Operation Dragon Strike: A Brief Accounting of the Sino-American War of 2025

By Christopher A Gaston

Operation Dragon Strike is a fast-paced military thriller. Set in the near future; China is beset by an economy ravaged by years of trade wars and an aging disgruntled population. To make matters worse, Taiwan has discovered huge reserves of natural gas and oil off its eastern coast. Using this newfound petroleum power, Taiwan is purchasing modern weapons that threaten the balance of power. And, even more, disturbing for the leadership in China; international recognition. Understanding the existential threat to their power, China's leaders decide to launch Operation Dragon Strike; the forced repatriation of Taiwan. The United States caught off guard by China's attack, honors its long-standing commitments, and comes to Taiwan's aid.  Is this the start of World War III?

In 2025 science fiction like weapons will start to play new and lethal roles on the battlefield. Direct energy weapons (lasers) combined with Artificial Intelligence that can control autonomous drones alone or in swarms will threaten man's ability to survive in this deathly new environment. The country that can merge these new technologies into fluid weapon systems runs the highest odds of winning the war. Which side will adapt the fastest?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christopher A Gaston
• Release date: Feb 12, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386511984

Book preview

January 20, 2035

It is now ten years after the 1st Sino-American War. This recreation is an attempt to use 20/20 hindsight, whatever the hell that is, to understand the events that led up to and entailed the first clash of the 21st Century between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC), aka the Republic of Taiwan with aid of their ally the United States. 

In writing this piece, I have tried to speak with as many of the combatants as possible. However, after the purges, recriminations, and clashes between People Liberation Army units, it is next to impossible to interview any of the combatants on the mainland. The PLA members that defected or were captured lend some insight as to tactics and their orders. Still, this work is hampered by the dearth of command level material and the inability to interview any of the PRC leaders. This means that this work will draw criticism. Some will say this work is biased and intends to vilify the PRC; painting them as straw men formed solely by their actions. All the while casting Taiwan and her Allies as the guys in the white hats. If so, perhaps people in the know in China or elsewhere will come forward to clarify events and add their voice to this discussion. I want to thank the American and ROC officers that came forward to share their experiences of the war.

Finally, this book is dedicated to the thousands of men and women (on both sides) who gave their lives and their families that mourn their loss.

John 15:13 No Greater Love haveth a man who will lay down his life for another.

Paul Gainey

May 15, 2035

Chapter One

All warfare is deception.

Sun Tzu

544B.C. 496 B.C.

January 20, 2025

Washington, DC

12:00 P.M. local time

The three Dragonfly swarms flew near silently over Washington D.C streets. The Autonomously Micro Air Vehicles (AMAV) pale grey bodies made them almost invisible to the eye and were constructed of rigid fragmenting plastic. Powered by a high-efficiency battery they flew less than fifty feet above the city’s streets at twenty-five miles per hour. In addition, each drone carried a one-half ounce of high explosive, when detonated they would blow razor-sharp plastic in a five-foot kill radius. Each Dragonfly swarm consisted of fifty drones, and they were on time to arrive at the President’s swearing-in ceremony.

President-elect Kevin Chen, the former governor of California, was impatient, a character flaw his wife routinely reminded him drove up his blood pressure without changing things. Kim, his wife, would say to him take a few deep breaths and think about their special place in the Keys.

‘Unfortunately,’ he thought to himself,’ it's not working today.’ He wanted to assume the office of the President and start to make a difference in this world. Chen, the eldest son of Taiwanese emigrants, had been raised with his grandfather’s stories of their family’s persecution by the Communist Chinese. Chen's family had fought with the Nationalist against the Communist before they withdrew to Taiwan. His grandfather had created in Chen's heart a burning hatred of the Communist.  The President-Elect had told his wife repeatedly, once I am in the White House those SOB's were going to be put on notice. Yes, as soon as possible after becoming the Forty-Sixth President of the United States, the People’s Republic of China was going to learn there's a new sheriff in town.

Gary Weaver had been with the Secret Service for twelve years, the last five on the Presidential Detail. Born and raised in the former coal town of Bluefield West Virginia he had grown up hunting and fishing in the surrounding mountains and valleys. After graduating from Bluefield State with a degree in Engineering, he joined the Marine Corp. Where after two tours he was ready for a change and signed on with the Secret Service. The discipline instilled upon him by the Corp helped him make it to the Presidential Detail; the best of the best in the Secret Service. Thinking about his principle he chuckled to himself, ‘the former President's Service moniker had been Dragon Lady, and now with Chen, it was "Dragon.’

