Invasion USA 3 - The Battle for Survival (56 page)

The first flight to Misawa took off the next morning two hours before dawn in sub-zero temperatures, with General Patterson in command. He flew one of the HC-130 Tankers. He had done this in Desert Storm for two years and enjoyed this part of flying more than any other. There were two dozen pilots able to fly 130s stationed at Elmendorf and these men were earning their future non-existent paychecks while the mission crews rested.

Within 23 hours the general was back with the tankers. They were quickly refueled and the balance of the aircraft took off at dawn in a snowstorm, winds howling in from the west at fifty to seventy miles an hour. Preston did not have the experience of flying in white-out conditions and he gripped the controls harder than usual as the heavy Gunship used far less of the east/west runway than usual. A heavy gust of snow-swept wind pulled the aircraft off the ground and it rose quickly into the air, heading west and into a powerful Alaska snowstorm.

For an hour, he fought with the controls, the air around the aircraft pulling it to and fro as if it was a leaf in the wind. Then, suddenly they were out of the clouds at 16,000 feet and the layer of white below them was so thick that Preston was sure he could land on it.

“All aircraft, sunlight at Flight Level 16. Over,”
stated General Patterson over the radio in the lead aircraft ahead of him.
“Once you are at Flight Level 17, join up into formation and we will head towards our destination, ten and a half hours ahead of us. Transporters, we will begin refueling you in seven hours. You will each get twenty minutes of fuel. There are only 15 of you this trip and we will be done within 90 minutes. AC-130s, you will only need eight minutes of fuel to keep you airborne.”

They cruised down the island chain between the Bering Sea and the Pacific, the weather getting better as they flew further south. They picked up a tailwind directly out of the north in their third hour of flying and it sped them faster towards their destination.

Refueling began two hundred miles off the Russian coastline and it all went smoothly. Preston and Carlos hadn’t been trained on this aspect of flying yet and they were told to get some rest. The aircraft commanders would take them into Misawa.

Three hours before they reached the Japanese coast, night closed in on them. The refueling was completed and each aircraft had sufficient range to get into Misawa 800 miles in front of them.

Carlos was chatting to Preston on their satellite phones. Not many people in the world were lucky enough to have that privilege, but both Carlos and Preston had refused to give up their phones. Martie also had one, the only one in the training program, and Carlos and Preston spent time talking to Sally and Martie.

After saying goodbye to the girls at some terribly early hour before their training in an undisclosed location (Martie had hinted Kansas by referring to the Wizard of Oz), the two men chatted with each other in their separate aircraft several miles apart.

Preston was shocked that General Allen had made this eleven-hour flight over nothing but water and hostile territory, totally blind, apart from simple, antiquated equipment and directional changes suggested by Carlos. Carlos explained that it wasn’t so dangerous, but it showed the strength and endurance of these well-made aircraft. The pilots hadn’t batted an eyelash about the flying on their return either; it was just Air Force flying.

Finally, they went into the single east/west runway one by one at Misawa Air Force Base on the northeastern coast of Japan. The other 21 aircraft were waiting for them and some of the 747s were due to arrive direct from Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii early the next morning.

It had been a long flight. The crews rested while the Marines worked out their boredom by jogging around the heavily guarded airfield several times.

At 08:00 hours the next morning, after a breakfast of MRE rations instead of the salmon they enjoyed in Alaska, the pilots entered the briefing room as 747s were heard taxiing in to the apron just outside the building. Preston was enthralled to see them up so close. They were certainly beautiful and massive beasts, especially compared to the Gunships.

Coffee was available and Mo and Preston headed for it immediately, with Carlos not far behind. General Patterson waited until the four aircraft were silenced and the pilots in flight gear entered the briefing room.

“Sorry we are 30 minutes late,” apologized Major Chong as the 747 pilots entered the briefing room. “We hit heavy headwinds an hour out of Hawaii and they slowed us all the way into Misawa.” Preston noticed that all eight pilots looked Asian.

