When it comes to the Long March, when describing the hardships and dangers experienced by the Red Army, people will think of the six words "climbing snow-capped mountains and crossing grasslands".
The harsh environment of the snow-capped mountains is relatively easy to understand, the high-altitude snow-capped mountains are frozen all the year round, even if they go to mountaineering now, without perfect equipment, professional mountaineers do not dare to challenge easily, not to mention the Red Army in those years, wearing single clothes and straw sandals, eating wild vegetables and tree bark.
In the impression of many people, the grassland should be a picturesque tourist resort, but why can it be equated with the harsh environment of the snow-capped mountains? What is the grassland that the Red Army walked on in the past?
Dangerous "cannibalistic" meadows
In August 1935, the Red Army, which had just crossed the snow-capped mountains, came to the Maoergai area of Sichuan, which is located in the west of Songpan County, with the Songpan grassland in front.
The steppe here is very different from the Mongolian steppe, and is actually a highland wetland, which is a muddy swamp, not so much a meadow as a huge natural swamp.
On August 21, the Red Army began to enter the meadows, when it was the rainy season, and after the Songpan grassland was soaked in rain, it was damp everywhere, and at a glance, the whole world was vast, as if it was an endless green ocean.
At that time, the Red Army was short of supplies, only a pitiful amount of barley was replenished in Maoergai, and there was nothing to eat on the steppe, and all the soldiers had to fight hunger.
Compared with the battlefield filled with gunsmoke and snow-capped mountains, many Red Army soldiers felt safe, and when they first entered the grassland, they were not aware of the danger at all.
But it didn't take long for the soldiers to understand that the grassland had opened its bloody mouth, just waiting to devour the uninvited guests who walked in.
Some places that seem to be safe, as soon as you step on it, your body will quickly sink, and the comrades next to you will hurriedly pull it after seeing it, but the huge inertia will even drag the rescuer into the swamp, and the seemingly flat ground turns out to be full of traps.
The inexperienced Red Army, after falling into the swamp, would struggle as hard as when it fell into the water, and the more they struggled, the faster they would sink, and there was no time to rescue them, and the people were already gone.
Later, when the fighters encountered such a situation, they would ask their comrades who were stuck in the swamp to stop struggling and pull them up with sticks or ropes, or they would march hand in hand, and if someone stepped on the swamp, the others could immediately pull him up with force.
This situation is not the most terrible, some swamps have no problems standing up at first, but as time goes by, people will slowly sink, and when they react, half of their bodies are already in the mud, and some teams camp at night and disappear in the early morning.
In addition, the changeable climate of the grasslands is also a major threat, with the scorching sun at noon, thunder and lightning in the afternoon, and torrential rain and hail pouring down.
At night, the temperature will plummet below freezing, although it is August, but the Songpan grassland is 3,500 meters above sea level, the harsh climate is unbearable, most of the soldiers only wear single clothes, and if they fall asleep at night, they may not wake up.
When it rains, it is even more dangerous, and the slippery grass makes it unsteady to stand, and if you fall, you are likely to fall into a mud.
There are still many rivers on the grassland, because the temperature is too low, the muscles of the warriors are tense, and when they are provoked by the icy river water, they may fall, and every time they cross a river, someone will be sacrificed, even if the river is more than a meter deep, someone will fall.
The Red Army only crossed the grassland for 7 days and 7 nights, but sacrificed nearly 40,000 people, and the price paid for crossing the grassland was far greater than climbing the snow-capped mountains, which shows how terrible the Songpan grassland is.
Governance of the Songpan grassland
The terrifying grassland of that year made the older generation of revolutionaries never forget, and after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the state wanted to govern the Songpan grassland.
The Songpan grassland is actually a very high-quality pasture, the water and grass are abundant, and the herdsmen in the surrounding areas will also come here to graze, but there are not a few people who accidentally fall into the swamp every year, and if this grassland is managed well, it can bring benefits to the surrounding herdsmen.
After field exploration and research, experts found that rainfall is not the main reason for the formation of swamps in Songpan grassland, Songpan grassland due to the special geographical environment, so that the water here can not be discharged, coupled with the cold climate, rainwater can not evaporate, over time, the formation of swamp landform.
In response to this situation, experts put forward a comprehensive treatment plan for drainage, reclamation, and grass planting.
The state organized manpower to build many drainage canals in the Songpan grassland, which led the water accumulated in the grassland and discharged it into the surrounding lakes, which could allow the water of the grassland to flow, and even if it rained again, it could be discharged in time.
Since the swamps of the steppe are formed over many years, and the water penetrates deep into the soil, when digging the drainage canals, people dig as deep as possible to touch the solid sedimentary ground underground, and only in this way can the drainage channels really work.
At the same time, according to the specific topography of the grassland, the farmland is reclaimed in the area suitable for planting crops, and the crops have an obvious effect on fixing the soil.
In areas that are not suitable for growing crops, grass species with high water absorption capacity are introduced, which can consume a lot of water and can also be used as pasture grass for herders to raise livestock.
Such comprehensive planting can make the ecological environment of the whole grassland form a good cycle, and avoid soil erosion caused by overgrazing.
Three-pronged, Songpan grassland slowly changed the original appearance, local herdsmen in addition to grazing, but also began to cultivate crops, to promote the local economic development, the former "man-eating" grassland, now has become a fertile land, the original desolation has become history, now in the Songpan grassland, everywhere can be seen leisurely grazing cattle and sheep, as well as herdsmen's tents.
At the same time, the unique grassland scenery has attracted a large number of tourists, Zhaga Waterfall, Erdaohai, Danyun Gorge, Xuebaoding and other famous scenic spots have become people's tourist destinations, strolling in the vast grassland where you can see the horizon, who would have thought that more than 80 years ago, that heroic and fearless team, it was from here to victory.
Nowadays, the local government attaches great importance to the ecological and environmental protection of the grassland, and has formulated corresponding management measures according to the actual situation, which not only requires herders to take the initiative to maintain the ecological environment of the grassland, but also restricts the behavior of tourists to reduce man-made pollution and destruction.
epilogue
After more than 80 years of baptism, today's Songpan grassland is already a harmonious grassland scenery, the harsh environment of the past has completely disappeared, standing on the grassland, no longer have to worry about falling into the swamp.
The ancestors of the martyrs, if there is knowledge under the spring, see the smiles of the herdsmen now, and hear the cheerful laughter of the tourists, they may feel gratified, this prosperous era, as you wish!
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Reference:
1. The Red Army Crossing the Grassland.VIP.2016-11-06
2. The mainland officially announced the first batch of "red grasslands", involving a total of 12 sites in 9 provinces (regions.Beijing News.2022).
3. How difficult was it for the Red Army to climb snowy mountains and cross grasslands? Northern News.2009-03-25