Yang Liandi (1919-May 15, 1952) was a native of Tianjin. In February 1949, he joined the railway corps of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, and performed outstanding in the repair of the No. 8 high bridge on Longhai Road, and was awarded the title of "Climbing Hero".
The heroic deeds of Yang Liandi, the "ascending hero", spread throughout the army and the whole country. In 195O, Yang Liandi was honorably elected as a delegate to Beijing to attend the National Congress of Model Workers of Workers, Peasants and Soldiers. Before leaving, the comrades unanimously instructed him: "Say hello to Chairman Mao on our behalf!" ”
In October 1950, he joined the Chinese People's Volunteers to fight in North Korea and joined the Communist Party of China in 1951. When he was in North Korea, he completed several bridge repair tasks. On May 15, 1952, he died while repairing the Qingchuan River Bridge. After his death, he was posthumously credited with special merit and was awarded the titles of "First-Class Hero of the Chinese People's Volunteers", "Hero of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea", gold medals, first-class national flag medals, etc., and the company before his death was also named "Yang Liandi Company".
In November of that year, early winter fell, and the American invaders burned the flames of aggression to the Yalu River. Yang Liandi and his comrades-in-arms resolutely responded to the great call to resist US aggression and aid Korea and defend their homeland and the country, and joined the Chinese People's Volunteer Army. The train rushed across the Yalu River, facing the wind and snow, and sped across the land of North Korea.
In the carriage, Yang Liandi happily recalled the scene of meeting the great leader Chairman Mao in the capital, Chairman Mao, Chairman Mao, you are our great savior! He thought about it, and finally mustered up the courage to say to the squad leader sitting opposite: "Please test me well in the organization, I want to strive to join the party!" ”
At dawn, the train arrives at a station, and the railway is closed to the rest of the day. The troops got out of the car. I saw that the platform was incomplete, there were bomb craters everywhere, and the damaged wagons and steel rails were thrown all over the ground. Women are rushing to build railways and support the front lines.
When the volunteer soldiers passed by, several North Korean ladies held the soldiers' hands tightly and said things that the soldiers could not understand. But you can see in their eyes how excited they are! Yang Liandi said with great indignation: "Auntie, the people of China and North Korea are heart-to-heart, and we will definitely strike hard at the American aggressors!" ”
No sooner had the troops settled down than the third battle began. A large amount of food and ammunition is needed ahead, but the bridge over the Boiling River has been blown up, and the train cannot pass. The higher authorities gave seven days to repair the bridge. Yang Liandi, who had just filled out the volunteer form for joining the party, came to the riverside to observe with a reorganization that night.
Enemy planes circled overhead, and the scene was pitch black. Yang Liandi and the others took advantage of the faint starlight, braved the snowflakes in the sky, and used a crane in the river to lift the steel beams little by little.
Two dark nights passed, and only a tenth of the work was completed. Yang Liandi was anxious. I can't see in the dark, it's too dangerous during the day, what should I do? In the morning, when the troops returned to the garrison to rest, he climbed a small hill and observed the scene.
Yang Liandi looked at the blown up bridge of the Boiling River and the guns and ammunition piled up on the north bank of the river, and thought: "These are all military supplies that are urgently needed at the front, but they can't be transported here." If the bridge is not repaired quickly, how can we be worthy of the soldiers at the front and the people of the motherland? ”
From the pattern of air raids by enemy planes, Yang Liandi found that there is a gap in the middle of each air raid, and as long as we seize this gap time to rush repairs, the work efficiency can be greatly improved. So, he led eight comrades to climb the bridge pier and work nervously.
Suddenly, four enemy planes flew over the bridge. Yang Liandi hurriedly ordered the soldiers to disperse and hide. When the enemy plane swooped down, Yang Liandi grabbed a rope, slid down the 15-meter-high bridge pier, and ran into the air raid trench.
In this way, when the enemy plane came, Yang Liandi and the soldiers hid themselves; As soon as the enemy plane left, they seized the time to do it again. One day, when the enemy planes were circling around the river bridge like flies, our antiaircraft guns fired a burst of "dong dong" fire, and one of the enemy planes immediately dragged the black smoke down and fell down.
