Qi Fabao, Chen Hongjun, Chen Xiangrong, Xiao Siyuan, Wang Zhuoran
The names of these defending border heroes spread from the Karakoram Plateau and the Kalwan River Valley to every corner of 9.6 million square kilometers.
In the extremely steep and complex, extremely vast and desolate western highlands, one by one post constitutes the Great Border Defense Wall, and a famous soldier is like a moving boundary marker, guarding every inch of the motherland.
The Karakoram Plateau, the Kalwan River Valley, in the extremely steep, complex, and extremely vast and desolate western highlands, the names of heroes who defend the country and protect the border spread from here to every corner of 9.6 million square kilometers.
Thousands of soldiers are like this, thousands of miles away are like iron.
In the mid-winter season, we set off from zero kilometers of the Xin-Tibet Highway in Yecheng County, Xinjiang, and embarked on the Xin-Tibet Highway, National Highway 219, known as the “Tian Road”. It climbed from less than 1,000 meters to more than 5,000 meters above sea level. , Inhaling oxygen and panting, Yuetian Road, Turning Daban, offering sacrifices to heroes, and staying at the plateau post.
Challenge the limits of the body on the Karakoram Mountains, we witnessed on the snow-covered plateau, the guards practised "clear love, only for China" with youth and life, "I am the boundary marker for the movement of the motherland, every inch of the foot "The land is the territory of the motherland".
In ancient mythology, the Kunlun Highland is a difficult and difficult place.
"The Book of the Han Dynasty: Biography of the Western Regions" records that the ancient Silk Road travellers "experienced the mountains of big headaches, small headaches, terracotta, and hot bodies, making people feel colorless, headaches and vomiting, as well as donkeys and animals. There are also Sanchi and Panshiban. , Tao Jizhe is six or seven inches, and the elders are thirty miles in length. The unpredictable depths of the elders, the walkers ride each other, the ropes lead each other, more than two thousand miles to the county. The animal fell, not half a pit "When people fall, they will not be able to watch each other. The dangers and dangers are insurmountable." This is about the difficulty of traveling on the Kunlun Highland on the Silk Road.
Many myths and stories of Chinese civilization originate from the Kunlun Highlands. The border guards stationed here in the new era stick to the Bingfeng checkpoint all the year round. They have used their bloody heroic deeds to guard the border and created a strong national spirit that will last forever.
Setura: The last settlement on Gusi Road
The cold winter is here, and Yecheng County, an important town in southern Xinjiang, is still immersed in the joy of a bumper harvest of walnuts and pomegranates. The zero-kilometer geographical indication of Xin-Tibet Highway has attracted many outdoor sports enthusiasts to gather here.
From here, the world's highest altitude and most difficult road winding between the mountains-the Xin-Tibet Highway has become the most desired road for many extreme sports challengers.
The Xin-Tibet Highway is the only passage between Xinjiang and Tibet. The highway crosses the world-famous Kunlun Mountains, Karakorum Mountains, Gangdis Mountains, and Himalayas. The average altitude is above 4500 meters. The air contains oxygen. Less than half of the plain, the climate is harsh, volatile, and vegetation is scarce.
Almost all sections of the whole line are no-man’s land with high cold and hypoxia. Along the way, there are more than 1,000 square kilometers of desert Gobi, permafrost and snow-covered mountains and mountains. The annual average temperature is below minus 20 degrees Celsius. It is always necessary to resist the invasion of wind, snow and severe cold, and prevent road hazards such as falling rocks, glaciers and avalanches.
Loaded with fresh vegetables and fruits prepared for the officers and soldiers of the plateau outpost, in the freezing cold wind of southern Xinjiang, we set off from zero kilometers onto the "sky road" paved among the rugged mountains and embarked on a difficult journey.
The Xin-Tibet Highway has a total length of more than 2,000 kilometers, and a quarter of it is in Xinjiang, and the most precarious section of the road is 663 kilometers in the Xinjiang section.
"Kudidaban is dangerous, like a ghost gate; Mazadaban sharp, steeply rising five thousand three; Heikadaban hanging, ninety-nine bends; Jieshan is far away, you can reach out to touch the sky." A local person The jingle of the Xin-Tibet Highway vividly portrays the characteristics of these ice and snow Dabans on the Xinjiang section of the Xin-Tibet Highway.
