Quote:
Originally Posted by kalos72
I guess I am just staggered by the assumptions, with not alot of canon to go from, that 3.7m Chinese troops all got nuked to 10%.
|
That 10% is my suggestion for those few units still in the north. Note that's not really all that different to those in Europe, with some "Divisions" down from roughly 10,000+ men to perhaps a few hundred - worse than 10% left.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kalos72
120ish divisions got nuked? Thats more tonnage then landed on the whole US...assuming one nuke per division.
|
The Soviets were not mucking about. Remember what was happening in July 1997 - the Pact forces were being pushed back on all fronts and Nato was on Soviet soil with not much in front of them to stop them from continuing.
The Soviets were looking to END their involvement on at least one front, and China being somewhat short of actual allies, was (in my opinion) the logical choice, especially as the Chinese have never had much in the way of nuclear weapons themselves to retaliate with.
Hit the Chinese HARD, inflict grievous casualties and you free up quite a few battle hardened veteran units to send west.
Another factor which
may have been considered is global wind patterns. Generally any fallout from China will stay away from the USSR, however anything from Europe
could impact them.
https://earth.nullschool.net/#curren...3.00,43.23,683
Quote:
Originally Posted by kalos72
And now the Soviets hold the entire country with like 20 divisions?
|
I don't think they're "holding" the country, more just acting as a screen on the off chance a few Chinese units pull together something resembling an effective force.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kalos72
Sure...but with no capacity to defend themselves at 10% total prewar manpower? I cant get there...
|
Note again there's units, many of them, in Europe at or below 10%. I'm actually thinking that's a fairly high percentage for Chinese units, unless that includes local recruits and civilian support.
Another point to bear in mind is the Chinese military isn't all actual combat troops and their supply train. There's quite a large number who have virtually no combat training and are actually employed running factories, farms, acting as police, road construction, etc. Technically they're military, but in reality they're just civilians in uniform.