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  WAR

  The pungent smell of eucalyptus trees would take getting used to but he was fond of Australia. He'd studied civil engineering at the University of Melbourne in his early twenties. Zhang smiled fondly as he recalled the first time he watched a game of cricket at the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground. He still didn't understand the strange sport. Maybe as the Governor of Australia he would finally have the chance to learn.

  The heavy beats of rotors sounded from the East. About damn time! As the doors closed on the executive craft Zhang relaxed into the leather chair. The air-conditioning overcame the beads of sweat on his forehead. The triple tinted glass allowed him to finally remove his sunglasses. He glanced at the summaries from his commanders on his tablet. It was all too easy so far. He secretly hoped something would go wrong for the opportunity to demonstrate his true talents. Perhaps a little more resistance could be arranged. His intelligence cell kept telling him Australian's were outstanding war fighters. It was a shame their leaders had completely missed all the warning signs.

  A red diamond appeared in the corner of his tablet. Flash traffic. Zhang clicked on the icon and an encrypted dialog box opened. It was Admiral Chen again. The man was concerned he would not share in the credit for the invasion. It was a fair point. Zhang's ground forces had captured most of the Australian Navy in port. What to do with a Chinese fleet spoiling for a fight when the United States no longer posed a threat? Defending the offshore gas terminals around Darwin when nothing threatened them would be tedious and Chen could be a loose cannon when he was bored.

  Zhang typed a short message suggesting Chen tow three of the captured Australian frigates captured in Darwin out to sea for a live fire exercise. He suggested the Admiral film their destruction and send the footage home to enhance the prestige of the Chinese Navy in action. Chen replied instantly. The suggestion appealed to his love of Hollywood. Could he also use one of the captured Australian submarines as part of the theatrics? Yes, Zhang replied feeling generous. In his mind the Navy was merely the taxi for the army but he was keenly aware infighting amongst his commanders would only diminish his own prestige, and he had no intention of allowing that.

  Zhang failed to notice the plume of white smoke emerge from the valley below. Luckily the pilots did and pointed the nose down violently causing Zhang to drop his tablet, shattering its screen. The sudden acceleration slammed him back into his seat as the sound of alarms filled the cabin. The pilots began yelling excitedly and a strange hissing noise alerted Zhang to the deployment of chaff. Had someone dared to fire a missile at him?

  The pilots began weaving between trees to confuse the missile's track. It worked and the missile detonated harmlessly against a low hill. Zhang squinted as a wall of flame erupted to his left as four escorting attack helicopters launched rockets at a nearby ridge. Tracers spewed from their rotary cannons at a cluster of boulders. That would surely shred anything left.

  ‘A man portable heat seeking missile crew sir,’ his Adjutant said. ‘Our escort confirms their destruction.’

  ‘Do we have footage?’

  ‘Yes sir, the escorts filmed the whole thing.’

  ‘Wonderful, upload it to my social media accounts immediately.’

  ‘Of course sir.’

  Zhang beamed. This would finally tip his twitter followers above that of the US President.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  BLIND

  CIA Headquarters

  Langley, Virginia

  Chief Analyst Scott Walters was not looking forward to this briefing. As the CIA's top expert on the South Pacific he'd always been the one with little to report. Not anymore. A third of the Chinese fleet were parked off the coast of Australia at this very moment, together with hundreds of troop transports unloading tanks by the dozen every half hour.

  ‘How the hell did you miss this Walters?’ yelled the Deputy Chief of the CIA. His boss remained standing and pointed a finger accusingly. ‘I approved your request for more satellite time only last year. How did you miss the entire Chinese fleet putting to sea?’

  That was an exaggeration. It was a third of the fleet. Scott decided it was not the time correct his boss on that one. ‘We have been watching the new artificial islands in the South China Sea as you ordered sir.’

  That was not the answer the Deputy Chief wanted to hear. ‘Islands don't move Walters, ships do. Why weren't you watching them?’

