Taiwan’s military has been instructed to continue verifying its joint combat plans and backup mechanism in the remaining days of the computerized Han Kuang tabletop wargames, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday.
During the unprecedented 14-day game period, which began on April 5, the military was asked to tackle China’s “gray zone” harassment and respond to a possible Chinese invasion of the country in 2027. Military personnel in the tabletop wargames were charged to conduct wargames using the Joint Theater Level Simulation system to test the feasibility of joint combat plans.
Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said in a meeting of tabletop game presiding officers on Saturday that the defense side had performed well in terms of crisis management, handling of gray-zone harassment and enforcing joint combat landing operations, adding that they also helped generate new ideas that are worth pursuing.
Photo courtesy of Military News Agency
In the remaining six days, the defense side should continue practicing its strategies to weaken the offense side, Koo said, adding that all the military units should pace themselves to reach the goals of the training.
The offense side should simulate more high-intensity battlefield scenarios for the defense side to respond, he said.
The purpose of the computerized tabletop games is to shore up the defense side’s overall joint combat capability through simulated battlefields, rather than a victory or defeat, Koo said.
Presiding officers should also test the resilience of the military chain of command by simulating various situations, such as relocations of wartime command headquarters, the disconnection of communications systems and the activation of backup systems, he said.
Separately, local governments have been asked to simulate the opening of emergency medical service stations during the Wanan exercise this year, which would be held while the military conducts the Han Kuang military exercise in July.
The ministry had asked local government officials to simulate the opening of air defense shelters and relief stations in previous Wanan exercises. This year would be the first time that they would simulate the opening of emergency medical service stations as well, according to the ministry.
Based on the ministry’s plan, the Han Kuang military exercise this year is to be held from July 9 to July 18, with Wanan exercise and other civilian drills held alongside during the 10-day period.
The Wanan exercise would be held from 1:30pm to 2pm on one of the 10 days, while the simulation of opening relief stations and emergency medical service stations would be held from 2pm to 3pm, the ministry said.
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