China's Superhumans
In the wake of the embassy arson in Korea, China threw itself into a frenzy of war preparations.
On Mao Zedong's orders, the Vice Chairman had seized control of the military and was pouring everything he had into a defensive plan. He stared at the strategic map for a long while before finally speaking.
"Deploy an additional four hundred thousand troops along the Korean border, and reposition the air force so it can respond immediately in an emergency."
"Yes, sir!"
At the Vice Chairman's command, Chinese force dispositions began shifting in real time. Large numbers of fighters and fresh reinforcements poured into Manchuria.
After further deliberation, the Vice Chairman decided that of China's two superhuman units, the Red Army was the right choice for the border. The army that had marched the legendary Long March together — men with ample combat experience. On top of that, their ability to advance or withdraw freely in a crisis meant that even in the worst case, they would not be wiped out.
"We need superhuman forces on the border as well. Relay my orders to the commander of the Red Army."
The soldier who had snapped to attention and transmitted every previous order now hesitated.
"Ah… the superhumans don't listen when someone like me tells them anything."
Of course they didn't. Superhumans were the aristocracy of the modern age; even a man in power might as well talk to the wind. They had more than enough strength to get away with it.
"Hah… damned bastards. They don't even know what an order is — just do whatever they please. As if they have no idea where their wealth and power come from."
The Vice Chairman's face twisted as he muttered. He spat the next words at the nervous soldier.
"I'll go myself. Do you know where the Red Army's commander is?"
"Yes, sir! He's often seen at a high-end tavern nearby."
"…You're telling me to wait around in a bar? What kind of restless curse is on those people? They ought to stay home where they belong."
One look at the Vice Chairman's mottled, furious face and the soldier made the fastest decision of his life.
"I'll report the moment he appears!"
"Good. You should have said that from the start."
That still left him waiting for the report, however.
"…"
After a long, uncomfortable stretch of the soldier working the phones and the Vice Chairman stewing beside him, word finally came that the superhuman unit's commander had shown up at his usual tavern.
"We've confirmed he just entered the establishment."
This kid could use a break himself by now. With that thought, the Vice Chairman started walking.
"Fine. You're dismissed. Hand off your shift and get some rest."
"Thank you, sir!"
The soldier's face lit up with a grin, and even the Vice Chairman's foul mood eased a fraction at the sight.
He left the office at once, climbed into a car, and headed for the reported location. The driver guided them smoothly through several districts until a glittering stretch of nightlife filled the Vice Chairman's view. Beyond the window, neon and red lanterns took turns stabbing at his eyes; the mingled smells of liquor and spice rode the cold night air down the street.
"I'll wait here, sir."
The driver opened the door and bowed his head.
"No need. Go home and rest."
The Vice Chairman glanced at him, said nothing more, and walked on.
"Understood."
With that brief reply the driver quietly pulled away and vanished around the corner of the alley.
The place was a well-known high-end tavern in the district. When he opened the door, light flooded out in sharp contrast to the dark outside, stinging his eyes. He threaded between people drinking cheerfully beneath a golden chandelier, followed the corridor a short way, and found Ping Hongwei sitting alone in the middle of a quiet hall as if he had rented the entire space.
Ping Hongwei turned his head toward the incoming Vice Chairman, clicked his tongue, and looked away again — the picture of a man who had just spotted a nuisance.
The Vice Chairman knew at once that persuasion would not come easily. But it had to be done.
"Commander Ping Hongwei. I would like you to move your unit."
"Huh? Why should I?"
Even after the Vice Chairman had come in person and made a polite request, what he got back was a lazy sneer and an answer that bordered on mockery.
One minute into meeting the Red Army's commander, the Vice Chairman's briefly soothed temper boiled back into rage. The man clearly had no interest in conversation.
"Listen, Vice Chairman. The only person who can give me orders is Comrade Chairman."
Still gripping a bottle in one hand, Ping Hongwei of the Red Army tossed the words out and ignored the Vice Chairman as he took another long pull.
As if I should take orders from some ordinary civilian like the Vice Chairman. Does that even make sense?
"Commander Ping Hongwei, this is a matter of critical importance to China."
The Vice Chairman dropped his voice, trying to apply pressure while clinging to courtesy. Inside, he was seething.
Just because you've got a little power, you think you can do whatever you want. I am the second-in-command of China!
"So our Vice Chairman is saying he can't stop a Korean attack? Getting spooked by a country that small — hardly fit to hold military authority, are you?"
Ping Hongwei curled his lip and mocked him.
"…Their superhuman forces will almost certainly go on the offensive. We need superhumans on the front as well."
He was still trying not to lose his composure, but he could not stop the blood from rising into his face. That brick-red complexion looked thoroughly ridiculous to Ping Hongwei. Did the man actually believe that being Vice Chairman made him second-in-command?
He really has no sense of his place.
"Then take the Red Guards. I'm busy cleaning up after idiots."
Ping Hongwei made his irritation plain with every inch of his body and answered in a bored drawl.
"You know as well as I do that they have to intercept missiles."
