Dragon's Fury - Dragon's Breath Part 28

"The results were predictable. Our defenses were overwhelmed, despite our hi-tech advantage. In addition, despite the increased security measures of the last few years, it turns out the North Koreans had dozens of sleepers working at each of our bases. People we had known and reviewed for years, in some cases decades. That contributed to the sabotage of our aircraft, equipment and storage as they let the DPRK Special Forces units onto the base in most cases, and conducted some of the sabotage themselves in others.

"Had it not been for one quick thinking Intelligence Officer in the 2ndInfantry Division, a Colonel Martinez I believe, we very well could have been decapitated as well. As it was, his quick a.n.a.lysis of recon photos and NRO satellite photos from guess who? That's right, from Tom Lawton's people. And Martinez' quick witted decisions, probably saved the command echelon of many of our prime units there.

The 2ndInfantry Division, the 19thTheater Army Area Command, the 8thand 51stFighter wings of the 7thAir Force, the 6thCalvary Brigade and the CINC of all USFK were each warned in time. Those warnings allowed those commanders and most of their staffs to be surrounded by security troops very quickly and escorted to secure areas while the attacks were being made. Unfortunately we still lost some of their staff, and the commanders of the 1stSignal Brigade and the 8thMilitary Police Brigade were lost due to enemy action last night.

"Since then, as you know, the situation has been chaotic, and there's been a lot of ground loss-and we're going to lose more. But our forces are beginning to come together along with the ROK forces who were equally targeted. I believe they are capable of a fighting withdrawal while we establish a firm line further to the south."

The President knew Jeremy was right. America had been downsizing the military for years after the end of the cold war with the Soviet Union. Even the horrific terrorist attacks of 2001 had not altogether halted that trend, but it had slowed or abated it in some critical areas.

Well, thank G.o.d for small miracles, thought the President. He would hate to have to respond to these crises had the headlong trends continued completely unabated. Nonetheless, America had continued to bank on and count on the "silver bullets" of high tech. That was good as long as you had plenty of it to shoot, and keep shooting at the enemy. It generally workedgreat for small or single theater confrontations. But now, the whole world was erupting around them and there just weren't enough. Not enough forces overall, and certainly not enough hi-tech inventory. They were going to have to implement a full-scale war time production effort.

He'd have to address that in his speech to the nation tonight.

"Mr. President, how do you want to respond to this request by Jien Zenim for a conference? He wants to try and mediate."

The President knew exactly how he wanted to respond.

"Fred, I firmly believe that Jien Zenim is up to his eyeb.a.l.l.s in all of this. I think it is only a matter of time before his hammer falls, and I believe wemust respond decisively in Korea to have any hope of forestalling that.

Tell President Zenim that I appreciate his offer, but regrettably, given the circ.u.mstances, we will have to talk later.

Perhaps in a few weeks, after we get some help to South Korea and start pus.h.i.+ng these tyrants back, then we can hold a summit. Tell him three to four weeks and arrange it....and just for the sake of everyone sitting here, my message at such a summit is going to bevery direct to the Chinese.Donot interfere. I will also make sure that they understand that North Korea is not going to ex ist as a nation state after the fighting is over and President Jien Zenim can take that to the bank!

"Now, Tim and Jeremy, we are going to have to call up significant numbers of reserves, I'm talking a million men to add to our current forces. We are going to also have to push very hard for much more enlistment. I want a package from the Congress, committed to today after their formal declaration of war on North Korea that gives great incentive for folks to join. Something like the old GI bill used to be, with just as many perks. We will have to make those perks retroactive for everyone who is already serving.

It's going to cost a lot, but not nearly as much as the other measures we are going to have to take if we expect the light of liberty to continue burning brightly in the world. As much as those costs may add up to, they will benothing compared to what it will cost should we fail, because I believethat cost will end up being our national survival.

"Okay, Tim and Jeremy, here's what I would like to do in broad strokes. I want to establish two Marine Air Ground Task Forces (MAGTF's) for Korea, each made up of two augmented MEU's. Can we do that?"

The Secretary of Defense, Tim Hattering, deferred to General Stone.

"I believe we can Mr. President. We have two of our east coast MEU's already on the ground in the Mid-East, but the Army had built up enough force there now that they can bring one of them home. If we take the other East Coast MEU, the 24th, and have it do a rapid transit to the west coast for temporary basing there, we could move all three west coast MEU's towards Korea to form up with the 31stin Okinawa. I would want to have them escorted by two Carrier Battle groups that would join up with the Kitty Hawk out of j.a.pan."

