Heroic paratroopers fight between heaven and earth (national defense sight)
Editor's note: September 17 this year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the airborne troops.
Seventy years ago, the First Air Force Marine Brigade was established in Kaifeng, Henan, and a brand-new type of service, the paratrooper, entered the ranks of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
Seventy years later, the airborne troops have evolved from the light-loaded model of "one man, one parachute and one gun" to a strategic assault with a combination of multi-arms, capable of rapid response, long-range direct access, diversified military missions, and advancement towards informatization. power.
From "steel feet" to motorization, to mechanization and informatization... Over the past 70 years, with the care and encouragement of the Party Central Committee and the Central Military Commission, the Air Force paratroopers, a special unit with a special mission, have fought in the blue sky and the earth. between.
Recently, reporters walked into this army to feel how heroism and the spirit of victory are passed down here.
Speaking of a troop, the heroic spirit and the spirit of victory are born, no doubt they will think of them——
The airborne troops have gathered heroes from the day they were born, dazzling!
In September 1950, 5053 commanders and fighters from more than 40 military-level units of the entire army gathered in the ancient city of Kaifeng—all of them were combat heroes and heroes with a long history.
The Air Force First Brigade was established.
In 1961, the 15th Army of the Army, which returned victoriously from the Korean battlefield, was transformed into the 15th Army of the Airborne Corps.
In the 43-day battle of Shangganling, they defeated the United Nations army headed by the U.S. Army and created a miracle in the history of world war. Heroes such as Huang Jiguang and Qiu Shaoyun emerged that shocked hundreds of millions of people.
In front of the Airborne Army History Museum, two 5-meter-high bronze statues of Huang Jiguang and Qiu Shaoyun stand eye-catching.
The 88-meter-high umbrella tower and emblem built 70 years ago, and the light box display boards with portraits of heroes can be seen everywhere... Entering this army, everything you can see can make people feel the heroic spirit and the red gene. inherited.
It is also the heroic spirit that continues to be passed down, inspiring this unit to move forward bravely and write countless legends of heroes.
Do not forget to write a legend
From single arms to combined army
Judging from the history of airborne troops, this is undoubtedly an important moment!
On September 29, 1950, in the hinterland of the Central Plains, the autumn was high and fresh, and several C-46 aircraft hovered in the blue sky with excitement.
This is the first parachuting training after the founding of New China, and only 11 days have passed since the establishment of the paratroopers.
After the departure signal was sent, 62 paratroopers jumped out of the cabin, and New China's first batch of its own umbrella blossoms in the blue sky.
The parachuting took off 11 days after the formation, which is a miracle in the airborne troops of any country in the world.
Within half a year, all officers and soldiers completed universal parachuting;
Nine months later, he participated in the Linhuaiguan offensive combat joint exercise, forming a company-scale airborne combat capability;
…………
With indomitable courage, the heroic paratroopers achieved miracles one by one!
With the changes in missions, airborne troops have been upgraded and adjusted three times:
In 1961, the 15th Army, which was famous in the battle of Shangganling, joined the ranks of airborne troops. Since then, the ground heroes have inserted their wings and become airborne troops;
In the early 1990s, the Central Military Commission listed airborne troops as a key construction force, and the development of airborne troops entered the "fast lane";
In 2017, the size and structure of the military was reformed and the organization of the airborne force was renewed. The formation of a new qualitative force system such as airborne combined, air assault, and combat support was reshaped, and the military was transformed into an information-based multiple combined power system.
In the eyes of the airborne soldiers, upgrades again and again do not only mean an increase in the organization and scale, but an increase in mission and responsibilities.
"From generals to soldiers, from male soldiers to female soldiers, the officers and soldiers of the army generally master 2 types of parachutes, 3 types of models, and 5 types of terrain conditions with full-equipped parachute combat skills, and have the ability to combat all-round parachuting." The leader of the army told reporters.
In recent years, with the normalization of joint training between airborne troops and large transport aircraft units such as the Il-76 and Y-20, the troop’s ability to form clusters for parachuting and large-scale reloading of airdrops has been continuously strengthened and improved.
In keeping with the advancement of airborne and airdrop technology, batches of special weapons and equipment for airborne troops have gradually entered the airborne troops.
