With the change of leadership in the Taiwan region imminent, the mainland side has taken action ahead of schedule, and several 10,000-ton ships have descended south from Bohai Bay to the Taiwan Strait to prepare for possible changes in the situation.
[Bohai Baozhu, a subsidiary of Bohai Ferry Company, left Bohai Bay and headed south]
According to public navigation information, a few days ago, the Bohai Baozhu passenger ro-ro ship under the Bohai Ferry Company, after completing a cross-sea transportation task from Yantai to Dalian, did not return to Yantai from Dalian as usual, but sailed southeast in the process of going south, leaving Bohai Bay and entering the Yellow Sea, and it is suspected that it will continue to go south.
At the same time, the Bohai Pearl, which had sailed south from Bohai Bay a few days ago and then north along the Yangtze River to Nanjing, had also returned to the ocean after loading cargo somewhere in Nanjing, appeared in the waters near Ningbo, and then sailed south, and should have entered the Taiwan Strait.
The main business of the Bohai Ferry Company is the trans-Bohai Bay shipping from Yantai and other places to Dalian and other places, and the company's subordinate ro-ro passenger ships rarely leave the Bohai Bay to perform other commercial transportation tasks, but are often requisitioned by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) to temporarily go south to Fujian and other places to participate in the PLA's cross-sea landing combat exercises. In 2022, there was a scene of 7 Bohai Ferry Company's ro-ro passenger ships heading south to Fujian at the same time.
[The Bohai Pearl should have entered the Taiwan Strait]
Therefore, the Bohai Baozhu and Bohai Pearl should also go to Xiamen and other ports to participate in the relevant exercises and training of the People's Liberation Army.
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) has undoubtedly taken into account the actual situation in the Taiwan Strait and is preparing for a possible cross-sea landing campaign in the future.
There is a clear difference between a large-scale cross-sea landing operation in the Taiwan Strait and an island-grabbing operation in the South China Sea and other places. The confrontation in the South China Sea is mainly a struggle for sea supremacy, and the PLA only needs to mobilize one or two specialized amphibious combat ships such as 071 and 075 to carry marines at the battalion level, and it will be able to complete most of the combat missions of seizing islands.
[The PLA currently has dozens of amphibious combat ships of various types]
However, in the direction of the Taiwan Strait, the PLA will face a complex large-scale cross-sea campaign, and once it starts to operate, it will be the largest cross-sea landing operation of mankind after the Normandy landings.
Although the PLA has quite a few specialized amphibious warships, these ships can only transport troops through the strait once round trip, and only a few brigades. If these ships were to transport troops alone, a lot of valuable time would be wasted on loading and unloading and on the way to and fro, slowing down the progress of the subsequent troop landing.
Therefore, it is necessary to give full play to the advantages of the mainland's national defense mobilization system, which combines military and civilian forces, and let large civilian ships participate in landing operations and transport follow-up troops and supplies. Among all civilian transport ships, the large ro-ro passenger ship that can carry 1.5 to 2 synthetic battalions at a time is undoubtedly the first choice for PLA recruitment, as long as the gangplank door is opened, and the vehicle can be driven directly from the cabin to the dock.
[The People's Liberation Army has repeatedly recruited and dispatched ro-ro passenger ships to participate in cross-sea delivery drills before]
To be more specific, if a large-scale conflict really breaks out in the Taiwan Strait one day in the future, the PLA will inevitably first send amphibious warships carrying professional amphibious combat units, cooperate with the army aviation units, and under the cover of long-range firepower, take down several beachheads, and strive to seize some docks.
Then, large civilian ro-ro passenger ships such as Bohai Baozhu directly docked at the port, or through the temporary trestle built on the beachhead, unloaded the army heavy composite brigade with 99A tanks and other equipment, and quickly formed a second attack wave to launch a surprise attack in depth.
It is precisely because these civilian Ro-Ro passenger ships can play a key role in cross-sea operations, and every time such ships gather on the southeast coast, they will attract widespread attention from the outside world. The PLA's assembling of such vessels and holding cross-sea landing exercises is often related to changes in the situation in the Taiwan Strait. The same is true of the Bohai Pearl and the Bohai Pearl going south this time.
[Previously, the propaganda video of the PLA Joint Logistics Support Force also appeared in the picture of passenger roller loading and unloading vehicles]
On May 20, the inauguration ceremony will be held on the island to complete the change of regional leadership. At that time, Lai Qingde will give a speech. The outside world generally believes that this speech will set the tone for the overall attitude of the Taiwan authorities on cross-strait relations in the future, and is a key node that will determine the future trend of the situation in the Taiwan Strait.
The green camp can take this opportunity to send a signal of relaxation and improve cross-strait relations, and it is also possible to further show a hardline attitude toward the mainland and continue to provoke cross-strait confrontation. Judging from the Green Camp's move to keep Guan Biling, chairman of Taiwan's "Maritime Affairs Committee," who played a negative role in the aftermath of the "vicious ship collision incident," remains in office, the possibility of the latter scenario is even higher.
At the same time, the United States is also actively trying to support the green camp and keep the situation in the Taiwan Strait tense. A few days ago, the US military sent a destroyer through the Taiwan Strait under the banner of "freedom of navigation."
This change in the overall situation has determined that the PLA and other departments need to intensify their activities in the direction of the Taiwan Strait, make preparations for the new situation that may arise in the near future, and remind the green camp on the island not to continue to go further and further down the evil road of "relying on the United States to seek independence" for the sake of their own selfish interests and ignoring the fundamental interests of the Taiwan people.
[The U.S. military recently sent a destroyer through the Taiwan Strait]
As the two civilian ro-ro passenger ships are heading south, the PLA Navy and Air Force have stepped up regular patrols around the island of Taiwan.
During the cruise on the 13th, although the PLA Air Force did not dispatch a large group of aircraft, some of the fighters cruised closer to the island of Taiwan. In the Taiwan Strait, six PLA fighter planes were only 52 nautical miles away from Taichung, and in the airspace southwest of the island of Taiwan, four PLA fighters approached only 39 nautical miles from Eluanbi.
The mainland coast guard and other departments have stepped up patrols in the Xiamen-Jin waters and conducted a maritime exercise with the participation of multiple departments.
It can be said that the mainland has made arrangements in advance and is ready to deal with all the situations that may arise in the near future. If the situation in the Taiwan Strait recurs in a few days, the People's Liberation Army, the mainland coast guard, and other departments will inevitably take advantage of the situation and deal a blow to the green camp and Washington on the island by holding military exercises around Taiwan Island.