Photograph of the author
In May 1976, the 1st Automobile Company organized and carried out the education and training of automobile drivers in accordance with the requirements of the Logistics Department of the 22nd Regiment of the 5th Iron Division. Zhang Xianfu, deputy political instructor, and I led the long-distance coaches of the automobile training team to the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, and successfully completed the teaching and training tasks. Enjoy the beautiful Xinjiang!
1976 was an extraordinary year in the history of the People's Republic of China. Three great men passed away, and the whole country mourned. The world was shocked by the devastating earthquake that struck Tangshan! The railway troops building the southern Xinjiang line turned their grief into strength, overcame all difficulties, accelerated the progress of construction, and carried out a very heavy task of transporting engineering materials. The head of the logistics department of the 22nd Regiment of the 5th Iron Division instructed that the automobile training team should not go out for training, and as a mobile force, it should be ready to participate in the rush to transport engineering materials at any time. (Heavy Coach Instructor)
The trainees of the automobile training team are mainly Gansu soldiers who enlisted in 1976, and there are also "eight members" who enlisted in 1975. (clerks, correspondents and drivers, hygienists, hairdressers, cooks, statisticians, materials clerks, oilseed clerks in the duty room)
The coaching squad leaders are all veterans who enlisted in 1973, including Cui Xicheng, a soldier from Yanshan County, Cangzhou Prefecture, Hebei Province, Sun Qingbo, a soldier from Nanpi County, Deng Yuewei, a soldier from Fanyu District, Guangzhou City, and Gao Erji, a soldier from Shunde District.
The auto training team is in charge of me and Deputy Political Instructor Zhang Xianfu. Vice President Zhang pointed out that he had just been transferred from the construction company to the first automobile company, and he had ever ridden in a car, but had never driven a car, and he was eager to take advantage of the opportunity of the 1976 automobile training team to become familiar with the automobile business as soon as possible, and to change from a layman to an insider. In addition to being responsible for political and ideological work, he also took the initiative to undertake the administrative management, accommodation and other complicated work of the long-distance coach of the automobile training team. Deputy Zheng refers to Zhang as a veteran who enlisted in the army in 1963 and is a native of Zhaotong City, Yunnan Province. His wife worked in the nine automobile transport teams in the former province of Kunming. Although he is the oldest veteran of the first automobile company, he still leads by example everywhere and is a good leader. Li Zhenzhong, the political instructor, and Lei Jianzhong, the company commander, asked me to shoulder three responsibilities on one shoulder. First, we must be a good teacher of automobile theory. Second, it is necessary to do a good job in technical safety work and not cause problems. The third is to concurrently serve as the coach of Hai 1———52117 coach. 1976 was also very extraordinary for me, and I was much older.
The first task of the training team was to build a pigsty. The 22nd Regiment of the 5th Railway Division entered Xinjiang to build the Southern Xinjiang Railway, and was stationed in Alagou, deep in the Tianshan Mountains. There is a flour processing factory in Yuergou, dozens of kilometers away from the station, which is the only commercial outlet that can supply grain and oil, but does not include meat. There are two ways to supply meat: First, the Quartermaster Unit of the Regiment's Logistics Department purchases frozen meat from the interior and transports it to Xinjiang to supply the troops, and the other is that the Quartermaster Unit organizes frozen meat to be pulled into the cold storage in Urumqi. However, regardless of the method, the meat supply is not timely. It is often eaten with meat, and boiled soybeans without meat.
The railway soldiers were determined to build railways in the east, west, north and south, and the labor intensity was very high. In order to improve combat effectiveness, the unit called on all companies to carry out agricultural and sideline production, raise pigs on their own, and improve supply.
The coaches and squad leaders led the students to work in full swing, and they really had the spirit of not being afraid of hardship and death. Ma Yuanfu, Cai Xiangsheng, and Feng Yunxiao, recruits from Qin'an County, Gansu Province, are old and small, and I am afraid that they will not be able to bear the heavy physical work, so I arrange for them to help cook in the cooking class. Some of the frozen fish in the cooking class had their mouths open, some closed, some with their eyes open, and some with their eyes closed, which frightened Ma Yuanfu and did not dare to cut the fish, and insisted on doing the hardest and most tiring work.
In September 2016, I went to Xinjiang to visit my old comrades-in-arms who had worked in Xinjiang after being discharged from the army. Ma Yuanfu's comrades-in-arms are close to the age of sixtieth, full of children and grandchildren, and the little soldiers of that year have developed into wealthy households with tens of millions of assets after years of hard work. He said passionately: The spirit of the railway soldiers has inspired them to retire from the army without fading, to fight in Xinjiang for a long time, to sacrifice their youth and their children and grandchildren, and to fight forever. Whenever old comrades-in-arms from all over the country return to Xinjiang, he, Hu Guoxiang, and Su Xintong will warmly entertain their old comrades-in-arms in Urumqi.
