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  His deputy, a man named Liang Zhang Wei, signaled that their vehicle was ready to take them to their next meeting. Zhang joined Liang as the two of them left the lobby and entered the covered entrance where their vehicle was waiting. One of the hotel doormen held the door open for them as both men got in, gently closing it as the vehicle began to pull away.

  Zhang looked for some reassurance from his counterpart, Liang. “Is everything ready on our end? Is there anything I need to be concerned about before we meet with the Russians?” he asked curtly.

  While their upcoming meeting was to discuss the post-American election policy their two governments would take, Zhang also knew they would be discussing the Russian plans for Ukraine and China’s plan for Mongolia and Southeast Asia. It was imperative that the two countries coordinate their operations together so they could collectively benefit from the West’s inability to respond to multiple crises at one time.

  “Yes, Chairman. Everything is in order, and has been prepared as requested,” his deputy responded with confidence.

  Zhang trusted every word that came out of Liang’s mouth, on any topic. Liang was a brilliant and politically savvy man. Zhang was grooming him to one day become his successor, which is why he had been brought along on this trip and given such a high-profile position within his office. As the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Zhang was the third highest ranking person in China. He was a man with great power and influence. Zhang was also the deputy and de facto head of the National Security Commission, which is why he was meeting with his Russian counterpart at the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).

  As their vehicle pulled up to the side entrance of Lubyanka, several security guards motioned for the vehicle to stop, and one of them held open the passenger side door for Zhang to exit. After several minutes passed while they cleared security, Zhang and his deputy Liang were escorted into a secured conference room to meet with Ivan Vasilev. Ivan had a long history both within the FSB and its predecessor, the KGB. He was trusted by both Prime Minister Mikhailov and President Petrov, which said a lot considering how selective those men were in garnering confidence.

  The two men exchanged pleasantries and then got right down to business. They all knew that Zhang only had four hours before he needed to head to the airport if he wanted to stay on time. “Chairman Zhang, thank you for meeting with me before you return to China. We have much to discuss,” Ivan said as he took a sip of tea from the decorative cup.

  Zhang had been working with Ivan for nearly six years; he was comfortable with him and knew him to be a straight shooter. He liked to get down to business and wasted little time on small talk. “I am glad we were able to meet. I wanted to ask you about the American election.” He leaned forward. “Is it true that you have a copy of the former Secretary of State’s government emails?” Zhang asked, hoping the rumors being told in the press were actually true.

  Ivan’s lip curled up mischievously. “Let us just say if she wins, controlling her will not be a problem,” he replied.

  “And what if that flamboyant real estate billionaire wins? Can you control him as well?” Zhang shot back, probing to see if they had any leverage over him as well.

  “Zhang, it really does not matter who wins the American election. We have people in place to plant rumors and enough misinformation to call into question the legitimacy of the election results, whoever wins.” He snickered before continuing, “The Americans love scandal, and they eat conspiracy theories up. We just need to drop a few breadcrumbs here, a few there, and their media will have the public so consumed with election tampering and collusion, they will not know what hit them, let alone be able to respond,” Ivan said as he pulled out a cigarette from the beautiful jade carrying case Zhang had given him when they first met many years ago.

  Seeing the flash of jade, Zhang smiled, and his eyebrow raised in surprise. “You still carry that case Ivan?” Zhang asked.

  Ivan chuckled before responding, “Only when I’m going to meet with you.”

  The two men laughed for a moment, then returned to business. “So, how soon will you move on Ukraine?” asked Zhang.

  Ivan sat forward in his chair with his cigarette hanging out of his mouth, “Soon. We have stepped up our training of separatist fighters and moved heavier weapons into the disputed territories. We are going to push for a referendum vote towards the end of next summer. This will give us the time needed to get the 1st Tank Army fully outfitted with the new equipment, and allow many more months of hard training.”

