The Elephant Game Page 36
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Admiral Manning sat at the head of the Ford Carrier Strike Group conference table, the room filled with staff officers. These were the war planners. The men and women who worked tirelessly day and night to fit each length of the chain together. The ones who would gladly give their lives in defense of the United Sates. Who gave up holidays with family, who missed the births of their children and sacrificed time and again over long deployments.
They had just been battle-tested and won.
Six Chinese merchant ships, fitted with storage containers filled with missiles, had been sunk by a combination of ship and air power from the Ford Strike Group. Four Chinese submarines in the water space surrounding the Hawaiian Islands had also been sunk by American fast-attack subs. The Chinese surprise attack on Hawaii had been completely rebuked.
SAG-131—the surface action group that Admiral Manning had dispatched to Guam—had turned a surprise Chinese air strike from catastrophe to minor victory. While the runways and air defense sites on Guam were damaged, they could be repaired quickly. And the ample US air assets on Guam were unharmed. They would be crucial in an American military response in the Western Pacific.
And there would need to be a response. For Hawaii and Guam were some of the few American success stories during the day.
“Proceed with the brief,” said Admiral Manning.
His intelligence officer nodded. “Sir, over the past twelve hours, our normal collection and dissemination of intelligence has ground to a halt. There has been some type of cyberattack on the continental US infrastructure, we know that. But we also suspect that some of the undersea cables that connect Internet and telecommunications across the Atlantic and Pacific have also been cut. The Chinese have begun launching anti-satellite weapons to shoot down our recently launched satellites that we have up, as well as the classified ones we didn’t think they knew about. In short, sir, the flow of intelligence is not what we’re used to getting. But we do know a few things…”
He continued painting the picture that Admiral Manning had already picked up bits and pieces of from the conversation he’d had with the commander of the Pacific Fleet moments ago. But he let him continue—this brief wasn’t just for Admiral Manning. Everyone needed the information.
Nuclear explosions had been detected in North Korea. While the military had not confirmed it through official channels, news reports had stated that the American president had ordered the attack, a retaliation for North Korea invading South Korea. That seemed ludicrous to Admiral Manning. No sane US president would give that order, but that was the information they were getting. But good news sources were hard to come by today. Much of the United States had been attacked by EMP weapons. Only a day after the war had begun, the fog was still thick.
China had attacked US military assets in Japan, Diego Garcia, Guam, the Philippines, Australia, and South Korea. Taiwan was also being hit hard. The attacks farther from the Chinese mainland had been carried out mostly by submarine-launched cruise missiles. Japanese, Taiwanese, and South Korean targets had been hit mostly by land-launched missiles and Chinese bombers.
“Sir, we really don’t know the results of the Chinese attacks on Western Pacific allied nations yet. But we do have unconfirmed reports that both US aircraft carriers in the region have been sunk.”
A few people gasped. Someone cursed. Most of the attendees had clenched jaws, choosing to remain silent.
Admiral Manning listened for another fifteen minutes while the intelligence brief went on. When it was finished, he stood up, and the room stood at attention.
“We are once again a nation at war. If not for our victories at Guam and Hawaii, I fear that we would be at a great disadvantage. We should be thankful for what we have, and mourn those we have lost.” He clenched his jaw, and he took a few deep breaths out of his nose.
Then he said, “Ladies and gentlemen, stay vigilant. This fight has just begun.”
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Andrew Watts graduated from the US Naval Academy in 2003 and served as a naval officer and helicopter pilot until 2013. During that time, he flew counter-narcotic missions in the Eastern Pacific and counter-piracy missions off the Horn of Africa. He was a flight instructor in Pensacola, FL, and helped to run ship and flight operations while embarked on a nuclear aircraft carrier deployed in the Middle East.
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Also by Andrew Watts
The War Planners
The War Stage
Pawns of the Pacific
Glidepath