Once a top student at the Xi'an Military Academy (a large-scale junior military commander academy), another cavalryman named Li Yang was greeted with a head blow the first time he encountered his horse.
Seemingly placid, the horse named "Feiyan" neighed and reared up as Li mounted, throwing him hard to the ground. After that, Li began to study hard at horsemanship, as well as shooting and saber fighting, and gradually formed a close friendship with "Feiyan." Unfortunately, Li lost the horse in 2010 when it fell through the ice during a patrol.
According to the China Youth Daily, the army horses are brave "soldiers" themselves. Zhang Junyang, a company commander, was once saved by his horse when he was attacked by wolves.
In addition to the horses, the cavalry has been equipped with high-tech gadgets since 2008, including an electric map and long-distance sensors.
"A traditional army will be eliminated if it does not keep abreast of the times," analyzed huaxia.com, adding that with automatic warning systems, the sentry posts are now able to share information in a timely manner.
The new technology has posed challenges to some cavalrymen, however, who had previously spent most of their career practicing traditional fighting skills.
Famous for his horsemanship, Zhang Junyang spent half a year studying the technology. By 2008, over 70 percent of the troops had learned to patrol with the help of advanced surveillance devices.
Reporters from the PLA Daily revealed that in a sentry post information can be uploaded to computer and sent to the command center and other posts within 30 seconds, and that almost every corner can be covered during patrols with the electronic map.