The Vice Chairman's face twitched, but he still did not drop the courtesy. In his mind, the abuse poured out unchecked.
Is this moron even thinking before he opens his mouth? An imbecile who doesn't know the first thing about strategy or tactics — for all his combat experience, he's nothing but an outdated old man.
"Hmph. Exactly. Station them on the border and have them intercept enemy shelling."
Ping Hongwei made no effort to hide his contempt.
Vice Chairman and he doesn't even know that? Climbed up on nothing but a big mouth, the lot of them. In my day everyone clawed their way up with their lives on the line.
"You know they're weak in direct combat. We need outstanding superhumans like you and your men."
Outwardly the Vice Chairman flattered Ping Hongwei; inwardly he heaped curses on him.
You idiot. What happens if the Red Guards get hit and wiped out? Our air defense will be full of holes.
Patience. Keep buttering him up and he'll head for the border eventually.
"Tsk. Sounds nice, but you think I don't know you want me for a meat shield? Waiting around for an enemy when we don't even know exactly when they'll attack — I have to wonder if you're in your right mind."
At that, the Vice Chairman paused. He had assumed the Red Army could withdraw quickly, but that was hardly a certainty. Even he did not know what kind of power Korea's superhuman units possessed.
If they lost even one superhuman unit in the opening phase, they might not be able to stop Korea at all. The gap in superhuman strength was that severe. China had to husband its superhuman forces carefully. The only path to victory was to repeatedly commit clearly superior numbers of superhumans and grind out advantages.
The thought drove the anger from his mind and left him sunk in deep reflection.
"…Hey? Why'd you go quiet all of a sudden?"
Ping Hongwei eyed the Vice Chairman oddly and asked with a sour look.
"No — you're right. We should make use of the industrial capacity and manpower where we hold the advantage. We have to be prepared to take losses. Forgive the intrusion."
The Vice Chairman apologized for his misjudgment, and Ping Hongwei's irritation settled.
"Ahem. Well, if it's truly necessary, I suppose I could go, but…"
He rattled an empty bottle with an awkward expression. The Vice Chairman shook his head and reversed himself.
"I'll ask another time. We'll have to plan on the assumption that the border will be breached."
Watching the Vice Chairman bow politely in apology and leave the establishment, a small flicker of goodwill stirred in Ping Hongwei.
"Hey!"
He called after the departing Vice Chairman and flicked a small pebble at him. The Vice Chairman caught it and turned with a puzzled look. Ping Hongwei chuckled.
"Take that with you."
"This is…?"
"It'll move you about five hundred meters. Use it in an emergency. And don't say I gave it to you."
"…Thank you. The words of a veteran soldier are worth listening to."
The Vice Chairman bowed once more and left. Alone in the hall, Ping Hongwei muttered under his breath.
"A Vice Chairman is going to need it soon enough. He won't last long anyway."
Having served alongside Chairman Mao for so many years, Ping Hongwei believed he knew the man well enough. Strategic judgment or not, a failure was a failure. If the border broke, Comrade Chairman would never leave the Vice Chairman alone. Even if he somehow survived the first pass, he would be saddled with impossible demands until he died — Ping Hongwei could see it clearly.
"Heh. Well, if he's lucky he'll live. He seems fairly sharp. Hope he uses the chance I gave him and finds his own way out."
He took another long drink, and the past flickered through his mind.
You call that an excuse?
Comrade Chairman, we are inferior in every respect — troops and materiel alike. We succeeded in preserving our strength. If we wait for the next opportunity…
The excuses of failures never change. Deal with him.
Comrade! Comrade Chairman! Just one more chance…
That capable commander had been dragged away and shot. The idiot who replaced him had thrown the entire unit away. At the time Ping Hongwei himself had thought highly of the man who preserved his forces — but the Chairman had not. A strategic withdrawal was still just the act of a loser. Succeeding in preserving strength became proof that you had behaved like a coward.
"I still don't understand how a bastard like that got so strong."
If the Chairman had been even a little weaker, Ping Hongwei would have overturned everything long ago. But he was core personnel who had come through the anti-Japanese war and the civil war; he could hardly naturalize in some foreign country at this point. He had no desire to live abroad under suspicious eyes. At least in China he received solid treatment, and that was enough.
"And even that's over now. War with Korea…"
Winning the way they had driven out Chiang Kai-shek was impossible. He was not the only one who knew it — the other superhuman unit commanders would understand as well. Any superhuman would have felt the gulf between themselves and Korea's superhumans with absolute clarity.
So you're the commander of the Red Army?
He remembered that monster with perfect clarity — the one he had glimpsed the day he passed the Korean embassy. In the space of a single blink, the woman had been standing right in front of him.
…She had not used some ability the way he did. She had simply moved fast. It had sent a chill down the spine of a man who had survived countless battlefields.
"No — that idiot Red Guard brat probably still doesn't grasp the difference."
Ping Hongwei drained his drink and wiped every stray thought away. Just fight. And die.
He had lived a long time.
Perhaps it was time to die.