Battlefield China by James Rosone & Miranda Watson

Author:James Rosone & Miranda Watson [Rosone, James & Watson, Miranda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-12-14T07:00:00+00:00

After holding the receiver to her ear for a minute and not hearing anything, Admiral Cord was about to hand it back to one of the communications officers when a distinctly British accent shouted into her ear. The sounds of explosions, men shouting and machine-gun fire in the background made it feel like she was right there in the thick of the action. She had to hold the receiver an inch away from her ear as the British brigadier ripped her a new one over the lack of air support.

She shot a quizzical glance to the Ford’s air boss and captain. Then, placing her hand over the receiver, she whispered, “What the hell is he talking about?”

The air boss leaned in, grimacing. “He’s talking about Kestrel flight being ambushed. We lost six Super Hornets in the dogfight. He lost nearly half of his first wave of paratroopers.”

Captain Fleece just shook her head. She was still in shock that they’d lost that many Hornets after the Air Force had done such a good job of clearing out the SAM sites.

“Gladiator Actual, this is Task Force 92 Actual. I’ve just been brought up to speed on your current situation. I’m directing all available fleet assets to assist you. Please have your forward air controller coordinate with my CAG on specific strike packages you need, and where you need them. I will also ensure your second wave of transports has more protection this time. Out,” she said. He handed the handset over to the Commander, Air Group to work out the finer details with the good general. She wasn’t about to listen to him chew her out one more time.

She went to find the task force’s operation officer. When she did, she stared daggers at Captain Zach Grady as she motioned for him to come to her. As Grady approached, she leaned in close and turned her body away from the others, speaking in a low voice. “I just got my head torn off by the British airborne commander for Operation Gladiator. He says nearly half of his first wave of transports were shot down before they reached the airfield and none of the antiaircraft guns at the base were destroyed. Want to fill me in on what the hell happened, Captain?” There was a sternness in her voice that she seldom used, but she was certain if she didn’t get to the bottom of what had gone wrong and fix it, Admiral Richardson or Admiral Lomas would have her head on a platter.

Turning a bit red at being talked down to by a female admiral, Captain Grady tried to reply in the usual macho dismissive manner he tended to use when speaking to a female officer. “Stuff happens, Admiral. We nearly lost an entire squadron of Super Hornets flying escort for them. They’re lucky they even made it to the drop zone, what with the number of enemy fighters the PLA jumped our guys with. The Chinese ambushed us with sixty of those new drone fighter planes.

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