Sino-Indian War and Gulf War , who can fight better? This is a tricky question raised by someone online.
This question is very interesting. In the Sino-Indian War in 1962, China defeated the Indian army in just 32 days, while in the Gulf War in 1991, the United States defeated Iraq in just 42 days, and both wars were won quickly.
So, is it the Chinese military performing strongly, or is the US military stronger?
In fact, the two wars seem to be the same, but there are many differences. We need to analyze the situations faced by both sides at that time in order to draw an objective conclusion.
First of all, the first difference between the two wars is the difference in the strength of the opponents of the two countries.
Let’s first look at the strength of Iraq during the Gulf War. At that time, the country was known as the "third military power in the world". has nearly 1.2 million troops, more than 5,600 various tanks, , tens of thousands of armored vehicles, , more than 7,800 artillery , and more than 700 various fighter jets, which is enough to be known as the third in the world.
However, the real combat effectiveness of a country cannot be seen from paper. In fact, the Iraqi army's real combat effectiveness is very poor.
Take the -Iraq War , which ended in 1988 and was only two or three years away from the Gulf War, as an example. Iraq has a clear gap with Western developed countries.
They clearly own thousands of main battle tanks, but they do not launch clustered long-distance assaults, but use the tanks as bunkers. If they lack oil, it is easy to understand, but Iraq obviously does not lack it.
In addition, the combat quality of the Iraqi army is also very worrying. They hold the Soviet-made superior weapons in their hands. They can clearly implement firepower suppression, but they don’t use it. Instead, they keep using the trench tactics and human sea tactics that have long been abandoned by various countries.
And these ridiculous scenes can not only be seen in the Iran-Iraq War, but actually the performance of the Iraqi army in the Gulf War is also the same.
The Iraqi army deployed the tanks on the desert slopes as a bunker, and did not think about taking the initiative. So much so that the US military defeated these bunkers one by one with its advanced level of informatization.
Moreover, Iraq itself does not have the industrial capabilities related to manufacturing Soviet-style weapons and equipment and their parts. They can only use weapons that have not been maintained for many years, and there will always be problems such as weapon failure during wars.
is not just the army, but the situation in Iraq was also very worrying at that time. As early as before the outbreak of the Gulf War in , Iraq owed huge debts due to the Iraq-Iraq War. In addition, international oil prices fell sharply at that time, and the Iraqi economy, which relies heavily on exports of oil, was on the verge of collapse.
So what is their strength in India?
During the entire war, the Indian army dispatched 7 brigades of regular troops, that is, more than 28,000 people. In addition, the so-called "border police forces" sent to invade our borders in the early stage and a large number of militias supporting the front, a total of about 300,000 troops.
, especially the Gurkha wings in various brigades of the Indian Army. They held Nepalese scimitar , and were all fearless. They followed the British army for a long time in World War II , and have the reputation of "South Asian Tiger", and are all the trump cards of the brigade.
. On the one hand, there are many troops and strong combat power. In terms of weapons and equipment, Indian Army is not as weak as everyone imagines.
At that time, the third largest strength in the world on paper, the Indian Air Force was inherited from the former suzerain country of Britain. has nearly 600 various fighter jets, a total of 36 flight squadrons, most of which were British fighter jets.
India is not bad in terms of domestic economy. Before the war began, Indian Prime Minister Nehru formulated a new round of five-year plan, determined to do his best to develop heavy industry and increase grain production.
Although these plans were not fully implemented for various reasons, India was generally developing in a good direction at that time.
It can be said that although Iraq claimed to be the third in the world in the Gulf War, the country's economy is on the verge of collapse, the military's combat quality is poor, and it does not have the ability to independently manufacture weapons and equipment, so it can only be regarded as a paper tiger.
The Indian army in the Sino-Indian war not only had its own advanced weapons and equipment production line, but the army had undergone World War II training, and its domestic economy was also booming, which was not comparable to Iraq.
So, the opponent's own strength is also far stronger than Iraq, which means that the pressure faced by our country is much greater than that of the United States.
The second difference between the Sino-Indian War and the Gulf War is that the United States and China have different conditions.
Let’s first look at the United States’ own conditions during the Gulf War.
In terms of the number of troops, the United States mobilized nearly 700,000 people before the war. Including the support troops sent by the allies, it was under the command of the US military commander. During the Gulf War, the United States dispatched more than 950,000 troops, which was similar to the Iraqi army.
Of course, compared with the number of troops participating in the war, what shocked all countries the most was the advanced level of US military weapons and equipment. Needless to say, the United States has never attached importance to the army, but their tanks have also been equipped. The depleted uranium armor and the depleted uranium armor-piercing bombs that other countries have not yet mastered, the firepower and protection performance are not comparable to that of the Soviet tanks of the same level.
At that time, the U.S. Navy and Air Force equipment was even more advanced!
Roosevelt nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, B-52 "Stratigraphic Fortress" bomber, "Apache" armed helicopter , and F-117 stealth fighter, any of them are top-notch existences.
Among them, F-117 fighter is far ahead of the world. As the world's first fighter with complete stealth technology, no country's radar could detect its flight trajectory at that time.
In fact, with the unique information technology such as global positioning system , vehicle interconnection information system, military satellite , military computer , etc., the United States won the Gulf War with a crushing trend and awakened countries around the world!
