the trigger. The chamber was empty, but the complete and total dedication to follow orders impressed me…” Husian paused “…I was given fifty soldiers. They spent one year learning English and how to blend in with the Americans. As of now they have practiced their routes daily for almost six months.”
Jing nodded his satisfaction. “You said previously that ‘hopefully the weapons will be detonated simultaneously.’ What did you mean by ‘hopefully’?”
“This mission dictates precision to the utmost degree. There are safeguards in each weapon, in that it must be in its preplanned targeted area before it arms itself. The arming is done via the Global Positioning Satellite System and is automatic in the warhead itself…”Husian paused and continued “…Your DF-15 will send a nuclear weapon into the upper atmosphere and detonate; this will create an Electro-Magnetic Pulse or EMP. It is this EMP which will be the signal for detonation. The EMP by itself will cause tremendous damage to the infrastructure by taking out their unshielded electronics. They won’t have any radio, computers, electrical power or vehicles. Now, if the weapon isn’t in the GPS targeted area, the EMP will start a thirty-minute timer…this is a back-up system, and hopefully that will give the driver some additional time to approach his target in the electronically shielded trucks. If not, then in thirty minutes, the weapon will detonate.”
Jing smiled, the plan seemed workable. “General this seems to be a viable plan and the goal is certainly attainable…I have two other concerns though.”
“Go ahead.”
“First, where am I to launch the DF-15 from, and won’t this be traced back to us? Secondly, I am concerned about the military response.”
“I understand…the launch area is a large farm in Nebraska. We are about 160 kilometers from Omaha. The farm is owned by a South Korean Construction company. Do you remember the penthouse you stayed at in Hong Kong?”
“Who could not remember that place?”
“Well that is also owned by this company. ‘Yong Kee Construction’ and its owner Mr. Yong Kee have very strong ties to the North. Mr. Kee is set to receive the largest share of the rebuilding contract after the North is attacked by the Americans. Obviously we will sanitize the area after your launch; however any investigation will reveal the connection to the North.”
“Excellent…now you’re sure the Americans will attack North Korea and not us?”
“Follow our thinking here for a moment; the Americans have thirty four high yield nuclear weapons detonate on their soil along with an EMP weapon which kills their infrastructures electronics. The attack comes from within. The first inclination is to figure out exactly who blew apart their country.” General Hua paused. “They see images from their satellites and…China is not on a war footing. Our subs are in port, our missiles are not ready to be fired and our army is not on alert. America will think that any country that wants to start a war like this has to be on alert and prepared to fight, right?”
Jing nodded
“America will have to go on the evidence it finds…and that evidence will point to North Korea. After the retaliatory strike and the resultant nuclear fallout, the UN World Governing Body will demand a halt to any further nuclear attacks. The Americans will be forced to stand down their nuclear forces until they have established a political leader. After that Jing, it’s just politics and we will be there to negotiate, offer assistance, and eventually move in.”
The Toyota moved effortlessly along the freeway, neither soldier spoke for a few minutes, both allowing the world changing event, which they would initiate, to internalize.
General Hua spoke after a few minutes “We don’t know who will be in charge, or if anyone could ever be in charge again. This country could degrade along racial lines or geographic areas. Eventually, the remaining military will have to align itself with someone, or run the country itself. The military will be too weak to effectively govern…they don’t have the stomach to rule by the point of a gun, they are spread too thin and we feel that most of the military forces will fall away.”
“America will be a feeding frenzy for the rest of the world, won’t they?” Colonel Li commented.
“They certainly could be.”
“What do you estimate the overall loss of life to be?”
“We think that it will be in the area of one hundred to one hundred and fifty million…that includes the initial blasts, radiation fallout and subsequent anarchy.”
“America is in for a very bad time.” Jing commented with a smile.
The novel For the Greater Good can be found on my blog at http://standupandbefree.blogspot.com/
Can we survive?
******************************************************
Insatiable in their appetite and lust for destruction, they did not see or acknowledge themselves as madmen, doomed to the same fate they desperately sought to inflict on others.
Sitting beneath a small bush gave him an unobstructed view of the two-lane graveled border crossing. The heavy European-made binoculars enlarged and sharpened the view into a crystal clear image. The repercussion from the hours spent silently watching in the brisk bone chilling cold, was tired and cramping muscles. Movement along the road caught the observers’ eye; a convoy of three olive drab military trucks ambling slowly towards the checkpoint. Scanning the trucks, he saw it was the middle vehicle where the package was hidden. The chalk mark that he had made previously on the side was clearly visible from this distance.
