The Chinese-Australian Cyberwar ravaged Southeast Asia. China would accept nothing less than total victory, and Australia knew how utter defeat would be. Japan was a powerful example. So they fought to destroy China’s very ability to invade them long before any of their warships or soldiers ever saw each other. By the time the Western Alliance reinforcements arrived, they found two exhausted nations on the edge of mutual digital annihilation. It is ironic that the arrival of warships constituted a de-escalation of the situation.