"Sword-Forgers" Deep in the Grasslands — An Investigative Report from an Army Unit
"Sword-Forgers" Deep in the Grasslands — An Investigative Report from an Army Unit
■ Wei Qingwei, Gong Ming, PLA Daily Reporter Qian Xiaohu
A fierce wind swept across the deep grasslands, and the gravel it kicked up beat urgently against the car windows. Leng Xuebing, a senior engineer with a certain Army unit, straightened the test-participant armband on his sleeve, gripped his walkie-talkie, and fixed his gaze on the test range — his expression like that of a warrior about to leap from a trench.
"3, 2, 1 — fire!" At the command, the earth gave a violent shudder, and a certain type of rocket projectile pierced the sky like a sharp sword. Leng Xuebing held his breath, eyes locked on the ballistic curve dancing across the screen… Only when the final set of data appeared did the furrow in his brow finally ease.
"Hard work is the only path to real results. For us 'range people' (靶场人), testing and evaluating weapons and equipment to be practical, effective, and durable — that is the most brilliant battle honor!" In a discussion the unit subsequently organized on the theme of "what constitutes genuine achievement," Leng Xuebing's remarks struck a chord with everyone present.
Facing the great test of the era — achieving the centenary goal of the People's Army on schedule — generation after generation of "range people" have taken root at their posts, carrying forward the spirit of "hard struggle, scientific rigor, solidarity and cooperation, and selfless dedication" (艰苦奋斗、科学求实、团结协作、默默奉献), and fixing their sights on three functional objectives: the main battleground for equipment testing and evaluation, the incubator for combat capability generation in the forces, and the whetstone for building a new-type Army. They strictly guard the nation's standards and devote themselves wholeheartedly to forging the sword for war.
[Caption: A certain type of tank undergoes a performance evaluation test at the unit. Pictured: the moment of firing. Photo by Li Haifeng.]
The Battlefield in Their Chests, Mud on Their Boots
"Conducting tests cannot be done on paper — you must aim at real combat requirements, sink your heart into it, and get your legs moving!" Wang Chang'an, a senior engineer with the unit, keeps this saying constantly on his lips. In his view, genuine achievement is not the fine words written in summary reports, but rather providing the forces with weapons and equipment capable of winning battles.
The battlefield in their chests, mud on their boots. On one occasion, in order to compile a certain type of ammunition effectiveness manual, Wang Chang'an traveled thousands of li, going from the test range to the exercise ground. Some officers and soldiers had reported that a certain type of ammunition was limited in effectiveness under complex terrain conditions. Upon learning of this, Wang Chang'an immediately organized verification and confirmed it was indeed the case. With support from higher authorities, he led his team in a concentrated effort and developed a fire command assistance system that effectively resolved the problems with that type of ammunition.
War never follows a script, and testing must dare to "get tough and push hard" (较真碰硬). During the evaluation test of a certain new-type weapon, Wang Chang'an and his comrades keenly identified a fatal vulnerability: under strong electromagnetic interference, the weapon's firing accuracy dropped markedly. After the situation was reported back to the developing unit, the other party maintained that it "met the basic requirements of the outline," and given the enormous difficulty of making improvements, they dragged their feet and took no action.
"If we encounter a strong magnetic environment on the battlefield, are we supposed to just sit and wait for death?" Wang Chang'an and his comrades knew full well that allowing equipment with defects to go to the battlefield would inevitably exact a price in blood. They worked through the night researching and demonstrating the problem, and put forward a certain dynamic self-alignment method. This determined spirit of seriousness influenced and drove the developing unit. Through joint efforts, the firing accuracy of that weapon type under strong magnetic interference was substantially improved.
In everyday life, Wang Chang'an is an easygoing person, but the moment he steps onto the test range, he instantly becomes a "stern-faced judge." During a test of a certain precision-guided rocket projectile, he found that the target differed from real combat requirements and immediately called a halt: "Equipment testing must answer to the battlefield! If we are always content to just clear the 'passing line,' what is the point of testing?" In the end, the relevant unit adjusted its plan.
"Testing cannot be satisfied with mere 'qualification' — it must also connect with the training needs of the forces." Beyond equipment testing, he led his team in sorting through and analyzing large volumes of data, summarizing a new method for rapid fire planning that provided strong support for combat units in shortening their emergency response times. At the same time, they collected feedback on equipment use, continuously optimized algorithm models, and further cleared the pathway of the "testing — training — combat" (试验—训练—作战) combat capability generation chain. This style of seeking no empty fame and doing no empty work is a vivid footnote to their hard and earnest toil and the results they have created that can withstand the test of real combat.
"The fierce wind reveals the sturdy grass. The grass here has backbone — after wind and rain, it grows thicker and more upright." These words were written on the flyleaf of a notebook by a veteran of the range. That stretch of grassland is where their dreams began, and it has become the spiritual homeland that the "Wang Chang'ans" guard with their sense of mission.
Willingly Staying Behind the Scenes Year-Round, Forging Sharp Weapons Through Testing
"I want to be a frontline fighter holding a steel rifle and galloping across the battlefield!" More than ten years ago, young Wu Zongliang watched the National Day parade on television and felt a fire ignite in his chest. Two years later, he put on a military uniform as he had wished.
He and his new comrades rode a military train deep into the grasslands. The vast and sparsely populated landscape made their hearts grow colder with every passing kilometer. After being assigned to his squad, Wu Zongliang sat in a corner in a daze, and squad leader Hu Aijun saw through what was on his mind. "Squad leader, what's the point of us being so obscure and unknown? Who even knows we exist?" Hu Aijun listened, patted him on the shoulder, and said earnestly: "Endure the cold bench for ten years, and the sword will be sharpened in a single morning (板凳甘坐十年冷，砺剑方能一朝成). The rifles that pass through our testing and evaluation become sharp weapons for defending the homeland — isn't that meaningful enough?" The words were a wake-up call. A light appeared in Wu Zongliang's eyes, and he understood the mission of the "range people": to forge one fine "rifle" after another for the motherland!