When the soldiers saw the enemy plane crashed, they were all elated, their confidence in victory was strengthened, the progress of the project was faster, and the Boiling River Bridge was repaired three days ahead of schedule. I saw that the train was full of supplies and ammunition, and it was continuously sent to the front line.
Later, in the battle of building a crawling bridge on the Boiling River, Yang Liandi carried forward the fearless revolutionary spirit and made collective meritorious contributions together with the soldiers of the whole class. It was at this time that he was promoted to deputy squad leader and honorably approved as a member of the Chinese Communist Party.
In July 1951, our army triumphantly ended the Fifth Campaign and drove the American aggressors back to the vicinity of the 38th parallel. Yang Liandi's company also moved to the Qingchuan River Bridge. This is an important bridge, through which large quantities of food and ammunition are transported to the front every day.
Enemy planes in large formations bombed the bridge indiscriminately every day. One day, pier No. 3 collapsed, the steel girder sank to the center of the river, and transportation was interrupted.
The regimental command post ordered the completion of the emergency repair task within eight days. To repair the bridge, a pedestrian pontoon bridge had to be built next to the bridge so that materials could be transported and work could be carried out from it. Yang Liandi was ordered to lead the soldiers to build a pontoon bridge.
That night, Yang Liandi led the warriors Pony and Xiao Zheng to the riverside to find a shallow way to cross the river. The three of them walked hand in hand towards Jiang Xin.
Yang Liandi, who was walking in front, suddenly slipped on the soles of his feet and fell into the crater. The pony grabbed him and dragged him up.
"Deputy squad leader, I'll go down alone!" With that, the pony strode into the water. Yang Liandi and Xiao Zheng were so anxious that they shouted loudly: "Little Pony, there are many craters under the bridge, it's too dangerous for you to go alone!" But he was no longer visible, only the sound of treading water.
After a while, the pony came back and said that the waterway was shallow, but there were too many bomb craters. Yang Liandi thought about it for a while and felt that it was not possible, so he personally went into the water and went back and forth several times, and finally determined a route with shallow water and flat bottom.
Then, Yang Liandi and the soldiers started to build a pontoon bridge. Yang Liandi kidnapped the son in front, and the soldiers set up paving boards in the back, and it only took two nights and a day of work to build the pontoon bridge.
But just as Yang Liandi and the others were about to build the bridge piers, suddenly, a huge storm hit. The sky was cloudy, thunder rumbled, heavy rain poured down, and the water level rose rapidly. The pontoon bridge was washed away by the river and shook.
Yang Liandi thought about the pontoon bridge day and night. As soon as the storm stopped, he waded alone to the river to inspect it, only to see that the flood was rushing, the river was filled with mist, and the pontoon bridge that had been built with great difficulty had been washed away by the flood. Yang Liandi frowned, thinking about the next bridging plan.
At this time, the company commander hurriedly chased after him and said to Yang Liandi: "The construction plan has been changed. Now you go to the other side to help Erlian build a pontoon bridge, bring dry food to bypass Miaoxiang Mountain, report tomorrow, you can't get through here! ”
Yang Liandi thought to himself, it would take a day to get around like this. He looked up and saw a long log inserted into the center of the river on the side of the No. 3 pier, and a bent steel rail hanging down diagonally on the No. 4 pier, and he hurriedly said to the company commander: "There are these two things to climb, and you can pass from here." ”
The company commander told him to be more careful. Yang Liandi agreed and jumped onto the log. The rapids crashed against the logs, causing waves that splashed him all over the water. He was dizzy from the jolt, but tried to calm himself.
He looked at the target more than two meters away, jumped forward, and grabbed the rail. The rail bent down, dipped him in the water, and bounced upward, almost throwing him into the river.
Yang Liandi grabbed the rails with all his might. The rail shook a few times, slowly stabilized, and he climbed step by step along the rail to the top of the thirteen-meter-high pier. At this time, the comrades-in-arms on both sides of the strait cheered enthusiastically: "The heroes of the ascension have ascended again!" ”
When Yang Liandi arrived on the other side, he immediately discussed with the comrades of the second company how to build a bridge. His gaze swept over the beam sleepers, and after some research, Yang Liandi came up with a solution: it was recommended to build a suspension bridge here.