The trucks approached the checkpoint and stopped. The border guards verified paperwork and credentials, then allowed entry into the Peoples Republic of North Korea. Once inside; the drivers stopped and exited the fully laden transports, switched drivers with the North Koreans and then picked up three empty transports for the short drive back into China.
The observer smiled as his North Korean counterpart would soon continue the deception, bringing the package and its contents to the underground testing facility 150 kilometers away. This transfer would be the last, numbers Ten and Eleven. The baseball sized round gray metal plutonium spheres with their explosive outer casings along with their corresponding Tritium triggers were transported in a sealed and shielded container, giving no indication to the orbiting American satellite, which the observer knew was overhead.
The observer stood and resisted the urge to look for any satellite, it was there, he knew for a fact that it was and he didn’t want any possibility of his face being seen…knowing that even from such a great distance it was possible. Looking at his watch he saw that his flight to Fujian Province in Eastern China was just a few hours away.
Walking the short distance through the brush and to his waiting car hidden beneath a large tree, the observer acknowledged his bodyguard, who waited with the door opened.
“General, how did it go?” The guard asked
“Perfect, just as planned.” The Peoples Liberation Army General, Husian Hua replied.
* * * * *
Moving the curtain aside and smiling, Rick felt the joy of another Christmas Day. A mound of wrapping paper grew as Lacy and Jake ripped at the carefully wrapped packages. Linda sat smiling, in her well worn flannel pajamas, snapping photos of the ecstatic kids.
Looking over at his wife, Rick smiled at another successful Christmas. It was getting harder to plan and hide gifts from the kids, especially the six year old detective Laci. Although she was still fully believing in Santa Claus, they both knew that one day that magic would vanish.
Laci brought her latest of many just opened gifts over to Rick and say on his lap. “Daddy, look, it’s what I’ve always wanted…a Bug Barn!”
“I see that, what does it do?” He asked, smiling and hugging her.
“Well, you can catch bugs and put them in here and they’ll grow up. Hey, do you think we can grow a butterfly?” She asked, her morning breath making Rick move slightly away.
“We certainly can try to grow a butterfly, baby.”
Laci thought for a moment, it was one of those precious times that only a five year old would come up with. “Daddy, today is Jesus’ birthday, right?”
“Yeah it sure is.”
“So, can we bake Him a birthday cake?”
Rick smiled, “Absolutely. What do you think that He’d like?”
Without hesitating she replied, “Jesus likes chocolate cake with chocolate icing.”
So it was; a chocolate cake along with a large and high calorie Christmas dinner. The day went smoothly, with a football game, and a few drinks. Little did Rick and his family realize this would be their last Christmas together. In less than four months, everything they all knew, everything they loved and cherished, would be completely destroyed.
CHAPTER ONE
A soldier rapped on the brown wood door, three times crisply. After receiving a muffled verbal command he entered and stood at attention. When relieved of the rigid stance, he handed the manila envelope to his superior and quickly exited the room.
The return address read: PLA, Second Artillery Headquarters, Qinghe.
Colonel Jing Li slowly opened the envelope, scanning the letter for the words he was hoping to see. Colonel Li settled back into the plain wood chair, dejected. The letter simply stated ‘Request for a transfer denied.’
Another knock on the door caused the Colonel to stand, his legs shoving the wood chair behind as his dejection turned to anger. “Enter!” He barked.
The civilian, dressed in an expensive dark gray Shanghai tailor-made suit entered and stood facing the angry Colonel. “Is this how you greet anyone who comes to your door?” The civilian snapped. Hanging around his neck was a small laminated placard identifying him as a ‘Shao Jiang’, which was equivalent to the rank of Brigadier General in the United States military.
The Colonel snapped to attention, his anger rapidly faded. The General turned and closed the door behind him. “At ease Colonel Li.” The General turned around and walked slowly the few steps around the desk where Colonel Li stood.
Colonel Li’s eyes opened widely as he recognized his visitor. “General….” He stammered in disbelief.
“I know…I’m supposed to be dead.” The General smiled “As you can see, I am not.”
Colonel Li stepped over, ignoring protocol and embraced the man, his friend from many years ago. “I don’t know what to say Husian… I am speechless.” Jing Li and Husian Hua held each other at arms length, smiling. “How? I mean, you were dead…executed.”
