Combined Brigades' North-South Confrontation Coming: Army's 'Lu Sheng 2' Exercise Set for October

The Taiwanese Army is set to conduct the "Lu Sheng 2" field exercise in October, continuing the training initiative that began last year with "Lu Sheng 1." This upcoming exercise will feature a live-force confrontation between a combined-arms brigade stationed in the north and another from the south, aiming to bolster the ground forces' defensive combat capabilities.

Last year, the Army refined its long-standing brigade confrontation drills, rebranding them as "Lu Sheng exercises." Unlike previous iterations where each operational zone acted as a controller, the Army's Training and Development Command now uniformly oversees these drills. The "Lu Sheng" exercises, similar to the annual "Han Kuang" drills, emphasize realism, focusing on live forces, real-time operations, and actual equipment without pre-scripted outcomes or spoilers. Notably, these exercises do not involve live ammunition training.

The core of the "Lu Sheng" exercise lies in the simulated combat between combined-arms brigades. In "Lu Sheng 1" last year, the 542nd Brigade from the north faced off against the 234th Brigade from the south. The objective was not to simulate actual combat engagement but to test the command, staff, and grassroots units of these two main combat forces over a continuous seven-day, six-night period. This testing focused on their ability to execute various combat missions under current intelligence conditions, including command and control and tactical adaptations to the terrain.

Scheduled for October, "Lu Sheng 2" will again involve one combined-arms brigade from the north and one from the south. The exercise will further refine aspects such as the verification of rules of engagement, decentralized grassroots unit autonomy, requesting support from other military branches, logistical support mechanisms, and the continued use of the "Troop Awareness Application Kit" (TAK) for battlefield situational awareness. These elements will be deepened during this year's training.