The Marines edge closer to Taiwan. Close enough to shield Army-Marine movements to defend Taiwan.
Over the past two months, the U.S. Marine Corps have been shuttling equipment to and from Kubura Port on Yonaguni Island, one of Japan’s farthest outlying islands just 70 miles from Taiwan. The back-and-forth shipments of medical supplies and disaster response equipment comes at an increasing pace as the Corps aims to make Yonaguni Island a focal point in its First Island Chain strategy.
This outpost will allow the Marines to shield the threat from the north to movement from the Philippines to Taiwan by joint Army-Marine forces that would be possible with Marine and Army 101st Airborne division capabilities:
It sure looks like there will be a joint Army-Marine expeditionary force sent to Taiwan if China invades. Sometimes separate things that don’t make sense can become reasonable when pieced together.
I still think the Marines are getting their Navy-support capabilities the wrong way and at a high price. But it is what it is in the near term.
And of course, the PLA ground forces that run the gauntlet and dig in on Taiwan must be destroyed--not simply stopped--with Taiwanese and allied forces.
I sure hope the Air Force and Navy can keep the sea lines of communication open.
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NOTE: Map showing the island the Marines are building up from the article.