“Jing, deception is everything.” General Hua paused and continued “I will explain everything to you in time.” He smiled again “Now, I need to show you this” General Husian opened his suit jacket and withdrew a folded off-white sheet of paper, handing it to the Colonel.
Reading the orders and fingering the strange texture of the paper, he looked up “I am being transferred to you?”
“Yes” Husian produced a small butane lighter and lit the corner of the paper. Instantaneously the page flashed in flame and as quickly burned itself out, leaving no residue.
“Spy paper? Are you a spy?”
“Spy? No…no, I am still a soldier like you. But I am on a mission where secrecy is of paramount importance. Like I said, I will explain everything to you.” Pausing again,
“Come, let’s take a walk outside and talk.”
The pair walked out the side door and into the cool air of Southeast China’s early Spring day. General Hua offered Colonel Li a cigarette. “Do you remember when you were first assigned to the DF-15?” Hua asked
Colonel Li looked at the General and nodded “Yes”
“It was I who had you assigned to this system.”
“You?”
“Yes. I know you wanted to be with the larger Inter-Continental DF-31 Ballistic Missile program, but I needed you here.”
Jing Li was confused and started to raise a question, when they were interrupted by the noise of a diesel powered truck rumbling by. The truck became the focus of their attention. The large eight wheeled olive green mobile missile launcher slowly stopped and turned away from them. It carried in its bed a white needle nosed missile, the nine-meter long, single stage Dongfeng-15.
“So, we are finally going to take back Taiwan.” Colonel Li muttered
“Taiwan?” General Hua paused and looked into the eyes of his childhood friend and now team member “No Jing…’Shashou Jiang,’ the time has come for the ‘Assassins Mace’…against the Americans.”
Jing Li looked and smiled at his superior, knowing that Shashou Jiang, meaning Assassin’s Mace, is a term used to describe a total and completely debilitating surprise attack. “General, I know I don’t have as much information as you do, but I do know that the DF-15 has only a range of six hundred kilometers.” Colonel Li paused, and then added, “Although we can carry a three hundred and fifty kiloton nuclear warhead, that in no way would be able to destroy the United States.”
“Like I said before, I’ll explain everything in due time.”
The Boeing 747 cruised at a comfortable 41,000 feet. The night sky was littered above with millions of stars, a sight that Jing Li hadn’t seen in years. The skies of China were under a constant blanket of haze and smog as their countries phenomenal growth came with a price. The skyscraper-strewn view, unclean water and gray, smog filled air was the price they paid for their drive to become the leader in the world’s race for power.
Jing sat back into the comfortable leather seat in the First Class cabin as an attractive flight attendant of questionable Asian descent stooped over and asked if he needed a blanket or a pillow. Jing smiled and accepted, as did the other passengers in the darkened chilly cabin.
As Jing sat back and relaxed to the drone of the jets powerful engines, his mind wandered through the past month. General Hua had removed him from his position at Second Artillery and into a luxury penthouse apartment in Hong Kong. Remembering the first time he stepped through the elevator and directly into the chandeliered penthouse suite overlooking the harbor, he was overtaken by the opulence. Stunning, he thought, staring at the millions of shimmering and dancing lights of the city.
Within a few minutes the General closed the curtains and showed Colonel Li a stack of books lying on an Italian marbled table. Manuals of the DF-15 missile and its launch vehicle; which the General emphasized that he should memorize. Jing Li smiled at the General’s response when he told him that he helped write those manuals in the beginning of the DF-15 program. The manual the General was most interested in was Colonel Li’s thesis on ‘Field Expedient Launch Systems for the Dongfeng-15.’
Jing’s mind swam in thought, especially since the phrase Assassin’s Mace had been brought up. Questions of exactly what the new surprise weapon was. Talk of this weapon was something only discussed within a circle of close friends; and then only in hushed tones. Speculation was that a new biological weapon was developed, or a space weapon was in the works. Nuclear weapons weren’t considered, as the in-kind nuclear response from the Americans would be too devastating.
Colonel Li was tiring, he unbuttoned the top button of his tailor made dress shirt, loosened his expensive silk tie, and relaxed further, drifting off into a restless sleep.
