The People's Liberation Army Navy (
PLAN) was not ready. He could not conclude anything different when he went over the numbers, again and again. Xiao Jinguang
had been working on rapidly expanding the Navy right, but while the number of ships in PLAN had already been greatly expanded in the last year alone, with a plans to double the size of the Navy within the next 3 years, none of the crew for these new ships were prepared. He already knew, even from his first naval operations on Yijiangshan, Dachen and Yushan islands nearly 2 decades ago, it was training which determined how well the army worked together.... No amount of new technology or metal could make up for the fact that for most of the new crews, it would be their first time truly operating their craft, much less trying to work together in a formation.
If only he could use many of the newly built craft. More than 20 ships and 3 subs lay freshly built in the docks, as loyal comrades had worked extra hours for the safety and glory of China. But the crews just weren't ready. It didn't matter what Kang Sheng had said in his mad ramble of a letter. China simply wasn't ready for a true naval showdown. They could not simply go to the island and annihilate the enemy. They were not prepared for the American retaliatory response at all!
He looked again at the letter. He had a feeling that this might not be the statement of the entire gang of four, and might simply be Kang Sheng's personal position. While Sheng perhaps had far more diplomatic experience than any of the four, Xiao knew that things were not that simple. Kang was attempting to make a statement, and to drive events back home in Beijing. It was far too easy for Xiao to imagine that the gang of four might be furious, but unable to act, afraid of losing his support.
He looked out to the sea. Mao had just died, and now the communist revolution itself was threatened. And yet, what did the politicians do? Squabble over position. Had they not all fought for their country a mere few decades before? They needed to be united! That was the lesson back then, during the revolution! His comrades could not afford to let these minor squabbles prevent them from responding to the situation! If they did.... If they did, he could only imagine what would happen to the people's republic...
He breathed deeply, before discarding his frustration. There was nothing he could do about the situation in Beijing. No, there was nothing he should do about the situation in Beijing. His responsibility was the Navy, and he needed to focus on that, rather than the political 'game'. He was a soldier, and he would do his duty. He needed to be thinking about what would be happening around the carrier, and not what was happening in Beijing.
He glanced at the pile of documents and communications on the corner of his desk. While very little information had been received from Guangchou, he made sure he received a copy of every single piece of news. For now, the US were pretending that the ship full of armed marines had beached their ship accidentally. However, he could imagine how easily this could be used to justify a 'liberation' mission. It would be far too easy for the US to bring warships instead of rescue ships. It was all so convenient for this to happen right after Mao had died. He wondered how they even knew to time things so well, so that the ship beached itself right before Mao's actual death, so that know one could claim they planned.. every-...thing.... It would have to be...an insane.... operation of cunning ...and of treachery.
He almost felt himself lose everything to the anger, but he pulled himself back. This was not his responsibility! Even if! Even if they had somehow done something to-... He wasn't the one who was supposed to determine that. He was never good at ferreting out the truth from backstabbers and liars. It was his job to lead the men, and that is what he would.
As his emotions still failed to calm, he remembered the dozens of young men that had died under his command during the civil war. The sombering truth helped shake the insipid, useless anger from his head. He knew, even if his most deeply feared suspicions were true, that a war would not be won by emotions. How many of those young men in the civil war had gone sprinting to their deaths, confident that their need for vengeance would protect them from bulletfire. Strategy, tactics and preparation were always more important than the spirit of vengeance. He could not just wallow in rage. He needed to protect his country today. That had to be his main concern.
He looked back at the map, as he considered the realities of the military situation, and the lack of organized support from Beijing. He could only despair as he understood that the american scheme would
probably work. Looking again at the maps of the southern sea, Guangchou had been a pillar to the defense in the area. It had allowed acted as a natural wall and gate, as all traffic was forced to be diverted into two narrow channels (one between Guangchou and Japan, and one between Guangchou and China Taipei). The geography made it much much easier for the chinese Navy to defend against any forces coming from the south, and it had been a lynchpin for any plans to resist a direct invasion from the US.