The President considered this, and then looked at Tim.

"Well, Tim, what do you think?"

Tim was thinking about the strain on the numbers of amphibious a.s.sault s.h.i.+ps and Carriers. Four carriers already in the Mid East, and now three in the Far East. That's seven of twelve, and three were in service life upgrades. Similar numbers existed for their twelve large amphibious a.s.sault s.h.i.+ps.

"Mr. President, we are going to have to either halt or expedite some of the Service Life Programs that are going on if we want to have any Carriers and Amphibious a.s.sault s.h.i.+ps in reserve. Also, we are going to have to have the Marines begin to form up more MEU's. If we do that to backfill, I would feel very comfortable expediting this."

The President was in high gear. He was beginning to see what types of things he had to get done to stabilize an extremely dire and unstable condition. He felt he had the team here with him who could make it happen.

"Great, I will sign off on the requisite orders. I want each MAGTF to comprise ten thousand fighting men and I want them in Korea yesterday. You guys make it happen, the carriers will stay on in support.

"In addition, since we already have the 82ndAir Borne in Turkey and the 101stin Egypt, Jeremy, we're going to have to look at flying more men into Korea. I want another ten thousand men already there when these MAGTF's arrive. The materiel is already pre-positioned for this."

At this, Tim Hattering spoke.

"Pardon the interruption Mr. President, but our military transport and our civilian air carriers are maximized right now trying to build up our forces in the Middle East and still maintain their commercial operations. We're going to have to get significant additional buy-in from the commercial sector to make what you just stated possible, and we will have to subsidize them if they are to remain financially viable."

Norm's mind was already out in front of his Secretary of Defense. When he thought full-scale war mobilization, he meant it. America already had a model for such efforts and he had lived through it as a young boy.

"I understand Tim. You have done agreat job working with the airlines to date, and now we are going to have to depend on you to even do more. I will make this a part of the speech tonight, we're going to have to get more lift out of the commercial carriers. Please have the FAA Administrator and the appropriate Congressional representatives meet with us this afternoon."

February 28, 2006, 19:12 WNN Broadcasting Studios New York City, New York As the commercial was running, David thought how much he continued to enjoy his job, a job he felt he did extraordinarily well. Here he was, continuing in his plum anchor roll, while being on the Board of Directors and the President of World Wide News for WNN, involved in the princ.i.p.al management decisions for the entire network. When you add to that his bird's eye view of emerging events through his members.h.i.+p in the prestigious Council on International Relations, well life just didn't get much better.

Perhaps in a few years, he'll allow these roles to propel him into politics. But now, the thirty-second light had come on and he needed to get back to today's dramatic events.

"This is David Krenshaw, back with WNN. Continuing the status of fighting in Korea. WNN has learned that the Combined Command structure of both the Republic of Korea and the United States have decided to withdraw from Seoul and Inchon rather than fight what they consider to be a losing battle and risk having what forces remain being cut off. Those commands indicate to WNN reporters on the scene, that fighting is heavy, that there have been significant losses inflicted upon the North's forces, but that significant losses have been experienced amongst allied forces as well.

"The dramatic pictures you just saw on WNN earlier were of actual fighting in the outskirts of Seoul. As missiles were launched into the heart of Seoul, apparently targeting governmental offices there, you saw the collapse of many high rise buildings within the city itself due to missile impacts that weakened the buildings and the fires which caused those weakened structures to ultimately collapse. The death toll amongst the civilian population in Seoul is thought to number in the many thousands.

"The result has been a further Declaration of War by the U.S. Congress and by the Republic of Korea on North Korea. Almost immediately, the GIR also declared war on South Korea and announced solidarity with North Korea in the name of their CAS economic agreement. By invoking the CAS economic agreements as a reason to enter this conflict, when they are already embroiled in a conflict thousands of miles away with America, the GIR has raised a question that interests the entire world.

Where is China in this conflict? What will China's response be?

"WNN can announce that through an exclusive phone interview, we are in a position to provide some answers and insight into that question.

"Earlier today, I spoke with Li Peng, the head of the Chinese Parliament and a close friend and confident of President Jien Zenim. Li asked me to convey his respect to the American people and indicated that his government was not involving itself in the fight between North and South Korea. He indicated that China viewed it as an internal matter and would not become involved unless it spilled over and began threatening either China or other surrounding nations. He went on to speak of his efforts to communicate with and provide immediate mediation in the conflict. Here are the words he spoke during that interview, as recorded earlier this afternoon:"

"The People's Republic of China stands ready to immediately step in and provide mediation of this conflict. We have a vested interest in peace in this part of the world since we are the largest trading partner of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and one of America's largest trading partners as well."

