High-tech war and fighting spirit
( 2003-11-28 14:03) (PLA Daily)
Some people believe that war
in future will be war of high-tech weaponry confrontation. So long as you
possess high-tech knowledge and means, victory can be won just by pressing
electric buttons or tapping keys on keyboard. Therefore, heroic and staunch
fighting spirit is no long important. Obviously such argument does not hold
water.
Though high-tech wars have greatly changed operational pattern and the ways
war are conducted, they have not changed the fact that it is the people who are
the decisive factors in war. Among all human factors, such as military quality,
fighting skills, determination, state of mind and others, the fighting
determination and the morale of the troops are not only the catalysts for
generating fighting power, but also an important part of fighting power. An
analysis of modern wars will prove the fact that the more advanced the
technology, the higher demand would be set upon the persons who operate them. As
the high-tech weapons have greater killing and destructive power, it requires
the combatants all the more to have staunch fighting spirit. The practice has
proved that high-tech wars are not only a contest of high-tech weaponry and
equipment, but also a contest of strategy, technical skills, wisdom and courage
between the two opposing sides.
As the old Chinese saying goes: An army can survive the absence of a
commander-in-chief, but a common soldier should have unswerving determination.
If an army does not have spiritual stimulation and high morale, its fighting
power will be greatly reduced. One of the reasons why modern wars lay more
stress on psychological warfare is because it can destroy the spirit and
determination of the opposing side. Under certain circumstances, "soft killing
power" of psychological warfare can be more effective than pure "hard military
strikes". It will be virtually impossible for troops with soldiers that have no
strong faith, no heroic spirit of fearing no death, to achieve ideal combat
results even if it is equipped with sophisticated weapons.
Spirit comes from the test of hardships. Heroic fighting spirit, though
displayed at wartime, should be cultivated at peacetime bit by bit. In this
respect, we should not only study and absorb the past valuable experience, but
also bring forth new ideas in contents and forms in the light of new reality, so
as to put them into practice in various aspects of army building, and provide
powerful spiritual power for winning local wars under high-tech conditions in
the future.
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