Sharp lightning
-- Observation Report from the Air Force's "Model Surface-to-Air Missile Battalion" -- Jiefangjun Daily reporters Wang Tonghua, Gao Liying, and Yang Yue
Special correspondent Gao Sifeng
Loading retracting cartridges. Photo by Wang Yizhe
Desert Gobi, missile array. With a loud bang, the missile pierced the desert sky like a sharp bolt of lightning.
At that moment, inside the radar charge car, Lieutenant Colonel Battalion Commander Wen Xiaoliang clearly saw the data situation on the display screen: one hit hit!
As far as the "model ground-to-air missile battalion" of a certain brigade of the air force in the Central Theater is concerned, this live-fire target shooting mission is a major test of unprecedented difficulty. They worked hard under the stars, overcame difficulties, and handed over their struggle answers.
Struggle to make this model army glorious. In 2022, the battalion was awarded the honorary title of "Model Surface-to-Air Missile Battalion" by the Central Military Commission, and President Xi personally awarded the honorary award flag.
Struggle to make this heroic army famous. In 1964, the battalion was awarded the honorary title of "Heroic Battalion" by the Ministry of National Defense, and all the officers and men of the battalion were received by party and state leaders in the Great Hall of the People.
The history of the development of the "Model Ground-to-Air Missile Battalion" is a history of struggle written with battles and victories.
After hitting the target with live ammunition, Wen Xiaoliang led everyone to quickly withdraw the equipment and rush to the next battle......
Silent accumulation, thick accumulation; Movement is like a thunderbolt, and lightning is fast. This group of ground-to-air missile troops knew in their hearts that only the "next battle" was the target that the "model ground-to-air missile battalion" would always need to aim at; Only by continuing to struggle and overcoming difficulties can we win new victories and new glory.
New victories call for new struggles
In early summer, at the entrance of the honor room of the "Model Ground-to-Air Missile Battalion", a straight ginkgo tree was full of vitality under the warm sun. A big discussion on the "Concept of Struggle in the New Era" was launched under the tree.
Standing under the tree, listening to the wind, the past is vivid.
Ten years ago, all the officers and soldiers of the battalion and the relatives of the first battalion commander Yue Zhenhua buried part of his ashes under this ginkgo tree in accordance with the old battalion commander's will. At that time, Wen Xiaoliang, who was still the company commander, led his comrades-in-arms to cut and polish the masonry piece by piece, building a solid brick circle for this ginkgo tree.
Air Force combat hero Yue Zhenhua is a legend. In the territorial air defense operation, he led the unit to set a precedent in the history of world air defense for shooting down an airplane with a ground-to-air missile, and made outstanding achievements. In 2019, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Yue Zhenhua was commended as the "Most Beautiful Struggler".
"Like a thunderbolt in the sky, like a lightning bolt piercing the sky, the second battalion of heroes fought bravely......" In those years, this unit turned to the north and south, and relied on struggle to create brilliant achievements. Today, can they continue to inherit the glory, and can they once again hold their bows like the moon and arrows without missing a shot?
"A new victory calls for a new struggle. On the new journey of strengthening the army, we must be like our predecessors and leave the footprints of our generation's struggle! "The struggle process and stories of the predecessors have been precipitated into the precious spiritual wealth of the officers and men of the battalion. Every time they go out on a bloody expedition and every time they triumph on the battlefield, the officers and men of the whole battalion will always stand in front of this tree to relive the history of the war and understand their original intentions.
This is like a special roll call again and again, and more like a silent whole team again and again, spurring them on and motivating them.
Wen Xiaoliang will never forget that sacred and proud day: "President Xi personally awarded us the honorary flag of the 'Model Surface-to-Air Missile Battalion', which is an encouragement and an expectation. ”
Upon learning of this good news, the veterans in the battalion who had participated in the war called and sent messages to congratulate them. These old veterans still see themselves as part of the battalion, and regard them as the supreme glory.
"Battalion commander, I report to you, today I was invited to the resident school again to give national defense education to the children, and told the story of the struggle of our 'hero battalion' and the today's demeanor of the 'model surface-to-air missile battalion'......" Looking at the news sent by the old-timers, Wen Xiaoliang and his comrades-in-arms asked themselves again and again-
"It's the old-timers who are spurring us on in their own way. On the new journey, what will we report to the motherland and the people? ”
Before attending the National People's Congress and the National People's Congress this year, Wen Xiaoliang, a deputy to the National People's Congress, came to the battalion's honor room and placed two medals of "four iron" advanced units and four collective third-class meritorious service medals in front of the "Model Ground-to-Air Missile Battalion" honorary award flag and the "Hero Battalion" battle flag, and took a "family photo."
