"Red" Blue Army: The Road To Competition For "Super Team"

"Red" Blue Army specially planned by "PLA Life" magazine

Throughout the history of warfare, amphibious landing operations are undoubtedly the most complex and most sacrificial combat methods. A certain brigade of the Marine Corps was created just for this purpose, and targeted offensive and defensive exercises are held every year. As an offensive force, they do not have a full-time "blue team" that focuses on defense. However, they have proven through practice that devoting their attention to a temporary "Blue Army" unit can still positively affect the training trajectory of the entire brigade and accumulate strong potential energy for troop training and preparation for war.

Get the Dharma from the top, when the wind comes out of the sheath

In the confrontation exercises, wherever they went, they were invincible. This was once the consistent performance of the "Red Army" of the brigade. But no matter how brilliant the performance is, the officers and soldiers have no sense of accomplishment. The soldiers said that this battle was not satisfying at all; the commanders knew better that this was all caused by the presumption that "the Red Army would win" and that they would suffer heavy losses if the battle really started.

"Punching a soft persimmon with a heavy punch will result in victory without force." Huang Siliang, the commander of the second mechanized battalion of the brigade, said with emotion. It turns out that at that time, the defensive side was almost entirely made up of support teams. In terms of combat effectiveness, the offensive and defensive ends were not at the same level.

In recent years, under the strong wind of actual combat, the brigade has repeatedly refreshed its combat concept, from concept to action, from form to content, directly pointing to the "gold content" of actual combat. As Brigadier Wang Jiaquan said at the training meeting: "If you want to become an Iron Army, you need the training of an Iron Army. We must no longer fight a war based on wishful thinking."

The army chooses the front line, and the brigade strives to cultivate a powerful opponent for the "Red Army". In the simulated "Blue Army" setting, first-class main battle units are always used, and a powerful combat team is specially equipped for them. The most capable staff members of the "Red Army" were incorporated into the exercise director group. In terms of capability generation and combat design, the "Blue Army" accurately sets capability indicators and demand lists, and applies for and deploys various combat forces to continuously enhance their combat value.

To fight a war, to fight a general. In terms of tactical literacy, they follow the professional "blue army" approach and devote themselves to studying the methods of survival and death on the battlefield. They incorporate combat case analysis and tactical learning into weekly plans, and incorporate research results into combat briefings. You can get a glimpse of the general theme from the paper titles in the training briefing: "Battlefield Intelligence Preparation and Command Decision-making" "Light Mechanized Infantry Company Defense Operations"...

Consistency in training and combat has become the key word for the "Blue Army" to ensure solid implementation at all levels of the battalion, company, and squad. From individual soldiers to groups, from basics to advanced levels, their specialized training is step-by-step. Each branch of the army should first practice tactics and then practice coordination. If they are divided, they will practice their specialties. If they are combined, combat modules will be automatically generated. He Yu, the instructor of the 1st Company of the 1st Battalion of the "Blue Army" who once served as the forward of the "Blue Army", said: "We don't do trivial work. We only focus on beating the 'Red Army'."

The "Blue Army" was born out of the "Red Army" and is naturally familiar with the tactics of the "Red Army". In the past few years, the former 4th Marine Company was the main force of the "Blue Army" and gained great prestige in the first battle. Based on the terrain and previous "Red Army" fighting experience, they waited for the stormy bombardment to pass and then decisively moved their troops to the beachhead. When the "Red Army" arrived at the beach, they launched three counterattacks in succession. For a time, the "Red Army" was in a state of confusion and red smoke was rising. The first wave of assault troops failed to establish a usable landing site for nearly half an hour.

During the fierce battle in the jungle, the two sides were even more furious, and the fierce crossfire even set the dead grass on fire. After breaking into the "Blue Army" command post, the "Red Army" thought they had secured victory. However, due to the destruction of command coordination and unreasonable firepower distribution, which resulted in excessive casualties, the "Red Army" was sentenced to defeat. "At that time, I was the only one left in the class." Thinking of this battle, Xu Jianguo, a fourth-level sergeant major who was in the second assault group at the time, would shudder like a reflex.

