China Invades Taiwan

by Ted Halstead

After China launches its attack on Taiwan, America will respond. But how far will the US go to keep Taiwan out of Beijing’s control?America will have to use its bases in Japan. Will Japan be ready for involvement in combat for the first time since WWII?Russia wants to make money selling equipment, weapons and fuel to the Chinese war machine. But if China wins in Taiwan, will it stop there? Or will it begin to eye the over 4,000 kilometer long border it shares with Russia?China’s invasion of Taiwan might also fail because of the Americans. Will China then quietly accept defeat? Or will it use its nuclear weapons to punish the US for intervening?If nuclear war does break out between the US and China, will Russia be able to stay on the sidelines?This time, even Russia’s most capable agents might not be able to save their country from disaster.

502 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 19, 2021

About the author

Ted Halstead served twenty-five years in the State Department as a Foreign Service Officer, most of it overseas, and was promoted to the Senior Foreign Service after his second tour at US Embassy Riyadh. His tours included four years at US Embassy Seoul, and two years at the East Asia Pacific Bureau in DC. He is a National War College graduate, and served for three years at a regional US military headquarters.

Reviews

[william]

great

Loved the suspense and flow of the story! Have read all books before this one, and enjoyed them all! Good Job!

[Dan]

Wow! Truly Cussler’s heir. Cannot wait for the next installment

[Peter Dundee]

Great details

A worthy continuation of an already outstanding series. I enjoyed the way it was all linked to previous volumes and the expansion of existing situations. Bring on the next one.

[Prakash]

Must read. A good one

When it comes to military fiction, I used to look up to Tom Clancy as reference...
Now I probably have to rethink...

Good job Ted, keep them coming...

[David Lewis]

Great read

Enjoyed this book, the different characters how they interacted. Also how the different countries were assisting each other, sometimes in secret. I enjoyed it thanks

[Carl Gillespie]

China flops

Taiwan saved. Some romance. Some extensive technology tested used developed. Nuclear war averted. China licks sounds and regrouped for another try.

[Bill Harper]

I have loved the The Russian Agents Series since the beginning. The characters are well developed and the scenarios are right out of the news for the most part. The series follows a number of FSB agents that are engaged in trying to avoid causing Russia from either getting involved or assisting in helping Russia gain an advantage. The will only do is in the best interest of Russia, in most of the series they actually sorta help America and other countries. In only one of the books are they work against America, but it is because it was in the best interest of Russia. I highly recommend this series it well written and keeps you interested from page 1. This one is Book 6 and I am reading Book 7 right now and waiting impatiently for Book 8.

[William Lawrence]

Ted Halstead does another great story. These novels are simply written so they move fast, yet there is incredible detail from his knowledge and experience. The reality of these books are a bit scary though, so I don't think these should ever be made into films! I'm going to try another Halstead book now.

[S.David Long]

And It Continues

The title says it all. Book 6 in the series continues the excitement and suspense of the previous books. The technical details are very believable without being "to" technical and it adds to the realism. Looking forward to number 7.

[William R Webb]

Blah blah blah

Cons: Formulaic, tired plot. Trite, stilted dialogue. Zero character development.

Pros: you get to read Wikipedia summaries for various weapons systems if you're into that. You can skip the first 3/4 as pretty boring setup.

[Creta Bloxom]

a good read

Lots of intricate levels and intrigue, but just a little too much repetitive detail on military equipment used. Enjoyable and fun.

[Mike in Taipei]

The author deliberately makes conflicts and separates Taiwan from China, incites the war and tensions.

[Justin]

Wow. Another page turner.

What many people don't realize is just much closer China and Taiwan are geographically. For example, the PRC's Fujian Province is next to ROC's Fujian Province. Yes, both nations have the same department name. Back in the late 2000s when tensions were much lower, you could take a 90 minute ferry from Xiamen island to Jinmen (or Kinmen) island. On a very good day, you can see the other island from the highest point. That's how close they are.

On Jinmen, there are still places marked "Minefield." I didn't go inside; everyone knows better than to wander around an uncleared field. A lot of the older defenses were removed and some put in an museum. As for that museum, it's dug inside a mountain.

In this book, you really have to read the previous book The Second Chinese Revolution first. You are introduced to the major PRC characters in that book.

I found this book compelling and very realistic in terms of logistics. Based on lessons learned from US amphibious landing in WW2, supporting an sea-borne invasion force requires a very long fleet train. For the Chinese to do this in this book with a shoestring budget of three or four replenishment ships, this assumes best case scenario that the Taiwanese will just roll over on Day 2 and see the PRC flag over the Taiwanese palace on Day 5.

Trying to simplify with borrowed commercial ferries that have Ro/RO abilities is very plausible too; that's what the US MSC does. It's faster than developing and building navy ships, but there is also countervailing factors too.

The Alina / Kharlov subplot goes back to book 4. Who knows what will happen in the next book? Yes, neither character are the "white picket fence with 2 kids and a dog" type. Looking forward to the next book.