With Trump focused on Iran, China counts missiles for Taiwan war; Can cheap salvos stop US forces?

China’s military planners are increasingly treating a potential Taiwan conflict as a numbers game, focusing on how many missiles, drones and cheap guided munitions they would need to overwhelm the island in the opening hours of war. A recent Chinese ordnance study, highlighted by state-linked media, urges the PLA to shift from relying mainly on expensive, precision strikes to mass, attrition-style warfare powered by a “high–low mix” of weapons and robust industrial capacity.