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  President Xi interrupted, “--Generals, gentlemen, Chairman Zhang has developed quite a comprehensive plan. I believe everyone should hear him out before passing judgement.” He nodded slightly to Zhang. That was about as much support as he would provide until Zhang either convinced the others to endorse his plan or shut it down.

  Zhang bowed slightly to President Xi as if to thank him, and then continued, “The increased activity of Islamic militants in Xinjiang province has become a national concern as the number of attacks across the region has increased to nearly one a week. The majority of these militants were being supported and trained in Afghanistan and Pakistan. For years, we have been pressuring the Pakistanis to deal with this problem. However, they are either unwilling or unable to deal with this travesty. Therefore, the time has come for us to sever military and economic ties with the nation of Pakistan.” Zhang saw several heads nod in approval. If there was a threat to the communist party in the rural areas of China, it was radical Islamic terrorism. They would not allow it to spread any further than it already had, even if it meant sacrificing a marginal ally.

  “The ending of our relationship with Pakistan will give China an opportunity to resolve our longstanding dispute with the people of India.” A few of the eyebrows in the room raised in surprise. Zhang continued, unhindered. “As of two days ago, we have settled that issue. We have given up our territorial disputes with India, and ending of our military support to Pakistan was then sufficient enough for them to agree to a thawing of relations.”

  Zhang continued, knowing that some of these points had already been gone over the day before by the Foreign Minister. “India has also agreed to cede Southeast Asia as China’s sole sphere of influence, while we will turn a blind eye to India’s conflict with Pakistan.” This gained more nods of agreement and smiles. They were probably thinking about the enormous activity that would be spurred between the countries now that their seemingly intractable issues had been resolved.

  “Now comes the tough part,” thought Zhang. “Time to sell them on moving forward with the actual plan of Greater China.”

  “We have some tough choices to make going forward,” he told the group sternly. “As you know, for the past several years, violence against our people working in Mongolia has continued to increase. The Chinese workers are essentially treated like slaves in Mongolia. They are not allowed to own property, they are not allowed to marry women from Mongolia, and they are not treated with basic human respect and dignity.”

  Zhang could see the Politburo men nodding their heads, even some of the generals agreed. “Mongolia continues to thumb its nose at us, believing that their new-found wealth allows them to rise above their station. I would like to draw your attention to the folder being given to you on how we may deal with Mongolia,” Chairman Zhang announced as Liang walked around the table giving each member a folder with a political, military, and economic plan to deal with Mongolia.

  Several hours passed as Zhang painstakingly put forward the benefits of his plan. The group then discussed the future of Mongolia, and ultimately concluded that China should move forward with its acquisition of Mongolia under the guise of protecting their citizens. As the talks continued, tea was eventually brought in for everyone to share.

  As the stewards left the room, Zhang turned towards the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) ground commander. “General Liu’s forces will absorb Mongolia in a single day.” Liu puffed his chest out at being mentioned in such a strong light.

  “During the dark of night, our airborne forces will secure the various airports across the country in a swift and decisive move. While their people sleep, our Special Forces will capture the TV and radio stations, along with other key targets throughout the city. They will also capture the Mongolian President and Prime Minister.” There were even more nods of approval and smiles from the generals. They loved to have their egos stroked, and Zhang made sure each general was mentioned in glowing terms in front of the Politburo members.

  “While our armed forces are capturing their objectives, our cyber warfare and electronic communication groups will seal the country off electronically. By the time the sun comes up, the entire country of Mongolia will be cut off physically and electronically from the rest of the world.” General Liu smiled broadly at the thought of his forces being given this great honor; he would be given the opportunity to show the world how powerful the Chinese military had become.

  One of the Politburo members, Huang Li Jun, signaled that he wanted to speak. Zhang nodded towards him to take the floor. “Mr. Chairman, while I support the overall premise of Greater China, the Americans just elected a new President. Many of us do not know who he is, or how his government would respond to China’s provocative move. From what he has said during the campaign, he appears to want to take a hardline stance with China,” Huang said as he brought up a very real concern.

  Zhang knew this question would be asked, and had prepared a response for it. He signaled for Liang to present the next set of folders for everyone to review. “We have done a detailed assessment of the new American President. His interests are largely related to trade deals, jobs, and currency values. His agenda is heavily slanted towards domestic politics and going after Islamic terrorism, not Asia. As a matter of fact, we have it on good authority that his new Ambassador to China will be none other than Governor Max Bryant.”

  Zhang gestured to President Xi, “Mr. President, I believe you know Governor Bryant well. Do you believe he will be a problem for our Greater China strategy?” he asked, hoping to get the President to place his stamp of approval on his plan once and for all.

  The president smiled. He knew exactly what Zhang was doing, but at this point he was already on board with the plan. Looking at the others at the table, Xi replied, “No. I do not believe he will be a problem. Max is going to be focused on increasing trade and reducing their trade imbalance with us.”

