China launches a devastating wave of thousands of missiles across the Indo-Pacific, paving the way for the invasion of Taiwan. If you'd like to support me to keep this story going: https://www.patreon.com/FlatCircleHistory Background: Episode 20 opens within seconds of where we left off with the surprise drone attacks at the end of episode 19. This is the big one - the missile event that has been endlessly discussed, studied, wargamed and worried over for a decade. Will China's intermediate and long-range ballistic missiles, including the feared DF-26B "Carrier Killers" work as advertised? Will the US's "Golden Dome" Tiered Missile Defense Architecture work as advertised? This is what I was looking to explore. A TON of time went into episode 20, from numerous interviews with various SMEs, to pouring through volumes of articles, to playtesting for timing details for the script using the game Command Modern Operations. The scope and scale of events in this episode proved fascinating, daunting and deeply troubling. Commentary: Pronunciations of places, names and translations are my best guess or through open resources such as Google Translation, etc. As always, uniforms are not exact. The rank shown on the uniforms of some of the characters are also inaccurate because they are not available in the gaming platforms used. Some of the kit and equipment shown are representations because of limited available mods. In some instances, replacements had to be made, including two scenes in particular where I had to use ARMA instead of DCS and had to use the only carrier model available, which is not the GW. I'm mostly a One Man Show, so I do what I can with the time/resources available. Gaming platforms used for the filming of this episode included DCS, ARMA3, Command Modern Operations and Microsoft Flight Simulator. Sources (incomplete list): Carrier Killer - China's Anti-Ship Ballistic Missiles and Theater of Operations in the early 21st Century https://www.casematepublishers.com/9781915070647/carrier-killer/ Our First Look At Land-Based Aegis Missile Defense System In Guam https://www.twz.com/news-features/our-first-look-at-land-based-aegis-missile-defense-system-in-guam Missile Defense Agency Provides New Details On Defense of Guam https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2023/10/missile-defense-agency-provides-new-details-on-defense-of-guam/ The Ultimate Guide to THAAD: America’s Kinetic Shield in a Volatile World https://thedefensepost.com/2025/06/18/thaad-guide/ USS Cheyenne (SSN-773) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Cheyenne_(SSN-773) Roosevelt’s fireside chat after Pearl Harbor https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/presidential-speeches/december-9-1941-fireside-chat-19-war-japan Obama announcing Bin Laden killing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbrwIE_GhrM Bush announcing start of Iraq war https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BwxI_l84dc Cratering Effects - Chinese Missile Threats to US Air Bases in the Indo-Pacific https://www.stimson.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Cratering-Effects-Report_Dec-6_WEB.pdf PACAF STRATEGY 2030 https://www.af.mil/Portals/1/documents/2023SAF/PACAF_Strategy_2030.pdf Upgraded Early Warning Radars https://www.spaceforce.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Article/2197738/upgraded-early-warning-radars/ U.S. Defense Infrastructure in the Indo-Pacific: Background and Issues for Congress https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R47589 Island in the crosshairs https://www.reuters.com/graphics/USA-CHINA/GUAM/myvmbqngnpr/ Missiles of China | Missile Threat - CSIS https://missilethreat.csis.org/country/china/ The U.S. Fleet Could Lose Four Aircraft Carriers Defending Taiwan https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2023/01/10/think-tank-the-us-fleet-could-lose-four-aircraft-carriers-defending-taiwan/ China Is Obsessed with Sinking America’s Aircraft Carriers https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/china-obsessed-sinking-americas-aircraft-carriers-209719 The First Battle of the Next War - Wargaming a Chinese Invasion of Taiwan https://www.csis.org/analysis/first-battle-next-war-wargaming-chinese-invasion-taiwan Taiwan's Air and Missile Defence. Part 2: Patriot PAC-2 and PAC-3 https://platform.opennuclear.org/thoughtroom/quick-takes/taiwans-air-and-missile-defence-part-2-patriot-pac-2-and-pac-3 Music: YouTube Studio Echoes of Time v2 by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Soundstripe Retribution - Wicked Cinema QVNTD2QKQXZFDUSI Storm’s Coming, by Cody Martin WIAPQ3THTBWDTWXQ Double Agent, by Hill LOI7PDIK9UVBLV4A Retribution, by Wicked Cinema QVNTD2QKQXZFDUSI