Text/Liu Weiping (Lao Ma)
Speaking of Shandong Laiyang, I am no stranger to it at all. I spent my youth in the barracks of the 10th Logistics Department of the Jinan Military Region in Laiyang, Shandong.
With a flick of his fingers, he has gone through nearly 20 years of military travel in Laiyang.
In the past few days, many comrades-in-arms have been talking about Laiyang in various ways, and I can't help but move, turning out the old photos of serving in the army in Laiyang, or I prefer the photos when I was a soldier in the second company, after all, I am young, full of vigor and vitality, which makes me more nostalgic for the youth years in the second company.
In those days, it was not easy to take a few photos with a camera. Thanks to a comrade-in-arms of the Second Company, I used my camera to record my footage in the Second Company.
Although these photos are about a silly little soldier, they are not vivid, have no sense of appreciation and aesthetics, and are not ideal in terms of scene selection and composition. But I personally think that this simple and motivated image is a true portrayal of the soldiers of that era. Most of my comrades-in-arms are unpretentious, and they all came to the army with simple feelings and enthusiasm. After being tempered by the melting pot of the army, the comrades-in-arms are well aware of the purpose of the people's army for the people, and this easy-to-understand truth is deeply rooted in the minds of our generation of soldiers.
Back then, my motivation for joining the army was very simple. When I was 16 years old, I was in my youth and longed for the big school of the People's Liberation Army.
Probably influenced by his parents' military service, he particularly revered the image of a soldier who "wears a red star on his head and hangs the red flag of the revolution on both sides", and yearns for the 65-style green military uniform. Before I joined the army, sometimes, I wore my father's green military uniform and looked in front of the mirror, beaming proudly. As soon as I graduated from high school, I bid farewell to my parents and hometown, resolutely joined the army, and came to the 10th Ordnance Repair Company of the Logistics Department of the Jinan Military Region, also known as the Second Ordnance Repair Company, and worked and lived in this company for 9 years.
In the second company, he was engaged in different positions, artillery repairman, clerk, deputy squad leader of the second platoon, squad leader, cooking squad leader, second platoon leader, deputy instructor, etc.
A photo of a recruit in his first year of enlistment
Erlian is the starting point of my life, the cradle of my growth, and a symbol that I will never forget.
Although he has been away from Erlian for more than 40 years, he has been in love with Erlian.
I have been away from the army for more than 30 years, but the feelings of soldiers linger.
Photograph of overalls
Our second dormitory and workshop, in the early 70s, the first few years were not in the same place, the dormitory was in a small courtyard in the ancient city of Liudong in Laiyang, and a three-story building was the dormitory, which was very conspicuous in the vast fields and villages at that time. The second repair workshop, like a small factory, is located in the ancient city of the west.
From the beginning of 1971, when I came to the 2nd Company, I was assigned to the 2nd Platoon and 2nd Shift of the 2nd Company and became an ordnance repairman. Under the meticulous teaching of cadres and veterans, it took me more than a year to basically master the technique of repairing artillery, and I was able to complete the task of repairing artillery with my comrades.
Every year, our company has to be divided into several repair detachments, which go to the troops stationed in Jiaodong and go to the border defense islands to repair artillery for the combat units. Every time I complete the repair task, I am naturally very happy.
"Ordnance repairman and artillery, artillery is the "sharp spear weapon" in the eyes of the repairman, the repairman is the "mother" of the artillery, and the repairman and the artillery have an inseparable natural complex.
In the 70s, I was in the 2nd Company, and my comrades-in-arms were mainly responsible for the artillery maintenance of the troops of the 26th Army, the Neichangshan Fortress Area, the Qingdao Garrison District, and the Yanwei Garrison Area, as well as the maintenance of artillery in the ordnance and weapons warehouses under the division. The main artillery pieces are the 54-Type 122 howitzer, the 591-1 Type 130 cannon, the 66-Type 152 howitzer, the Type 65 double-three-seven anti-aircraft gun, and so on.
On average, the second company overhauled more than 40 artillery pieces every year, and at most more than 70 guns, and in the workshops and courtyards of the second company, there were often repaired artillery pieces neatly lined up there, waiting for the troops to come and pull them back to form combat effectiveness.
We repair artillery, not only in the workshop, but also often in the unit for maintenance. Going to the border and repairing artillery on the island is a very happy and memorable thing, because every time the artillery is repaired, it will leave an unforgettable mark.
It was probably in 1973 that my comrades-in-arms and I repaired this Type 56 85 cannon, and our hearts were full of pride, and we couldn't help but lie on the muzzle of the gun and leave an unforgettable group photo. Today, it seems that it is still so affectionate.
It is the duty of every ordnance repairer to be accompanied by artillery and concentrate on repairing and caring for it. Carefully maintained artillery, pulled out, and sounded, is the responsibility and responsibility of the ordnance repairman.
This artillery, after careful repair by me and my comrades-in-arms, has passed the acceptance and is about to be sent to the combat troops. It was a coincidence that I couldn't remember which comrade-in-arms it was, so I used my camera to take a picture with this artillery, which was very precious.
