15:53 (China Time)
Tuesday, September 9, 1975 ‘C’
Office of the Chinese Communist Party Chairman
Temporary capital of Xi’an, People’s Republic of China (PRC)
Deng Xiaoping was sometimes tempted to drop everything and quit, so immense was the job of rebuilding China after nearly three decades of mismanagement and incompetent administration by various political demagogues. However, he knew that, if he gave up, his replacements would probably be more of the same kind of incompetent demagogues who were big on political slogans but short on economic management skills. Thus, the thoughts of more mismanagement of the country kept him persevering in his job, trying to reform China’s economy while keeping a solid grip on both the party and the country. The fact that he had to move the administrative center of China to the old imperial capital of Xi’an, after the nuclear destruction by the Americans of both Beijing and Shanghai, had only made his job more complicated. At least, the clique of old guard generals who had secretly jailed him with the eventual goal of executing him was gone, either killed in the American retaliatory strikes or purged after younger officers had revolted and taken Deng’s side.
Deng was in the process of reading the latest and rather discouraging statistics about national rice production when his intercom buzzed, prompting him in pressing its ‘talk’ button.
‘’Yes?’’
‘’Comrade Chairman, General Xu Aoban is here to see you. He says that it is about a most urgent matter.’’
‘’Very well, let him in!’’
Deng stayed in his chair when Xu Aoban walked in, but gave him a welcoming smile.
‘’What can I do for you, General Xu?’’
Xu didn’t smile back, keeping instead a concerned look as he offered a file to Deng across his desk.
‘’I am afraid that I have bad news for you, Comrade Chairman. This is a report from the officer in charge of cleaning up the debris at the site of our Lop Nur nuclear test facility.’’
‘’And?’’ replied Deng, starting to feel dread after hearing the mention of Lop Nur.
‘’Major General Liang Dong reports in it that a weapons storage bunker situated at the periphery of the crater caused by the American nuclear bomb which destroyed our facility was finally dug up. Unfortunately, the two nuclear bombs which were supposed to be in that bunker when the American strike occurred where nowhere to be found. We basically have lost track of those two weapons.’’
Suddenly angry, Deng shot out of his chair and nearly screamed in Xu’s face.
‘’WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU LOST TRACK OF TWO ATOMIC WEAPONS?’’
‘’Just that, Comrade Chairman.’’ replied Xu with difficulty. ‘’According to the surviving archives in Lop Nur, the bunker still contained two thermonuclear warheads when it was last inspected the day before the American strike. However, that bunker was found to be empty when our men dug up its entrance.’’
‘’But, nuclear weapons are not supposed to disappear like this! They are supposed to be tightly controlled, with written records of every time they are moved.’’
‘’That is normally the case, Comrade Chairman. However, we suspect that the general in charge of the Lop Nur facility while you were in prison may have illegally moved those two weapons, without following the standard procedures. Since that general is now dead, along with all of his staff, it will be quite difficult to retrace the movement of those two atomic bombs.’’
Deng sat back heavily, dread filling him.
‘’How powerful were those two bombs, General Xu?’’
‘’They were two of our newest, airdropped thermonuclear bombs, each with a yield of three megatons, enough to completely destroy a large city.’’
‘’And how easy would they be to detonate, General?’’
Xu instinctively shrank at that question, realizing that Deng was not going to like his answer.
‘’Actually, not having been declared fully operational, they had not yet been connected to a coded command box, Comrade Chairman. A simple switch could be connected to the firing circuits of our bombs, which would then be ready to be detonated by various means, including timing mechanisms, direct command wires or radio signals.’’
That left Deng speechless for a moment, too horrified to speak.
‘’So, you are saying that we have two missing nuclear weapons and that someone may have them and would be able to detonate them at will?
‘’In a nutshell, yes, Comrade Chairman.’’
Hiding his face in his hands for a second, Deng then pointed an index at Xu.
‘’General, finding these two nuclear bombs is now our top priority in terms of national security. Understood?’’
‘’Yes, Comrade Chairman! I will advise you the moment that I get more information about them.’’
