Party Branch of Unit 75640's Subunit 72: A Steadfast Fortress Standing on the Banks of the Háo River

National Advanced Grassroots Party Organization, Party Branch of Unit 75640's Subunit 72——

A Steadfast Fortress Standing on the Banks of the Háo River

■ Li Zhongwei, Yan Jiaxin, PLA Daily Reporter Chen Xiaojie

The subunit's Party branch organizes an oath-taking ceremony. Photo by Yan Jiaxin.

At 5 o'clock in the morning, a thin mist still hangs over the Háo River, and the streets and lanes of Macau's urban districts are quiet and still. As the neon lights fade and the morning light spills across the Sai Van Bridge, two sentries stand ramrod straight and motionless at a certain guard post, their camouflaged silhouettes merging into the city's dawn.

This is an ordinary morning on the banks of the Háo River, and it is also the day-after-day vigil kept by the officers and soldiers of Unit 75640's Subunit 72. Since taking up garrison in Macau, faced with the special garrison environment where "the parade ground faces the casino, the assembly hall faces the church, and the guard tower faces the restaurant," the subunit's Party branch has consistently upheld the principles of "build the military soul before building the garrison, raise the Party flag before winning battles, and guard against moral decay before guarding the defense." Confronting the test of diverse ideological currents, it has continuously strengthened the officers' and soldiers' faith and conviction in wholeheartedly following the Party, forging an absolutely loyal and absolutely pure "Háo River Iron Fist."

Ideological redness (思想红) is the most authentic political character of the subunit's Party branch. As a unit personally inspected by Chairman Xi, the subunit's Party branch persists in using Xi Jinping Thought on Strengthening the Military to forge the soul and cultivate personnel, and consistently transforms Chairman Xi's concern into the driving force for unrelenting struggle.

Zhang Long, a Party branch committee member of the subunit and a First-Class Staff Sergeant, has stood guard on the banks of the Háo River for more than ten years. On one occasion, Private Wu Wensheng remarked during a break in training: "Inside the barracks it's the same guard duties and training day after day, while outside is a glittering, bustling metropolis — the contrast across such a short distance is just too great." Upon hearing this, Zhang Long told the new comrade: "The loyalty of soldiers garrisoned in Macau is expressed precisely within this small barracks compound. To fulfill the sacred mission entrusted to us by the Party Central Committee and the Central Military Commission, we must hold fast to our original convictions, endure loneliness, and withstand every test!"

In the subunit, whenever new recruits join the unit or new officers take up their posts, the very first lesson is a visit to the honors room. Inside the honors room, the red memories of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, letters of gratitude from flood relief and rescue operations, and certificates of merit from combat readiness training — every physical object represents a period of hard-won glory, and every story is a spiritual baptism.

Macau's territory is small and its buildings densely packed, with no open field training grounds or exercise areas. "Space may be limited, but the enhancement of combat effectiveness cannot be limited; the area may be small, but training standards must absolutely not be lowered!" A subunit officer explained that, in response to the special garrison environment, Wu Shiwei, deputy secretary of the subunit's Party branch, led Party member backbone personnel to work overtime at their combat posts, carving out a distinctive path of military training within the confined barracks compound: on a site just over 100 meters in depth, they set up a continuous series of training events — carrying tires, shouldering ammunition crates, and pushing combat vehicles — to train physical fitness, coordination, and willpower; they first use the "simulated training center" to conduct marksmanship, driving, and communications specialty training, then proceed to field garrison training sites to verify results, forming a training model of "simulation lays the foundation, live equipment builds hard skills."

Respond to command at the sound of the order, dare to charge forward at moments of danger. In the more than 20 years since taking up garrison in Macau, the officers and soldiers of the subunit have consistently carried forward the fine tradition of "dare to charge, fight to the end, strive to be first, and serve as a model." In August 2017, Macau was struck by the strongest typhoon in more than 50 years. The subunit received emergency orders and assisted in rescue operations. During the mission, Party members and officers charged to the front, serving simultaneously as commanders and as fighters. Faced with mountains of foul-smelling debris, Song Haiqiang, then deputy secretary of the subunit's Party branch and a Party member, was the first to climb up and begin clearing it, leading the officers and soldiers to complete the mission to a high standard.

The "lead goose" (头雁) drives the "flock of geese" (群雁) to fly together. The subunit's Party members take the lead and set the example, and every officer and soldier strives to achieve excellence and render new merit. Since taking up garrison in Macau, the subunit has successively been rated "Advanced Unit in Overall Grassroots Development" six times and "Grade-One Unit in Military Training" five times, has been awarded collective first-class merit citations, second-class merit citations, and third-class merit citations once each, and has been commended as a "Model Unit in Practicing the Goal of Strengthening the Military Across the Entire Military."

On the new journey, the subunit's Party branch leads all officers and soldiers, maintaining their vigil on the banks of the Háo River with a spirit of tireless striving, working hard to write a new chapter for the Iron Fist of Macau's defense in the new era.