Sanetomi immediately held up a hand to silence him. “We’re all fully aware of your childhood and your deep-seated issues with America, General. But I’ve spoken to their president and he’s assured me that they intend to honor their treaty with us. At the very least, you must find some comfort in the fact that they’ve sent multiple carrier groups into Asian waters?”

“I don’t, Prime Minister. China controls their debt, it holds over a billion potential customers for American companies, and Chinese sweatshops keep stores stocked with the cheap goods the American people demand. Our importance to the US pales by comparison.”

“Enough! I’m not here to debate politics or economics. If I were, I would have invited people with knowledge of those disciplines. Your job is to defend this country should it become necessary. That’s all. Am I understood?”

Takahashi gave a practiced nod. In all likelihood, the military would control the country after all this was done. The question was whether it would be more advantageous to let this little man continue on as a figurehead or whether his public execution for treason would be more beneficial.

“President Castilla has offered to personally host face-to-face talks between myself and China’s leadership. I’ve agreed to attend, as has President Yandong. Every effort will be made to bring a peaceful solution to this situation, and I believe those efforts will be successful. However, I have to consider the possibility that they will not. In light of that, we need to discuss our readiness.” He turned to Himura. “Let’s begin with intelligence.”

Himura gave a jerky nod and sat a bit straighter in his chair. “With regard to cyber warfare, our penetration into civilian and government systems is excellent. I expect to be able to shut down seventy percent of the Chinese power grid within minutes of them launching an attack. The Internet will become virtually useless and phone communication should see around a forty percent degradation. We’re hampered there due to the archaic technology used in much of their landline network.”

“And military computers?”

“Obviously, the systems are much more heavily guarded. The access we have, combined with the loss of public power to a number of the bases, should be enough to cause significant chaos in the chain of command. It will also reduce their missile launch capacity by at least twenty percent.”

Sanetomi turned to the head of their air defenses. “And what will come of the other eighty percent?”

“Our missile shield has been a priority for obvious reasons,” General Tadao Minami, the director of the country’s air defenses, replied. “We expect to be able to intercept virtually all of the incoming projectiles and to create a zone in which enemy aircraft—as well as our own, unfortunately—will not be able to operate.”

Sanetomi’s reaction was understandably subdued despite what, on the surface, seemed like an excellent prognosis.