Xu then saluted Deng before pivoting on his heels and walking out of the office. Now alone, Xiaoping sat back in his chair, both discouraged and worried. The question of whether to inform the Americans about this or not, in order to avoid retaliations from them if they were hit by one of the missing weapons, came to his mind. However, he dismissed that idea after a few seconds of reflection: confessing such a lack of control would make China lose face completely and may in fact attract preemptive strikes from the Americans. He suddenly swore violently to himself when he realized that, maybe, the Americans would not be the sole possible target for those who may have stolen those two nuclear weapons.
07:46 (China Time)
Monday, September 15, 1975 ‘C’
Office of the Chinese Communist Party Chairman
Xi’an, PRC
Deng had a bad feeling the moment that he stepped into the antechamber to his office and found General Xu waiting for him there, sitting in a sofa and watched by Deng’s secretary. Xu got on his feet when he saw Deng enter and saluted him.
‘’Comrade Chairman!’’
Deng nodded his head in response and pointed the door of his office.
‘’Good morning, General! Please follow me in.’’
The two of them walked into the office, with Deng closing the door and locking it behind him before looking at Xu.
‘’So, what do you have for me, General?’’
‘’New information about our two missing bombs, Comrade Chairman. I am afraid that things are becoming even worse.’’
Deng closed his eyes for a moment while inhaling deeply, then looked back at Xu.
‘’Go on, General!’’
‘’Well, what I have are mainly speculations based on secondary information, Comrade Chairman. After analyzing all the remaining intact data and paperwork at Lop Nur, we found the log book of the facility’s main access gate. In the night after the last recorded inspection of the weapons storage bunker, a small army convoy of three vehicles entered the site, to then exit some three hours later. The officer that annotated the log book then scribbled in it that General Jin Tao, in charge of the facility, personally ordered that the convoy be let in and out without inspection. What really got our attention was the fact that the officer of the watch also noted down that a Korean officer accompanied the Chinese personnel of the convoy. My bet is thus that, for some crazy reason, our old clique of generals gave away two of our thermonuclear bombs to Kim Il-Sung’s regime, and this without any official transfer paperwork and with no formal authorization from the Party leadership.’’
Cold sweat broke out at once on Deng’s forehead: even by the standards of the Chinese Communist Party, Kim Il-Sung was considered a brutal, soulless and nearly psychopathic leader. That such a man could be in possession of two thermonuclear weapons was enough of an idea to horrify about anybody. Feeling his head swim, Deng hurried to go sit on a nearby sofa and took a moment to regain control of his emotions. He then looked back at Xu, who had patiently waited while standing still.
‘’Alert our agents in Korea and make them discretely look for any sign of our two missing weapons. Do not let the Koreans know that we are investigating them.’’
‘’Understood, Comrade Chairman! We will inquire in the most discreet manner possible.’’
18:19 (China Time)
Tuesday, September 23, 1975 ‘C’
Main gate of the Chinese embassy in Pyongyang
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
With twice as many Korean policemen than usual posted on the outer side of the main gate of the embassy he was guarding with his men, Lieutenant Hua Yanbin strongly suspected that something was afoot. The approach of a senior member of the embassy staff, who he knew to be an undercover agent of the Ministry of State Security, only reinforced his impression. He did salute Chan Wenyuan when he stopped closed to him near the iron grill gate. Chan, who wore a long raincoat to combat the light drizzle falling this evening, frowned on seeing the abnormal number of Korean policemen standing on the other side of the gate, some of them with their backs nearly glued to the gate itself.
‘’Lieutenant, make those goons back off from our gate. I am expecting one of our citizens who must gain access to the embassy grounds.’’
‘’Yes sir!’’ replied Yanbin, who then got very close to the gate and spoke in a strong voice in Korean to the senior Korean police officer present.
‘’Hey, could you move your men away from our embassy gate? They are nearly infringing on embassy grounds.’’
To Yanbin’s irritation and anger, the Korean simply gave him a disdainful look but said nothing and didn’t move away with his men. Getting pissed, the young lieutenant looked at his four soldiers on duty at the gate.
