Officers and men of the Phan nong Cho Kang post joined hands through the glacier on patrol.
During the patrol, officers and soldiers passed through the glacier dark river.
Wu Jie is sorting out a pot of fake flowers.
During the patrol, officers and soldiers climbed with daggers.
On the patrol road, officers and soldiers swore an oath in front of the party flag.
Ba Nong Cho Kang, which means "inn on the edge of the sky" in Tibetan. The border guards stationed here are called "soldiers who live in the sky". At an altitude of 5501 meters, the Ba Nong ZhuoKang post is surrounded by deserted people, but there are often bursts of laughter and high-spirited songs in the outpost: "The tempering of ice and fire makes youth agitated, and the military service is my supreme glory..."
Wu Jie, the sergeant of the Gangga Border Defense Company of a certain border defense regiment of the Tibet Military Region, has been stationed in this "inn on the edge of the sky" for more than 3 years. For many days and nights, looking at the stars outside the window, Wu Jie sang this Gangga border defense song - "Proud of You".
This is a song created by the officers and men of the company themselves and written the name of the company into the lyrics, and each lyric condenses everyone's painstaking efforts and emotions.
Whenever the melody of "Proud of You" sounds, the corners of officers and soldiers' eyes will unconsciously shed tears. They saw themselves in the song and saw countless people who were proud of them.
After carefully tasting this song, I can also understand every officer and soldier stationed here.
What is it like to walk on a plateau at an altitude of 5,501 meters?
Chest tightness, shortness of breath, general weakness, breathlessness... To reporters, none of these words seemed enough to describe the difficulty of walking on a plateau. Only by walking through the ice and snow patrol road can you appreciate the difficulty of each step.
What is it like to eat on a plateau at an altitude of 5,501 meters?
Can't eat anything, eat nothing fragrant, eat is also very tired, feel like a fight... Eating on a plateau is sometimes not a treat, but just for survival.
What is it like to sing on a plateau at an altitude of 5,501 meters?
Singing on the plateau is in danger of lack of oxygen at any time. Plain sings casually, Plateau sings sometimes sing a few words and has to rest for a while, a good song, it is inevitable that it will be sung intermittently... Singing on the plateau, each syllable has a different weight.
Highland sings, and laughter is the most beautiful high note
From the 5,501-metre-high Pahon ChoKang post, the world's sixth highest peak, shrouded in mist, towers over the clouds, with dark blue skies, dark grey gravel beaches, lake-green glaciers and majestic snow-capped mountains.
In 2010, Wu Jie dreamed of traveling from his hometown of Loudi, Hunan Province, to Shigatse, Tibet, thousands of kilometers away. Before leaving, a group of comrades-in-arms tearfully sang "Green Flowers in the Army" on the train, and different people boarded the train of life because of the same mission and call.
The scenery outside the window is constantly passing, and the blue sky and white clouds and snow-capped mountains and lakes that come into view are so clear. They and Wu Jie's smile make up the most beautiful picture of the day.
"The call of the snowy realm, the confrontation with the will, the persistence is the desire for peace..." Later, Wu Jie heard this song and inadvertently burst into tears.
In that year, when filling in the volunteer form for enlistment, the family insisted that Wu Jie report that the troops stationed in the south had a good climate, were close to home, and their eating habits were similar. But these reasons could not convince Wu Jie, who always had a voice in his heart - to go to Tibet, to go there to suffer hardships and exercise himself, to go there to see the snow on the mountains, to go there to guard the border for the country.
At first, Wu Jie thought that it was only his youth and stubbornness that he embarked on the road to Tibet; later he realized that it was the call of the snow to his soul.
As soon as Wu Jie went up to the plateau, he vomited up and down, frightening the comrades around him. Wu Jie felt that the whole person was floating, dizzy, and confused, as if he was weightless, he couldn't control himself, and directly sat down.
The comrade-in-arms next to him quickly called the hygienist: "Take the oxygen cylinder, open the oxygen, open the nasal catheter, and give him some oxygen." Slowly reacting, Wu Jie had a feeling of weight, his legs and feet were like lead, he couldn't lift his legs and couldn't walk.
Gradually, Wu Jie adapted to the plateau.
