Rex Mundi
Banned
Sino-Soviet relations aren't my strong suit so forgive me if I sound dense, but Henry Kissinger discussed this in his book "On China." Mao Zedong claimed that a nuclear holocaust in China would have been beneficial to communism insofar as the elderly population would be wiped out with their old ideas. Kissinger dismisses this a bluff, albeit a very effective bluff that terrified U.S. and Soviet policymakers. Kissinger and Mao both knew that if either of the superpowers nuked China without intervention from the other side, China was screwed.
On the other hand, however, both statesmen seemed to believe that a nuclear strike in the MAD world wasn't particularly likely; Mao accordingly told Kissinger that, in the event of a conventional war with the Soviets, he would've retreated to the countryside and engaged in guerilla warfare. His attitude would basically have been "You think OTL Vietnam was bad?"
Does anyone know if that would've worked? I don't really have the expertise on Chinese geography and Soviet logistics and such to comment intelligently.
On the other hand, however, both statesmen seemed to believe that a nuclear strike in the MAD world wasn't particularly likely; Mao accordingly told Kissinger that, in the event of a conventional war with the Soviets, he would've retreated to the countryside and engaged in guerilla warfare. His attitude would basically have been "You think OTL Vietnam was bad?"
Does anyone know if that would've worked? I don't really have the expertise on Chinese geography and Soviet logistics and such to comment intelligently.