Premier Wing waited impatiently in his office in Beijing for the video call to set up. The screen turned on, but the image was fuzzy for a few moments. The world still had working satellites in orbit around Earth and they did their best to send broadcast and other data signals through the heavily overcast skies. Much of the time even sunlight had a hard time breaking through the thick moist clouds and violent storms that raked the planet from time to time.
“General, are you there?” he demanded.
General Boqin Zhu’s face finally appeared on the large video screen that was attached to the wall behind Wing’s desk. “I’m here, Premier Wing. Please excuse the noise for I’m beside my vehicle on the road just outside New Delhi. We’re just breaking through the Indian Army lines as we speak.”
Wing heard gun fire in the background and the sound of armored vehicles, probably tanks, moving somewhere close by. “How’s the battle going, General?”
“We’re breaking through the Indian Army on both fronts. New Delhi should be ours before nightfall!”
This was good news! Wing was almost satisfied with his general and his troops, but he still lacked two goals that would complete his takeover. “You must prevent President Khatri and Prime Minister Patel from escaping the megacity, General.”
“I’m aware of their locations, Premier. They’re still here as are most of their government leaders.”
“Good. I will contact President Khatri and demand his surrender once you have surrounded the capital buildings.” That was Wing’s first goal. Now for the second, “Have you located the UAC Ambassador and the WF Director-General?”
“We are searching for them now. The UAC Army sent a company of soldiers to try and protect them. They arrived late yesterday evening at the UAC Embassy. The latest report is they left with both diplomats early this morning before we could stop them. We are certain they are headed for Jaipur.”
“You must not let them escape, General Zhu! I need them for further negotiations with the UAC and WF!”
“I already sent scouts to find them. I will stop them before they reach Jaipur, Premier!” General Zhu knew there would be repercussions if he did not find and capture them.
“I am counting on you, General. Now take New Delhi before President Khatri has a chance to escape also!”
Wing ended the call without waiting for the general to reply. He looked forward to his call with President Khatri. India would soon join the Eurasia Federation which would complete his goal of controlling all of North Asia, Africa and the Middle East. All that was left was China’s nemesis, Russia, and then the rest of the European Union Provinces and the continent would be his.
Colonel Martin’s convoy was slowed down again by thousands of frightened people fleeing New Delhi on all roads leading south and west. His convoy consisted of fifteen vehicles which included five armored Humvees and ten Cougar Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) All Terrain Vehicles, also known as M-ATVs, which carried 100 troops from Company A, two diplomats, ten embassy support staff members and four Marine guards. Luis’s mission was to get everyone safely to the military base at Jaipur International Airport 267 kilometers away. Time was not on their side. Reports of Chinese Army units closing in on the capital were a constant reminder of the dangerous situation they all faced.
It was time to report in to General Clark. He made the call over his secure comphone. It rang two times before the general answered. “Clark here. What’s your Sitrep, Colonel?”
“We’re on the road to Jaipur, General. Traffic is heavy. It may take longer than normal.”
“Same here, Colonel. The WF ordered all Peacekeeper troops to leave the front line an hour ago and head for Jaipur. The Indian Army is on their own now against the Chinese. Our fight is over. Do you have the diplomats?”
“Yes, we have the UAC Ambassador and the WF Director-General. I’ll report back in an hour, sir.”
“Very good. See you in Jaipur.”
As soon as Luis put his comphone away he received a call over his tactical radio headset from Captain Hood. “Alpha One, this is Alpha Two. Too many vehicles are blocking the road ahead of us. We can try passing them in the middle ground between the highway. The terrain is level, Over.”
“Copy, Alpha Two. Let’s move to the middle.”
“Roger that!”
The lead MRAP pulled off the NH48 highway and found open ground in the meridian between the two major four lane roads. It looked clear for a few miles ahead. The MRAPs were built for this kind of terrain and it would not slow them down any more than was already happening. It was a bit bumpy inside the vehicles for the passengers, but tolerable.