The Xin-Tibet line is also the most magnificent and steep scenery in the vast no man’s land.
All the way into the hinterland of the Karakoram Mountains, the mountain roads are winding and rugged, the ice peaks are connected by the mountains, the canyons are deep, the rivers are rushing, and the majestic second highest peak in the world, the Chogori, is sometimes looming.
As my country's four roads into Tibet, the natural conditions are the most difficult and the roads are the most difficult and dangerous. Most of the areas here are no-man's land, with very few supply points on the roads and rare people.
The car drove difficultly through sections of roads with poor road conditions caused by summer mudslides, landslides, landslides, and foundation settlements. It surpassed several ice and snow dabans in succession. After circling for six or seven hours in the Karakoram Mountains, the car raced high. The ruins of Tula sentry post came into view, which was the last settlement of ancient China on the Silk Road.
The site of Saitula Post is 3800 meters above sea level, and it is 424 kilometers away from Pishan County, Xinjiang.
The post is surrounded by water on three sides and a broken wall of more than ten meters on one side. It has a quadrangle courtyard barracks and a hexagonal police building. There are many shooting holes on the wall. The location is high and dangerous. "Open" trend.
In history, Setura used to be the southern transportation line of the ancient Silk Road and the bridgehead to the South Asian subcontinent, which can directly reach India.
In the late Qing Dynasty, it was the residential area closest to the border.
In the middle and late 19th century, the strategically important Karakorum Pass became a coveted place by the great powers, strangling the throat of the Sangzhu Ancient Road, and the strategically important Satura Fortress, which was a window for colonists to peep into southern Xinjiang.
In the 1870s, after the fierce "coastal defense" and "block defense" disputes within the Qing court, in 1875, Zuo Zongtang led his troops to march westward, defeating the puppet regime of Aguba in one fell swoop and regaining the north and south of Tianshan Mountains.
After pacifying Xinjiang, in 1877, Zuo Zongtang organized a death squad of the Qing army, consisting of more than one hundred death squads riding camels and horses, carrying food and grass, through hardships and dangers, traveling a long distance for more than a month, and then stationed in Setura.
They joined hands with local residents to transport earth and stones to establish military checkpoints. Since then, Setula has become the highest-altitude garrison of the Qing government and the defensive base camp on the westernmost border of China. It is responsible for the defense mission of the Karakoram Mountains in the western border. .
After that, the Qing government used Setura as its base camp and set up many points cards, and officers and soldiers began to inspect the border regularly.
It is said that it took at least three months to patrol from south to north.
In 1928, the National Government set up a border defense bureau in Sai Tula, and later a border guard team, and the number of guards increased to 200.
During Sheng Shicai's term as the provincial chairman and border defense supervisor, he set up a border office in Saitula and a border brigade in Hotan to defend Saitula, an important defense zone on the Sino-Indian border.
In March 1950, a reinforced company of the 10th Regiment of the Fifth Division of the Chinese People's Liberation Army stationed in Setura.
It is said that when the People's Liberation Army entered the Setura outpost, there was still a squad of guarding soldiers stationed here.
Soldiers who hadn’t seen outsiders in 4 years saw the PLA’s first sentence: “Oh, someone has come to change defense!” “Why did you change your outfit again?” The PLA soldiers shed tears as they watched a tattered guard card soldier. .
In May 2010, Setura was officially established as a town, and the site was selected in the Sanli Barracks 15 kilometers away from the outpost site.
Nowadays, the three-storey town government office building built with the assistance of Anhui Province stands beside the 219 National Road. The town’s supermarkets, restaurants, hotels, car repair shops, etc. are all available. The town’s more than 100 residents are mostly nomads for generations. The Kirgiz herdsmen in the depths of the Lakoram Mountains, as well as the businesses operating here.
In recent years, Anhui Province, a counterpart assistance to Pishan County, has also invested 10 million yuan in aid to Xinjiang to build settlement and pastoral houses deep in the mountains, install solar power generation equipment, and allow farmers and herdsmen to live in two bedrooms and embark on an asphalt road. , Drank tap water.
Sai Tula has also become a veritable "Karakorum No. 1 Town".