  Walters knew it wasn't his job to monitor the movements of the Chinese fleet. That was the job of the US Navy and they had suddenly withdrawn to Hawaii a month ago. Scott was smart enough to know something bigger than him, bigger than even the CIA was afoot. The Deputy would soon realise too and in the meantime Scott was not going to be made a scapegoat for whatever the hell was going on.

  ‘I filed several reports warning of the build-up of armoured divisions in Southern ports and the loading of troops onto transports when no exercises were scheduled.’

  The Deputy waved his hand, ignoring the answer.

  Scott felt sorry for the Australians. It must be the deal of the century for the US to agree to stand aside and let the Chinese invade his country's closest ally. What was the US receiving in return? Whatever it was it was way above his pay grade.

  ‘You're fired, get out of my sight.’

  ‘What!’

  ‘You heard me, your career is over. Security will escort you out.’

  The Deputy Chief took the glass of water offered by his secretary. ‘How many more to go?’ ‘Four more sir,’ she replied.

  ‘Good, it's exhausting firing good people for doing their job.’

  His Secretary merely nodded. They both knew Scott was one of the agency's best analysts. But someone had to take the fall for this.

  The Deputy had been in the room with the Chinese Ambassador when the agreement was struck to allow the Chinese to invade Australia without US intervention. He'd been angry about it at first, but what else could the US do when the Chinese presented an alien artefact capable of triggering magnitude 10 earthquakes at will. The US nuclear arsenal was worthless.

  He recalled how casually the Chinese Ambassador had described the plan for the settlement of Australia by millions of Chinese families. A special ballot would decide which families were successful.

  A part of him could see where the Chinese were coming from. The resource rich island of Australia with its vast unsettled interior and pristine environment was an attractive target. The overpopulated, heavily polluted Chinese mainland could not be rehabilitated the Ambassador claimed. The damage to its rivers and soils was too great. ‘Stay out of it and there will be no need for earthquakes to obliterate your coastal cities,’ were the man’s parting words.

  CHAPTER NINE

  CABINET

  Canberra

  Australia

  Zhang continued to smoke his cigar despite the concern on the faces of the flight crew. He would smoke wherever he wanted, this was his helicopter.

  Australia was only the beginning. New Zealand, Malaysia, Thailand and Japan were next. China had been slighted by the world's recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign nation and he was the man to restore her dignity.

  Zhang recalled the Central Committee's vote on the invasion with a smile. General Rau, chief of the Air Force suggested 26 January, Australia Day, as a joke but the committee liked the irony of it. The vote was unanimous, although officially all votes of the Central Committee were unanimous, as the Chairman happily pointed out prior to the ballot.

  As the helicopter approached the landing zone Zhang gave up trying to find the Koala his Adjutant assured him was in the tree to the left. He'd see one at the zoo later. An animal that routinely slept for twenty-three hours a day was the perfect symbol for the Australian military, caught napping while the hammer of the Chinese army swept them away like dominos. ‘Round them up, time to play,’ he yelled to his Sergeant over the sound of the rotors. This was one meeting Zhang had been looking forward to all morning.

  The Prime Minister o
f Australia sat stony faced in the Cabinet room of Parliament House Canberra surrounded by his Ministers. A small number of additional attendees sat on chairs around the edge of the room. Normally reserved for aides and advisers, today they were occupied by strangers. It was unprecedented to have representatives of a foreign power participating in a Cabinet meeting. Particularly when they wore the slate grey uniforms of the Chinese army.

  The Prime Minister was not sitting in his usual high backed leather chair at the head of the ornate Tasmanian oak table. Instead a slightly overweight man wearing the neatly pressed uniform of a Chinese General sat leaning casually in the chair reserved for the Prime Minister.

