Escort "Dongfeng Express"
When the military train arrives at the station, the soldiers will get off the train immediately to check the train status.
"Dongfeng Escort"-Fourth Sergeant Major Ma Haifeng likes to call his company that way. A train of seemingly ordinary trains, but the carriages are loaded with the country’s heavy weapons, as missile escorts, guarding the great swords of the great country on the Wanli Railway Line, "mysterious! Holy! Cocky!"
The officers and soldiers of the company summed up their mission with a jingle: "Train skins, hard and dry food, guarding national treasures, and protecting the Quartet." The Rocket Army's railway transportation company has been established for 42 years and has performed more than 1,600 railway escort missions, with a cumulative travel distance of more than 7 million kilometers. .
The name of the guided missile escort sounds enviable, "famous mountains and rivers, with a panoramic view." But many people don't know that they "feel the four seasons in one escort, and experience the spring and autumn in one mission, and they are often accompanied by injuries and illnesses." The life in the "missile train" is mysterious and difficult.
Task
More than 140,000 kilometers of railway lines in China connect all regions and support the rapid economic and social development. Among them are 5 kilometers of railway lines, extending to a ravine between Baishan and Heishui. In August 1978, a railway transportation company of a certain Rocket Corps was established there to take on the important task of escorting the "national treasure".
Because of the remote location, the express delivery has not yet reached there, and the company regularly sends cars to the town to pick it up. In fact, there are very few letters and couriers from officers and soldiers, because "people are out on missions all year round."
Two-thirds of the soldiers of the railway transportation company traverse China's Wanli railway line all the year round, "the company performs up to 18 tasks at the same time." The soldiers called the escorted missiles "mission missions," but not everyone could perform missions. The company had a talented Tsinghua University student named Li Chunlong. Company Commander Han Dong evaluated him as "very outstanding." Even so, he only performed his first escort mission not long ago when he was a soldier for nearly two years.
Under no special circumstances, the company will not arrange for the privates to "take out missions." Han Dong believes that "recruits need to learn, train and lay a solid foundation." Veterans "go out on missions" more often, and "train newcomers every time."
Even experienced veterans have to go through fierce competition if they want to "take a mission." Theory written examination, skill competition, class recommendation, mass election, pre-task evaluation, party branch research. The soldiers attach great importance to this process, "Compared with everyone, progress is faster."
But there are exceptions to competition. One year before the National Day, the company suddenly received an order to escort a new type of equipment. Commanders who understand this profession are all out on duty. Only the fourth-level sergeant chief Wang Quanyao is free and his wife is in labor. He has just boarded the train on vacation.
The party branch was in a dilemma, and the branch committee repeatedly studied, but they were forced to get through Wang Quanyao's mobile phone.
"Guaranteed to complete the task!" Company instructor Li Peiqiang imitated the scene at the time, "Wang Quanyao has a loud voice, and it is estimated that everyone in the carriage can hear it."
After getting through his wife's phone, Wang Quanyao hesitated.
"If you have a task, don't worry, can't you come here without you taking care of it in the past few months of pregnancy..." His wife, Wang Quanyao, couldn't help but burst into tears, and returned halfway before arriving home.
On the day the child was born, the army was advancing in the wind and sand, and the cell phone signal was intermittent. Anxious Wang Quanyao finally got through the phone at home. All the comrades in the car gathered around, and only four words could be heard clearly from the roar of the huge train wheels and the sound of the wind: "Mother and son are safe!" The carriage boiled, and everyone congratulated repeatedly and was extremely happy.
By the time Wang Quanyao returned from the mission, his son was 9 months old and "will be crawling all over the floor."
Every time the company "goes out on a mission," the company will organize an expedition ceremony. The officers and soldiers shouted slogans together. One of them was "The train is the chariot, and the railway is the battlefield. Stand in the battle position and not give way."
