Why Didn’t Cambodia Use Heavy Weapons in the Five-Day War to Respond to Siam’s Aggression?

Why Didn’t Cambodia Use Heavy Weapons in the Five-Day War to Respond to Siam’s Aggression?

Samdech Techo Hun Sen, President of the Senate of the Kingdom of Cambodia, has shared an analytical article, which he revealed to be authored by H.E. Khieu Kanharith, former Minister of Information. The full content is as follows:

Why Didn’t Cambodia Use Heavy Weapons in the Five-Day War to Respond to Siam’s Aggression?

Answer: Cambodia has three military strategies.

1. Generally, before launching a large-scale battle, we must understand the enemy. We must study their combat strategy, troop strength, and weapons capabilities.

2. We must study our own capacity to resist and respond, which is akin to knowing ourselves. This allows us to allocate sufficient forces across defensive zones, ensuring 100% effective response and defense.

3. We must analyze the strategic connections between our enemy and its allies. Many of the weapons used by the enemy came from the U.S. and Western countries. If we respond with excessive force, this would almost certainly trigger reactions and additional arms supplies to the enemy. For example, if we used advanced Chinese weapons to shoot down an American F-16, the U.S. would never accept it. Instead, America would certainly supply more weapons to Siam. The war would escalate, and at that time, President Donald J. Trump would not have declared a ceasefire, but rather supported Siam to intensify aggression against Cambodia. Therefore, combat strategy must be exercised with caution—condemnation must come first, followed by measured responses.

Can Siam Win a War Against Cambodia?

Answer: Siam cannot win a war against Cambodia, but it can inflict heavy damage. This is due to four main reasons:

1. Weaponry: Cambodia’s modernized weaponry is sufficient for responsive defense. Cambodia possesses systems such as KS-1C and QW-3 air defense capable of taking down fighter jets and drones, as well as rocket launchers PHL-03, PHL-81, PHL-90B, BM-21, RM-70, and SH1 155mm artillery, among others. These systems can accurately strike enemy bases, troop movements, and destroy various targets.

2. Troop strength: While Siam currently has more troops in numbers, Cambodia’s frontline combat units and elite commando forces remain superior. Moreover, the Cambodian government is actively recruiting additional forces. Thus, in terms of battlefield confrontation, Siam cannot outmatch Cambodia. (Allow me to clarify: modern warfare is not about sending tens of thousands of troops face-to-face. It involves strategy, division of forces, defensive lines, and tactical maneuvers. Numbers alone do not determine victory.)

3. Experience and geography: Cambodians know well the experience of our armed forces and our geographical advantage. Cambodia has gone through nearly 40 years of warfare experience. This alone gives us over 50% advantage against Siam. Lack of geographical knowledge, logistical challenges, and unfamiliarity with terrain would all burden the enemy.

4. Casualties and damages: In general, invading forces always suffer more losses than defenders, including troop casualties, weapon shortages, supply difficulties, and territorial losses. If Cambodia retaliates at full scale, Siam would suffer the heaviest damage. Therefore, I conclude that even if Siam is strong, in the case of a large-scale war, it cannot last more than a few months. Cambodia, however, could resist for years.

Conclusion

In the current situation, we accept the ceasefire in order to preserve peace. If we launch heavy weapons, the U.S. and the international community would certainly condemn Cambodia, support Siam, and impose harsh economic sanctions on us.

I continue to appeal to our people: please remain patient and trust the government. The government is striving to carry out many important measures unseen by the public to defend our nation, our peace, and the livelihood of our citizens. Your patience preserves peace far better than war. At the same time, please support Cambodian products—for our farmers, for our people, and for the growth of our national economy.