“Not a problem, Major,” replied General Patterson. “The rest of today is a relaxing and planning day anyway.” The pilots grabbed seats and the briefing started.

“Welcome to Misawa, Japan,” began General Patterson, who had flown more miles in the last week than most of the pilots in the room. “It has been a pleasure to get back to full-time flying with you men. Washington is not my area of expertise, as many of you know. Misawa is our only still-operational Air Force base in this part of the world. We have enough supplies and fuel to stay here until the end of the year. The President has stated that we are all going home and every man, woman, and child will be stateside to help rebuild our country. Thanks to Mr. Mo Wang here,” he stated, nodding to Mo in the front row, “we have a chance to go into China for a third time and this time, collect electronic parts, which could help in the rebuilding efforts. As Majors Chong and Wong have done on two previous occasions, we have hoodwinked the enemy into giving up valuable items to help our cause. Without the use of their aircraft, four of which now stand outside this building, we would not have managed to retrieve our many military personnel and other important assets such as food, military hardware and stockpiles of ammunition we had stored overseas. As of three days ago, we have 70 percent of our troops back home and that mission could be complete by the end of June at the present rate. We intend to keep small pockets of Special Forces or Marines, maximum one 747 aircraft load, in certain areas of the world to monitor where it is necessary.

“We might keep 300 Marines here on an ongoing basis, but that has not yet been decided. It depends on the radiation cloud heading this way from Beijing. By the end of June we could have 1,250,000 military personnel ready to defend our country. Many of you don’t really know how thin we were on the ground back home last year.

“Now, to our mission: Tomorrow we leave here with the four 747s and go straight into the Harbin area. The Zedong Electronics top secret airfield is twenty miles south of Harbin International. The runways are identical in direction 05 and 23 to Harbin International and there are two parallel runways long enough for your 747s to get in. So, all C-130 pilots, don’t get mixed up with the wrong airport if or when you are needed. You will have exact coordinates for the correct airfield only. You all will be going into Runways 05 left and 05 right. The control tower and main buildings are in between the two runways. Once we are on the ground Mr. Wang will guide us to the main apron. We believe that security will be lax until they see us coming in on radar. Majors Chong and Wong will go in first in two of the 747s, using normal international radio procedures, but in Chinese. We expect that whoever is in control will want higher verification on who is approaching. Mr. Wang, who was a part of their Politburo, will then identify himself and tell ground control that they are returning victorious and straight in from the “new” country. Once the four aircraft have landed, 50 of our Chinese-American men will go out on parade dressed in their captured uniforms. We decided not to use any of Mr. Wang’s Chinese troops for this mission. We also have five of the Chinese engineers and ten of our own Chinese-American engineers ready to look at the stock we are going to retrieve. We hope this will look like an official return by a member of their Politburo to China.

“Once we are in communication with the powers that be, Mr. Wang and Majors Wong and Chong will clear the airfield of all their military personnel. I think that ordering them an immediate leave-pass from the grateful Supreme Commander to return to their homes and see their families will do the job. C-130 pilots, you will not get into radar range until either Major Chong or Major Wong radio for backup, understand?” The pilots nodded.

“We will know their radar boundaries once they try to communicate with the 747s on radar and call in to our pilots. All C-130s will be at least fifty miles behind the lead aircraft. Since we are playing this mission by what their reactions are, we will continue with the mission briefings once we have their airfield in our control. C-130 pilots, Mr. Wong has found a smaller airfield about a hundred miles from the target. It is situated in a small town southeast of Harbin. You are to take over this civilian airfield and you will have with you a dozen Chinese-American Marines who can speak the local language and who will be dressed in their Red Army uniforms. They will set up a perimeter and make sure no civilians get close. We don’t want somebody to ride a bicycle over to the target and report there are American Air Force aircraft in the area waiting to attack. You will need to go in low, below 500 feet, to stay undetected for the first flight in. You will be given the exact coordinates later today.”