Kangsiwa: the highest martyrs cemetery
"Martyrs, if we are here to guard, don't worry!" In front of the tall martyrs monument, the political commissar of a certain border regiment stationed at Karakorum Mountain and his comrades solemnly raised their right hands to salute.
Every time you go up the mountain to the frontier defense company and pass by Kangsiwa, everyone will stop and go to the Martyrs Cemetery to see the young martyrs, light a cigarette for them, put a bottle of drink, and pay homage to the heroic spirits of the martyrs. , Do not forget the responsibilities of border guards who patriotically guard the border.
Located at the foot of Kunlun Mountain and facing the Karakoram Mountain, the Kangsiwa Martyrs Cemetery is a landmark building on the Xin-Tibet Highway.
Under the clear blue sky, on the silent plateau, this majestic cemetery stands beside the national highway, guarded by rolling snow mountains.
In history, Kangxiwa was the main traffic route of the ancient Silk Road. The Sino-Indian border is only 100 kilometers away, and several important border posts can be directly connected from here.
The Kangsiwa Martyrs Cemetery is also the highest martyrs cemetery and patriotism education base in China. Hundreds of martyrs who sacrificed for the peace and construction of the motherland lie down on a plateau at an altitude of 4280 meters, including those killed in the Sino-Indian border self-defense counterattack. 78 soldiers and more than 20 soldiers who died and died in the snow-covered plateau for national defense in recent years.
In 1962, the Sino-Indian border self-defense counterattack was launched. This was the first anti-aggression war in my country after the founding of the People's Republic of China. Kangxiwa became the frontline headquarters of the Xinjiang and Southern Xinjiang military regions during the war.
On October 20th, in the western section of the China-India border, the Xinjiang Military Region organized a mobile unit and a front-line guarding detachment to form a strengthening regiment to cooperate with the main force of our army in the eastern section, starting from Shenxian Bay in the north to Zhaxigang in the south. Within the 600-kilometer area, counterattacks against the 114 Brigade of the invading Indian Army from the four directions of Astronomical Point, Hewei Beach, Kongkashan Pass, and Ali, killed 265 enemies and cleared all 43 strongholds established by the Indian invasion. The Indian army hit hard.
Some of the officers and soldiers of our army who died in this battle were buried on the high ground opposite the command headquarters.
Slowly entering the cemetery, there is a tall monument facing him. The 13 bronzing characters of "Martyrs who defend the frontiers of the motherland will be immortal" are particularly eye-catching against the backdrop of the snow-capped mountains.
A lot of fresh fruits and drinks are placed in front of the monument, and lighted cigarettes are placed above the tombstones of martyrs.
It can be seen that there are constant people here all year round.
Vehicles passing by the Xin-Tibet line will honour their horns when they pass here; many drivers and passengers will get off the car to pay homage to the heroes who sacrificed their lives for the country. Among them are tourists, road workers, and some riding on the "Tianlu" "Alise friends" who challenge themselves...This has become an unwritten rule on the Xinzang Line.
"Kangsiwa" is a spiritual monument on the Xin-Tibet line. People leave their grief and admiration in the Martyrs Cemetery, and take away the loyalty and dedication of the martyrs.
The reporter came across several old veterans and their families who were driving from the northeast into the park to pay homage.
In front of the monument, they lined up in a neat line and took off their hats and bowed solemnly.
"For us, this is a baptism of the soul. We are veterans, and they are all our comrades in arms." The veterans also lit cigarettes for the young martyrs.
Step out of the Kangsiwa Martyrs Cemetery, on the opposite side of the Karakoram Mountains, huge slogans "Promote the Karakoram Spirit" and "Strengthen the Tianshan Mountains, Brighten the Sword Kunlun" are engraved on it, which are particularly eye-catching against the blue sky and white clouds. The martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the country have turned into the towering mountains of the western border of the Republic, and have integrated into the spirit of generations of border officers and soldiers to guard the territory of the motherland with their youth and lives.
It is understood that, in addition to some of the officers and soldiers of our army who died in the Sino-Indian border self-defense counterattack, some were buried in the Kangsiwa Martyrs Cemetery, and some were buried in the Shiquanhe Martyrs Cemetery in the Tibet Autonomous Region and Yecheng County Martyrs Cemetery in Xinjiang.
Yecheng County, located at the zero-kilometer starting point of the Xin-Tibet Highway, was the transportation hub and logistics supply base for that war.