  Zhang could appreciate the Prime Minister was having a particularly bad day. He almost felt sorry for the man. Going down in history as the man who lost his country to the first invasion by a first rate power in over two-hundred years was not the kind of legacy Zhang intended to leave. Waking up to a squad of Chinese commandoes pointing submachine guns in your face would be a sobering experience for any leader. Especially on the morning of Australia Day, the most sacred of Australian public holidays.

  Zhang held up his hand and the noise in the room came to an abrupt end. These Australians could not stop arguing. Even as their country was being occupied by Chinese forces all they could do was squabble.

  The Defence Minister sat glumly at the end of the table looking as if he'd forgotten where he parked his car. Earlier in the morning the Defence Minister had been a little more animated when he blamed the Treasurer for depriving him of funds to equip the Australian military. The Treasurer responded by blaming the Education Minister for depriving him of funds to give to the Defence Minister. Australians seemed unable to take responsibility for anything.

  ‘Gentlemen and ladies, please. I appreciate it will take time for you to absorb the reality of the situation. However, I must warn you I am operating on a strict timetable. While it pains me to say this I am authorised to execute each and every member of your families if necessary.’

  ‘You can't expect us to surrender,’ the Defence Minister protested. He had finally found his voice. ‘We haven't been able to contact the leaders of our armed forces. We have no idea what the status of our military is. We are not going to surrender if there is a chance parts of our country have defeated your invasion.’

  Zhang resisted rolling his eyes. The ignorance of the man.

  ‘Minister,’ Zhang spoke gently as if to a child. ‘The high command of your military are dead and I can assure you there are no parts of your country which successfully resisted Chinese forces. We control the entirety of Australian airspace, all maritime approaches and offshore installations and have destroyed or rendered ineffective all your military facilities, bases, munitions stockpiles, communications and the like. As I explained previously my Government means no harm to your people if they do not resist. We are giving you an opportunity to avoid large-scale bloodshed and destruction of property.’

  Zhang paused and stroked the corner of his moustache, a habit he'd developed while on exchange to Sandhurst.

  ‘Now if you will excuse me I have other matters to attend to. I will return in one hour. If you fail to sign the instrument of surrender I will order my Adjutant to commence with the execution of your families and to proceed with an artillery bombardment of Western Sydney. I am reliably informed this is your most densely populated region.’

  Zhang rose and left as the faces of the Australian's paled.

  CHAPTER TEN

  HMAS COLLINS

  Commander Ryan Forbes was confused as hell. There were ships where ships were not meant to be. ‘I don't like this,’ Forbes said to his executive officer.

  Forbes had received detailed briefings on the Chinese formation transiting Australian waters to join the Indian navy for joint exercises. The Chinese had lodged all the necessary advisements and been fully compliant with international maritime law. Well at least until an hour ago when they dramatically altered course.

  HMAS Collins was at a hundred feet and shadowing the Chinese as they passed within twenty miles of the Australian Exclusive Economic Zone. Navy Command had determined it was too good an opportunity not to snoop on the Chinese, especially as their fleet included two of the latest Type II Titan class destroyers. The Titans were rumoured to be fitted with a high speed magnetic propulsion system capable of a forty-five knot cruise and sixty knot sprint. But Forbes and his crew had seen no evidence of this, as the Chinese formation continued to plod along at a leisurely twelve knots. No speed records were at risk of being broken today.

  Forbes went to periscope depth for a quick star fix just after midnight. While his submarine had an advanced automated navigation system he always did a manual star fix when the diesels were recharging the batteries. An old habit drummed into him by his first commanding officer who could never bring himself to trust computerised systems.

  Forbes was ordering the periscope lowered when Lieutenant Anderson his communications officer tapped him on the shoulder.

  ‘Sir you got a minute?’

  ‘Sure Harry.’

  Harry seemed quieter than usual. Normally he was the most animated of Forbes' officers.

  ‘Sir we received a message from Navy Headquarters in the clear.’

  ‘In the clear?’ Forbes said unbelieving.

