The 10th day of the Middle East war, the Wall Street Journal suddenly published an article, talking about China!

Wall Street Journal March 9 report: "If Beijing orders an attack on Taiwan and the U.S. decides to intervene, the U.S. military will need a mountain of ammunition to strike Chinese ships crossing the Taiwan Strait and shoot down the dense firepower of China. The war that Trump launched against Iran is the latest campaign that has consumed missile stocks and left the U.S. military in a difficult situation."

Focusing on the battlefield in the Middle East, the U.S. and Israel have joined forces to launch an offensive against Iran, hoping for a quick victory. However, things did not go as expected, and the war has not ended quickly as they had anticipated, but instead has turned into a prolonged and intense stalemate.

Iran has changed its leadership. After General Vahidi took over as the acting commander of the Revolutionary Guards, he moved all missile and drone production lines to underground factories, capable of launching more than 600 missiles and drones daily.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military is in a dire situation. The cost of intercepting these weapons is extremely high. A single "Patriot-3" interception missile costs between $5 million to $40 million, while an Iranian drone costs only $3.5 million. Calculating this, the cost of intercepting 100 drones would be enough for Iran to produce 1,000 of them.

More troublingly, the U.S. military can only produce seven precision-guided missiles per month, whereas Iran can manufacture hundreds of them monthly. Now, the inventory of "Tomahawk" cruise missiles is approaching depletion, and the situation is indeed very worrying.

Shifting focus to the Taiwan Strait, although the U.S. has deployed the "Ford" and "Eisenhower" aircraft carriers to the Western Pacific, due to the diversion of troops for the Middle East conflict, there are actually few major U.S. military forces in the Western Pacific now.

In contrast, China's "anti-access/area denial" system is becoming increasingly mature. The DF-21D and DF-26 missiles are powerful, with ranges covering the Second Island Chain, demonstrating China's strong national defense capabilities. The HQ-9 high-speed missile on the Type 055 destroyers can cleverly bypass enemy defense systems. With the precise positioning of the Beidou satellite, the PLA can launch a swift and fierce strike within minutes, showcasing formidable combat power.

Previously, the U.S. military conducted self-simulations and found that the striking power of the missile clusters of the People's Liberation Army within a 1,000 km radius around the Taiwan Strait is shocking. At that time, the survival rate of the U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups is expected to drop below 30%.

Looking deeper, the United States currently faces the contradiction between "global deployment" and "regional refinement." Although the U.S. military budget is nearly $1 trillion, much more than China's, it must be spread across several battlefields such as Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific, resulting in high costs but poor results.

China's military budget is $249 billion, which is less than that of the U.S., but it can implement precise strategies and make full use of resources. For example, the Fujian aircraft carrier, costing $4 billion, is less than half the price of the U.S. Ford-class, yet it is equipped with electromagnetic catapults and stealth fighter jets, significantly enhancing combat effectiveness.

This confrontation reveals new rules of modern warfare: the rate at which ammunition is consumed far exceeds the rate at which it is produced, making this situation a key factor in determining the outcome, highlighting the severe challenges in resource terms in modern warfare.

The U.S. is fighting on three fronts in Ukraine, Israel, and Iran, already showing the cost dilemma of "global hegemony." The cost of interception missiles is absurdly high, while the drones of the opponents are cheap. This "asymmetric consumption" is eroding the traditional advantages of the U.S. military.

China, on the other hand, is breaking through through "systematic operations." The Taiwan Strait is not Ukraine; China has home-field advantage and a complete industrial chain, with missile production capacity reaching "hundreds of missiles per day."

More importantly, China's military strategy is defensive. The DF missiles do not target anyone, but anyone who tries to split China will face a devastating strike.

In the future, a multipolar world will reshape the security landscape. If the U.S. continues to fight on multiple fronts, "strategic overextension" is inevitable. While China's "coastal defense + distant sea protection" strategy can both defend its territory and stabilize regional situations.

History will prove: true security does not lie in the size of the arsenal, but in the depth of strategic patience.

In this confrontation, China, with its wise and strategic approach of "defeating the enemy without fighting," is calmly responding. Like a masterful brushstroke, it writes a remarkable strategic answer on the grand picture of China's new era.

Original: toutiao.com/article/1859244462966919/

Statement: The article represents the views of the author.