In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy’s country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. […] / Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting. …That certainly is what happened in Hong Kong. (I’m still waiting for the liberal media to start calling it “Xianggang”, which is the Mandarin name rather than the Cantonese name we commonly use.)
— The Art Of War, III:1-2
“supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.”
Excellent post.
The Russians want to decapitate the Ukraine with as little fighting as possible.
That is why comments about how poorly the Russians are performing in the battlefield miss the big picture.
Russia could turn Ukraine into a smoldering ruin from a distance if they wanted to do so.
They are fighting a “limited war”, trying to cause the minimal damage possible while getting a puppet installed as the new “President”.
They will succeed in their final objective—the only question is how many folks are killed and injured (both sides) before it is done.
China’s lesson may be exactly the opposite of what folks here are thinking.
China may conclude that Taiwan cannot be “decapitated” intact and they may have to use overkill.
And then the media will gaslight us and tell us that they're using the historically correct version that's more inclusive to all who live there...or something like that.
Xyiv! LOL