China's "first school in the north" to patrol the snow: from 53° north latitude

Hulunbuir, 3 March -- China's "first school in the north" patrols the snow: guarding from 24 degrees north latitude

Authors: Zhang Wei, Li Yongjian

"Wear thicker, there is heavy snowfall these days, the road is more difficult, and the patrol time may be extended." In the early morning, the town of Enhe Hadda was still immersed in thick ice fog, and Chen Xiangjun, a border police officer of the "post-80s" generation, and his teammates had changed into cotton shoes, put on cold masks, prepared self-heating food and tongs, and stepped on the thick snow to patrol the road.

Recently, heavy snowfall fell in Hulunbuir Prefecture, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and the temperature in Enhehada Town, located in the northernmost part of Erguna City and the hinterland of the northern foothills of the Daxing'an Ridge, once again fell below -20?°C, with a snow thickness of 15 cm and a wind force of more than 7.

"Every step is very difficult." Chen Xiangjun told reporters.

Located in a no-man's land deep in the Daxing'an Ridge, across the river from Russia, the annual average temperature is -6 °C, the lowest temperature is -58 °C, and the frost-free period is only 81 days, known as the "first in the north". The police stationed here guard the 53-kilometer border and 22,216 square kilometers of primeval forest in northern China's northern Xinjiang at latitude 5895°<>′ north.

The picture shows the police of the En and Hatta border police stations patrolling the border in the snow. Photo by Bai Yuquan

Due to the heavy snowfall in the past few days, the already icy road was covered with snow again, and the police car could not drive quickly, and the original 15-minute drive took more than 30 minutes to drive to the 132 boundary pillar, and this is the starting point of the police patrol.

After counting his belongings, Chen Xiangjun and his colleagues patrolled along the border protective net with snow.

"Today's patrol route is along the banks of the Erguna River and to the 133 pillars." Chen Xiangjun walked forward with one shallow foot and one foot in the snow, telling reporters as he walked.

Along the way, there was white snow, except for the frozen river, there were trees growing in disorder, and in the cold wind, the bare branches were constantly swaying in the air.

During the march, Chen Xiangjun and his colleagues came to the protective net from time to time to carefully check whether there was any damage.

"If a small hole is not filled, it will become a big disaster." We will bring pliers, wire and other tools every time we patrol the edge to repair the damage that can be dealt with on the spot in time. Chen Xiangjun said that every inspection must be careful and meticulous to ensure that the protective net is 100% safe and does not give anyone who tries to cross the border a chance.

There were still large snowflakes in the sky, and although everyone had made sufficient preparations for the cold before leaving, the biting cold wind still burrowed into the cracks of the bones.

"Follow closely, pay attention to safety." Chen Xiangjun, a 38-year-old from Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, has worked at the En and Hadda border police station for seven years, from not adapting to snow inspections becoming "commonplace", he has rich experience.

Chen Xiangjun said that the hinterland of Daxing'anling often reaches the waist in the deepest part of the snow after a heavy snowfall, "but no matter what the weather, we have to conduct border inspections and patrols every day to grasp the situation in the frontier area and ensure the safety and stability of the border jurisdiction." ”

Between pillars 132 and pillars 133, there is a section of the route with complex terrain and steep slopes, and it takes five or six hours to walk down the 5-kilometer border, and the steep slopes and heavy snowfall for about eight months a year are the obstacles for civilian police patrols. "When it snows, the vehicle can't drive into the mountains at all, so we can only patrol the entire line on foot."

Chen Xiangjun still remembers that during a border patrol in the winter of 2020, the vehicle broke down, and there was no signal in the key areas of the patrol, in order to protect the safety of personnel and vehicles, in the cold and snow of -40 degrees Celsius, the patrol team walked more than 20 kilometers to find rescue. "At that time, my knee was frostbitten, and now it hurts every time it rains on a cloudy day."

Everyone was climbing the patrol road, and suddenly the peace in the forest was broken by an "ah", and the civilian police at the end of the team accidentally stepped into the snow pit covered by snow and fell.

It seems to be an ordinary fall, but in this environment, it brings a great impact to the body.

"The wind is heavy and the snow is heavy and the temperature is low, and every police officer will encounter frostbite, abrasions and other situations during the patrol, which is too normal, but it's okay." Fang Zheng climbed out of the snow pit with the help of his teammates, patted the snow on his body, said softly, and continued to move forward.

After two hours of thrilling advances, the patrol team finally walked out of the steep slope with complicated terrain. It was noon, in the cold wind, after a self-heating lunch, everyone hurried to continue patrolling. Although the remaining distance is only about 2 km, it takes more than 1 hours for the group to complete.

Recalling the first time he stepped on this patrol road, Chen Xiangjun is still deeply impressed, "At that time, there was heavy snow, shoes and socks did not know how many times they were wet by ice and snow, and I really thought about giving up when I couldn't walk halfway, but the director's sentence at that time, 'No matter what difficulties I encountered, you must be worthy of this police uniform' suddenly gave me the courage to persevere." ”

After returning to the office after the patrol, under the warm light, looking at the snowy scene outside the window, although Chen Xiangjun was a little tired, he was particularly pleased with the results of the patrol that "everything is as usual, everything is normal". (End)