  Ivan took a long pull from his cigarette, then tapped the ashes into the tray on his desk. “How are the plans moving along on your end?” he inquired.

  “As discussed previously, we are engineering unrest in Mongolia. We now have more Chinese guest workers living in Mongolia than there are native Mongolians. As the violence against our peaceful workers continues to escalate, we will look to intervene. We will, however, wait until Russia initiates the referendum vote in Ukraine. We want all eyes to be on Europe when our tanks roll across the Mongolian border,” Zhang said smugly.

  Ivan snorted. “You really think anyone in the West (or the rest of the world) even knows where Mongolia is? They aren’t going to care about a landlocked country with a small population that looks Chinese. What I want to know is how you are going to pull off the acquisition of Myanmar and the rest of Southeast Asia, not to mention Taiwan,” Ivan retorted, a bit skeptical.

  “Laos will be easy. We are communist brothers and we are already responsible for nearly 70% of their exports, as well as providing them with enormous amounts of financial aid. We are already working to integrate them as a Chinese province as we speak. Right now, we provide them with security guarantees against Vietnam. Given the history between the two neighbors, they will welcome us.”

  “Will Myanmar be as easy though?” inquired Ivan, probing to gain some additional information like a good spy master would.

  Zhang smiled for a second, knowing exactly what Ivan was doing. “We are allies. Let me tell you about Myanmar. They are a terribly impoverished country; even now, we are providing additional aid to the people in the major cities and small villages to build up our support. Their military leaders are being recruited and paid off to not interfere when the time comes. As a matter of fact, with Myanmar and Laos, we plan on integrating their military into our own as an additional selling point to get them to comply. The plan has been well thought through, and we are confident it will work,” Zhang replied smugly.

  His smile fell slightly as he continued, “The trickier part is going to be Vietnam. For the last several years, we have been slowly creating a food shortage problem in southeast China. This has caused food prices to rise sharply and placed a heavy burden on those living in the big cities. We have also ensured the media slowly mentions the enormous food production in Vietnam, and the rest of Southeast Asia while we struggle to produce food for our people. The stories usually also explain that Vietnam will not sell their abundant rice supplies or other food stocks to China, and when they do, they sell it to us at huge price markups. Public opinion over the last several years towards Vietnam has eroded and become hostile. Next spring, the food shortage will become even worse for those living in the cities,” Zhang said as he explained the strategy.

  “Be careful my friend,” cautioned Ivan. “I do not want you to create a monster you cannot control.”

  Zhang brushed aside Ivan’s concerns and continued, “We are even going so far as to organize demonstrations and food riots in the southern provinces. Of course, everything will be monitored and controlled, my friend, but it will drive people to action. Then, we will instigate violence in Vietnam against Chinese tourists and workers, which will be the catalyst used to drive our intervention. We will, however, wait until NATO has either withdrawn from Ukraine, or Russia invades. With the West’s eyes focused on Russia, there will be little they can do about us.”

  Zhang handed over a tablet to Ivan, who exten
ded his hand and took the device from him. He began to swipe through various pages on the screen, each showing a timeline of their objectives, digesting the information quickly. “This is impressive,” said Ivan, after just a few moments. “I must commend you Zhang; you have really thought through this intervention. How are you going to ensure India will not cause you problems? Your two nations are not exactly friends.”

  Drinking some of his tea before it got cold, Zhang replied. “This is trickier. But we have a plan for that as well. Pakistan has been one of our military trading partners for many decades, mainly to just annoy the Indians. However, Pakistan has been harboring Islamic militant groups that are now starting to cause problems for us in China. We have asked them to handle this for the past decade, but they have been either unable, or unwilling to do so. Because of this, we are going to cut off our relationship with Pakistan. Of course, Pakistan does not know this is about to happen, and it will be used as a bargaining chip for our renewed efforts at improved relations with India.”

