Dragon's Fury - Dragon's Breath Part 16

As the General shook Lu's hand he presented his new insignia.

"Chin Zhongbaio will now make the presentation to Sung Hsu."

Chin Zhongbaio stood and approached Sung Hsu. Chin was one of the most powerful men in the People's Republic of China. A member of the politburo with the confidence of, President Jien Zenim, he was also the Chief Executive Officer of the largest s.h.i.+pping company in the world, which he had personally managed the growth of since its inception.

Chin prided himself on the prestige, honor and power his accomplishments brought COSCO and his homeland, and on his ability to recognize and develop talent which served COSCO and the PRC. In Sung Hsu, he had discovered and developed one of the most promising of talents...in truth, with Sung, there was little development necessary. Sung developed himself.

"Sung Hsu, in honor of your accomplishments on the Amphibious a.s.sault conversion project, and further suggestions which have benefited all of our military conversion projects, today I promote you to the position of Senior Vice President of Manufacturing, Military Conversion Projects. In this position of responsibility, you will report directly to me. Congratulations."

September 20, 2005, 08:15 National Reconnaissance Office Headquarters IMINT Directorate, Chantilly, VA More satellite photos had come in early this morning. What they showed was not a tremendous surprise, but was stunning nonetheless. There, with tugs to either side moving her towards the harbor entrance (and being recorded faithfully by the SEAL MUAS units as it did), was the first aircraft carrier to enter the service of the People's Republic of China.

"Bill, you might want to take a look...they've launched her. We knew it was coming, but now its official.

As of late yesterday China time, she was moving out of the Tanjin harbor."

Bill had expected it would be soon. The Chinese had moved with stunning speed in the conversion of this very impressive VSTOL (Vertical and Short Take Off and Landing) Aircraft Carrier. They had clearly been planning it for several years and had executed the plan almost flawlessly. Bill had to respect that effort, but it concerned him just the same.

"And what of the s.h.i.+pyards?"

Tom and Bill had discussed their opinions of how quickly the Chinese would turn things around and begin converting another s.h.i.+p. The answer had largely been answered several days ago when another COSCO container s.h.i.+p had been photographed pulling up near the dry dock s.h.i.+pyard into a position which would allow it to quickly be placed in the dry dock and worked on. Today, all of that was confirmed through satellite imagery.

"Already in the dock, Bill. In the last two-and-a-half days, they floated the first out and have the second in there ready to go for round two."

Bill had expected as much. It looked like the People's Republic of China was going to be able to launch Sea Control Aircraft Carriers every few months. The question now was how long it would take for them to make these things operational.

"We'd best get this together and get with John Bowers and the Navy. The Navy has already got an advanced LA Cla.s.s SSN over there ready to track this lady through trials. With everything else that's going on in the Mid East, though, our ability to focus on this will be impaired. We're going to have to find a way to stay on top of it anyway, between all of these Central Command requests we are getting."

September 20 through November 1, 2005 Bill Hendrickson was right. The focus was on the Middle East, and over the ensuing six weeks conditions there continued to deteriorate as diplomatic efforts increased dramatically and military preparations began in earnest.

On September 22, the United States introduced its resolution to the General a.s.sembly of the United Nations for a monitoring force and a buffer zone between the Greater Islamic Republic and the Republic of Kurdistan. This resolution, after two days of heated debate, was defeated by a vote of 47 in favor and 65 against.

Thereafter, visits by the Vice President of the United States and the U.S. Secretary of State proceeded at a rapid pace. The Vice President ably a.s.sumed the task of reaching out to allies and friends and putting together a coalition of nations who favored the independence of Kurdistan. Along with Great Britain, Canada, Australia, Israel, Turkey and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, by October 10ththe Vice President was able to convince South Korea, The United Arab Emirates (UAR), The Republic of China (Taiwan), Egypt, Germany and Brazil to officially recognize the new nation.

