1998, China special forces were invited to participate in this competition for the first time, becoming the only country outside Europe. This year, 10 scouts selected by Lanzhou Military Region (including two reserve players) entered the stadium for the third time on behalf of China Special Forces. Twenty-eight teams from Estonia, Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland and Finland 1 1 countries. For the first time, the United States also sent an observer delegation led by Brigadier General Sampet of the Training Bureau of the Ministry of National Defense to watch the game. From August 2 nd to August 5 th, after four days and three nights of intense competition, two teams of our army, composed of eight contestants, struggled hard in unfamiliar terrain, language barriers and complicated competitions, and finally won seven first prizes in 14 technical subjects, won the honor of "the most outstanding performance team" and won back the "winner" trophy. To this end, Al Moss, commander-in-chief of the Estonian Defence Force, specially presented a commemorative card representing the symbol of the Estonian Defence Force to our special forces.
78 hours of competition, no more than 3 hours of rest. Our scouts crossed the jungle swamp, challenged the physiological limit, and made a long-distance attack on 150 km, completing the "hardest road in life".
The game is very practical and the rules are extremely cruel. The team members have to trek in the primitive forest with extremely harsh environment 150 km, which lasts for four days, three nights and 78 hours. On the way, we will examine climbing, crossing the cable bridge, boating, laying mines, crossing the minefield, obtaining reconnaissance information, battlefield rescue, throwing knives, identifying weapons and equipment, shooting by car, collective shooting with automatic rifles during the day, long-range shooting at night, obstacle crossing in 2.5km forest swamp and other technical subjects 14. There are 9 control stations throughout the journey. Only when the team members arrive at each control station within 5 minutes before and after the specified time (points will be deducted for early arrival or late arrival 1 minute, and 42 points will be deducted for more than 20 minutes), the station will be temporarily allowed to compete and the next station position will be determined. The course of action is chosen by the player himself, but there are a lot of imaginary enemies on the main road and the only road to go. Players carrying 35-40 kilograms of equipment, daily necessities and food can only reach the control station within the specified time if they insist on running, and the rest time should not exceed 3 hours.
"Through the jungle and swamp, we have gone through the hardest part of our lives." This is the common feeling of all players. That's true. The venue is located in the virgin forest area southeast of Tallinn, Estonia. In the competition area of more than 2,400 square kilometers (30 kilometers in front and 82 kilometers in depth), the coverage rate of virgin forest is 90%, and the pine branches and rotten leaves are stacked one after another, and the dead branches and rotten wood are covered with moss, so there is no way to go. Among them, marshland accounts for 50%, and a considerable part of marshland has quicksand below it. If you "accidentally" get stuck in it, you may never get up again. The worst is those nameless poisonous weeds. If you touch them, your skin will be red and swollen immediately, and it will hurt like a needle. Almost every player has a memorial left by poisonous weeds on his hand: a layer of skin has fallen off where he was stabbed. Estonia has a large temperature difference between day and night and a changeable climate. 78 hours of competition, one day of scorching sun, two days of heavy rain, and two hailstones inexplicably fell in one day. The players dressed in "camouflage uniforms" are sometimes sweating with heat and sometimes shivering with cold. The whole person seems to have just been fished out of the water, and a pool of water can be poured out of the combat boots at any time.
The next morning after the start of the game, a team that stayed up all night suddenly received a task at the control station: to obtain reconnaissance information of an island in the lake. Wang Xianqing volunteered and jumped into the biting lake in his underwear. When he climbed ashore, his teammates found that Wang Xian's mouth was red and he was blue with cold. Teammates quickly cooked a can of Jiang Shui with empty "eight-treasure porridge" to help him drive away the cold.
Zuo Yong, a member of Class Two, was scratched by wet moss on the second day of the competition. His left knee was bruised by a sharp stone and swollen like a "small steamed bun". According to the rules of the game, he can quit completely, and the team also wants to replace him with a substitute, but he just gritted his teeth and ate all the painkillers of the team.
For Chen Xinzhi, the captain of Class Two, the 2.5km fast break at the end of the game was a nightmare: eating dry food and drinking cold water for more than 70 hours made his stomach "relapse", and every step made him feel "tumbling over the river". It happened that at this time, before their eyes was a dark swamp. But Chen Xinzhi rushed over without hesitation. Unexpectedly, he stepped on it and fell into his waist. At this time, a stomachache hit, and he only felt that he was still sinking ... "Captain, come and help me!" He was awakened by a call from his teammate who was leading the way. Xin Chen Zhiqiang braced himself, saw his sinking teammate, and immediately ordered his teammate to move forward with his body. After a while, mud flooded his chest. Fortunately, his teammates stepped on a slightly hard place and turned around and pulled him out of the "abyss".
Faced with the siege of 1000 imaginary enemies, three teams quit because they handed in the free-throw lines, while the rest of the foreign troops handed in more than five free-throw lines each, while the China team handed in less than two free-throw lines each.
In order to make the game more practical and confrontational, Estonia sent 1000 national defense soldiers and national guards as imaginary enemies to stop the players before chasing them. According to the rules, each player has 65,438+00 tickets in his pocket at the beginning of the game. Every time an imaginary enemy catches one, he will pay one, and each one will be punished by 6 points. If you pay 10, it is considered a "sacrifice". If two members of a team quit, the whole team will be disqualified. When encountering an imaginary enemy, the players can only try their best to avoid it, and there is really nowhere to escape, so they have to give in easily. Otherwise, the arrival time at the control station will be delayed, and it will be deducted more than 10 times. In the competition, three teams were forced to quit because they handed in penalty points, and the other teams each handed in penalty points of more than five points. The average penalty in China is less than two points.
