Operation Sleeping Dragon

About the Book

Operation Sleeping Dragon was a plan devised in desperation by the Japanese High Command in the last days of World War II in the vain hope to snatch victory from the Allies through use of biological warfare. In 1945, after the defeat of Nazi Germany, Japan was being systematically pounded to rubble by devastating air raids, with calls for its unconditional surrender and the threat of using the atomic bomb if Allied demands were not met. A deadly airborne virus which is as contagious as the common flu with the deadly effects of the ebola virus is discovered in a remote part of China by the infamous Unit 731, the Japanese Biological Warfare Unit. It kills rapidly and in most cases within 24 hours with its victims feeling tiny dragons tearing their bodies apart from the inside; hence the name dragon virus. With the help of the Unit's commander, Dr. Ishibashi and the War Ministry, a plan is devised where the entire Japanese population is to be vaccinated against the effects of the dragon virus and then it is to be released upon the unsuspecting allies. The target for the virus' release is Australia, which at the time is the main Allied base for operations against the Japanese in the Pacific. The operation involves 7 English speaking Japanese agents travelling on a submarine for the Western Australian coast from where they would each make their way to a major Australian city and release the virus upon receiving a signal. From there it would eventually spread to all the Allied nations which would see the Allied offensive against the Japanese eventually cease with a world wide death toll in the hundreds of millions. However Dr. Ishibashi builds the vaccine plant needed for the mass inoculations at Nagasaki, which is destroyed in the 2nd Atomic Bomb blast, and the Japanese are faced now with no other alternative but to surrender. However not trusting allied intentions towards their nation and their Emporer, Sleeping Dragon is devised where the virus would only be released should the Allies carve up Japan and arrest the Emporer, thereby resulting in a world wide pandemic where both victor and vanquished are destroyed. However, around this time with all the turmoil as various factions in the military and government struggle to come to terms with the surrender, all contact with the submarine and agents is suddenly lost with its location a mystery until now.

In the present nearly 60 years after the war, a Texan Oil Billionaire taking a pleasure cruise on his private yacht with some friends, stumble upon the intact submarine sitting on the ocean floor off the coast of Western Australia after the anchor of his yacht gets tangles in it and he sends a diver down to investigate. He arranges for the raising of the vessel with the help of an oil exploration vessel which is nearby for the purposes of making a documentary not knowing about its mission or its deadly cargo. NSA discovers the plan and assigns a disgruntled intelligence officer Siebert to the case thinking its of little importance. Just fresh from long service leave after his recent divorce Siebert discovers much to his horror that there is more to the case than just an old war wreck. When it is finally discovered that the submarine is carrying the dragon virus, a desperate race against time begins before it can be unleashed on the unsuspecting world. With the help from Colonel Julie Laughton from USAMRID, Siebert must prevent at all costs the secret of sleeping dragon from being unleashed and in the process finds his past, present and future colliding in what could be a world wide holocaust of biblical proportions.

About the Author

I am 39 yrs old, married with one child, I am a barrister (Lawyer) by profession.