Daily Times

Featuring multiple types of combat forces including long-range artillery systems, ground-to-air missile systems, special operative forces, army aviation troops, electronic countermeasure forces and engineering and anti-chemical warfare troops in a joint operation group, the live-fire drills recently took place in the Nianqing Tanggula, or Nyenchen Tonglha, Mountains at an elevation of 4,700 meters, news website chinanews.com reported on Tuesday, citing the information from the PLA Tibet Military Command on Tuesday.

The drills simulated a strike operation on hostile hubs from multiple dimensions, and trained the high-elevation troops’ joint operation capabilities.

In the early stages of the drills, scout troops first used technical measures to gather intelligence, grasped hostile activities and opened paths for the main forces by scouting and clearing obstacles.

After target coordinates were set, artillery and snipers launched precision strikes on hostile frontline commanding outposts and foot soldiers, during which attack forces marched into enemy depths as drones were set to fly for reconnaissance and obstacle sabotage.

Dozens of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles took advantage of the open paths and seized hostile frontiers, while anti-aircraft fire stopped hostile attack helicopters and friendly helicopters sent troops to target locations.

In the final assault, all weapons deployed in a radius of several dozen kilometers formed a joint fire strike system and eliminated all opposing forces.

Zhang Jialin, a brigade commander who participated in the drills, said the troops overcame a challenging harsh environment in a coordinated approach from land and air, integrated different modules and systems, practiced the tactics of all terrain joint strikes and multidimensional assaults.

The drills laid a solid foundation for the troops to conduct all kinds of missions, Zhang said in the report.

These kinds of drills demonstrated the PLA’s capability to win a regional, high elevation conflict in its early stages by decisively eradicating the hostile headquarters and commanders, a PLA veteran who was once deployed in Tibet and asked not to be named told the Global Times on Tuesday.

The report came at a time when a clash broke out in the Galwan Valley region on the China-India border on Monday.

Indian media reported that an Indian Army colonel and two soldiers were killed in the clash and Chinese side also sustained casualties.