Zhenbao Island Incident Airsoft Reenactment

The year was 1969 and the Sino-Soviet fracturing was at its height. A seventh-month-long military conflict was erupting on the border between the old Soviet Union and China. One particular battle stands out in history as the fiercest of the campaign: the Zhenbao Island (Damanskii Island to the Soviets) incident. Sixty thousand ethnic Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Province of China swarmed across the frontier and made it into the USSR in an attempt to escape the hopeless economic situation of their homeland. Beijing was outraged and pointed fingers at the Soviets, accusing them undermining China's control of the former Uyghur residents.

But they weren't content to be all talk and no action. Chinese forces took a group of Soviet border guards by surprise on Zhenbao on March 2 of that year. When it was all over, 58 Soviets lay dead and 94 had been wounded. Among the dead was a senior-level colonel. The retaliation was swift. Less than two weeks later, on March 15, they stormed the island and bombarded Chinese soldiers stationed on the bank of the Ussuri.

Border talks began later that year and continued until the '70s closed out without any sort of conclusive agreement ever being reached. Relations between the two nations remained frosty. The constant threat of war with the Motherland led to numerous border clashes over the years, but its longest lasting effect was China's ensuing obsession with military might.

Why am I telling you guys all of this? Is it because of our obsession with military history? Partly it is, yes. The real reason, though, is that we're going to recreate the Zhenbao Island incident on our airsoft field on January 22 at 10am. Participants will either be placed on the Soviet Union or Chinese Army side of the conflict. The full mission objectives for both factions during the
airsoft event are listed below.

Chinese Army:

• Eliminate all Soviets invading Chinese territory.
• Prevent Soviets from taking over Chinese military base.
• Escort Chinese Refugees back to China territory.


Soviet Union:

• Eliminate all Chinese invading Soviet territory.
• Prevent Chinese from taking over Soviet military base.
• Capture or eliminate Chinese refugees (optional)

Check out our
Facebook events page for full details and requirements.