Since ancient times, the border troops have been the combat units with the harshest conditions and the heaviest tasks, and if you want to say where in China the border troops are the most suffering, everyone will mention one name: Motuo.
【Motuo Border Camp】
Anyone with a certain geographical knowledge knows that Motuo is in Tibet, but few people know that Motuo is an extremely rare Tibetan area that is not on the plateau, where the altitude is only 1,200 meters, and it has a subtropical jungle climate.
An isolated hideaway
It was also the last county on the mainland to be opened by road, and in the past it could have been described as truly isolated, with the work of nature separating Medog from the rest of Tibet by the Himalayas.
[The Murphy Jungle increases the difficulty of communicating with the outside world]
In the past, to reach Medog from Tibet, you had to cross the Himalayas.
One can imagine how difficult it was for the troops to reach here before the opening of the Medog Highway.
Despite the fact that it is a secret place that is difficult to reach for China, it is very easy to get from India to Metuo, which has also made it the forefront of the Sino-Indian border conflict, and to this day, the upper and lower Luoyu of Medog is still the division between China and India.
[Medog has always been at the forefront of the Sino-Indian border conflict]
At that time, the Tibetan rebels, backed by the CIA and the Tibetan rebel regime, launched an offensive against the PLA stationed in various central counties.
Because it was too difficult for reinforcements and supplies to reach these counties, the Tibet Military Region could only order the troops of each county to defend independently, making it clear that no reinforcements would arrive.
That is to say, the People's Liberation Army's ideological discipline and military quality are quite excellent, and a company can defend it for dozens of days, which ensures that these counties will not be occupied by Tibetan rebels.
[Counterinsurgency Liberation Army and local people 1]
For those troops that urgently need supplies, the PLA has barely replenished combat consumption by sending bombers to airdrop supplies, and only a small number of counties have the conditions for airdropping.
As for places like Motuo, which were completely isolated at that time, the People's Liberation Army even was
Fortunately, after the victory of the counterinsurgency in Tibet, the PLA noticed the existence of Motuo, but at that time, the Sino-Indian border conflict had not escalated, and the PLA did not enter the station immediately.
【Tibetan Counterinsurgency Victory】
It was not until 1962, on the eve of the start of the war against India, that the PLA troops stationed in Tibet received news that the Indian army might occupy Metuo and asked it to quickly move into Medog to prevent the Indian army from seizing the opportunity.
As soon as the order arrived, even if there was a natural danger in front of it, it must be crossed, and an advance team of 50 people of the 158th Regiment of the People's Liberation Army plus an engineer platoon climbed the Duoxiongla Snow Mountain without looking back, and paid the price of the sacrifice of the deputy instructor, so that they arrived at Medog and fortified the local area, which is the origin of the Motuo battalion.
Metuo in the war
After the official outbreak of the self-defense counterattack against India, the Medog garrison was worried that the enemy would be outnumbered and that it would be difficult for them to complete their tasks without timely support. Unexpectedly, the Indian army was about to collapse at the touch of a button, and the PLA quickly won the initiative in the war and ensured the safety of Metuo.
[The People's Liberation Army's war against India]
The veterans of the People's Liberation Army who participated in the Medog battle recalled that the most powerful support in the battle was the local compatriots in Metuo, who had never seen an army that cared for the people so much, so their enthusiasm for supporting the army was higher and higher.
At that time, there were also Motuo compatriots who saw that the PLA used a short Type 56 submachine gun and were worried, in their understanding, the longer the weapon, the better, and the Indian army used the Lee Enfield rifle during World War II, which was much longer than the 56 rush.
After learning of the countryman's worries, the soldiers laughed, saying that their 56 punches could fire continuously, which was much better than the broken guns of the Indians.
[People's Liberation Army and 56 Chong]
Later, when the Sino-Indian war began, the front-line troops needed supplies, so they could only draw people from the homes of local people, but I didn't expect that even those women volunteered to sign up, carrying the equipment and ammunition of the People's Liberation Army to the front line on foot, and completed the task of supporting the front line.
China is an infrastructure maniac, and the PLA engineers and other combat departments were the top existence in the infrastructure maniac.
After the end of the war against India, the troops looked at the Brahmaputra River in front of them and planned to build a bridge here. You must know that due to the steep terrain, the people who have lived in the local area for thousands of years have relied on cowhide rafts to cross the river, and have never had the idea of building bridges.
However, the People's Liberation Army did not believe in evil, and insisted on erecting a steel cable and iron chain bridge in Motuo in a short period of opening the mountain, and named it Jiefang Bridge.
【Jiefang Bridge】
Although the problem of crossing the river has been solved, in order to travel from the interior of Tibet to Metuo, it is always necessary to climb over the dangerous and dangerous Duoxiongla Snow Mountain, and every time you walk, you have to cross a ghost gate, and many PLA officers and soldiers have stayed here forever.
The officers and soldiers of the People's Liberation Army stationed in Medog all call themselves Motuo soldiers, because of the unique natural conditions, this place has become the most difficult border post in China, and many veterans say that serving as a soldier in Medog is Duoxiongla Snow Mountain.
Medog garrison for 60 years
There was a full 60 years between the PLA's entry into Medog and the opening of the traffic in Metuo, and during these 60 years, the garrison of Medog completed the task of garrisoning the border in an isolated environment.
【Motuo Border Camp】
In fact, the People's Liberation Army has been trying to improve the traffic situation in Metuo, and at first it also wanted to build roads, but the technical conditions could not keep up, and in the end it had to give up.
Later, I thought about relying on helicopter airlift, and the main task of the S-70 Black Hawk helicopter purchased during the honeymoon period between China and the United States was actually to deliver supplies to Metuo.
However, as a general-purpose helicopter, the Black Hawk's capacity is limited after all, and the mainland bought a total of 24 at that time, which can only be said to provide an emergency option.
【PLA's Black Hawk helicopter】
Now we see the Medog Highway was officially opened to traffic in 2013, you must know that the plan to build the road in Motuo first began in the 70s of the last century, with China's strong infrastructure level was built for more than 40 years before opening to traffic, which shows how bad the local environment is.
After the opening of the highway to Metuo, the problem of supply difficulties in Medog in the past has been completely solved, coupled with the unprecedented increase in the PLA's airlift capacity, it can meet the supply needs of Medog in both peacetime and wartime, and the significance of the country's strength may lie in this.
Sources:
[1] Tibet Paimo Highway runs through the whole line.People's Daily Online.2021-05-16 [Citation date:2021-05-17]