In the meantime, the Greater Islamic Republic was able to gather significant support for its position that the Republic of Kurdistan was a region rebelling against the legitimate wishes of the people of the Greater Islamic Republic. The nations of Libya, Syria, Jordan, North Korea, Vietnam and Uzbekistan stood firmly behind the GIR's deadline of November 1stfor the use of force. The People's Republic of China, India and Russia did not recognize the new Republic of Kurdistan. But they supported GIR efforts to end what they called the "rebellion." They also made a great show of volunteering to mediate the "crisis"

between the United States and the GIR.

Militarily, the United States activated its pre-positioned equipment (consisting of armor, ammunition, fuel and other logistical supplies) in Kuwait, the UAR, Saudi Arabia and in the Indian Ocean at Diego Garcia.

The U.S. Central Command, under four star General Lyman Horton, was given overall theater command for what had been labeled Operation "Desert Sentinel" and began beefing up its troop strength. The 82ndAirborne ready brigade, the Marine Expeditionary Unit already in Kuwait, and initial elements of the 24thMechanized Division's armor and infantry brigades were all deployed. Other reserve and regular units in lesser numbers were sent to Turkey to strengthen the airfields there.

The 9thAir Force began flying in squadrons of F-15E, A-10 and F-16 strike fighters along with F-15 air superiority fighters and all of the supporting aircraft to airfields in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Turkey.

Turkey augmented the already strengthened U.S. security around the airbases with its own forces.

In addition to the MEU and its supporting s.h.i.+ps already deployed in the area, the U.S. Navy also deployed one Carrier Battle Group (CBG) in the Persian Gulf and another off the coast of Turkey as a show of force and commitment, and to support Operation Desert Sentinel. In addition, two Surface Action Groups (SAG's), consisting of one Arleigh Burke cla.s.s guided missile destroyer (DDG) and two Spruance cla.s.s destroyers (DD) each, were deployed to the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea.

Four Los Angeles cla.s.s nuclear attack submarines (SSN) were also deployed to the area.

Most of the U.S. ground strength and that of its allies of England, Australia, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, were located along the Kuwait and Saudi Arabian borders as a s.h.i.+eld for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Arrayed against them were the much larger numbers of the GIR 1stArmy group, which were augmented by the former Iraqi Army units in the southern areas of former Iraq, south and west of Basra near the Kuwait and Saudi Arabian borders. These units had continued to pour into Iraq along with the GIR 2ndArmy Group. The 2ndArmy Group moved north to augment the Iraqi Army units there that had taken up positions along the Kurdistan frontier between Baghdad and Irbil. All units made a point of deploying to staging areas well off the border.

Hundreds of military aircraft including modern SU-27, MIG-29, SU-24 and SU-25 aircraft were also ferried to airfields in, Southern and Central Iraq. As air patrols of the GIR and air patrols of both the U.S and its allies began to fly in proximity to one another, tensions escalated.

In mid-October, Hasan Sayeed issued a general call up for reserves and volunteers to augment the already ma.s.sive ground forces of the GIR. The answer was unprecedented as hundreds of thousands of young to middle-aged Islamic men flocked to military training facilities in every major town across the broad expanse of the Greater Islamic Republic. Arms s.h.i.+pments from both Russia and the People's Republic of China were arriving daily as the oil wealth available to the GIR was used for expedited s.h.i.+pments.

By October 25th, one week before the deadline established by Hasan Sayeed was set to expire, the entire world again held its breath as belligerent forces were arrayed facing one another in the Middle East.

By that date, more than 200,000 GIR forces were prepared to occupy Kurdistan, supported by 800 tanks, 200 attack helicopters and 500 combat aircraft. In the south, along the Kuwait and Saudi borders, the GIR had an even larger force of approximately 225,000 troops, supported by 1200 tanks, 250 attack helicopters and 800 combat aircraft.

By comparison, the coalition put together by the United States had 200 aircraft in Turkey, supported by 50,000 Turkish troops and 15,000 U.S. forces which were there to act as a final defense for the air bases out of which the U.S., English and Canadian aircraft were operating.