With the meeting over, Preston and Carlos stayed for a second meeting with all the Chinese-speaking members of the team. Major Wong sat with General Patterson, Preston and Carlos explaining in English what was being said.

“General, Mr. Wang is telling the men about how many soldiers he expects to be at the airfield. Since most of the Zedong army was to be the invasion force on the container ships, and the men who arrived and were beaten in New York would have initially left from this airfield, he doesn’t think that there are more than one to two thousand remaining troops. The airfield should be commanded by a Colonel Rhu and there should still be engineers in the storage depots protecting them from theft.”

“Since all their aircraft systems will still be operational,” stated General Patterson to the group, “remind me to take everything that still works around this airfield. By the time we leave there should be nothing left other than grass, tarmac and empty buildings.”

For another half an hour Mo Wang lectured on what the enemy commander would expect. He explained that he did not think these troops had received any communications since January, were waiting around for new orders, and were keeping the base safe. They shouldn’t expect any trouble apart from civilians in the area trying to steal food or equipment. He had already briefed the general about the nuclear weapons area that was under the control of another colonel, who he had never met. That location was five miles south of the airfield and would be well guarded with an equal number of soldiers; Mo believed he did not have the authority to get into the base or to ask the soldiers to leave at that site.

For the rest of the day the pilots rested, the engineers studied blueprints of parts they were expecting to find, and the Marines continued running around the airfield.

An hour before dawn the airfield came alive as the 36 C-130s and the six Gunships started their engines. Their flight into the area would take two hours, while the 747s could cover the distance in one. General Patterson was going in on the 747 Transporter with Major Wong flying.

Preston and Carlos were again copilots on two of the Gunships and would be part of the flight of C-130s over the Chinese coast at 500 feet. By this time the 747s catching up to them at 25,000 feet, and 100 miles from the Chinese mainland, would likely be contacted by Chinese air control.

Chinese air traffic control voices came over the air several minutes earlier than expected. Major Wong had the radios set to the frequencies they found in the previous Chinese pilot’s flight documents, which gave them all the necessary frequencies used by Zedong Electronics.

“Unidentified aircraft, state your identity and aircraft type,”
came an excited but crackled Chinese voice over the radio.

“Chinese Airlines 747 Transporter incoming to your airfield,” replied Major Wong in Chinese.

“And the other three I see with you?”
was the second question.

“Three of our glorious 747 passenger aircraft returning to our homeland victorious,” Major Wong replied.

“Wait, I will get the commander,”
the voice continued.

Several long minutes later an older voice with more authority asked,
“Chinese Airlines 747 Transporter, who do you have aboard who can give us authority to allow you to land?”

“Politburo Comrade Mo Wang is aboard with a message of success from our Supreme Commander, who is currently in his new office in Washington, America,” the major responded, sounding excited.

“Put Comrade Wang on, please,”
was the response.

“Good morning, Harbin, this is Mo Wang.”

“Comrade Wang, please tell me my name. I am Harbin Commander and we have met,”
the man on the radio responded.

“It is good to hear your voice again, Colonel Rhu. It has taken more time than we thought to get control of our new country and I will tell you all about it when we land,” answered Mo.

“It is good to hear your voice again, Comrade Wang. Why isn’t my uncle, Politburo Comrade Rhu, or the Supreme Commander himself coming to tell us the good news?”

“Everybody is so busy over there sorting out the control and areas to be given to all, that the Supreme Commander, as usual, orders me to do his travel work for him,” Mo replied.

“Yes, you always seem to do his dirty work, Comrade Wang. What does the Politburo want you to do this time?”
the base commander continued. His relief that he knew the man aboard was quite apparent by his voice.

“As planned, we are to begin transporting the supplies of parts in the storage warehouses to rebuild our new country. We have four of our aircraft and I have orders to return to America within 36 hours, so I want these aircraft full within 12 hours,” Mo replied.

“What about all the other aircraft which left Shanghai?”
asked Colonel Rhu.