Amphibious Landing Combat Units Psychological Warfare Research

Each war in the history is a trial of force and psychology, especially several local warswith high technology since 1990. The psychological warfare, called as "the war outside thewar, the war above the war", was used in these wars. It has become the ultimate aim for themilitary commanders to bend the soldiers of hostile force without fighting. In the campaignof sailing across the straits to liberate Taiwan Island which will probably occurs in the future,the psychological warfare should be an important part in the military actions.For the military operations to Taiwan these years, we have to attach great important topsychological warfare, and make a systemic study, which will establish the good foundationfor the cross-strait and island-ascending operations in future. However, the contention in thepsychology of the operations would be changeable as well as the force. The operationswould be full of the difficulties and obstacles. Therefore, during the preparation for theoperations, we must get prepared of the theory and practice in psychological warfare whichis a very important and urgent content.As far as the psychological warfare of element, our limited research has nosystematization. The basic cause depends on the prejudice in knowledge: firstly thinkingthat the psychological warfare of element is too simple to be worthy studying;secondlythinking that the modern psychological warfare chiefly is going at the strategy and thecampaign plane, but not at the element. In fact, the psychological warfare can spread out inthe different hierarchy, either in the theory or in the practice. In the high technology war, thepsychological warfare of element makes up an important part of the whole psychologicalwarfare. Limited with short striking range, simple equipment and low professional,psychological warfare of element play an especially indispensable role in psychology attackor defense. The element carries out the concrete campaign assignment in the military actions,and has frontal conflicts with enemy. It is very important to study the psychological warfareof element.According to the reality of building and development of our armed forces and the needsof the coming campaign, the subject chiefly discusses the meaning, characteristic andprinciple of the psychological warfare of element in the cross-strait and island-ascendingoperations, as well as the implementation of psychological warfare in major operationphase.In the paper, the psychological warfare of element refers to a special operation methodused by battalion or company elements, entering the campaign directly, cooperating theoperation, using the convenient equipment and adopting the means of talking throughground loudspeaker, throwing in leaflets and using both coercion and cajolery, etc., to attackthe psychology of enemy, to appease the people in battlefield, to counter the psychologicalwarfare of enemy and to consolidate our psychological line of defense. Compared withother psychological warfare in different levels, the psychological warfare of element has thecharacteristics such as engagement of the striking object, widespread of the striking subject,direction of the operational purpose, limitation of the operational time and space,convenience of operational means and practicality of psychological protection, etc. In thepreparation and implementation phase of psychological warfare, element have to stress onthe effective course and follow the basic law from actual conditions, which should bescientific and practical.According to reality of the cross-strait and island-ascending operation in future, the paperdivides it into three stages of relative independence — imminence, proceeding and past ofoperation, and detailed analyses the major problems and reasons that psychological warfareof element would face with and the major content and implementation method ofpsychological warfare. The focal points are these, element concerns the preparation ofpsychological warfare and operational in the imminence stage of operation psychology;inthe proceeding stage of operation, the psychological warfare of element should stress on thepsychology attack to enemy and the psychology defense to us;in the postwar stage, elementshould pay attention to adjust psychology of the officers and soldiers entering the operation.The research of this subject possesses fixes theory and creativeness, and has the guidanceand the reference meaning for the fighting troops to prepare the military struggles.