Exercises Doctrine Political Work

Be Skilled at Learning from "Nails": Improving Oneself by Overcoming Difficulties

善于向“钉子”学习，在战胜困难中提升自我

PLA Daily (解放军报) 27 June 2026

Summary

A political education article published under the byline Chen Junjie uses Mao-era historical examples—Liu Bocheng's study of Japanese bayonet doctrine and Peng Dehuai's nightly reading of MacArthur's operational texts—to argue that PLA commanders at all levels must study strong enemies and adversaries, extract lessons from training failures, and pursue combat-realistic confrontation exercises rather than avoiding exposure of weak points. The article documents a persistent institutional problem the PLA has named repeatedly in recent years: a command culture that stages exercises to demonstrate competence rather than to surface deficiencies, which Xi Jinping's 'combat-realistic training' directive was designed to correct. The invocation of the Guningtou defeat and the Hainan success as a paired lesson in failure-analysis fits a pattern of political education content that uses historical military embarrassments to legitimize rigorous after-action review—a practice the PLA's own assessments have identified as underdeveloped.

Translation

Be Skilled at Learning from "Nails"

■ Chen Junjie

"When you run into a nail, learn from the nail, and the problem is solved." This was the inscription Comrade Mao Zedong wrote for a student named Yu Jiang in 1938, when he was delivering a report at the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University. Commanders at all levels of the armed forces, in the course of preparing for war and fighting, should likewise be skilled at learning from "nails" (钉子)—improving themselves by overcoming difficulties, opening new horizons by breaking through resistance, and thereby winning victory in future wars.

The so-called "nail" refers to difficulties and setbacks, and to strong enemies and adversaries. Learning from "nails" means drawing lessons from cases of failure and ultimately finding methods to improve capabilities and resolve problems. "Nails" exist objectively; the attitude and method with which one confronts them is of critical importance. Evade or ignore them, and they will wound and sting you again and again; face them squarely and pull them out, and they become stepping stones on the road forward. Officers and soldiers will inevitably encounter all manner of difficulties and challenges in the course of training and war preparation. Only by not evading, not complaining, and not losing heart—by actively studying the strengths of adversaries and energetically making up for shortcomings and weak points—can one continuously resolve difficulties and build strength.

For a soldier, the greatest "nail" is the enemy. Being skilled at learning from strong enemies is an important treasured method (法宝) by which our army defeats its enemies. Only by studying the enemy's strengths and learning from the enemy's advantages can one, when facing the enemy, be a second faster and one move ahead. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, Liu Bocheng organized the translation of Japanese military operational documents such as the "Bayonet Fighting Regulations" (刺杀教令), requiring officers and soldiers to "diligently study the Japanese army's training methods and combat methods, so as to find the way to defeat the enemy." During the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, Peng Dehuai kept two books at his bedside—"MacArthur" and "MacArthur's Amphibious Landing Operations"—and "read them almost every night before sleep," truly mastering MacArthur's operational concepts and modes of thinking. Today, the form of warfare (战争形态) is evolving at an accelerating pace, and operational thinking, operational characteristics, and tactics and methods of fighting are continuously developing and changing; this makes it all the more necessary for us to keep our eyes fixed on strong enemies and adversaries and to explore the way to defeat them.

Learning from "nails" need not wait until one actually runs into a nail; problems should be resolved before "the guns fire." Chairman Xi has emphasized the need to "keep eyes fixed on strong enemies and adversaries, and vigorously pursue combat-realistic military training (实战化军事训练)." Exercise and training confrontations are simulations of war and are the military training method closest to actual combat in peacetime. The difficulties and setbacks encountered in exercise and training confrontations are "nails" that can be seen and touched; the more realistic the confrontation, the more thoroughly problems and shortcomings are exposed, the more solid the foundation for war preparation, and the greater the odds of victory on the future battlefield. Every thorny problem resolved during an exercise adds one more measure of confidence in winning on the battlefield. Commanders at all levels, when organizing exercise and training confrontations, should emphasize "genuine fighting and real resistance, probing the edges and feeling out the bottom" (真打实抗、探边摸底), and through confrontation and contest temper the skills needed to win future wars.

