"A small poplar grows next to the outpost..." This well-known military song "Little Poplar" makes the small poplar post on the Border between China and Kazakhstan famous.
What is not widely known to the world is that next to the outpost of the small poplar, there is a tomb where a female warrior named Sun Longzhen is buried.
Small poplar outpost
Why is Sun Longzhen's tomb next to the outpost? What exactly does she have to do with the Little Poplar Outpost? What are the stories about her?
Soldiers on the edge, not to let go
On June 15, 2020, in the Galwan Valley area of the China-India border, foreign troops brazenly crossed the line and provoked in disregard of warnings issued by mainland border fighters.
In the process of going to negotiate and struggle with the other side, the regimental commander Qi Fabao was seriously wounded; Chen Hongjun, Chen Xiangrong, Xiao Siyuan, and Wang Zhuoran were even more unfortunate to die.
Qi Baofa blocked the Indian army crossing the border
If you ask: Why did they sacrifice?
Then you will understand: they are dying for us!
All along, our freedom and safety have been guarded by this group of the most adorable and respectable warriors. And the "Iron Maiden" Sun Longzhen is also one of such great Warriors.
Born in Jiangsu in October 1940, Sun Longzhen was supposed to enjoy peace and stability after the founding of New China, but when she was 19 years old, she volunteered to participate in the work of supporting Xinjiang's construction and became a border worker in the local military engineering group.
At that time, Xinjiang had just been liberated, not only the living environment was harsh, but the infrastructure such as sanitation and transportation was very inconvenient, and once it arrived there, it was basically equivalent to isolation from the world. Therefore, girls in the same period were more willing to stay in the city to build or work in the countryside, and few were willing to contribute their youth to a remote, backward, desolate and dangerous place.
Sun Longzhen
Despite his great enthusiasm and fighting spirit, as well as full ideological preparations, Sun Longzhen was still frightened after arriving in Xinjiang.
As a native of Jiangsu, xinjiang's dry and changeable climate makes it difficult for her to adapt.
Not long after coming to Xinjiang, Sun Longzhen's original youthful and delicate skin darkened several degrees, changing his former beautiful face. Not only that, but life is also full of inconveniences, and what makes her most unbearable is that it is difficult to ensure basic personal hygiene, and it is very normal that she cannot take a bath for ten days and half a month.
But even so, Sun Longzhen did not give up, she relied on extraordinary perseverance, engaged in all kinds of arduous work, no matter how tired the work entrusted to her, she can grit her teeth and persevere, do not fail in the mission, look at her wind and fire, do things sharply, people around her like to call her "Iron Lady".
Female warriors of the Construction Corps
In 1962, with the support of everyone, Sun Longzhen actively responded to the call and took the initiative to go to the Ninth Agricultural Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps to carry out the "three generations" task of "acting as farming, animal husbandry, and managing on behalf of others".
Here, in order to protect the herders' property from loss, Sun Longzhen often had to wrap herself in thick clothes, endure the sun and rain, and come out early and return late every day. After staying for seven years, Xinjiang became Sun Longzhen's second home.
In the past few years, she has married her husband and later become pregnant, but just as everyone is expecting a new life to come, the danger has crept closer to China's border.
Sino-Soviet relations deteriorated sharply in 1969, and friction between the two countries, especially along the border, was full of gunpowder.
Because the definition of the border with the Soviet Union was relatively vague at that time, the Soviet Union took the initiative to occupy the disputed areas for itself after the contradictions worsened.
Sun Longzhen understands the current tension and therefore knows the importance of the disputed area, but in order not to intensify the conflict with the border line, Sun Longzhen tried her best to instruct the herders not to wander around, so as not to cause accidents and intensify the contradictions.
But the accident happened.
On June 10, the herdsman Zhang Chengshan went out to graze before dawn. As usual, the sheep followed the familiar pasture in search of fat fresh grass, but due to Zhang Chengshan's negligence, the sheep actually walked toward the border line and entered the disputed area unilaterally identified by the Soviet Union.
Zhang Chengshan felt that something was wrong, so he immediately went up to stop the sheep, but at this time, the Soviet border patrol on horseback across from him had already come to him. Zhang Chengshan, who had no resistance at all, was kidnapped in this way.
A herdsman happened to see all this, and he immediately went back to report to the company. Sun Longzhen, who received the news, disregarded the six-month pregnancy and rushed to the disputed area with the warriors with shovels and sticks.
But just a hundred meters away from the scene of the incident, the machine guns in the other side's post rang out. A string of bullets flew over, to everyone's surprise, and the people who had come to negotiate never expected the enemy to open fire.
Comic strip "Heroic Mother Falls on the Banks of the Tasty River"
When she looked back at Sun Longzhen again, she had already fallen to the ground because of a bullet in the abdomen, the blood stained her clothes, and the fetus in her abdomen also did not react with her mother.
The soldiers of the Tasti Border Guard Outpost Squad were indignant and immediately counterattacked under the leadership of platoon leader Li Yongqiang, and 6 Soviet troops on the other side were killed on the spot.
This is the famous "Tasti Incident" in history.
Sun Longzhen resisted the enemy's invasion, was not afraid of rape, dared to struggle, and combined with her various performances in her lifetime, the higher-level party committee posthumously recognized her as a communist. On August 25 of the same year, Sun Longzhen was awarded the title of "Revolutionary Martyr" by the Revolutionary Committee of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and a monument was erected for her. The "Second Militia Class" she belonged to was also renamed the "Sun Longzhen Militia Class".