In the south, the U.S. had ama.s.sed 50,000 combat troops supported by another 25,000 coalition troops. The ground troops were established in a defensive posture along the border between the GIR, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, along with their equipment, which included 400 tanks, 200 attack helicopters and 300 combat aircraft. All of these numbers were growing daily and as the days of October dwindled, the feeling of anxiety hung palpably in the desert air.

Chapter 6.

"Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake."-Napoleon Bonaparte

October 30, 2005, 06:50 local time Republic of Kurdistan Military Headquarters In a cavern near Irbil, Iraq With the move towards independence, Jabal Talabari had been appointed the commanding General for all of Kurdistan's military forces. Over the last weeks, in addition to the fifteen to twenty thousand members of Jabal's original Patriotic Kurdistan Front, Jabal, along with help from Will Peterson and his American CIA compatriots, had been able to recruit another thirty thousand personnel. The Kurdistan people were anxious to defend their new nation, but given the time constraints, only very rudimentary training could be conducted. Despite the lack of "formal" training, they were willing to fight for their new republic and Jabal felt they could make up in commitment and desire what they lacked in training.

Unfortunately, the only way to do that when facing a well-disciplined and well-trained enemy was to pay the butcher's bill.

Forty-five thousand personnel, with no heavy armor and only minimal anti-tank and anti-aircraft, were facing over 200,000 of the enemy with hundreds of heavy tanks, hundreds of modern attack aircraft and attack helicopters. The weapons that had been provided to them by the United States were modern and would function very well. Ultimately, the level of support they received from the U.S. Air Force flying out of Turkey and the degree of its effectiveness would be the key to the coming battle. In addition, in the end, it would come down to whether the U.S. and its allies were prepared to commit ground troops to support his new nation should the tremendous numerical advantage the GIR enjoyed overwhelm his forces.

Using his pointer, Jabal began the briefing, indicating the major bridges along the Tigris River within the Republic of Kurdistan territory.

"Will, we are as prepared as we can be given the training and disposition of our forces. The bridges along the Tigris here at Bayji where large number of Iraqi and GIR forces are located, here, here-and here are all ready to be destroyed. This bridge in the city and this one near Bayji will be the most difficult to take down."

"We have our 2nd and 3rd infantry divisions between the Great and Little Zab rivers in defensive positions we have indicated. They will protect the Capital and hopefully spring the trap should the GIR take the bait."

"Our 4th infantry division is placed before Karkuk in a defensive mode and we expect them to take the brunt of the initial a.s.sault from the GIR units now staging northwest of Khanaqin. Our people will fall back rapidly under what we believe will be a major attack, and allow the GIR to push them hard towards the Little Zab river. Although admittedly a very risky strategy, we plan to allow the capture of two of the bridges over the Little Zab, here, and here as the GIR continues the pursuit of our "routed" 4th infantry division. When they enter these canyons to the north and west of the bridges, the 2nd and 3rd divisions will spring the trap."

"Our reserves consist of the 1st mechanized division, which is located in the hills outside of Mosul. Once the 4th infantry division begins its retreat, the 1st mechanized division will rapidly perform an encircling movement to approach the GIR forces from the rear as they pursue our retreating 4th, about the time they cross the Little Zab River."

Will Peterson reviewed and carefully considered the plan. The whole thing would depend on the U.S.

Air Force keeping the GIR aircraft from conducting ground support or reconnaissance to discover the positioning and disposition of the reserve division, and the specific location of the 2nd and 3rd infantry divisions. It would also depend on the GIR making its primary push up towards Karkuk, which meant the U.S. Air Force would have to located and subvert any other "thrusts" by the GIR, particularly any major push to the west on that side of the Tigris river towards Mosul. Will was certain there would be just such an effort by the GIR in that regard, and U.S. reconnaissance seemed to confirm his suspicions: the GIR was staging its forces at Bayji and on the north side of the Euphrates river near Al Qa'im. Locating and thwarting that western thrust would also be one of the primary keys to the upcoming battle.

