U.S. military bases and airfields around China are the most important platforms for military power projection to China, and in the event of a war between China and the United States, they will become high-value targets that the PLA will prioritize.
【U.S. Military Base】
However, it is not an easy task to completely destroy airfields and bases, and the United States has been working on rapid wartime repairs of infrastructure since World War II.
Today, the US military facilities have become quite tenacious and survivable, and the hundreds of thousands of ballistic missiles of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) may eventually blow up a few craters.
Let's take a look at the PK of China's ballistic missiles and the U.S. military's rapid repair capabilities.
The essence of a military strike
Many people don't understand that it's not just military bases, but also that a lot of military equipment can only be repaired if it's recycled on the battlefield, and it's not easy to completely destroy it.
【Counter-Artillery Strike】
In the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, both Russia and Ukraine have repaired a lot of tanks, armored vehicles, etc. captured from each other, not to mention the US military, which has one of the strongest logistics capabilities in the world, and its battlefield repair capabilities are quite powerful.
However, the purpose of striking at the enemy's infrastructure is to buy time for oneself, and it takes time to repair any equipment and facilities, and during this window period, our army can use this to complete many necessary military operations, which is the key to destroying the enemy's military strength.
For example, during World War II, the U.S. military persistently attacked Germany's industrial production bases.
[Strategic Bombing]
Of course, the Allies knew that the Germans could repair the damaged production facilities, but as long as the facilities continued to be damaged, they could reduce the scale of German production and replenishment of weapons and equipment, and gain an advantage for themselves on the battlefield.
The same is true of China's attack on US military facilities in the Asia-Pacific region after the outbreak of war, and the PLA naturally knows that it will repair while fighting the Americans, but as long as this state of affairs continues, the US military will not be able to project its forces into the second or even the first island chain to fight.
This has provided a strategic window for the PLA's "armed reunification" operation, making it impossible for the US military to intervene in the PLA's unified operations.
【Rocket Army】
Therefore, it does not matter whether the PLA's missile assault can completely scrap the US military base, the key is to continue to hinder the US military aviation operations and prevent its fighters from taking off for combat.
The same is true for the attack on the ports; if the US warships are unable to complete their preparations for sailing, they will naturally not be able to compete with the Chinese Navy for sea supremacy; as long as the PLA can gain absolute superiority in air and sea supremacy for a period of time, it will be able to ensure the success of the "military reunification" operation.
【U.S. Ports】
On the other hand, if the PLA calculates and thinks that it is not cost-effective to use long-range missiles costing billions of dollars to attack US airfields just to blow up a few craters and that they will soon be quickly repaired by the US military, then the pressure on China's navy and air force will be very great.
The scale of the naval and air forces deployed by the US military around China is not small, the air force combat system is very complete, and the navy also has a Seventh Fleet town; if the PLA is unable to establish control over the sea and air, the operations faced by the landing troops on the island will be very difficult.
Even if the PLA can win the naval and air duel, it will give the armed forces on the island time to shrink their defenses or break them into pieces to fight urban street battles, and it will be very difficult for the PLA to smoothly advance "military reunification," and the casualties in urban warfare will be very high.
【Armed Forces on the Island】
For the PLA, the best way to fight to recover Taiwan is always to fight a quick battle, so the use of ballistic missiles is certain and worthwhile, and the longer the war lasts, the more detrimental it will be to China's image in the international community.
The battlefield is not limited to the Taiwan Strait
Once a conflict breaks out in the Taiwan Strait, the scale of the war will certainly not be limited to a corner of China's Taiwan, but will inevitably spread to the entire second island chain and even the depths of the western Pacific.
【Island Chain System】
Considering the cost-effectiveness ratio of using ballistic missiles of several billion yuan, the PLA is likely to choose the method of combining missile assault and air strike.
The first wave of sabotage and attacks was handed over to weapons such as Dongfeng missiles to ensure that they could break through the US military's ground air defense system and destroy the ability to use US military facilities, such as runways, oil depots and other key facilities that support US military lift-off operations.
The next attack will be handed over to the PLA's air power to complete, such as using multi-role fighters such as the J-16 to carry out continuous strikes and suppression of US airfields, so that the US military has no time and space to repair.
[16]
At this time, since the long-range air defense system of the US military has been destroyed in the first wave of missile assault, the pressure of anti-aircraft fire faced by our army is very small, and it can calmly use precision-guided munitions to complete the strike.
Until the PLA Navy or amphibious forces land on the island and take complete control, our air power can ensure that these bases do not pose a threat to our army.
In fact, the US military is also aware that the PLA already has the strength to expel US military forces from the Asia-Pacific region, so the United States is actively arming its allies and strengthening the deployment of military forces in the Asia-Pacific region.
[The People's Liberation Army has the ability to expel US military forces from the Asia-Pacific region]
FOR EXAMPLE, THE UNITED STATES AND JAPAN HAVE REACHED AN AGREEMENT TO EXPORT 400 TOMAHAWK BLOCK 4/5 CRUISE MISSILES TO JAPAN.
As a typical offensive weapon, the Tomahawk was originally forbidden to be equipped by Japan as a defeated country in World War II, and the United States is currently loosening its military restrictions on Japan.
In doing so, the United States is not sharing the risk of military equipment being wiped out by the PLA Rocket Force, so that the Japanese Self-Defense Forces still have the ability to pose a threat to the Chinese mainland in the face of the PLA.
【Tomahawk BLCOK4 Missile】
In addition to Japan, South Korea and the Philippines may also accept this long-range missile in the future, and the US military has already deployed Black Hawk medium-range missiles with a range of up to 3,000 kilometers in the Philippines, which is also a naked deterrent to China.
Of course, compared with China, which has a huge industrial scale and a complete industrial chain, the United States will definitely suffer a loss if it wants to play a missile attack war, but in the absence of an optimal solution for China, the US military can only take one step at a time.
Sources:
[1] Focus on Strategic Ballistic Missiles.People's Daily Online.2001-05-22 [Cited 2019-06-27]
[2] Chen Jimin: The U.S. "Asia-Pacific Rebalance Strategy" Challenges China More Cruelly.People's Daily Online [Citation date:2014-12-6]