Weaver opened the door and looked in at Chen Five minutes Mr. President the President-elect thanked him and started rereading his speech for the tenth time that morning.

Charles Kilgore, the Vice-President Elect approached Chen’s suite he glanced at Gary, is he in Gary nodded the affirmative and opened the door. The President had left instructions to show the VP-Elect in as soon as he arrived.

Good morning, are ready for our big day? The agent heard Chen greet the VP-Elect as the door closed. Charles Kilgore, the former esteemed Congressman from Virginia, looked every bit the part of a President in waiting. Tall, with a runners slender build, a look he cultivated by running six miles every morning. His salt and pepper hair complimented his movie start looks without losing his gravitas. An image he had cultured since graduating from William and Mary (Class of 1972) with a degree in Political Science. His handsome image and charm had won him the Congressional seat.  Twenty years in the House had taught Kilgore to look for the middle position. Maggie Thatcher aside, who had once stated the problem on being in the middle of the road, is that both sides run you over. Contrary to the Iron Lady he had staked a comfortable position as a moderate always willing to work with the other side of the aisle to find a solution. He understood Chen's hatred of the Communist and considered it a bit naive. As he repeatedly told his wife, a little time in DC and the President-Elect will learn the art of compromise.

When Kilgore was first approached by the party king makers, he had reservations about signing onto the ticket. First, if they lost, his shot at running for his party’s nomination may have been ruined. Then there was Chen’s reputation as a polarizing firebrand that was the exact opposite of Kilgore. In the primaries and later the elections Chen rode a wave of Asian votes from the California Governor's Mansion to the White House.  Coming from such a large electoral state had given Chen significant bargaining power.

In Chen, the GOP leadership saw the potential to win back the minority vote. Bearing this in mind they encouraged his campaign, blocked potential rivals and convinced Chen to tone down his strident anti-Communist position. Which he had until election night when he announced that his administration's first move would be to recognize Taiwan as a separate and independent country from mainland China. In addition, he stated, it is time the US support her loyal ally and allow weapons purchases authorized by Congress and blocked by the prior administration to go through without further delay.

January 20, 2025

9 A.M. local time

Panama Canal Zone

Captain Wang looked over the helmsman’s shoulder as his COSCO (China Ocean Shipping Company) container ship the Empress Dragon 2 closed on the funnel. At least that was the way he looked at the choke point where the canal and the Chagres River intersected. Out of the locks and before the Chagres emptied into the Gatun Lake Basin the mouth was where the Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Commando’s would blow their charges and sink the Empress Dragon 2 at a forty-five degrees angle to port. The COSCO container ship Prince Rupert was transiting kilometers astern. The two huge fully loaded container ships had traveled in tandem since linking up off the coast of Cuba where the PLAN commando teams had boarded replacing some of the departing crewmen. The commandos knew very little about operating a container ship and, as a result, both ships were operating with skeleton crews. The two ships were referred to as Post Panamax Ships. Each ship was approximately twelve hundred feet in length and weighed in at a hundred and twenty thousand Dry Weight Tonnage (DWT). Their massive size made scrapping through the canal’s locks an exercise in precision. Their holds were stuffed and their decks stacked with eighteen-wheeler sized containers towering several stories above the shoreline.

Captain Wang looked down as he wiped his sweaty hands on his pants; trying hard to ignore the red streak across the deck. The red lines were a reminder of the Panamanian pilot’s body that had been left behind when the commandos had to drug him off the bridge. The pilot’s only crime had been to board the Empress in order to assist them in their transit of the canal. The PLAN commander had calmly shot the pilot in the back of his head, spraying blood and brain matter on the console and deck.  The PLAN commando leader had then blandly informed Wang that it was easier to shoot the pilot rather than tying him up. He quietly wondered if that was to be his fate as well. As the two ships neared the chokepoint, the PLAN leader motioned to the helmsman to turn hard to port as he instructed his men to blow the charges.

The behemoth shuddered as the charges blew ten foot wide holes in four places. The giant beast quickly dropped to the bottom of the channel. Wang checked his radar and watched as the Prince Rupert turned hard to starboard. When the big ship completed the movement, her commandos also blew gaping holes into the bottom of her hull. The Prince Rupert shuttered like a Serengeti Plains elephant shot through the heart as she too slammed into the bottom of the channel. When viewed from above the ships looked like the hands on a giant clock; stopped at ten and two.

