I may be doing some shredding; but maybe not too much.
No, not much shredding just a good mechanised mincing instead
At the heart of this nonsense is me trying to make sense and understand exactly what the PLA means by the published goal of
winning informationized wars by the mid-21st century with milestones at 2010 and 2020
and the first milestone not far off.
O know its always tempting in this discussions to veer towards the sexy MBT's and other high value weapon systems, but I really want to avoid so doing and concentrate on those things that we can be sure about.
China can raise a lot of troops if it needs them.
Most of them will be Light Infantry of one description or another
which then leads to the question: how can Motorisation or even Light Mechanisation, combined with Informationisation (ie full real time situational awareness) change the way that such troops have been designated and how they undertake combat in the future, from the way that they have in the past. Making full allowance for their position in the order of battle and their interrelationship with the Heavier Assault Mechanised Divisions.
I suppose I have been combining the roles of numerous types of unit, principally Renascence, Rapid Reaction, Air Mobile as well as more traditional Light Infantry roles. I guess I have also been overlooking the role of Medium Infantry. I must confess to me Medium Infantry suggest either beefed up more mobile Light Infantry (a possible description of what I have been trying to talk about) or an Obsolete or Otherwise Lacking Heavy Brigade. If there is a real role definition for Modern Medium Infantry, please do share. I know we have threads on this subject already but a little refresher/summary would be really helpful.
I further guess I am just hooked on the thought of very large numbers of fast moving Infantry with combat capable transports with Full Real Time Situational Awareness and armed with a variety of different weapon systems to provide a wide range of support and cover. I must really be thinking of Small SAM variants as the thought of hundreds or thousands of these scattered across a War Zone and capable of locking on too enemy aircraft via remote guidance links would surely be an underwear changing experience for most fly boys.
Hopefully I am now making myself clearer with the questions I am asking.
Hi King Comm
I don't think it really matters if the war is offensive or Defensive, as the troops I am talking about are not leading assaults or Human Wave attacks. I have to accept that I am probably talking about a mixture of Recon forces, simply defining the lines, defences and identifying enemy units and other more general forces, holding ground or moving around a lot to try and cause as much confusion as possible.
If it is defensive then yes, almost a Classic Soviet posture is a given. the use in an Offensive campaign though is something that strikes me as new and the possibilities worth examining.
I did mention reservists, but I don't think I mentioned militia. Although it does raise a side question. Do the PAP act as Military Police (Red Caps) in a combat zone or are they civil units only?