The U.S. bombed the shit out of SE Asia during the Vietnam war and still lost - I don't think a war with China would be a recap of that, but it definitely shows that practical experience doesn't mean much if the practice didn't work. Would it fuck China up? Yes, but at what cost to the U.S.? Once the shipping containers stop going across the Pacific the domestic unrest would be massive.
I haven't heard the episode itself but the point I've heard that he brings up about Chinese reliance on imported foodstuffs could be important. If China can't rely on non-western sources of food, an all out war would be just as problematic for China as it is for the US as they rely on eachother
Oh definitely I agree, the US military would be wholly unprepared for a war with China. There hasn't really been an organized military vs organized military war since world war 2 that the US has been involved in. They have no living experience to be able to win that war
they're not really that different, at the highest intensity they join each other and they are both employed discontinuously in the battlefield. Not that it matters as modern warfare has shown that offensive warfare against any enemy who have popular support, provided there is not a ridiculously overwhelming force differential (we're talking over 20:1), the territory is not a speck (allowing for defense in depth) and there isn't several generation more advanced weaponry (irrelevant but for the smallest non state actors), is basically unwinnable. There is no scenario where the US wins against China while several where China can take and hold Taiwan (as it fits in both the overwhelming force differential and very small territory).
Examples of the exceptions included, in chronological order of mention, are : Iraq, South America guerilla movements or South East Asian ones, both Afrin and Nagarno Karabakh, and Sri Lanka's Tamils;
The thing is i think they tried total war, at least for a couple of years, it just isn't how things work anymore with modern warfare, i mean partisans were already present during ww2, if you mean total mobilization the stoppage of treats and non essential goods will crash the market hard enough to dry the US coffers before any battle, so I don't think the US is physically capable of even fighting total war at the moment. Of course a proper fascist would just suspend the markets and roll the dice so it is not entirely impossible either. Anyways, as I said offensive warfare is basically unwinnable, Turkey, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia have all tried unsucessfully with significant enough means that I don't think they would be qualitatively different from conflict with an official state actor, i think the premium we have given to infantry numbers are extremely severely reduced with new techniques, technologies and indigenous advanced fabrication (you can't say the amount of troops deployed in Yemen for instance 100000-200000 for each side would be significantly different from total war)
after all the US can’t even beat the taliban so what chance do they have of beating the PLA
It is not about beating them. It is about creating yet another conflict and getting the opponent bogged down in it. This will be completely devastating for the side on whos territory this happens, regardless who comes out on top in the end.
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The U.S. bombed the shit out of SE Asia during the Vietnam war and still lost - I don't think a war with China would be a recap of that, but it definitely shows that practical experience doesn't mean much if the practice didn't work. Would it fuck China up? Yes, but at what cost to the U.S.? Once the shipping containers stop going across the Pacific the domestic unrest would be massive.
I haven't heard the episode itself but the point I've heard that he brings up about Chinese reliance on imported foodstuffs could be important. If China can't rely on non-western sources of food, an all out war would be just as problematic for China as it is for the US as they rely on eachother
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Oh definitely I agree, the US military would be wholly unprepared for a war with China. There hasn't really been an organized military vs organized military war since world war 2 that the US has been involved in. They have no living experience to be able to win that war
Well it'd be korea right? not that it changes much
I mean fighting an insurgency vs a total war are not the same thing. They are very different.
they're not really that different, at the highest intensity they join each other and they are both employed discontinuously in the battlefield. Not that it matters as modern warfare has shown that offensive warfare against any enemy who have popular support, provided there is not a ridiculously overwhelming force differential (we're talking over 20:1), the territory is not a speck (allowing for defense in depth) and there isn't several generation more advanced weaponry (irrelevant but for the smallest non state actors), is basically unwinnable. There is no scenario where the US wins against China while several where China can take and hold Taiwan (as it fits in both the overwhelming force differential and very small territory). Examples of the exceptions included, in chronological order of mention, are : Iraq, South America guerilla movements or South East Asian ones, both Afrin and Nagarno Karabakh, and Sri Lanka's Tamils;
I'm not saying america would win, just that I don't think you can extrapolate america's performance in a total war from something like afghanistan.
The thing is i think they tried total war, at least for a couple of years, it just isn't how things work anymore with modern warfare, i mean partisans were already present during ww2, if you mean total mobilization the stoppage of treats and non essential goods will crash the market hard enough to dry the US coffers before any battle, so I don't think the US is physically capable of even fighting total war at the moment. Of course a proper fascist would just suspend the markets and roll the dice so it is not entirely impossible either. Anyways, as I said offensive warfare is basically unwinnable, Turkey, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia have all tried unsucessfully with significant enough means that I don't think they would be qualitatively different from conflict with an official state actor, i think the premium we have given to infantry numbers are extremely severely reduced with new techniques, technologies and indigenous advanced fabrication (you can't say the amount of troops deployed in Yemen for instance 100000-200000 for each side would be significantly different from total war)
It is not about beating them. It is about creating yet another conflict and getting the opponent bogged down in it. This will be completely devastating for the side on whos territory this happens, regardless who comes out on top in the end.