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China has more ships by count and it means zero. Coastal and patrol boats mean nothing. At the end combine combat arms win the day and there is zero indication

China has more ships by count and it means zero. Coastal and patrol boats mean nothing. At the end combine combat arms win the day and there is zero indication that China has sorted that. Heck, I would offer that with their top down structure they never will. Let us not forget in the US military a PFC is taught how to and can call for fire support. You have to be an officer to do that if you are russia or China. The largest air force in the world is the US Air Force. The 2nd largest, the US Navy and the 3rd, the US Army. In Ukraine the combine arms concept even without an Air Force that owns the sky is tearing apart what was the 2nd largest military in the world. In a full out war with China the US would own the sky battle space pretty quickly. I am not saying that China will not sort this at some point, but right now they are looking at Ukraine and going "hum". Taiwan is a fortress and as long as the people of Taiwan are willing to fight it will be a near impossible nut for China to crack. Another note is how dependent China is on oil imports. The US could quickly blockade all imports pretty quickly far from the range of land based Chinese missiles. They would be out of oil in 2 weeks. That part of the world has a very defined set of choke points.

rcarr 3y ago
I agree the US military still has a lot of significant advantages and that Taiwan would be difficult to take. I disagree that oil would be a major factor because China would just pipe it in from Russia.
- myrandomcomment 3y ago
  A pipeline is an easy fixed target. In a war the US will want to it to end quickly so cutting off the oil will be an easy choice. https://warsawinstitute.org/china-malacca-dilemma/ https://warsawinstitute.org/china-malacca-dilemma/
  - rcarr 3y ago
    That link seems to be about sea routes. I’m talking about a pipeline or most likely multiple pipelines that would be skirting around Mongolia. You’d have to do either a lot of dogfighting to get there if you’re using planes or hope you can get a missile or drone through. A HALO jump sabotage mission would also be super difficult.

rcarr 3y ago

I agree the US military still has a lot of significant advantages and that Taiwan would be difficult to take. I disagree that oil would be a major factor because China would just pipe it in from Russia.

myrandomcomment 3y ago
A pipeline is an easy fixed target. In a war the US will want to it to end quickly so cutting off the oil will be an easy choice. https://warsawinstitute.org/china-malacca-dilemma/ https://warsawinstitute.org/china-malacca-dilemma/
- rcarr 3y ago
  That link seems to be about sea routes. I’m talking about a pipeline or most likely multiple pipelines that would be skirting around Mongolia. You’d have to do either a lot of dogfighting to get there if you’re using planes or hope you can get a missile or drone through. A HALO jump sabotage mission would also be super difficult.