Though it had been discussed here in Kurdistan, Will was certain that, other than a few Special Forces squads, the U.S. would not commit significant ground forces in the Republic of Kurdistan; too risky at this point. The missiles-Javelins, Stingers and LAWS-provided to the Kurdish ground forces would have to do the trick on the battlefield, while the U.S. Air Force destroyed GIR armor from the air.

"Jabal, the plan looks good, though I remain concerned about any major GIR thrust towards Mosul from west of the Tigris. If our aircraft do not find and stop such an offensive, it could easily catch our mechanized reserves in a vulnerable position. I am in touch with U.S. Air Force personnel out of Turkey and will have my people coordinating air support with each of your divisions. We need to make sure that your forward controllers are tied into my men and that we have multiple backups for that communication.

It will be one of the primary keys to success on the battlefield. How are the anti-tank and anti-air defenses distributed?"

Jabal consulted his notes briefly.

"The 4th infantry division at Karkuk has our older Soviet block anti-tank weapons and shoulder-fired anti-air missiles. They have been well instructed in purposely minimizing their effectiveness so as to draw the GIR forces in, while not allowing themselves to be over run. We have about half of our most seasoned soldiers and NCO's in that division. The others are split equally between the reserve mechanized division and the divisions who will represent the jaws of our trap."

"The 2nd and 3rd infantry divisions have almost all of the Javelin missiles and LAWS missiles. I believe we have 100 Javelins and 150 LAWS missiles evenly split between those divisions. They also have roughly half of the Stinger missile systems; 75 in all. The 1st mechanized division has only a few of the anti-tank missiles since they will be depending on their mounted chain guns and light cannons taking the GIR vehicles from the rear. They are carrying the other half of the Stinger missiles for anti-air."

Will knew that the strategy was risky, but it was the best he and Jabal could come up with in consultation with the planners back in the states, given the forces at their disposal. Upon this plan, and upon the U.S. support of it, the future independence of the newly formed Republic of Kurdistan would hinge.

"Well, continue reviewing the plan and refining it with your division commanders, and they with their brigade and company commanders-all the way down to the squad level. We won't have too long to wait. My guess is that the GIR is going to come boiling out of their staging areas tomorrow and be right up on the border on the 1st."

October 31, 2005, 06:50 local time Incirlik Air Force Base Ready Room Near Adana, Turkey Brigadier General Wesley Howell, the commander of the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary force in Turkey, reviewed the a.s.sembled pilots and logistical officers a.s.sembled before him. They were a.s.sembled in the largest briefing room on base, not far from the Command Center.

The General had allowed photographers and reporters into this briefing. As a result, he was going to be to the point, and very upbeat. As the flashes went off on the cameras around him, the general began.

"OK, we're on 24 hour alert status as of this morning. Our operational goals are simple in the event of an invasion of Kurdistan. Our part of Operation Sentinel, as you all know, is simply to: 1. Prevent GIR air from penetrating Kurdistan air s.p.a.ce.

2. Maintain air superiority over Kurdistan.

3. Provide air support to Kurdistan forces as requested.

4. Destroy any GIR anti-air a.s.sets directed at our forces.

5. Destroy any GIR AEW a.s.sets tracking our forces."

"In order to accomplish this operation, we will have combat air patrols increased to an around-the-clock basis starting this afternoon. Three flights of F-15 Eagles will maintain CAP over Kurdistan at all times with two flights of ready air here on the ground at all times. The CAP flights will be directed by two E-3 AEW aircraft, each be escorted by two F-15's."

"In addition, we will have two flights of Wild Weasel F-16 aircraft up at all times, who will vector in to any GIR anti-air a.s.sets encountered."

"Finally, there will be one flight of four F-15E Strike Eagles and one flight of British Tornados airborne at all times with matching flights on ready alert status here at the base. These will provide ground support to Kurdistan forces as requested, or be used to interdict GIR ground forces as they cross the border into Kurdistan. Control for these flights, will be provided by one JOINT STAR aircraft and its escorts which will be on patrol near the border."

"Folks, the pilots and aircraft you will encounter and the anti-air you are apt to meet are considered several notches above the opposition we faced in Iraqi Freedom. Be cognizant of this at all times. We will have a final briefing at 0400 hours tomorrow morning."

