A recent tabletop exercise has indicated the United States, as a significant ally of Taiwan, needs to arm the island nation to the brim before a Chinese invasion breaks out, as resupply would not be an option.

The strategic simulation occurs amidst rising tensions between China and the US over Taiwan, a self-ruled island that Beijing insists is it’s own.

War Games: 2027

Washington-based think tank Center for a New American Security and the House of Representatives Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), chaired by Republican Mike Gallagher, conducted the unprecedented war game on Wednesday evening last week.

According to the hypothetical scenario, China launched its “first strike” against Taiwan on April 22, 2027, and 72 hours later, the US deployed its military to assist with the response. But by then, the casualties had already been significant and damaging for all sides, not just to the troops in the front but also to civilians and infrastructures caught in between, thanks to Beijing’s missiles and rockets that would rain down the island nation. Siding with Taipei, Washington will also bear repercussions with its military installations in Japan and Guam, facing direct fire from the aggressor.