“If China attacks us, it’ll be via biological warfare or sustained cyberattack or EMP weapons — something like that. Perhaps it’s already begun . . . We’ve already been in a low-level financial attack for decades.”
You may be and probably are right about the Chinese method(s) of attack but just because they choose electronic and biological forms of warfare doesn’t mean we have to do the same. The Chinese need to be aware if they are not already aware that should they do as you suggest they will be laid waste by one of our subs continually on patrol in the oceans of our world. Each of these subs carries up to 24 MIRV missiles with each of them capable of targeting 10 separate locations with each warhead having the destructive force of 25 times that of the bombs we dropped on Japan.
Any idea of a “proportionate” response is nonsense. They swat us with a feather and we drop a mountain on them. They will hate us (even more) and will think us completely mad and ruthless but the upshot is they and anyone else considering taking us on will think long and hard before doing so.
The only thing able to defeat us is our own lack of will.
by one of our subs continually on patrol in the oceans of our world. Each of these subs carries up to 24 MIRV missiles
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The Chinese have 6 this (Jinn) class of sub also - each with 12 JL-2 SLBMs with 8,000 mile range. It only takes one of the 72 one mega-ton yield missiles to ruin your day. And we have no operational mainland defenses. They only need to position the subs out of range of Aegis destroyers to be successful. And that is to say nothing about their road mobile launchers.
The exchange would wipe out the US and most of its people, while China would still have more survivors than people in the US today,