Chapter Twelve: Total Mobilization

  Oahu Island, Pearl Harbor, Commander-in-Chief of the United States Pacific Fleet.

  In the harbor-facing office of Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Sullivan, dressed in a short-sleeved summer uniform, sat face to face with Hubert, who was wearing a suit and tie, on either side of the desk. The atmosphere in the room was not friendly, and as Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet, Sullivan did not need to be overly friendly to this civilian from Langley, Virginia.

  In fact, Sullivan had long been fed up with that CIA intelligence officer.

  For more than a month now, Sullivan's daily work and life have been disrupted, and the entire Pacific Fleet has also been disturbed by Halsey.

  Thirteen days ago, the "Lincoln" aircraft carrier, which was dispatched to the eastern sea area of the Kuril Islands for a mission, accidentally "entered" Russian waters. As a result, the ship's carrier-based aircraft had a confrontation with fighter jets sent by the Russian Air Force, and almost fired at each other. Seven days ago, an anti-submarine patrol plane from the "Washington" operating in the western sea area of Okinawa was tracking a returning Chinese strategic nuclear submarine when it nearly clashed with Chinese fighter jets that came to support. The worst incident occurred three days ago, when the "Antietam" cruiser entered the Sea of Japan and was intercepted by three North Korean ships while on a surveillance mission, resulting in an armed conflict.

  All these things have direct relation with that CIA agent.

  "Hubert, what are you people looking for?" Sullivan finally lost his patience, banging on the table. "I may not have clearance to know what's going on, but you've got to tell me why you're sending out every available warship."

  "General, I have nothing to report on your question." Hubert shrugged his shoulders. "Actually, I don't know what we're looking for either. I'm just following orders, same as you."

  Sullivan clenched his fist and was tempted to give that "swindler from Lantry" a punch.

  Hubert is definitely lying, he must know the purpose of the action. Anyone knows that CIA agents are liars with a forked tongue.

  But Sullivan had no choice because Haldeman had a presidential directive.

  "Alright, you don't say anything, and I have no way to help you."

  "General, this is a direct order from the President." Hubert picked up the feather duster. "The time left for us is not much, we must expand the scope of surveillance and search. In another week, if it's still not found, you can withdraw all warships. But within this week, you must mobilize all forces in your hands, expand the scope of surveillance and search, and search for all suspicious ships and submarines!"

  "Oh God, what am I supposed to do?" The anger that had been building up inside Sullivan finally burst out, "For over a month now, I've sent out every available warship and even all the shore-based patrol planes. Where am I supposed to find more ships?"

  "This is your job, it has nothing to do with me."

  "Is that so?" Sullivan sprang to his feet, pointing at the massive warship moored on the dock opposite the bay. "I'll report to the President immediately and request that the 'Missouri' be unsealed, then I'll personally command that battleship to carry out this damn mission. Are you satisfied now?"

  "General!" Hubert also couldn't sit still, "Firing is not going to solve the problem, if there were other ways, we wouldn't have mobilized all the warships of the Pacific Fleet. Besides, this is a direct order from the President himself, no matter what, we must carry it out."

  After letting out a deep breath, Sullivan sat back down.

  He was indeed furious, venting his indignation. The battleship "Missouri" had been mothballed for over a decade and was in poor condition, let alone being put back into service within a week, it would be difficult to even sail out of Pearl Harbor.

  The problem now is that Sullivan actually has no warships available for deployment.

  "Alright, think it over carefully and get back to me this afternoon." Hubert also decided to bring the meeting to a close as soon as possible. "Also, I will report your questions to headquarters, hoping there is another way."

  Sullivan did not bid farewell to intelligence officials and was still very angry.

  Back at the temporary office, Hubert immediately contacted Langley headquarters with a secure phone specially issued to CIA officers stationed abroad and dialed directly into Deputy Director Wesley's office.

  The CIA has a director and four deputy directors. Except for the director, who is appointed by each president, the four deputy directors in charge of operations, intelligence, security and logistics are all career intelligence professionals without political inclinations. After graduating from university at 21 and being recruited by the CIA, Wesley worked at the CIA for 37 years, rising from an ordinary intelligence analyst to a deputy director in charge of intelligence, also becoming the most senior member of the CIA leadership team.

  Unlike intelligence officers who interact with the outside world, Wesley has been dealing with various types of intelligence information for thirty-seven years and has never performed any external duties. Intelligence analysts like him are not sent to perform external tasks, and most intelligence analysts are ordinary people doing extraordinary work.

  Wes set down the receiver and rubbed his face, which was creased with worry lines.

  It's been months, and yet there is still no lead. At times, Wesley even wondered if the troops that attacked the camp, and the submarine that sank the "Houston" and slipped away from under the nose of the "Connecticut", were really armed forces from the human world. Of course, this was just a fanciful idea to calm his nerves. As a seasoned intelligence officer, Wesley had always believed that apart from the 51st district, which was rumored among civilians, there was no unexplainable phenomenon in the world.

