On the evening of June 30, 1997, the moment of Hong Kong's return to the motherland was about to come. At the handover ceremony of the exchange of chinese and British troops, a commander of the People's Liberation Army said in a loud voice to the British troops stationed in Hong Kong:
"On behalf of the Chinese People's Liberation Army in Hong Kong, I take over the barracks. You can be laid off, we can be laid off. I wish you all a safe journey. ”
And the COMMANDER of the People's Liberation Army who made the British army "laid off" was Tan Shan'ai.
However, today, the COMMANDER of the People's Liberation Army, who has made the world witness China's confidence, has become a community police officer and is no longer active in front of the public. So, what exactly made him make such a decision? If you are interested in this topic, please help "press the 2-second like button" to give a strong thumbs up. And "pay attention" to it, often come later, and don't get lost.
Tan Shan'ai joined the army in Guangzhou in 1983 and was an ordinary soldier of the people. In the army, he trained hard, taking his comrades on a 5-10-kilometer long run every day. In 1995, for his outstanding performance in the army, he was promoted to staff officer of the Military Affairs Office of the Headquarters. In his opinion, it was more important to be an ordinary soldier in the army than anything else, but what he did not expect was that a chance encounter with a commander changed his fate.
According to Tan Shan'ai's own recollection, in the process of passing documents to the chief, he found that the chiefs were holding a meeting in the office, so Tan Shan'ai did not have the good sense to enter the office, but stood outside the office waiting for the chiefs to finish the meeting. Just when he was out of his mind, suddenly the chief came out of the office and called Tan Shan'ai's name, Tan Shan'ai hesitated for a moment, and walked into the office where the chiefs were meeting, and he was a little overwhelmed: after all, the office where the chiefs held a meeting was not said to be able to enter.
(Tan Shan Ai)
At this time, the political commissar came over and asked Tan Shan'ai to read a few words on the paper, and the words written on the paper were: "You can be laid off." This made Tan Shan'ai feel frightened for a moment: "Did you make any mistakes and want to lay yourself off?" And the political commissar suddenly demanded that Tan Shan'ai's voice be "louder", so Tan Shan'ai said loudly: "You can be laid off." These six big words, in the end, the chief on the side immediately decided: it is him!
After the incident, Tan Shan'ai realized that it was to make himself the commander of the People's Liberation Army responsible for the change of defense in Hong Kong, and the "layoff of the British army" was an indispensable part of the process of changing the defense of the Chinese and British troops. Tan Shan'ai himself is also proud and proud of it, but whenever the reporter interviews his experience, he still humbly says: "I may have an element of luck in it." However, in the troops at that time, Tan Shan'ai was tall and had a standard Chinese character face, which naturally gave people a feeling of "the guards are sacred and inviolable", and it was precisely because of this that Tan Shan'ai was hand-picked by the People's Liberation Army as a "commander who changed defenses".
After that, Tan Shan'ai trained harder every day, practicing the words "You can be laid off" almost every day. The reason why Tan Shan'ai trained so intensely was to wait for the moment when the world witnessed China's history.
On the evening of June 30, 1997, the moment of Hong Kong's return to the motherland was finally approaching.
On the evening of June 30, 1997, to the early morning of July 1 of the same year, the moment of Hong Kong's return to the motherland not only allowed the world to witness China's glory, but also made China's 1.3 billion people remember the face of Tan Shan'ai. Whenever a reporter asked him what it felt like to say the words "you can be laid off" at the moment when he was in charge of the Hong Kong defense exchange, Tan Shan'ai replied: "I am proud and happy about this." ”
Perhaps, pride and happiness were the common feelings of all the Chinese people who witnessed the return of Hong Kong at that time. However, what many people in China do not know is that in addition to feeling proud and happy, Tam Shan Ai himself has paid a lot for this moment of Hong Kong's return.
In addition to the lines that need to be prepared when training Chinese and British defenses every day, Tan Shan'ai also needs to do the work every day, including "drawing terrain" with chalk and ironing clothes. What is the topographic work that Tan Shan'ai wants to do? Before Hong Kong's official return to the motherland, Tam Led a 20-man party of about 20 troops from the Navy, Army and Air Force to practice in the Le Camp area where the People's Liberation Army was stationed at the time. Tan Shan'ai personally drew the red carpet and the general orientation of the flag-raising platform at that time, and then practiced with the soldiers every day, whether it was windy or rainy - such an exercise, Tan Shan'ai and his comrades behind him practiced for more than 1 month.
Another thing that makes Tan Shan'ai very energetic is ironing clothes. As the saying goes, the Buddha looks at the golden garment, and the man looks at the garment. Proper dress is the embodiment of the military style of a big country. Therefore, after Receiving the task of serving as the commander-in-chief of the changing of defense in Hong Kong, the daily ironing of clothes has become one of the indispensable habits in his life. On the eve of Hong Kong's return to the motherland, he ironed his clothes three or four times back and forth, just to prepare for that glorious and sacred moment.
(People's Liberation Army in Hong Kong)
In the end, Tan Shan'ai and his comrades in the People's Liberation Army finally arrived in Hong Kong on the evening of June 30, ready to carry out a defense exchange ceremony with the British troops, and Tan Shan'ai's memory was that "at that time, I did not have the slightest sense of nervousness." Why didn't Tan Shan'ai feel nervous? When the reporter interviewed him at that time, Tan Shan'ai gave the answer that was like this, he said that his personality was very strange, and he belonged to the kind of people who felt nervous the bigger the scene, the worse it was.
