On the afternoon of 4 May, in the cultural activity center of the training ground for recruits of a certain unit of the Rocket Army, as the members of the military band played "The People's Army is Loyal to the Party," the sonorous melody of the scene accompanied by warm applause echoed in the auditorium for a long time.
A special concert for recruits of the "Yitian Military Band" of the ministry is underway. Since New Year's Day this year, they have held eight concerts and delivered the movement of strengthening the army to the missile barracks to which the unit belongs.
Dating back to the beginning of March 2023, the department selected 58 officers and soldiers to form an amateur military band, consisting of brass group, woodwind group, percussion group, 3 groups of 12 parts, and after 10 months of training in their spare time, they gradually grew into a military music team with a certain professional level and can take on performance tasks at any time.
"If you pick up a gun, you are a combatant, and if you lift a trumpet, you are a player." Major Cui Daqian, leader of the unit's military band, said that military music is a window to display the image of the troops, and it also plays a role in boosting the morale of the troops. Since the formation of the military band, they have condensed their will with the main theme, used the sound of horns to generate motivation, and also tried to find a new engine for the growth of ideological and political education in the new era from the military music culture.
Spread the fire
During the training of new recruits, Zhang Haichao, the commander of the military band and the first sergeant major, led several members of the military band to the training ground to share the "war flavor" in the military music for the recruits.
The trumpeter raised his head to the sky and blew the trumpet, and a detail of the scene caught Zhang Haichao's attention: several recruits couldn't help but widen their eyes and clench their fists. As soon as the trumpet sounded, he began to share a small story about his time as a recruit.
At the end of 1996, the temperature in the station was as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius, and Zhang Haichao, who was still a recruit, had his first winter training. In a drill, the team undertook the defense task, and it was agreed in advance to take the continuous short whistle as the charge order. Who knew that when the whistle sounded, he was inexperienced, and his legs were numb due to hidden squatting for a long time, and he couldn't move.
"My comrades-in-arms rushed to the 'enemy' at the whistle, and I just stood there and kept slapping my thighs." Zhang Haichao gestured and spoke, and everyone laughed. "The three-person combat team lacked my 'firepower point', and the drill failed." He continued with a serious expression, "I never cried when I was homesick or wronged, but that day I shed tears in annoyance. ”
The recruits fell into a brief contemplation. Zhang Haichao said that after the beating, he was particularly sensitive to whistles. Later, he applied to be the drummer of the gong and drum corps, and gradually realized that military music is an important carrier of the cultural inheritance of the military camp, and "there is a fighting spirit in military music".
"Spreading the torch is an important mission of this military band." Zhang Haichao said. To this end, the military band has invited an art director with a special identity - Gao Mingdao, an instructor of the PLA military band. Gao Mingdao participated in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and has a deep understanding of the spiritual power in military music, and has also told you battle stories many times.
In the battle of Bugoku-ri in the third battle to resist US aggression and aid Korea, the 7th Company of the 347th Regiment of the 116th Division of the 39th Army of the Volunteer Army fought to only 7 people, and the ammunition had been used up, and the position was about to be lost. The enemy rushed up again, and Zheng Qi, a seriously wounded soldier of our volunteers, used all his strength to get up and blow the trumpet of the charge, and the enemy who attacked him could not figure out the truth and was so frightened that he hurriedly retreated. Gao Mingdao's story of "retreating from the enemy army with a military trumpet" won warm applause from the recruits in the audience.
"The sound of military music is a call to duty; The style of military music is a symbol of spirit. Zhang Haichao still remembers the concert held by the "Yitian Military Band" in a certain brigade. With the rhythm of "March of the Great Sword", the officers and soldiers in the audience sang in unison, and the performance was a great success.
Feng Xinzhen, commander of a certain launch frame and sergeant major of the third class, said that the moment they heard the melody, they seemed to have traveled through time and space, and were in the anti-Japanese battlefield where they bravely killed the enemy, and they were quickly infected by the spirit of fighting to the end. That night, they voted by a show of hands to set "March of the Broadsword" as the team battle song.
According to the leaders of the department, since the beginning of this year, every time there is a festival, the ministry will organize military bands to carry out relevant cultural activities, and it has also carried out a wide range of activities to sing battle songs and create sword and war songs in its subordinate units. Nowadays, enjoying concerts and listening to battle stories has become the "first lesson" for newly recruited officers and soldiers and civilian personnel; Feeling the culture of military music and talking freely about what they have learned has become a "compulsory course" for all officers and men.
