WesWorld

In the early morning hours of 24 December a biting northwest wind swept through the Gate of Supreme Harmony, and brought the first snow of this winter to Beijing. The white crystals, which blew from the high plateau of the Inner Mongolia, glittered on the roofs of the Forbidden City, which guarded for many centuries the dragon throne. The wide so-called 'goldwater' moat behind the big door was frozen, and a ten-centimeter-high snow blanket lay on the Tiananmen Square. To most eyes the vast Great Hall seemed wreathed in deep sleep, but a light still burned in one room." The cigarette smoke that filled the medium-sized conference room was, like the eight heavily armed bodyguards, who were outside in the corridor, a sure indication of the presence of the chain-smoking Prime Minister.In front of the tall man, the Prime Minister, the members of the High Council, the most powerful men in China, sat at a table that filled nearly the entire room." Only his majesty the emperor could afford not to appear at this meeting.

At the other end of the table, across from the Prime Minister, sat the High Commander of the Imperial Chinese Navy, Wang Wen-Hua; he was talking quietly with the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral of the Fleet Zhu Huan. The High Commander of the Chinese Army was sitting to the left and the High Commander of the Air Force to the right of the table. The Minister of Defense sat in his normal seat to the left and the Minister for Foreign Affairs sat to the right of the Prime Minister. The Chief of the Secret Service was still talking on the phone at the small desk in the corner. The Commander in Chief of the North-Fleet, Fleetadmiral Wang Yin-Hua had arrived only an hour before from Shanghai, while Fleetadmiral Wong Pan-Yang, commander of the fleet in the East China Sea, and his colleague Admiral of the Fleet Tan Won, commander of the Southfleet, were already all the day in the capital. All men in the room seemed to be thoughtful and depressed. Only one was not.

Admiral Wu Chin Fau, the Minister for Defense in the Chinese Empire, by temperament already a busy man, seething with rage. Because he could not sit still, he prowled back and forth like a caged tiger on the narrow strip of blue carpet in front of the huge table of polished wood. The Minister fought to control himself, but his words were chosen carefully and politely - a little too politely, like a teacher who has to teach mathematics to the abysmally stupid son of a bloodthirsty dictator.

"I can not believe it ..." he said. "Now, right now that the war is going so well for us and we can win it, we agree to a temporary ceasefire. WHY?? That's almost careless and stupid ....."

"But do you really believe, Admiral Wu, that we will win the war?" asked Admiral of the Fleet Tan Won.

"Of course, or do you think I'm stupid and foolish?" yelled Wu, his ironclad self-control at last failing. "We need to clarify this matter with the Filipinos once and for all .... Is no one of you willing to understand this ?" Wu stopped talking and bowed toward the head of the table. "Excuse me, Mr. Prime Minister ..... Neither I nor my conduct served to the senior officers here in this room for honor." Then he finally sat down, rested his head in his hands and would have cried out of sheer anger and despair.

For a while no one said anything. Then Admiral Wu looked up and said quietly: "Dear friends and colleagues", he said, "the most important question we must ask ourselves now, in my opinion, in the time of the ceasefire is the following: Which country in the world wishes to see China win this war and emerge strengthened from the conflict? The answer is - few, if any!"

The Prime Minister looked up, pulled hard on his cigarette, smiled and said: ""Thank you, Wu. You are to me like one's own son, and I know your unwavering loyalty and your zeal in this matter is greatly appreciated. But I'm wondering if maybe my good friend Admiral Yibo Yunsheng," he nodded towards the head of the intelligence service, "Might bring a little light into the darkness."

Admiral Yibo, who had once been the commander of a gunboat, stood up and bowed formally.
"I'm honored, Mr. Prime Minister", he said, "But I probably can't contribute much new to your great wisdom.

"It's probably no secret that the Filipinos got a very extensive support from the US in the past and they were going to flat-out break neutrality treaties to support the Filipinos. While the new Willkie administration has not yet come to power, they have already spoken to moderate the American stance, but their preference to the Philippines remains clear.

The Canadian bastards still look like hawks towards us.

Our British friends are more neutral, but they're definitely not keen to see China victorious in a war versus the Filipinos. We know it is their goal to break up SATSUMA and take the Philippines under their protective wing.

The French are watching both combatants also like hawks, as the Spratleys are still claimed by Indochina; and while the French don't wish to antagonize the Chinese, there's skepticism in Paris about China's actions and intentions and a not-inconsiderable anti-China group growing in the French policy.

The Dutch were keen to see a non-aligned Philippines as well, and though they never said anything about it, they seemed more interested in backing the Filipinos rather than China.

Iberia's probably in the same boat as France is in. And don't forget the thorn, Hainan Dao, in our flesh.

Germany's taken the most neutral line and has withdrawn their support for both the Philippines and us - and since we got more support, their neutrality has hurt us more.

Italy doesn't give a fig for the far east.

The SAE seems to be rip-snorting-ready for a war, but may be they won't help us in a broadened war. They are far away, and there are few enemies they could provide us more than moral support against.

Japan's said nothing at all about the war, neither for or against us - and that's pretty lukewarm support from our more or less last remaining ally, because from Bharat we also won't get any help in that fight.

If i consider the current international scene, there are a lot of very powerful countries who either don't care if China wins, or actively DON'T want China to win, and may intervene in the Philippines behalf, if their situation gets too much more sticky.

Thus, our neighbors fear our growing power and the possibility of our victorious forces being aimed, in turn, at them." With these words, the chief of the secret service ended his speech.

"Thank you, Admiral Yibo. I appreciate your wise counsel. But now gentlemen, it's late and I'm tired and would like to go to bed. I suggest that we meet tomorrow morning at eleven clock back here and then decide what, if anything, we will do. " said the prime minister and stood up.