"Unfortunately, the current administration in America has indicated that they cannot meet with us on this critical matter for several weeks. This is most unfortunate. We urge the United States to utilize every tool at their disposal to stop the death in Korea, where brother is fighting against brother. We urge them, as we have now for many years, to extract themselves from that conflict so these brothers can most effectively solve their differences without any undue, outside influence or military forces. We urge the American people to prevail upon your elected officials to allow this mediation summit to occur. We have already talked to the Kin Sung-II's foreign minister and there is a willingness to call a halt in place to allow for it."

"That was an exclusive WNN taping of Li Peng, the leader of the Chinese parliament. He has made an extraordinary appeal to mediate and we will keep you informed of those efforts as well as the Weisskopf administration's response to them. Now, onto other news while we wait for the President's national address at 8 p.m."

February 28, 2006, 20:00 The Oval Office Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C.

"My fellow Americans, I come before you tonight with news that is distressing. As you are all aware, ma.s.sive forces of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, whom we call North Korea, ruthlessly attacked their neighbor to the south and our ally, the Republic of Korea. This attack was unprovoked and was carried out while North Korean forces were conducting what they called, "training exercise.

"I wish I could tell you that the attack has been foiled and thrown back. I cannot. The harsh reality is that we are rapidly being pushed back on the Korean peninsula. Seoul has been invaded and there is heavy fighting going on there as we speak. Many of you saw the horrific photos of high-rise buildings in Seoul collapsing after being sh.e.l.led and struck by North Korean missiles. The civilian death count is unimaginable.

"Our forces have fought well, but have suffered many casualties.

"As a result, at 5:56 this afternoon, our Congress voted to declare war on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"My fellow citizens, I must be blunt and direct. What we have witnessed in the last few months, the tremendous struggle taking place in the Mid East, and now this dastardly and major attack in the Far East, is rapidly turning into a Third World War. We are ill-prepared for it. As a people, we love peace, and I am afraid that our love for peace, which in and of itself is a very good and desirable thing, and our fixation on our material pursuits, has resulted in tremendous complacency and apathy about the dangers that surround us. About the true nature of the world we live in.

"Any individual who has spent any appreciable time outside of the borders of this great Republic has a notion of what that nature is. While conditions vary, particularly in Western Europe, the harsh reality is that most areas of the world are terribly poor, they are very ignorant and they are easily taken advantage of. This gives rise to despots and tyrants who seek to control those people and others in their quest for power, riches and vice.

"In short, it is a dangerous world, dangerous for truth, dangerous for the open study of knowledge. In short, dangerous for liberty.

"But, we are "the land of the free" and we must face these dangers directly and with squared shoulders, or we will forever sacrifice and surrender those liberties to those who would destroy them.

"We have come awfully close to doing just that my fellow Americans. We convinced ourselves that the world was a safer place to live in with the demise of the former Soviet Union, and then we began to act like it actually was. We cut our armed forces, we reduced our numbers and our research into future programs and procurement. We cut training and we glossed it over with a relatively few high technology weapons we convinced ourselves would keep us safe. We were wrong.

"I led the military campaign during Operation Desert Strom a number of years ago where we utilized many of those high technology weapons to win a war and to make it look much easier than it was. We were lucky, my fellow Americans. We were lucky that the tyrant of the day wavered and did not push on into Saudi Arabia at the time. We were lucky that his conscripts were more afraid of him than they were of us and were thus willing to surrender in droves when the actual fighting started. Finally, we were lucky we were still basking in the appropriate build-up of arms and materiel that had occurred under the prior President, one of the greatest Presidents in my opinion.

"Just a few short years ago, in 2003, we went up against this same tyrant and finished the job, with much the same results. We fought a large army and prevailed, but it was an army more afraid of its master than of us and they surrendered or just went home and did not fight.

"As a result, we squandered away the forces needed to confront any truly dangerous tyrant, one who uses charisma and the strength of their personality to convince an entire people to follow a misguided cause. We have slashed our defenses, we have been too proud, and we have placed ourselves in positions of dependency when we ought not to have done so.

"All the while, conditions in the world as a whole have not changed. Evil still exists in great abundance.

