jhungary
MILITARY PROFESSIONAL
- Joined
- Oct 24, 2012
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I realise something new.
I am so stupid, Doklam and Doklam plateau are two different things, China wanted to own Doklam not just the plateau, the road till Doka La essentially already covers the whole Doklam plateau. When we station troops there, we have de-facto control of Doklam plateau. Strategically, it was the plateau that mattered, the last big piece of flat land there facing Siliguri. Use google 3D, the plateau area is only at the top left quarter of Doklam, the rest are essentially river valleys with no strategic use.
Map from Indian analyst
Map from Chinese MOFA
How do you reach that conclusion? I found it strange for someone to say "Controlling the MSR" and you are controlling the area.
Beside River itself is a Strategic Target (I wonder do you actually know what is of Strategic Value to begin with?) A River is a Natural Defence Line. On the other hand, MSR (or Road, in layman term) is a strategic burden/liability, because you can set ambush by planting IED and also choking traffic to one or both side and it draw resources to protect the road.
Road usually are a Tactical Advantage, but that also depending on how effective you can protect your convoy.
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