CEP meant circular error probable. It was a matter of accuracy, how many meters the warhead was likely to miss by.
“The DP-15 has a one hundred meter CEP,” Liang said. “If we fire enough at each target, it should suffice to shatter the route.”
“How many missiles do you plan to use?” Ping asked.
“Fifty should insure I-70’s destruction along critical key junctions.”
General Ping was silent.
Liang picked up his cup and sipped tea. Finally, it was the perfect temperature. He regarded his Chief of Staff.
“Fifty missiles should demolish I-70,” Ping said.
“You think I’m using overkill?” Liang asked.
Ping moved his shoulders in a deferential shrug. “You want Denver captured with speed. This might do it.”
“Go on,” Liang said. “But…”
“Even if the city is cut off from direct supplies, the Americans will use air transports to ferry more.”
“True,” Liang said. “That is the battle where we will employ our Air Force. We must starve these stubborn defenders of food and ammunition. We must show them that their cause is hopeless. I need Army Group A in the north. If we don’t capture the city soon enough, I’m afraid the Chairman might divert supplies there. He has an obsession with the Behemoths.”
“As do I, Marshal.”
Liang grunted once more. He used his middle finger and traced I-70 in the Rockies behind Denver. “This time we will achieve success.”
“With fifty ballistic missiles, yes, I would think so,” Ping said.
Liang set down his teacup and picked up a phone. He stared at the map showing I-70. Then he glanced at Ping. “It is time to initiate the attack.”
PUEBLO, COLORADO
Ten big eight-wheeled Chinese transporter erector launchers (TELs) pulled out of Pueblo along I-25. The first two drove off the side at a rest stop. First Rank Wei slowed down three miles later. He took the turn-off and came to a halt in a pasture. Five hundred meters away, a herd of Holstein cows grazed. Several looked up at the three TELs.
The captain pulled up in his command vehicle and climbed out. His comm-team hurried to complete their tasks.
First Rank Wei made sure his TEL was level. Then he began pre-launch procedures.
The hydraulic system whined. Slowly, the Dong-Fong 15, or East Wind 15, began to stand upright. It always reminded Wei of an erection.
He grinned to himself. Some of the American women were most accommodating. They liked to eat well, and few in Chinese Occupation Territory had enough to eat. Already East Lightning sent captured American food supplies back to China. That made it much easier for Wei finding good lays.
With a critical eye, First Rank Wei watched the DP-15. This SRBM—Short Range Ballistic Missile—was nine point one meters long. It weighed six thousand two hundred kilograms and had a one-meter diameter. The engine was a single-stage, solid propellant rocket. Its operational range was 600 kilometers, or about 370 miles.
Finally, the DP-15 stopped, ready for launching.
Now First Rank Wei went to work. He typed in the coordinates and checked the systems. The missile unit’s captain came by, inspected his work and told him he’d done well.
First Rank Wei waited. A half hour later, the order came down. Wei stood at the launch controls. This was going to be a coordinated attack with fifty other missiles.
The captain gave the word. Three…two…one…zero—First Rank Wei pressed the red launch button.
A billowing cloud grew and the roar of the missile brought a smile to Wei’s face. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that the cattle stampeded away. He knew that was going to happen. He laughed with amusement.
Three Dong-Fong 15 missiles slowly lifted from the transporter erector launchers. One of the launchers rocked badly, going up and down, causing dirt to fly from the sides. Each missile increased speed and in seconds, they became streaks.
The ballistic missiles roared away into the sky out of view of First Rank Wei and his captain. Each missile climbed at an astonishing rate and quickly reached its parabolic apogee. First Rank Wei’s DP-15 performed as built. The warhead separated from the rocket and began its preplanned descent.
The warhead was one-tenth the rocket’s size. It possessed a maneuverable reentry vehicle. That would allow it to jink, to offset any anti-ballistic missiles or lasers the enemy used to try to shoot them down. Wei’s DP-15 was moving fast now as it dropped toward target in a ballistic arc. Its terminal velocity would reach Mach 6. Maybe as important, the rocket body trailed the warhead. It was