It seemed like a few minutes had passed, which in fact was a few hours later as the lights in the cabin were turned up. The flight attendant gently touched his shoulder, quietly announcing they would be landing soon. Jing looked outside at the gray dreary sky of western Washington State. The huge Jumbo jet touched down smoothly in the morning rain, spray from the wing vortices and engines creating an artificial cloud around the large craft which soon disappeared as they taxied into Seattle’s Sea-Tac Airport.
Jing collected his briefcase and overcoat and made his way along with the three hundred other passengers through Customs. Once through, Jing started noticing the people of the United States. They were much taller than those from his home; however it was their hair that drew his attention. Strange, he thought as he saw people with red hair, spiked hair, blonde hair and those that had artificially dyed their hair blue and purple and pink, strange indeed. He immediately took a dislike to Americans.
Collecting his one leather bag from the rotating baggage turnstile, Jing walked outside and hailed a cab. The cab driver was either Arab or an Indian, Jing couldn’t discern which, and not that it mattered.
“Where to Sir?” the driver asked
Jing took a small piece of paper and read off the Seattle address, he then answered the litany of small talk questions, “What do you do?” “How long are you here for?” More questions than Customs had asked. Maybe Customs should operate taxi cabs, he mused.
The rain had increased in tempo from a light misting to a steady shower, the worn wiper blades made a clacking noise on the windshield, leaving streaks of smeared water. It felt as if the cold went right through his clothes and into his bones. They arrived at the address, a Chinese Restaurant in mid-Seattle.
“Are you sure they’re open, Sir?” The driver asked
“They’re open.” Jing replied unemotionally.
The driver retrieved his bag from the trunk. Jing handed him a wad of dollars along with a meager tip, as his training had dictated. The door closed and the cab drove off, leaving him standing on the street with rain dripping down his face and spotting his eyeglasses. Jing turned as the owner of the restaurant opened the door, ushering him inside. Not one word was spoken between the two. The restaurant owner noted the name of the cab, and dialed the house telephone, ordering another cab from a different company.
Leaving his luggage and the briefcase inside the dining area, Jing was led into a small room in the rear of the restaurant. Inside was his first contact, his diversionary replacement. Jing stripped off all of his clothes and handed them to the man, who was very similar in appearance and in physical stature as Jing. He was told previously during his training, that this was a precaution in case the CIA had somehow slipped an electronic bug into his clothes or shoes. The fully clothed ‘double’ now walked out into the restaurants dining area and waited for the arriving cab.
Jing dressed quickly in the chilly back-room into the clothes that were waiting for him. Wearing a pair of khaki pants and sweater with a dark blue nylon fleece jacket as his outer garment, Jing now looked like every other Chinese-American in Seattle. The owner spoke to Jing, small talk as he brought some broth and noodles for the traveler. Through the closed door Jing heard the electronic door chime which indicated that his body-double had left.
Jing sat in the small room anxiously waiting for his second contact. Within the hour a light rap on the door startled the Colonel. Gathering his overnight bag and walking out into the darkened hallway, the owner led him to the rear of the building, opened the back door and wordlessly left. A late model silver Toyota Camry sat idling outside, its exhaust smoke curling up and over the rear of the rain soaked vehicle. The passenger door opened from the inside; Jing climbed in, “General!”
General Hua smiled and spoke quietly “Set your bag in the rear seat.”
Jing did as he was told, turned and buckled his seat belt. General Hua moved the shifter to drive and the Camry crept forward, through the alleyway and onto the rain drenched street. Colonel Li started to speak but was stopped from doing so by a silent finger across the lips by the General. The two sat silently as the Toyota merged with the growing Seattle morning traffic.
Satisfied that they were not being followed or eavesdropped upon, the General spoke, “How was your flight?”
“Uneventful and long.” Jing paused and commented, “I’m surprised that you would be the one to pick me up.”
The General sighed a long breath. “Normally I wouldn’t, but I felt that I needed to talk with you further. I owe it to you.”
“Owe it to me? What do you mean?”
“Jing, you are like a brother to me. Growing up in that orphanage together, we were very close friends…brothers, right?”
“Yes General.”
“Look, while we are together for the next few hours…let’s set aside our rank, ok?”
“Agreed, Husian.” Jing and his childhood friend smiled at one another.
“When I say that I owe this to you, I mean that I have held you back Jing.”
“What?”
Husian searched for the proper words “What I mean is that I have held you back in your career with the Second Artillery, I needed you to be solely with the DF-15.”