Tang Haijun, a small team member, is the only soldier in the team. He is usually in excellent health. Unexpectedly, at the critical moment, he pulled up his stomach. On the way to the game, he had to "squat" in a short time. Fortunately, he has the foundation to run fast. Once discovered by two imaginary enemies, he began to run, leaving the imaginary enemies far behind and gesturing playfully to them. I don't know how this matter was known by local reporters. I wrote a passage in the newspaper: "After the young China special forces crossed the blockade, they turned and waved to the imaginary enemy, as if to say that if you want to catch up with me, you must learn from me."
On the afternoon of the first day of the competition, four members of the second team unfortunately encountered an imaginary enemy. All the members were "caught" except Chen Xinzhi, the captain, who ran quickly into the jungle. At this point, the only road has been blocked. Chen Xinzhi had a brainwave: simply walk with the arrested teammates and make them think that they have paid the fine. This trick really works, assuming that the enemy still smiles and greets these "prisoners" to take a group photo together.
A small team also narrowly missed a smooth pass. That afternoon, there was a small bridge on the road, and a small group of people had to pass by. At that time, more than 65,438+00 imaginary enemies were defending on the bridge. After some reconnaissance, the team members found that an old tree fell in the river at the downstream of the bridge 10 meters, and naturally set up a single-plank bridge. A closer look shows that this wooden bridge is not only in the sight of the "enemy", but also covered with moss. But the helpless player chose this wooden bridge. They clung to the "bridge" and finally climbed under the eyes of the imaginary enemy unnoticed.
Battlefield rescue is also a test of the comprehensive quality of special forces. If the injured are not satisfied with the way of rescue and don't hand over the information in their hands, then the team will either be deducted or unable to attend the next course. After arriving at the F control station, the second team is faced with a car accident scene: suppose the enemy is "knocked down" between four wheels by a cross-country jeep, and it just started to hail, and the wounded on the ground shouted and refused to cooperate with the ambulance crew. Instead of dragging the wounded out of the car like other teams, the team members pushed away the jeep that caused trouble, and then gently bandaged the wounded and comforted them. The friendly attitude of the players made the wounded hand over the information when they were moved. The second team became the only team in this course that was not deducted.
Forced March 150 kilometers, none of our scouts had blisters on their feet. The local newspaper commented: "The special forces from China, like Antai, have inexhaustible strength, as if they could hold such a competition again."
After 78 hours of long-distance raids, many foreign special forces limped to the finish line, instead of being immersed in the joy of getting out of "death", they collapsed on the ground, hurriedly took off their thick and hard boots and pitied their scarred feet ... The special forces in China still maintained a good battle formation and rushed to the finish line, smiling and answering reporters' questions one by one. When observers and bystanders from all over the world heard that the feet of the special forces in China were "like iron footboards, no one was soaked", they all gave warm applause. The local newspaper commented: "The special forces from China, like Antai, have inexhaustible strength, as if they could hold such a competition again."
Rome was not built in a day. During the training period, in addition to shooting, military terrain, English conversation, battlefield rescue, car driving, making explosive devices, operating radio stations and other technical training, the team members also have to carry out high-intensity physical training every day, carrying 20 kilograms of sandbags on their backs and tying 2.5 kilograms of sandbags on their legs to run 5 kilometers, wearing hard shoes to run 10 kilometers the next day, and then jumping, duck walking and 100-meter sprint. Day after day, I learned a pair of iron feet.
Another remarkable feature of this competition is to test the contestants' good psychological quality and perseverance in overcoming hunger and fatigue, being fearless in desperate situations and being in a sudden crisis. In this regard, our army members not only showed excellent physical quality, skills and intelligence, but also showed good psychological quality.
On the second day of the competition, the second team came to Accra River, and the bridge was heavily guarded. They decided to let Zuo Yong run in the opposite direction to attract the enemy's attention, and the rest of them crossed the river under the bridge. Captain Chen Xinzhi stepped on the stones in the river and quickly reached the other side in three steps, but when Liu Jincheng crossed the river, his foot slipped and he almost fell into the deep ditch under the bridge. Chen Xinzhi, who was ready, threw the climbing rope. Liu Jincheng grabbed the rope and jumped, saving the day.
Flying knife is a difficult event in this competition. Players are required to use standard daggers to accurately throw human targets 10 meters away when moving. Last year's competition, only two flying knives from 27 teams won the bid. In this year's competition, when foreign players' daggers fell from human targets, Liu Jincheng and Wang Xianqing, contestants of two teams of our army, shook their wrists gently during running, and the daggers went straight to the bull's-eye. The next day, the local newspaper reported it widely.
The good performance and high morale of China players in the whole competition became the "hot news" of Estonian media hype. One report commented on the special forces in China: "Chinese good voice players give people a special feeling, like a gift. They always smile in the game and can't see that they are a little tired. " General samper, head of the American delegation, said with emotion to Liu Meng, China's military attache in Finland (also in Estonia) when he visited the competition at Control Station F: "I was a veteran in the 1960s and participated in the Vietnam War. I was really excited to watch your China players play. Their superb skills and brave style are really unbelievable. If I were younger, I would definitely play and compete with them. "