Skiing is a basic skill for troops in cold regions.
Due to geographic and climatic conditions, focusing heavily on winter training is a unique training approach for the Shenyang Military Region. Experimental data shows that when temperatures drop to minus 20 to 30 degrees Celsius, overall combat effectiveness of troops can decline by 40% to 60%. Faced with long and harsh winters, how to improve combat capabilities is a serious and urgent challenge for forces stationed in cold regions.
A certain mechanized infantry brigade of the Shenyang Military Region, stationed north of 47 degrees north latitude, is the highest-latitude combat unit in the region and even across the entire PLA. Recently, this unit, known as the "Powerful Force of the Northern Frontier," is charging through snowy forests and fields, actively exploring new models for combat capability development and new tactics for winter warfare in cold zones.
At dawn, snow whirls wildly and breath turns to frost. Soldiers from a certain mechanized infantry brigade of the Shenyang Military Region are advancing deep into the snowy forests. "Enemy situation detected on the northwest side of Hill 3. Your unit is ordered to maneuver to Combat Zone XX within two hours and prepare to engage the enemy." During the march, the brigade suddenly receives an order from higher command.
Hill × is far away, and the snow is knee-deep—nearly impossible to walk through. Can they make it there on time in just two hours?
At the commander’s order, groups of soldiers, equipped with skis and holding ski poles, start moving—sometimes swinging their poles forcefully, sometimes tucking them under their arms... Within minutes, they vanish into the blizzard. From a distance, they move nimbly like a pack of "snow foxes."
"Skiing is a basic combat skill for troops in cold regions, and it’s essential to keep up skiing training," said Brigade Commander Fu Xianxue.
Commander Fu explained that due to the cold region environment, the brigade’s base experiences several months of ice and snow each year. To enhance soldiers' mobility on snowy terrain in winter, the unit has made skiing a key focus of winter training and organized extensive skiing exercises tailored to local conditions. Now, 80% of the brigade’s soldiers have mastered skiing, significantly improving the unit’s mobility across snowy fields.
While the main force is on the move, the convoy suddenly encounters an icy road, the surface frozen as hard as steel. Driving over it gives vehicles an occasional feeling of “drifting.”
"Attach snow chains to the vehicles, all personnel dismount, and single vehicles start moving one by one," orders the brigade’s Chief of Staff, Commander Yang Yuping. The vehicles then proceed carefully one after another along a temporarily cleared path onto the ice. The sound of ice cracking beneath the tire tracks keeps everyone on edge. With the last vehicle safely across, the tension finally eases.
Just as the "obstacle" is overcome, another "enemy reconnaissance" challenge arises. "The enemy reconnaissance satellite will pass overhead in 20 minutes. Vehicles must speed up and advance to the tunnel ahead." Upon receiving the order, drivers accelerate, with speedometers hitting 70 kilometers per hour.
"When stationed in a cold region, it's crucial to explore combat experience under extreme cold and solve various mobility challenges that may arise during winter warfare," said Political Commissar Xu Chaochun, who accompanied the mission. While icy roads pose great risks to vehicle movement, for troops stationed in cold areas, driving on such terrain is a mandatory training exercise.
Driver and Sergeant Liu Tao said, "We each have 100 motor hours of experience driving on icy roads—this kind of condition is now second nature to us."
The armored vehicles speed along. After two and a half hours of long-distance travel, the unit arrives at the designated location right on time, quickly engages in battle, and successfully annihilates the "enemy."