There are indications that the Chinese
military has serious problems

It is for reasons like this that I don't believe an amphibious landing to take Taiwan by force is in the cards. I remember reading after we took out Saddam's army in 100 hours of ground attack in The Gulf War, China realized how unprepared they were for war. And they made moves to start promoting officers on merit, rather than political ties and pull. In effect, they tried to drain their swamp. Looks like the swamp resisted draining

I couldn't help but think of our inept military leaders while reading this article. Where's the difference? May not have been explicit bribery in our military, but sucking up to the inept leaders allowed for promotions well beyond where any of them belong. We haven't won a war since WWII. Korea was a stand off. North Vietnam bided their time and waited to see if we would honor the commitment we made to South Vietnam when we left. The politicians didn't and millions were killed. Afghanistan completely humiliated our leaders, leading to 13 dead Soldiers, thousands of American citizens and SIV's and their families left behind, and bringing over 120,000 unvetted Afghans! We left all of our weapons there as well as computer systems with info on the SIV's. Not one of them has ever been held to account! And sadly, won't be, except Col. Scheller USMC who called the leaders out for their betrayal! The one positive we do have is that our military knows how to fight and given the right leadership, would wipe the floor with them. Unfortunately, history has shown that our military and civilian leadership don't have the balls to do it!

Ultimately, when going to war against a capable enemy, it's always a war of attrition. China doesn't have to have lots of good soldiers. They just have to have a lot of bodies to throw wave after wave against the enemy for a prolonged period of time. China could go to war against the USA or Russia, and lose 25 men for every man their enemy lost. And they could keep doing that pretty much indefinitely until they finally overwhelm the enemy with their sheer numbers. Thank God for nuclear weapons!!!

The chicom soldier is not a human being but chord wood. Their battle plan is to simply run a million men at you just see if you can mow em all down before they reach you. This was true for every Asian military we met in battle since 1941. It is easy to command chord wood. Warning: when aggressors are a suicide cult, that is when nukes become a viable alternative for both sides.

The PLA will have a hard time invading Taiwan as the don't have the capability to transport large numbers of troops and equipment across the 100 moles of ocean separating the mainland from Formosa. And amassing sufficient men and materiel preparatory to an invasion would be detected many weeks before an invasion could be launched giving the defenders a lot of time to prepare. The ChiComs could launch missiles at Taiwan and destroy a lot of buildings and infrastructure, but they still have to get boots on the ground somehow.

Posters are correct that the Chicom will use their troops like cannon fodder. My 1st cousin was a Marine lieutenant in the Korean War and relate harrowing stories about the waves of Chinese troops they faced. We mowed them down by the thousands but their generals didn’t care and just kept sending more.

It is worth remembering Korea and Vietnam. It came out after Vietnam, long after, that our fear of Chinese entrance into Vietnam was unfounded. Because of Korea, China was not interested in trying their luck against American firepower, airpower, and logistics again in Vietnam. But we thought they would.

From the onset the German and Japanese armies had serious logistical and strategic challenges but they still managed to do a lot of damage.Rummy was correct- you go to war with the army you’ve got.

Be careful.....they can still field 10's of millions.

Because of China's 40 year one child policy, I'm betting the vast majority of their army are only children... sons. You start letting one, two or three million boys being used as 'fodder', you're going to have a revolution on your hands made up of outraged mothers and fathers.

What was that Clint Eastwood/Walt Kowalski line in Gran Torino?

It is hard enough to givadamn about our own government, let alone the arch enemy's.

One cynical solution to a lack of combat-ready commanders could be to spend a few million soldiers into battle to identify the ones who rise to the occasion. Those will then be their battle-tested leaders. A warm-up conflict could be what the CCP is trying to provoke with their saber-rattling.