  Xi sighed, then continued, “What most people do not realize (or do not want to believe) is that America is not the tiger it used to be. Their forces are spread out fighting in the Middle East and Afghanistan. Their military members are tired from nearly two decades of war. Their equipment, aircraft and ships are also nearing the end of their service life.”

  He paused for a second to let that sink in before continuing, “When the Russians initiate their plans in Ukraine, the US will have to decide if they are going to come to the Europeans’ aid or not. If they do come to Europe’s aid, then they will not have the ability to stop us in Asia. We will have a finite amount of time to implement our Greater China strategy. ‘Possession is nine/tenths of the law,’ as the Americans say. Once we have control of Southeast Asia and Mongolia, the Americans will not be able to do anything about it. They will just have to accept it and deal with us, just as they will have to deal with Russia once they control eastern Ukraine.”

  Seeing that everyone was agreeing with what he had just said, he moved forward with his recommendation. “I commend Chairman Zhang on his work organizing our efforts to initiate the Greater China strategy. I want everyone at this table to begin their part of the preparations. We have less than nine months to be ready to initiate the plan.”

  He had danced around approval for hours, but with this last statement Xi had finally officially announced his support of Zhang’s strategic initiative. It was now incumbent on the others to do their part and get the country ready to expand its national borders.

  Good Morning Vietnam

  Hanoi, People’s Republic of Vietnam

  US Embassy

  Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Lisa Kowalski worked in the US Army’s Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC) at the US Embassy in the People’s Republic of Vietnam. She had been assigned there about a year ago, after a stint at the US Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia.

  After the previous administration had announced a military “pivot” to the Pacific, the US had expanded its military training opportunities and exchange programs with several of the countries that the
US had traditionally excluded, like Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar. This included sales of equipment and training opportunities in countries that had previously been less than friendly with the United States. The new president had kept up this policy, which was applying pressure in a roundabout way to the Chinese.

  Lisa was the perfect person for a role at the ODC. She was energetic and outgoing, the consummate salesperson. She loved her job, even though it was a bit complicated to explain quickly what she did every day. As a key player in playing out the China containment policy, her office was coordinating several naval port calls that should start to take place at the end of 2017 and into 2018, along with a potential US naval exercise with the Vietnamese navy. She had a way of getting even the most reserved people to talk to her, even though many men in the culture there naturally treated her with some disregard as a woman; she didn’t let it bother her, and somehow, at the end of the day, everyone was practically her friend.

  One of Kowalski’s primary goals in Vietnam was to establish a series of Joint Combined Exchange Training (JCET) opportunities. These exercises were designed to benefit the host countries while also helping the United States behind the scenes. What would typically happen is a group of military members would come in and demonstrate equipment that would be available for sale, as well as do training of possible scenarios that the host country would be interested in. Covertly, while they were training the foreign militaries, they would also be assessing where some of the country’s weak spots were in terms of defense.

  After nine months, Lisa had broken through the different layers of bureaucracy in Vietnam, and had gained approval for the first of what she hoped would be several JCETs in her host county. The first JCET would take place in the end of August, and would bring in a US Special Forces (SF) group and a Navy SEAL team as well. The Army SF team would provide training on counterinsurgency operations, while the SEALs would provide training on how to raid and secure an oil platform. The Vietnamese were very interested in these demonstrations as these were two very real scenarios that the Vietnamese continued to train for, in case hostilities with China should ever resume. Ever since Vietnam had discovered a series of oil and natural gas deposits in the Gulf of Tonkin and the South China Sea, tensions had been high. China continued to lay out new territorial claims, and it was possibly only a matter of time before they followed through on certain threats.

  The main person who Lisa had to convince to approve the JCET had been a hard nut to crack, but really it was more out of general stubbornness and being set in his ways that he had ever turned down the invitation. Once he was fully aware of the opportunity, he was actually very excited about the upcoming JCET, even if he never managed to publicly crack a smile. Lisa didn’t care; she was used to working with crusty people. It was almost like a contest for her to see how quickly she could get someone over to her side.

  While LTC Kowalski was coordinating Vietnam’s JCET, her counterparts at the US Embassies in Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar were doing the same. Several JCETs would all be happening around the same time, which meant the Army Special Forces battalion and SEAL team stationed in Okinawa, Japan would be very busy in the end of August and into September.

  Great Day to be a Paratrooper

  Gansu Province, Inner Mongolia China

  Jinchang Military Training Grounds

  Captain Ma Qiliang had just stood up in the back of the Xian Y-20 transport aircraft as his airborne company neared the drop zone. This was the best part of being a paratrooper--the lead up to the jump out of the aircraft into the abyss below. This would be their tenth jump in four weeks, which was more than they had conducted the previous year, let alone in a single month.

