Taipei: Taiwan's first-ever "immediate combat response" drills continued into the second day on Tuesday, featuring an Army simulation of anti-landing combat aimed at preventing Chinese forces from reaching Taipei, the capital and center for the nation's economic and political activities.
According to Focus Taiwan, the Army's 53rd Engineer Group utilized M3 amphibious rigs to place oil barrels and floating platforms in the waters off New Taipei's Tamsui District. This exercise simulated a scenario where People's Liberation Army (PLA) ships and landing craft air cushions would approach the shore. The troops constructed two types of obstacles designed to thwart enemy vessels. The first type included floating platforms, TNT, and oil barrels, which could be detonated to destroy or capsize PLA surface vessels. These were strategically positioned in the Tamsui River estuary to intercept enemy forces attempting river entry.
Further upstream, the second type of obstacle comprised floating platforms, water mines, and "steel hedgehogs," specifically intended to incapacitate advancing enemy ships. The Guandu Area Command has ensured the availability of amphibious rigs and obstacle components for rapid deployment as needed, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.
As the Army established these defenses, an AH-64E Apache helicopter conducted a reconnaissance mission over the Tamsui River and reported findings to the ground command center after surveying the nearby Bali District. Simultaneously, tanks and armored vehicles, including CM11 tanks and CM33 and CM34 armored vehicles, positioned themselves strategically upon receiving orders from the command center.
The five-day drills, unprecedented in their nature, are based on assessments suggesting that the PLA might convert military exercises or "gray zone" activities-actions that are provocative but fall short of open conflict-near Taiwan into an actual attack, a military source reported to local media on March 12.