The "Island Relativity" of the East China Sea Radar Corps

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, officers and men of the Phi Shan Island radar station of a certain naval brigade in the Eastern Theater held a ceremony to raise the national flag. Photo by Wu Jiajie

So fast, so slow —

"The pace on the island is indeed slower, but sometimes it is very urgent"

Waves of tide washed over the causeway, and the piers of Phi San Island appeared particularly silent in the afterglow of the setting sun.

In the position duty room high on the island, Sergeant Sun Junfeng looked at the mainland through the window. This radar soldier ushered in the Spring Festival of the Year of the Tiger in the battle position of the Chinese New Year's Eve.

As if by a tidal wave, the hands on the blue mechanical dial of Sun Junfeng's wrist are constantly rotating. Stuck in this land of less than 3 square kilometers, he silently felt the time of this small island.

During the Spring Festival, the ferry to Phi San Island has been suspended. Weeks have passed, and Sun Junfeng still has not waited for the New Year's gift sent to him by his girlfriend. It was also the blue mechanical watch that his girlfriend had given him, and the date shown bounced again and again.

On the island, life is like the poem says, "The sun is getting slower, and the cars, horses, and mail are slow." Hanging alone on the sea, the closed environment makes the radar soldiers stationed here learn to be lonely. In the almost unchanging work life, in addition to the sun rising and setting, they have a special time scale in their hearts.

At the age of 18, Sun Junfeng came to Phi Shan Island and became a radar soldier. In the past, when he and his comrades got up in the morning, the weather they were most happy to see was not a clear sky, but a continuous rain. Since there is no running water, all the water used by officers and soldiers comes from rainfall and surface seepage. Plastic buckets of water are placed all over the island, and when there is little rain, it takes a long time to fill a bucket.

"Tick-tock, tick-tock..." In the dead of night, the insomniac Sun Junfeng lay on the bed, listening to the sound of the clock hands moving, like water droplets falling little by little. Every day when he got up and looked at the water level that had only risen a little, he really felt the difficulty of time.

No matter how slow the day, live faster. Sun Junfeng, a new recruit, gradually became a veteran and "boiled" the time out of a new taste.

Today, Phi Shan Island has built a seawater desalination system, and time in Sun Junfeng's heart, it has also changed from the water level line in the storage bucket to the thin water flow at the mouth of the water purification pipe. After returning from a day's shift, tired, he saw a large bucket full of pure water, and felt more of the preciousness of military time, and the tranquility and pleasure from the depths of his heart.

"The pace on the island is really slow, but sometimes it's very urgent." Sun Junfeng said.

Chinese New Year's Eve this day, unlike the strong festive atmosphere in the camp, the battle atmosphere was still maintained on the position. In the radar cabin that was obscured by light, Sun Junfeng and his comrades stared at the screen in front of them, and the flickering fluorescence reflected on their serious faces. In the face of all kinds of sudden and fleeting air situations, radar soldiers must quickly and accurately identify and judge in a very short period of time.

"I feel excited to see the dots of light bouncing on the screen, and the responsibility on my shoulders makes me feel like my blood is flowing." In recent years, there have been more and more tasks, and Sun Junfeng and his comrades-in-arms often sit in the cabin for several hours. At such times, time flies particularly quickly, as if the eye drops they always have with them often run out of bottles in a few days.

So slow, so fast. For the radar soldiers who stick to the outpost in the East China Sea, they have their own view of the island's time. The night of the reunion of ten thousand families, the pillow is waiting for Dan. Sun Junfeng knew that in the routes he had marked at this moment, there were also sea and air guardians like him. Mission and responsibility control the rhythm of the special schedule of soldiers.

Accompanied by the blue mechanical watch, Sun Junfeng on the battlefield silently waited for the arrival of the new year's zero o'clock. In a few hours, Phi San Island is about to welcome its most beautiful scenery.

"When the sun rises, I'm going to record this beautiful landscape for my girlfriend to see!" Sun Junfeng said happily.

So close, so far —

"The lights of thousands of homes on the coast are like the eyes of distant relatives"

On the first day of the Chinese New Year, assistant engineer Wu Jiajie stood at the highest point of the island, the TianfengTai, and recorded the Phi Shan Island in his eyes with the camera.

Looking from the Tianfengtai to the surrounding area, to the east, there is a vast scene of sea and sky. To the west, several fishing boats moved through the bay, and buildings lined the edges of the distant continent, looming with the clouds.