The superiors agreed to this plan. So Yang Liandi led two teams to attack overnight, and in less than half of the night, the suspension bridge was built! But a few hours later, the flash flood broke out again, and the waves crashed like a hill against the suspension bridge.
The situation is becoming more and more urgent. What to do? At the head of the bridge, Yang Liandi and the foremen Lao Li and Lao Hu decided to build a gasoline barrel pontoon bridge here after research. So one hundred and fifty large gasoline drums were transported to the river. Soldiers race against time to tie up the pontoon bridge in the shape of a large ladder.
Yang Liandi set up air defense posts on the hills on both sides, and led two squads to tie gasoline barrel pontoon bridges on the river bank. As soon as the morning dawned, the gasoline barrel pontoon bridge was tied, and Yang Liandi took a row of people and dragged the pontoon bridge to the river with several large ropes.
After a tough battle, the gasoline barrel pontoon bridge was finally built. The fighters immediately passed through this pontoon bridge, setting off a rush to repair the railway bridge.
The project is progressing rapidly, and the bridge erecting machine has been driven to the bridgehead. At this last moment, however, new difficulties arose: the piers were built higher and higher, and the low pontoons could no longer work, and the pontoons were in danger of being washed away if the flood water rose again.
The head of the regiment held an emergency meeting on the spot, and everyone proposed to build another rail pontoon bridge. However, in order to do so, an iron anchor must be attached to each rail so that the rail can be fixed in the river. However, where do so many iron anchors come from?
At this time, Yang Liandi had been promoted to deputy platoon commander. After repeated consideration, he suggested that instead of an iron anchor, the steel rails should be inserted into the bottom of the river, and the pontoon bridge could also be fixed. After careful study, everyone thought that this method was good.
The fighters lined up and nervously carried the rails in the wind and rain. The loud sound of trumpets on the piers drowned out the roar of the flood.
Yang Liandi held pliers in his hand and kidnapped the rails at the forefront. People trembled on the surface of the river with a single rail, and the torrent surged underneath their bodies.
The pontoon bridge was about to approach the No. 3 pier, and just as Yang Lian turned around to connect the rail with his hands, there was a sudden shock, his hands flew into the air, his body fell backwards, and he fell into the river. The river rolled up with the waves, swallowing him up at once.
The comrades knew that Yang Liandi could not swim, so the soldiers who could swim jumped into the river one after another to rescue him.
The turbid river water poured into Yang Liandi's nostrils and mouth, but he knew very well in his heart, paddling hard with his two hands, and gradually his eyes lit up, his head surfaced, and he changed his breath suddenly.
Suddenly, he felt the soles of his feet step on the soles, and he stood hard, and his head was exposed to the water. The comrades who ran along the river shouted and hurriedly handed over a bamboo pole to rescue him ashore.
The company commander immediately took off his shirt, wrapped it around Yang Liandi, saw that he was holding the pliers in his hand, and asked, "Why are the pliers still in hand?" Yang Liandi trembled and said calmly: "How can you work if you throw it away!" ”
Yang Liandi and everyone fought for another day and a night, the pontoon bridge was built, and the No. 3 pier was also repaired. Like the hero Yang Liandi, it stands majestically on the Qingchuan River, and the roaring flood flows tamely from its feet. Trains played triumphant songs and galloped across the river.
In September 1951, Yang Liandi attended the National Conference of Model Railway Workers, and once again happily met the great leader Chairman Mao. Later, he accompanied a delegation of volunteers to various parts of North China to report to the people of the motherland on the heroic deeds of the volunteers.
Half a year later, Yang Liandi returned to North Korea. By this time, he had been promoted to deputy technical company commander. When the fighters heard about his return, they happily flocked to the company headquarters, opened his backpack and looked through the precious souvenirs presented by the people of the Motherland.
Everyone found a broken rice bag that had been mended and mended, picked it up and asked, "What, you still carry this rice bag when you first entered the court?" Yang Liandi smiled and said: "It can still be used to make up for it, and it can be very useful in North Korea!" ”
In order to take care of Yang Liandi's body, the instructor advised him to rest for a few days. Yang Liandi refused to say anything, and led the two soldiers to the Qingchuan River Bridge to observe...