  The first few drops had been on a practice range to get the division used to dropping as a single unit. Nearly 11,000 paratroopers from the 43rd Airborne Division were participating in the jumps, the largest exercise in the history of the organization. The first two brigades would jump in and secure the objective; then the second wave with the last two brigades would follow with additional equipment and supplies. Tonight’s jump was on a simulated hostile airfield, which his battalion would secure and prepare to receive the additional heavy equipment that could not just be thrown out the back of an aircraft. It would be a timed event with observers, just like the last two jumps.

  As he checked the parachute of the man in front of him, he could feel the man behind him doing the same. Then, the proverbial red light came on, letting them know they were almost to the drop zone. The jump master standing near the exit to the aircraft opened the door where they would be jumping out. Wind started to buffet their faces, and they began to psych themselves up as the adrenaline pumped through their veins. A few minutes later, the green light came on, and the jump master signaled for everyone to start moving through the exit. One by one, the men of Captain Ma’s company walked out the side entrance of the aircraft, their chutes opening seconds later.

  In less than a minute, he had joined his men, rushing through the air. He felt his chute snap open, jerking his body from freefall to a soft, gentle floating sensation. As he looked around, the light of the moon allowed him to make out the white parachutes of the rest of the soldiers from his company, descending with him to the airfield below. Further out to his left and right, he could see the other companies of the battalion descending towards their objectives as well.

  His group had been tasked with securing the terminal and the nearby hangers. Other teams would secure the control tower, the entrances to the airport, the runways, and the surrounding areas. His battalion had been training hard for the past several months leading up to this exercise. They had spent more time at the range over the last few weeks than he could remember. Just a month ago, his unit had been fully equipped with night vision goggles and body armor, which they now used during all of their jumps. He almost felt like his unit had been transformed into one of the elite Special Forces units he used to read about as a child.

  As he neared the ground, he prepped his body for the landing, bending his knees slightly and preparing to roll. His feet made contact with the earth below, and he bent and rolled just as he had been taught and done so many times before. In seconds, he was down on the ground, disconnecting his parachute, rolling it up as fast as he could while his eyes searched for his drop bag (which held his rucksack and extra ammunition). His rifle had been strapped to his body armor, so he was ready for combat from the moment he had jumped out of the plane.

  In less than five minutes, the majority of his soldiers had their gear on and were moving to secure their primary objectives. He left one of his sergeants to police up the stragglers and get them moving when they were ready. His soldiers moved to their various primary and secondary objectives, just as they had trained dozens of times before this jump, to the point that it was becoming second nature. As the observers watched and took notes, his men deftly moved to neutralize each of the manikins that had been dressed like a guard. Now that they knew where each door entrance was from memory, his soldiers gained control of both their primary and secondary objectives in less than ten minutes, a new best.

  After they had secured the objectives and met the training exercise goals, their observers went over everything they had done right and wrong. They spent the next two days working on their various approaches, training for how they would respond if a guard opened fired, or how to react if additional security arrived at the airport. Once they had gone through a series of new challenges meted out by their observers, they were given one final jump. This would be their last jump before they would be certified as combat ready for whatever special mission their superiors were cooking up.

  Captain Ma had no idea why they had been given so much training and specialized equipment these past few months, but it thrilled him. This was why he had wanted to become a paratrooper, to be a part of an elite force that could jump into any country and secure any objective given to them. He only hoped that after all this intense training and additional equipment,
they would get to put their training to a real test soon.

  Intelligence Gap

  Washington, DC

  White House Situation Room

  Dr. John Winters had been a key foreign policy advisor during the president’s campaign, advocating for a hardline stance when it came to dealing with Islamic extremists. Despite popular opinion, President Gates was really not a military hawk or an interventionist. He believed America should refrain from foreign engagements, but if the US had to engage militarily, then it should do so with little restraint, fighting all out in order to win quickly.

  As Dr. Winters sat through the CIA and DIA briefing on Russia and China, he started to get frustrated and dismissive of the information being provided. When it came to Asia, neither the CIA or DIA could agree on what was going on inside China or the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). China had just completed a several month-long naval live fire training exercise with both Russia and North Korea. Russia and China had also carried out a series of joint armored and airborne training exercises, and were currently completing a series of air combat exercises.

  While this was not the first time these nations had done joint military exercises, it was the first time either country had done them to this level. Nearly 250,000 troops on all sides had participated in the ground warfare exercises. In the case of North Korea, China and Russia had provided with them with a massive surge in money, munitions, fuel, food and new weapons. Individually, these situations were alarming. Collectively, they were of grave concern.

  While the Asian desks at CIA and DIA could not fully agree on what China and the DPRK were up to, there was no dispute about Russia. The Russians were providing additional heavy weapons and munitions to the separatists in Ukraine. They had even moved a few air defense systems, armored vehicles and a couple dozen tanks to the Donetsk People’s Republic. Of course, the Ukrainian central government did not recognize the Donetsk People’s Republic, or any of the separatist groups demands or self-elected governments.