Sitting in the Great Hall of the People, many scenes of history and reality were superimposed, which brought Wen Xiaoliang a stronger touch.
The commander-in-chief's earnest entrustment and the affectionate expectations of the seniors are like a tremendous impetus that pushes the party committee of the battalion to lead the officers and men of the battalion to inherit the fine tradition of "red thinking, fine technology, and hard work style" in the struggle.
On the big chessboard of the world's turbulent turmoil, the fierce game of the spiraling rise of the military powers in the field of air defense and anti-missile is like a kind of rapid pull, urging them to accelerate their transformation and forge a sharp arrow in the new era.
With one push and one pull, the two forces are superimposed, and the powerful internal vitality of accelerating the attack aimed at the party's goal of strengthening the army in the new era has been gathered.
The new missions and responsibilities of the "heroes" of the past and the "models" of today are like a hurricane in the sky, hitting the chests of this group of young officers and soldiers, calling them to accelerate their progress.
"In the Great Hall of the People, I really can't sit still! How can we forge ahead and overcome difficulties in order to match the constantly upgrading equipment? In order to live up to the great honor given by the motherland and the people? During the interview, Wen Xiaoliang mentioned to reporters more than once this sense of urgency of "not being able to sit still".
Back on a spring day 15 years ago, Wen Xiaoliang, who was still a lieutenant, climbed the wall with stone bricks and cast his eager eyes on the barracks next door.
On the other side of the wall is the famous "Heroes Battalion". That year, Wen Xiaoliang had just graduated from college and participated in the training of new platoon commanders in the teaching team. In between training, several new platoon commanders to be assigned were lying on the wall, and they couldn't help but want to see what the "hero battalion" on the other side of the wall was like.
From the new platoon commander who was lying on the wall and watching, to the 24th battalion commander of the "Hero Battalion", to receiving the honorary award flag of the "Model Surface-to-Air Missile Battalion" from President Xi, this feeling of excitement and anxiety has never dissipated in Wen Xiaoliang's heart.
Three hundred and sixty days a year, most of them go on horseback. This is especially true of the surface-to-air missile forces, as a "force on wheels." In 2023, Wen Xiaoliang will lead the officers and soldiers of the battalion to carry out live training, test and use around a certain type of weapon system, and carry out tasks outside for nearly 200 consecutive days.
Eight thousand miles of clouds and moons. In the carriage of the military train, Wen Xiaoliang gave an "order-type" work reminder to the backbone of the cadres; Officers and men learn theories and memorize data by inserting needles into the seams. The sunset over the long river in the northwest, the snowfall in the northeast, and the scenery outside the car window are the most magnificent "background board" on their strong army journey.
"The journey is long, but there is only struggle" -- this is the battalion commander Wen Xiaoliang's outlook on life, and it is also the outlook on the struggle of this group of ground-to-air missile troops. They know that what is more important than carrying honor is to accelerate and create new brilliance.
Be a fighter who bravely overcomes difficulties and ignite the blazing fire in your heart
The sky hung low, and the shrill sirens sounded like a thunderbolt, breaking through the silence of the camp.
Wen Xiaoliang didn't bother to talk to reporters, so he hurried in the direction of the battalion command post a few hundred meters away.
This was a sudden and unusual first-class combat readiness alert.
Just a few hundred meters is the distance between the battalion's officers' and men's quarters and the command post and position. However, in the eyes of Wen Xiaoliang and his comrades-in-arms, these hundreds of meters are not just a spatial distance.
In the day-to-day observation of the sky and the rest of the day, this distance has been converted into the fastest and most urgent concept of time by this group of ground-to-air missile troops: the infinite approach between "training" and "warfare."
Running is the rhythm that the officers and men of the battalion are accustomed to-
Instructor Wang, who had just been transferred from his brother unit to the battalion, found that here, "even if a soldier is assigned a very small job, he can run to do it, and he will never walk over."
When the shrill sound of battle sirens crossed the silent night, the officers and men who woke up from sleep did not first get dressed and then ran to the position, but picked up their clothes and ran to put them on their bodies......
"You can go at any time, you can fight at any time." As early as more than 60 years ago, this unit traveled north and south to chase air targets, setting a precedent in the history of world air defense for the shooting down of planes by surface-to-air missiles. This rhythm of running has been carved into their genes.
Whether the fierce lightning that guarded the airspace of the motherland in those days can still be won today -- this is a question of particular concern to many people who are familiar with the battalion's victories.
