By Andrei Pinkov

As India has conducted the nuclear testing, developed the ground-to-ground missiles, and expedited the upgrading of its weapons and military equipment in recent years, China has heightened its vigilance against India. At present, India has become the major hypothetical enemy after Taiwan in terms of the strategic campaign concepts and the deployment of equipment and troops. In addition, the Chinese army has made a serious and careful study of the campaign actions that may be taken in the battlefields in the mountainous regions which are high in topography and cold in temperature. Several theories about the campaigns in the mountainous regions have thus been preliminarily established.

First of all, for the future campaigns that will take place in the high and cold mountainous regions, the Chinese army based its war concept on the following points: A. The enemy (a synonym for India) that has hi-tech weapons and equipment will invade some of the Chinese areas in a big way; B. A campaign conglomeration with certain hi-tech weapons and equipment will be organized and put into operation for the purpose of counter-attacks; C. The campaign actions include the campaign defence, campaign reserves, and campaign counter-attack. Most of the time for this action is spent outside of the boundary line; D. The hi-tech weapons and equipment will be brought into full play, especially the tactical campaign missile troops (ground-to-ground missiles); and E. The firepower should be combined organically. As to the form of combat, all the firepower should be combined including the short-range fire war, light cannon fire attack, air units, tactical campaign missiles (ground-to-ground missiles), and the out-of-sight surprise attack of the long-range artillery.

It is obvious that the above concept is totally based on the active defence concept of "resisting the enemy outside of the country". In the campaign defence, it is especially stressed that "the defensive dispositions for the emergency purpose should be completed quickly". As soon as any war-oriented movement of the enemy is found, the troops in reserve should be organized and sent to the mountains (the mountainous border areas) where the war may break out. A deep echelon should be set up with the commanding points as the key points and the defensive dispositions characterized by the combination of both the air and ground defence as a whole should be emphasized.

On the basis of the analysis, it is estimated that first of all, in this period of time, the Chinese military deployment in the defended area is still not too close to the China-Indian border, but a second military deployment seems to have been made after it. In addition, the Chinese army has been preparing the battlefield environment (the construction of defence works) for several years. This is why the goal of sending the reserve forces to the mountainous areas has been repeatedly emphasized as "consolidating the first-line defence capability and seizing the second-line vital points for defence purpose".

It is worth noting that the Chinese army stresses the importance of insisting on the combination of both defence and attack as a whole even at the defensive stage of a campaign, with a focus on holding fast the vital points. It is emphasized to combine the short-range fire war, light cannon fire attack, air units, tactical campaign missiles (ground-to-ground missiles), and the out-of-sight surprise attack of the long-range artillery. The use of the tactical campaign missiles is especially proposed to launch an intensive surprise attack on the enemy for the purpose of destroying its follow-up units. Obviously, under the guidance of the new strategy included in the active defence theory, the Chinese army has seriously learned the survival tactics adopted by the Israeli army in the previous several middle east wars and has further underlined the exercise of the campaign command in a scientific way. In the past punitive war against Vietnam, the Chinese army put into political consideration the control of the war intensity, thus intentionally avoid the use of the tactical air force. Under the current circumstances where its military equipment is being continuously upgraded, its size is becoming more reasonable, and its campaign command is getting more appropriate, how the Chinese army will control the intensity of war in the future merits more attention.

The goals that the Chinese army needs to reach in its campaign defence are detailed as follows: Efforts should be made to firmly withstand, pin down, and finally take a heavy toll of the enemy troops in order to create a favorable condition for the reserves of the main campaign forces and for the completion of the preparations for a counter-attack. The first goal that needs to be reached in the campaign outside of the boundary line is considered to be the winning of both the overall victory in the campaign and the diplomatic initiative. To this end, it is stressed that the traditional procedure of "striking the weak (enemy) before hitting the strong (enemy)" should be abandoned and the focus should be on the attack upon the vital targets that will cause a chain reaction inside the enemy troops and will sharply lower their overall fighting capability. It is necessary to maintain the unexpectedness in the campaign outside of the boundary line in order to achieve the goal of staying well hidden and taking the enemy by surprise. In addition, the anti-reconnaissance measures are taken and the radio communication system is kept silent.

It is evident that the Chinese army especially stresses the effective functions produced from the application of the campaign tactical missiles (SSM) and advocates the centralized use of the missiles and careful selection of targets. The major targets include the enemy's campaign command organization, communication hub, launching stand for the campaign tactical missiles, air bases, and airports etc..

With regard to the air defence and the achievement of the air superiority, it is proposed that a "reserve air defence balcony" be set up with the combination of fighter planes and air defence missiles. On the military maneuvers, attention should begin to be attached to the combination of the campaign maneuvers with the strategic background so that the chiefs of the military commands will realize the importance of the national strategy.

A source revealed that in a recent maneuver at the level of the military command included how to launch a counterattack under the circumstances where the negotiation on the border dispute failed and the enemy took the initiative in organizing a front army to invade the Chinese side of the border. In the meantime, the Chinese army watches closely the politics and the decision making process of India. It is revealed that India has prepared three plans differentiated by the risk levels such as high, medium, and low, to be implemented in the China-Indian border area. This shows that obviously the Chinese army has also worked out different countermeasures. ( Andrei Pinkov)

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