When we repair artillery, we do not dare to be sloppy at all, we do not tolerate slackness, and we use our sweat and painstaking efforts to meticulously repair and maintain it to ensure that once there is a war, it can be pulled out and fought soundly.
Defend the Motherland with a steel gun in hand. Defend the artillery and strengthen the national defense.
In the 70s of the 20 th century, relations between the mainland and a certain country were very tense. Our unit is stationed in Laiyang, the hinterland of the Jiaodong Peninsula, and its location is very important, and it has always been an important place for troops.
At that time, Laiyang, as a county town in Shandong, was stationed with a large number of troops, and it is said that Laiyang was the largest barracks north of the Yangtze River. Inside and outside the city, around the countryside, it seems that there are military camps everywhere, and there are soldiers everywhere. On Sundays, the streets are filled with soldiers in green uniforms. Sometimes the troops of the 26th Army pulled, and as far as the eye could see, it was like a sea of green surging.
The unit to which I belong is a logistics unit that provides campaign logistics support for combat units. Not far from the station, there is the 26th Army, which is a field army, but they all belong to the army.
We are surrounded not only by the army, but also by naval aviation and air force. As soldiers, for a common goal, they bid farewell to their hometown and come to one place, so they naturally have contacts. I forgot what year it was, at the naval aviation airfield of the North Sea Fleet in Laiyang, I borrowed a naval sailor uniform from a naval comrade-in-arms and put it on.
Here I look down on the surrounding fields, and it is so peaceful, a peaceful scene. Where does tranquility and peace come from? It is because of our soldiers with steel guns in their hands who are defending the country and protecting the safety of the people.
I told myself that since I came to be a soldier, I had to learn my skills and perform my duties well.
Once, I came to the highest point of the second company's factory and left a photo of the end gun practicing shooting.
As a soldier, you must be proficient in the weapons in your hands.
A soldier who can't shoot a gun is not a "good soldier". As a soldier, you can defeat the enemy only if you know the weapons in your hands.
As soldiers of the logistics unit, although we will not undertake front-line combat tasks when we start a war, and our second company undertakes the task of maintaining and supporting ordnance and equipment in the rear, the soldiers' sense of mission is in their hearts, and they must learn more skills to kill the enemy.
Start with handjob, my experience is that it is not easy to master the essentials of handgun shooting, and the essentials of handjob are indeed difficult to grasp.
After practicing for a while, every time I hit the target, for me, hitting the target is a victory, and sometimes I miss the target, and I am not convinced. Strictly speaking, I am not a qualified pistol shooter.
In the first few years of my military service, I was in the second company and one platoon, specializing in repairing artillery. After I was promoted, I came to the second platoon as a platoon commander, and the business content under my jurisdiction was completely different from that of the first platoon, with four shifts of optical repair, five shifts of firearms repair, six shifts of mechanical processing, and seven shifts of transportation support.
Faced with a new field of work, I had to "start from scratch" and learn everything from scratch.
When the platoon commander, in the machining workshop and engineering car, with the comrades of the sixth class, learned lathe processing, although the technology is not refined, not completely introduced, but finally experienced a hand, is not an old saying called practice out of true knowledge, to touch the machine tool, at least have a feeling, not to speak layman's language.
The Second Company, as a repair company, has trained a lot of military and civilian personnel, and many comrades-in-arms have contributed to the repair of ordnance in the army.
In order to get acquainted with the work of the second platoon, I went to learn firearms repair.
Among them are Type 56 pistols, Type 56 semi-automatic rifles, Type 56 submachine guns, Type 56 light machine guns and other weapons.
Although I am the commander of the second platoon, when it comes to repairing guns, I am a "layman", and the only thing I can do is to put down the platoon commander's "shelf", humbly worship every comrade-in-arms of the fifth class as a teacher, study hard, practice diligently, and after a long time, there is still some gain.
In the second platoon, as long as there was an opportunity to repair the weapon for verification, I went to the fifth shift, came to the verification range, picked up the submachine gun with my comrades, and learned the essentials of submachine gun shooting through the verification.
Submachine guns are more powerful and lethal than rifles, but it is not easy to hit the target with a bullet. It is not easy to master the excellent skills of submachine gun shooting. I heard that the old company commander Che Jialiang was able to shoot accurately, so I took the company commander as an example and practiced back and forth, but in the end I did not reach the level of the company commander. I just mastered the ability to shoot guns, and I focused on mastering the essentials.
Now I look at some war film and television works, and some people in the picture are really not very good at shooting, and they are full of flaws. There is a saying that "the layman looks at the excitement, the insider looks at the door", I learned some firearms shooting essentials in the second company, and I can see something in the action of firearm shooting.
The squad uses light machine guns, and it is no easier to master the essentials than submachine guns, which seems easy, but when it comes to live firing, there are often off-target.
As a repair company, the Second Company mainly repairs weapons every day, not to practice shooting guns every day, nor does it mainly focus on training to shoot guns, so the purpose of shooting guns is to test the guns and verify whether the weapons are repaired or not.