Pull the heartstrings
"This amateur marching band is very inclusive." Zhang Haichao said, "Except for 12 people who have learned musical instruments for a few days, the other 46 people are all zero-based, and there is only one criterion for selecting people - love." The members of the marching band included the secretary, the cook, the driver, the rifleman, the picket, the clerk, the professional observer, the engineer ......"
Because of the weak foundation, the military band's initial training was not smooth. "Private Chen Zhuo carried the tenor horn and blew it for two weekends without sounding." "Sergeant Meng Xiangxu pondered for 20 days and still couldn't blow the clarinet correctly......"
"It's hard!" Zhang Haichao recalled the scene at that time and couldn't help but sigh. However, he said, it was precisely because of the fact that it was "purely amateurish" that expectations for military bands were not high at first. And 10 months later, when they made a stunning appearance in dresses and skillfully played 22 pieces, "everyone was amazed".
Upon learning about the process of forming the military band, Li Hanwei, a second-class sergeant and driver of a certain brigade's launch vehicle, believed that their character of not giving up in learning musical instruments coincided with the vigor of the front-line officers and men in tackling difficult training problems, and this spirit deeply touched the officers and men.
"We listen to concerts, but we don't listen to music." Li Hanwei's point is impressive. He said that before the concert, the company would distribute repertoire in advance, such as "The Army and the People Advance Side by Side", "Good News from Beijing to the Border Village", and "The Motherland Will Not Forget". The officers and soldiers discussed and exchanged the stories behind the repertoire, and they were also looking forward to the concert.
In fact, this is one of the Ministry's efforts to integrate the culture of military music into educational activities, but in a different way. In this sense, Li Hanwei appreciates more than just music at the concert.
A leader of the ministry said frankly that from an artistic point of view, neither Cui Daqian, the leader of the military band, nor Zhang Haichao, the conductor, were the best candidates. However, one of them is an excellent political instructor of the Rocket Army, and the other is a craftsman-type professional skill sergeant of the Rocket Army, which gives more possibilities to the practical activities of the military band.
Motivate the fighting spirit
"The most closely related to military music is ritual education." From commendation and awards, various celebrations, to new trumpeters taking up their posts, veterans bidding farewell to their positions, and the military music played on the spot set off a solemn, noble and sacred cultural atmosphere.
According to the leaders of the department, the units to which they belong are also active in the literary and artistic light cavalry corps, the majestic gong and drum corps, and more than a dozen amateur cultural and sports teams, each of which is related to military music, and every activity can make the officers and men have emotional resonance, and it has also demonstrated the spiritual outlook of the troops.
What made Meng Xiangxu unforgettable was the retirement ceremony on March 1 this year. After a year of hard work, he has grown from a layman who "can't play the right sound" to an "old musician" who is proficient in clarinet and trumpet.
At the ceremony, as a member of the literary light cavalry, he played the trumpet "Farewell", and the tune was melodious, which made people cry. After seeing the veteran board the car, his song "Battle Song of the Strong Army" quickly aroused the emotions of the officers and soldiers on the scene. Everyone lined up neatly and held a ceremony to review the oath of enlistment in high spirits.
"It's a process of sublimating emotions and boosting morale." Cui Daqian believes that touching the scene and condensing the soul is the proper meaning of the military music culture.
Bai Dianpeng, the trumpeter and sergeant of the band, very much agrees with Cui Daqian's opinion. That time, in a training ground in the north, 1 hour before getting up, the comrades-in-arms were still asleep, and Bai Dianpeng had finished washing. As the secretary general, he needs to lead the cooking class to prepare breakfast in advance. More importantly, on this day, he will be the first time as a bugle officer, and he will wake up the officers and men of the battalion to welcome a new day with a loud trumpet.
On the same day, the superior organized a random examination under the field conditions of the cooking class. After receiving the lesson, Bai Dianpeng jumped out of the chariot, took out the trumpet pinned to his waist, and blew it with all his strength. This was the first time they had applied the Charge to an actual combat exercise, and the cooks were all shocked, and their movements were significantly accelerated, and only the deployment of a certain type of equipment was 15 seconds faster than the daily training record.
"Military music is very different from other music, and in the notes of military music, there are memories of crawling and rolling, charging into battle. It makes people's blood surging, and there is an urge to immediately go into battle to kill the enemy. Senior Private Cao Wenshuai said.
Wang Shaowei, a military band drummer and private, had a similar experience. During a mass training competition, he suggested to the company that five war drums be placed on the spot. Unexpectedly, when he took the lead in beating the drums of war, the officers and men were in high spirits and broke two training records that day.
Tian Liang, Zheng Zhong, Wang Tianlin, China Youth Daily, China Youth Network Reporter Wang Peinan Source: China Youth Daily
Source: China Youth Daily