Could the US Stop a Massive, Sudden "Fait Accompli" Chinese Takeover of Taiwan?
It does seem realistic that a US allied force might be able to “remove” or destroy PLA forces occupying Taiwan, yet the question is “at what cost?”
KRIS OSBORN, WARRIOR MAVEN - CENTER FOR MILITARY MODERNIZATIONAUG 22, 2023
By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
The Pentagon's China reports refer to it as a “fait accompli,” ..... a sudden, massive, catastrophic Chinese ballistic missile attack on Taiwan designed to overwhelm its air defenses, destroy its aircraft and quickly encircle or occupy the island with an amphibious assault.
The potential Chinese thinking, according to Pentagon strategists tracking the Chinese threat, would be to annex Taiwan quickly such that it would become too costly in terms of casualties, war damage and dollars to assemble a force capable of “extricating” an occupying Chinese force from Taiwan.
Looking at available force numbers across the Pacific from countries such as South Korea and Japan, and the number of available 5th-generation aircraft and US Navy assets, it does seem realistic that a US allied force might be able to “remove” or destroy PLA forces occupying Taiwan, yet the question is “at what cost?” Including reserves, Globalfirepower.com’s 2023 force assessments says Japan can mass as many as 1 million forces and South Korea has at least 2 million in manpower. However, what would it take to assemble, stage and launch a multi-national amphibious attack force capable of removing a Chinese force embedded in Taiwan? Getting heavy armor or mechanized formations to the island of Taiwan would also likely prove quite difficult or time consuming. Naval superiority and 5th-generation air attack, coupled with long-range surface and air land strike would seem critical to any effort of this kind. Air superiority would likely be the fastest and most expedient path through which to destroy a Chinese force occupying Taiwan.
https://warriormaven.com/china/could-the-us-stop-a-massive-sudden-fait-accompli-chinese-takeover-of-taiwan