Spring Festival is coming, and the leisurely homesickness is like the sea rushing in the heart. In Wu Jiajie's lens, the hometown is so close. Especially at night, through time-lapse photography, he discovered a different side of his eyes than during the day.

On the other side of the sea, a winding band of light spreads out at the end of the gaze, outlining the edge of the continent. The lights on the coast and the stars in the night shine together, the sea is like a line, and the long distance ahead seems to be within reach.

So close, so far. For the radar soldiers who insisted on the island, the hometown as far as the eye could see was now within reach of the end of the world. To the east of the island is the deep ocean. More often, they should look in the opposite direction of their hometown and guard the safety of the motherland in silent gaze.

"The lights of thousands of homes on the coast are like the eyes of distant relatives. Our perseverance here, they can all see. Thinking of this, Wu Jiajie smiled heartily.

Across the bay, the moment the distant light pierced through the fog and fell on the radar soldiers, the small island was also reflected in the eyes of the mainland behind it.

No matter how far away, in the opposite of their hometown and the island, the hearts of each other are always together.

A few days ago, on the last ferry before the Spring Festival, Sergeant Youyi took his wife and daughter to the island. Returning from their hometown, he and his wife brought some special New Year goods with them in large bags of luggage— a few canned bottles filled with marinated yellow croaker and crab sauce. It was made by his parents before leaving home, and he specifically told Youyi to share it with his comrades on the island.

Food on Phi San Island is limited, and food brought from their respective hometowns like this can often be seen on the cooking tables of the company cooking class.

"Last year, a comrade-in-arms brought us a sack of winter shoots from Fujian, which was dug up from the mountains near our home. Because of the typhoon, the ship was stopped, and it was delayed on the road for a long time. Yan Deyu, the head of the cooking class, said, "When the winter bamboo shoots were fried, we found that the bamboo shoots were old, but we still ate very happily!" ”

Chinese New Year's Eve, Yan Deyu carefully prepared Chinese New Year's Eve meal on the table.

Marinated yellow croaker, smoked ham, taro goulash, white-seared greens... Using the ingredients from the hometown of Tiannanhaibei, accompanied by vegetables grown by the officers and soldiers on the island, a special Chinese New Year's Eve meal " depicts" a different kind of reunion. For most of the officers and soldiers on the island who are not reunited with their families, a delicious meal is a soothing relief during the festival.

Seeing that the ham he brought was liked by everyone, the senior soldier Yang Chenghong was sincerely happy. He is from the Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province, and the spectacle of "three parallel rivers" takes place not far from the mountain village where his family is located.

Since childhood, watching the mighty river rush away, Yang Chenghong's heart is full of a yearning for a distant place. When you come to the East China Sea outpost as a soldier, although you are surrounded by the boundless sea of your dreams, the limitations of island life are even more than those of mountain villages.

Like the immutable, cyclical tides, when he first landed on the island, Yang Chenghong once felt that the time here was boring. Today, he sees the wider world in his position as a radar operator.

"In front of us is the vast sea and sky of the motherland. Standing here, I feel that my heart is incomparably broad. With this thought in mind, Yang Chenghong guarded the island day after day.

Picking up a piece of ham and putting it in his mouth, the incomparably familiar taste of hometown made Yang Chenghong feel that the distance between himself and his family was so close.

For Youyi, whose wife and daughter are around, this year's Chinese New Year's Eve is special, and it happens to be her daughter's 4th birthday.

On the beautiful beach of Phi San Island, You Yi and his daughter pick up conch and shells together. With the sound of the waves, he used sand to pile up a birthday cake for his daughter. For many years to come, the time spent on this small island in the East China Sea that her father insisted on will become the most precious memory in her heart.

"As long as the hearts are together, everywhere is reunion." Instructor Cao Yujian said. In the last hours before the arrival of the New Year, these silently paid radar soldiers, or felt the call of family affection in lovesickness, or felt the warmth of the island in the reunion.

So cold, so hot —

"The moment the sun shines on my shoulders, I feel happy"

Hanging alone on the sea, the hardships of Phi Shan Island are not difficult to imagine. More than 60 years ago, radar stations were established here, and oil engines were needed to ensure power generation. That's when the island was lit up for the first time.

Windy and humid all year round, this has always been the common "enemy" of the officers and soldiers on the island. Before the city powertrain arrived at Phi San Island in 2017, it was impossible to use living equipment such as air conditioners and water heaters. In the summer, the island is particularly hot, and when a typhoon hits, the officers and soldiers brave the storm to complete the maintenance and repair of the equipment. In winter, the island was particularly cold, and the wet and cold climate tormented them all the time, and many officers and soldiers suffered from rheumatism for a long time.