  ‘Yes sir, no encryption at all. At first we thought it was a joke being Australia Day and all.’

  Harry passed the message slip to Forbes. It was a short message.

  ‘Thoughts?’

  Harry screwed up his nose, something he did whenever he was nervous. ‘If it's true we had better arm the torpedoes.’

  ‘Do it,’ said Forbes.

  Forbes had made it to the coveted position of commander of one of only six Australian submarines by playing it by the book. If the message was genuine he would be ready.

  He didn't need to wait long. The surface ships detected the message too, not surprising as it was unencrypted. The Chinese accelerated. Forbes' sonar team called out their tracks and merged them onto the commander's display. Forbes swore. The sudden acceleration told him two things. The first that the message was true, the second the Chinese knew precisely where his submarine was.

  ‘Battle stations,’ Forbes barked.

  Forbes watched the large red diamond on the display as it moved rapidly towards his submarine. He still couldn't believe a ship of that size could move so fast. The Chinese destroyer was clocking sixty-five knots and still accelerating. Forbes barely evaded the first air launched torpedo and now a second Chinese helicopter was closing in.

  ‘Full ahead flank,’ Forbes bellowed. Shit, it was going to be close.

  ‘Sir?’ the XO replied confused.

  ‘Do it!’ Forbes replied.

  The XO looked at Forbes. Forbes saw the realisation dawn in man's eyes.

  ‘Helm, full ahead flank make your course 060,’ the XO said firmly.

  ‘Full ahead flank, course 060,’ the helmsmen answered.

  Forbes didn't have many options. The waters were too shallow in this region to go deep and the heading of the destroyer confirmed the Chinese intended to cut off his only escape route.

  Forbes last act as commander was to order the launch of all six torpedoes in the forward tubes. The submarine shuddered as the torpedoes entered the water. Forbes felt a strange sense of satisfaction. He'd never fired live munitions in exercises during his entire career. Continuous budget cutbacks meant the navy no longer conducted live fires.

  The Chinese torpedo struck the Collins below the conning tower. Forbes and his crew died without knowing Chinese countermeasures destroyed the first five of their torpedoes. The final torpedo detonated underneath a Chinese frigate breaking its back and sending it to the same watery grave as the Collins.

  Forbes and his crew were also deprived of the satisfaction of knowing the Collins was the only Australian naval vessel to destroy a Chinese vessel in the defence of Australia. The remainder of the Australian navy was w
iped out in less than twenty-four hours.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  PERTH

  Zhang took the satellite handset from his communication's officer. There was a short delay as Colonel Shen connected from Western Australia.

  ‘General I am delighted to inform you that all military installations in Western Australia, in particular all naval bases are in our hands.’

  ‘Casualties?’

  ‘Nineteen sir.’

  ‘Nineteen what?’

  ‘Nineteen marines sir, oh and one helicopter that experienced engine failure but it was not combat related.’

  ‘Is that all!’

  Zhang couldn’t believe the figures could be so low. He could have conducted the invasion with the Chinese police force instead.

  ‘Resistance was practically non-existent Sir. Most Australian bases are guarded by unarmed civilian contractors and Australian Federal Police with pistols.’

  Zhang shook his head. ‘Unbelievable. What about their munitions and backup communications?’

  ‘All secure sir. The port facilities are ready to receive the second wave of transports. The Australian warships tied up while their crews were on leave will be scuttled later this afternoon.’

  ‘Excellent work Colonel.’

  ‘Thank you sir, I must say the Australian warships were in a sad state. My engineers tell me their state of readiness and maintenance was poor. Only two of the five frigates we captured had live ammunition on-board.’

  So the shortages were true after all.

  ‘What about their new amphibious transport?’

  ‘You mean the HMAS Canberra sir. We captured her intact but she has major electrical problems and struggles to make six knots. My engineers are working on her now. She would make a handy addition to our re-supply fleet if we can get her fixed.’