In addition, Tan Shan'ai also revealed to reporters: In addition to his height, appearance and voice, the reason why the chief immediately decided to entrust him with the task of changing hong Kong's defenses was that Tan Shan'ai at that time, on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the National Day in 1984, he was the flag bearer in the military parade ceremony of the Guangzhou Military Region, and when the Guangzhou Military Region held the first Games, he was also the flag bearer in the army, so for Tan Shan'ai at the time of Hong Kong's return, The etiquette work in Hong Kong's change of defense may also just be "changing a bigger venue".
After arriving at the venue of the Hong Kong defense change, Tan Shan'ai and the British officers met head-on, but a very interesting scene occurred: that is, the british officer stationed in Hong Kong Chinese the spoken language was very bad, although after two "defense change rehearsals" before and after, the two sides still had difficulties in language communication. Later, Tan Shan'ai and the British officers went through several twists and turns, and finally reached an unwritten rule: that is, when letting the British troops withdraw, Tan Shan'ai's slogan could be raised by several decibels higher than before, so that the British army could listen to the improvement of Tan Shan'ai's voice and withdraw.
Finally, at 23:58 on June 30, the exchange ceremony of the Chinese and British garrisons officially began, and Tan Shan'ai also met with the British officer Edes at that time, and the British officer Edes said: "Lieutenant Colonel Tan Shan Ai, the Welsh barracks have been assembled, please accept." I wish you and your colleagues good luck and success in your post. Allow me, sir, to order the welsh barracks to be laid off! ”
(Hong Kong Handover Ceremony)
After receiving the news from the British commander, Tan Shan'ai immediately said the words that still inspire the People of China: "On behalf of the Hong Kong Garrison of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, I will take over the military camp, you will be laid off, we will take up our posts!" I wish you all a safe journey! When he said, "You are laid off, when we take up our posts", Tan Shan'ai specially raised his voice by a few decibels, and officer Edes immediately understood Tan Shan'ai's order, and the two immediately shook hands in a ceremonial manner, and then Officer Edes ordered the British army to withdraw slowly and formally hand over Hong Kong defense to our country. The century-old humiliation since the Opium War was finally washed in blood at this moment, how can this not make the people of the country at that time feel excited?
And Tan Shan'ai and Chinese the performance of the People's Liberation Army in the defense change ceremony, but also through television, newspapers and other media to thousands of households, not only the Chinese people at that time felt up, the people of the world also felt sincere admiration and admiration for the style of the People's Liberation Army, since then, the "national character face" Tan Shan'ai has become a household name in China.
After Tan Shan'ai appeared from the Hong Kong change ceremony, Tan Shan'ai was recognized more than once when he walked on the street, and although Tan Shan'ai has always been very modest and low-key for this, he is sincerely happy in his heart: this honor not only belongs to him personally, but also belongs to the powerful motherland behind him.
However, because of witnessing this historical moment, Tan Shan'ai, who also won the honor himself, did not choose to continue to stay in the army after the return of Hong Kong, but put on a police uniform in 2005 and became an ordinary police officer in the Bao'an public security community. Why would Tan Shan Ai prefer to give up such a privilege, leave the army, and become an ordinary policeman instead? In this regard, Tan Shan'ai's explanation is: "I am a veteran, but also a soldier of the people's children, where the country needs to go, I will follow wherever it goes." ”
(Tan Shan'ai interviewed)
After becoming a police officer in the community, protecting the peace and stability of one party has become a responsibility for Tan Shan'ai. Because Tan Shan'ai is tall and has a loud voice, he often stands where he goes and shouts a voice, and the good people in the community dare not make a mistake in front of him, which makes the neighbors in the community directly praise Tan Shan'ai, although he has been discharged from the army for many years, he still does not lack the style of Hong Kong's exchange of defense at that time, and Tan Shan'ai only smiled happily at this, and did not hang too much on this old thing.
However, to this day, the chinese people still remember for Tan Shan'ai the moment when he exchanged Hong Kong's defense, because this is not only his personal heroic deeds, but also a glorious moment in the history of a country. Whenever the media asks why after so many years, people still haven't forgotten you, and what do you feel, Tan Shan'ai often responds with a smile: "Over the years, I am still very grateful to everyone for always paying attention to me and caring about me as before, if I can show a solemn and positive image for the country, I am still very willing to show this face, I hope that the vast number of young people can establish a patriotic spirit in their hearts and support our PLA troops in Hong Kong." ”
(Tiananmen Square in Beijing celebrating Hong Kong's return to china)
Today, a full 24 years have passed since Hong Kong's return to the motherland, and these 24 years are also the youth of Tan Shan'ai. In the great history of Hong Kong's return to the motherland, he may be a small person who has been fortunate enough to witness the history of the country, but how can the great history not be created by thousands of people? It is precisely because every people can do a good job in the seemingly insignificant little things around them that the wheel of our national development can roll forward, and can we make today's China undergo great changes in the past century that are very different from the past.
With the passage of time, Tan Shan'ai has returned to an ordinary life like ordinary people, but it is also this seemingly insignificant ordinariness that has witnessed the greatness of the historical moment.