"In the beginning, it was just a routine procedure. If you perform more tasks, it becomes part of the task." Wang Quanyao said. Whenever a train on the expedition blew the siren, they had to stand upright in the carriage and shout the slogan. Even if there are only two people performing the task."
"It felt a bit'silly' at first, but later I found out that it was fierce!" Wang Quanyao recalled excitedly.
Clang
Many people are not familiar with the term "less-than-carload". The railway company divides military trains into two types-LTL and special trains. All carriages on the special train are for military use; LTL is a single or several military self-provided vehicles, mostly grouped with civilian freight trains.
Both special trains and LTL trains are equipped with self-provided living vehicles, and life is guaranteed, "but sometimes LTL will also "play orders" (not carry your own living vehicles). Ma Haifeng, the fourth-level sergeant commander, said that whether it is a special train or a LTL, the carriages carrying missile equipment must be manned at all times. The soldiers stayed beside the missile all the way, monitoring the state of the missile on the one hand, and checking the reinforcement regularly on the other.
This kind of carriage has very simple living facilities. There are only two beds welded to the inner walls of the train. There is no fan or air conditioning, no water or electricity, or even a toilet. "When producing self-provided cars, the manufacturers didn't expect that the soldiers would live on trucks, let alone that the time would be so long."
Living in such a carriage is considered "relaxed" in summer. "Even if the temperature is over 40 degrees Celsius, the train will have wind when it runs, and it will pass." Winter is the most difficult, with a minimum of minus 30 degrees Celsius. "Use sleeping bags at night. The two quilts will wake up from freezing."
It is common for people not to drink hot water or eat hot rice. In winter nights, soldiers would put frozen mineral water bottles in the bed and melt the ice with their bodies. "Sometimes I forgot to'cover the bed', sometimes it was too cold, and I just gnawed on the'popsicle' the next day."
Sergeant Wu Bowen has been in the army for 11 years. He is "the soldier with the longest single mission time in the company", with a record of 15 months and 3 days. Wu Bowen came to serve in the Railway Transport Company at the age of 19 and was diagnosed with severe stomach problems at the age of 26. The doctor said, "Not many young people have this disease."
"The'older' fighters all have stomach problems." Wu Bowen traced the source. "One time, I was thirsty for more than 60 hours; there was a food shortage and I got off the car and ate 5 bowls of rice; it could also be winter popsicles. 'I've eaten too much..."
Soldier Huang Yansheng has served as a soldier for 12 years, and the longest escort mission is 12 months. "This situation won't happen now." Starting last year, the superiors required a staff rotation every four months. "It is more humane without delay on vacation." He said, with such a provision, the soldiers clapped and cheered.
The soldiers on the military train can overcome the difficult living conditions, but they are afraid of getting sick on the train. Therefore, "all the company soldiers must be health workers", "most of the time they can judge that they are indispensable."
But there are also times when the judgment is inaccurate. One year, the company went to a certain place in the south to perform a mission. In the early morning, the fourth-ranking sergeant Yu Guoli had acute abdominal pain, his face was pale and his head was sweating profusely. "At that time, he was judged to be a kidney stone, and he was given a lot of water. When he got off the car to the hospital the next day, he was diagnosed with pancreatitis. Drinking water is strictly prohibited. The opposite is true," said Zhong Congming, a fourth-level sergeant chief.
"This minor illness is really nothing." Yu Guoli had already changed jobs in 2017. Whenever this matter was mentioned on the phone, he would comfort his comrades in this way.
However, since then, the company has established a "remote diagnosis and treatment system." In the event of a situation, the army doctor's diagnosis on the phone made officers and soldiers feel more at ease.
Today, trains have become an important means of transportation for Chinese people. Statistics show that in 2019 alone, the National Railways sent 3.57 billion passengers. Nowadays, the ride experience is getting better and better regardless of the high-speed rail or high-speed rail, but only the self-provided cars of the railway transportation company have not yet been replaced.
