Tiger's Claw: A Novel

sides of the planet are limited, and they could be stymied into inaction. America has fewer ships afloat than any time since after the Vietnam War, and forcing them to respond to a second front in the west could force them to sue for terms to Russia as well as China.”

“America is no threat to Russia, at least in our own sphere of influence—namely, eastern Europe and central Asia,” Truznyev’s translator said. “Our work is already done. Russia does not need to dominate the South China Sea—in fact, limiting access to the South China Sea is not in our interests. You are not helping your cause with Russia by rattling sabers in the South China Sea, General.”

“We will do much more than rattle sabers, sir,” Zu said.

“Explain immediately, General!” Zu could hear Truznyev’s angry voice in the background, a dramatic difference from the emotionless, mechanical tone of the translator.

“Mr. President, China is today claiming all its historic and legal rights in the South Sea,” Zu said. “I am determined and honor-bound to lead my country in protecting and defending our rights to the inner island chain, and we will do whatever is necessary. I called you to inform you of my intentions and to ask for your support and assistance in this sacred endeavor.”

“I do not give a shit about your intentions or honor, Zu,” Truznyev’s translator said. Truznyev’s very loud voice was clearly discernible in the background, and it was obvious that it was made so. “I will put you on notice right now, you traitorous bastard: if one Russian sailor or airman even gets his hair tousled or has one meal interrupted by Chinese actions, I will drop a hundred megatons of nuclear warheads on your backwater country.”

“That was not my intention in the least, Mr. President,” Zu said. “I seek nothing but Russia’s cooperation in our endeavor. Our efforts are the same exactly, sir: the reduction or elimination of the American naval influence on all the world’s oceans. The United States Navy has a presence in every one of the world’s oceans; I want to limit that influence in regions that are vital to China, which include the South Sea, Straits of Malacca, and the Indian Ocean.”

“General Zu, you are either a crazy megalomaniac or completely deluded,” Truznyev said. “The United States unfortunately has the most powerful navy in the world, even after all their austerity measures. If you think your puny two aircraft carriers can take on the navy of the United States of America, you should be institutionalized.”

“Alone, no one can take on the United States,” Zu said. “But with Russia’s cooperation, we can force the United States to negotiate.”

“Negotiate what?”

“Power sharing in the Pacific,” Zu said. “Unfettered access to all the world’s oceans, free of the interference and constant threat of the United States Navy.”

“Russia already has unfettered access to any ocean in which she chooses to sail, General,” Truznyev said.

“But if the United States decided to take that access away from you, Mr. President, what could you do about it?” Zu asked.

“Russia is not as dependent on the sea as is China,” Truznyev said.

“Perhaps not,” Zu replied, “but it must sicken you, as it does me, to live under the constant threat of American domination.” Truznyev was silent. “Mr. President, this was a courtesy call to inform you that China will act soon, very soon, to put the world on notice that she will defend her sovereign territory against all threats with every weapon in her arsenal. Russia can side with China, as we did on the Gulf of Aden incident, and stand up to the Americans. If you decide not to act, China will still pursue her destiny.”

“Russia is not going to side with you just so you can assert some wild baseless claim on the South China Sea and western Pacific, Zu.”

“Then perhaps there are other areas where our two nations can cooperate, sir,” Zu said. “Russia has vast natural resources virtually untapped in Siberia; China has a large appetite for resources that grows exponentially every year. I believe Chinese investment in several natural gas liquefaction plants, pipelines, cryogenic ships, and port facilities in Siberia would serve both our nations well.” Truznyev was silent again. “Mr. President?”

“Tell me more about what you have in mind about the South China Sea, General,” Truznyev said. “And I want to know about these other weapons it appears you have employed in the area, the one that took down the American aircraft. And I want to know why I am speaking to you instead of to Zhou, and why you are deploying thousands of troops all throughout your country.”

“I think it is time to tell you everything, Mr. President,” Zu said, “and I think you will be pleased at the prospects for both of us.”

THE SOUTH CHINA SEA, SIXTY MILES SOUTH OF KAOHSIUNG, REPUBLIC OF CHINA

TWO DAYS LATER

“Incredible weather this morning for this operational tasking, sir,” Hai Jun Da Xiao (Lower Admiral) Weng Li-Yeh said, smiling proudly as he surveyed activity on his ship down below. Even though this was their first mission after completing trials and a shakedown cruise, his sailors appeared to be in excellent spirits and worked with fluid precision.

“It is indeed most excellent, Admiral,” Weng’s superior officer, Hai Jun Shao Jiang (Rear Admiral) Hu Tan-sun, replied. “You may commence launching when ready.”

“Shi, haijun shang jiang,” Weng replied. He picked up a telephone. “Operations, this is Flag. You may commence air operations as briefed, Captain.”

Slowly, activity down below began to increase in tempo. Hu and Weng were watching the activity from the flag bridge of the aircraft carrier Zheng He, the People’s Republic of China’s second aircraft carrier, just recently made combat-ready. Named after a world-traveling Chinese fleet admiral from the fifteenth century, the Zheng He was formerly the Brazilian Navy’s Sao Paulo, which in turn had formerly been the French Navy’s Clemenceau-class carrier Foch. As the Sao Paulo, the fifty-five-year-old carrier had been extensively upgraded and modernized, so even though it was smaller than the Zhenyuan, it embarked just as many aircraft, a mix of Chinese and Russian multirole fighters and helicopters. Brazil was in the process of beginning an extensive upgrade of its navy, including an indigenously built carrier, and the two carriers being built by China were experiencing some construction delays, so China gladly purchased the surplus vessel. Unlike the Zhenyuan, the Zheng He had an angled deck, which allowed for simultaneous takeoffs and landings, and it used steam catapults instead of the ski-jump ramp to launch aircraft, which allowed launching more heavily armed aircraft.

After the Harbin Z-5 rescue helicopters and Harbin Z-9 antisubmarine warfare helicopters were launched, the crew of the Zheng He prepared to launch one of the largest carrier-launched strike aircraft in the world from its deck: the JH-37 Fei Bao, or Flying Leopard. The Leopard was a carrier-based version of the Russian-built Sukhoi-34 fighter-bomber, modified with folding wings and vertical stabilizer, stronger undercarriage to withstand carrier landings, and more powerful Xian WS9 turbofans. It used canards—small moving wings on either side of the nose—for extra maneuverability in dogfights, but its primary purpose was long-range strikes—it could carry almost twenty thousand pounds of a wide variety of weapons, from mines to cruise missiles. The JH-37 was also able to perform long-range electronic submarine searches, radar patrols, electronic warfare, and reconnaissance, using underwing sensor and emitter pods. On this sortie, the JH-37 was carrying six APR-3E rocket-powered torpedoes, three under each wing.

Watching a JH-37 launch was always an exciting event, and many of the off-duty crew came up on deck to watch the magnificent beast taxi up to the catapult shuttle and unfold its long wings and tall tail. There were only six JH-37s in the Zheng He’s complement simply because the bombers were so massive that there was no room for more. The nearly ninety-thousand-pound JH-37 took the number three catapult, its left wing hanging far over the port side—no aircraft could use any of the other catapults at the same time as the Leopard because of its enormous size, and landings had to be carefully planned because no aircraft could park on