Our second row of firearms repair, mainly responsible for the maintenance of firearms in the subordinate units of the branch and the maintenance of firearms in the warehouse, complete the repair and maintenance of more than 1,000 guns every year.
Freezing three feet, not a day's cold. I have shot a light machine gun, but it is indeed not easy to fight, and when shooting, there are targets and misses, and the main reason is that there is a lack of training, and if the training is not enough, the level will not go up.
When I was the second platoon leader, I learned to drive an engineering vehicle with the sixth squad leader. When he was a deputy instructor, he also learned to drive a three-wheeled motorcycle, and political cadres wore work clothes and drove three-wheeled motorcycles to perform tasks. ”
In the second company, in addition to repairing artillery, he also had to be an "all-rounder". When I was a clerk in the company headquarters, instructor Cai Wenhai took me on a three-wheeled motorcycle, and often went from the company headquarters in the west ancient city to each workshop of the second company in the east ancient city, and went deep into the front line to understand the work of the company.
In the 70s, our army's equipment was generally backward, but our second company had 3 transport vehicles, 7 engineering vehicles, and motorcycles, as well as gun repair and machining workshops and related equipment, which was considered relatively advanced, and an engineering vehicle was worth more than 100,000 yuan, which was considered valuable and advanced equipment at that time.
At that time, our army basically did not have mechanization and motorization, and our second company carried out all motorized tasks, driving Jiefang-brand transport vehicles and engineering vehicles. Sometimes, looking at the engineering vehicles and transport trucks one by one in the garage of the second company, they are quite majestic, and with these equipment, coupled with courage, courage and awareness, it is not a problem to complete the task of repairing ordnance equipment and defeat the enemy.
Probably due to the reason for repairing guns and guns in the second company, I still like ordnance and equipment, and I have always paid attention to the development and changes of our army's weapons and equipment. Attention is paid not only to army equipment, but especially to naval and air force equipment. In the past, our army has fought against the most powerful enemies and has shown heroism to defeat all enemies. In the past, the gap between our navy and air force and Western countries was too great, but now it is catching up. We also have fourth-generation aircraft, aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines, and advanced ships such as 0.55 million ton large destroyers, large landing ships, and 10,000-ton supply ships.
The company is the most basic unit of the army and is the basic element for accomplishing combat missions. Here I learned who to carry a gun for, who to fight for, to understand that it is a soldier's duty to obey orders, to establish the spirit of not being afraid of difficulties and not afraid of sacrifice, and so on.
No matter what I say, I always feel that being a soldier in the second company of the tenth division of Laiyang is worth it, and I will never forget it for the rest of my life. The soldier, for the soldier, is a symbol that will never be forgotten.
Taking the photos of the soldiers as clues, looking back at the ups and downs of the military journey, I cherish that glorious military journey very much.
Liu Weiping
2023、12、30
Liu Weiping:
A member of the Communist Party of China, he enlisted in the army in November 1970, and served as the chief of the secretary section of the Political Department of the 10th Logistics Department of the Jinan Military Region, and a lieutenant colonel in the army. He has successively served as a soldier, clerk, deputy squad leader, squad leader, platoon leader, deputy instructor, assistant of the ordnance department of the branch, secretary of the political department of the branch, deputy instructor of the teaching team of the branch, secretary of the political department of the branch, deputy section chief, deputy section chief, and section chief.
In 1990, he transferred to the Shandong Provincial Agricultural Commission, and then worked in the Shandong Provincial Department of Agriculture, successively working in the Research Office, Science and Education Department, Grassroots Department and Market Information Department of the Provincial Agricultural Commission, and successively served as chief clerk, deputy director, researcher, director and other positions. In 2013, he was awarded the title of "National Advanced Agricultural Individual" by the Ministry of Agriculture. ”
After his retirement in 2014, he successively served as the vice president and secretary-general of Shandong Agricultural Products Wholesale Market, the secretary-general of the Science Popularization and Education Committee of Shandong Association for Science and Technology, the director of Shandong Institute of Electronics, an expert of Shandong Information Think Tank, and an engineering technology application researcher.
He has published papers and survey reports on rural policy, agricultural science and technology, and market information in central and provincial journals for many times. He has participated in the compilation and writing of some agriculture-related works, and some have won academic awards from the provincial government. Participated in the compilation of Shandong Volume of the Complete Book of Chinese Agriculture, "Shandong Agricultural History", "Guide to Ideological and Political Work", "Red Confidential Story" and other books.
He sorted out the reminiscences of his father Liu Naiyan, and edited "The Story of My Father's War of Resistance Against Japan", "The Story of My Father's Liberation War", "The Story of My Father's War of Fighting", "The Story of My Father's Peace Period", "My Father's Lost Peacetime", "My Father's Lost Story", "My Father's Story", "My Father's Story", "My Father's Father", "My Father's Father's Battle" and other articles. Among them, "The Story of Father's Liberation War" and "The Separation of Black Mountain Nunnery" have been published.