Ma Haifeng explained that the design life of self-owned vehicles is 25 years, and most of them have not reached the retirement age. However, in recent years, with the change of missile types, the company has successively received some new self-provided vehicles, "living conditions have improved a lot."
"The new self-provided living car is like a restaurant on a train. This side is the kitchen, and the other side is the bed or seat." Ma Haifeng said, "The company soldiers are all chefs. If the train stops for a long time, people will be sent nearby to buy a lot of ingredients. , Stored in the refrigerator, everyone likes the feeling of frying on the train."
After dinner, the mission commander will organize a meeting for everyone to arrange the learning and training tasks for the day. "Just like in the company, exercise classes on time and organize physical training on time." Ma Haifeng said, due to site restrictions, it is difficult to organize physical training on the train. "However, the soldiers will make full use of fitness equipment and even compile aerobics. "
Sense of gain
Except for wartime or special missions, military trains operate at a low level. The "Railway Technical Management Regulations" stipulates that military trains are in the seventh class and freight trains are in the eighth class. But Ma Haifeng said, “LTL vehicles hung on freight trains often change their composition, and the waiting time is long, which is equivalent to a lower level.”
“It’s common to wait for ten and a half months. Don’t be anxious. You have to endure loneliness.” Wu Bowen, born in 1992, showed veteran surpassing age. “Every task must be fully psychologically prepared, adaptable and hardworking. Be with loneliness."
The officers and soldiers said that they have two homes, one is the company and the other is their hometown. Once, the military line went back and forth, passing by Wu Bowen's home 6 times. "It was okay at the beginning, but then I couldn't hold back, and I shed tears." Because of the confidentiality requirement, he has not mentioned this to his family so far.
"Our distant places are often stormy, but there can also be poetry in the middle." In Wu Bowen's eyes, "you must learn to find happiness on the escort."
Once the mission train passed a small station, so small that there was no place to supply boiling water. On the same day, a comrade-in-arms celebrated his birthday, "I wanted to celebrate with three bowls of hot instant noodles, but I couldn't make three bowls of cold noodles." But they still ate very well and sang birthday songs.
The journey of escort is long, and it is not easy to keep the soldiers in a good mental state. The fourth-level sergeant chief Zeng Qiangsheng has been a coach instructor for 8 years and has witnessed the changes in LTL trucks, from a dazzling array of books, to a tablet computer, and first-class fitness facilities. "The sense of gain for young soldiers has been increasing. "He says.
After a long and boring long-distance escort, the soldiers were most proud of the moment the missile took off. "Watching the missile we escorted to the sky is like seeing our child scored 100 points in the exam." Every time at this time, everyone would celebrate with a dinner. "If you have a good literary talent, you will also write about your experience." Zeng Qiangsheng Excitedly said, "That scene will never be forgotten in a lifetime."
In recent years, if the train stops for a long time, soldiers will be allowed to take turns to take the following trains to visit the nearby martyrs cemetery and battle site. What impressed Zeng Qiangsheng most was that once he revisited the enlistment oath at a battle site. He stood upright with another soldier and shouted the soldier's oath. Many ordinary people watched. "We are done swearing, and the people applaud. At that time, I felt that no matter how hard it was, it was worth it!"
A couplet was posted in the window of the railway transportation company-"Hand over the sword, send the east wind, never forget to be loyal to the party at the beginning; wear solitary smoke, soar the desert, carry the mission of railway transportation for thousands of miles", every time he passes there, Wu Bowen Will read these two sentences silently in my heart.
Soon the sergeant's service period was about to expire, Wu Bowen told his wife, "I will work for a few more years." His wife asked him, "Why, haven't you suffered enough?"
"Here is my value, you don't understand!" Wu Bowen intends to find time to bring his wife and two daughters to the station to have a look. "Feel the life of the railway company and listen to the story of the escort soldiers."
Tian Liang, Wang Tian, Lin Wen and photo Source: China Youth Daily