  Taking the tablet back from Ivan briefly, Zhang opened up another folder before handing it back. “Our plan is simple,” he explained. “We declare to India that our state of hostilities between our two countries has gone on long enough. We agree to withdraw our military forces from the region and sever our ties with Pakistan, and in exchange, they agree to leave Southeast Asia alone as a part of China’s sphere of influence.”

  Pulling out another cigarette to replace the one he had just finished, Ivan responded, “Just be cautious with the Indians. They are probably the only country that can cause you problems in Asia. We have some influence there as well. I will see what we can do to try and strengthen our economic and military ties with them. Perhaps we can use that relationship to keep them on the sidelines of your adventure when the time comes.”

  Russia was in the midst of concluding a large arms sale with India. The Indian Air Force had just signed a deal to purchase 160 Su-34s (Fullbacks) and one hundred Su-57 stealth fighters in their bid to modernize their air force. Once the Americans sold the Pakistanis’ F-16s to fight the Taliban, the Indians had felt that they needed to upgrade their air force after decades of neglect.

  The two men continued to talk for several more hours about the finer points of the plans. President Vladimir Petrov was on board with everything they had discussed; the trick was going to be getting President Xi to go along with the plan. That task was what concerned Ivan. If Zhang was not able to sway him, then he would need to be removed. As the afternoon turned into early evening, the meeting concluded, and the two men shook hands and said their good byes.

  A sinister look stretched across Zhang’s face. “So, we will meet again in three months,” he said. “By then, we should know if Xi has agreed to be a part of the new world order, or if he is going to have an ‘accident’ somewhere along the way.”

  Ivan chuckled. “I always did like how you think, my friend.”

  As the Chinese group left the secretive meeting room, Ivan pulled a folder labeled “Red Storm” from his secured vault. Not trusting electronic documents, Ivan kept the details of the operation in a folder he regularly worked from. Everything was compartmentalized electronically in pieces, never revealing the whole picture, and when one piece was finished, it was printed and added to his master folder, which held all the pieces of the puzzle together.

  *******

  During the flight back to Beijing, Liang leaned over to ask his boss a question. “Mr. Chairman, do you believe the Russians can pull off their part of the plan?”

  Zhang quietly put his book down and then sat up even straighter in his leather chair. “Yes, Liang. I believe the Russians can and will.” He sighed. “What gives me pause is wondering who will win the American election. The former Secretary of State is more of a hawk on foreign policy and more likely to intervene in Ukraine and Asia. I don’t know enough about the other candidate to know how he will respond. That is something I task you with finding out.”

  Liang seemed a bit unnerved by the question. Zhang continued, “I want you to put together a full dossier on this other candidate. Try to understand him and show how he can be manipulated to stay out of Asia, or if he will pose a threat. I will handle the rest of our people, but I need to know as much as I can about this Republican cowboy in case he is elected.”

  “Of course, Mr. Chairman,” responded Liang dutifully.

  Preparations for a New World Power

  Shanghai, China

  Jiangnan Shipyard

  It was a cool autumn morning as Chairman Zhang walked out the sliding door to the observation deck. He was on the top of the Jiangnan Shipyard Headquarters building at the edge of the shipyard. It provided him with an exceptional view of the second Kuznetsov class aircraft carrier that China was finalizing construction on. Like its sister ship, the Liaoning, it leveraged a ski jump takeoff system. While this limited the number and type of aircraft they could launch, it provided China with the ability to project power beyond its national borders as it developed its first blue water strike group. It also improved tremendously on the Liaoning, with a stronger propulsion system, more modern electronics, and a tougher air-defense capability.

  Zhang was there to meet with Wen Jiabao, the director of China’s shipyards. Once the two men had exchanged the necessary polite conversation, Zhang jumped right in. “When will the Moa be operational?” he asked, somewhat gruffly. He was feeling impatient.

  The Moa Zedong was going to be China’s first supercarrier to displace more than 110,000 tons. It would be similar in size to the American Nimitz class supercarrier, but not as large as the new Ford class.