Different types of parachutes with different performances make the means for airborne troops to enter the battlefield more diverse; infantry fighting vehicles, assault vehicles, and rapid-fire guns suitable for airborne assault operations have successively formed airborne combat capabilities; armed helicopters flying in the blue sky and various Various types of transport aircraft have also entered the ranks of airborne equipment...
70 years of hard work.
The airborne troops have evolved from a single unit of arms at the time of its initial establishment into a "flying combined army" consisting of more than 20 specialized arms including artillery, aviation, armored, scout, chemical defense, and electronic countermeasures. The all-round combat capability of “drop everywhere, drop to fight, and fight to win”.
"Huang Jiguang Hero Company" is ahead
Never absent in the face of danger
"Comrades-in-arms, work harder, who are we?"
"Huang Jiguang!"
At 1 o'clock in the evening on July 19 this year, officers and soldiers of the "Huang Jiguang Hero Company" were fixing the embankment on the embankment in Yejiawan, Yanjiahe Town, Macheng City, Hubei Province.
From receiving the order to rushing to the most dangerous embankment, they have been fighting for 29 hours.
Sun Shaowei, a "post-00" soldier at this time, felt his mind sinking and his body was weak.
Seeing the red flag waving in the wind, shouting the name of the most familiar hero, he was full of energy, carrying a sandbag and quickened his pace.
In the face of difficult and dangerous tasks, company commander Qin Qi planted a banner with the "Huang Jiguang Hero Company" in the most dangerous part of the embankment, leading the troops to fight at the forefront.
Huang Jiguang, a well-known hero in China, in the world-famous battle of Shangganling, with his own stab at the gun, he became the most heroic posture of Chinese soldiers.
Advocating heroes, heroes come forth in large numbers.
In the airborne troops, there is such an unwritten rule: the first to jump out of the plane must be the leading cadre of the party members-from army commander, brigade commander to battalion commander, company commander...the special parachute that marks their identity The flower is always the first to bloom in the blue sky.
Therefore, parachuting in dangerous and difficult subjects is always the first party member and leading cadre to jump out of the plane. For officers and soldiers, it is a demonstration and incentive, and it is also a battle mobilization.
In a military exercise held in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia in 2013, the wind speed on the ground exceeded 10 meters per second, which was close to the parachuting limit... Faced with unprecedented challenges, Zhang Yu, the leader of the Huang Jiguang Hero Company at the time, was before parachuting. Mobilize loudly: "There are six companies in front of difficulties, and there are no difficulties in front of six companies. Everyone jump with me!"
During the service, the officers and soldiers of the "Huang Jiguang Company of Heroes" landed and were dragged by strong winds on the gravel-covered grassland for tens of meters. Almost everyone was stunned, but none of them withdrew from the drill; Zhang Yu was injured in the waist when he landed, and he insisted on lying down and commanding the troops. attack.
The bloody nature of the officers and soldiers made the training experts who were observing on the spot give a thumbs up: "It's still the same energy back then!"
"The National Advanced Group in Fighting the New Coronary Pneumonia Epidemic!" At the National Commendation Conference for Fighting the New Coronary Pneumonia Epidemic on September 8, the temporary party committee of the Forces in Hubei Province was awarded the award.
As the main component of the transportation support team, the airborne soldiers are extremely proud.
"The airborne troops are here!" At the beginning of this year, at the height of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the airborne troops went retrograde.
The driver Hu Huan always remembered the scene where the order was given that day-the company commander asked if anyone wanted to be on the front line of the epidemic, and everyone in the whole company, including him, took a step forward.
Hu Huan and 41 comrades in arms rushed to Wuhan from Guangshui, Hubei, to join the force support team in Hubei.
For 68 days and nights, the transportation support team left early and returned late and fought continuously, transporting 5601 tons of living materials, more than 5,000 pieces (sets) of 22 types of medical materials, and a cumulative travel distance of 190,000 kilometers.
Trust comes from responsibility.
When the country and the people are in distress, the Air Force paratroopers are never absent, and they always take the lead in emergency response.
In 1998, huge floods threatened millions of people on both sides of the Yangtze River, and the airborne troops moved upon orders.