Jing accepted the General’s decision and nodded slowly.
“Do you remember when we were at War College? We were given an assignment…to write a paper on how to effectively create a first strike against the Americans, do you remember that?”
“How could I forget that? It was that paper that led to your…execution.”
Husian laughed. “Yes it did.” General Hua paused and then continued “The paper that I wrote detailed my strategy for a first strike against the Americans. It was read by a Colonel General at the General Staff Department, and a decision was made to implement this as part of our long range plans. A separate group was set up, led by me…but I had to disappear. That’s why the deception of the execution.”
Jing nodded as he started to understand.
Husian continued, “I have been totally focused on this one operation for over twenty years now.” Husian concentrated on the road ahead, merging onto I-90 eastbound towards Yakima. No words were spoken for a few minutes as the Toyota headed towards the lush forested Cascade Mountains.
Jing broke the silence. “So, where are we headed?”
“Omaha, Nebraska.”
“We are driving the entire way to Omaha?” Jing asked, having a rudimentary knowledge of United States geography.
“No, we are driving to Tri-Cities, Washington; from there we’ll take a flight to Portland, Oregon and on to Omaha. I wanted to drive you the initial way to talk with you and to show you why we are doing what we are doing. Relax and enjoy the beauty of this land.”
Jing settled back into his seat, looking at the scenery on both sides of the highway as they continued into the mountains. Impressed, but at the same time disgusted with the American’s thirst for wealth and excess, as evidenced by their cars, houses and shopping malls. The road ascended through the picture-postcard Western Cascade rain forests and peaked at the snow covered Snoqualmie Pass. The long downhill grade towards the farming communities of Eastern Washington transitioned from snow to the less dense, drier forests on the east side of the mountains.
As they passed through Cle Elum and into Ellensburg, the forests gave way completely to large farms. General Hua broke the silence. “What do you think of this area Jing?”
Jing looked at the expansive apple and pear orchards along both sides of the freeway. “This is amazing, the amount of farmland here is truly incredible, Are these apples?”
“Yes, apples, pears, cattle, potatoes and wheat…from now until we reach Omaha, all we will see are farms, cities, and mountains. The Americans agriculture production is beyond belief.”
Jing agreed in nodded silence.
“This land will soon be ours Jing.” Husian said confidently.
“So we are using Biological weapons.” Jing commented.
The General chuckled “Is that what the current consensus is for Assassins Mace?”
“Yes, Biological or some sort of Space weapon.”
“It is neither of those Jing. It will be Nuclear.” General Hua said flatly.
“Nuclear?! Husian, a nuclear attack will not only destroy this country, but ours as well.” Jing was suddenly uncomfortable.
“My friend, how much do you trust me?”
“More than any other person Husian.” Jing said slowing his racing mind.
“Good, then hear me out and if you can find fault with this plan, then speak.”
Colonel Li nodded in acceptance.
“Like I said, we have been working on this for twenty years. We have nuclear weapons that will be delivered to selected cities and military bases, then detonated. The Americans will be completely caught off guard. Their world will come to an end.”
“General, you know as well as I do that nuclear material leaves its own separate fingerprint. The Capitalists will be able to see that.”
“True...”Husian paused, “…do you remember a few years back when the North Koreans stated they had nuclear weapons and began their testing?”
“Yes, the whole world went crazy over that.”
“Exactly…the North had contracted with a Pakistani named A. Q. Kahn to build them a working facility to make weapons grade plutonium. The North tried and succeeded at a primitive level to do this. We, meaning our group, took their materials and sent it to a secret underground laboratory near the Gobi desert for reprocessing. Now, this lab had not released any materials before. It is completely isolated and secure in its operation.” Husian paused to allow Jing Li to process this information. “We placed an agent in the North, and used this agent to give the CIA a minute sample of this reprocessed material. The material stated to come from the North’s underground processing facility.”
Jing nodded as he followed Husian’s story. “Go on”
“This took place a few years before the North announced their nuclear weapons program. Anyway, the North built their bomb, a simple fission device. If all went according to their plans then this weapon would have a yield of about fifty kilotons, no more. However when it came time for the actual test, the weapon’s triggers malfunctioned…it was a dud, with less than one kiloton of yield.”
Jing Li again nodded
“The important thing was that the Americans sent a spy plane to gather atmospheric samples of the nuclear material that had escaped. Those samples matched exactly with the samples our agent gave them years before. We have confirmed this through our sources in the CIA.”
