“Made in China” is not always bad. The history and training of Chinese special forces
The beginning of the creation and development of special forces in China can be considered the middle of the 80s of the last century, when the Military Council of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the country, headed by Deng Xiaoping, decided that the national armed forces could not take part in an armed conflict with all arms of service. . Soon, the well-known events in the Persian Gulf began, which was also one of the reasons why the government was forced to rethink the military concept, as well as the role played by the Chinese armed forces in the world.
From the situation that existed at that time it was concluded that there might be a short-lived high-tech conflict on the outskirts of the state. Based on this, the first special forces unit was formed in 1988 in the Guanzhong Military District.
To date, all the special forces units that exist in China are distributed among seven military districts. Each regiment consists of three battalions, the total number of which is one thousand people. In addition, each level of military units has its own special forces. In the case there is a special battalion (there are 18 300-400 people in each), in the brigade there is a special company (about 120 people), in the regiment there is a special platoon (about 30-40 people).
Thus, there is the following distribution of special forces regiments in military districts: in the Shanyang military district - the “Dunbei tiger”, in Nanking - the “Flying dragon”, in Beijing - the “Magic sword of the East”, in the Lanzhou - the “Night tiger”, in the military district Guangzhou - "The sharp sword of southern China", in the Chengdu region - "Falcon" and in the military district of Jinan - "Hawk".
In addition to these special forces, the special forces include the Air Sharp Sword of the Blue Sky and the forces of the Marine Special Forces Impact Marine Special Forces. In addition, there are other units in the Chinese armed forces, which, despite the fact that they are not officially related to the special forces, are being trained under the program (albeit lightweight) by special forces. At the same time, this program is much more complicated than the training program for ordinary soldiers. Such units include the 63-I, 162-I and 149-I divisions of high readiness, as well as 1-I, 38-I, 39-I and 34-I rapid response army (by the way, are the most combat-ready and equipped armies currently in China).
In addition, there are special units of the armed police in the country, which are part of the armed forces. And there are special forces that are under the control of the Ministry of Public Security - these are special forces of the public security forces.
As for the training of special forces of China directly, it is carried out at a very high professional level. A clear proof of this can be one moment in stories. This happened when the 32 fighters of the Sokol Special Forces unit were sent to Afghanistan to carry out an operation to free the Chinese workers taken hostage. And, despite the fact that there is no official evidence of this operation, in one of the periodicals it was written about how the Chinese special forces managed to free the hostages without a single shot and, moreover, capture the terrorists. The actions of Chinese special forces were highly appreciated by the special services of the United States of America.
Such high marks have largely become a reality due to the fact that the Chinese system of training special forces soldiers has no analogues anywhere in the world. A special technique was developed by the PLA General Staff, and the features of each unit were taken into account. A feature of the technique is also the fact that each workout is designed in such a way as to gradually increase the psychological and physical stress to the maximum level. And, moreover, the Chinese military-political leadership itself is confident that the preparation of the country's special forces is one of the best in the world.
The whole special forces training program can be divided into two parts - professional and combat.
The combat component is the whole complex of physical exercises for the test of strength, agility and endurance, as well as hand-to-hand combat and self-defense without the use of weapons, survival classes in extreme field conditions, overcoming the water area in full gear, climbing training, the ability to use all types of small arms, digging shelters, tents, medical care, methods of ambushes, attacks.
In addition, landing and ski training is also carried out (it is carried out in all weather conditions, even at -40 degrees).
In addition, commandos are taught to navigate the terrain, using a compass, and also without it, to read maps.
But, perhaps. The most interesting and difficult stage of training is the training of survival skills and the staging of breathing and body movements in a bound state in water. Unfortunately, a detailed description of such a method can not be found anywhere, but it can be concluded that special training of the special forces of the naval forces.
It is worth noting that the process of training fighters is very hard. And, by and large, not everyone can stand it. Judge for yourself. The rise of the fighters takes place in the morning 4.30. After an hour and a half, everyone goes to run for long distances or else they climb a mountain. While running, each fighter must have at least a dozen bricks in his backpack, and the five-kilometer distance must be covered in 25 minutes and no more. This run is repeated in the evening.
When the run ends, another exercise begins, which has the name “Iron palm”. Its essence lies in striking the bag with beans at least 300 once, and then applying the same number of blows to the bag with iron filings. Only during the first stage of preparation, each fighter inflicts about 15 thousands of blows with the palm, as a result of which the skin becomes covered with calluses and becomes insensitive. If wounds appear, they are treated with special medical solutions. Similar exercises in the later stages of training are carried out on the elbows, fists, feet and knees.
Another exercise that the special forces are required to perform is breaking the wooden bars with their heads. And if at the beginning of training the bars are made of soft wood, then they are replaced with more solid ones. Thus, after completing the full course of the program, each fighter can break bottles and even bricks with his head.
In addition, the training program includes such exercises as climbing a brick wall five-storey high without using aids for half a minute, swimming 5 kilometers with full equipment for 1 an hour 20 minutes, jumping in a bag 10 kilometers from tied with legs and equipment, the weight of which is 4,5 kilogram, overcoming 3,5 kilometers in full equipment of the broken wet mountain road. In addition, special forces are required to perform such exercises as push-ups from a prone position (at least 100 times), lifting a crossbar (200 times), push-ups on uneven bars (200 times), lifting 35-kilogram grenades (60 times), throwing grenades on 50 meters (100 times).
The training program for Chinese special forces also includes classes on sabotage and subversive training, work with explosives, their installation and neutralization, as well as scuba diving and penetration of water into an object using improvised means - logs, barrels, inflatable boats.
Of great interest is also the process of learning the skills of surviving Chinese special forces soldiers. So, for example, the situation when a small group of fighters (of the order of 6-7 people) is very typical is for the special forces. Before going to a training session, they should take with them all the necessary equipment, a minimum of products (usually there is a list of what you can take with you). This group is moving forward on a large march, the purpose of which is to overcome the 7 kilometers in about a day in 200. In this case, their shape should be tightly buttoned, because the terrain is rich in poisonous snakes and insects. Water suitable for drinking, they must also find their own. And very often you have to eat snakes, mice and ants.
But that's not all. In addition to overcoming such a long distance in such difficult conditions, the team must perform at least two dozen different tasks, including storming, capturing the "language", identifying and bypassing enemy ambushes.
In short, such a training of Chinese special forces. From all it follows that popular rumor for good reason dubbed the process of training the fighters of special forces of China "descent to hell."
Materials used:
http://blackteam.su/node/437
http://topwar.ru/604-kitajskij-specnaz.html
http://tchest.org/special_forces/451-trenirovka-specnaza-kitaya.html
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