In that year, the battalion once again ushered in equipment upgrades, and in the face of new technical challenges and personnel grouping, Company Commander Shi felt an unprecedented sense of urgency: "Time is running out more and more!" ”
This sense of urgency has been placed in front of the party committee of the battalion as never before-
The evolution of the form of warfare is advancing by leaps and bounds, and the changing combat styles are changing with each passing day, and the racing competition with strong opponents is forcing them to race against time to improve their ability to win.
To speed up the attack, this group of young officers and men will have to face another powerful opponent, that is, themselves: they must sift through the slackness and accumulated shortcomings attached to their bodies, and always maintain the vigilance and bloody nature of "being ready to fly."
With the iterative update of equipment, the former "one gun for the whole battalion" was split into independent firepower units. It turned out that Company Commander Shi only needed to follow the orders of the battalion commander to perform the function of launching the module; Today, he has almost become a fire commander, and while mastering the equipment, he also has to coordinate and command multiple modules of the company to complete combat missions.
"In air defense and anti-missile operations, the space-time compression ratio is getting closer and closer to the limit, forcing us to keep thinking: What kind of strategic thinking and combat style should we use to deal with the next battle? What role should people play in the face of equipment upgrades? Company Commander Shi led the company non-stop to go deep into the desert in the northwest and stationed in the dense forests of the cold region, traveling to different regions to participate in training tasks and verify the performance of equipment.
"When the army was first formed, in order to race against time to learn relevant knowledge, the seniors used branches to draw circuit diagrams on the ground, and wiped them with their feet after drawing; In order to defeat enemy planes, they went to the south of the Yangtze River five times in the scorching heat and entered the northwest six times in the severe winter. Back then, the conditions were so difficult, but each of them had a bright light in their eyes! In the discussion of the "Concept of Struggle in the New Era" organized by the battalion, Company Commander Shi took out an old black and white photo, pointed to the bright eyes of the officers and soldiers in the photo, and said, "Today, in the face of changes in science and technology, war, and opponents, we must be brave fighters to overcome difficulties and ignite the blazing fire in our hearts." ”
The pace of forging ahead is like lightning tearing through time and space, constantly crossing physical boundaries and compressing the cycle of combat power generation.
Several screens, between which data instructions flow rapidly; Hundreds of buttons are closely aligned, flashing with different indicator lights; Inside the closed radar accusation car, the exhaust fan was humming...... This is the most familiar position of Platoon Commander Li.
Platoon Commander Li could not forget the scene when he carried out the first live-fire mission. Sitting in the seat, the icon on the screen symbolizing the missile accelerates forward along a predetermined arc, accompanied by a loud bang, exploding into the shape of a flower. His heart fluttered for a moment, then he breathed a sigh of relief.
Just over a year after graduation, the young platoon commander has already taken part in a number of major missions. That time, in the depths of the vast Gobi, he sat in front of the control console and waited for the launch of live ammunition. Suddenly, a familiar voice was heard from the group of experts who boarded the accusation vehicle. Platoon Commander Li turned his head in surprise and saw the familiar face of a professor at his alma mater.
The professor also recognized his young student. However, he did not expect that the students would board the accusation vehicle so quickly and participate in such an important live-fire mission.
For the officers and men of the battalion, the urgency of time is a common proposition. The combination of specializations, the frequent number of tasks, and the need for actual combat have forced officers and men to overcome difficulties with a charging attitude. In the past two years, each of them has been experiencing leaps and bounds of growth-
After the equipment was upgraded, Lu Xiaolong, the leader of the accusation radar squad, started his learning journey again: "The equipment keeps up with the development and upgrading of the times, and we must keep up with the development and upgrading of the equipment." ”
Chen Cong, the squad leader who won the first place in the brigade's professional competition in plotting, took the initiative to apply for a transfer to the missile launch major. Last year, as a core technician, he personally pressed the launch button and achieved the first hit in the live ammunition target.
Sergeant Anshki was originally a crane operator, and later he not only learned the specialty of missile loading, but also became proficient in multi-vehicle driving skills. Sergeant Huang Dequan has three roles: launcher, driver, and cook.
Li Yukun, a young conscript, had just driven away from the training area in the barren Gobi, and then applied to go to the cold area where water and ice had turned into ice to carry out his mission.
"The increase in equipment and the expansion of functions have changed the backbone of non-commissioned officers from pure executors to junior commanders. Nowadays, the growth rate of the new squad leader is getting faster and faster, and the backbone of the sergeants has taken on more responsibilities, and even the recruits can play their strengths in the post. Looking back on the growth footprints of the officers and men of the battalion in the past two years, Director Mao of the battalion command room told reporters with great pride.
