Doctrine Political Work

Ideological Front | Temper the Will to 'Be First to Scale the Walls'

思想战线丨砥砺“先登”意志

PLA Daily (解放军报) 15 May 2026

Summary

A political education article published in a PLA outlet calls on officers and soldiers to cultivate the 'first to scale the walls' (先登) fighting spirit, framing combat-realistic training, reform adaptation, and high-risk missions as modern equivalents of storming fortifications—and explicitly criticizing a subset of personnel for avoiding hardship, hesitating during reform, and shrinking from dangerous assignments. The piece is a standard ideological exhortation and contains no operationally novel information, but it is useful as evidence of a persistent PLA leadership concern that combat motivation and willingness to accept risk among rank-and-file personnel remain below the standard the force requires for high-intensity warfare.

Translation

Temper the Will to 'Be First to Scale the Walls'

■ Yang Dongjie

He who is first to scale the walls (先登) is the soul of the soldier. 'Being first to scale the walls' means that when two armies face each other in battle and cities are being stormed and strongholds seized, one does not fear the rain of arrows and flying stones from the battlements, does not shrink from the enemy's forest of blades and spears, but without hesitation leads the charge up the scaling ladders and onto the city walls, breaking through the enemy's defensive line. In the ancient system of military merit, 'being first to scale the walls' ranked first among the four great military achievements, its worth far exceeding the merits of slaying an enemy general, capturing a battle flag, or breaking through enemy formations. This military achievement—facing the test of life and death with one's own flesh and blood, breaching critical passes and dangerous strongholds with unstoppable momentum—embodies the most resolute commitment of the soldier.

Surveying a thousand years of battlefield victories and defeats, the achievement of 'being first to scale the walls' was never earned through accumulated seniority, but was fought for by soldiers through the tenacious will to dare to fight and to charge to the very end. Yue Jin, the renowned general of Cao Wei, was short in stature yet bold and heroic; it was through the spirit of bloody combat that comes with 'being first to scale the walls' and through hard-won battlefield results that he earned his place among the 'Five Elite Generals.' From ancient times to the present, countless fierce battlefield commanders have fulfilled the aspiration of 'being first to scale the walls' with their blood, and through victory have confirmed one truth: the two characters 先登 have never been merely an honorific mark of first merit on the battlefield—they are also a spiritual symbol of the truth that when adversaries meet on a narrow path, the brave prevail, and that when things reach their most difficult, one must be bold; they are an inheritance of the will to press forward with one surge of energy without fear, to advance without retreat.

The signs of victory or defeat first appear in the spirit. War is a contest of material forces, but even more a contest of spirit. Those who are 'first to scale the walls' are never born fearless; rather, they understand deeply that on the battlefield, only by daring to lead the charge, daring to serve as the vanguard, and daring to assault dangerous passes can victory be won. Our army has passed through countless battles of hardship and danger along its journey, staging one after another magnificent and heroic drama of war and winning victory after victory. One important reason is that the broad mass of officers and soldiers have carried forward the fighting spirit of fearing neither hardship nor death, have continuously tempered the will to 'be first to scale the walls,' and the harder and more brutal the battle, the more they dare to press forward; the greater the hardship and danger, the less they retreat. This will to 'be first to scale the walls' is the heroic fearlessness of 'knowing the journey ahead holds hardship, yet pressing forward all the more because of that hardship'; it is the bold resolve of 'a hundred battles in the yellow sands wear through golden armor—we will not return until Loulan is broken'; it is the steadfast persistence of 'ground down by a thousand blows yet still unyielding, let the winds come from east, west, south, or north.'

As time flows on and the bugle calls long, the will to 'be first to scale the walls' never grows obsolete. Today, though there is no frontal slaughter of storming cities and seizing territory as in ancient times, no life-and-death struggle of scaling walls on siege ladders, deepening combat-realistic exercises and training requires someone to serve as vanguard; tackling difficult and dangerous training subjects requires someone to lead the charge; emergency response, crisis management, and disaster relief require someone to rush to the front. Every mission is a 'battle to storm the city' of the new era. The fighting spirit of refusing to accept defeat and fearing no death must not be allowed to fade for even a moment; the 'first to scale the walls' consciousness of charging to the front and giving everything must not be allowed to slacken for even a moment.

Yet compared to the blood-and-bone fighting spirit of 'being first to scale the walls' shown by their predecessors, a small number of officers and soldiers today lack the sharp edge of the charge and the will to tackle hard objectives: some, when faced with high-intensity training subjects, fear hardship and fatigue, and shy away from difficulty and danger; some, when faced with new questions arising from reform, transformation, and development, stand by and wait, hesitating and wavering; some, when faced with urgent, difficult, dangerous, and weighty missions, look ahead and behind, timid and overcautious. The cause of building a strong military has never produced achievements that come easily; the glory of victory in battle has never come to those who sit and wait. Without the will to 'be first to scale the walls' that advances without hesitation, one cannot shoulder the weighty responsibility of building a strong military by tackling hard problems; without the iron-blooded commitment to charge to the front, one cannot take the 'Loushan Pass' and 'Lazikou' of the new era.