In 1965, the Yecheng Martyrs Cemetery was built to commemorate the heroes and revolutionary martyrs who sacrificed their lives in the Sino-Indian border self-defense counterattack. This is also the only martyrs cemetery established in Xinjiang with a national defense counterattack.
Stepping into the cemetery, the elegiac couplet "for the sake of sacrificing so much ambition, dare to teach the sun and the moon to change the sky" is solemn and solemn. Under the lush greenery, Luo Guangxie, the first-class hero and the thundering hero in the Sino-Indian border self-defense counterattack, and the blasting hero Wang Zhongdian , The three heroes of Simayi Maimat martyr rest in the front row of the cemetery.
Also buried here are the heroes of all ethnic groups who died in the construction of the Xin-Tibet Highway.
There is also an earthen tomb without tombstones in the northeast corner of the cemetery. A small tree is planted on the tomb. In the tomb is the former administrator of the cemetery, Amar Eti, who participated in self-defense on the Sino-Indian border. Combat veteran.
For 47 years, he respected love and righteousness, kept promises, and led his family to guard the tomb of sacrificed comrades.
In 2017, he was buried with the comrades he guarded.
Today, his son Ainival has also started the life of a grave guard.
Guarding the cemetery of martyrs has become the mission of two generations.
Overnight astronomical spot picking stars
In the mid-winter season, the Karakoram Pass on the Sino-Indian border is already covered with white snow. The temperature in the whole weather is minus 20-30 degrees Celsius. The strong winds of five or six are bitterly cold and blow through the military coat worn by reporters.
Starting from the town of Setura at an altitude of 3780 meters, head to the astronomical point of more than 260 kilometers at an altitude of more than 5,000 meters, along with snow-capped mountains.
The off-road vehicle hovered up, the mountain was steep and the glacier crisscrossed.
Everyone got out of the car to explore the road from time to time, and carefully drove through the water-damaged and frozen roads one after another.
Finally, after more than 5 hours of turbulence, we arrived at the Astronomical Point Border Guard Company.
The Karakoram Mountain, which means "black rock" in Turkic language, is a tall mountain range with the most developed glaciers on the earth, with an average elevation of over 6000 meters.
In 1933, British writer James Hilton traveled in this area and wrote in his world-famous novel "The Lost Horizon": "The Karakoram is one of the most awesome mountain landscapes on earth, and A place that geologists, mountaineers and travellers dream of.” Since ancient times, some of the mountain passes here have been the gateway to Central Asia and the only place that the ancient Silk Road must pass through... The world’s second highest peak, Chogori, at an altitude of 8611 meters. Just hide it.
Jogori is recognized by the global mountaineering community as the most difficult mountain in the world to climb. It is known as the "dead zone" and has a death rate of 27%, which is four times that of Mount Everest.
The Astronomical Point Border Defense Company is located on a high ground at an altitude of 5,171 meters in the Karakoram Pass. It is an important commanding height in the western section of the Sino-Indian border.
The astronomical spot area was once the main battlefield of the Sino-Indian self-defense counterattack in 1962, and the "first battle at Hongshantou" took place here.
Astronomical points, as the name suggests, must be related to meteorological observations.
In the early 1950s, my country's astronomical and meteorological survey workers reached this high altitude area after a difficult trek, and installed equipment for measuring astronomical weather on an unnamed mountain. Meteorologists called this point an "astronomical point."
When my border guard set up a checkpoint here in May 1959, they called this checkpoint an astronomical checkpoint.
The outpost of the Astronomical Point Border Defense Company stands on a height of 5390 meters and is called the 5390 outpost.
The astronomical point area belongs to the plateau alpine region. It is extremely hypoxic. The oxygen content in the air is less than 40% of the plain. The ultraviolet intensity is 50% higher. The pressure is half lower than the standard pressure. The boiling point of water is only 75 degrees Celsius, which is an annual average. The temperature is "permafrost" below minus 20 degrees Celsius, and the maximum temperature difference between day and night is nearly 30 degrees Celsius.
There are violent snowstorms throughout the year, the snow does not melt all the year round, the wind is mostly 5-10, and most of the time there are snowflakes in the sky.
There are no trees, no grass, no running wild animals, no flying birds, and there are no signs of life except border soldiers on patrol. It is a true "life restricted zone."