During the intensive training of the railway loading and unloading course before a mission, a heavy rain suddenly came. The driver drove up to the squad leader Liu Feng, poked his head out of the window, and asked, "Squad leader, do you want to bring it back?" Liu Feng asked with a calm face: "Have you reached the standard with your team?" Rain is not the whistle of the end. Again! ”
The rain was loud and the roar of the engine seemed to be covered with a layer of mist and became hazy. The dark raincoat on Liu Feng's body was beaten tightly by the rain, and the water fell along the folds of the hem.
"Left rear 15, right rear 15......" high-pitched positioning passwords penetrate the rain curtain and are conveyed to the driver's ears. After repeated positioning exercises, the drivers finally achieved one step and no difference.
At the moment when the whistle blew to end the training, Liu Feng wiped the rain from his face and secretly breathed a sigh of relief: he could finally let his comrades set off and go to the mission area with confidence.
Not afraid of wind and rain and not afraid of challenges, this group of young officers and men used their indomitable spirit to forge every battle position of the whole battalion and every node of victory.
"Today, our officers and men are moving from one specialization and multiple abilities to multiple specialties and multiple abilities, in order to have a more flexible and mobile combat capability in the real battlefield." Wen Xiaoliang said, "In the wind and rain, the speed at which officers and soldiers become talented and the ranks grow is like the rate at which thunderstorm clouds accumulate electric charges. Only by seizing the opportunity and accelerating the charge in a limited time can you hit with lightning speed at the critical moment. ”
On the new journey of forging ahead and strengthening the army, there is a common running style called "sprint"
The puzzles are being updated, and the challenges are escalating.
How to get closer to the future battlefield faster, and how to concentrate energy where it matters most? For the battalion, every attempt to innovate is to overcome difficulties and overcome obstacles on the path of generating combat effectiveness.
A real combat confrontation completely changed the perception of the battle between First Sergeant Major Song Xianbin and his comrades-in-arms: "For the first time, I experienced what it was like to be chased by a missile from an 'enemy' plane. ”
In the sky, the "enemy" machine is ghostly. As soon as the car stopped, Song Xianbin couldn't take a breath, and rushed off the car with a few trumpeters, setting up radars and connecting oil locomotives at the fastest speed.
Once they have captured the target and completed the missile launch, they must immediately withdraw from their current positions and "run as fast as they can" to prevent themselves from being locked on and destroyed by the "enemy" planes.
erection, retraction, transfer; Erection, retraction, transfer...... In just a few minutes after getting out of the car, there will always be a rapid urging voice on the intercom: "How long does it take for the radar array to unfold, can it be faster?" ”
The flying sand raised by the wheels is like the smoke of a real battlefield. Overcoming difficulties again and again, Song Xianbin and his comrades-in-arms boldly explored the limits of equipment, which greatly shortened the erection time.
Time is a precious resource of war. The officers and men of the "Hero Battalion" at that time broke through the existing curriculum, shortened the limit of the eight-minute operation process to eight seconds, and created the "method of near-fast warfare." They performed miraculous feats repeatedly.
To this day, it is as fast as lightning and is still the key magic weapon to defeat the enemy on the battlefield. In the barracks, on the whiteboard with a record-breaking table, the steps of the officers and soldiers to accelerate the transformation were engraved-
The launch vehicle began to withdraw, and their time was 2 minutes and 30 seconds faster than the excellent result stipulated in the syllabus; In less than a year, the course record of a certain type of equipment with retractable ammunition has been shortened by 5 minutes, and it is being refreshed almost every month; The time taken to erect and withdraw the field command post was shortened by about one-fifth.
In a few years, the record-breaking watch has been updated to version 3.0, and the time scale chased by officers and soldiers has become more and more accurate. "The war has entered the era of 'second kill', and even an increase of 0.01 seconds is meaningful." A staff officer sighed.
On the new journey of forging ahead and strengthening the army, there is a common running style called "sprint". The reporter saw this posture in this group of young officers and soldiers -- not only running with the equipment, but also pushing the equipment.
Not long ago, the battalion completed the upgrading of a certain system. Wen Xiaoliang exchanged and discussed with engineers from scientific research institutes, formed a set of creative solutions combining artificial intelligence and equipment use and maintenance, and won the first prize of the "Zhiyan" Cup Large Model National Defense Application Invitational Competition......
In a discussion between Wen Xiaoliang and the engineers, the AI system was proposed to be named Always, which means both "forever" and "All ways": "There is no single solution to the shape of war, just as you can never predict the angle at which a lightning bolt will cut through the sky." Only by constantly advancing and updating can it be possible to master all the ways to win the battle to the maximum and win the next battle. ”
The courage to innovate and dare to be the first is the most distinctive character of struggle
Walking into the battalion command post, several huge wall charts on the wall attracted the attention of reporters. Colorful lines, color blocks, graphics, and groups of data abstractly depict the "shield and spear" and "time and potential" of air defense and anti-missile operations.
