Chinese Plans Go Awry in the Centre

An unfortunate and unforeseen set of circumstances involving the conscripted civilian ships delayed the Chinese central force of two rather elderly frigates deploying into an effective firing position which left them in the full ECW and sonar glare of the two (now alerted) patrolling Taiwanese centrally placed destroyers. Consequently the Chinese failed to get off any parting shots before seeing the incoming missiles bearing down on them. Taiwanese new technology blasted the these venerable Chinese ladies to pieces. Elsewhere missiles were inbound in great quantity.

The layered defence systems of the more Westernised ships performed admirably, but alas the Western Taiwanese destroyer force was simply overwhelmed by numbers and were lost with all hands. Their Chinese "immediate" opponents were left crippled though, one in a state of sinking the other in a very damaged state. As already mentioned the Taiwanese central patrol dispatched their Chinese opponents for no loss. At the Eastern end (see above) the US DDG reduced six vampires to four, close defence took another two, chaff another one but that still left one to get through meaning ... an anxious 'wargaming' dice roll for the American player (see below):

Don't roll a one (and he did), not good, a magazine explosion and the USS Long Island Tea was torn apart. The traumatised American player had to sit down and grope for his drink. Meanwhile those two parting Harpoons shots were causing the Chinese destroyers to very rattled, somehow they just kept coming closer and closer, sniffing them out. Their point defence weapons missed and a huge explosion sent one destroyer to the bottom, only the handy and voluminous use of chaff saved the other, just.

After all that what was left afloat? In a matter of real-time seconds two powerful fleets had just disappeared.