‘’CHAMBER A ROUND IN YOUR RIFLES AND FIX BAYONETS! SERGEANT SOONG, CALL OUR RESERVE SECTION AND TELL THEM TO COME TO THE MAIN GATE AT THE DOUBLE.’’
‘’YES SIR!’’
The senior Korean officer, who apparently could understand Chinese, looked with alarm as Yanbin’s soldiers loaded their rifles and started to fix bayonets on their AK-47 assault rifles. That was when Yanbin spoke to him again, this time in a noticeably stronger tone.
‘’I ASKED YOU TO MOVE YOUR MEN AWAY FROM THE GATE. IF YOU DON’T, WE WILL HAVE TO PROD YOU AWAY WITH OUR BAYONETS. YOU HAVE FIVE SECONDS TO COMPLY.’’
With Chan Wenyuan watching on that scene, the Korean officer hesitated for a moment, then gave a brief order to his men, who then took three steps away from the gate, but no more. That Korean then smiled to Yanbin in a most insulting way.
‘’Satisfied, Lieutenant?’’
Yanbin was furiously tempted to draw his pistol and shoot that arrogant bastard, but he managed to contain his anger.
‘’Don’t force me to repeat my warning, Captain.’’
Both the Koreans and the Chinese stared hard at each other, weapons firmly held at the ready and with tension now quite high. A moment later, Chan approached Yanbin and whispered in his ear.
‘’Our citizen is now approaching from the left. Whatever happens, she must gain access to the embassy grounds. Unlock the gate and stand ready to cover her entrance.’’
‘’Yes sir!’’
Yanbin, looking to his left, saw a woman carrying an umbrella and walking on the sidewalk, approaching the main gate at a regular step. Himself getting close to the gate, Yanbin unlocked the iron pedestrian grill next to the guardhouse and discretely signaled to his men to get closer. However, the Korean officer saw that and started barking orders to his policemen, who then formed a human barrier to block the approach of the woman. The latter hesitated and slowed down, now a mere ten paces from the pedestrian gate. She then spoke in Korean to the policemen.
‘’I am a Chinese citizen! Let me enter the embassy of my country.’’
‘’Show me your papers!’’ replied the Korean officer. In response, the woman started opening her purse and searching in it while advancing towards the Koreans…and the gate. Chan Yenyuan, tense as a steel bar, spoke again to Yanbin in a low voice.
‘’She must gain access, Lieutenant: she has information vital to the national security of our country. Don’t hesitate to use force if need be.’’
‘’But that could cause a serious diplomatic incident, sir.’’
‘’Our country may face much graver consequences than a simple diplomatic spat if that woman is prevented from bringing in her information, Lieutenant.’’
Understanding that something of grave importance was now at play and seeing that his backup section was arriving at a run, Yanbin looked briefly at his four soldiers.
‘’Be ready to effect a brief sortie with me to snatch that woman and bring her into embassy grounds.’’
Things then happened very quickly. As the Korean officer was about to take the passport offered by the woman, the latter broke off in a sudden sprint, pushing the Korean officer out of her way. Unfortunately for her, a Korean policeman then tripped her, making her fall on her belly a mere six paces from the pedestrian gate. Yanbin then knew that he had to move now.
‘’LET’S GRAB HER, MEN!’’
Throwing the pedestrian gate open, Yanbin violently pushed away the first Korean who tried to block his path to the woman. Now nearly on top of the woman and with eight Korean policemen converging on him and the woman, Yanbin grabbed the woman’s right forearm and started dragging her towards the gate, with his four soldiers covering his flanks with their rifles, their bayonets pointed at the now hesitant Koreans. He and the woman were nearly at the gate when the enraged Korean officer, who had his pistol out, shot once, hitting the woman squarely in the back and making her scream in pain. Transported with rage, Yanbin in turn raised his pistol and shot the Korean officer between the eyes while still dragging the woman. With now twelve Chinese soldiers pointing their assault rifles at them, the eight remaining Korean policemen hesitated for an instant, giving time to Yanbin to drag the woman through the pedestrian gate and into embassy grounds. His four soldiers quickly retreated from the street and closed the gate, locking it and pointing again their rifles at the Koreans.