Hu Guoxiang was also a soldier in Qin'an County, Gansu Province, who enlisted in the army in 1976, and worked in the Xinjiang Karamay Petroleum Administration after retiring from the army, and settled in Urumqi after retirement. Su Xintong was a soldier who enlisted in Lintong in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province in 1974, and served as the deputy platoon commander of the repair platoon of the first automobile company of the 22nd Regiment of the Fifth Iron Division. They were excellent soldiers when they served in the army, and after they were discharged from the army, they developed very well in Xinjiang, and they had a deep affection for their comrades-in-arms, and every time they entertained their comrades-in-arms from all over the country, they paid out of their own pockets. Zhang Qinglin and Chen Yong both enlisted in the army from Shihezi City, Xinjiang, Zhang Qinglin worked as a communicator, and Chen Yong worked in the repair platoon. After they were discharged from the army, they returned to Shihezi City to struggle, Zhang Qinglin developed into a well-known private entrepreneur, and Chen Yong worked in a transportation company.
When comrades-in-arms from all over the country arrived in Shihezi City, Zhang Qinglin enthusiastically arranged food and lodging, and Chen Yong personally drove his comrades-in-arms back to the old company station in Alagou to take pictures and go sightseeing in tourist attractions. After being transferred from the automobile company to the new management office of the southern Xinjiang line, the head of Shenyang Bingdun Kui in Liaoning Province participated in the military reform work, stayed in Xinjiang, and served as a leader in the Korla Locomotive Depot in charge of a variety of operations, and established very good economic and trade relations with Central Asian countries. If comrades-in-arms come to Korla, the first comrades-in-arms of Dunkui will hold a banquet in Korla, welcome the old comrades-in-arms who have been separated for many years, and sing "The railway soldiers are determined in all directions".
In September 2019, my wife and I re-walked the southern Xinjiang line and played in Korla for a few days. More than 40 years ago, the automobile training team of the first automobile company galloped north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, and there are still old comrades-in-arms fighting in the north and south of Xinjiang in the new era, and the original intention remains the same, building Xinjiang. Recalling the scene of the former automobile training team building a pigsty in Alagou, they were full of emotion!
Back then, the icy water of Alagou was fearful, and the students jumped into the water to catch stones. No matter how heavy the stone is, you can carry it, and you can pick up the stone and walk as fast as flying. The trainees are eager to build a pigsty as soon as possible and learn to drive as soon as possible. Some of the coaching squad leaders were full members of the Communist Party of China, and some were active members of the Communist Party of China (there was no preparatory period for a period of time before July 1, 1976). Needless to say, the enthusiasm of the trainees for their labor, the speed and quality of building a pigsty are four words——— fast and good! For a detailed description, please pay attention to today's headline railway soldier culture "I am proud of the railway soldiers" essay 107 (the spirit of Nanniwan is passed down from generation to generation, and a pigsty is built in the depths of the Tianshan Mountains) .......
The speeches of political instructor Li Zhenzhong and company commander Lei Jianzhong at the opening of the automobile training team opened the prelude to the opening of the automobile training team. Company Commander Lei Jianzhong is a doer, and after praising the work of the automobile training team in building a pigsty, he left more words to the political instructors. Instructor Li Zhenzhong is a veteran who enlisted in the army in 1964, a native of Jinan City, Shandong Province, and a well-informed urban soldier. He had just been transferred from a company commander to a political instructor, and he was both civil and military, and his speech was like a river. His Shandong accent is full of charm, but Bijing is a northern language, and we can accurately grasp the meaning of each word. In his speech, the leaders of the railway troops must talk about the "three glorious thinking" of the railway soldiers in honoring their labor, taking pride in their hard work, and being glorious as a railway soldier, and Instructor Li Zhenzhong is no exception. After he finished talking about politics, he began to talk about the duties and tasks of the automobile detachment and the glorious mission of the automobile troops.
In particular, the passage that landed is still fresh in our memories today. He said: Being able to be an automobile soldier in the railway corps is the trust of the organization and the envy of many people. Comrades must learn the technology well as soon as possible, so that they can have the ability to serve the people and safely accomplish the arduous and glorious tasks entrusted to us by their superiors. Later, when I get to the place, I can still make a difference. Instructor Li's speech was mainly addressed to the students, as if he also spoke to my heart. I remember when I was a child, my grandmother said to me: study hard, accumulate knowledge, increase talents, especially learn a craft, and the craftsman will not die of hunger in a famine year. My parents also inspired me that the two most popular professions in society at that time were stethoscopes and steering wheels. The school is organizing the study of Lei Feng's spirit, young and not deeply involved in the world, the understanding of Lei Feng's spirit is very simple, that is, you must wear a green military uniform, carry a submachine gun, hold the steering wheel, and drive a military vehicle. After joining the army, he grew up in the People's Liberation Army University, sublimated his understanding of Mao Zedong Thought, and deepened his understanding of Lei Feng's spirit. In the new era, stethoscope treatment and saving people is still a sacred profession, and the steering wheel has become an ordinary labor and life tool for the people. Lei Feng is still a good example for us to learn! The spirit of Lei Feng still needs to be inherited and carried forward. The study of political theory, automobile theory, and material work in the railway corps laid a solid foundation for our later development. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is a melting pot that has tempered us and made us particularly able to endure hardships and fight. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is a big school, and our education has trained us, enabled us to take a firm political stance, distinguish between love and hate, have a certain theoretical foundation, and enrich our practical experience. As a result, we can fully display our talents in different places and various positions, and do more work and do a good job for the cause of the party and the people.
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