The challenges arrived on schedule. During one dust test, a sandstorm suddenly erupted inside the environmental simulation chamber, reducing visibility to less than one meter. Wu Zongliang, wearing a gas mask, held his breath and pulled the trigger. The gunfire left his ears ringing, and he was required to fire continuously for several hours under such conditions. This was just one ordinary hurdle in small-arms testing; there were also torrential rain, salt fog, high temperatures approaching 50 degrees Celsius, and severe cold reaching minus 45 degrees Celsius… Only by withstanding all of these trials could a weapon be considered provisionally qualified. Senior engineer Huang Xueying said: "This is both a test of the equipment and, even more so, a test of the shooter. You must achieve 'unity of person and weapon' (人枪合一) before you can serve as a qualified 'examiner.'"
Ballistic measurement is a process of being "meticulous to the last detail" (锱铢必较) with data measured in meters, seconds, and pascals. Years ago, during a measurement mission for a certain type of target drone, Leng Xuebing discovered that the ballistic velocity curve, which should have been smooth, showed extremely faint fluctuations. At the time, some said these minor variations did not affect the test results and could be disregarded.
"Victory or defeat may hinge on precisely these fractions of a second and millimeter." With few reference materials available, Leng Xuebing and his comrades set out on a path of exploration into the unknown. At that moment, a cutting-edge research topic in the field of radar studies entered their field of view.
"This topic has had many experts scratching their heads — can they really crack it?" In the face of doubt, Leng Xuebing and his comrades never wavered. The test conditions were rudimentary, so they built their own facilities independently; there were no training instruments, so they developed simulation systems… Through unrelenting effort, they ultimately overcame the difficulty and applied the results to testing and evaluation missions for long-range suppression, air defense and anti-missile, and armored assault-type weapons.
"I don't need you to recognize me, I don't yearn for you to know me, I have poured my youth in, poured it into the rivers and mountains of the motherland…" The song "The Motherland Will Not Forget" (《祖国不会忘记》) is the one most beloved by the officers and soldiers of this unit. When the weapons and equipment they have tested and evaluated are delivered into the hands of the forces, those years of willingly staying behind the scenes and quietly working the fields bloom into the most brilliant flowers of "visible achievement" (显绩).
Credit Need Not Go to Me — Running the Relay for a Strong Military Well
"In 1953, the Party Central Committee, the Central Military Commission, and Chairman Mao, with profound strategic vision, made the decision to build our country's first military ordnance test range. Warriors who had just returned from the battlefields of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, their battle dust not yet washed away, launched a great undertaking on a grassland ravaged by wind and sand…"
In the military history museum, that history of burning passion produces a different feeling with every listening. "Our predecessors used wind vanes, stopwatches, and calipers, relying on sheer force of will to reduce error to the minimum. Given the conditions we have now, what reason do we have to be slack or to complain?" The revolutionary spirit of the range's pioneers in battling heaven and earth has inspired Yang Caiyong to grow from a new recruit into a tank squad leader.
On one occasion, he was responsible for the driving component of a firing finalization test for a certain new-type tank. Just as the tank was traveling at 60 kilometers per hour over a rutted road surface, the left-side track suddenly broke. "Oh no!" New recruit Wang Hongjian's heart leapt straight to his throat. Inside the driver's compartment, Yang Caiyong gripped the steering wheel, held his breath, and used the "intermittent tap-braking method" (间歇性点刹法) to bring the tank to a smooth stop…
"Only by achieving zero errors in operation can the hidden problems of equipment under evaluation be precisely exposed, and only then can the evaluation results be reliable and valid." This is the creed that Yang Caiyong and his comrades have always upheld. Beyond that, whenever they had free time, they would climb into tanks and repeatedly study the internal structure; during holidays they would often spend long hours in the workshop, researching possible dangerous situations and how to respond to them. Later, when Yang Caiyong completed his service and was demobilized, he left behind a notebook filled with data and experience for Wang Hongjian. Today, Wang Hongjian has also grown into a squad leader, and he regards that notebook as a "family heirloom."
In the unit's plaza, the slogan "hard struggle, scientific rigor, solidarity and cooperation, and selfless dedication" (艰苦奋斗、科学求实、团结协作、默默奉献) is prominently displayed — these sixteen characters are also the personal motto of operator Wang Ayue. During a finalization test of a certain new-type ammunition, Wang Ayue and his comrades were required to fire continuously inside a sealed tank, collecting air data from within the cabin to provide critical support for improving ammunition quality.
"Preparations complete — ready to fire!" As the test proceeded, the cramped cabin rapidly filled with thick smoke, and the high temperatures generated by equipment operation and the violent concussive roar of rounds leaving the barrel challenged Wang Ayue's physical limits again and again. When the test ended, the other end of the walkie-talkie waited and waited for Wang Ayue's reply, but none came. When his comrades opened the hatch, they found Wang Ayue collapsed at his post, unable to speak. Afterward, when comrades praised him, Wang Ayue said simply: "The older generation of 'range people' dedicated their entire lives to this place. Now the baton has been passed to our hands — we have no reason not to run our leg well."
Strengthening and revitalizing the military is a relay race: "credit need not go to me, but credit will certainly include me" (功成不必在我，功成必定有我). Standing on the test range of this unit and looking out across it, on the journey of sharpening the sword for war, one young and vigorous figure after another presses boldly forward.