Jing commented, “I don’t understand.”
“The Americans now have verifiable proof of the North’s nuclear material. We have created enough of this exact material for forty eight weapons. The North now has enough material for eleven weapons; our agent has told the CIA they have enough for forty eight.”
Jing rubbed his eyes at the complex spy game and then exclaimed. “Ok, so the North has eleven weapons, the Americans think they have forty eight….that means when we strike, the Americans will think that it was the North, right?”
“Exactly.”
“The American’s response will crush the North; I thought they are our allies.”
“They are, to a certain extent…but they are an uncontrollable and insane culture.” General Hua paused. “It is for the greater good, Jing.”
The greater good. The mantra used as a basis for everything the People’s Party did. It was an understood statement; one must accept that ‘for the greater good’ meant giving up your personal deSires and plans, for the ‘people and country’. Jing’s thoughts came back to his role. “So, how do I fit in with your plans Husian?”
“You are going to build an improvised launcher and launch a DF-15 missile.”
“The DF-15 doesn’t have the range to reach America Husian.” Colonel Li stated.
“It doesn’t need to…it’s already here.”
“You have a DF-15 here…in the United States?”
“Oh yes, remember that we have worked on this for a long time…you know the saying ‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step’”
“I’m impressed. So how did you smuggle in a nine meter, 6200 kilogram guided missile unnoticed?”
General Hua smiled coyly. “Piece by piece…then we reassembled it. Keep in mind that we ship thousands of containers of cargo into the United States each and every day. It’s impossible for the Americans to inspect every one.” The General paused and redirected a question “So, can you build this launcher?”
“Of course, as long as I have the Lower Launch Docking Station and Control Panel.”
“We have this and have stockpiled the other materials that you listed in your paper.”
“Please don’t think that I am being negative, but I need to know something.”
“That’s why we are talking like this Jing.”
“How can one DF-15, which I am assuming will have a nuclear warhead, create an Assassins Mace effect on the Americans? One weapon will certainly destroy a city or a military base, but it won’t deliver a crushing blow to this country.”
“No…one weapon won’t. However, we have more than one…” Husian paused to have its effect on Jing “…and these weapons are not simple fission lower yield weapons either, but 450 kiloton thermonuclear weapons. This will crush the Americans, once and for all.”
Jing’s eyes grew wide at the thought of the weapons, each with more than thirty times the destructive force of the Hiroshima bomb.
“Jing, we are not mad men…we have to do this. It is for our continued growth and survival as a nation…” General Hua paused as he caught a glimmer of despair in Jing “…when you see our country, what do you notice?”
Jing shook off the nightmarish thoughts of nuclear annihilation and focused on the General’s question. “I see our country growing at a rate that is the envy of the entire world. We have money, success and the will to take our place as the world’s leader.”
“Exactly, but do you see where our cities are growing? They are moving into once productive farmlands. Even with our ‘One Child’ policy, we have a tremendous growth in population and business that must go somewhere. The farms are being left behind as people move to the cities in search of higher paying jobs.” General Hua paused momentarily “We are also in the third year of severe drought. What you have been told by our leaders is that ‘Everything is Fine and as Planned’. Well, Jing I have seen the crop reports and I can assure you, everything is not fine. Even though we have a massive cloud seeding effort all over the country, the rains we get are either monsoons or insignificant. So, if you calculate the rate of our growth and our decreasing food productivity, it doesn’t take a scholar to realize that at some point we aren’t going to be able to feed ourselves and must rely more and more on imports.”
Jing agreed with this commentary.
“Now, with the sky-rocketing price of oil, the Americans have started to use their corn as a fuel source. This means that the price of food has increased substantially. Take wheat for example, years ago it was about $4.00 US per bushel, it’s now $13.00 US and climbing. We cannot rely on the American’s goodwill to sell us food any longer, if we are to continue on our planned course.”
“So this is all about food?”
“There are many reasons why the Americans must be destroyed; food is at the top of the list.”
They traveled in silence for a while as Jing processed the information he was just given. On both sides of the highway were large farms, which seemed to stretch from horizon to horizon.
The General broke the silence. “What are your thoughts Jing?”
Jing’s mind swirled with thoughts of famine in his country, combined with the destruction of the American’s land, her people and the operation itself. “I think that with the Americans out of our way we can prosper as the nation we have been working for…but I am concerned with this plan.”
