In defiance of Washington, India announces the start of receiving the S-400 system from Russia

Chinese marines know the striking force that is preparing to invade Taiwan

How does China plan to invade and occupy Taiwan? And how did it manage to integrate its ground forces with the navy to come up with the Marine Corps, which will be the striking force in the upcoming invasion of Taiwan?

During his inspection of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Marine Corps in Chaozhou, south China's Guangdong Province, in mid-October 2020, Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed the importance of the Marine Corps and the necessity and improvement of its combat capabilities to build strong forces that include soldiers with experience in combat operations.

Xi stressed that the Chinese People's Liberation Army Marine Corps is an elite fighting force dedicated to carrying out amphibious operations, with the primary task of protecting China's sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as its maritime and foreign interests.

Military experts and analysts believe that the Marine Corps will be the striking hand of Beijing during the invasion and occupation of the island of Taiwan, which they believe the Chinese government is planning to launch at any moment in the period between 2025 and 2035, given the tremendous developments made on the structure and equipment of this weapon in The past few years, in addition to the modification work of merchant ships, which is expected to participate in the thousands during the invasion of Taiwan.

Chinese Navy

Founded on April 23, 1949, the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy is the naval branch of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. In conjunction with the development witnessed by China and its economy, the Chinese navy developed with the development of China's military power in general.

Although there are annual statistics on the number of ships and platforms belonging to the Chinese navy, these numbers remain estimates due to the secrecy that China imposes on its military projects, especially the navy. According to the American " Global Firepower " website , China has the largest marine fleet in the world with 777 marine pieces.

The Chinese fleet includes two aircraft carriers, 50 destroyers, 46 frigates, 72 corvettes, 36 naval minesweepers, 123 patrol ships, in addition to 79 submarines, making it the largest submarine force in the world.

Chinese marines

To bring offensive forces ashore, the Chinese Marines have Type 05 Amphibious Fighting Vehicles (Others) with a 30mm cannon.

The US Marine Corps has maintained its dominance in the western Pacific since Japan's defeat in World War II, but recent years have seen the emergence of a new power in the region. For years, China has been steadily building its naval fleet, but recently it has renewed its focus on its Marine Corps and embarked on a bold plan to increase its size and capabilities.

To support the People's Liberation Army (PLAN) Navy, China is seeking to create a Marine Corps that can project its power far from China and away from its shores, in any climate and location. A Chinese weapon characterized by integration and diversity in operations, speed of response, and the ability to fight under multi-dimensional conditions.

While the Chinese state agreed to reduce its army of two million soldiers (about one million of them land divisions) by 300,000 soldiers, it plans to develop the Marine Corps by 400%, from 20,000 to more than 100,000 soldiers, and will integrate the amphibious units of the People's Liberation Army in Marine Corps of the People's Liberation Army of China (PLANMC). Which represents a major shift in China's strategic planning toward a power that can "protect arterial maritime trade routes and enforce its growing foreign interests," according to government officials.

Preparations are in full swing

Perhaps one of the most important things that China is currently interested in is developing and expanding the capabilities of its marine corps, as it seeks to integrate more of its most numerous ground forces in the world with its naval forces, which have witnessed massive inflation in recent years, to the point of describing it as a “sea monster” from the magazine The American National Interest , due to its many ongoing projects in the production of more advanced marine parts in huge numbers, making the Chinese fleet the largest in the world.

Beijing's plans to invade Taiwan and the rest of the disputed areas in the South China Sea, the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea are not limited to the Chinese navy's fleet only, but in the beginning of 2017, it introduced a new law to control Chinese merchant shipping ships in times of need. Within this act, naval engineers began modifying merchant ships to make them better assault ships, capable of transporting hundreds of thousands of Marines with their equipment.

To invade the island of Taiwan, experts believe that China may need to move up to two million soldiers across the nearly 100-mile-long Taiwan Strait, which is a very complex logistical operation, much more than the People's Liberation Army Navy can transport, as the task of transporting soldiers It will be entrusted to thousands of commercial cargo ships that are being modified very quickly.

“If the PLA’s invasion force were a million or more men, we might expect to deliver them from a fleet of thousands or even tens of thousands of ships, backed by thousands of Airplanes and helicopters. According to Easton, nearly 1,000 large vessels belonging to China's COSCO Shipping Corporation could form the backbone of this improvised fleet.

In defiance of Washington, India announces the start of receiving the S-400 system from Russia

India announced on Monday the start of receiving the Russian S-400 defense system, despite opposition from the United States. Washington had asked its S-400 partners to stay away from Russian military equipment to avoid possible sanctions under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act.

India's Foreign Minister announced on Monday that Russia has begun delivering his country the Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system, against which the United States has threatened to impose sanctions.

Indian Foreign Minister Harsh Vardhan Shringla said after Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to New Delhi that deliveries began this month and will continue.

India has maintained its decision to go ahead with the S-400 agreement with Russia, even though the United States has not agreed to it.

Earlier on Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said an agreement to supply India with Russian S-400 air defense missile systems was being implemented despite what he described as US efforts to undermine the agreement.

India and Russia have a long history of close relations and have already set a target of $30 billion in bilateral trade by the end of 2025. But India has strengthened its relationship with the United States recently, and considers this a critical factor in confronting China.

India is trying to orient its defense relationship with Russia while strengthening its military relationship with the United States.

India, a major purchaser of military equipment, relied largely on the former Soviet Union during the Cold War. But it has diversified its purchases by choosing American equipment as well.

Washington has asked its partners to stay away from Russian military equipment to avoid possible sanctions under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act.

Therefore, India's acquisition of the S-400 system, which New Delhi considers crucial in confronting China, may cause tension in Indo-US relations.

The S-400 is an advanced surface-to-air defense system that, once acquired, is expected to give India a strategic deterrent against its rivals China and Pakistan.