This battle became a battle to rectify the name of the "Blue Army". Since then, the balance of power between red and blue has changed. The "sharpening" role of the "Blue Army" continues to become more prominent, and the "Red Army" can no longer underestimate it. Every time during the battle stage, an invincible decisive battle atmosphere spreads throughout the brigade like wildfire in the spring breeze.

Sharpen your sword and show off your sharp edge

"The 'Blue Army' setting is a bit like the college entrance examination questions. The question types can be repeated, but the content cannot be repeated, so it can only become more and more difficult and tricky." Zhang Zhijun, deputy chief of staff of the brigade, said with emotion.

In September last year, the brigade decided to let the light infantry battalion serve as the "blue army". This is an advanced battalion with a 74-year infantry tradition. It is good at attacking and defending, and its combat effectiveness is second to none in the entire brigade.

In the face of a strong opponent, even though there is still more than a month before the confrontation, the "combat readiness" chord in the hearts of the officers and soldiers of the "Red Army" suddenly changed from level three to level one. During those days, the military tent of the "Red Army" was brightly lit every night. In order to refresh themselves, each pot of water could hold half a handful of tea leaves. When the security was at its most intense, three passwords were set for identification of friend or foe: a common password, a special password, and a numerical algorithm password.

As everyone knows, the "Blue Army" also panicked under the tremendous pressure. According to Ding Jie, commander of Qingbu Second Company, the terrain of the defensive position they held was easy to attack and difficult to defend. They had already fought defensive battles in the past few years. He judged that there were relevant coordinates in the "Red Army" database. As soon as Zhu Yuan loaded up, the artillery fire started. When you come, you will definitely "plow" it several times.

In a crisis situation, when the "Blue Army" was studying hard and training hard, it did not forget to mobilize officers and soldiers to study the rules of confrontation and each write a tactical suggestion. Ding Jie saw many sparks of wisdom among the more than 80 suggestions collected by his company: officers and soldiers exchanged military rank badges to avoid "Red Army" sniping commanders; using woven bags, leaves, wooden sticks and Make your own simulation targets in current attire to confuse the "Red Army"; play the recorded audio of shooting and shouting through the loudspeaker to attract and break down the firepower of the "Red Army"...

One midnight, the strategy for mobile defense was finalized, and Cui Hai, the commander of the Qingbu Battalion, breathed a sigh of relief. In order to test the officers and soldiers' awareness of the enemy's situation, they deliberately fired 4 shots with pistols on the ground outside the tent area. In an instant, the sentries at the camp gate were on guard back to back with guns loaded, and all companies blew the emergency muster whistle. Two minutes later, the sharp knife squads of each company launched an arrest operation, and the entire battalion was on standby to attack.

When the battle began, the "Red Army"'s firepower density and attack range were unprecedented. The three frontal assault groups, plus an airborne landing unit and a diving infiltration unit, pressed against the "Blue Army" defensive positions with thunderous momentum. . But this time the "Blue Army" chose to abandon the beachhead and fight in deep positions.

In the end, the "Red Army" captured the entire island with a battle loss rate of 45%, and was judged to be a tragic victory by the director. Among them, the airborne detachment fell into the "Blue Army" enemy annihilation zone, and no one was spared.

The most incredible thing is that the "Blue Army" actually had one of its most elite reinforced platoons successfully "break through". They were given the task of diving and destroying, and the target was the "Red Army" landing ship group. It's a pity that although they had good countermeasures and ideas, they failed to control the timing of switching offense and defense. Halfway through the sneak attack, the exercise was over.

During the review, a member of the directing team said that although the "Blue Army" was defeated, Cui Hai did not appreciate it. "The battlefield is the fairest. A victory is a victory and a defeat is a defeat." However, he is gratified that his "Blue Army Camp" has indeed played the role of making the knife sharper and the iron fist harder.

After the review, the brigade's combat process was fully detailed. It ranges from comprehensive plans, plans, command post establishment, battlefield management, to concealment and camouflage, night marking pathways, identity recognition, and password settings, all of which are implemented accurately one by one. In accordance with wartime standards, the Political Work Department sorted out the "Wartime Political Work Flow Chart" and formed one general case and five sub-cases to ensure that it can be quickly integrated into the chain of command. In a war-ready attitude, the Support Department conducted five maintenance inspections throughout the brigade and zeroed out all equipment failures.

