The so-called "Shoulder to Shoulder 2024" joint military exercise led by the United States and the Philippines has gathered nearly 20,000 troops in the waters around the South China Sea to carry out strike drills in various subjects. With the maritime dispute between China and the Philippines becoming more and more complicated, it is self-evident who the Philippines and the United States want to target in holding such a large-scale military exercise in the South China Sea.
Not only that, at the same time that nearly 20,000 people from the United States and the Philippines were conducting exercises in the South China Sea, relevant news also showed that the US military took advantage of the opportunity of this exercise to openly dispatch two B-52H strategic bombers to brazenly rush into the South China Sea.
You must know that the B-52H strategic bomber is the main component of the current triad of nuclear strike forces in the United States, and this strategic bomber can not only carry a large number of conventional air-dropped bombs, but also carry laser-guided cruise missiles and nuclear bombs, and is an extremely important long-range strategic strike model of the US Air Force at present.
Therefore, the United States sent this strategic bomber to flood the South China Sea, nothing more than to deter the PLA, but also to show off its muscles at China's doorstep, demonstrate the strategic strength of the United States in the Asia-Pacific region, and at the same time support the Philippines.
However, the United States may have forgotten that it is now facing the People's Liberation Army (PLA), which is developing rapidly in strength, and the United States and the Philippines have engaged in provocative moves in the South China Sea, and even sent B-52H strategic bombers to rush into the South China Sea, but such means obviously cannot frighten the PLA.
In response to this news, some foreign media also deliberately drew up a map of the overall military dynamics in the South China Sea during the US-Philippine joint military exercises. From this picture, we can clearly see that the two American B-52H strategic bombers broke into the South China Sea from the direction of Palawan Island in the Philippines. At the same time, during the intrusion of the two US B-52H bombers into the South China Sea, there happened to be two Chinese Wuzhan-7 high-altitude strategic reconnaissance drones on their intended flight paths.
In other words, these two US bombers may have just stepped into the South China Sea and were immediately discovered by the PLA. Subsequently, this dynamic map also shows that the PLA immediately took off two J-11 fighters from the direction of the Paracel Islands and closely monitored the US bombers and the US-Philippine military exercises.
In the end, in the face of the two J-11 heavy fighters that China took off, the two B-52H strategic bombers that broke into the South China Sea did not choose to go deeper into the hinterland of the South China Sea, but chose to turn around and fly towards Luzon Island in the Philippines, and flew out of the South China Sea through the Bass Strait. In other words, after the two J-11 fighters of the People's Liberation Army took off, the two US bombers immediately fled, and the plan of the United States to deter the PLA with this was also frustrated.
In fact, the United States may have been well aware at the time that the United States and the Philippines were holding large-scale military exercises in the South China Sea, which caused the situation in the South China Sea to be very tense at the moment. If U.S. bombers continue to fly into the hinterland of the South China Sea, such as China's core military bases around the Paracel Islands, or even close to mainland China such as Hainan Island, there is a real risk of serious miscalculation.
This is because the PLA cannot completely guarantee whether the two US bombers have the intention of firing when they approach the Chinese mainland, so in order to ensure the safety of the mainland countries, it cannot be ruled out that there will be a preemptive strike, such as taking coercive measures against the US strategic bombers first. After all, there are not many examples of exercises turning into actual combat, and before the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Russia was a large-scale military exercise, and then launched this special military operation against Ukraine. It can even be said that if these two US bombers fly towards China, it cannot be ruled out that they will be judged by the PLA to be dangerous, and the consequences will be unimaginable.
The U.S. military may have understood very well at the time that it was okay to let it carry out provocations around China, but let the U.S. military go to war with the PLA on China's doorstep? That's certainly impossible, the U.S. military won't be so stupid.
For example, in this incident, once these two American bombers continue to approach China, if there is really a miscalculation, these two American bombers will inevitably be the first targets to be shot down. At the same time, although the United States has sent a large number of ships and warplanes to the South China Sea to hold joint military exercises between the United States and the Philippines, these forces are obviously not enough in front of the powerful People's Liberation Army, which has absolute geographical superiority. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) can completely assemble all its naval and air forces to strike, even if the United States opens up the aircraft carrier battle group, it will not be able to make any waves in the South China Sea, after all, this generation completely belongs to the absolute strike range of the PLA missile forces, and the United States should not forget how the two US aircraft carrier battle groups in 2016 were driven away by the PLA in the South China Sea.
In a word, don't look at the surface that the United States is aggressive in the South China Sea, but any small actions of the United States are fully visible to the PLA and are in the hands of the PLA. If the United States really dares to "step on the red line" in the South China Sea, it is doomed to only suffer defeat, and once a conflict breaks out between China and the United States in the South China Sea, no matter which way it is deduced, the United States has no chance of winning.