China's first Blue Army gives PLA some bitter lessons

China's first Blue Army of the PLA (People's Liberation Army), set up in 2012, is the former armored division of the 65th Army under the Beijing Military Region. With the aim to toughening up the PLA troops by making soldiers practice as if they were fighting a real war, the Blue Army plays the enemy and conducts confrontation drills with the PLA's "red army".

It is called "prairie wolf" due to its advanced tactics and fierce combat.During the "Stride 2014 Zhurihe D" confrontation exercise, the PLA's "red army", from seven military regions, learned some bitter lessons from their rivals. The "Blue Army" or an "opposing force" won six out of the seven battles, defeating six out of seven military regions with a winning rate exceeding 85 percentage. The "death" rate of the "red army" even reached 70 percent.

Compared to traditional armed forces, the Blue Army boasts information and a network. During the drills, they used strong electromagnetic interference and successfully cut off communication and command system of the "red army".Besides, they carried out flexible tactics such as a surprise attack to hit the target instead of traditional large-scale group battle.Wen Yongjun, the commander of the "red army", said frankly that this kind of Blue Army is a good opportunity for all the troops. Without tough rivals, the morale of troops cannot be inspired and the capability cannot be tempered.
At the undergoing of "Stride 2015 Zhurihe E" drills, the Blue Army still maintains a high winning percentage after the four drills.

But to build a more professional "Blue Army", it still has a long way to go.