When we arrived at the frontier guard company at the astronomical point, we had always been physically strong, had been on business all the year round, and had never had altitude sickness. We had headaches, chest tightness, shortness of breath, hard to eat, and difficulty in swallowing. We can really describe it as "suffering and breathing."
We deeply realize that garrisoning on the plateau is a spirit of dedication as long as people are there and stick to it.
"When I first came up, I couldn't eat a bite of food for a few days. I was often awakened by lack of oxygen when I went to bed at night. Because of lack of oxygen, there was no taste in the mouth, and the officers and soldiers didn't want to eat. But the body is the basis of defense, and there is no strong body. Quality, how to defend the border for the country? We organized a dinner competition. One steamed bun was passed, two steamed buns were good, and three steamed buns were excellent. We used this method to inspire everyone." Perennial stationed at Astronomical Point, Binglian Mountain and Shenxian Bay etc. A young battalion commander of a border defense company with an altitude of more than 5,000 meters comforted the reporter.
The officers and soldiers of the Astronomical Point Border Defense Company are all very young, with an average age of no more than 30. On the checkpoints, everyone wears 8 kg cotton coats almost all year round. Walking with bare hands is equivalent to carrying 40 kg in the plain.
Here, in addition to border patrols, officers and soldiers also have a lot of daily exercises and target practice training.
Taking a break, we moved one step at a time and headed to the 5390 outpost for interviews.
When they reached the high ground where the outpost was located, the temperature dropped sharply, and the wind was raging like a knife, making it difficult.
Several defensive fighters had bruise faces and chapped lips. They crawled on the ice and lay on the snow, nailed firmly to the border line like steel nails, defending every inch of the motherland's land, and insisting that "point is the battle position. Patrolling is fighting, and standing on the border, I am the world" oath is to truly use life to defend the motherland.
It is a border guard company at the astronomical point of the camp.
All night, although I was spreading an electric blanket and sucking oxygen, I had a headache and could not sleep.
The twilight outside the window is deep, and the dark blue night sky is densely covered with stars, twinkling and twinkling, as if it is close in front of you, and you can lift your hand.
The silhouette of the sentinel was very tall and solemn against the starry sky and snow.
In this starry night, I can’t help but think of Deng Jianxian, who served as the governor of Yecheng County in Xinjiang a hundred years ago. He used to go to the border of China and India in the rule to survey the border of Karakorum in person, despite the dangers and dangers of the people. , Inspected the border affairs, and wrote the "Diary of Investigation of Bazardalaka Border Tuning Affairs and Situation Along the Way".
Many years later, the border historiography work "Yecheng County Chronicles" written by Deng Gong was an important historical evidence after the Sino-Indian boundary survey. Many of our evidences are based on Deng Gong's book that year, and based on this, we drew border maps.
Deng Gong contributed a lot to providing strong evidence for the integrity of the motherland's territory by using texts to record history and using history to preserve land.
Since ancient times, the Chinese nation has always faced tit-for-tat on issues related to national territorial integrity and border security, fighting every inch of its territory, and would rather shed blood than be a cynic, just like these young soldiers defending the plateau.
When we left the outpost of the Astronomical Point Border Guard Company, we hugged and bid farewell to the young soldiers one by one. These dull-faced children with chapped lips looked firm.
In fact, most of them are post-90s or even post-00s. Guarding the plateau deeply condenses them with national interests, giving young lives an unusual meaning.
Holding these children tightly in my arms, I couldn't restrain the tears. These young bodies guarded every inch of the ground under my feet with strong will, and fulfilled the oath of "every inch of heart, inch of earth, inch of love"!
Pilgrimage to Shenxian Bay at an altitude of five thousand three
When I was young, at the moment when the New Year's bell was about to ring at the annual Spring Festival Gala, I would see the officers and soldiers stationed at the border defense company of Shenxian Bay greeting people all over the country on the snow-covered plateau.
When will I be able to go to the Shenxianwan post for a "pilgrimage" has become my dream and long-cherished wish.
The Shenxian Bay post stands in the snowy sea on the Karakoram Pass, with an altitude of 5380 meters. It was once the highest border post in the army.
