Starting from the deputy company commander of the Soldier Assault Team

General Liu Weimin paused for a moment, his tone full of complexity, "It can be said that the history of the 77th Regiment was forged in battle after battle."

It was built with blood and lives, and it was fought for by generations of officers and soldiers.

Such a force is well-established, courageous, and substantial; it is a heroic force that deserves our utmost respect throughout our entire army group.

But this heroic unit, which emerged from mountains of corpses and seas of blood, is here today, right today.

In a live-fire exercise that was supposed to test the mettle of a regiment, the entire force was completely overwhelmed, paralyzed, and stunned in just ten minutes.

No, to be precise, it took five minutes. In just five minutes, they had already lost.

At the start, all heavy firepower was lost, communications were completely paralyzed, and the regimental command and all battalion command were precisely targeted.

In the next five minutes, their entire force was almost completely annihilated by enemy air power.

There was no battle, no effective counterattack, and not even a glimpse of the enemy.

As the army commander, I feel heartbroken, fortunate, and ashamed.

What pains us is that the illustrious reputation that our elders earned with their lives has been lost because we, as their descendants, failed to uphold it and it has been destroyed by our generation.

Fortunately, this was just an exercise. If it had been a real war, I think I would have been a sinner.

What embarrasses me is that we were still basking in our glorious history, but today's facts tell us that we are actually so vulnerable in a real fight.

I've come to understand now. The 77th Regiment's defeat wasn't due to a lack of courage or poor conduct; it was due to this very thing.

As he spoke, General Liu Weimin raised his finger and pointed to his head.

"Our 77th Regiment lost because of outdated thinking and outdated perceptions. To be honest, when the ruling was made that the Blue Team had not violated any rules, I actually had some objections."

However, since it is a democratic decision, I will abide by it.

I am very grateful for the democratic decision just now. This exercise, or rather this battle, has thoroughly woken me up.

The Blue Team launched an infiltration and sabotage operation, followed by a precise bombing attack, a barrage of electronic suppression, and a swarm of helicopters.

The 77th Regiment, a regiment of 2,800 men, became blind, deaf, and paralyzed, unable to even organize any decent resistance.

The soldiers worked hard all day digging fortifications and all night setting up positions, but in the end, they didn't even see the enemy's face before being sentenced to total annihilation.

Feeling frustrated? Yes, feeling frustrated.

Isn't that embarrassing? Absolutely embarrassing.

But I just can't find anything unreasonable about it. The blue team is too realistic. Isn't this just a real war example from the Middle East?

So I'm here today, not covering up, not protecting my own, and not making excuses.

The 77th Regiment lost, and that's it.

But if you lose, you should lose with understanding; if you fail, you should fail with clarity.

A glorious history is our root, not a burden; tradition is our soul, not a shackle.

No matter how glorious a military unit is, if it cannot keep up with the times, it will be eliminated and will suffer defeats!

Sneak attacks, sabotage, electronic suppression, and air strikes—all of these are things that can actually happen on the battlefield, so I'm glad today is just an exercise.

The exercise gave me the opportunity to recognize the gap without paying a bloody price.

As Comrade Jianguo said, I also hope that everyone can speak freely so that we can identify the gaps and catch up together.

clap clap clap!

General Wang Jianguo led the applause, saying, "We should all learn from Comrade Weimin. Cadres of our Party and our army should have such a broad mind and such a clear understanding."

Next, I hope everyone will actively participate in the discussion so we can all share our thoughts.

Chief Referee Yao Changtian spoke first, "In that case, I'll share my personal opinion for your reference."

Throughout this exercise, the Blue Team's tactics seemed very familiar to me.

I just analyzed it carefully, and it is indeed quite interesting. Just as Commander Liu said, it is a case we often study.

1991年1月17日–2月28日，海湾战争，霉国打伊拉克。

The first wave involved F-117 stealth aircraft infiltrating under cover of darkness and secretly bombing the Iraqi command center, radar, and communications hub.

The second wave of electronic warfare aircraft suppressed the entire Iraqi air defense system, rendering all Iranian radars, radios, and command lines inoperable. Then, US missiles destroyed the radar and missile sites, rendering the Iraqi air defense system completely useless.

Then came the third wave of strategic bombing and complete dismantling, with cruise missiles, bombers, and attack aircraft all coming out together to bomb airfields, artillery, armored divisions, logistics, and barracks.

Before the ground troops even entered the battlefield, the Iraqi forces had already been decimated.

After 38 days of airstrikes, the Iraqi forces were left without command and air defense. They had no heavy firepower, or even any decent firepower. The U.S. ground forces easily advanced in 100 hours and drove the Iraqi army out of Kuwait.

This is a clear example.

The Blue team first infiltrated ahead of time, disrupted communications, poisoned water sources, and then planted time bombs at all intersections of the Red team's embankment lines, howitzer positions, mortar positions, and field mess trucks.

The exercise began immediately with electronic suppression, which completely crippled the Red Force's communications, heavy firepower, and logistics. Subsequently, helicopters were dispatched to bomb all of the Red Force's battalion and regimental command posts.

Finally, wipe out all ground forces.

Because our exercise mission was for the Red team to occupy the Blue team's positions or for the Blue team to defend their own positions, the Blue team ultimately failed to advance gracefully into the Red team's positions.

If we compare them carefully, we can see that the tactics used by the Blue Team are very similar to the three waves in the Gulf War.

Like the Iraqi army at the time, the 77th Regiment became blind and deaf, lacking heavy firepower and unable to even put up a fight.

Or to put it bluntly, it's not just similar; it's a miniature version of the Gulf War, condensed from a national-level war into a regimental-level exercise.

The strategy is to first blind, deaf, and paralyze the enemy, then use air power to completely cripple them, and finally sweep them away and occupy the territory.

Therefore, I believe that in future wars, whoever blinds or deafens the other side first will seize the initiative and gain an absolute advantage.

clap clap clap!

Another round of applause rang out.

Another lieutenant colonel spoke up, "I agree with Director Yao's statement, but the problem is that we simply cannot support such a system right now. What do other troops have? What do we have now?"

"Forget about distant missiles, helicopters, and fighter jets; we're still using Type 81 rifles. The gap in weaponry is too huge; we simply can't launch such an offensive system."

"I don't think we can say that. There is a gap in our weaponry and equipment, that's a fact, and it's something we can't catch up with in a short time."

But precisely because of this, I believe it is even more necessary for us to study how to face modern warfare based on our current weaponry and equipment. Didn't our ancestors defeat those Japanese invaders with outdated equipment?