‘’FORM A HUMAN WALL BETWEEN THE KOREANS AND THIS WOMAN, QUICKLY!’’
Now on safe ground, Yanbin was able to finally check on the woman. The Korean’s bullet had pierced her left lung, passing very close to her heart but missing it. However, pink foam was already coming out of her mouth and her eyes were glazing up. Kneeling next to her, Chan Yenyuan spoke urgently to her, realizing that she could well die within seconds.
‘’Ziyi, what did you learn? Tell me, quick!’’
When the woman spoke, it was in a near whisper, with Yanbin able to hear her at the same time as Chan did.
‘’Weapons…already on their way…to America…they…th…’’
Her last word was left unfinished, while her eyes became fixed. Checking quickly her pulse, Yanbin found none and gave a discouraged look to Chan.
‘’She is gone, sir. I am sorry that I couldn’t save her.’’
‘’You did all that you could, Lieutenant. On her part, Ziyi did her duty to the ultimate end. Have her body carried inside the embassy by your men but keep a solid guard force at the gate. I must now send an urgent message to Xi’an before the Koreans could try to jam our radio transmissions.’’
Yanbin looked with shock at the state security man, realizing that something of extreme importance was now happening.
‘’The Koreans…jamming our transmissions? May I ask what is happening, sir?’’
Chan gave him a somber look and answered in a near whisper, so that the soldiers around him could not hear him.
‘’Keep this to yourself, Lieutenant, but the sheer survival of our country is now at stake. I now have to go. Threat her body with utter respect: she is worthy of being called a true national heroine.’’
Chan then got up and ran away towards the embassy’s main building, leaving Yanbin and three of his soldiers to delicately lift the young woman’s body and carry it inside.
19:38 (China Time)
Official residence of Chairman Deng Xiaoping
Old imperial palace in Xi’an
Deng Xiaoping was finishing his supper with his wife when General Xu Aoban was introduced into their dining room by a servant. Xiaoping noticed at once the agitated state of Xu.
‘’General Xu? What do you have for me?’’
‘’Could we speak in private, Comrade Chairman? I have urgent and alarming news for you.’’
‘’Then, let’s move to my private study. If you will excuse me, dear.’’
‘’Go right ahead, my dear husband.’’
Leaving the dining room with Xu, Deng led him to his upper floor private study, where he closed the door behind him before looking at his visitor.
‘’So, what is it, General?’’
‘’Barely more than one hour ago, one of our agents who had infiltrated the Korean leadership entourage tried to get inside our embassy in Pyongyang, having warned our resident senior agent there that she had some very important information to pass. Unfortunately, it seems that the Koreans got wind of that and reinforced their police checkpoint at the embassy’s gate. Our agent still attempted to get inside the embassy grounds but got shot in the process and died shortly thereafter. She however had time to say a few last words to our senior agent after our soldiers succeeded into grabbing her. Her exact words, according to our senior agent, were ‘Weapons already on their way to America’. She unfortunately couldn’t say more before dying, Comrade Chairman.’’
‘’But it was already plenty.’’ replied Xiaoping, his expression now hard as stone. ‘’We can safely bet that the Koreans did not send our two thermonuclear bombs to the United States simply as gifts and you can imagine the reaction of the Americans if two of their cities get incinerated by thermonuclear bombs.’’
‘’I unfortunately can, Comrade Chairman.’’
‘’If one or both bombs explodes on American territory, would the Americans be able to tell who sent them, General?’’
‘’Who sent them: not really, Comrade Chairman. However, our scientists told me that the original manufacturer of a nuclear weapon can be identified by the type and proportion of radioactive isotopes released by a nuclear explosion. Since the Americans were able to collect air and ground samples around Taipei after it was destroyed by one of our missiles, they will have no problem establishing that those two stolen bombs were built in China.’’
Xiaoping had to go sit behind his work desk, horrified by what that meant for the future of his country. After a long moment analyzing that information in his mind, he could think of only one possible solution to avoid a cataclysmic end to China and extended a hand towards the telephone set on his desk.