November 1st, 2005 12:00 WNN Broadcast Headquarters New York City, New York, USA "As we report the top news at noon, all eyes are on the Middle East where in just an hour the deadline, the "line in the sand" established by Hasan Sayeed, will expire. This deadline represents when the Kurdish citizens in the northern provinces of the former Iran must cease their efforts toward achieving independence, or face military reprisal by the GIR."

"Tensions are running extremely high in the region as the deadline approaches. U.S. President Norm Weisskopf has indicated that the United States and its allies will support the new Republic of Kurdistan.

To that end they have been moving troops and equipment to the Middle East over the last several weeks.

These recent maneuvers have been eerily reminiscent of those which preceded the Desert s.h.i.+eld effort in Kuwait and Iraq almost sixteen years ago. WNN conducted a live broadcast of a briefing from the U.S.

Air base at Incirlik, Turkey last evening where the Commanding General, General Wesley Howell, laid out in clear terms what the U.S. Air Force goals will be should hostilities erupt. He indicated that the primary goals of his forces are to maintain air superiority should GIR aircraft attempt to enter Kurdistan airs.p.a.ce, to provide air support to Kurdistan forces as requested and to destroy any GIR forces, including airborne early warning craft, which appear threatening to our forces."

"WNN has news crews on the scene in Baghdad, Irbil, the U.S. Air Base at Incirlik, and near the GIR front lines in Bayji. We will update you immediately with any breaking news and will include on-the-spot, real time coverage wherever possible."

"Now, on to other stories around the nation."

November 1st, 2005 23:50 local time GIR forces Kurdistan Frontier The GIR Operation, dubbed "Veiled Sword," had been planned in great detail. At 0500 on November 2nd, from Bayij an entire GIR corps would feint towards Karkuk and then wheel north towards Mosul.

With two hundred main battle tanks, four hundred armored personnel carriers, six hundred troop-carrying trucks, two hundred pieces of artillery, fifty attack helicopters and the support of one hundred and fifty fighter and attack aircraft, it was a thrust the Americans and Kurds could not ignore.

Four hours after this thrust began, an even larger mechanized thrust of three hundred main battle tanks, five hundred armored personnel carriers, three hundred artillery pieces and fifty attack helicopters, supported by two hundred fighter and attack aircraft would strike towards Mosul from Al Qa'im in the western desert.

The GIR's operation plans called for Mosul to be taken at all costs, so that any forces protecting Irbil and Karkuk would be cut off. In order to hold those forces in place, a large corps-sized thrust would also be made from the frontier north and west of Khanaqin. This thrust would include one hundred main battle tanks, two hundred armored personnel carriers, five hundred trucks, three hundred pieces of artillery (one hundred of which were Multiple Launch Rocket systems) supported by one hundred attack helicopters and another one hundred and fifty fighter and attack aircraft. This part of the attack would begin coincident with the attack originating from Bayij In order to neutralize American air, the GIR was also diverting three hundred fighter and attack aircraft from its bases deep within the former borders of Iran. These had been flown to five different air bases in the eastern part of the country and were already taking off to form up into their combat groups. They would be refueled over GIR territory in the former Iran and then would fly nap of the earth through the darkness to the north of Tabriz before turning west into Turkey north and east of Lake Van. From there they would proceed directly to attack Incirlik Air Force Base.

It was antic.i.p.ated that the Americans would respond strongly to this large force out of the GIR. When they did, Veiled Sword called for half of the fighter and attack aircraft supporting the thrusts toward Mosul to break off and fly directly to Incirlik to attack. It was expected that this ma.s.sive four hundred and seventy-five aircraft attack on Incirlik would overwhelm the defenses and lay waste to the airfield and other aircraft parked there.

All of the GIR aircraft, would be controlled by three GIR Ilyus.h.i.+n Il-76 "Mainstay" AEW aircraft. These aircraft had been purchased by the GIR from Russia, and were dedicated to the Veiled Sword operation.