Condescending here, surrounded by ice and snow all year round, and the air is thin, it is an out-and-out "plateau on the plateau" and is called the "life restricted zone" by medical experts.
Since the establishment of the card, thousands of officers and soldiers have stationed here, and generations of people from Shenxianwan have dedicated their youth and even their lives to the motherland.
What does "Shenxianwan" mean?
The young warriors told me playfully that this is not a fairyland on earth in mythology, but a bitter place where only people with deeds and skills like gods can stay.
"The word'Shenxianwan' is itself a kind of glory. We are the soldiers closest to the sun. We guard the western frontier of the motherland with our youth and passion."
China’s famous new frontier poet Zhou Tao once wrote a "Karakoram Spiritual Fu" for this: "Life is forbidden zone, the brave can challenge the limit; the feeling of vast seas, there are heroes to verify life. The flag shows the sky, and the will never lacks oxygen; Xia To refute the heart, to shoot Caiwen. Loyal guards, Chongran smiles proudly; the vast Olympic area, composes the spirit of Karakorum!...The bright moon and Tianshan, the man with guns sleepless; the lonely smoke and desert, the side-controller goes on tour."1982 In 1991, the Central Military Commission awarded the Shenxian Bay Post "Karakorum Steel Checkpoint" the honorary title, which is the highest praise for this spirit.
The happiest time at the Shenxianwan Post was to sit around and chat with the young officers and soldiers.
The soldiers rushed and said: "Don't think we are a solitary post in the snow sea, but the people of the whole country and all comrades in the army know that there is a fairy bay on the Karakoram Mountains. Every Chinese New Year, we will receive countless numbers from all sides of the motherland. Qing's condolences letter and greeting phone. This honor, this kind of honor, only our border guards have!"
As a soldier, when he reached the edge of the sky, he kept guarding in the clouds.
When the young Shenxian Bay border defense company commander took the soldiers on patrol, it took several hours, wading knee-less snow, advancing from the post at an altitude of more than 5,300 meters to the height of 5903, climbing the snow-capped mountains nearly 90 degrees to declare sovereignty The veteran soldier who has been adhering to the Shenxian Bay Border Defense Company for more than ten years after enlisting in the army, his daughter hurriedly ended her vacation and returned to the post just after the full moon.
He is always the first to jump down when he wants to smash the ice into the glacier to get water. The little soldier who loves to write a diary is just 20 years old. He thinks that the days when he is a soldier must be recorded, every night after the lights are turned off for 20 minutes, he Just use a small flashlight to write a diary on the bed.
He likes to play mobile games at home because of poor self-control. He feels that he has a very fulfilling life and can endure hardships when he matures. The youngest soldier is born after 00, and he went to the plateau as soon as he joined the army. Now he can also patrol the 5903 plateau. ...
At the Shenxianwan post, we also met Major Wang from the Tianjin Military Transportation Institute who came to exchange and study. He said: "I volunteered to sign up to Xinjiang. I want to come to the most difficult place and the spiritual highland of the whole army. Here, I patrolled with my comrades in arms. Although it was a pity that when I reached 5700 meters, I was escorted by a military doctor, but I must make these experiences of serving as a soldier in Shenxian Bay into a small video courseware and go back. Let the students learn."
In the winter of 1935, the Central Red Army finished the last leg of the Long March and was about to arrive in northern Shaanxi.
Mao Zedong ascended to the top of Minshan Mountain, looking at the vast Kunlun Mountains from afar, and wrote "Niannujiao·Kunlun" with feelings, "Born into the sky, reckless Kunlun, read the spring of the world. Flying three million jade dragons, stirring the week."
For decades, the defense officers and soldiers of the past generations have been on the reckless Karakoram, with plateaus and border defenses as their homes, and the wind-snow border as a stage for realizing the value of life, as a position for loving the military, practicing martial arts and serving the country faithfully.
The honor of the Shenxian Bay Post today is the crystallization of the dedication and perseverance of border guards. Every garrisoned company and every sentry patrolling on guard is part of the steel checkpoint.
Since entering the new era, facing the ever-changing international situation and the complex defense environment, the plateau officers and soldiers have been deeply rooted in the snow-covered plateau and frontier defense while carrying historical honors, and have made contributions in defending the country and defending the borders. The heroic style of the heroes guarding the border in the new era.
(Li Xiaoling, He Zili)