A spy satellite beams a high-definition thermal image to the field command of the Jinan military region's cyberwarfare 'blue unit' via an encrypted downlink.
A large enemy force of tanks, artillery and heavily armed troops has massed at the border, under camouflage to escape the notice of Chinese sentries.
Within minutes, more than 300 blue unit computer specialists are at their posts. They find a 'back door' in the enemy's radio communications and infiltrate their military network. Drones and helicopters take off from a border airfield and strike the enemy's secret supply bases and convoys. The would-be attackers abandon their assault.
The cyberwarfare scenario is just one of the various exercises involving military blue units, or cyberspace special forces, that have been described in recent years in PLA Daily, the English-language edition of the People's Liberation Army daily newspaper. The existence of these semi-independent units in all military regions was confirmed in May by the Defence Ministry. The units are co-ordinated by the Information Security Base under the control of the PLA's General Staff Department.
Already, a large number of soldiers have been trained in hacking and defence skills. And, from the army, air force and navy to the strategic missile force, the blue units have developed their own tactics to deal with their perceived enemies, mainland military experts say.
Strategically, the blue units apply in cyberspace Mao Zedong's doctrine of guerilla warfare - the concept of avoiding direct confrontation with big and powerful enemies such as the United States. Mao abandoned big cities when taking on the invading Japanese and anti-communist Nationalists. He established strongholds in less-developed rural areas and constantly hit the enemy's regular armies with small bands of guerillas. He also mobilised large peasant militias to fight powerful but less numerous enemies. It was a strategy that eventually proved successful.