Pioneering PLA unit vows to maintain its long traditions
By Jiang Chenglong | China Daily | Updated: 2022-12-20 08:40
Members of Red Company One are put through their paces during combat drills. JIANG DONGPO/ZHANG ZENGYAN
Nearly 100 years ago, Red Company One was the first army unit to join the CPC. Jiang Chenglong reports.
"Every soldier in our company has great courage and determination to fulfill his tasks 100 percent, no matter how difficult they are. That's the glorious tradition that has been inherited generation by generation."
Those were the words of Ke Changshui, a former soldier in the People's Liberation Army who retired last month, as he introduced the unit in which he served for 16 years — Red Company One.
The 35-year-old said the company was named Red Company One, Hongyilian, in Mandarin, because of its "glorious historic tradition".
Having started as a peasant self-defense force, the unit was integrated into the Red Army (the PLA's predecessor) in the 1920s, and pledged the first oath of admission of the Communist Party of China in the history of the modern Chinese armed forces 95 years ago.
In 1927, Mao Zedong, one of the founders of the PLA, admitted six soldiers from the company into the CPC and set up a Party branch, the first at company level in the army.
The establishment of what became known as the "Party branch built on a company" was significant because it started the practice of building a new type of people's army with a primarily political nature, contributing to the eventual victory of the revolution as well as the company itself in the nearly 100 years that followed.
The unit has upheld the name of Red Company One by fighting in more than 300 battles and winning numerous awards: four first-class merit honors; 10 second-class merits; and 14 third-class merits.
It has also received five honorary titles, including "100 Battles, 100 Victories" in 1942, "Model Party Branch" in 1991, and "Role Model of the Times" last year.
Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, the company has undertaken numerous major missions.
They include international peacekeeping roles and rescue and disaster relief, taking part in international military competitions and joint exercises, and it has been recognized as an advanced PLA unit.
Members of Red Company One are put through their paces during combat drills. JIANG DONGPO/ZHANG ZENGYAN
Rigorous discipline
The question of how to maintain the long traditions of the company is one that Hu Guanlei, the company commander, has pondered every day since he took over in 2020. He recently hit on the answer: rigorous discipline and strong combat capability.
"Discipline is another kind of command. If all the soldiers adhere to every discipline and command, we will be very strong in combat effectiveness," the 27-year-old said, adding that the greatest power comes when everyone pulls in one direction.
"It is impossible for an army to win any war, no matter how strong it is in combat skills and equipment, if it is not well-disciplined and is unable to undertake any task."
As such, every member of the company spares no effort to practice their combat ability in accordance with strict requirements and their persistence in inheriting the unit's historic role with honor.
"Every soldier here, whether they are from the older or younger generation, is courageous and upright enough to be a pioneer and stand out to finish various tasks in order to maintain the honor of our company," said Ke, who was one of the company's most experienced soldiers.
He added that the tradition of upholding the unit's honor has been handed down from age to age.
In 2019, the company was tasked with conducting an assault during mountain combat exercises conducted on Southwest China's Western Sichuan Plateau at an altitude of more than 4,300 meters.
During the operation, a task force of seven soldiers offered to carve out the way through for the other troops, but their advance was hampered by a fast-flowing river.
Members of Red Company One are put through their paces during combat drills. JIANG DONGPO/ZHANG ZENGYAN
That posed two choices for the squad. "One was to cross the river directly, but we would probably have been knocked over and washed away by the fast current," Ke said. "The other was to skirt around the river and find another route, which would take much longer and risk missing the best combat opportunity."
The soldiers finally decided to cross the river directly, despite altitude sickness and the inherent danger. After doing so, they achieved the designated goals.
"Actually, we were very clear about the dangers lying ahead, but we didn't want to lose the key opportunity that would allow us to take our enemies by surprise and win the fight," Ke said.
In his eyes, striving to come first in various drills and training exercises is not only part of the company's tradition, but also a safeguard for the soldiers.
"Our company's rigorous exercises are targeted at winning real battles," he said. "One of the most important things in real wars is to bring soldiers home alive from the battlefield. Thus, all of our regular training and exercises are meant to be harsh and close to real combat."
The unit's soldiers charge toward the "enemy" during a live combat drill. JIANG DONGPO/ZHANG ZENGYAN
New era, new tasks
Since 2012, the PLA has undergone a series of reforms and updates in its command system and equipment. A major transformation happened to Red Company One in 2017, when it transitioned from being a traditional infantry unit and joined a combined infantry platform.
"Our traditional method of movement was on foot, but now we transport our troops via various means, such as helicopters, armored cars and tanks," Ke said.
Furthermore, almost every soldier in the combined infantry company has to be able to master light weapons, while noncommissioned officers also have to learn how to use certain heavy weapons, he said.
While a strong army is prepared for any possible threat, it also has a role to play in ensuring global peace, especially as the world is beset by various conflicts at present.
In 2015, some 50 soldiers of Red Company One were included in an infantry battalion that was dispatched to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan. It was China's first unit of its kind to take part in a peacekeeping mission overseas. In 2017, the company provided the country's third batch of infantry troops to be sent on peacekeeping operations in South Sudan, Hu said.
Pan Shaoyu, who joined the company in 2019, is keen to take part in UN peacekeeping operations because he said it reflects one of the roles of the modern soldier.
"The most important quality for soldiers is loyalty," the 25-year-old said, stressing that it can be reflected by producing "our best performance in training and drills", fulfilling tasks and overcoming hardships in times of war and peace.
"That's part of our company's tradition, which has a long and glorious history. It requires us to do our best in practical action," Pan said.
TIMELINE
1927: Red Company One sets up the PLA's first company-level branch of the Communist Party of China when Chairman Mao Zedong establishes it and admits six members into the CPC.
1935: Mao orders the company to take charge of security work at the historic Zunyi Meeting in Zunyi, Guizhou province. The meeting establishes a new leadership of the CPC Central Committee, as represented by Mao, and saves the Red Army and the Party from destruction at a critical juncture.
1937: The company helps defeat the elite troops of the Imperial Japanese Army at the Battle of Pingxingguan in Shanxi province.
1997: Red Company One is equipped with a 2 A wheeled infantry vehicle, becoming one of the PLA's first light-mechanized infantry companies.
2008 and 1998: The unit undertakes rescue and relief work in the wake of extreme flooding in the Yangtze River Basin in 1998 and after the 8.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Sichuan province in 2008.
2017 and 2015: The company's soldiers are sent to South Sudan as part of China's third and first batches of peacekeeping infantry battalions in UN missions in the African country.
2019, 2009 and 1999: Red Company One takes part in three National Day military parades in Beijing, marking the 70th, 60th and 50th anniversaries of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
2021: The unit is granted the title "Role Model of the Times" by the publicity department of the CPC Central Committee.
