Chinese soldiers (from left) Liu Wei, Sodnam Tobgyal and Xue Fanyu prepare for an event that simulates a chemical warfare situation. (Photo: Zou Hong/For China Daily)
Chinese soldiers (from left) Liu Wei, Sodnam Tobgyal and Xue Fanyu prepare for an event that simulates a chemical warfare situation. ZOU HONG/CHINA DAILY
No room for error
The Suvorov Attack relay race, one of the most popular events, requires crews to drive infantry fighting vehicles, or IFVs, through obstacle courses featuring mines, fires, waterfilled ditches and antitank trenches, to test their maneuvering skills.
Team members also need to take part in three shooting sessions, which involve quickly loading ammunition onto their vehicles. In this area, the Chinese military greatly impressed their foreign competitors.
"Our routine combat training requires us to be accurate and fast. We just did what we normally do in training," said Private Wang Kunlong, 30, commander of a Chinese-made 86A IFV crew.
The Russian team used its domestically built BMP-2 for the contest, which is seen as superior to China's 86A. "But we made up for it with our driving and shooting skills," said Wang, who has been training with driver Lu Bo and gunner Bao Hongjun for two years. "We're a team, so we can have tacit cooperation in any situation," he added.
Despite the fact it weighs 13.6 metric tons, Lu Bo steered the crew's 86A through the obstacle course like it was a family car cruising on a city street. This, he said, is due to the fact he treats the vehicle like his baby.
An obsessive grease monkey, the 29-year-old said he learned about the importance of keeping a vehicle in top condition the hard way in the 2015 International Army Games, when his IFV almost hit a concrete block after the engine suddenly stalled because it had not been maintained properly.
"There's no room for errors like that in actual combat," said Lu Bo, who was named best driver in the Suvorov Attack section this year.
Major General Xu Youze, who headed the judging panel for the Suvorov Attack section, added: "The Ground Force encourages soldiers to be creative and find the combat methods that suit them best. If two IFVs meet in actual combat, only the one that can launch an attack first will survive. So being the fastest is what we train for."
Speed is also critical in the Gunsmith Master section, which tests a military's ability in installing and repairing various weapons in battlefield conditions.
Maintenance is key to winning battles, according to Tian Fuping, deputy chief of staff for the Xinjiang Military Region. He added, "Our combat training in recent years has not only required our maintenance crews to be gunsmith masters, but also to be fighters first."
And it wasn't just the soldiers who were put through their paces in Korla－China's weaponry was also put to the test. Except for the BMP-2 IFV, all the hardware used in the competition was provided by China.
"The competition saw the weaponry used in extreme conditions. We will collect data on any problems and pass it on to manufacturers to further develop Chinese weaponry," Major General Zhang said.
After completing their final Clear Sky mission on Wednesday, Lu Donghua and his team highlighted another important skill for soldiers: endurance. Once back at base, all three got out of their IFV and instantly began to vomit.
"The temperature in the vehicle was over 50 C, so it was really uncomfortable. We just had to deal with it because there is no comfort in combat," Lu Donghua added.
'Exorcists' protect against hidden dangers
Unlike most soldiers, Zhang Lidong is trained to fight an invisible enemy.
"Our job is to remove the demon that normal people cannot see," the 25-year-old private said of his unit, which is trained to deal with chemical, biological and nuclear threats that could cause mass casualties. "That's why we call ourselves 'The Exorcists'," he added.
Zhang, whose antichemical warfare regiment is based in Beijing, commanded the two Chinese crews that competed in this month's International Army Games in the desert near Korla, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.
His team took part in the Safe Environment event between Aug 2 and 8, which saw each three-member crew drive a Chinese-made Warrior military SUV through an obstacle course while carrying out set tasks, including shooting targets, identifying toxic substances and detecting radioactive sources. All the soldiers wore protective gear and gas masks.
"We always train in the gear, so it isn't a burden in actual combat," Zhang said, although he conceded that the simulated scenarios were still very different to the real thing.
Zhang took part in the same event at the 2015 International Army Games in Russia. When he returned to China on Aug 13, he was sent directly to Tianjin, which had just been rocked by a massive blast caused by hazardous materials stored in a warehouse.
The late-night explosion started a blaze that burned for days, with eight secondary blasts reported on Aug 15. The final death toll was 173, according to official data.
"Although we carried out the same procedure (as at the army games) to identify chemicals at the scene in Tianjin, I was shocked by what I saw," Zhang recalled. "Everything was gray and lifeless. We also had the task of searching for bodies."
Colonel Ma Guojie, commander of the anti-chemical warfare regiment, said to ensure his soldiers are combat-ready, they are trained in units rather than as individuals.
"They need to be a strong fighting force first and foremost. Our goal is to create an anti-chemical warfare force that has outstanding technical and military skills," he said.
China established a new anti-chemical warfare regiment in Xinjiang this year.
Specialist soldiers need to be accurate when identifying dangers "because we don't get a second chance", said Private Gao Pan, 24, the driver on Zhang's team. He said crews also need to constantly upgrade their knowledge on toxic substances and antidotes to cope with the ever-changing combat environments.
"There is no time to think about death during a mission. We're always laser-focused on the procedure," Gao said.