The convoy sped up to forty miles per hour in the meridian until they passed most of the vehicles tied up in a logjam behind them. Once the highway opened up, the convoy made its way back onto the road to Jaipur.
It looked like they might actually travel the rest of the way to Jaipur when all hell broke out up ahead. Luis looked at his navigation screen. They had traveled 35 kilometers outside New Delhi and almost reached the highway junction of NW48 and the Western Peripheral Expressway near a cluster of villages called Panchgaon when Luis’s headset burst into activity.
“Alpha One, this is Alpha Two. Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) ahead! They’re blocking the road!”
“Copy! How many are there?” Luis replied, trying to see what was in front of them as the entire convoy slowed down. He could see now that the highway ahead was blocked by PLA armored vehicles.
“Drones in the air, sir. Target size TBD. Over!”
Suddenly, mortar shells peppered the road in front of them, putting medium size holes in the concrete pavement across the entire highway. Corporal Kilter drove Luis near the front of the convoy. He could now see what was happening. For some reason the Chinese were not firing directly at the convoy yet. Luis knew why. They wanted the two diplomats alive.
Luis thought for a moment. Circling the wagons, old army speak, was not the preferred option, but trying to break through the Chinese line would cause many casualties if his troops were outgunned. He did the next best thing.
“Break, break, all MRAPs to the front! Protect our convoy!” Luis ordered over the radio.
The MRAPs were heavily armed with the usual Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS) that included machine guns and mortar launchers, but more importantly, most of them also had anti-tank semi-automatic guidance system missile launchers. Once the drones were in the air, the missiles could hit any target with precision. Even the Chinese feared these weapons.
“Alpha One, drones report enemy strength at fifteen ZBD-10 amphibious Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFV) and ten ZTD-10 Amphibious Assault Vehicles (AAV— light tanks).”
Each IFV and AAV could hold up to eight soldiers that added up to two companies or around 200 soldiers,
The IFVs were armed with 30mm autocannon turrets, 7.62 mm machine guns and anti-aircraft machine guns. The AAVs were armed with 105 mm anti-tank guns, 7.62 mm machine guns and 12.7 mm anti-aircraft machine guns.
“Oh shit, sir. The drones are reporting five ZTZ-110 MBTs (Main Battle Tanks) nearby. They’re heading this way!”
These tanks were armed with 22-round, 8-shots per minute autoloader, 125 mm guns capable of firing armour-piercing missiles and other types of anti-tank weapons up to five kilometers. They also had laser guided missile systems.
Luis knew they had enough firepower to make a run for it and try to find a path around the PLA line, but they might not be able to outrun the ZTA tank guns once they found their targets. He put an emergency call to military headquarters in Jaipur.
He turned around to Steven and George. The PLA have blocked the highway ahead. We’re going to try to go around their line. It may get rough back there.”
“Can we make it through, Colonel?” Steven asked looking concerned.
“We’ll try, Ambassador. Problem will be the ZTZ tanks the Chinese have. They can hit targets from a long distance away.”
“Can Jaipur help us?” George asked.
“It’s a long shot, Director-General. They won’t be able to send any help soon enough to knock out those tanks before they get in range to fire at us.”
“Let me help. I know someone who may be able to stop them.” George grabbed his comphone and put through the call. Before he could reach anyone, Chinese missile shells began to fall around the convoy. They were no longer waiting to see if Luis’s convoy was going to stop and surrender peacefully. Corporal Kellter had to swerve suddenly to avoid shell bursts a few meters ahead of them.
“Break, break! This is Alpha One. Get off the highway and head north now! We’ll try to go around the roadblock. All MRAP’s fire your anti-tank missiles at the enemy. Use the drones for targeting. Over!”
The convoy immediately turned north off highway NH48 before the junction less than a quarter of a mile ahead of them. The shells were exploding all around now throwing pieces of concrete and asphalt high into the air, but no vehicle was hit yet. Luis put another call through to the Jaipur military base. They knew the situation was bad and help was on their way. It might not be in time to save lives, but Luis was determined to break through the Chinese blockade whatever the cost. He would not surrender anyone to the Chinese!