"Thousands of miles of the Yangtze River, the danger lies in Jingjiang", at the most dangerous Jingjiang embankment, 15,000 paratroopers guarded it day and night.
After the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, in order to detect the disaster and open the air rescue channel as soon as possible, on May 14th, 15 soldiers of the airborne parachuted from an altitude of 5,000 meters without ground signs, weather data, and ground command. In Mao County, the isolated island in the earthquake, a life rescue channel was opened in desperation.
More than 11,000 soldiers of the airborne troops quickly assembled in the disaster area, setting a record with the largest scale of deployment and the shortest preparation time.
The people's soldiers love the people.
Over the years, the airborne troops have spared no effort to support localities, building "lianxin bridges", paving "roads of love", and repairing "happiness canals"... a project has become a testimony to the people they care about; ten thousand mu of sand control and tree planting , Daihuang Highway construction, Dangzi Lake construction... They are active everywhere in the construction of the people's livelihood project.
On the battlefield of poverty alleviation, the airborne troops fixed-pointed to help 7 poor villages, explored a stable poverty alleviation model with characteristic industries in the villages, ways for households to get rich, and people with skills to help poor people embark on the "fast lane" of getting rich.
At present, all 7 poverty-stricken villages have been lifted out of poverty.
Aiming for first-class climb
Training the ability of "fast, far, heavy and special"
In June of this year, an air-to-ground coordinated offensive exercise of an airborne assault brigade of airborne troops kicked off in the mountainous area of northern Hubei.
In the radar blind zone at the height of Kazuki, a combat formation composed of reconnaissance, armed, and transport helicopters flew to the predetermined area at ultra-low altitude.
In the air, armed helicopters provide close-range fire support; on the ground, assault forces rush forward and seize positions; underwater, surprise units quietly approach and seize the main points...Facing the heavily guarded "Blue Army" positions, the "Red Army" unfolds the air and ground Three-dimensional attack.
In an instant, the "Blue Army" command post was bombed, the communications hub was destroyed, and the entire position was submerged in a sea of flames.
Coming sick, sudden, fast, and fierce.
At the end of the battle, the drill commander and brigade chief of staff An Meng said: "This three-dimensional assault operation demonstrates that our force, which could only attack on the ground before, has grown into an air-ground assault force that is integrated with air and ground. "
From starting from scratch 70 years ago, to the "fast lane" of development and shouldering the sacred mission of "direct access to the whole territory and full spectrum intervention", the Chinese airborne troops aim for first-class, constantly pursuing excellence and climbing the peak.
With the need to maintain national security interests and the expansion of missions and tasks, the airborne troops achieved a revolutionary force reorganization and system restructuring during the adjustment and reform of the military power structure in 2017, highlighting the construction of new quality forces such as airborne synthesis, air assaults, and combat support. .
At the same time, aiming to give full play to the special advantages of the arms, the Chinese airborne troops continued to temper their core combat capabilities such as "fast, long, heavy, and special":
——Rapid response capability, establish an efficient command and combat command chain, standardize the airborne combat readiness dispatch process, and shorten the combat response time of the troops;
——Long-distance projecting capabilities, using a variety of methods such as air-ground integration to test and temper the long-distance projecting capabilities of the troop integration system from the strategic hinterland to all directions;
——Reloading airdrop capability, relying on large transport aircraft such as Yier-76, Yun-20, etc., to strengthen the formation and large-scale reloading airdrop capability;
——Special parachute capability, pay close attention to paraglider high-altitude penetration, ultra-low-altitude parachute landing, two-person parachute landing, special terrain parachuting, and night cluster parachute landing capabilities. The troops have successively completed the formation of paraglider penetration and ultra-low-altitude parachute assaults. Subject training to perform diversified airborne combat missions.
Kunpeng spread his wings and soared thousands of miles, and the "heroes of heaven" were flying high.
Aiming at world-class standards, constantly pursuing excellence and surpassing oneself, an airborne force capable of performing diversified military tasks under the conditions of future informatization is rapidly emerging.
(Jiang Long and Qi Yongqiang participated in the collection and writing)
Our reporter Ni Guanghui