Ignorance still exists in large measure; poverty still exists in most places. All of these remain a seed ground for evil and conspiring forces. Unfortunately, as we have found by spending trillions, it is a condition that we cannot fix. The peoples of these nations have to fix it, they have to want to fix it. We can only a.s.sist those who really do, otherwise, we are planting the seeds and funding the very forces that would destroy us, who hate our liberty and way of life. This is the harsh, cruel reality of the world in which we live. It has always been so.

"We saw a natural evolution of this in 2001 when one such tyrant attacked our nation and killed many innocent people. It was a misguided, evil effort to lash out at and destroy our morale, our financial capabilities and thereby our influence. We responded and brought that individual and his organization to justice, along with the few governments who were willing to support him.

"Now, the evolution of despair, ignorance and hate has stepped up. Now we find, once again on the world scene, ruthless dictators and despots who have convinced entire people's to follow them and support them in their tyranny. We can no more allow this to stand than we could allow the acts of September 11, 2001. In fact, even more so, we must come together as a people and, like "the greatest generation," we must astound the world with our ability to produce, to unite and to successfully confront tyranny.

"Let there be no mistake, it is going to take just such an effort. We face a situation every bit as immediate and as dangerous as our fathers and grandfathers faced in the early 1940's. Perhaps even more so.

"So, to the questions of how do we respond? And how do we avoid this in the future? I intend to give some answers tonight. I intend, with the support of the congress and the support of the people, to place us on a path to win this war. Wewill win it decisively and will win it in a manner that will cause us to never forget, to never allow ourselves to become so complacent again. Here is the formula. It is not a new formula, my fellow Americans. It is the same formula our founders used to win our independence and vouchsafe those unalienable rights that have been endowed to each of us by, as our founders labeled Him, "the Creator.

"First, we must immediately embark on a full war-time mobilization. A mobilization of fighting forces and a mobilization of industry to give those forces what they need to wage and win this struggle.

"In that regard, I am calling up one million reserves. Details of this call up will be announced by the Secretary of Defense starting tomorrow. In addition, I have spoken with the leaders in Congress and gotten their support in calling for a significant increase in what used to be called the GI Bill. We will elevate it to what it used to be in terms of providing for education, health care, homesteading and job opportunity for those who serve.

"I expect this to be a long and costly war. We may yet suffer attacks on this land. We are going to need every able-bodied man between the ages of 18 and 45 to be prepared to serve their country, at home and abroad. We do not want and have no plans to inst.i.tute a "draft." We want volunteers and we are going to make it worth the while of those who do so. It will take the agreement and the willingness to do so of those who are not in a position to serve to make this possible. I ask you tonight, my fellow Americans, for that commitment, for that willingness.

"But that is not all I ask of you.

"For those not able or willing to sign up directly with the military, our Director of Homeland Security will be announcing in the next few weeks a program for "Home Guard" units who will work with their local Sheriffs to help maintain security here on our sh.o.r.es. These units will be volunteer units, they will be armed, they will be trained and they will have communications devices to get them immediately in touch with their local sheriff's and through them with their state's National Guard. The training, the weapons and the communications will be provided by the government and will become the property of those who volunteer.

"With respect to mobilization of fighting forces, we are going to have to come to the aide of our allies and friends, and our own forces in Korea. I have ordered up immediate relief in terms of several Marine units and the s.h.i.+ps and aircraft to support them. I am ordering significant ground forces to be ferried over by aircraft, both military and commercial.

"Now this is going to place a significant burden on our airline travel, our commercial travel. But the need is urgent and the situation is critical. We need to move ten thousand men to Korea, and escort them safely there, in the next two weeks. These men will then be supported by several times their number arriving with the Marine Task Forces. In order to do this, restrictions on commercial flying will be announced tomorrow by all of the major airlines. These restrictions are voluntary, but once volunteered, I have made it plain that they will be in existence through the duration of the emergency. I have requested and received the agreement from the CEO's of all of the major airlines. I am proud of these patriot leaders in our business community.

"In that vein, let me turn to the second requirement for our mobilization. That is our tremendous industrial capacity. Sadly, we have squandered much of it away over the last few years in the name of building a so-called "service economy." Well, in my mind a "service economy" is an economy of servants, and it has placed us in this very dangerous situation. In the name of so-called "free trade," we have s.h.i.+pped much of our capacity off sh.o.r.e, in some cases to the very nations that now either threaten us, or are being destroyed by those who do. In order for trade to really be "free," it must also be fair, and we have neglected that side of the equation, particularly for our own industries. We cannot afford to allow this to continue. Not for energy, not for manufacturing, not for food, and not for any other strategic and critical industry.

