From:	Arclight arclight@*********.de
Subject:	Second Hand
Date:	Tue, 7 Sep 1999 13:57:19 +0200

And finally, abortion_engine expressed himself by writing:

<snip>

> Yes, the Chinese military has formidible manpower. However, they
> do not have
> the industrial might to back it. Until very recently there was something
> like one rifle for every five army personnel. The United States has more
> than enough--okay, usually half broken and all too used--rifles,
> etc., for
> their military. And if we had to mobilize, we have the ability to make
> hundreds of thousands more in a very brief time.

You don't really need a rifle for everybody. Back in WW2,
the russians charged german positions with a rifle for every
fifth man. When he died, the one behind him took the rifle
and so on. When the last man took it, he was near enough to
the enemy to actually fight...
And as china has IIRC close to 2 billion people now, and
a lot more men than women, they could mobilize a _lot_ of
soldiers and would even have no decrease of the birth rate.

> In addition, the Chinese military has no countermeasures
> whatsoever for much
> of our hardware. Technologically, they simply cannot keep up
> with the United
> States.

Tech doesn't really help when you positions are attacked by
forces with a multiple of your own manpower. Back in the korean
war, when chinese forces attacked the UN units, they drove them
back to the southern coast. I doubt that they had _any_ tech
besides some tanks and rifles... sheer numbers aren't that bad.

<snip>

> Good point about supply lines, though. Most people underestimate the need
> for support personnel and strategy, simply comparing things like
> number of
> men under arms. Bravo.

As you say, this is chinas greatest advantage. I doubt a war
between the US and china would be fought in America

--
[arclight@*********.de]<><><><><><>[ICQ14322211]
Vorsicht Ritchie, ein Hochhäus!! - Wer?
<><><><[http://www.datahaven.de/arclight]><><><>;