Moreover, the United States itself has not weak economic strength, otherwise it would not be able to support a large-scale modernization war. According to public information, in , the United States' GDP was 6.16 trillion in 1991, which is one quarter of the total global GDP. Even Japan, which ranks second, has GDP less than one-eighth of the United States.
Just before the outbreak of the Sino-Indian War in 1962, China had just ended its three-year difficult period and its economy had not recovered. At that time, my country's GDP was only 47.209 billion yuan, accounting for 3% of the global economic output.
Not only that, compared with the superior logistics conditions of the US military, the logistics transportation of the PLA was also very difficult at that time.
Whether it is the eastern or western fronts in the Sino-Indian war, my country wants to transport supplies to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau with an average altitude of more than 4,000 meters, it will cost dozens of times the effort. The cost of transporting the car teams alone is equivalent to the income of 8 farmers and herdsmen in a year.
In the Himalayas on the front line, there is not even the worst sand and gravel road. The PLA soldiers could only overcome all obstacles, endure the wet and cold climate, cross the dense forests and steep slopes over 50 degrees, and fight against the Indian army, who are basically not worried about logistics.
weapons and equipment, such as the military computers and precise guidance systems used by the US military, were even more unthinkable to our army at that time. The PLA's successful implementation of interlude and detour was due to its firm will and combat quality.
It is no exaggeration to say that our country was at the lowest point since its founding. It was almost impossible to win a war.
But what seemed impossible was realized by the People's Liberation Army. In the second phase of the Battle of Xishankou, the People's Liberation Army rushed more than 250 kilometers in 7 days and 6 nights, crossed 5 snow-capped mountains, and wiped out the 4th Indian Army's ace trump card division with a divine weapon from the sky!
Therefore, compared with the US military that had advanced weapons and information equipment in the Gulf War, the People's Liberation Army, which had extremely bad conditions in the Sino-Indian War, was indeed better than the strong Indian army.
The third biggest difference between the Sino-Indian War and the Gulf War was that the enemy country was in a different international environment at that time.
First of all, we need to understand how bad the situation in the enemy country Iraq was during the Gulf War.
As we all know, the Iraqi president came to power through a military coup and then implemented a cruel dictatorship. His rule naturally did not have legal principles, so he was hostile to various countries.
, especially neighboring Iraq, feared Saddam's continuous expansion of military force, and jointly organized an anti-Saharan alliance, including Saudi Arabia , Kuwait , and Iran , which formed a great hatred in the Iraq War.
After the outbreak of the Gulf War, the anti-Saharan alliance not only prevented Iraqi personnel and materials from passing through their own fields, but also took the initiative to block the passages adjacent to Iraq, forming a tight encirclement net.
With this encirclement net, the United States established many military bases in Middle East before the war. After the outbreak of the war, the United States and its allies exerted their strong three-dimensional strike capabilities, comprehensively bombed and blocked Iraq, and prohibited the transport of materials into its country.
. The Soviet Union, which supported Iraq at the time, was in internal and external troubles and was about to disintegrate and had no energy to deal with this matter at all. Iraq was almost fighting against the entire NATO on its own.
is very similar to the situation facing Iraq. In the 1962 Sino-Indian War, our country was not just fighting against India.
Since the founding of New China, the Western world has oppressed our country, and during the Sino-Indian War, the relationship between the Soviet Union and our country was not very good.
Therefore, before the outbreak of the Sino-Indian War, the two superpowers of the United States and the Soviet Union helped India, hoping to pull it into their own camp and thus suppress our country's development.
In terms of weapons and equipment, the Soviet Union sold a large number of weapons to India at the best price, including the MiG-21 jet fighter and the production line of the fighter. You should know that this excellent fighter is still being used by many countries until now.
Not only that, after the second phase of the operation, US President Nehru also decided to send a senior military delegation to guide India's operations, and at the same time sent a C-130 "Hercules" transport aircraft and an aircraft carrier battle group to help them transport supplies and deter the seas respectively.
He is not stingy in terms of financial aid. During the Khrushchev period, the Soviet Union provided low-interest loans and free aid to India many times. Until , the Soviet Union collapsed , India still had nearly 10 billion rubles and that had not been paid off.
Before 1961, the United States supported India with a total of $48.34 million in supplies. If the aid from other Western countries is included, it will account for 95% of the total aid.
In addition to the two major camps of the United States and the Soviet Union, India itself was actually the leader of the non-aligned movement at that time.
Just the year before the Sino-Indian War, led by India and other countries, each developing country established a non-aligned movement to jointly resist the aggression of superpowers. India has become a well-deserved leader with its own physical strength.
After the outbreak of the Sino-Indian war, the vast majority of members in the non-aligned movement camp expressed support for India, and our country was almost isolated and helpless in diplomacy.
Therefore, it can be said that Iraq is fighting against the entire NATO in the Gulf War, while China is fighting against the forces behind India and the United States and the Soviet Union in the Sino-Indian War. The difficulty is not high!
It is not difficult for us to conclude from this that China performed significantly better than the United States in the two wars, not to mention that my country only took 32 days to win and make a quick decision. This is the power of the Eastern power!
