A Chinese soldier participates in a mock amphibious landing on a beach in the eastern province of Shandong yesterday. Thousands of Chinese and Russian troops took part in the joint military exercise. - Xinhua

Chinese and Russian troops launched an amphibious landing drill in east China's Shandong Province yesterday morning as part of the joint military exercise dubbed "Peace Mission 2005."
After a day of naval exercises with ships and planes practicing air and sea blockades, the joint forces made an amphibious landing.
At 11:08am, the air forces took the lead in attacking military facilities on the shore. Fighters and bombers targeted missile launchers, accompanied by destroyers flanking the shore with canons.
The joint aircraft formation, covered by fighters, made saturation bombings of artillery and destroyed major forward and deep targets, disabling defense systems. Helicopters then swept off land blocks for Chinese and Russian joint marine corps.
Armored landing vehicles carrying hundreds of marines charged forward on the shore accompanied by firing cover from amphibious tanks and helicopters.
Hundreds of paratroopers were carried by three transporters into the heart of hostile defenses. At the same time, 18 helicopters transported a special force squadron to assault the target's left rear.
Half an hour later, covered by 12 armored helicopters, a Russian marine company together with a Chinese amphibious battalion and more than 40 landing vehicles set foot on the beach. The first echelon of rangers captured the forward positions on the beach in two minutes.
At 11:52am, three landing craft of the joint fleet took a second echelon of 32 armored carriers to the beach, supplying infantryman to secure the consolidated positions.
At 12:10pm, the amphibious landing exercise concluded with the joint forces accomplishing the landing mission.
General ge Zhenfeng, general director of the Chinese side of the exercise, said he was delighted, adding though it was raining, the Chinese and Russian forces had cooperated smoothly.
General vladimir Moltenskoi, deputy chief of Russia's Land Forces in charge of the exercise, said that soldiers and officers of both sides had precisely completed all the planned missions in very bad weather.
Chinese defense Minister Cao Gangchuan and his Russian counterpart Sergei Ivanov observed the exercise, as did Central Asian defense envoys.