“How so? Do you see any faults?”
“First, I am concerned that the CIA might have knowledge of this.”
“If they did, I can assure you we would not be alive right now.” Husian said confidently.
“General, you asked me to listen to you, and maybe to find any flaw in your plan…”Jing paused “…do you mind if I ask more questions?”
“Not at all. This plan can still be modified or even cancelled at this point.”
“Thank you. You say that there is more than one nuclear weapon. How many are there?”
“Thirty four; not including the one on the DF-15.” General Hua stated.
“Thirty Four!” Jing’s eyes grew wide with the unexpected revelation. “General, that is a huge amount. Won’t the fallout from those weapons ruin the lands that we need?”
“I gave it plenty of thought and to do the job correctly, this is the right number. As far as the fallout, we won’t move in for a few years, and at that point the fallout will have degraded to a miniscule amount.”
Jing, schooled on nuclear research and fallout, knew that this point was correct. “So…what are the targets?”
“First of all, the political base in Washington DC, along with the Pentagon, CIA and NSA at Ft Meade. There are the more important military targets at Norfolk, Whiteman Air Force Base, McConnell Air Force Base, Minot Air Force Base, San Diego Naval Station, Jacksonville Naval Base, the submarine bases at Kings Bay, Georgia and Bangor Washington. There are more but these are the most important. Now, there are some bases where we will not strike, for example Wright Patterson Air Force Base. This is a major intelligence area and we would like to have this one intact, along with the secret bases in the Nevada desert. The rest will go to major cities, especially the ones with ports.”
“New York City?”
“Of course; along with Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia and the Port in Baltimore. We also have Kansas City, Denver, St Louis, Chicago and Dallas. Those are off the top of my head, but there are others. We will leave Portland Oregon intact. This will be our port for future food shipments. We will also leave Houston and Detroit. Houston has oil refineries and Detroit has the manufacturing base that we can use in the future.”
Colonel Li nodded “I’m concerned that more military bases aren’t included, especially the Army bases.”
“Jing, we wouldn’t be able to knock out all of their military, they are too formidable a force. Instead we are striking their jugular vein; they will bleed out after it is severed and die.” The General saw that Jing understood the targeting, but not the overall scope of the mission. “Let me explain what we know will take place and what we feel will happen afterwards.”
“Please.”
General Hua pulled into a public Rest Area outside of Yakima. Both men left to make use of the facilities and after returning General Hua continued. “First of all, the Americans will not see this coming…there are no inbound ICBM’s, no aircraft launched cruise missiles, and no submarine launched missiles. The weapons will be delivered on the ground. All of the weapons will hopefully be detonated simultaneously.”
“We have these weapons on the ground…now?”
The General nodded affirmatively.
“How did you manage to smuggle nuclear weapons into the country?”
“Again, it was done over time and it wasn’t as difficult as you might think. Our first move was building an underground facility beneath our Long Beach Port. This facility is completely secure and equipped with the machinery necessary to assemble the weapons. The weapons themselves are a copy of the Americans W-88 device, very small and extremely destructive. We created secure containers, lined with lead and other nuclear shielding materials, and then began to ship the ‘Peanuts’ to Long Beach for assembly.”
“Peanuts?”
“Yes, that’s what the Americans call the actual nuclear assembly. It is a two stage thermonuclear device that resembles a peanut. We thought originally that between two and five would suffice. However, when we saw the ease at which we could move these weapons into America, we kept adding them until we had the numbers needed for the maximum deSired effect.”
Jing smiled at the creativity and dedication which typified his countrymen. “You say that the weapons will be delivered from the ground. Is this secure?”
“So far it is. Obviously since 9/11 the American’s security has increased dramatically. The delivery vehicles are a copy of a nationwide retail Office Supply Company. We have modified these trucks to support the added weight of the lead shielding and the weapon. The weapons are disguised as large photo-copiers and we have gone so far as to create invoices to the delivered areas.”
Jing nodded, accepting the delivery method. “What about the people driving the trucks, can they be trusted?”
“Good question. People are always the weakest link. All it takes is one person to say something and the operation is jeopardized…” General Hua paused “…We have North Korean drivers.”
“North Koreans!”
General Hua chuckled “Yes, North Koreans. Do you remember when I said that the North is insane? Well, they are, but they are also uncompromising in their security precautions, and in their hatred for the West. When I conceived the plan to truck in the bombs, what concerned me most, was the drivers. I approached the head of North Koreas Special Forces and requested his most dedicated troops for a mission of ‘national importance and glory’.”