Sun Longzhen's body was also required to be buried on the banks of the Tasty River next to the post.
Tomb of Sun Longzhen Martyr
After Sun Longzhen's death, the Soviet side surrounded Zhang Chengshan's grazing place with barbed wire in an attempt to occupy the mainland territory.
In order not to live up to Sun Longzhen's sacrifice and defend the mainland's "great rivers and mountains", the local people often secretly dismantled the Soviet army at night after surrounding the barbed wire fence during the day. The two sides came and went for several rounds, and the barbed wire was not able to stand up.
In order to consolidate the territory and swear sovereignty over the area, the masses of the Corps will also cultivate land on the border. Although it is difficult for the land to produce any effective output in the harsh natural environment, in order to protect the territory of the mainland, the legionnaires have never said a word.
In this way, the confrontation on the western border of China and the Soviet Union lasted for eight years, and the soldiers stationed in the border defense held guns in one hand and pickaxes in the other, silently holding the western gate of the motherland.
The story of Sun Longzhen's vow to defend the country's territory to the death has become part of the border post, constantly inspiring countless warriors who have come to the border.
Accompanied by poplars, they fight together for border defense
During the Spring Festival in 1978, when Chen Fusen, a soldier at the Tasti Border Guard Post, returned home to visit his family, he told his family about the past of the post and the story of Sun Longzhen.
Chen Fusen's old mother couldn't help but shed tears after hearing the story told by her son. She was not only distressed by the harsh living conditions of her sons and warriors, but also touched by the glorious deeds of the outpost and Sun Longzhen.
Before his son returned to the team, the old man handed over 20 poplar saplings to his son and instructed, "Plant the saplings next to the outpost and let them accompany you." ”
These saplings were brought to the frontier, and the warriors took turns carrying the black soil from more than a dozen miles to the outpost, and once a day from the Bulgan River ten miles away, just to plant these small poplars.
However, two months later, in the harsh natural environment, the small poplars still died one after another, and only the one closest to the outpost was left alive.
In the face of the dead poplar, the warriors were both distressed and helpless, and could only secretly wipe their tears.
Fortunately, the only small poplar next to the outpost was thriving under the careful care of the warriors. Since then, the originally desolate Tasti Border Post has added countless vitality to this small poplar.
The story was written in a soldier's diary and copied into a blackboard newspaper.
It coincided with the famous poet and lyricist Liang Shangquan to the border guard to collect wind, after hearing this story, he was greatly moved, so the inspiration broke out, and that night, he created "Little Poplar".
If Sun Longzhen returns to the Tasti post again and sees a touch of green added by this strong poplar, will there be a little joy in her heart; hearing the fiery enthusiasm of the border guards sung by this song "Little Poplar", will she also remember her days of vitality and happiness in the days of Shubian?
In May 2002, due to the widespread singing of "Little Poplar", the Tasti Outpost was renamed the Little Poplar Outpost.
Border defenses will never be fixed, and martyrs will live forever
Once faced with the constant provocation of territory by powerful enemies, countless Sun Longzhen's hearts were full of anger and helplessness, and they shed tears and blood to defend every inch of the motherland.
However, with the development of history, countless sons and daughters of China have caught up in the face of backward situations, turning the original backward and weak country into a powerful country that has attracted the attention of the world.
If China is strong enough to sit down and negotiate with any other country, China will no longer be afraid of any enemy bullying and invasion, and the spirit of the martyrs in heaven will eventually usher in comfort!
Great rivers and mountains, no land is allowed
On July 29, 2003, the 440,000 mu disputed area where Sun Longzhen was sacrificed should belong to China after the demarcation of the border between China and Kazakhstan!
Sun Longzhen is already impossible to come back, but these 440,000 acres of land have returned to the motherland, and the motherland and the people have never forgotten her.
After the new period, the farms practiced a contract management system, and the paramilitary structures such as "battalions", "platoons" and "squads" have long been abolished, but the "Sun Longzhen militia class" has been retained.
The female soldiers of Sun Longzhen's class
On August 18, 2007, Premier Wen Jiabao of the State Council said to her cordially after listening to the report of Zhang Shan, then deputy head of Longzhen's class: "Sun Longzhen sacrificed her young life to safeguard the integrity of the country's dignity and sovereignty.
The little poplar outpost where Sun Longzhen stayed has now become an important national defense education and patriotic education base. Next to it, a new comprehensive exhibition hall was built to use modern technology to restore the Battle of Tasti, and also created wax figures of martyrs such as Sun Longzhen. In this way, people can hear the singing of "Little Poplar" at the same time, but also understand the story of the Little Poplar Outpost and the martyr Sun Longzhen.
epilogue
With 9.6 million square kilometers of land and 55,200 kilometers of long borders, beautiful China has nearly 5,000 years of splendid civilization and countless beautiful scenery, and has 1.4 billion brothers and sisters.
We can have such a beautiful and happy life, all by countless warriors like "small poplars" silently guarding the border defense of the motherland. Some of them even fell on the border of the mainland forever in their youthful and beautiful years like "Sun Longzhen", "Chen Hongjun", "Chen Xiangrong", "Xiao Siyuan" and "Wang Zhuoran", paying tribute to the thousands of Chinese soldiers who silently guarded the gates of the country!