2024

The Beginning-3

The Chinese Army saw this activity and ordered the Air Force to respond. The Air Force launched a dozen of its older Su-30 planes with missiles designed to attack ships as well as those used for attacking aircraft. In addition the Jengdu 10's (comparable in capabilities to the U.S. F-16 and F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft) available near the area in which these events were unfolding were prepared to fight and then launched. There were more than twenty of those fine aircraft that flew sorties toward the U.S.S. Glenn.

The Chinese planes had not cleared their own borders when a flight of eight F-15 Strike Eagles whose systems had been highly upgraded by the Formosans were sent to investigate from Taipei, Formosa. An additional flight of eight F-15 E's with their systems upgraded by the Formosan's as well were launched from Tainan, Formosa. The Chinese Jengdus did not see these planes right away and the SU-30's of the Chinese never did see them. The first eight Formosan Air Force planes were “painted with radar” by the Chinese Air Force planes from over fifty miles away and the Chinese planes fired missiles at the Formosan planes who in turn fired missiles at the Chinese aircraft. An International “Cluster f**k” was well under way. The Formosan aircraft from Tainan also fired missiles at both the SU-30's and the Jengdu 10's.

U.S. Air bases in Japan and Korea, hearing of the launch on the U.S. by the North Koreans, seeing the response of the Chinese to the DPRK missile being splashed, began to load their planes for war. The North Koreans fired another ICBM. The second was hit by an anti-missile missile fired again from the “Glenn.” Several of the Chinese jets from the mainland got within range to launch their ship killing missiles. All totaled the Chinese launched at least ten ship killing missiles at the “Glenn.” All of them but one were shot down. The one that was not killed by the ship sank the “Glenn.” There were survivors but not many. The survivors would be picked up by Formosan boats. The Chinese aircraft which fired on the Glenn were all shot down by either U.S. or Formosan aircraft. In all the Chinese lost all of the SU-30 aircraft they launched toward the Glenn and half the Jengdu 10 aircraft. Mostly the losses of the Chinese were due to the Formosans being in constant awareness and firing early on the Chinese aircraft. The North Koreans, undaunted, prepared, watched by a satellite, a third launch. They launched just before the end of the first fateful day of the international cluster f**k. Another missile frigate, stationed just north of the Island of Okinawa shot at that third North Korean ICBM. The hit on the Korean missile was enough to cause the payload to crash into the Pacific Ocean about 500 miles from Midway Island where it detonated one of its several nuclear warheads.

In the dark of night, just after dark in fact, four F-117 Stealth Fighters killed the launch facilities of the North Koreans without the loss of a plane. The launch pads of the Koreans would take weeks or months to reconstruct. The support facilities including the underground bunkers that housed the North Korean computer systems necessary to the launch of ICBMs were all destroyed as well. Those would take years to rebuild. The death of the computer center essentially ended the intermediate and short range missile threat to Seoul and South Korea in general except from shorter range missiles carried on mobile launchers. But the North Koreans had never acquired such sophistication with their nuclear arsenal they could miniaturize sufficiently to mount nuclear warheads on short range missiles.

The few ships of the Formosan navy that were in the rough area of the Glenn picked up the few survivors. The few planes lost by the U.S., Japan or Formosa also had their survivors picked up. While the missile launch facilities of the North Koreans were virtually eliminated their army and air forces were not. Immediately after the first launch all U.S. forces in Korea went on alert, as did all South Korean forces. Total call up occurred of all able bodied South Korean veterans who were still capable of fighting. The situation there was out of hand. The situation with the Chinese began to calm when the U.S. began to pull its citizens out of the country. The loss of business activity was instant and the Chinese, ever mindful of economics, apologized for the “inadvertent actions” of a rogue officer who had been executed for his traitorous launch of planes and missiles at the U.S. ship.

The Chinese, ever masters of the apology, offered reparations for the sinking of the Glenn and for the families of the lost seamen. This calmed the situation in respect to China but not as to Korea. China did say as long as there was no invasion of North Korea which might threaten its borders China would stay out of any fracas between the North and South Koreans.

The momentary detente with the Chinese allowed the U.S. to assist the South Korean Air Force against the North Koreans. Virtually all hard protective revetments that the North Koreans had created to protect their Air Forces were destroyed in one night. All their runways were so badly cratered, as were the taxi ways along side their air fields, that the North Korean air forces were eliminated in one night. What few North Korean aircraft that did escape the bombing went into China to be grounded.

That left the A-10's of the U.S. and the South Koreans to strike under the cover of F-16s and F-15 Strike Eagles of the South Koreans and the F-35s of the U.S. along with the FA-18 naval aircraft of the U.S., at the columns of troops, tanks, etc. being marshaled by the North Koreans for an attack on the South. The North Korean army, a million plus in numbers at the beginning of that day, lost at least a third of their troops within thirty-six hours. They also lost almost all their transport systems, a large part of their tank brigades, and almost all of their helicopters and transport aircraft carrying airborne troops. All in all the vaunted members of the North Korean Army and other forces were badly treated by the South Koreans and the U.S. forces the first couple of days of the brief war in which they engaged. The South Koreans maintained an open channel with the Chinese to make sure that the Chinese understood there would be no northward thrust of South Korean forces if the North Koreans stood down. It was over the next day.