Captain Wang mused between the two ships nothing larger than a sailboat was getting through the Panama Canal for a while. Especially not any of the American Navy warships from her Atlantic fleet. If the imperialist Americans wanted to intervene in China’s repatriation efforts, they would have to do it with whatever assets they already had on hand. This wasn’t some American movie; no cavalry was going to racing over the hill in the nick of time. The USN would eventually sail into the China Sea, but not in time to stop the events that were unfolding.’ Wang never completed his thoughts on the matter nor did he hear the shots that killed him and then his men. After confirming that there were no witnesses, the commando’s repelled down the sides of the two ships and slipped away into the jungle. Leaving large banners hanging from the stranded ships side, PANAMA FOR PANMANIANS"

The operation had gone off perfectly.  The opening shots of the Sino-American war had been fired.

November 8, 2024

8:00 A.M. local time

Beijing China

General Xing Pin exhaled blue cigarette smoke as he nervously straightened his uniform blouse. On the other side of the door, an emergency session of the Central Military Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CMC) awaited him. The CMC was the true power behind the throne in modern China.

All members of the CMC were loyal Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members. In fact, they were almost as loyal to the party as they were to attaining and keeping their own power. The CMC are the elite of China’s leadership. However, this did not mean they were all on the same page. In reality, they were usually on whatever pages suited them the best.

This was the first time since the Korean War that the Committee had been called into emergency session and General Ping suspected it had something to do with the announcements by the American President-Elect. As the guard opened the door, he strode into a wall of stone faces.

General Pin, Senior Plenary Chairman Chow Yuen asked, how is it that the Second Intelligence services failed to predict this disaster?

Chairman Yuen, both the military and the intelligence service's submitted psychological profile and personality reports on the American President-Elect. Whereas his animosity toward China was documented there was nothing in either report that indicated he would make such a provocative announcement.

Is it your position that this disaster is not your fault?

I am simply stating that both the military and the intelligence services underestimated President-Elect Chen’s brazen streak. He responded defensively.

So then what do you propose we do, General, or did you fail to plan for the possibility the Americans arming the rogue state? Sarcasm dripped from Yuen’s question.

Not at all, we have in place an operational plan for this contingency. I was summoned unexpectedly; I can have the plan ready to present to the Committee within twenty-four hours.

"For your sake General let us hope your planning was better than your analysis. The Committee expects to see you standing before us with answers this time tomorrow. Do you understand?

Yes, sir.

Do not fail again Comrade Pin.

Yes, Chairman Yuen.

Pin quickly moved to his car and instructed his driver to call his staff with instructions to meet him in his office in twenty minutes. Thinking to himself, ‘it is going to be a long day and night.’

November 9, 2024

8:00 A.M. local time

Beijing China

Chairman Yuen stared at General Pin over the top of his glasses;’ he thought it was his most intimidating look, seeing the general's discomfort he smiled inwardly. Thinking, ‘these military types need to be put in their place, this is not the China of Chairman Mao, and the military no longer holds the superior position. After all, I am the first person to hold the title of Chairman since the death of Mao decades before. It was an outward way to demonstrate to everyone the power I have accumulated. ’

General Pin, are you ready to present your plan to salvage this situation?

Yes, Chairman

Then by all means begin.

General Pin took a deep breath and began Committee Members, in front of you is the resolution to our problem, he said attempting to spread a collective responsibility for the current situation, if you would be so kind as to open the folder on your desktop labeled Operation Dragon Strike.

It was two hours later by the time General Pin concluded his presentation and answered all the Committee member questions.

General, you are dismissed Yuen stated with an imperial wave of his hand."

After the door hissed closed, Yuen looked to his comrades, gauging from the looks on their shocked faces, he could see that they were afraid. Pin had done his part now it was time to herd these sheep into the pen he had artfully constructed for them. Once done Yuen would be the most powerful man in China, if not the world. He cleared his throat and asked for their opinions.

He barely had the words out of his mouth before Hu Xing started talking.

Fellow members, the general's plan is comprehensive in its planning. However, killing the President-Elect of the United States is an act of war. If the Americans realize we are behind his assassination, it could lead to a nuclear war that will destroy both countries: if not the entire planet. I am as committed as anyone to reunification. Taiwan must be brought to heel and the resources her criminal regime is stealing resources that rightfully belong to the People’s Republic. That said, I believe that there must be a way to accomplish this without risking nuclear war with the Americans.

Yuen shifted his gaze to Xing. "Comrade Xing, the plan uses false flag operators. The assassins in Washington think they are working at the behest of an Islamic movement. The miniature drones are an Israeli design. The