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moment.
Just the same, Captain Bastian was right. This was the time the Chinese always
pressed home their
LRASD attacks on American fleets& and today would be no different.
June 23, 2008, 12:37 that same time
TU-22M Reconnaissance Aircraft
150 miles west of Midway Island
As soon as Colonel Chang's aircraft had picked up definite readings indicating
the American main task force, they communicated the location of that grouping
to the six lower altitude aircraft by digital, encrypted data link. They also
communicated it back to the main Chinese fleet.
The six lower level aircraft were anywhere from fifty to seventy five miles
out from the outer ring of escort vessels that were protecting the main
American task force. Each one had come within one to two miles of the specific
coordinates they had been ordered to proceed towards. After receiving the
location of the American task force, each aircraft's electronics officer
quickly programmed that location into a special encryption and translation
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algorithm that communicated the information to three small devices each
aircraft was carrying under its fuselage. Once the information was downloaded
into these devices, each device was released from the aircraft at three second
intervals as the aircraft circled the position they had been sent to. After
this was accomplished, the aircraft turned away to return to base.
Each device dropped by the aircraft deployed a small parachute and quickly
dropped the 100 feet into the water. Upon landing in the water, each deployed
a ten meter long, thin antennae into the ocean and transmitted the coordinates
of the American task force in a low power transmission that was detectable no
further than three miles from the transmitting device.
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In each of the six positions where these TU-22M aircraft had dropped
transmission devices, eight loitering LRASD devices picked up the
transmissions, processed the data and turned on their conventional propulsion.
They then dove to a five hundred meter depth and proceeded toward the
projected intercept points for the American task force between fifty and
seventy-five miles away. Quickly reaching their cruising speed of fifty knots,
forty-eight LRASD devices were inbound to the American task force.
June 23, 2008, ten minutes later
CIC, U.S.S. George Washington
100 miles West of Midway Island
Admiral Larsen was perplexed by the seemingly ineffective and disjointed
nature of the Chinese attack.
Something just wasn't right. Turing to the Captain of the George Washington,
he motioned for him to follow and they stepped outside of the CIC
"Ken, let's talk for just a minute.
"What do you make of what we just witnessed over the last ten minutes?"
Ken Bastian, relieved that none of the sixty cruise missiles that the enemy
had launched had reached his ship, and particularly relieved that there had
been no coordinated Killer Whale attack, took a minute to digest the Admiral's
question.
"Well, Admiral, I believe it was an attack that was poorly executed by the
enemy. I kept waiting for the other shoe to fall & but it never did."
Nodding, the Admiral responded.
"Exactly Ken, the other shoe never did fall. Why?
"When have you known, or read in the course of this war of the Chinese
conducting such a miserable attack? Do you honestly believe that in the midst
of an operation like this they would be so inept?"
The Captain, who had read every after action report of every sea battle during
the course of the war knew the answer.
"The answer is that they never have Admiral. I can't explain it.
"All of those cruise missiles they fired were duds & every one. They did not
travel more than ten miles before each and every one of them dropped into the
ocean and those Backfires turned tail and ran& and
I am glad they did. We downed sixteen of those TU-22M's without loss.
"So, although I can't explain it, I'm grateful it turned out that way."
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The Admiral appreciated the Captain's relief, but he sensed & no, he knew that
something was wrong.
Then it started to come to him.
"But Ken, what if that was exactly what was supposed to happen?
"What if those were not real cruise missiles and that whole thing was not a
real attack& what then? What does that tell you?"
Both men stared at each other for a second with dawning realization.
"Well, it would mean that they meant for out attention to be focused on those
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