Dragon’s Teeth and Dragon’s Brain continues....

War has two separate but intimately related aspects. The first is the

political objective of the war. The second is the military objective. The

CMC determines any war’s political objective. The Theatre

Commanders' objective is to defeat the enemy in their own respective

theatres of war. Combat is normally part of a campaign, but can

sometimes be carried out independently. In the PLA, higher HQ are

involved in all three levels of war. The CMC may even micro-manage a

campaign.

The possibility of the outbreak of armed hostilities between China

and India is unlikely, but if it does happen, of indirect but vital effect

on India will be China’s intelligence service, and the organizations

charged with deception and propaganda. The main arms of the PLA

which can have direct effect on India are:

l The missile forces, known as the People’s Liberation Army Rocket

Force (PLARF).

l The PLA Air Force (PLAAF).

l The PLA Navy (PLAN)

l The PLA’s ground forces

l The PLA’s cyber-war and space-warfare forces

To be continued...