‘’I believe that we now have no choice but to warn the Americans about the threat against them, if we want to avoid their blind, massive nuclear retaliation.’’
07:08 (Washington Time) / 20:08 (China Time)
Oval Office, The White House
Washington, D.C., U.S.A.
Robert Kennedy, still unshaven and wearing a robe over his pajama, grabbed his telephone receiver on the presidential desk and brought it to his left ear. The only other person present in the Oval Office was his military aide, who had warned him that an unscheduled call from China’s Deng Xiaoping had come through. Thankfully, Xiaoping had a translator with him, so Robert didn’t have to wait for a Chinese linguist to come to the White House.
‘’Chairman Deng, to what do I owe you this unexpected call?’’
He heard in the background a translator repeat his words in Mandarin before getting a translated response to his question.
‘’Mister President, I am calling to warn you of a very grave and imminent danger threatening your nation. I recently discovered that, during the time I was being jailed in China by the generals who attacked Taiwan, those same generals apparently gave to the Koreans two of our thermonuclear bombs, which were in storage in Lop Nur at the time.’’
Blood rushed to Robert Kennedy’s head on hearing that and he nearly shouted in the receiver.
‘’They gave two hydrogen bombs to the Koreans? Were they mad?’’
‘’Probably, especially if you consider their foolish decision to nuke Taipei and launch an invasion of Taiwan nearly two years ago. Anyway, on learning about this, I ordered my intelligence network in Korea to investigate this matter. I got back some crucial information about two hours ago via an agent who died in the process of passing on that information to us. She couldn’t say much before dying but her last words were ‘The weapons are already on their way to America’. I am calling you to both warn you about this imminent threat and also to assure you that China did not initiate or encourage this attack by Korea. Mister President? Mister President?’’
Robert was finally able to get out of the near-catatonic trance that had frozen him speechless.
‘’Yes, I hear you, Chairman Deng. Sorry for the delay in responding to you. Do you have any idea where these two bombs are headed and when and where they will arrive in the United States?’’
‘’Unfortunately, we know nothing more than what I just told you, Mister President. However, my military staff believes that the most probable mode of delivery will be by ship, with the bombs hidden among some kind of cargo.’’
‘’That sounds logical to me. How powerful are these two nuclear devices?’’
It was the turn of Deng to pause before answering in a reluctant tone.
‘’They are thermonuclear devices with a yield of three megatons for each weapon, Mister President.’’
Robert Kennedy felt as if a shower of ice cubes was poured over him on hearing those last words.
‘’Very well, Chairman Deng: we will mobilize all our available means to counter that threat from Korea. I am ready to believe you when you say that China’s present leadership is not responsible for this and I promise restraint towards China in our response. However, I can’t promise any leniency towards Korea, especially if any American city or port is destroyed by those two bombs.’’
‘’That is most understandable, Mister President. I would however urge you to contemplate the effects that traveling clouds of radioactive dust from strikes against Korea would have on my country, which sits next door to Korea.’’
‘’I understand your concerns, Chairman Deng, and I promise you that we will keep our response commensurate to whatever happens next. I will keep you appraised of any new developments on our side. Thank you for warning me, Chairman Deng.’’
Robert then slowly hung up his receiver and thought for a few seconds about what to do next. Grabbing again his telephone receiver, he used a direct encrypted line to the Pentagon and called the National Military Command Center, getting a response after one ring.
‘’NMCC, Colonel Blanchard speaking!’’
‘’Colonel Blanchard, this is the President speaking. We have a grave national emergency situation on our hands. Chairman Deng of China just called me to warn us that Korea has managed to steal two Chinese thermonuclear bombs and that they have information saying that those bombs are now on their way to the United States, possibly hidden aboard some cargo ships. First, I want you to put all our armed forces on alert and to raise our readiness status to DEFCON 2. Make sure in particular that our Pacific Fleet goes to maximum readiness as quickly as possible. Next, I am calling an emergency security meeting of the Joint Chiefs and of the National Security Council, to be held at the NMCC conference room. Alert the Joint Chiefs and tell them to come to the Pentagon as quickly as they can. On my part, I will be departing the White House for the Pentagon as soon as I can warn my national security staff about this meeting. Do you have any question, Colonel Blanchard?’’
