Blood at Yellow Water Read Online Free Page A

in readiness for our plan
General?”
    “Yes, Captain Xu and his men are in position
and everything is ready for the assault at the mine opening on
Friday,” said Chen.
    “Are you confident that it will
succeed?”
    “Xu is our best man and an explosives
expert. He has a professional team with him. He has never failed in
the past.”
    “Good, because there can be no mistakes and
no evidence to link either of us with the action. Let the world
believe it is an attack from an Islamic State organisation. In
three weeks’ time the Party Congress is convening to elect a new
Politburo which will decide China’s future. I must be elected to
the leadership of the Politburo if China is to assume its rightful
place as the world leader. I have the support of the Committee
Secretary but he will deny all knowledge of it if the plan fails.
If our plan works, the members of the Politburo will have no choice
but to elect me as their leader.”
    The General sipped his whisky. “And the
Japanese will be set back years in their quest to become a world
power.”
    “Yes, they think they have fooled us into
believing that the Jabiru mine is just supplying them with uranium
when our informants tell us their real intention is to secure
supplies of rare earths which they need for their military
technology. China controls 95% of the world market for rare earths
and we have refused to supply the Japanese with these materials
because of their actions to take over the disputed territory of the
Senkaku Islands. Our intelligence says that the Jabiru mine holds
the richest reserve of rare earths in the world and we must stop
the Japanese from getting access to them. The Australians refused
our offers to buy the mine and they will pay a huge cost for
playing favourites with the Japanese. Without these materials Japan
will be prevented from carrying out their plans to build up the
technology capability to make them a military power. Most
importantly we must prevent the Japanese from expanding their power
in the Pacific and put an end to their claims over the Senkaku
Islands. It will take them a long time to recover from this
set-back.”
    “It will be an interesting couple of weeks
Minister. Japan will be a spent force after this and you will be
directing China’s new path in the world,” stated the General.
    They discussed their plans for another ten
minutes before leaving the hotel.

CHAPTER
THREE
    SUNDAY - DALY WATERS
    Jake woke up with the early morning sun shining in
his eyes through a crack in the blinds. He rolled over to Shoni who
was lying on her side with her naked back to him. He studied her
thinking that he had never seen anything more lovely in his life.
She stirred and reached out to him. He caressed her as she moulded
her body into his. He pushed her onto her back kissing her body all
over until she could bear it no more and pulled him on top of
her.
    Over breakfast Jake asked Shoni about her
background. She was born in Takayama, a small town in the foothills
of the Japanese Alps, and had a typical Japanese upbringing. She
had hard-working parents and was the youngest of three sisters.
Shoni was educated at local schools, excelling in English, and
decided to move to Tokyo University to study for a communications
degree. On graduating, she joined a small public relations company
which worked with a number of companies involved in conservation
and new energy. She always had an interest in conservation because
areas of national parks in Takayama were constantly under threat
from developers. As her interest grew in environmental issues, she
joined the Tokyo office of the World Conservation Council as their
Public Relations Manager. The nuclear explosion at Fukushima
Dai-ichi plant in March 2011 had shaped her views on energy and
conservation, particularly as it had affected the lives of her
grandparents. They had lived near the plant and had to move out of
their home for twelve months until the area had been
de-contaminated. Consequently