In Red Tide, volume five of the Winds of War series, WWIII rages as the nuclear-powered Chinese semi-submersible cruiser Sea Dragon goes to sea. When Chinese satellites detect the presence of an American Battle Group, only a few hundred miles over the horizon, Captain Peng Ko receives orders to attack it. The enemy battle group includes the aircraft carrier Concord, which, given its planes and escorts, should be impervious to anything that a single cruiser could throw at it.

But the Sea Dragon is equipped with a one-of-a-kind experimental weapon that can not only fire projectiles from a long distance away, but can inflict terrible damage when it does so. Five hits are sufficient to send the Concord to the bottom. The hunt for the Sea Dragon begins.

Meanwhile on the other side of the world, the Allies are planning to attack the Russian fleet in the Black Sea. In order to succeed, the Allies will have to engage enemy patrol boats and neutralize heavily armed gun towers.

The invaders will also be forced to fight the cruiser Omsk, which, if allowed to enter the Mediterranean Sea, could wreak havoc on Allied shipping. US Navy Commander Maxwell Ryson and his squadron of Pegasus Class II Hydrofoils will befront and centre during the attack, and will, despite their relatively small size, be forced to engage the mighty Omsk.

Subsequent to the battle in the Black Sea, Ryson takes command of a mixed squadron of patrol boats assigned to police the South China Sea and, more importantly, help find the Sea Dragon. A mission which, if successful, is what one admiral describes as 'a surefire way to win a posthumous Medal of Honor'.