Crossing a river in battle gear
As a special arm of the military, paratroopers should have physical strength, adaptability to the environment, willpower and survival skills for various military actions, including probes deep into enemy territory, battlefield combat, sudden strikes and rescues. Their training is necessarily harsh. Here we offer first-hand training accounts of Chinese paratroopers.
Wang Hao: Our three treasures
Wednesday, April 17: Sunny
After rising at 5 a.m., we finished morning exercises by running around a nearby mountain carrying a 30-kilogram ammunition box. After returning to base, we finished washing and breakfast quickly. The training officer gathered us together with his whistle: “Everybody, grab your ‘other half’ and be on the truck in one minute.”
The “other half” is actually a rucksack that accompanies us all the time, even in bed. On our first day in training, the officers ordered us to put all combat and personal materials in the rucksack and carry it wherever we go. With items like an individual tent, gas mask and tri-fold shovel in it, it weighs more than 30 kilograms. It is a great challenge physically to carry it everywhere. Training officers have their own secret weapon to discourage laziness: an electronic scale. That is their “other half,” which they carry everywhere. They randomly weigh our rucksacks. If someone’s bag is lighter than the required weight, he faces “disaster.”
I become a little anxious when we assembled and saw big trucks waiting on the training ground. Whenever we travel by truck, the training is very difficult and arduous. After the truck stopped at the foot of a hill, the training officers ordered us to carry a log to the top in groups of four. Every log weighed more than 150 kg and the mountain path was rugged. It was a challenge both physically and mentally.
The people at the back shouldered more weight carrying the log up the mountain. So we had to allocate the physical strength in a reasonable way and the soldiers who were relatively weak went in front. It was quite dangerous and slippery on the steep mountain roads, so the team had to cooperate well. It took us almost an hour to finish the under-3-kilometer road to the top.
“Ammunition box, rucksack, log” are the three treasures that would accompany with us through the training. I hope that our suffering would eventually pay off.
