‘That’s true too.’
‘Kang thinks there’s only one way for this to end: you will help him hold off South Korea and defeat the ultras. The more he’s damaged, the greater the pressure on China to come to the rescue. That’s why he doesn’t think he’s being reckless.’
Kang felt invulnerable. Anybody who called himself Supreme Leader might convince himself of that delusion.
Ham said: ‘He’s not crazy. He’s logical. He can’t fight a long slow war – he doesn’t have the resources. He must make a big win-or-lose gesture. If he wins, he wins. And if he loses, you have to save him, so he wins again.’
That was true too.
Kai said: ‘Does he have any missiles left, after the attack on Sino-ri?’
‘More than you’d think. They are all truck-mounted. After he fired those six at Jeju, he sent all the launchers away from the bases and hid them.’
‘Where the hell do you hide those trucks? The small ones are nearly forty feet long.’
‘All over the country. They’re parked in places where they can’t be seen from above, mostly in tunnels and under bridges.’
‘Clever. Makes it almost impossible to hit them.’
Ham said: ‘I have to go, sorry.’
‘Take care of yourself,’ Kai said, but Ham had already hung up.
Kai reflected sombrely on the conversation as he made a note of its details for the record. Everything Ham said made sense. The only way to avoid war now was for China to restrain North Korea and the US to restrain the south. But it was easier said than done.
After a few minutes’ reflection, he thought he saw a way to nudge the Americans. He decided to try it out first on a member of the Communist old guard. He phoned his father. He would talk about something else, then slip his idea into the conversation.
‘You’re a friend of Fu Chuyu’s,’ he said when he got through. ‘Did you know he’s dying?’
There was a hesitation that told him the answer. Then Jianjun said: ‘Yes, I found out a few weeks ago.’
‘I wish you’d told me.’
Jianjun clearly felt guilty about keeping this to himself, but he pretended otherwise. ‘I was told in confidence,’ he blustered. ‘Does it matter?’
‘There’s been a nasty little campaign of malicious gossip against your daughter-in-law. It was intended to damage me. Now I see why. It’s about who will succeed Fu as Minister.’
‘This is the first I’ve heard of it.’
‘I think Fu is in cahoots with Vice-Minister Li.’
‘I have –’ Jianjun coughed, a typical smoker’s throat-clearing spasm, and then resumed – ‘I have no information.’
I hope those damn cigarettes aren’t going to kill you too, Kai thought. ‘My money’s on Li, but it could be one of half a dozen others.’
‘That’s the trouble. It’s a long list.’
‘Speaking of trouble, what’s your take on the crisis in Korea?’
Jianjun sounded relieved to move away from an embarrassing topic. ‘Korea? We’re going to have to get tough sooner or later.’
That was his response to everything.
Kai decided it was time to try out his idea. ‘I’ve just talked to our best source in North Korea. He says the Supreme Leader is up against the wall – running out of weapons and liable to do something desperate. We need to control him.’
‘If only we could.’
‘Or get the Americans to restrain South Korea, persuade President No not to retaliate against whatever is Kang’s next move.’
‘We can hope.’
Pretending to speak casually, Kai said: ‘Or we could level with the White House and warn President Green that the Supreme Leader is so weak that he’s desperate.’
‘Out of the question.’ Jianjun was indignant. ‘Tell the Americans how weak our ally is?’
‘A situation like this calls for exceptional measures.’
‘But not downright treason.’
Well, Kai thought, I got my answer: the old guard won’t even contemplate the idea. He pretended to be convinced. ‘I guess you’re right.’ He changed the subject quickly. ‘I don’t suppose Mother would consider leaving town? Moving somewhere safer? Somewhere less likely to be bombed?’
There was a pause, then Jianjung spoke sternly. ‘Your mother is a Communist.’
That remark baffled Kai. ‘Do you imagine I didn’t know that?’
‘Communism is more than just a theory we accept because the evidence is good, like Mendeleev’s periodic table of the elements.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Communism is a sacred mission. It comes above everything else, including our family ties and our own personal safety.’
Kai was incredulous. ‘So to you, Communism is more important than my mother?’
‘Exactly. And she would say the same about me.’
This was more extreme than Kai would have guessed. He felt a bit stunned.
His father said: ‘Sometimes I think your generation doesn’t really understand.’
You got that right, Kai thought.
He said: ‘Well, I didn’t phone you up for a discussion about Communism. Let me know if you hear anything about these manoeuvrings against me.’
‘Of course.’
‘When I find out who has been trying to get at me through my wife, I’m going to cut his balls off with a rusty knife.’ Kai hung up.
He had been right to fear that Jianjun would be against the idea of coming clean with the Americans. Jianjun had been raised to see the capitalist-imperialists as lifelong enemies. China had changed, the world had changed, but the old men were stuck in the past.
But that did not mean his idea was wrong; just that it had to be carried out clandestinely.
He picked up his phone and dialled. His call was answered immediately. ‘This is Neil.’
‘This is Kai. I need to know whether you gave President No advance consent for her attack on Sino-ri.’
Neil hesitated.
Kai said: ‘We have to be honest with one another. The situation is too dangerous for anything else.’
‘Okay,’ said Neil. ‘But if you quote me I’ll deny it.’
‘Fair enough.’
‘The answer is no, we did not know in advance, and if we had, we would not have approved it.’
‘Thank you.’
‘My turn. Did you know Supreme Leader Kang was going to attack Jeju?’
‘No. Same thing. No forewarning, or we would have tried to stop it.’
‘What is the Supreme Leader thinking?’
‘That’s what I need to talk to you about. This crisis is worse than you think.’
‘Christ,’ said Neil. ‘That’s hard to imagine.’
‘Believe it.’
‘Go on.’
‘The problem is the weakness of the regime in North Korea.’
‘Their weakness?’
‘Yes. Listen. Half the North Korean military is controlled by the rebels now. Some of the other half was destroyed at Sino-ri. The Supreme Leader has scattered his mobile missile launchers around the country –’
‘Where?’
‘Bridges and tunnels.’
‘Shit.’
‘If not for that, what remains of the North Korean military could be wiped out with another two or three missile strikes from the south.’
‘So Kang is in deep shit.’
‘And that will make him reckless.’
‘What will he do?’
‘Something drastic.’
‘Can we stop him?’
‘Make sure President No doesn’t strike again.’
‘But the Supreme Leader might provoke her.’
‘He will provoke her, Neil. He must take revenge for Sino-ri. I want President Green to make sure the escalation stops there, and President No doesn’t hit back even harder.’
‘Everything depends on how severe Kang’s revenge is. And the only people who can rein in the Supreme Leader are you guys – the Chinese government.’
‘We’re trying, Neil. Believe me, we’re trying.’
CHAPTER 34