However, now that island may fall into the hands of the US. He could already see the Americans paving a new airstrip, and preparing bombers on the island. He could see the new port, filled to the brim with supplies for an invasion, and supplied further by factories in Japan and Korea. While an invasion of china was supposed to be a logistical nightmare, firmly preparing Guangchou would make most of those problems disappear. and if the US could invade and succeed, they almost certainly would. No, losing Guangchou now was unacceptable. He could not allow it to become a US supply base for a future invasion. He could not allow the Americans to truly succeed this scheme of theirs.
He considered all the important facts again. He didn't have the forces to face the US navy just yet. And he couldn't allow Guangchou to fall. Worse yet, he seemed to be on his own, as all messages from Beijing seemed to be emphasizing that he either destroy the carrier, or that he not let anyone know that Mao was dead yet. He had no real support from Beijing. What was he supposed to do? What
could he do on his own?
A new message from Guangchou had appeared on his desk. It was their public statement.... He couldn't help himself. He chuckled at the idea that Guangchou was demanding littering fees. It was silly... It was quite silly. Was he supposed to take this at face value? That they just wanted a littering fee?
Even worse, to suggest a US carrier was ever obsolete rang warning bells in his head, although he really didn't have the resources to deal with Guangchou'a hidden secrets, if they actually had any. If they had a superweapon that rendered the carrier obsolete, it could only help him. However, he knew he shouldn't rely on maybe's. He had to assume when push came to shove that Guangchou would not be able to provide any real naval support. However...
It seemed as if Guangchou was attempting to resolve matters peacefully and quietly. He knew that things were too chaotic in Beijing for any of the politicians to come up with any sort of plan quickly. All that could really happen, all that he could really do is ready all the ships for departure, and send a message of what would happen if the US tried to escalate things.
However, he still felt anxious. He knew the US would try something. Something sneaky. And he didn't have any forces he could....
He looked over the list of ships operating in PLAN over the course of the last year. He did have two nuclear subs currently in operation, with trained crews he personally trusted. They were hilariously out of position, but if he ordered them to immediately return and patrol the island...
When the americans inevitable tried to sneak something onto the island, would two nuclear submarines be enough? They would certainly be viewed in the right, once they sank whatever military forces the US was sending, but this would only work if they were successful, and returned with evidence. So he asked himself again, would the two subs be enough?
He had to hope so. He began to draft the orders. Unlike the politicians in Beijing, who demanded the fate of the people's republic be put in their hands, he knew that the cold hard truth that it would be his actions in the next few weeks might save or doom his country.
After he had penned the orders, he began to pack his bags. He knew he had to move his headquarters as close to the island as possible. He needed to be ready to take command of the situation, in order to prevent the worst from happening. He had a duty to his country.
AN: So, most of this is using knowledge from Wikipedia. Feel free to correct me on any of this, because I know I probably got something wrong. I know that I almost certainly got people's character's wrong, and the numbers are just made up. I am not actually sure on how many ships the Chinese navy had at this time, even, although it does seem like this even occured just as they were in the middle of the process of expanding their navy.
Also, this omake is not really tied to the horserace going on in Beijing. I explicitly tried to use a neutral (at the time) admiral, so that any response he had wouldn't really reflect on the events going on in Beijing. This omake is more about the immediate reaction the chinese navy may be having. Honestly, reading into things a little, it seems as if this situation had only happened a few years later, they would be far more prepared. So yeah, we are going in with an unprepped chinese navy to support us, and wow that does not help things with this crisis.
edit: story was edited a little to try and improve it a little. Nothing major, but wanted to make some things clearer, and make the thought process flow a bit better.
They are being built, but it has only been about a day or three since the incident. Give it a hot minute to be built.
Thanks for the update on this. I kind of figured this might be the case, but I didn't see anything written about it in the update, so I wanted to be sure.
