The days when the field engineers to put on "one man show" in removing obstacles on battlefield is over. In mid-September, in a lofty mountainous area, a unit of the Jinan Military Area Command carried out an exercise of removing obstacles by various arms with multi-firearms under high-tech combat conditions.

The "blue army" which was on the defense set up a blocking area at its forward edge with blocking walls, iron fence, barbed wire entanglements and abatis, and various obstructions along the front line. When the commander of the "red army" gave the order to remove obstacles, the armored force, artillery unit and engineers used their different weapons to destroy obstacles from different distances and　different positions. With rumbling of explosions and dense smoke, dust blew up to the sky. In a few minutes, under the cover of artillery fire and the armored force, engineer groups moved forward rapidly, and cleared the remaining obstalces with engineering facilities. Leaders of the troops who organized the exercise said, as the mechanization level of the troop improved, types and quantities of the firearms increased also. This exercise had broken the pattern of field engineers playing "leading role". This was an innovation of fighting method in response to the new weapons and new demands of modern warfare on removing obstacles.

The innovation of fighting method stems from the update of fighting principle. The unit has made thorough argumentation on combat environment of high-tech war and new weapons possessed by troops in recent years. They have changed the traditional fighting concept, which emphasized capturing positions to the neglect of removing obstacles. According to the weapons available, they boldly integrated the characteristics of obstacle-removal with the missions, and let various arms join in obstacle-removing operation instead of letting the field engineer alone to do the job. With this in mind, they organized artillery units, armored force and field engineers to experiment on various simulated obstacles. Through collecting relevant data, conducting quantitative and qualitative analysis, they have successfully explored various methods of removing obstacles to deal with the most difficult and complex operational environment in future battlefield.

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