At the instigation of the military, the Taiwanese military’s annual“Han Guang 41” exercise will be an unprecedented mobilization of a reserve brigade, called upon to mobilize forces of 3,000 people, triggering interpretation on the island.
“For decades.”
“This year’s Hanguang exercise has seen the first mobilization scale,” Taiwan’s“United Daily News” reported on February 11 under this headline. The“Hanguang 41” exercise is expected to carry out live-fire drills in July this year, in addition to the drill time doubled from the past 5 days and 4 nights to 10 days and 9 nights, but also to expand the mobilization of reserve forces scale. Among them, the army’s 206th Infantry Brigade in the third operational area (North) of the Taiwanese army will be fully composed of reservists mobilized to carry out regional defense operations. “The scale of such exercises will be unprecedented in decades.”.
The 206th Brigade, code-named“Mighty Force”, is based in Kansai region, Hsinchu, and is one of three new brigades The 6th Corp Command, the others in Taoyuan and Yilan, the report said. The main mission of the brigade is conscript training and military reserve force“Educational conscription”, and it is responsible for regional garrisons in wartime. Brigade 206 has five infantry battalions and an artillery battalion using 105 mm howitzers. Excluding the standing staff, at least 3,000 reservists will be recruited.
Citing military officials, Taiwan’s China Times Electronic News said that in the past, the Taiwanese Army’s reserve mobilization for the“Hanguang” exercise was mainly at the company and battalion levels, with the reserve force called up to only a few hundred people. This year is the first time the Taiwanese army has mobilized a reserve brigade. “From the moment the police serve the mobilization order to the moment the summoned personnel report to their combat positions, the entire process will be tested once. This is also the first time the Taiwanese army has mobilized a reserve brigade.”.
Preparations for the“Hanguang 41” exercise have started one after another. According to a report in Taiwan’s“Youth Daily,” Liao Jianxing, commander of the Taiwanese Army’s fourth theater of operations, recently presided over the“Hanguang-41” exercise preparation exercise, all staff officers and business supervisors of all units in the war zone are invited to attend the meeting. According to the pro-green“Freedom Times,” last year’s“Han Guang 40” exercise was the first time the Taiwanese military carried out the exercise in a way that“Didn’t spoil the show and didn’t use live ammunition on the island.” Emphasizing the so-called principle of“Real troops, on the ground and in real time”, therefore, the subjects of night battles are more important than in previous years. In addition, “Decentralized command and control”, “Overall logistics support” and“Roe” are also planned to verify the project. However, due to the third day of drills that encounter typhoon disturbance, many subjects interrupted or incomplete verification, “Whether this year will be re-planned, complete once again, it is worth watching.”.
Verify the effectiveness of reserve mobilization
Some Taiwanese media suggested that the expansion of mobilization was the idea of the United States. Taiwan’s“China Times” said on the 10th that under the“Suggestion” of the military, the reserve“Call” of the Taiwan military was changed to a new 14-day system. The military also sent nearly 100 active duty instructors to Taiwan, new Army Training Center and Reserve Brigade. A reserve brigade for 14 days of the new system“Call”, but also was photographed following the U. S. personnel marching troops. Former U. S. indo-pacific commander was recently asked about the issue of Taiwan’s forces also claimed that Israel can mobilize 360,000 people in a day, “Taiwan may learn from.”. Li Ximing, former“Chief of staff” of the Taiwanese army, said that about one-third of Israel’s defense manpower is in reserve forces. Reserve soldiers must receive 30 to 60 days of training every year, and the transition between peacetime and wartime is rapid, weapons are collected and assembled within 18 hours, maneuvered into tactical positions within 24 hours and are ready for combat within 36 hours. It is also in the U. S. military“Suggestion”, this year, “Han Guang 41” will be an unprecedented mobilization of a reserve brigade into, “To verify the effectiveness of reserve mobilization.
The“China Times” also mentioned that at present the Taiwanese army’s“Reserve headquarters” have been organized into 18 county and city reserve brigades, which are mainly responsible for“Teaching and summoning” training, in wartime, it has been engaged in regional garrison operations and protection of critical infrastructure. The number of basic cadres in each reserve brigade is more than 160, and this year it is expected to increase to 280. As for the equipment of the reserve brigade, it is mainly composed of infantry units, while a budget has also been budgeted for the purchase of more than 700 mini-uavs. In order to strengthen the reserve force of the Taiwan Army, the US side began to provide military assistance to Taiwan last year. Most of the major equipment provided is for the reserve forces.
Young people don’t buy it
In recent years, the United States has exaggerated the Taiwan Strait tensions. In addition to taking advantage of the opportunity to sell large-scale arms to Taiwan, it also constantly points fingers at the Taiwan military issue, the DPP authorities have openly urged Taiwan to“Raise the military throughout the country”, “Extend the length of military service” and“Raise military spending”. However, despite various attempts by the U. S. side to collude with“Taiwan independence” forces to engage in confrontation, the Taiwanese army has been mired in a deep shortage of manpower in recent years. In the past four years, the number of officers and soldiers who chose to lose money and retire early has quadrupled. The number of Taiwanese military volunteers dropped to 150,000 at the end of June last year, the lowest level since 2018. Among them, the shortage of key noncommissioned officers, private first class and private first class is particularly acute in the grass-roots units. Public opinion warns that in the long run, even if the Taiwanese army imports large amounts of equipment, it will be seriously affected by the lack of grass-roots cadres. At the same time, despite the military’s lowering of the recruitment threshold, the island’s young people are simply not buying it, and have accused the DPP authorities of sabotaging cross-strait relations and increasing the risk of conflict across the Taiwan Strait while putting their lives on the line.
In response to the attempt by the democratic progressive party authorities to“Rely on the United States for independence,” a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of National Defense had previously made it clear that the Democratic Progressive Party authorities were deliberately using the island as a battlefield and the people as a human shield in an attempt to“Use military force to seek independence” and“Use military force to refuse unification.” It’s completely out of your depth, and it’s a dead end. The PLA will comprehensively strengthen military training and war preparations, comprehensively improve its ability to win, and resolutely smash the separatist plot for“Taiwan independence” and the interference of external forces.