In 2018, Wu Jie came from the Gangga Border Defense Company station at an altitude of 4,380 meters to the Ba Nong Zhuokang post at an altitude of 5,501 meters. "In the midst of the confrontation in the wind and snow, the flag of the August 1st Army flew, and the Sixth Company was always so strong." The song echoed in Wu Jie's ears.
Rising 1,000 meters above sea level, it feels completely different. When he first came here, Wu Jie couldn't sleep at night, his throat was hoarse, his head hurt, his nose was bleeding, and his chest was tight and short of breath. Sticking to the cold plateau, not only the body must fight against this harsh environment, but also resist the loneliness of the heart.
Wu Jie's face already had a clear "plateau red", and when he laughed, his two cheeks were like red apples.
The soldiers said that although the squad leader's face was very red, nothing in life could make him "red face".
Wu Jie was always smiling and squinting, as if any difficulty would not overwhelm him. As a veteran, it is rare to be able to maintain a happy mood in a long and difficult highland environment. Although after so many years, Wu Jie's high pitch has not been able to go up when singing, but comrades in arms said that his laughter is the most beautiful high note.
"The starlight of the plateau illuminates the direction of dreams...", at night, the officers and men of the post sang this song in unison - "Proud of You". The starlight of the plateau illuminated not only the path they had come, but also the direction of their dreams.
Hearing the sound of snow falling, that is the meaning of perseverance
Wu Jie said that other people's youth mountain flowers are romantic, and their youth snowflakes are flying.
The night of Ba Nong Zhuo Kang, except for the sound of wind and snow, was unusually silent. Wu Jie and his comrades-in-arms lay on the bed, and the sound of the wind and snow outside the house was as beautiful and beautiful as a song.
"Blood and tears flow, we are full of momentum and try our best to contribute to the collective." A group of hot-blooded men unconsciously sang to the beat of the wind and snow, singing more and more powerfully.
In their hearts, Lian Ge can resist the cold, can fight loneliness, and can also comfort the soul. How loud the song is, how rich their inner emotions are.
At seven or eight o'clock in the morning, Wu Jie and his party were ready to go. They carried steel guns on their chests, carried supplies on their bodies, wore cold masks on their heads, sunglasses on their eyes, and their bodies were tightly wrapped. Out of the outpost, they had to climb six steep gravel beaches, climb a glacier, and climb a steep hill.
On the way, they also had to pass through a cliff road lined with a depth of 100 meters on both sides. Every time he walked to a dangerous section, Wu Jie would take the initiative to go to the front, carefully observe the surrounding terrain, predict what might happen, and then carefully pass through this cliff road.
Wu Jie's body has already developed some altitude sickness. He also had times when he had retreated, but every time the company leader asked him to come down and rotate, he thought of those who were proud of him.
Returning from the patrol road, passing through a small village, Wu Jie often saw a little girl waiting there to salute them. At that moment, his fatigue dissipated in an instant, and his body was full of strength.
The storeroom is stored with colorful scarves like flowers, red noise, purple romance, yellow dazzling... These are all hand-knitted by an old grandmother in Henan. When some veterans left, the officers and men in the post sang a song and put on a love scarf for the veterans.
In their eyes, this love and warmth are enough to withstand the cold of the snowy region.
"The tempering of ice and fire makes youth agitated, and the military service is my supreme glory." As the song sings, the youth of comrades-in-arms is here, and the glory is also here.
Wu Jie's cracked hands often tended to the flowers. Under the sun, the flowers are in full bloom. On the plateau, how blessed it is to have so many colorful flowers. Wu Jie said, "The officers and men of the post can't see the green flowers and grass all year round, so many caring people have sent fake flowers to the post." ”
The fake flowers were neatly arranged, and the outpost was full of life.
On Valentine's Day this year, Wu Jie purchased flowers for his lover Zeng Youhua online in advance, passing on his blessings and thoughts from far away on the plateau to his lover. The meaning of that bouquet of flowers, the sincerity of love, his lover Zeng Youhua deeply felt.
When he first came to the company, Wu Jie especially missed the food of his hometown, the hot bowl of noodles made by his mother. Now he loves the butter tea, the air-dried yak beef that the local herders give them is his favorite, and of course, the song he sings every day, "Proud of You."