Failure is the most painful "nail," but the lessons contained within it are an indispensable foundation for victory. No two battles in all of history are alike; every victory is the product of many factors working in concert and cannot be replicated. Failure, however, has necessary and definite causes; eliminate one by one the factors that lead to failure, and one draws closer to victory. As Engels said: "Great classes, like great nations, never learn so fast from any source as from the consequences of their own mistakes." An army that thirsts for victory will necessarily be skilled at drawing the way to victory from defeat. After the setback at the Battle of Guningtou (金门战役), our army drew lessons from it—rash overconfidence, insufficient preparation for amphibious operations, and failure to establish a secure beachhead. Later, when liberating Hainan Island, our army faced even more difficult circumstances, yet was able to swiftly break through the adversary's fortified defensive line—this was the result of thoroughly studying the lessons of that defeat.

"Turning a blind eye" (视而不见) at the level of thought is the most concealed and greatest enemy of combat effectiveness. Every difficulty and setback is a test of combat effectiveness; those links that repeatedly suffer setbacks in confrontation are precisely the weak points most in need of attention. Commanders at all levels, in the course of organizing training, should discard the mindset of "fearing to run into nails," lead officers and soldiers to keep their eyes fixed on weak links for intensive and specialized training, and strive to achieve the goal of advancing one step further with every battle fought.

Original Chinese

善于向“钉子”学习 ■陈俊杰 “碰了钉子时，就向钉子学习，问题就解决了。”这是1938年，毛泽东同志在抗日军政大学作报告时，给学员于江的题词。部队各级指挥员在备战打仗过程中，也应善于向“钉子”学习，在战胜困难中提升自我，在突破阻力中开辟新境，从而在未来战争中赢得胜利。所谓“钉子”，指的是困难挫折、强敌对手。向“钉子”学习，就是要从失败的案例中总结经验教训，最终找到提升能力、解决问题的方法。“钉子”客观存在，用什么态度和方法对待至关重要。逃避或无视它，就会一次次被它刺伤刺痛；正视并拔掉它，它就是前进路上的垫脚石。官兵在练兵备战过程中，难免会遇到各种各样的困难挑战。只有不逃避、不抱怨、不气馁，主动学习对手长处、积极补齐短板弱项，才能不断解决困难、强筋壮骨。对军人来讲，最大的“钉子”是敌人。善于向强敌学习，是我军克敌制胜的重要法宝。只有研究敌人的长处、学习敌人的优点，遇敌时才能快敌一秒、胜敌一招。抗日战争期间，刘伯承组织翻译日军《刺杀教令》等作战文件，要求官兵“悉心研究日军的训法战法，从而找到克敌制胜之道”。抗美援朝时期，彭德怀床头常备《麦克阿瑟》《麦克阿瑟的两栖登陆作战》两本书，“几乎每晚睡前都会翻阅”，真正吃透麦克阿瑟的作战理念、思维方式。现今，战争形态加速演进，作战思想、作战特点、战法打法等不断发展变化，更加需要我们紧盯强敌对手，探索克敌制胜之道。向“钉子”学习不必等到真碰钉子，而应把问题解决在“枪响”之前。习主席强调，要“紧盯强敌对手，大抓实战化军事训练”。演训对抗是对战争的模拟，是和平时期最接近实战的军事训练方法。演训对抗中的困难挫折是看得见、摸得着的“钉子”，对抗越实，问题和短板暴露得越彻底，备战打仗的基石就越坚实，未来战场的胜算就越大。演习中多解决一个棘手问题，战场上就多一分打赢底气。部队各级指挥员在组织演训对抗时，应突出“真打实抗、探边摸底”，在对抗博弈中砥砺打赢未来战争的本领。失败是最惨痛的“钉子”，但其中的经验教训，却是胜利不可或缺的基石。战争千古无同局，每次胜利都是众多因素合力的产物，不可复制；而失败却有必然的、确切的原因，将导致失败的要素一一去除，就能离胜利更近一些。正如恩格斯所说：“伟大的阶级，正如伟大的民族一样，无论从哪方面学习都不如从自己所犯错误的后果中学习来得快。”一支渴求胜利的军队，必然善于从失败中汲取制胜之道。金门战役失利后，我军从中汲取急躁轻敌、渡海作战准备不足、未建立稳固滩头阵地等教训。后来解放海南岛时，我军面对的情况更加困难，却能迅速击破对手坚固防线，便是钻研失败教训的结果。思想深处的“视而不见”，才是战斗力最隐蔽之大敌。每次困难挫折都是对战斗力的检验，那些在对抗中屡屡受挫的环节，恰是最需要重视的薄弱点。各级指挥员在组织训练的过程中，应摒弃“怕碰钉子”的思想，带领官兵紧盯薄弱环节专攻精练，力争实现打一仗进一步。