[Explanation] At 9:31 a.m. on June 10, a train of Harmony EMU drove into Guangxi Liuzhou Railway Station. Ren Zhongde, a 100-year-old railway soldier to resist U.S. Aid Korea, was sitting in a wheelchair and rubbing his fingers, waiting a little anxiously.
What Ren Zhongde had to wait was to go to the Korean battlefield with him and drive a steam locomotive to transport anti-war supplies to the front line in a rain of bullets together with his comrade Wang Jiuliang, a comrade-in-arms stove worker.
[Live Voice] My master, master, are you okay now?
Well, it’s okay now, 70 years (not seen), when you were in North Korea, you were the youngest one in our car, you were only 19 years old, I was 29 years old at that time, now you are more than 90 years old, 90 years old, I We are all 100 years old, and we have not seen each other since we returned to China. They are no longer there. One of our comrades has been gone for more than 40 years, and there are only two of us.
[Explanation] In June 1951, at the height of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the train driver Ren Zhongde and the fireman Wang Jiuliang formed a team and became a member of the Volunteer Army 897 Railway Corps and joined the frontline battlefield.
On the Korean battlefield, Wang Jiuliang and Ren Zhongde escaped many times. One of them returned to the train from the station, which made Wang Jiuliang's memory still fresh.
[Concurrent Voice] Wang Jiuliang, a veteran of the Korean War to Resist US Aid and Aid Korea
We haven't rushed out of the station turnout. Seven or eight Mustang planes came in the sky. At this moment, we two hurried away.
After it (the Mustang aircraft) blew up the anti-aircraft artillery position, when it chased us, the ground in front of and behind it was covered with soil. At that time, the Hengyang Railway Bureau issued a cotton coat with the cotton coat to the two of us. We were crawling and running for at least 20 minutes. When it was dark, the plane didn't hit the two of us, and we both had a small life. That time was the most dangerous.
[Explanation] Because the Volunteer Army has no air supremacy, it is common for Ren Zhongde to encounter air strikes on the battlefield to resist US aggression and aid Korea.
During the period, Ren Zhongde had 3 locomotives bombed to scrap.
In August 1952, Ren Zhongde's plane was attacked by an enemy plane.
A bomb exploded not far from Ren Zhongde's side. The strong air currents and shock waves threw him more than ten meters away, and made him somersault and fell heavily to the ground.
When Ren Zhongde regained consciousness, he found himself lying in a hospital bed for emergency rescue.
Ren Zhongde put an end to the nearly two-year period of resisting U.S. aggression and aid to Korea.
[Commentary] Ren Zhongde returned home injured, while Wang Jiuliang continued to fight on the Korean battlefield. The two have never seen each other until they met at the train station on the morning of the 10th, 70 years apart.
On the day of the meeting, Ren Zhongde and Wang Jiuliang first visited the steam locomotive in the Liuzhou locomotive depot. They boarded the cab from the stairs and looked at the familiar scene. The 190-year-old driver combination seemed to have returned to the years of fierce fighting on the battlefield.
[Live Voice] This was taken by Mr. Ren, when I added coal like this, shoveled like this.
[Concurrent Voice] Ren Zhongde, a veteran of the Korean War to Resist U.S. Aid and Aid Korea
You and I are almost 200 years old, and now you can still see this car. This car is an old car and has now been eliminated. Today we can see it (it is too rare).
[Explanation] In the simulated driving cabin of the EMU of Liuzhou Locomotive Depot, Ren Zhongde asked Wang Jiuliang to sit down and act as a driving instructor for him.
On the day of his 100th birthday, Ren Zhongde had already started the chariot by his disciple Sun Ding Zhizhong.
[Live sound] What is the difference between a motor car and a steam locomotive? How do you feel? The steam locomotive has to burn coal and the driver needs to adjust the speed. This does not require the driver to adjust (every time).
[Explanation] The rapid development is not only the travel conditions of the train driver, but also the power of the train locomotive.
From steam locomotives, diesel locomotives, electric locomotives, "Harmony" to "Fuxing", China's railway industry has undergone tremendous changes in the past 70 years.
[Concurrent Voice] Ren Zhongde, a veteran of the Korean War to Resist U.S. Aid and Aid Korea
It's been 70 years and we have been driving together again, but this time driving is not a steam locomotive, but an electric car. This is a change in the country.
From the backward steam locomotive to the high-speed locomotive we are driving today, this shows that our country has developed scientifically.
[Explanation] Wang Jiuliang, who experienced the simulation cockpit of the EMU for the first time, was also full of emotions about China's development.
[Concurrent Voice] Wang Jiuliang, a veteran of the Korean War to Resist US Aid and Aid Korea
The rapid development of railways is so different from our time, I can't think of it so fast.
What I want to say is that the master will live another 20 years, and I will live a few more years. Let’s see how strong the new China is. Today’s China is too different from the past China, and it’s too much stronger. I see that the country is strong. I'm happy, I want to live a few more years in the future to take a look.
Reporting from Liuzhou, Guangxi by Wang Yizhao, Jiang Xiao, and Li Jinze
Editor in charge: [Li Yuxin]