Director Mao of the battalion command room pointed to one of the charts and told reporters that this is the latest wall chart that marks the mission objectives of the battalion after the equipment is upgraded. The battalion command team pooled their wisdom, comprehensively considered factors such as the electromagnetic spectrum and the battlefield environment, revised the relevant data, adjusted the color tone, and updated and upgraded the command flow chart.
In the contrast between breaking and standing, in the transformation of static and dynamic, in the change of increase and decrease, and in the dialectic between fast and slow, the concept of struggle belonging to this group of ground-to-air missile units is clearly presented: "We must not only work hard and endure hardships that others cannot endure, but also dare to be the first and take the road that others have not taken." ”
This is a "quiet" simulated confrontation exercise, which subverts the scene of "one order and one return" in the reporter's mind.
From the combat readiness level to the air defense strike, only the sound of mouse clicks and key switches was heard in the command cabin, and the trumpeters of the combat service squad cooperated tacitly and efficiently, and the commander only gave a brief password during the whole process before successfully "hitting" the target.
The sea of stars flows, and the years become monuments. The charm of time lies in condensing the past and revealing the future. In the discussion of the "Concept of Struggle in the New Era", the words of the battalion instructor Jia left a deep impression on the reporter: "Looking forward to the future, there is a common word in front of many 'goals' - struggle; Looking back at history, the courage to innovate and dare to be the first is the most distinctive character of the predecessors. Their generation has won the glory of this army in the past with struggle and innovation, and we must also use struggle and innovation to win tomorrow's victory. ”
In the honor room of the battalion, a precious award certificate is displayed. This yellowed certificate tells a story of struggle across time and space-
In 1958, the Air Force surface-to-air missile unit was formed. In the face of high-precision and sophisticated weapons and equipment that they had never come into contact with, the officers and men of the battalion immersed themselves in hard work and hard struggle after receiving the equipment, and quickly formed combat effectiveness. After winning the first battle, they devoted themselves to training, and after thousands of tempers, they pioneered the "method of close and fast warfare".
In 1978, at the National Science Conference, known as the "Spring of Science", the "Near-fast Combat Method" won the first prize for scientific research achievements. This tactic, which was innovated by officers and men at the grassroots level, won a state-level award, which not only brought honor to this unit, but also left behind valuable spiritual wealth. The scientific thinking and innovative qualities contained in the "method of near-fast warfare" are still used as a magic weapon by the officers and men of the battalion, and they have been continuously inherited and carried forward in the new era.
The contest on the battlefield is never only a material wrestling, but also a spiritual competition and a game of strategy. With a good sword, you must also have a strong sword aura and superb swordsmanship, and finally merge into a subtle sword formation, so that you can be invincible.
"During a joint training, due to the lack of in-depth study of network operations, a hole was torn open in the air defense firepower network that we had carefully arranged." This defeat sounded the alarm for the battalion command team.
In the past, the missile unit had "one gun for the whole battalion", and one "hero battalion" could "walk thousands of miles and ride alone, bending the bow and shooting the wolf"; Nowadays, "the system is a net, and the fingers are formed into a fist," and the missile units must not only thoroughly understand the performance of weapons and equipment, but also study the laws of war.
In order to enhance the combat capability of the network, Wen Xiaoliang led the officers and men to take advantage of the opportunity of the stationed training exercise and other opportunities to take the initiative to apply to the brigade and coordinate the friendly and neighboring air units to carry out specialized and intensive training.
"Standing on the missile position, what do you see?"
The young Company Commander Shi slowly raised his head and looked at the sky.
In the vast space, satellites are like the eyes of the sky; The vast land and ocean, the radar is always supporting...... To build an indestructible blue sky shield for the motherland, there are many comrades-in-arms who are fighting side by side with this group of missile soldiers.
"Time is not waiting for me, seize the day; Time is running out, and the mission is urging. "Raising my eyes, the bright red 16-character slogan on the training ground, like the drumbeat of forging ahead, and the footsteps of this heroic army anchoring the centennial goal of the founding of the army and forging ahead on a new journey, accelerate, and accelerate again......
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▲Published in the 1st and 3rd editions of the People's Liberation Army Daily on June 5
Source丨People's Liberation Army Daily
Producer丨Ou Can, Hou Dawei, Editor丨Liu Jianwei, Yan Shan, Qian Zongyang
Editor丨Li Chen, Han Jie