In recent years, the strength of the Chinese Marine Corps has grown tremendously. In the future, once the reunification of the motherland is faced with a situation that requires the use of force, the Marine Corps will play an extremely important role. Both the United States and the Taiwan authorities are thinking about how the PLA can reunify Taiwan Province by force, and evaluating the PLA's possible landing capability through war games and other means.
According to the US side, once the PLA launches a unified action by force, the United States will fully commit its marines in the Asia-Pacific region to the East Asian theater. At the same time, the PLA will also send a large number of marines, about 50,000 troops, to participate in the first wave of the landing battle. The Marine Corps has two key aspects in landing operations: the landing ship and the Marine Corps itself.
Before the Type 071 dock landing ship joined the Chinese Navy, the transportation capacity of the 072 and 073 landing ships on hand in China was relatively limited, and they could only transport two marine brigades at one time, which was not enough to carry out large-scale landing operations. Looking back at the 1996 exercise, the PLA lacked large naval landing ships and large civilian ro-ro ships, and could only rely on thousands of civilian ships to land troops across the sea.
However, with the large-scale service of the Type 071 and 075 dock landing ships, the landing capabilities of the Chinese Navy have changed dramatically. The commissioning of these two dock landing ships has not only greatly enhanced the transportation capacity of the Chinese Navy, but also provided hope for the expansion of the Chinese Marine Corps. Type 071 and Type 075 dock landing ships can theoretically carry 8 and 16 battalions of Marines, respectively, further enhancing the Marines' vertical strike capabilities.
The expansion of the Chinese Marine Corps has been initiated and upgraded to the rank of regular military unit. A large number of air assault brigades, marine brigades and logistics support brigades are being created. This series of operations allowed the Marine Corps to better adapt to landing warfare, while being equipped with enough heavy composite brigades, including 96A tanks and 05 Series amphibious combat vehicles. The adjustment of the establishment of the Marine Corps will further enhance its vertical landing capability and facilitate the rapid breakthrough of the Taiwan military's defense line in wartime.
The "heart-digging tactic" adopted by the Chinese Marine Corps' air assault brigade will quickly weaken the command capability of the front-line units of the Taiwan military, and at the same time, the beachhead of the Taiwan military will also face tremendous pressure. However, in order to deal with the threat of the People's Liberation Army, the Taiwan side implemented the so-called "Black Bear Plan" and organized 3 million people to participate in the militia armed with the "Black Bear Force" to carry out light resistance. This means that the PLA must quickly crush the resistance of the Taiwanese army and militia forces to avoid a prolonged war.
In order to do so, the expansion of the Chinese Marine Corps is crucial, as it will support the PLA's rapid breakthrough of the Taiwanese military's three-dimensional defensive line. The strategic position of the Marine Corps will be further consolidated, and the adjustment of its establishment will enable it to have a stronger landing combat capability.
In short, the Chinese Marine Corps, as an important force for the reunification of the motherland, has experienced considerable development. Its excellent equipment and growing strength will provide important support for possible future landing operations. The development of the Marine Corps is essential for the preservation of the unity of the Motherland.
1. Defending national interests is of great significance.