The journey of building and strengthening the military is long, and the mission of winning battles rests on our shoulders. The will to 'be first to scale the walls' has never been the reckless courage of a momentary impulse, but rather the solid capability forged through a hundred temperings, and the tenacious conduct cultivated through perseverance. Facing changes in the situation and mission, the demands of training for war, and the requirements of transformation and development, the broad mass of officers and soldiers have an especially urgent need to further forge the will to 'be first to scale the walls': to cultivate the sharp edge of moving at the sound of orders and advancing toward difficulty; to maintain the conduct of unyielding tenacity and indomitable perseverance; to dare to draw the sword when facing the enemy, dare to tackle the hard objective when facing difficulty, dare to take the lead when facing danger—truly achieving the ability to charge forward at the critical moment, to give everything at the moment of peril, and to win when facing a hard battle.

Original Chinese

砥砺“先登”意志 ■杨东杰先登者，士之魂也。所谓“先登”，就是两军对垒、攻城拔寨之时，不惧城头箭雨飞石、不畏敌军刀戈林立，义无反顾率先攀梯登城、冲破敌人防线。在古代军功体系里，“先登”位列四大军功之首，含金量远超斩将、夺旗、陷阵之功。这份军功，以血肉之躯直面生死考验，以冲天之势突破要隘险关，彰显着军人最决绝的担当。纵观千年沙场征战兴衰，“先登”之功从来不是靠资历熬出来的，而是军人凭着敢打必胜、冲锋到底的顽强意志拼出来的。曹魏名将乐进，身材短小却果敢英烈，凭着“先登”的血战精神和硬核战绩位列“五子良将”。从古至今，无数沙场猛将以热血践行“先登”之志，用胜战印证一个道理：“先登”二字，从来不仅是战场首功的荣誉标识，更是狭路相逢勇者胜、事到万难须放胆的精神象征，是一鼓作气不畏惧、一往无前不退缩的意志传承。胜负之征，精神先见。战争既是物质的对抗，更是精神的较量。“先登”者从来不是天生无畏，而是深知沙场征战唯有敢打头阵、敢当先锋、敢攻险关，才能赢得胜利。我军一路走来历经无数艰险之战，上演了一幕幕威武雄壮的战争活剧，赢得一个个胜利，一个重要原因就是广大官兵发扬一不怕苦、二不怕死的战斗精神，不断砥砺“先登”意志，越是硬仗恶仗越敢向前，越是艰难险阻越不退缩。这种“先登”意志，是“明知征途有艰险，越是艰险越向前”的英勇无畏，是“黄沙百战穿金甲，不破楼兰终不还”的果敢决绝，是“千磨万击还坚劲，任尔东西南北风”的坚定执着。岁月流转，号角长鸣，“先登”意志永不过时。如今，虽没有古代攻城略地的正面厮杀，没有云梯攀城的生死对决，但深化实战化演训需要当先锋，险难课目攻坚需要打头阵，应急处突抢险救灾需要冲在前，每一项任务都是新时代的“攻城之战”，不服输、不怕死的战斗精神一刻也不能淡化，冲在前、豁出去的“先登”意识一刻也不能松懈。然而，相比先辈的“先登”血性，当下少数官兵身上少了冲锋锐气、缺了攻坚意志：有的面对高强度训练课目，怕苦怕累、畏难避险；有的面对改革转型发展新课题，观望等待、犹豫徘徊；有的面对急难险重任务，瞻前顾后、畏首畏尾。强军事业从来没有轻松得来的成绩，胜战之功从来没有坐等得来的荣光，没有一往无前的“先登”意志，就扛不起攻坚克难的强军重任；没有冲锋在前的铁血担当，就攻不下新时代的“娄山关”“腊子口”。强军兴军征程漫漫，攻坚胜战使命在肩。“先登”意志从来不是一时冲动的匹夫之勇，而是千锤百炼铸就的过硬本领，是持之以恒涵养的顽强作风。面对形势任务之变、练兵备战之需、转型建设之要，广大官兵尤需进一步淬炼“先登”意志，涵养闻令而动、向难而行的锐气，保持坚韧不拔、不屈不挠的作风，逢敌敢亮剑、遇难敢攻坚、逢险敢当先，真正做到关键时刻冲得上、危难关头豁得出、硬仗面前打得赢。