  Wen smiled, knowing he had good news to share. “Mr. Chairman, the Moa was officially launched as of two days ago by the Dalian shipyard. Per the committee’s instructions, we have restricted all access to the ship and kept it hidden under a construction dome. Since we have also placed all Panamax freighters under construction domes, no one has suspected a thing.” Wen was proud that his idea to hide the construction of such a large ship in plain sight was working.

  Zhang nodded in approval. “It was a brilliant idea to move the construction of all of the Panamax freighters under construction domes three years ago,” he thought to himself. “It allowed us to start building the Moa without anyone knowing about it.” He smiled wistfully. “Soon, we will unveil China’s very own supercarrier to the world.”

  Zhang offered some rare praise. “The President and the Ruling Committee are most pleased with your clever idea of the construction dome, Wen. How soon until the Moa will be able to join her two sister ships?” Zhang asked, hoping things were still on track.

  “The delivery is still on schedule,” insisted Wen. “I have four construction shifts working on the Moa around the clock, seven days a week. We have even incentivized the workers by rewarding them with extra pay for completing various tasks ahead of time.”

  Wen held up a hand before Zhang could respond to his last statement. “I know that is against party doctrine, but please, hear me out. I conducted an experiment doing this. The crews that had this incentive worked twice as hard, and the quality of the work was better than the ones without the incentive. I know this goes against the teachings of the Communist Party, but the timeline must be met. The Moa is too important to our future. I hope you will forgive me this transgression,” Wen said as he lowered his head, completely unsure how Zhang would respond.

  Zhang thought for a minute, then nodded in agreement. “Wen has broken party doctrine, but it was only in service to the party,” he thought. “This sin can be overlooked, but I will need to make sure it does not spread to other areas of the country.” While China had become more of a capitalist version of communism, it still relied heavily on the ideology of collectivism. “People should be motivated to serve the party and China because it is the right thing to do, not because of money,” grumbled Zhang to himself.

  “Wen, the Moa is important. Please keep this idea to yourself, but I will allow it to
continue. When will the Moa be ready for its sea trials?”

  Sighing out of relief, Wen responded, “We will be ready to unveil the Moa to the world on May 1st, during the May Day celebration. It will be ready to begin sea trials that same week. It will then be up to the People’s Liberation Army Navy as to when it will be combat ready,” he announced proudly.

  “Excellent, and the submarines? How are they coming?” asked Zhang.

  China had deployed the Type 093 nuclear-powered fast attack submarine in the mid-2000s. NATO called these ships the Shang-class. The improved version, the Type 093G, had been introduced in the mid-2010s, and provided China with a fast attack submarine that was on par with the American Los Angeles class of submarines in terms of its quietness and ability to stalk its prey. The Type 093G subs were of great concern to the Americans, who had gone to great lengths to try and infiltrate the program to learn more about them, albeit rather unsuccessfully.

  “We have quietly completed construction of five new Shang class subs. By May of next year, we will have eight more delivered to the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) for deployment.” Pausing for a second, Wen dared to ask, “Will these thirteen submarines be enough?”

  The wind at the shipyard picked up in speed, as if it somehow recognized Zhang’s change in demeanor. “Wen--you are but one piece to the great puzzle we are assembling. I need you to focus on your piece and allow others to focus on theirs. Do not concern yourself with ‘if’ your piece will be enough. Your piece, combined with others will be more than enough,” he replied, giving him a tempered but firm rebuke for asking for more information than he needed to know.

  Wen bowed his head slightly, realizing he had overstepped his bounds. “My apologies. Is there anything else you would like to see at the shipyard before you depart?”

  Zhang turned to his deputy, Liang Zhang Wei, who nodded slightly, then back to Wen. “No, I have seen enough. You are on track, which is what I needed to know. Please continue with your work. Do not disappoint us, Wen,” he replied and then left with his deputy in tow.