"Therefore, today, I am announcing all of the following: "There will be an immediate cessation of all restrictions on the search for, and production from, oil reserves that are local to the United States and its territories. This includes the Alaskan north-slope fields and the fields just off of our west coast. We were already moving in this regard, but were being severely hampered by provisions of several Acts of Congress, some of which had expired but were still funded.

All acts that have expired will, as of this date, no longer be funded or recognized by this administration or any of its agencies. Other acts hindering our ability to remain energy free in either the petroleum, nuclear, coal or alternate fuel areas will be rescinded by Congress. I have requested this of the leaders.h.i.+p in Congress and both sides of the aisle have a.s.sured me, in the interest of national security and survival, that it will be done. I have instructed all of the Directors and Secretaries of Executive Branch agencies accordingly through executive order.

"I have requested and expect to get agreement from Congress and from all state governors, agreement regarding the establishment of priorities for the use of strategic materiel required for the war effort, or the re-inst.i.tution of industries critical to that effort. This will result in some rationing by the state governments for private citizens and non-essential industries. I want to thank the governors who have already responded and those I expect will respond, along with the congressional leaders.h.i.+p for their approval of these measures. Again, once implemented, they will be in effect for the duration of the emergency. I expect that over the next few weeks, executive branch agency heads and state officials will announce the specific allocation plans.

"I have instructed the Secretary of Commerce to draw up import and export guidelines, similar to those we recently implemented with the CAS that will now apply generally. We intend to allow free trade, my fellow Americans, but never again will our free trade be unfair to our own. Any nation seeking to do business with America will have to do it on our terms, or not at all. They will have to comply with our standards, or not at all. If their governments subsidizes their efforts and they comply with our standards, then our producers will either get an amount equal to what that government if providing, and it will come fromthat government, or they can take their business elsewhere.

"The playing field will either be level, or they will not be allowed on it in America. In this way, we will keep our industries compet.i.tive right here in America if they are willing to apply that Yankee ingenuity we have always been famous for. It will also allow us to slowly remove the artificial supports that have been put in place in some industries that never should have been there in the first place. They were efforts that tried to address playing fields that were so lopsided that they could not hope to be addressed. We will remove the burden from the American taxpayer and put it where it belongs, on those nations and those companies wanting to do business here."

"Other measures may become necessary as time goes on and depending on circ.u.mstances with the war effort. As they do, I will speak with your representatives, your state leaders and with you as I have done here tonight.

"In closing, my fellow Americans, this is a time for three things: "First, it is once again a time for national prayer. We must unite our collective faith so we are equal to the challenges that lie before us. We have a long road, it is a road that may get worse before it gets better. It will require our collective faith to walk that road. Therefore, I am calling for March 1stto be established as an annual National Day of Prayer and Reflection. All federal government offices will release their workers tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. and allow them to gather in their churches, their synagogues, their a.s.sembly halls, their mosques and their own quiet places for the remainder of the day. In future years, this will be a full day holiday.

"Second, it is a time for unity. Let us put aside all of the hyphenated Americans. Let us put aside our differences, so that we might remain free to have them. Let us work together as compatriots, as brother and sister Americans to walk this path, to climb this hill, to put down this dark tyranny. It is a tyranny that would force on our friends, and ultimately on us, the denial of individual rights in the name of some collective, a collective invariably controlled and ruled by a select few. We have seen this ideology in our world my fellow Americans, history is littered with the skeletons and debris of the peoples who mistakenly embraced it, and with those peoples who were not resolute or strong enough to stand up against it. We shall not be such debris-we shall stand!

"Finally, it is a time for sacrifice. The collective effort to produce the materiel, the arms, the personnel and the equipment to allow our eventual triumph is going to require that we step outside our comfort zone. It is going to require that we willingly, voluntarily give up some of our creature comforts through the duration of this crisis, so that we can retain them in perpetuity for our children and grandchildren.

"I urge each of you, to voluntarily find the ways you can give, to find the ways you can help, to work with your relatives, friends and neighbors, to follow your elected representatives.

"And I commit to you, that I, and each member of my staff, and every member of any agency working for me will sacrifice similarly and accordingly. I commit that under our const.i.tution, whatever measures we take will be in strict accordance with that const.i.tution. It is the banner we look to, after we look to our faith. It is the instrument all of your public representatives and officials swear an oath to bear true faith and allegiance to. I commit to each of you, that throughout this crisis, I will ensure that I am always true to that oath, and that everyone working for me is true to it, or be removed from office, so help me G.o.d!

