Looking back at the period of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Chinese army, with the spirit of not fearing death and fighting bravely, drove the invading Japanese army from China in an extremely economical way for 14 years. From the point of view of weapons and equipment, logistical support, the cost is quite low. However, with the continuous development of science and technology, the pattern of modern warfare has undergone earth-shaking changes, and the war costs associated with it have become astronomical. So, if a war breaks out in the future, how long can each of China's 1.4 billion people donate 100 yuan to sustain the war?
First of all, ammunition consumption is relatively economical. The price of a regular bullet is about 2 to 3 yuan, while the sniper bullet is slightly more expensive, about 50 yuan a round. Currently, soldiers on active duty typically carry about 200 rounds of ammunition. If you take China's current army strength of 2.3 million, this will consume 460 million bullets. However, infantry is only part of it, and artillery is more expensive. The price of a 155mm shell is about 20,000 yuan, while the PLZ-05 self-propelled gun has a rate of fire of up to 8 rounds per minute, and the shells fired by an artillery company in one minute are equivalent to dropping a Mercedes-Benz car worth 2.88 million yuan at the enemy. Although the cost of conventional weapons is still acceptable, the Dongfeng-41 missile carrying nuclear weapons is expensive, according to experts, its price is close to 40 million US dollars, equivalent to about 250 million yuan, which is not affordable for every country. Coupled with the use of tanks and armored vehicles, from the perspective of the cost of ground combat, the donation of 100 yuan per 1.4 billion Chinese people, a total of 140 billion yuan, is only enough to cover two months' expenses.
Modern warfare is a joint operation, including land, sea, and air. Relying only on the attack of ground forces will make it difficult to gain the initiative on the battlefield, and the ultimate cost of casualties will be extremely high. In addition, the combat strength of the air force also needs a lot of investment, the price of a fighter can easily exceed 100 million, and the cost of a fighter formation may reach billions. As for the Navy's aircraft carriers, warships, and submarines, the cost is even greater. In addition, it is necessary to take into account the maintenance of aircraft carriers, the expenditure of soldiers and other factors, and without the support of hundreds of billions of military expenditures in the future, it is simply impossible to maintain modern warfare. Taking the US aircraft carrier as an example, a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier costs nearly 30 billion yuan, its service life is 50 years, and the maintenance cost is as high as 60 billion US dollars. Since World War II, the United States has used a large number of high-tech weapons on multiple battlefields. For example, the total cost of the Vietnam War was $663 billion, and the 2003 Iraq War cost a whopping $763 billion. The 40-day Gulf War cost $96 billion. According to the experience of the Gulf War, 140 billion yuan can only cover 10 days of military spending. This clearly shows that the essence of modern warfare lies in money.