The uneasy truce between North Korea and South Korea, with the U.S. as participants along the lines of demarcation, resumed. But the Chinese influence on the North Koreans became of extreme importance to the continuation of the regime. China allowed the U.N. to bring in nuclear scientists. The U.N. representatives stripped the North Koreans of any further ability by missile or otherwise, to deliver a nuclear weapon in addition to destroying all their existing weapons, destroying all records of how to assemble or create a nuclear weapon. One thing good came out of the short war. The short war with North Korea also gave the Russians pause for consideration of their desire to confront the American beast. But the events of Ukraine caused caution to be thrown in the wind.

The tensions between Washington and Moscow had escalated all through the several days of the Korean fiasco. Nastiness was the hallmark of the communication between President Clinton and Premier Putin. He considered her a person of lesser import in part because she was a woman. His attitude made the likelihood of real communication impossible from the outset. The world conflicts and troubles in the Middle East made him even more bellicose and unreasonable. She could not “give” much or she would be seen as weak not only by Putin but by her own military. In the circumstance she must maintain control of the military. The mistakes of the Chinese and Russians already had shown her that necessity.

In spite of the recommendations of her military adviser's advice, President Clinton backed off the military alert status to Defcon 2. That meant stand down of some weapons but readiness maintained for immediate launch of those weapons if necessary. The Russians appeared to be relaxing their nuclear forces as well and the world heaved a huge sigh of relief as a moment of sanity seemed to form in both countries. Sanity has a way of giving in to misunderstanding though. So does insanity. All over the Mediterranean Sea American ships patrolled at the ready. The same was true of the Indian Ocean where in addition to U.S. ships there were ships of the nation of India as well.

Pakistan and India had co-existed with armed nuclear weapons aimed at each other for over 25 years. And the fingers of their leaders had been very close to the “buttons” during the crisis over the terrorist activities in Mumbai. The threat of Pakistan was now enhanced by the potential of a Shia caliphate running from Iran through Iraq into Syria and Lebanon. The possibility also existed of even more area to be garnered by the Shia in the other “stans” of the former Soviet Union and of course in Afghanistan. Pakistan, seeing the threat of a loss by the Shia as a great possibility before the nuclear detonation in Ukraine, was more frightened after the nuclear blast occurred. The Pakistanis immediately thought the Sunni had done the deed. They suggested it to the Russians. The Russians laughed at them and said it could not have happened as the Pakistanis suspected.

We requested the Chinese to bring their “boomers” to the surface so we could see them. Though they were loathe to do so they complied with our request. The former Soviet fleet of “boomers” and other submarines aside from their attack subs had long since either been sold to China, India, Iran or North Korea. The satellite and drone system essentially watching all of North Korea knew exactly where their subs were located.

The U.S. announced to China and North Korea that if the North Korean submarines made one belligerent move their entire sub fleet would be sunk. One general in North Korea thought the statement was hyperbolae and caused the launch of a cruise missile which narrowly missed the main government buildings of Seoul. The U.S. Navy sank a total of fifteen subs that day. The North Koreans had one left in dry dock and it was destroyed by a stealth attack from a Navy F-35 stealth fighter aircraft.

The Russians threatened nuclear war if any further attacks occurred on North Korea. The Pakistani government, allied with Russia since 2018, announced its support for the Russians. India went to high alert. Israel went to high alert when Iran announced its support for the Russian statements against the U.S. A Pakistani pilot thought he saw a drone over the northern part of the country and fired several missiles at what he thought was a drone. He missed.

The drone pilot was good and the drone was a stealth version just put into service which was armed with anti-aircraft missiles as well as air to ground ordnance. The drone pilot didn't miss. There were Indian aircraft in the area. The Pakistanis had just received very sophisticated radar systems from Russia and were not terribly good at using those systems yet. They saw the Indian aircraft, saw one of their own being destroyed and started firing ground to air missiles at the Indian aircraft.

The nearest of the three Indian aircraft carriers armed its planes and sent all its fighters toward the area of conflict along with AWACS aircraft in support. MIG 35 aircraft from Goa, in India, also headed toward the area of conflict. The AWACS reported “seeing” what appeared to be a missile silo opening. It was, but for a ground to air missile attacking the flight of Indian SU-30 and MIG-35 aircraft. The air burst of the missile was larger than usual to the pilots of the Indian aircraft and it threw an instant mushroom characteristic of a nuclear explosion. The AWACS operators were not familiar with nuclear explosions and did not take the time to use their instruments to explore the type of chemicals in the explosion. They reported a nuclear blast. India opened its silos. Pakistan opened its silos.