New recruits conduct armed sprint drills during the training march.
Host’s note
■ Steel warriors are not born. Amid the snowstorm, listening to the recruits’ breathing and feeling their heartbeats, we hear the sound of saplings growing and measure the heat of the steel furnace.
On the western frontier, after a heavy snowfall, the temperature dropped to as low as -20°C.
“Charge!” A sudden war cry erupted across the silent snowy plain. Upon listening closely, the shout was somewhat youthful but not lacking in determination. This was a scene from an over-400-strong group of new recruits from the Changji Detachment of the Xinjiang Corps of the People’s Armed Police conducting a snowfield sprint.
In the depths of winter, the Xinjiang Corps of the People’s Armed Police organized nearly ten thousand new recruits to brave severe cold and snowstorms, each carrying over 20 kilograms of gear, marching 260 kilometers on foot through deserts, plateaus, mountains, snow-capped ranges, and glaciers. They camped and ate in the wild for seven days and nights, while also engaging in training exercises such as emergency evacuation, armed sprints, mountain ambushes, and hostage rescues. The training also included supplementary exercises like combat sentry duty, wilderness survival, and field cooking.
“Conducting camping and field marches in harsh snowy weather and complex terrain is meant to temper the fighting spirit of new recruits, helping them quickly adapt to high-intensity combat life and become competent in their roles!” said Guo Luotai, commander of the Corps.
On the first day of the field march, fierce winds raged and snow fell heavily. Standing in the wind, the reporter felt his center of gravity becoming unsteady. The new soldiers marched against the wind and snow for less than 10 kilometers before they were drenched in sweat, with their breath and perspiration freezing into frost on their eyebrows and cotton caps.
“If you really can’t go on, get on the vehicle!” Zhang Sanzhu, commander of the Changji Detachment, walking along the side of the formation, called out to recruit Li Yong, who was limping. “No, I can make it!” Li Yong panted but quickened his pace.
Li Yong grew up in a “life of ease” and hadn’t endured much hardship. On the first day of the march, he developed five blisters on the soles of his feet. His squad leader thought he wouldn’t last, but he toughed it out.
“I’ve never walked such a long distance in my life. At first I wanted to back out, but seeing my comrades gritting their teeth and persevering, I managed to get through it!” said Li Yong.
The winter night was pitch black. The new recruits camped in a valley as temperatures plummeted and the howling wind sounded like a monster’s wail. “Halt, password.” As the reporter followed officers to check on guard posts, he could hear new recruits vigilantly asking for the password from afar. The inspecting officer remarked emotionally, “Many new soldiers were too scared to go to the toilet alone when they first arrived at the unit. This time, our campsites along the march were all surrounded by snow-capped mountains, with no signs of human habitation—a real test for the new recruits.”
The sun rose over the snowy plains, and the new recruits set off again. “Step on me!” At one steep slope where the recruits couldn’t push through, squad leader Liu Yifan dropped to his stomach and ordered the recruits to step on him to climb up. Yao Chi, a recruit, hesitated at first, but warmed up at the sight of his squad leader’s encouraging gaze, stepped onto his squad leader’s back, and charged up the slope. Upon reaching the finish line, over a dozen recruits embraced Squad Leader Liu in celebration.
“This is completely different from the training we did back at the barracks before the march!” an officer leading the team told the reporter. When they had just enlisted, some recruits, after watching the squad leaders’ demonstrations of takedowns, even went to the company officers to “back out,” saying, “This kind of training is too dangerous, I won’t join in anymore...”
One noon, the radio of the company commander of the Third Company crackled with an operation order: “Two ‘criminals’ armed with weapons are on the run. Your company is ordered to dispatch 20 personnel to apprehend them.”
“I’ll go, I’ll go!” The new recruits volunteered one after another. In an instant, two groups of recruits swiftly moved out. The reporter saw that recruit Wang Shuai suddenly had a nosebleed during the sprint but kept running to the finish line while holding his nose. Recruit Chen Rui accidentally fell, scraping his left palm raw with gravel and stones. But it was he who was the first to capture the “criminal” with his bleeding hand.
During a rest period, a visiting doctor found that recruit Wang Peng had twisted his ankle, which was swollen and red. “Didn’t it hurt just now?” the reporter asked Wang Peng. Smiling, Wang Peng replied, “When I heard we were going into battle, I forgot everything!”
“We train every day for victory. We sharpen our blades at all times for victory…” Across the snowy plains came the loud singing from a battlefield propaganda vehicle. Political Commissar Yan Xiaodong of the Corps remarked emotionally to the reporter, “Year after year the flowers look the same, but the soldiers change with each passing year. Every new recruit has the potential to become a steel warrior—it depends on the kind of training and forging the army gives them!” (By Geng Chao, Reporter Zhang Haihua, Special Correspondent Wang Guoyin Photos by Sun Chang)
Voices of the New Recruits
I Stamped My Fear Underfoot
■ Han Ruizu, New Recruit, Changji Detachment, Xinjiang Corps of the People’s Armed Police
I’ve always been timid. Scenes of fighting on TV used to scare me. During the march, when I heard gunshots and explosions, I instinctively covered my ears, which worried my squad leader. One day, the squad leader took me to help in the kitchen and asked me to slaughter a chicken. For someone like me who faints at the sight of blood, it was terrifying. Encouraged by my squad leader and comrades, I closed my eyes and picked up the kitchen knife...
After taking that first step, my courage grew. The changes that followed impressed even the veterans. During one drill, while on guard duty, I spotted a “criminal” wielding a knife and immediately rushed to fight. After the march, I was named the “Three-Star Good Soldier” by my company.
Thank this march for helping me stamp my fear underfoot.
My Tears Weren’t from Pain
■ Abudushalamu, New Recruit, Third Detachment, Xinjiang Corps of the People’s Armed Police
On the first day of the march, after walking over 30 kilometers, I got four blisters on the soles of my feet. That night, gritting my teeth, I quietly cut them open myself. The next day, scabs had formed around the blisters, and the pain was excruciating with every step. When the company commander noticed, he told me to get on the vehicle and rest, but I refused. Enduring the pain, I walked nearly 40 more kilometers, and ended up getting three more blisters.
Afraid I wouldn’t be able to continue the march, this time I didn’t handle the blisters myself but asked my squad leader to help lance them. Seeing my squad leader holding my foot with such care and concern, I felt a lump in my throat and burst into tears, startling him. “Did I hurt you?” he asked.
The squad leader had no idea that these were not tears of pain, but tears of emotion and happiness!
I raised the red flag with my bleeding hand
■ Yang Huqiang, a new recruit from the Second Detachment of the Xinjiang Corps, People’s Armed Police
After enlisting, I kept wondering: what does a qualified soldier really look like? During the training march, I found the answer.
During a tactical competition that day, a shard of glass pierced the squad leader’s palm, and blood flowed freely, but he still won first place. I asked him, “Why didn’t you drop out of the competition?” The squad leader said sternly, “A competition is a battle; retreating is desertion!” His words deeply moved me.
Unexpectedly, during the next day’s competition, I also fell and cut my palm, drawing blood. But remembering the squad leader’s words, I gritted my teeth and rushed to the finish line first, raising the red flag with my bloodied hand.
“Well done!” The squad leader and my comrades all gave me a thumbs-up.