They were crewed by volunteers Muslims from the Russian Federation as a part of the overall deal for the aircraft.

November 2nd, 2005 04:30 local time E3 Sentry "Overseer," 35,000 ft over Zakho Kurdistan Frontier with Turkey "Bravo flight, Bravo flight, this is Overseer. We have many unidentified aircraft approaching Bayji from the south. Count is forty aircraft and climbing-make it fifty-two aircraft and climbing. Vector two-seven-niner degrees, angels forty to intercept."

The controller on the U.S. Air Force E3 aircraft was observing the approaching GIR support air for the GIR 4th Corps thrust north of Bayji. He had just vectored one of the flights of F-15 Eagles to intercept this force and he was in the process of vectoring a second flight F-15's and calling for reserves.

"Aircraft identified as bandits. I say again we have bandit aircraft approaching from the south and entering Kurdistan airs.p.a.ce. Weapons free. Charlie flight, vector one-one-three degrees, angels forty to intercept."

"Home plate, this is Overseer. Release Delta flight and have two more flights go to ready standby status.

It's going to get thick up here."

In answer to a request from Alpha flight to also vector them towards the action, the four F-15's further to the north and east, the controller on board the E3 elected to have them maintain station.

"Negative Alpha flight. Maintain position."

Now eight of the twelve airborne F-15's were converging on the over one hundred fighter and attack aircraft that were supporting the GIR 4th Corp thrust towards Mosul. Each Eagle carried eight missiles, four AMRAAMs and four Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. The AMRAAM - radar guided with a range of about forty miles, the Sidewinder-a close in infrared homing missile, with an effective range of ten to twelve miles.

Very quickly the lead element of F-15's was in range.

November 2nd, 2005 04:42 local time F-15 Eagle Bravo flight, 40,000 ft over Kurdistan Between Mosul and Bayij, Kurdistan "Fox-1, Fox-1."

The leader of Bravo Flight launched two of his AMRAAM radar guided missiles and continued in towards the approaching GIR aircraft. At 35,000 feet and about 30 miles in front of him, the initial flight of MiG-29 aircraft was approaching. There were twelve of them and they were all painting him and his flight with their N-019 radar in an attempt to get a "lock on" and prepare to launch their own missiles.

As his wingman and the other members of his flight each launched two missiles, the approaching GIR flight attempted to perform a splitting maneuver to evade the eight missiles launched at them. But two of the aircraft collided and exploded in flames and the other ten had to break their maneuver to avoid the debris. The more deadly condition for the GIR pilots was the oncoming flight of AMRAAM missiles. The AMRAAM was the most advanced radar-guided air-to-air missile in the world. A true "fire and forget"

missile that had its own internal radar and homing guidance, the missile had an effective range of over forty miles. When the AMRAAMs arrived, six of the remaining ten MiG-29's fell in flames. At this point the distance had closed to 20 miles and the second flight of GIR fighters, this time twelve SU-27 Flankers, was also approaching.

The four remaining MiG-29's launched two of their long-range R-27 missiles each, and eight missiles were coming at the four F-15's. At the same moment, the F-15's launched another AMRAAM each at the oncoming MIGs. Half of the GIR missiles were the R-27R semi-active radar homing missiles; the other half were the R-27T infrared homing missiles.

"On my mark, break. Mark!"

Upon command, each of the four American fighters performed its breaking maneuver flawlessly and attempted to change its aspect ratio to the oncoming missiles and reduce its radar cross section, while actively jamming the missiles. This worked for the R-27R missiles and only one of those four missiles found its mark as an F-15 took a hit. That pilot ejected safely as he lost control of the aircraft. Not fooled by jamming or aspect ratio changes, two R-27T infrared homing missiles impacted two American aircraft, both of which exploded. There were no chutes. The two F-15 pilots were the first Americans lost in this first battle of what later would evolve into a very long and horrific war. Only one of the Americans, the wingman to the flight leader, was able to employ his infrared defensive flares to draw the heat-seeking missiles away from his aircraft.