Mei Zixiang guide:
Railway tunnel construction is hard and dangerous work. With a history of 35 years, the railway soldiers have built 1,653 railway tunnels, with a total of 912,005.9 linear meters, accounting for about 50% of the new railway tunnels in the same period. Among them, there was the longest Jingyuan Railway Yimaling Tunnel and the highest Guanjiao Tunnel in the country at that time; And the most difficult and sacrificial tunnels will be more because there is no standard definition.
The first phase of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway project Guanjiao Tunnel due to a large collapse, 127 officers and soldiers were blocked in the depths of the tunnel, after emergency rescue, all the personnel were rescued, became an important news at that time, and has been recalled by the railway soldiers and the media for nearly 50 years. I have a collection of the People's Liberation Army Daily, which published the July 17, 1975 issue of the Guanjiao Tunnel Rescue.
The newspaper's newsletter, "A Hymn to the Communist Spirit," is nearly 4,000 words, from one page to the second edition, introducing the causes of the collapse of the Guanjiao Tunnel, the excavation of the exit day and night in the tunnel collapse and the tunnel mouth, and finally the steel pipe ventilation from the outside to the inside, and 127 commanders and fighters successfully escaped.
Guanjiao Tunnel Introduction:
The Guanjiao Tunnel with a total length of 4,009 meters is 3,680 meters above sea level, which was built by the Xining Railway Bureau in August 1958, and then closed in 1961 due to the adjustment of the national plan. After more than 10 years of water immersion and natural weathering, the cave has collapsed and silted, and the geology is particularly complex. In the first half of 1974, the 47th Regiment of the 10th Division of the Railway Corps was constructed, and the clean-up work took one and a half years and dealt with more than 130 large and small landslides. On the morning of April 5, 1975, the tunnel exit suddenly collapsed by nearly 2,000 cubic meters, and 127 commanders and fighters blocked the tunnel. In the face of the test of life and death, the commanders and fighters tried every means to get out of danger. Commanders at all levels outside the cave commanded the rescue on the spot and organized the rescue. After 14 hours of hard fighting, all the personnel escaped in the early morning of the 6th.
A triumphant song of the communist spirit
-- Record the heroic deeds of the commanders and fighters of a certain railway corps who defeated the landslide
Not long ago, the first battalion of a certain railway unit of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) accepted the task of opening a large tunnel on a plateau of 3,700 meters. In the belly of the mountain, the machines roared, people and cars came and went, and there was a steaming battle scene.
However, in April 1975, an unexpected thing happened!
At 10:30 a.m. that day, Li Zaiyi, deputy platoon commander of the first company, and three soldiers pushed a cart full of stone ballast out of the hole, came to a place about 160 meters away from the entrance of the cave, and dropped a concrete block. This matter attracted his great attention. This is an unfinished tunnel that has been suspended for many years, and now the concrete blocks are falling, isn't it a sign of a landslide? When he looked up, he found that the cracks on the roof of the cave had increased, and hurriedly beckoned the soldiers to push the cart and leave quickly, and immediately reported the abnormal situation to the deputy company commander Peng Defu. Peng Defu rushed to see that the concrete was constantly falling, the water pipes and air ducts were also shaking, and a big collapse was about to happen. At this time, he and Li Zaiyi only needed to run a few steps forward to get out of danger. However, there are more than 100 comrades-in-arms who are working in the cave, and if they retreat and squeeze here together, there will be heavy casualties! At this critical moment, I only heard them shouting: "Withdraw, quickly retreat!" "
As soon as more than 10 soldiers working in the dangerous area were evacuated, there was a loud bang and more than 1,500 pieces of earth and rocks collapsed, blocking 127 commanders and fighters in the tunnel.
(a)
The news that more than 100 commanders and fighters were in distress quickly spread to all directions. From the leaders to the masses, from the army to the localities, tens of millions of people have a common wish: hurry, hurry to the scene! Rescue the commanders and fighters in distress!
