The Handbook indicates that there is sufficient lift for 250 infantry and mechanized (tank and mechanized infantry) battalions. That’s about twenty divisions. There is additional shipping (mostly civilian) for moving support units. Note that the Handbook is not a piece of propaganda, but a practical manual describing how the Chinese would go about making war.
We in the West make a grave error when we only look at Chinese vessels equivalent to our advanced and specialized amphibious warfare ships. The Chinese do not have to operate the way we do. Indeed, few nations with Marines operate with the sophistication we do.
Chinese amphibious doctrine doesn't need to look pretty--it just needs to work. We need to accept that this type of ramshackle invasion will work if the Chinese are willing to absorb the casualties. Peking is willing to do that.
What are we doing to make China quite certain that we will not sit by while they invade a democratic friend? We and the Chinese need a sense of urgency here.
