Cultivating Martial Courage and Daring (血性胆气): Continuously Building the Confidence to Fight and Win Through Hard Training

● Cultivating martial courage and daring (血性胆气) is an important component of improving soldiers' character cultivation (军人修养) and an important guarantee of the ability to fight and win battles.

"War is a matter of courage." Cultivating martial courage and daring (血性胆气) is an important component of improving soldiers' character cultivation (军人修养) and an important guarantee of the ability to fight and win battles. In China's outstanding traditional culture, the reckless bravery (匹夫之勇) of acting on momentary impulse has never been celebrated; instead, full affirmation is given to the value commitment expressed in "to see what is right and not do it is want of courage" (见义不为，无勇也) and the sense of mission embodied in "face hardship without seeking easy escape" (临难毋苟免). This fearless courage, flowing in the bloodstream of the nation, was infused into the veins of revolutionary soldiers through the fiery tempering of the 25,000-li Long March, and was forged into the indelible martial courage and daring (血性胆气) of the People's Army.

In the autumn of 1934, the 6th Red Army Corps, serving as the Long March vanguard, advanced toward the Hunan-Guizhou border. While passing through the Dapojie Gorge at Xiaoshui Village in Tongdao County, it was suddenly ambushed by enemy forces. The enemy occupied high ground on both sides and fired down from above, placing the Red Army in mortal danger of total annihilation. At this critical moment, a vanguard platoon of more than 30 men from the 18th Red Division was ordered to mount a blocking action, launching a frontal assault on the enemy's flank high ground to draw fire and tear open a gap for the main force to break out. The soldiers tasked with the blocking action carried heavy machine guns and charged courageously up the hillside through a hail of bullets. After seizing the high ground, they attacked the enemy's flank with fierce fire, leading the enemy to mistakenly believe that Red Army main force reinforcements had arrived, whereupon the enemy concentrated its forces to storm the hilltop. Over more than three hours, five enemy charges were pinned down hard at the foot of the slope. By the end of the battle, only eight wounded soldiers remained on the position, all ammunition was exhausted, and encircling enemy troops stormed the summit and drove them to the edge of a cliff. The eight soldiers smashed their weapons, straightened their uniforms, shouted "Long live the Red Army!" and leapt from the cliff. This fight to the death—a charge toward death in order to live—bought survival for the entire unit. Though small in scale, this battle gave full expression to the soldier's martial spirit (军人血性) of "where duty calls, one does not shrink even from death" (义之所在，虽死不辞).

Also involving a covering mission, the battle at Songjia Ridge on the Anhui-Zhejiang-Jiangxi border displayed another dimension of martial courage and daring (血性胆气). In September 1934, the Red Army's Northern Expedition Anti-Japanese Vanguard passed through the area with Nationalist forces in close pursuit. Had the main force been pinned down, the march tempo would have been completely disrupted, with unthinkable consequences. A single squad from the reconnaissance company tasked with serving as rear guard voluntarily took on the mission of tying down the pursuing enemy. Exploiting the terrain of interlocking mountain gullies, they simultaneously raised red flags and opened fire from two positions—Songjia Ridge and Diaojin Mountain. In the darkness, the two columns of enemy troops each mistook the other for the Red Army main force and engaged in fierce exchanges of fire across the deep ravine. The reconnaissance squad, using the sound of gunfire as cover, silently withdrew from their positions and followed the ancient trail to rejoin the main force. The two enemy columns fought each other until midnight before realizing they had been deceived, by which time the Red Army main force had long since moved on. In this engagement, the Red Army annihilated more than a hundred enemy troops at minimal cost, using a single squad to pin down several regiments of pursuers. This demonstrates that possessing both courage and cunning (有勇有谋) is the mature form of a soldier's martial courage and daring (血性胆气), and the supreme realm to be pursued in achieving victory in future warfare.

A soldier's martial courage and daring (血性胆气) must ultimately prove itself in real combat. In November 1934, the lead elements of the 25th Red Army arrived near Dushu Town in Fangcheng County and were suddenly ambushed by a large Nationalist force. At that moment a cold front struck suddenly, bringing rain and snow; temperatures plunged below freezing. Red Army soldiers, clad only in thin clothing after a long march, had frozen hands and feet, and their rifle bolts were iced over and could not fire normally. The enemy pressed forward step by step with superior firepower, and the unit was temporarily thrown onto the defensive. At this critical moment, Red Army commanders took the lead in charging to the front line. Soldiers fixed bayonets, swung rifle butts, and hurled themselves into the enemy ranks through dense fire, engaging in close-quarters combat. Frozen hands could not grip knife handles, so they used their arms to clamp and their bodies to press; when comrades in front fell, those behind immediately filled the gap. This bloody, hand-to-hand struggle lasted several hours. Driven by a spirit of fearlessness in the face of death and refusal to accept defeat, the Red Army soldiers tore open the enemy's encirclement by sheer force, opening the way to continue northward. This battle was won entirely through the soldiers' daring (胆气) that feared no sacrifice—this is the most plain and most authentic expression of a soldier's martial courage and daring (血性胆气).

Looking back at these battles of the Long March, the tactics differed and the scenes varied, yet the spiritual core was consistent: placing the revolutionary overall situation first and the mission foremost; daring to step forward at moments of life and death, daring to charge forward in the face of a powerful enemy, and being able to hold on in adversity; seeking nothing but victory, sparing nothing for the sake of victory. This is the precious spiritual wealth the Long March has left us, and the combat gene passed down from generation to generation in the People's Army.

Martial courage and daring (血性胆气) is not innate; it must be cultivated through long-term character development and tempering. Today, as we look back on the history of the Long March and revisit the stories of martyrs and heroes, we must ultimately translate this into the cultivation and practice of martial courage and daring (血性胆气). As revolutionary soldiers of the new era, we must consolidate the foundation of faith (信仰之基), study the Party's innovative theories deeply and carefully, draw spiritual nourishment from Party history and military history, clearly understand the fundamental question of "for whom we carry the rifle and for whom we fight," and ensure that martial spirit (血性) has a soul and that daring (胆气) has direction. We must temper our will and train our capabilities through combat-realistic training (实战化训练), bringing forth the fighting spirit of "fearing neither hardship nor death" (一不怕苦、二不怕死), treating every exercise and training event and every mission as a battlefield test, forging a hard work style through hard training (摸爬滚打), and continuously building the confidence to fight and win (敢打必胜的底气). We must steel our sense of responsibility through major missions, courageously taking on the most arduous tasks and meeting the most severe challenges, daring to advance in the face of difficulty and overcome obstacles, allowing our spirit to stand tall and our daring (胆气) to burst forth through bearing heavy burdens and working hard and earnestly, and continuously achieving new victories and creating new glory on the new Long March.