"G.o.d bless you each. May He be with us all as we go forward. May G.o.d bless America this night and in the future to be strong, to be brave, to be committed and to be true, whatever the cost. Good night.

Chapter 10.

"When China awakens, the world will tremble."-Napoleon Bonaparte

March 7, 2006, 06:30 local time 15 Kilometers east of Shanghai Flag Observation, PLAN 1001 Beijing China Sea As Admiral Yao Hsu stood on the flag officer's observation post outside of Air Operations, he turned and looked back over the wake of his flags.h.i.+p as she glided through the mild seas and away from land.

Even after all of these years, this was a time he cherished greatly, a time of antic.i.p.ation and expectation.

Every time he made out to sea, he experienced these feelings, and the years and circ.u.mstances never seemed to dim them.

Trials for the PLAN's new Sea Control Carrier had gone better than expected and now circ.u.mstance dictated that he take her out for a different type of trial, a trial by fire. The apprehension a.s.sociated with that, with wondering if the tactics, the weapons systems and the experiences so new to the PLAN would be sufficient to the task at hand, understandably dampened the Admiral's normal feelings as they made to sea. But the antic.i.p.ation and excitement a.s.sociated with making out to sea, and with testing himself and his nation against their most formidable adversary, overshadowed any apprehension or other concern.

To starboard and perhaps two or three kilometers off his bow, the lead s.h.i.+p of the Haizhou cla.s.s of guided missile destroyers had accelerated to thirty knots to take up its position as escort for the carrier.

As he watched her, his thoughts focused on the undeniable beauty of what he was seeing.

What a beautiful s.h.i.+p she is! Sleek, low to the water and a match for any surface combatant on earth, even the so called "war G.o.d" Aegis cruisers that the U.S. Navy employed.

Thinking of the Americans caused him some reflection. Funny, for many years he felt awed by their navy, their s.h.i.+p handling, the balance of the various s.h.i.+p cla.s.ses, their carriers, their battle groups-and particularly the technology they employed. In fact, a lot of that technology had gone into the development of the s.h.i.+p he was standing on. Through so-called "exchange" programs, Admiral Hsu himself had been aboard U.S. Carriers and U.S. Aegis wars.h.i.+ps in the late 1990's and seen how they functioned. The information and knowledge had been invaluable. In addition, through acquisition of "dual use"

technologies, some by bribery, some by clandestine methods and others as simple gifts from the Americans, many of the electronics, sensors and automated controls had been refined far beyond what the PLAN would have been capable of just a few years ago.

But now, all of that had all been improved upon and refined to produce newer cla.s.ses of s.h.i.+ps, newer tactics and newer weapons systems that were, in the Admiral's view, a match for any thing the Americans had.

The Beijing task force was centered around the carrier, and included two Haizhou cla.s.s DDG's, two of the very capable Luhai-II cla.s.s DDG's, and four Jiangwei-II cla.s.s FFG's. All of the Luhai-II and Jiangwei-II vessels, in addition to their other formidable armaments, had been armed with four of the new LRASD weapons and the targeting and fire control computers and other equipment to control them.

The Beijing itself had a full combat load of twelve SU-30 fighter aircraft, six SU-35 EW/attack aircraft and twelve SU-25 attack aircraft. In addition, she carried four of the new Biao STOL AEW aircraft and four Ka-28 ASW helicopters. All of these were being built in China, and at a rapid production rate to outfit the new carriers being produced.

In addition, the Beijing carried vertical launch missiles (VLS) which included forty tubes for anti-aircraft and ten tubes of anti-surface. Unlike the American system, these could all be automatically reloaded within minutes and the Beijing cla.s.s of carrier carried five reloads for each. The anti-air missiles were the new s.h.i.+p board KS-2 missile which had a range of 45 kilometers and an effective alt.i.tude ceiling of 25,000 meters; very effective indeed. The anti-surface missile were the SS-26 Yakhont missile (also now license produced within China), which had a range of 300 kilometers and were mach 2.5 sea-skimming missiles.

Still, one had to have great respect for the experience, knowledge, tactics, weapons and technology that the Americans employed. They had the operational experience, and they still had the numbers in terms of s.h.i.+ps, s.h.i.+p cla.s.ses and aircraft. One could not fail to recognize this. One could never underestimate them.