Brown, Dale - Patrick McLanahan 03 by Sky Masters (v1.1) Read Free Book Online Page B

the
Philippine sector. He was also to report on any movements of the Philippine
Navy’s major vessels in the area and to constantly position his forces to confront
and defeat the Filipino pretenders should hostilities erupt.
                Not that the Filipino Navy was a
substantial threat to the Chinese Navy—far from it. The strongest of the
Filipino ships patrolling the Spratly Islands were forty-year-old frigates, corvettes,
radar picket ships, and subchasers, held together by coats of paint and
prayers.
                Still, a threat to Yin’s
territory—no matter whom it was from—was a threat, in his mind, to all of China .
                Thirty minutes later, Yin’s task
force had closed to within nine miles of the contact while Wenshan and Xingyi had
closed to within one mile; Yin positioned his ships so that he could maintain
direct, scrambled communications with his two patrol boats but stay out of
sight of the contact.
                “Dragon, this is Seven,” the skipper
aboard Wenshan, Captain Han, radioed
back to Admiral Yin. “I have visual contact. The target is an oil derrick. It
appears to be mounted or anchored atop Phu Qui Island . It is surrounded by several supply barges
with pipes on board, and two tugboats are nearby. There may be armed crewmen on
deck. They are flying no national flags, but there does appear to be a company
flag flying. We are moving closer to investigate. Request permission to raise
the derrick on radio.”
                So his instincts had been right. . .
. “An oil derrick in the neutral zone? How dare they place an oil derrick on
Chinese property.” Yin turned to Lubu. “I want the transmissions relayed to us.
Permission granted to hail the derrick. Tell Captain Han to warn the crew that
they will be attacked if they do not remove that derrick from the neutral zone immediately. ”
                A few moments later, Yin heard Han’s
warning: “Attention, attention the oil derrick on Phu Qui Island . This is the People’s Republic of China frigate Wenshan on international hailing channel nine. Respond immediately. Over.” Captain Han
on Wenshan was speaking in excellent
English, the universal sailors’ language even in this part of the world, and
Yin had to struggle to keep up with the conversation. He made a mental note to
congratulate Han on his resourcefulness—the Wenshan was not a frigate, but if the crew of the oil derrick believed that it was,
they might be less inclined to resist and more inclined to follow orders.
                “Frigate Wenshan, this is the National Oil Company
                Barge Nineteen on channel nine. We
read you loud and clear. Over.”
                Admiral Yin seethed. The National
Oil Company. That was a Philippine company run by a relative of the new
Philippine president, Arturo Mikaso, and headquartered in Manila . Worse, it was financed by and operated
mostly by rich Texas oil drillers. American capitalists who obviously thought they could, in
their typically imperialistic way, just set up an oil derrick anywhere they
pleased.
                The audacity.
                To even attempt to build a derrick
in a neutral zone . . .
                And Yin knew it wasn’t really
neutral at all. It was Chinese territory. And the Americans and the Filipinos
were trying to rape it.
                “National Oil Barge Nineteen,” Han
continued, “you are violating international agreements that prohibit any
private or commercial mineral exploration or facilities in this area. You are
ordered to remove all equipment immediately and vacate the area. You will
receive no further warnings. Comply immediately. Over.”
                “Vessel Wenshan, we are involved in search and salvage operations at this
time,” a new voice on the radio, young and at ease, replied. “Salvage
operations are permitted