  Where did that mysterious special forces team and that mysterious submarine go?

  For several months, the thousands of intelligence analysts led by Wesley had conducted an exhaustive analysis using all available feedback and only came up with a few ambiguous conclusions.

  The camp was first attacked by a powerful special forces unit, which used Ka-27 helicopters and light weapons from Germany, France, Italy, and the United States.

  Secondly, the submarine that sank the "Houston" did not belong to any of America's allies and was definitely a nuclear submarine. The CIA and Navy Intelligence Library had no information on it, nor even data on its characteristic noise.

  In conclusion, combining the two points above, it can only be roughly determined that either Russia or China participated in this action.

  Is it Russia or China?

  The intelligence analysts under Wesley were unable to draw a conclusion and neither was Wesley.

  The Ka-27 anti-submarine helicopter is produced in Russia, but is equipped with the navies of more than a dozen countries, including China, and can even be purchased on the black market. In the previous year, two Russian nuclear submarines were put into service, and the US Navy has not collected any data on those two nuclear submarines. China has been building nuclear submarines, its most advanced attack nuclear submarines have built at least three, all of which have been put into service, and the US Navy has also not collected reliable data on these three nuclear submarines. Russia has a special forces unit that participated in the Chechen War and the Georgian War, with rich experience and strong combat effectiveness. China's special forces have also been fighting terrorist organizations in the Pamir Plateau and Central Asia, and their strength is not to be underestimated.

  Under duress, the CIA had no choice but to train its sights on these two countries capable of giving America trouble.

  Less than five days after the sinking of the Houston, the US Navy blockaded several major sea lanes in the eastern Indian Ocean and increased surveillance of southern Australian waters.

  According to Wesley's analysis, if the submarine came from China, it would definitely return to a Chinese naval base as soon as possible; if the submarine came from Russia, it could only return to its Far Eastern naval base and could not risk breaking through the North Atlantic Ocean, where the US had established an underwater surveillance network during the Cold War, to reach Russian naval bases in the Black Sea, Baltic Sea or Arctic Ocean.

  For a time, the United States Pacific Fleet was fully mobilized, with hundreds of warships gathering in the western Pacific.

  To strengthen the blockade, the CIA also mobilized more than 100 long-range patrol aircraft through presidential orders, under the name of a Pacific naval joint exercise, to closely monitor every route. At the same time, dozens of reconnaissance satellites closely monitored mainland China and every port in Russia's Far East region, even monitoring some major inland ports.

  As head of intelligence, Wesley knew that the longer they waited, the slimmer their chances.

  Several months have passed, the Rim of the Pacific naval exercises have long since ended, and the US Navy's solo "2010 Maritime Presence" military exercise has also entered its final stage. However, that mysterious submarine remains silent, not even a single satellite photo related to it has been released.

  After letting out a sigh, Wesley picked up his ice-cold coffee cup.

  If there is no harvest in these few days, this action will thoroughly fail. He even thought that fifty years, or even twenty years later, the United States would become a third-rate country.

  By then it will be too late to look back on what is happening now, for by then the century of American prosperity will have come to an end.

  Just then, the door was knocked several times. When Wesley looked up, his chief assistant Jackson rushed in with a few freshly washed photos.

  "My latest find." Jackson didn't bother with a greeting, instead spreading the photos out on Wesley's office desk. "These were taken by our reconnaissance satellite over ten days ago, but they didn't raise any flags at the time. I found the issue when I was re-evaluating them today."

  "What's wrong?"

  "Look at this track," Jackson said, pointing to the white line on the middle photo. "This is a large merchant ship's track, and judging from its direction, it should be a freighter from Peru to China, very likely carrying copper ore in bulk cargo. Due to angle issues, we didn't capture the name of the merchant ship. Looking at these photos again, the track shows obvious changes; when the freighter arrived here, its route shifted south by about 15 nautical miles, deviating from the international shipping lane. This area is just outside our shore-based patrol aircraft's search range. Furthermore, after analyzing the merchant ship's wake, we confirmed that between our reconnaissance satellite's two passes, its speed slowed down to around four knots. I checked the timeline; if that submarine left the Somali Basin and sailed at a speed of four knots, passing through the Mozambique Channel towards Cape of Good Hope, then heading straight for Drake Passage, it would arrive in this area just in time to meet with the freighter."

  "Why are you telling me now?"

  "I just found out too." Jackson felt a bit wronged.

  Reconnaissance satellites take tens of thousands of photos every day, so they can only be filtered by computer to pick out high-value or suspicious targets for analysis by intelligence analysts. Obviously, a freighter far out in the Pacific Ocean is neither "high value" nor a "suspicious target".

  "Where is this cargo ship now?"

  "It is expected to pass through the Ryukyu Islands and enter the East China Sea."

  "What?" Wesley sprang to his feet, "Get in touch with Hubert at once and have him tell General Sullivan to intercept that freighter at all costs!"