Leading cadres at all levels of the unit rushed to the scene, risked the danger of continuing to fall rocks, rushed into the tunnel, made observations, and immediately set up an on-site rescue command post.
The news reached a certain unit of the neighboring garrison. The commanders and fighters raised the same voice: "The difficulties of the fraternal troops are our difficulties!" The danger of the fraternal troops is our danger!" The cadres and soldiers ran to carry and load the trucks, and the materials urgently needed for emergency rescue were quickly delivered to the scene.
The news reached another friendly neighboring unit, and the leading comrade of the unit personally called: "Whatever you need, we will support!"
The medical team of a certain military medical university was preparing to go to the pastoral area for medical tours, and after hearing the news, they immediately rushed to the mouth of the tunnel, ready to rush into the cave for rescue at any time.
Local party organizations and the broad masses are even more concerned about the soldiers in distress. The provincial party committee sent responsible comrades to the construction site day and night, and the relevant departments sent oxygen from more than 300 kilometers away. Comrades in charge of the prefecture party committee, responsible persons of various departments of the local county party committee, doctors from hospitals, many workers, herdsmen, and teachers and students of schools who were inspecting the work in the vicinity also rushed to the scene.
The wheels are speeding on the highway, and the footsteps are rushing on the mountain road. Everyone's heart is concerned about the safety of the lives of one hundred and twenty-seven class brothers.
(b)
The collapse completely isolated the inside and outside of the tunnel. The air in the cave was turbulent, the smoke and dust were filled, and it was pitch black. Originally, the oxygen content in the air of the plateau is low, and the space in the cave is narrow, so it is more difficult to breathe, and the flow of more than 1,200 tons of groundwater every day and night cannot be discharged after the collapse, and the water level continues to rise, and new landslides may occur at any time...... All this seriously threatens the lives of 127 commanders and fighters.
In the face of this test of life and death, the eight party members and cadres who followed the work consciously gathered together. They are not thinking about their personal safety, but about how to strengthen the party's leadership and give full play to the vanguard and exemplary role of cadres and party members. As a result, an enlarged meeting of the emergency branch committee was held. The meeting made two decisions: one is to do a good job in ideological and political work, and the other is to send people to find a horizontal passage and break through from there.
On behalf of the party branch, he called on all Communist Party members, Communist Youth League members, and revolutionary fighters to carry forward the revolutionary enthusiasm and spirit of hard work during the war, not to fear hardship, not to fear death, to strengthen unity, and to persist in fighting until the final victory!
The call of the party branch greatly stimulated everyone's revolutionary enthusiasm. The comrades said: "The landslide has blocked us in the hole, but it cannot stop our ambition to overcome difficulties!" Xie Yulin, a member of the Communist Party, and Lu Xi'an, a member of the Communist Youth League, took the lead in singing a passage from "Shajiabang": "Learn from a green pine ...... on the top of Natai Mountain." The dark tunnel suddenly became active, and more than 120 commanders and fighters formed a strong fighting collective. Although they faced the threat of death, everyone was imbued with the spirit of revolutionary optimism, and the whole cave was filled with the passion of battle.
In order to find a horizontal passage, the soldiers asked the party branch to fight. Wu De'an, deputy battalion commander, and Zheng Xincheng, commander of the second company, took the lead. The tunnel was closed and difficult to find. They took a closer look at the cave wall with flashlights. Suddenly, a slightly sunken side wall caught their attention, and they dug into it, and finally dug a small hole, exposing the cross-passage that had been closed for many years.
However, the cross-passage has also been blocked by the landslide, and the supporting timber at the entrance has rotted and is in danger of collapsing at any time. At this time, many warriors rushed to take on the task of opening the cross-passage. The veterans said that the new comrades are not yet physically adaptable, and we have taken over this task. The new fighters said that we have not been in the army for a long time, and we need to undergo arduous training and tests. They all compete to take on dangerous tasks.