‘’Only one, Mister President: do you want the bombers of our Strategic Air Command to start loading nuclear weapons in their bomb bays, so that they would be ready to react quickly to any scramble order?’’
Robert only had to think for a second before answering that.
‘’I do! However, no armed bomber is to take off until we can decide if a nuclear strike is needed and where.’’
‘’Understood, Mister President!’’
Both Robert and Blanchard then hung up, with Robert taking a deep breath to calm down.
‘’What a lousy way to start a day!’’
02:23 (Hawaii Time) / 07:23 (Washington Time)
Soviet cargo ship AMUR STAR
Port of Honolulu, Oahu
Hawaii
Captain Yevgeni Kaposhnikov was quite busy on the open wing of his bridge, giving orders to his crew and talking on the radio with the American tugboat helping his ship to dock in the port of Honolulu. The trip from Vladivostok had been rather uneventful, if you excepted a couple instances of bad weather, and he would soon be able to unload his mixed cargo of frozen fish and of containers filled with various goods. He was finally able to relax when the mooring lines of his ship were tied to the quay and his engines were at full stop. Looking around the darkness at the lights of Honolulu, he smiled at the idea that he was soon going to be able to go swim at one of the celebrated beaches of Hawaii, where pretty women in skimpy swimsuits were said to be legion. Looking down at his forward deck, where two sailors were putting in place a gangway between the ship and the quay, he saw his sole passenger, a businessman from Hong-Kong, standing against the ship’s railings. Mister Wang then took a sort of box out of a pocket of his jacket and touched what seemed to be a button on one of its faces. That was the last thing Kaposhnikov ever saw before a bright sun exploded in his face, instantly incinerating him into dust.
02:24 (Hawaii Time)
Bridge of the cruiser U.S.S. TRUXTUN (CGN 35)
Sailing towards Pearl Harbor
‘’JESUS!’’
Petty Officer Second Class James Maxwell, who was on duty as a watchman on the bridge of the nuclear cruiser U.S.S. TRUXTUN, had to quickly turn his head, an impossibly bright flash of light having just appeared from the direction of Pearl Harbor and Honolulu. His exclamation was however quickly replaced by a shout of pain as his exposed skin felt like it was burning up. Not able to withstand whatever was burning his skin, Maxwell hurried back inside the enclosed bridge, half-blind from the sudden flash of light. The other men on the bridge were similarly affected by that flash, with one watchman who had been watching in the direction of Pearl Harbor now starting to panic while his arms thrashed around.
‘’I’m blind! I can’t see a thing!’’
The officer of the watch, a young navy lieutenant, was not doing much better, not having a clue about what had just happened. However, his expression of confusion soon changed to one of utter horror as he saw a giant fireball rise in the distance the night sky.
‘’My God! Pearl Harbor just got nuked!’’
Nearly jumping on the bridge intercom and grabbing its receiver, the young officer called the captain’s cabin, getting a sleepy answer after three long rings.
‘’Yes? What is it?’’
‘’Captain, this is Lieutenant Jones, on the bridge. Pearl Harbor just got nuked! A giant fireball is now rising in the sky from our base.’’
‘’WHAT? I’M COMING! SOUND THE GENERAL ALARM!’’
‘’Yes, Captain!’’ replied Jones, who then slapped vigorously with one hand the general alarm button near him, starting the loud modulated blaring of a horn. Only then did Jones remember that his wife and two young children had been waiting for his return at their small apartment in Kalihi Kai, near Pearl Harbor. His legs gave way and he collapsed on his knees, sobbing uncontrollably.
‘’NOOO! PLEASE GOD, NOOO!’’
In the port of Honolulu, the explosion of the Chinese three megaton hydrogen bomb created a fireball with a radius of 1.95 kilometers and temperatures in the thousands of degrees Celsius. Since the explosion occurred on a ship in the harbor, very close to sea level, that fireball vaporized a huge amount of water, sediments, rock, concrete and other materials found in the port, turning them into millions of tons of co