China's Most Secret Weapon: The Messenger Pigeon#98By Chengcheng Jiang / BeijingWednesday, Mar. 02, 2011From TIME MagazineVocabulary o !no" be#ore you read$#uri%e a%iaorcon%enional brigadein#rasrucure ca%alryrendered &eri&heral&lehora inerce&eddis&ersed a&&rehendincarceraed &edigree'hough he "orld(saenion has recenlybeen #ocused on heun%eiling o# China(s )rse%er sealh )gher je,he Chinese miliary hasbeen busy in%esing inanoher y&e o# furtive*yer$ he humblemessenger &igeon.+ccording o re&ors insae media, lae lasyear, he Chengdudi%ision o# he ,eo&le(s-iberaion +rmy .,-+/began raining 10,000 &igeons as &ar o# a &ush o build a 0reser%e &igeon army0 ha "ould &ro%ide su&&or o he miliary(s conventional communicaions infrastructure in he e%en ha "ar rendered is plethora o# modern echnology unusable. 0'hese miliary &igeons "ill be &rimarily called u&on o conduc s&ecial miliary missions be"een roo&s saioned a our land borders or ocean borders,0 air #orce miliary e1&er Chen 2ong old China Cenral 'ele%ision a#er he announcemen. +ccording o re&ors, he birds "ill be dispersed ocommunicaions bases across China(s remoe and mounainous souh"esern region, &aricularly around he 2imalayan #oohills. 'he &igeons, *ying a s&eeds o# u& o 34 miles .120 !m/ &er hour, "ill be rained o carry loads o# u& o 5.4 o6. .100 g/.'he birds ha%e a long hisory o# ser%ice in China. Messenger &igeons ha%e been used in he counry #or more han a housand years, and &igeons ha%e been earning heir miliary sri&es here since a leas he lae 1750s. 8n 1753 -ieuenan Claire -ee Chennaul, a reired 9.:. +ir Force &ilo, arri%ed in China o head u& a grou& o# 9.:.;s&onsored aviators !no"n as he Flying 'igers, as!ed "ih a!ing o he air o re&el he Ja&anese in%asion o# he mainland. 2e brough "ih him hundreds o# messenger &igeons o hel& "ih he "ar e