When he left home, Wu Jie liked to listen to popular songs and also chased stars. Now, in the blink of an eye, many years have passed, and his favorite singer has also been replaced by his comrade-in-arms "Gazi" in the outpost, and he is accompanied by more of a company song. From early singing to late, from young singing to maturity, from singing from less to more knowledgeable.
"Vow to defend the frontier, aim to dedicate myself to national defense, I will create glory for you again." I sang it countless times, but no matter how many years have changed, the original intention of the teenager has remained unchanged.
Snowflakes fell one by one, just as the officers and men of one stubble after another came to the Gangga Border Defense Company. They've all heard the snow fall, and they've all sung "Proud of You."
"The children on the side of the road are proud of you, the elderly in the distance are proud of you, the relatives at home are proud of you, the comrades-in-arms around you are proud of you, and countless people are proud of you..." Whenever a scene appears in front of him, Wu Jie's heart becomes incomparably soft. He sang the song "Proud of You" quietly, as if to say that all emotions are in the song.
Our own mountains, to be guarded by ourselves
The Brahmaputra River flows down from the foothills of the Himalayas. When the vehicles entering Tibet passed the Gangga Bridge on the river, Cui Chuanwei pressed the send button on the information that had been edited: Don't worry, I have reached the plateau safely.
In 2017, Cui Chuanwei voluntarily signed up from his unit to come to the Gangga Border Defense Company in Tibet and became a "soldier living in the sky".
Like Wu Jie, Cui Chuanwei, the fourth-level sergeant major, was also particularly eager to go to the front line of border defense. For this reason, he and his family also had an argument. In Cui Chuanwei's view, "Where there is a border, there must be defense, there is a country to have a home, and our own mountains must be guarded by ourselves."
When patrolling, Cui Chuanwei was very excited, crossing the gravel beach, climbing over the iceberg, lurking at night... Although it was dangerous every time, Cui Chuanwei felt that it was "great" to be able to defend the border for the country here.
The peak of reality must be bravely climbed, and the mountain of life must also be climbed hard.
As one of the creators of Lian Ge, Cui Chuanwei does not have any professional background and creative experience. At that time, whether he was eating or sleeping, he had only one thought in his head, that is, how to create a catchy-sounding song that made his comrades like it, how to cast the soul into the song, and condense the morale of the comrades in the whole company.
Everyone couldn't write the score at that time, Cui Chuanwei and a few people hummed the tune, constantly looking for feelings, until the feeling came, the tune that was hummed out was right, and quickly recorded it. Then, through various acquaintances, they found people who could write scores, and let them listen to the recordings to compose them.
The lyrics are the soul of a song. According to the characteristics of the geographical location of the Gangga Border Defense Company and the natural environment and mental state faced by the officers and men, they recorded it in words and then polished it over and over again, so that they had such concise lyrics as "the tempering of ice and fire makes youth stir."
In the camp, there was no recording studio, and the recording effect could not be guaranteed. Cui Chuanwei saw on the Internet and said that the sound effect recorded in the bath room would be better and could make people feel resonant. So a few of them took guitars and recording equipment together and went to the bathroom to play this song - "Proud of You".
"Carry forward the spirit of Mount Everest, the glory reverberates in the heart, and the motherland witnesses our growth." The song is exactly what Cui Chuanwei had in mind. The words can reach the meaning, which is why everyone will be moved to tears every time they sing this song.
The song is the memory of their youth, but also the symbol of their youth and the echo of youth.
"I have not been in ganga border defense company for a long time, but I can deeply feel the difficulty of comrades here. Lian Li gave them a singing bar, and the comrades-in-arms could sing in the oxygenated singing bar. Liang Yixin, instructor of the Gangga Border Defense Company, said.
"My father was also a soldier, and only when you have been a soldier yourself can you feel the glory of a soldier and feel that pride." Some bitterness cannot be said, and some glory is difficult for ordinary people to understand. Cui Chuanwei said, "In the future, if my son also wants to become a soldier, I will support him without hesitation." ”
In the Ganga Border Defense Company, this song "Proud of You" will be played on the daily radio, and this song has unconsciously taken root in the hearts of the officers and men of the Ganga Border Defense Company.
"I hope our songs will be sung more widely, farther and longer." Cui Chuanwei said.
(Reporter Xue Min, correspondent Feng Yakun, photo by Long Long and Wang Qian)
Source: People's Liberation Army Daily