Red and Blue played 9 games, winning 5 and losing 4. The data is silent, but it is the best footnote for the brigade’s ambition to become stronger in the war. "On the battlefield, everyone wants to win, and they all bear the lives of their comrades. Thank you to the 'Blue Army' brothers for teaching us this valuable lesson!" When Cui Hai led the entire battalion to retreat, Tang Yueqiu, commander of the combat support battalion He lined up with hundreds of officers and soldiers on the side of the road to give military salutes and applause to the motorcade of the "Blue Army Camp".

Think about war during war and turn "danger" into "opportunity"

A sufficiently powerful "Blue Army" produced a subtle chemical reaction throughout the brigade. Wang Qianli, chief of the training section of the brigade, believes that the red and blue sides are stronger when encountering a strong force, and they learn from each other's strengths and weaknesses, and the battle becomes better and better. The crisis awareness forced by the "Blue Army" has already penetrated into all aspects of daily military training and preparations.

In terms of command, in order to fight tough battles skillfully, commanders at all levels of the brigade have worked hard, taking the lead in learning theories, researching tactics, practicing command, and taking the initiative to get on tanks, gun emplacements, and command platforms. In terms of teaching, a two-way feedback system for training and teaching has been fully established. It has become a common practice for chief officers to teach, teach by grade, and evaluate teaching and learning. The quality of training in various majors, levels, and elements has been greatly improved.

In terms of rapid response, the brigade carried out multiple rounds of demonstrations on combat readiness and dispatch capabilities, breaking the inertia of thinking about combat units and only understanding companies, and repositioned personnel, equipment, ammunition, supplies, and equipment, greatly improving the speed and effectiveness of combat readiness transfer. .

"Why do today's tanks run like off-road vehicles?" Sergeant Major Wang Hui, a fourth-level driver, is a Dongfeng Motor Vehicle driver and has no idea about armored equipment. He didn't know that this speed was due to the ambition of the armored soldiers.

Once upon a time, armored equipment would fire while in motion with brief pauses. After this fatal shortcoming was discovered by the "Blue Army" anti-tank platoon, the contribution rate of the entire company's participation in the battle was not even as high as a single charge of the infantry platoon. Nowadays, the mechanized infantry battalion is clinging to this problem. In order to prevent the vehicle crew from slowing down or pausing when shooting, they specially tie red cloth strips on the tracks of each equipment. Only through a telescope, the movement status can be clearly seen. Not long ago, the joint inspection team of the brigade conducted combat readiness inspections on the chemical defense company. After heading to the target area, the inspection team began to play cards out of routine. Outside the circular defense line, a major was striding toward the command post. He refused to respond to commands and was ineffective in intimidating him. He was forced to stop Sergeant Shi Zuopei by attaching a bright bayonet to the muzzle of his gun. It later proved that this handling of the mobile sentry was absolutely necessary. The word "bomb" was written on the palm of the major's hand.

"Report to the company commander, telephone communication has been restored!" This was obviously another strange trick of the inspection team, who deliberately sent someone to cut the telephone line. Almost at the same time that the connection was successfully made, an "enemy" communications sergeant was escorted over by the lurking sentry with his arms cut behind his back.

When the inspection team asked if there was a counter-sniper team deployed, company commander Li Zushuai called the radio, and three laser pens shot three red lines in the target direction. One hit the tree where the "enemy" sniper was lurking, and two hit the tent. above. Not only that, the entire company has begun to build bunkers on the edge of the jungle and preposition anti-armor forces.

It is understood that in recent years, the brigade’s main combat battalions have all served as the “Blue Army” and have more or less formed a certain “Blue Army” mentality during role training. In this way, the officers and soldiers were all more cautious when facing off against the real "Blue Army".

At the end of last year, the brigade launched a decisive battle with the professional "Blue Army" in a simulated city in the north. Wang Xianfeng, the commander of the military reconnaissance company, led the attack team directly to the city, commanding each group to either feint or make a sudden attack. Taking advantage of the "Blue Army's" vision and shooting blind spots, they actually climbed into the command building at gunpoint. Less than half an hour after the war started, his "Blue Army" deputy brigade commander was captured alive.

(Produced by People's Liberation Army Life and People's Liberation Army News and Communication Center Fusion Media)