The Bear and the Dragon - Tom Clancy [509]
"No!" Fang retorted. "That is tantamount to the threat of nuclear war. We must not do such a thing!"
"If we do not, then we are all doomed," said Tan Deshi of the Ministry of State Security. "I am sorry, Fang, but Zhang is correct here. Those are the only weapons with which we can hold the Americans back. They will be tempted to strike at them—and if they do … "
"If they do, then we must use them, because if they take those weapons away from us, then they can strike us at will, and destroy all we have built in sixty years," Zhang concluded. "I call a vote."
Suddenly and irrationally, Fang thought, the meeting had struck out on a path with no logic or direction, leading to disaster. But he was the only one who saw this, as for the first time in his life he took a stand against the others. The meeting finally broke up. The Politburo members drove directly home. None of them passed through Tiananmen Square on the way, and all of them fell rapidly asleep.
There were twenty-five UH-60A Blackhawks and fifteen Apaches on the ramp. Every one had stubby wings affixed to the fuselage. Those on the Blackhawks were occupied with fuel tanks. The Apaches had both fuel and rockets. The flight crews were grouped together, looking at maps.
Clark took the lead. He was dressed in his black Ninja gear, and a soldier directed him and Kirillin—he was in the Snowflake camouflage used by Russian airborne troops—to Colonel Boyle.
"Howdy, Dick Boyle."
"I'm John Clark, and this is Lieutenant General Yuriy Kirillin. I'm RAINBOW," John explained. "He's Spetsnaz."
Boyle saluted. "Well, I'm your driver, gentlemen. The objective is seven hundred sixteen miles away. We can just about make it with the fuel we're carrying, but we're going to have to tank up on the way back. We're doing that right here"—he pointed to a spot on the navigation chart—"hilltop west of this little town named Chicheng. We got lucky. Two C-130s are going to do bladder drops for us. There will be a fighter escort for top cover, F-15s, plus some F-l6s to go after any radars along the way, and when we get to about here, eight F-117s are going to trash this fighter base at Anshan. That should take care of any Chinese fighter interference. Now, this missile base has an associated security force, supposed to be battalion strength, in barracks located here"—this time it was a satellite photo—"and five of my Apaches are going to take that place down with rockets. The others will be flying direct support. The only other question is, how close do you want us to put you on these missile silos?"
"Land right on top of the bastards," Clark told him, looking over at Kirillin.
"I agree, the closer the better."
Boyle nodded. "Fair enough. The helicopters all have numbers on them indicating the silo they're flying for. I'm flying LEAD, and I'm going right to this one here."
"That means I go with you," Clark told him.
"How many?"
"Ten plus me."
"Okay, your chem gear's in the aircraft. Suit up, and we go. Latrine's that way," Boyle pointed. It would be better for every man to take a piss before the flight began. "Fifteen minutes."
Clark went that way, and so did Kirillin. Both old soldiers knew what they needed to do in most respects, and this one was as vital as loading a weapon.
"Have you been to China before, John?"
"Nope. Taiwan once, long ago, to get screwed, blued, and tattooed."
"No chance for that on this trip. We are both too old for this, you know."
"I know," Clark said, zipping himself up. "But you're not going to sit back here, are you?"
"A leader must be with his men, Ivan Timofeyevich."
"That is true, Yuriy. Good luck."
"They will not launch a nuclear attack on my country, or on yours," Kirillin promised. "Not while I live."
"You know, Yuriy, you might have been a good guy to have in 3rd SOG."