Narrator: Min Poor
My name is Min Qian, I was born in a farming family in a big ravine in Jinzhai County, Anhui Province, I am 60 years old this year, I settled in Chuzhou City after changing jobs in the army, and I am now retired.
In my free time, I drove to Mopan Mountain, which is more than 30 kilometers away from the city, to see the old army station, and to see the mountains, the water, and the people there.
I have a deep love for the troops, every grass and tree there is so familiar and kind, and I dedicate my most vigorous youth to the barracks here.
I joined the army in November '81 from Jinzhai County, the old revolutionary base area, and after three months of arduous recruit training, I was selected to the artillery command company to do artillery command calculations because of my good math scores.
The command company's requirements for the calculators are not only to use trigonometric functions to quickly and accurately calculate the angle and unilateral distance of the triangular relationship between the observation post, the artillery position, and the enemy target, but also to determine the firing elements.
The firing element is a parameter set according to the range, elevation angle, muzzle velocity and thrust of the ammunition when the shell or missile is launched, and is reported to the commander for instructions.
The comprehensive assessment of outstanding calculators also requires good front-line reconnaissance and surveying and mapping capabilities. Therefore, calculation, reconnaissance, and mapping were compulsory courses during my training.
During the Spring Festival in 1981, we took a military vehicle, traveled a long distance, and arrived at Shaheji Town, Nanqiao District on the second day of the Lunar New Year, the former campus of Anhui Agricultural College was stationed for training, this agricultural college is the predecessor of today's Anhui Agricultural University, and there are tea industry departments, forestry departments and sericulture departments in Shaheji.
When we arrived, it was about 3 p.m., the vanguard of the front station had already prepared dinner, and the instructors had already deployed the day's training tasks.
The first thing we did when we got off the bus was to clean the classroom that we had just vacated and make a dormitory, and before we could open our backpacks and settle into our beds, the emergency assembly whistle sounded, and we were ordered to eat in ten minutes, and then set off to carry out the task of finding something.
What is a point to find? It is to mark a point on a map and ask you to find it in the dark of night.
This is a huge test for new soldiers who are not familiar with the place, in the dark night, alone soldiers, walking dozens of kilometers back and forth, and there are no roads at all in many places, it is very challenging to find the markers buried in advance on a barren mountain and wild ridge alone.
The equipment provided to us was only a military map, a compass, and a war shovel (that is, the shovel that everyone usually uses, a miniature version, a small shovel with a total length of no more than fifty or sixty centimeters, digging, chopping, opening the way, and self-defense, all depend on it).
The truck sent us to Mopan Mountain in Daliu Town, Baimi Mountain in Shahe Town, and Sanjie in Mingguang City, unfolded the map, provided a three-minute light source, and required us to accurately identify the location and geomorphological features of the marked points on the map in a very short time, and then act separately.
In the case of not taking the wrong road, the average distance on foot is not less than 40 kilometers, and the preset object at that point is found and brought back to the barracks is considered to be completed in this subject training.
At that time, there were no mobile phones, let alone sending a location like today, navigating through AutoNavi or Baidu.
At that time, we had to determine the direction before we set off, and then according to the characteristics of hills, rivers, ravines, cliffs, pastorals, villages and other characteristics on the map, we should determine the most convenient and feasible path.
Despite this, they often get lost in the actual journey, and sometimes they go a long way but actually go around and return to the original point, and there are almost no people who do not take the wrong road, and some even make a detour of more than ten or twenty kilometers.
The most lamentable thing is that I was alone and had no consultation, the north wind rustled the dead grass and leaves, and from time to time I heard the strange cries of owls or other birds and beasts, and my heart was frightened, and my hair stood on end.
At this time, if you find a village in front of you and there are lights on, you will be inexplicably surprised. When you are the loneliest, you need a little popularity to be courageous.
I ran and found a gray flat land in front of me, thinking it was a fellow threshing floor, I stepped out, plopped down into the pond, desperately rowed ashore and ran, liberating shoes filled with water, a slip is very useless.
After a while, the trouser legs and sleeves were frozen with ice ballast, and there was a clattering sound in the cold wind, and I always thought that someone was following behind. And the underwear is always wet and steaming from the neckline.
Finally approached the target, and found that it was a large mound, and then carefully identified, it was actually a brand new tomb. I think of what the instructor once said: Your target may be the most unapproachable, the most dangerous, the most terrifying, and the most unexpected place.
There was no room for hesitation, but I had to pounce on it, and there was a stone on the grave, and under the stone was an envelope, if I found a treasure, it was something that I had worked so hard to find!
When returning, I had to race against time, one foot deep and one shallow foot panicked, and ran all the way. The minimum time is eight or nine hours, and the team that returns after dawn after 12 hours is considered to be a failure.
Someone handed over the envelope and collapsed to the ground, unable to get up. Someone got completely lost during the night and didn't come back until noon. Some were so hungry and sleepy that they slept in the barn.
Because everything will become much easier at dawn, even if you don't punish it, you feel very shameless, not to mention that the results of each training are to be evaluated, and the army is the place where the sense of honor is the most.
For a qualified soldier, there are requirements for courage, perseverance, physical fitness, and the ability to work independently, as well as the improvement of ideological consciousness and the cultivation of comprehensive quality.
It can only be more fully reflected in the barracks. Imagine that today it is unlikely that any local unit will carry out similar activities, and the leadership will fully consider whether the risks are controllable.
What should I do if a teenager is left alone in the wild for a night and gets lost? What should I do if I fall off a cliff? What should I do if I drown? What should I do if I am injured by a wild animal? What should I do if I have other accidents?
The head of the army at that time may have thought about these issues, but they are definitely not the main ones, because sacrifice and dedication are the mission and responsibility of soldiers, and soldiers take obedience to orders as their duty.