▲ Border soldiers are on duty at the outpost of the Yucock Border Defense Company. Photo by Chen Qing
On the long border line in western China, there is an east-west Alatau Mountain. The Yukok Frontier Company was like a fortress, stationed in the Yukirk Peak deep in the Alatau Mountains.
On September 9, the reporter and his entourage drove north from Bole City to go deep into the mountainous Alatau Mountain to visit this border defense company in the difficult environment of "snow-closed mountains in winter and difficult trails in summer."
Walking into the camp, a black bull statue about 3 meters high stands out. The "black bull" has a strong body, sharp horns, and bright eyes.
The instructor of the company told reporters that the connection between this cow and the company began in the 70s of the last century -
"At first, from the company to the Yucock lookout, the mountains were connected to the mountains, forest by forest, and there was not even a sheep's intestine path, although the distance between the two places was only two kilometers in a straight line, but the actual distance of the mountain road was more than 10 kilometers. Whether or not the outpost can receive supplies in time has become the most concerned thing for the officers and men of the company. ”
In the autumn of 1976, a cow named "Ahei" became the "main force" of the company to transport supplies to and from the outpost. At the beginning, the fighters led "Ahei" on the mountain road. After many round trips, "Ah Hei" was able to recognize the way and carry the supplies up the mountain alone, and never made a mistake.
"This is a full 17 years." The instructor said that in the past 17 years, "Ahei" has traveled a total of more than 35,000 kilometers with a heavy load, carrying about 270 tons of materials, and erecting a life supply line between the company and the outpost.
"One day, the elderly 'Ahei' head calmly lay down in the direction of the post and left us." Officers and men of the company told reporters that on the steep section leading to the outpost, the company erected a "monument to the ox." In recent years, due to repeated expansion of the road, officers and soldiers have moved this monument back to the company's honor room.
Along the road that "Ahei" has made countless round-trips, the reporter climbed the Yucock lookout post standing on the top of the mountain.
The time when "Ahei" carried supplies on his back has passed. Today, the cloud outpost is equipped with TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, heating, electrified cooking, and more. In the fresh-keeping cabinet, more than 10 kinds of fresh vegetables such as baby vegetables, beans, peppers, lettuce, and cauliflower are stored.
Yukok, Mongolian means "white stone". After every heavy snowfall in winter, the area is covered with silver, and "windblown snow" weather often occurs.
The mountains and roads are treacherous, and the natural conditions are harsh, but they cannot stop the border guards from patrolling. Like "A Hei", generations of officers and soldiers on the border have bravely marched forward bravely and resolutely in the windy and snowy border passes, and fulfilled their oath to the motherland with their youth and blood.
The mountains are densely forested, the cliffs are towering, the rapids are dense... Many unfavorable factors led many to believe that the task of surveying the boundary in the 304 to 306 boundary pillar lot was a difficult task.
"Where there are boundary monuments, there should be the footsteps of Chinese border guards." Wei Faqing, a sergeant of the first class who has been in the army for 14 years, recalls that in August 2011, he and his comrades conducted a border survey. They crossed four snow-capped mountains above 3,500 meters above sea level, crossed more than 30 mountain beams, climbed nine cliffs with a slope of about 70 degrees, and crossed nine rapids. The task took 5 days and 4 nights to complete, and the process was arduous and full of challenges.
For more than 10 years, regularly organizing boundary surveys of the sections No. 304 to 306 is a task that the officers and men of the company must complete, and it is also an "expedition" that coexists with difficulties and risks.
"The road is almost always steep slopes, cliffs, quicksand mountains, and in many places only one person can pass sideways." Speaking of the hardships and dangers of the border survey, First Class Sergeant Liu Shigao still remembers it deeply. Once, a new soldier walking in front of him suddenly broke the wooden stick he was holding, and the whole person lost his center of gravity and almost fell off a cliff more than 10 meters high. Fortunately, Liu Shigao's eyes were quick, one hand grabbed this comrade-in-arms, the other hand subconsciously grabbed the bushes on the hillside, and used all his strength to get him out of danger.
In August this year, the company organized a border survey. Heavy rain suddenly fell on the way, and the military doctor who accompanied the guards slipped twice: once, while advancing, he fell into the rushing river, hurting the corner of his eye and shattering his glasses; On his return, he once again fell on a steep slope. The military doctor gritted his teeth and insisted, and after returning to the team for examination, he found that he had broken 3 ribs.
"No matter how difficult and dangerous it is, as long as the motherland needs it, we must also find a way out if there is no road." When communicating with the officers and men of the company, they said that it is not common to have earth-shaking events in defending the country, but loneliness and loneliness need to be faced every day, and only by carrying forward and persevering unremittingly like "A Hei" can we live up to the motherland and the people.
This year is the 13th year that Wei Faqing, a first-class sergeant, has served as a military horse breeder, and the officers and men of the company call him "horse herd."
The "horse snatch" is recognized as the dirtiest and most tiring post in the company - in winter, the pungent smell of horse manure in the stable is difficult to dissipate, and many recruits do not stay in the stable for a few minutes for the first time, but Wei Faqing has to go to the stable every day to clean up the horse manure. At most, he cleans more than 10 cars a day. "After staying in the stable for a long time, I have a strange smell on my body, I can't smell it, my comrades can smell it." Wei Faqing said that after working in an environment full of pungent odors for a long time, his nose had become "semi-dysfunctional."
In summer, military horses are free-range in the mountains to graze, and they are easy to get lost. Wei Faqing went all over the mountains looking for horses, driving horses, and taming horses. "Once, I was riding up a mountain when I suddenly encountered a pack of wild wolves, and the horse stopped in fright. Seeing the wolves approaching little by little, I pulled my throat and roared, but I didn't expect that the wild wolves were actually scared away by me. Mentioning the past of scaring off wolves, Wei Fa was happy.
When Wei Fa smiled, his eyes curved in different arcs. "Before I got married, my wife also asked me 'why are my eyes different,'" Wei Faqing said with some embarrassment, "I fell when I was a 'horseman' and got 6 stitches on my left eyelid." ”
The "horseman" is not an official, but an indispensable screw on the border line. In the Yucock Border Defense Company, the reporter saw too many officers and soldiers who sacrificed their lives in such ordinary posts. They are like hard-working "Ah Hei", silently persevering for years.
Wind and snow border pass, inaccessible; Cloud outposts, lonely companions. Generations of border people have been far from prosperity and family, and on what basis have they overcome many difficulties and dangers and persevered in distant border passes year after year?
In front of the No. 301 duty point of the company, a white boulder stood majestically, and four large red characters were engraved on it one by one - "Long live the motherland".
The reporter thought that this is the answer in the minds of the border guards.
▲Published in the 3rd edition of "Jiefangjun Daily" on September 23
Author|Jiefangjun Daily reporters Fei Shiting, Qian Zongyang, Li Lei
Source丨PLA Daily, Learning Corps (ID: xuexijuntuan)
Executive Producer丨Ou Can, Hou Dawei, Editor丨Liu Jianwei, Yan Shan, Chen Li Editor丨Song Yi