On Nov.13, during a live-ammunition exercise staged by an artillery brigade of the Chengdu Military Area Command stationed in Yunnan Province, a type of field artillery took only three minutes -- starting from acceptance of order up to the completion of fire strike -- to fulfill its firing mission, creating a fastest fire strike record for this type of artillery in frigid mountainous area.

Along with the unfolding of the exercise, it became quite obvious that the fire strike launched by this brigade was quite different from the traditional mode. The commanders no longer issued orders level by level, instead they gave orders directly to each combat unit.

The gunners calculated firing data themselves instead of passively receiving them from others. The reporters saw on site that from the time each artillery squad set off to occupy position, fired at two mobile targets and a fixed target, up to withdrawal from firing position, the whole process took less than a minute, yet the percentage of hits reached 100%. Also, waving red flags and ceaseless shouting of orders could no longer be seen or heard at the artillery positions.

(Xinhua News Agency November 16, 2007)