Foreword: Just entering 2024, the US and Philippine militaries officially announced at the same time that they will launch joint exercises in the South China Sea. But a dramatic scene appeared, when the People's Liberation Army ** also drove into the South China Sea, the US aircraft carrier turned around and ran, and by the time the Philippine army found out, the other party had already left the South China Sea. So, what exactly is the US military afraid of?
*: The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, which was supposed to participate in joint exercises with the Philippines, suddenly withdrew from the South China Sea).
1. The two US aircraft carriers will be withdrawn when they say they will be withdrawn
What worries countries most has happened, and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is spreading and spilling over, and more and more countries are being involved.
At present, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, the Red Sea and other places have become battlefields, and the US military is even rarer**, with fierce confrontations with Yemen's Houthi forces on the Red Sea, with missiles and drones taking turns.
Against this backdrop, the 12-nation collective issued an "ultimatum" to deal a direct blow to the Houthis if they do not cease fire.
It is worth mentioning that the incident of the "Ford" aircraft carrier strike group leaving the Mediterranean Sea at high speed instantly caused these cruel words to become deterrent.
However, compared to the Middle East, the U.S. strategic objectives have always been clear. At the beginning of the new year, the US military could not wait to announce that it was about to launch a joint exercise with the Philippines in the South China Sea.
The United States mainly dispatched the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group, the USS Princeton missile cruiser, the USS Sterrett destroyer, and other ships, while the Philippine side dispatched decommissioned US "Hamilton" class patrol ships and landing ships.
However, etcAs soon as the PLA's "routine patrol in the South China Sea" was heard, the Philippine military was horrified to find that the "Carl Vinson" had left the Philippine army and several destroyers and left the South China Sea for no reason.
*: During the US-Philippine joint exercise, the Chinese ** ship was always following and monitoring not far away).
2, too dramatic: China, the United States and the Philippines are crowded together
Analysts believe that the reason why the US military made an abnormal move may be related to the content of the PLA's statement.
As we all knowThe People's Liberation Army (PLA) has always stated that "the fewer words, the greater the matter."In addition to announcing patrols in the South China Sea, it also said that "any military activities that disrupt the South China Sea and create hot spots are under control."
What does that mean?Although it does not directly specify what is meant by "military activities that disrupt the South China Sea and create hot spots".But everyone who understands understands it, and the direction is clear.
Of course, the Philippines has already let out all the cruel words, because the "Carl Vinson" withdrawal will stop the operation, which is obviously impossible, so it still goes to the South China Sea exercise, but the shelling exercise and other contents are crossed out, and the entire exercise time has also changed from 3 days to 2 days.
During the Philippine exercise, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) "watched" in an open and honest manner. The first to arrive in the area was the Type 054A frigate "Huangshan", followed by the Type 052D destroyer "Hefei".
That's all,A dramatic scene appeared in front of everyone's eyes, that is, 2 medium ** ships, 1 US destroyer, and 3 Philippine ** boats, crowded at 150,000 square nautical miles in an area.
*: The results of the U.S. military war games show that in the coastal waters, PLA missiles will directly threaten the safety of U.S. aircraft carriers).
One didn't dare to fight, and the other couldn't
Back to the topic, we continue to **Why do US aircraft carriers frequently withdraw from key sea areas at critical moments?
First, the first to make an evacuation move was the USS Ford, which, after killing the Houthis, urgently announced that it would leave the Middle East and return to the United States.
The only reason, speculation, may be that the U.S. military is reluctant to engage the Houthis head-on.
Over the years, the Houthis, with the support of Iran and other forces, have risen to become a powerful organization in the Middle East, equipped with a large number of suicide drones and anti-ship missiles, and are fully capable of blocking the entire Red Sea when necessary, threatening the United States in the Middle East.
Moreover, geographically speaking, the Houthis are mainly deployed in Yemen, which is mostly highlands and mountains, similar to Afghanistan. Once the U.S. forces invade, it is very likely to fall into guerrilla warfare.
Secondly, the second to be evacuated was the USS Carl Vinson, which occurred at the time of the cruise in the South China Sea.
Analysts said that in recent years, the United States has frequently extended its tentacles to the South China Sea, constantly uniting Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and other countries to contain China's development. However,The results of a recent war game organized by the US military show that in the South China Sea, the US military cannot defeat ChinaTo be more precise, the PLA's near-sea combat capability far exceeds its far-sea combat capability.
And this is mainly due to the geographical advantage of the PLA, as well as the missile strike capability, as the senior general of the US military saidThe missile forces of the Chinese Rocket Forces will become a "nightmare" for US aircraft carriers.
*: The United States is accelerating the production of anti-aircraft missiles and has strengthened its capabilities to deal with Chinese missiles).
4. The US allies have discovered a terrible fact
It has been learned that this result also made the US military anxious for a while, and began to continuously enhance its "anti-missile saturation attack" capability, and spared no effort to deploy air defense forces in the western Pacific region.
According to the data, the pace of production of the "Standard-6" and "Patriot-3" anti-aircraft missiles has been increased to 100-200 per year.
What is even more difficult for Americans to accept is that it is not China that is really affected, but themselves.
As the international situation continues to change, whether it is the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, or the conflict between Palestine and IsraelThe topic of cooperation and confrontation has always revolved around all countries, especially the US allies.
The evacuation of the USS Ford and USS Carl Vinson was undoubtedly a bombshell dropped on the US alliesDiscover a "terrible fact":
That is, to help the United States curb the path of development of other countries, which does not benefit it much, but only exacerbates the contradictions. What's more, its series of initiatives seems to be inIt has been repeatedly proven that the road of confronting China is simply not going to work.