So cold, so hot. Year after year, the cold wind tirelessly blows towards Phi Shan Island, and the officers and soldiers who insist on staying here have always maintained their fiery hearts.

More than 70 years ago, for its outstanding performance in the Battle of Liberating Linfen, the predecessor troops of the Phi Shan Island Radar Station were awarded the "Attack like a fierce tiger, defend like Mount Tai" award flag. In the Year of the Tiger, the officers and men of the "Tiger Company" in the new era are holding their breath of energy and looking forward to achieving better results in their battle positions.

Lu Lin, a 24-year-old assistant engineer who belongs to the tiger, quietly made a New Year's wish - through hard work in the "Tiger Company", he made himself as brave and good as a tiger. Becoming a good soldier was his dream when he was 17 years old.

Following his father, Lu Lin, who was just 1 year old, went to Xinjiang with his mother. A small city called Jimu on the edge of the Taklamakan Desert is where he grew up. Growing up carefree, he hadn't really thought about what he was going to do in the future until he went to high school.

Until one day in 2015, Lu Lin, who was a sophomore in high school in a foreign country, returned home. When I opened the closet to put my clothes on, my father's former military uniform hung quietly there. Maybe it was that when he grew up, his figure looked just right, and he was once not interested in this dress, so he reached out and tried it on.

In the mirror, Lu Lin, dressed in his father's military uniform, seemed to have changed into a person. At that time, a sentence popped into his head: If you can really wear this military uniform, you will definitely thank yourself for making this decision today! This decision is to enter the military school!

Also in that year, after watching the live broadcast of the "9.3 Military Parade", Lu Lin bought a national flag online and hung it on the wall of his study. He also specialized in learning about the size and proportion of the flag. It was 96 centimeters long and 64 centimeters wide, the size of the No. 5 flag he had bought.

Since then, inspired by the national flag in the study, Lu Lin has studied hard and gone all out to enter the military academy.

Today, it has been 2 years since Lu Lin graduated from the military academy and voluntarily applied for a position on Phi Shan Island. Gazing at the flag hanging high on the island, his mind flashed the process of his own growth. From the edge of the desert to the islands on the sea, from the rough sand and gravel to the gentle sea breeze, the process of chasing dreams is always accompanied by wonderful encounters.

On the island, Lu Lin likes to go to a cliff edge. There is a strangely shaped shrub there, which is called a "strong tree" by the officers and soldiers. Under the perennial winds, the branches and leaves were blown to the side, and they still stood after many super typhoons.

Lu Guangyang, director of the radar station, said: "We must take root like this tree, and the belief that it is not falling behind the strong." This sentence has always inspired Lu Lin and his comrades-in-arms to maintain their enthusiasm and constantly forge ahead.

Against the bitter sea breeze and after Chinese New Year's Eve meal, radar operator Wang Xuegen stepped on the path leading to the hilltop position and opened the New Year's Eve duty.

When the clock rang at zero o'clock and brilliant fireworks bloomed over the continent on the opposite shore, the radar soldiers were still staring at the screen in front of them.

During the rotation break, Wang Xuegen added hot water to his water cup. This is his specially made water cup, and when the heat is steaming and the warm temperature comes from his hand, a photo of his wife and daughter gradually appears from the surface of the cup. Thinking that the family spent the Spring Festival together in the battle position in this way, the veterans showed a reassuring smile on their faces.

In the early morning of the first day of the Chinese New Year, the radar soldiers watching the sea and air did not sleep all night, opened the door of the well-covered square cabin, and found that the sky had already lit up.

At the top of the hill, overlooking the east, a red sun is rising. At this moment, the most beautiful scene of Phi Shan Island is presented in front of their eyes-

Golden light sprinkles on the endless sea, and sparkling waves illuminate the whole world. The first rays of the sunshine of the new spring blow through the island, over the roof and the peak of the mountain, through the surrounding grass and trees, warmth and hope shine into everyone's heart.

Looking at Phi Shan Island, which had been guarded for 12 years in front of him, the radar soldier Wang Xuegen's heart was full of light and heat. "The moment the sun shines on my shoulders, I feel happy." He spoke, his eyes shining like stars. (Reporter Wei Yumeng Correspondent Sun Yang)

Source: People's Liberation Army Daily