Jing exhaled and allowed the General to continue without further questions.
“I went to inspect the troops and the NK General paraded me in front of them. He then took out his pistol and handed it to one of the men, and told him to shoot himself. That soldier, without question, took the pistol, cocked it, put it in his mouth, and pulled the trigger. The chamber was empty, but the complete and total dedication to follow orders impressed me…” Husian paused “…I was given fifty soldiers. They spent one year learning English and how to blend in with the Americans. As of now they have practiced their routes daily for almost six months.”
Jing nodded his satisfaction. “You said previously that ‘hopefully the weapons will be detonated simultaneously.’ What did you mean by ‘hopefully’?”
“This mission dictates precision to the utmost degree. There are safeguards in each weapon, in that it must be in its preplanned targeted area before it arms itself. The arming is done via the Global Positioning Satellite System and is automatic in the warhead itself…”Husian paused and continued “…Your DF-15 will send a nuclear weapon into the upper atmosphere and detonate; this will create an Electro-Magnetic Pulse or EMP. It is this EMP which will be the signal for detonation. The EMP by itself will cause tremendous damage to the infrastructure by taking out their unshielded electronics. They won’t have any radio, computers, electrical power or vehicles. Now, if the weapon isn’t in the GPS targeted area, the EMP will start a thirty-minute timer…this is a back-up system, and hopefully that will give the driver some additional time to approach his target in the electronically shielded trucks. If not, then in thirty minutes, the weapon will detonate.”
Jing smiled, the plan seemed workable. “General this seems to be a viable plan and the goal is certainly attainable…I have two other concerns though.”
“Go ahead.”
“First, where am I to launch the DF-15 from, and won’t this be traced back to us? Secondly, I am concerned about the military response.”
“I understand…the launch area is a large farm in Nebraska. We are about 160 kilometers from Omaha. The farm is owned by a South Korean Construction company. Do you remember the penthouse you stayed at in Hong Kong?”
“Who could not remember that place?”
“Well that is also owned by this company. ‘Yong Kee Construction’ and its owner Mr. Yong Kee have very strong ties to the North. Mr. Kee is set to receive the largest share of the rebuilding contract after the North is attacked by the Americans. Obviously we will sanitize the area after your launch; however any investigation will reveal the connection to the North.”
“Excellent…now you’re sure the Americans will attack North Korea and not us?”
“Follow our thinking here for a moment; the Americans have thirty four high yield nuclear weapons detonate on their soil along with an EMP weapon which kills their infrastructures electronics. The attack comes from within. The first inclination is to figure out exactly who blew apart their country.” General Hua paused. “They see images from their satellites and…China is not on a war footing. Our subs are in port, our missiles are not ready to be fired and our army is not on alert. America will think that any country that wants to start a war like this has to be on alert and prepared to fight, right?”
Jing nodded
“America will have to go on the evidence it finds…and that evidence will point to North Korea. After the retaliatory strike and the resultant nuclear fallout, the UN World Governing Body will demand a halt to any further nuclear attacks. The Americans will be forced to stand down their nuclear forces until they have established a political leader. After that Jing, it’s just politics and we will be there to negotiate, offer assistance, and eventually move in.”
The Toyota moved effortlessly along the freeway, neither soldier spoke for a few minutes, both allowing the world changing event, which they would initiate, to internalize.
General Hua spoke after a few minutes “We don’t know who will be in charge, or if anyone could ever be in charge again. This country could degrade along racial lines or geographic areas. Eventually, the remaining military will have to align itself with someone, or run the country itself. The military will be too weak to effectively govern…they don’t have the stomach to rule by the point of a gun, they are spread too thin and we feel that most of the military forces will fall away.”
“America will be a feeding frenzy for the rest of the world, won’t they?” Colonel Li commented.
“They certainly could be.”
“What do you estimate the overall loss of life to be?”
“We think that it will be in the area of one hundred to one hundred and fifty million…that includes the initial blasts, radiation fallout and subsequent anarchy.”
“America is in for a very bad time.” Jing commented with a smile.
The novel For the Greater Good can be found on my blog at http://standupandbefree.blogspot.com/
(daughter goes to school there). I love reading stories where I can actually picture the locations the author is writing about.
