TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Wall Street Journal outlined what a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan might look like in a report published on Saturday.

China would first launch waves of missile strikes on Taiwan to weaken its defenses and discourage US intervention, WSJ said. The missiles would target crucial military facilities and infrastructure, including bunkers, air defense systems, and runways. Chinese military ships and aircraft would also join the strikes.

Beijing could also attack US military assets in the Indo-Pacific. However, this would require a massive barrage of missiles at once, WSJ said. “Not just a large number but a large variety so that missile defenses have to cope with different types of missiles coming at different speeds from different trajectories and different directions,” WSJ quoted Eric Heginbotham, a principal MIT security studies research scientist, as saying. Heginbotham pointed out that China’s Dongfeng-26 missile can reach Guam, which is home to Andersen Air Force Base.

Following initial strikes, an amphibious assault would take place, according to the report. Thousands of Chinese troops and millions of tons of warfighting equipment would be sent to Taiwan’s coast via military and civilian transport ships, including roll-on, roll-off ferries.

These ships are modified with ramps that can drop down into the water, allowing armored vehicles to roll out into the water, Michael Dahm, senior resident fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, told WSJ.

WSJ said many of Taiwan’s beaches are too small for a massive invasion force, and that many are bordered by manmade and geographical features that would make breaking out of the beach a challenge.

Taiwan’s military is preparing to engage Chinese troops in urban combat, K. Tristan Tang, an associate fellow at Secure Taiwan Associate Corp., said. Taiwanese defenders are familiar with the layout of the cities and can set up temporary sniper positions for Chinese troops to identify local strongholds, he said. Meanwhile, Taiwanese marines, equipped with anti-aircraft missiles, would defend Songshan Airport, per WSJ.

China would need hundreds of thousands of soldiers to push beyond the beach and head to Taipei. To sustain a steady stream of personnel and equipment, seizing a port would be the best strategy, WSJ reported.

“If they take a port, it’s kind of game over,” Thomas Shugart, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, said. Civilian ferries, deck cargo ships, and other vessels could then dock unfettered. “The vast majority of their sealift is going to be the commercial stuff, and its supply is near limitless,” Shugart said.

To prevent this from happening, Taiwanese soldiers could sabotage ports or sink Chinese ships to block access, WSJ said. If Chinese troops managed to break out of the coastal areas and head to southern Taiwan, their advancement could be easier since Taiwan’s military is concentrated in the north. However, they would have to fight “a grinding overland campaign to Taipei, river by river, ridgeline by ridgeline,” according to Mark Cancian, a retired colonel in the US Marine Corps.

Taiwanese forces could blow up bridges, destroy tunnels, and overwhelm the enemy in urban or mountainous areas, the report said.