The party branch finally decided that an assault group composed of cadres, party members and veterans would open up the horizontal passage. But the new fighters did not rest. Tibetan warrior Dorjee Cairang, in the tunnel where he could not see his fingers, touched and tied up the construction tools one by one. Qin Dashu, the driver of the pumping machine, was afraid that the water would soak in the machine, so he unloaded the motor weighing more than 100 kilograms and moved it to a higher place, saying: "Even if I sacrifice, I must save the machine and leave it for the comrades who will come in later to continue to use it."
Although the closed tunnel is small, the warriors' hearts are so broad! What they think is: as long as life does not stop, they will continue to fight for the cause of the party.
(c)
At the same moment, under the personal leadership of leading cadres at all levels, the rescue work outside the cave was progressing intensively
As they went, they divided into two ways. All the way from the top of the main cave collapse body, all the way from the bottom of the closed transverse passage, and at the same time into the tunnel.
Commanding the excavation at the cross-passage were Wang Chenglin, the political commissar of the regiment, and Liu Sheng, the deputy commander of the third company. Liu Sheng had just returned from the regiment's theoretical study class, and when the landslide occurred, he was leading the soldiers to work outside the cave, and he was anxious to see his comrades-in-arms blocked in the cave. He made up his mind: "Even if you sacrifice yourself, you have to save your comrades......"
Liu Sheng took the lead and rushed to the front of the tunneling channel. The air in the aisle was thin, and he was panting heavily, his eyes blurred with sweat, and he didn't bother to reach out and wipe it. Suddenly, someone shouted: "Stone, get out of the way!" Liu Sheng turned his head to see that the pumice stone was sliding not far away, and he immediately hugged a wooden plank on top of it, and led the soldiers to continue digging.
It is more dangerous to dig a small pilot hole from the main cave collapse. However, several fighters, including Yuan Wuxue, Dang Baifa, and Li Sanhu, risked the possibility of a new landslide and fought at the forefront. Yuan Wuxue, a member of the Communist Youth League, was the theoretical backbone of the company, and in order to rescue his comrades-in-arms, he fought in the cave for seven or eight hours, and he was tired and hungry. The company commander told him to go out to rest, but he refused; Later, the company commander forcibly pulled him out. After eating something outside the cave, he went into the small hole again and hard.
Under the courageous digging of the commanders and fighters, the two pilot holes from the outside to the inside are rapidly extending. However, when the main hole was dug to 16 meters and the horizontal passage was dug to 19 meters, new landslides occurred in succession. The rescue encountered new obstacles.
At this time, the horizontal passage dug out of the cave also collapsed. The soldiers who were killed were digging inside the cave and collapsing, and after seven or eight hours, only three or four meters had been excavated.
There was less and less oxygen in the tunnel, dizziness, brain swelling, hunger, and cold hit at the same time, and some comrades fainted.
To make matters worse, less than 100 meters from the original collapse, the cracks in the side walls widened and lengthened. All indications are that a new landslide is likely.
In the face of this new dangerous situation, some advocated withdrawing troops to the depths of the tunnel to avoid casualties caused by another collapse; Some believe that if a new landslide occurs, the troops will be blocked by a two-story landslide, and there is less hope of rescuing the hole. The party branch mobilized everyone to discuss, and finally decided to pull the troops forward and get close to the cave, so that they could get closer to the entrance of the cave and strive to break out of the hole as soon as possible.
After the troops quickly approached the collapse, a commando team of four party members continued to dig out from the top of the collapse. Making a hole in the void is like pulling a tooth out of a tiger's mouth. But the four commandos did not hesitate to sacrifice their own lives in order to protect their comrades. They immediately rushed to the top of the collapse. Liu Heping, a member of the Communist Youth League, had just had his blood transfused the day before to rescue a class brother, and today he fought on the collapsed body with astonishing perseverance in order to rescue more than 100 comrades-in-arms. Excessive fatigue and severe hypoxia caused Yang Zhifeng, a member of the Communist Youth League, to faint; He woke up and rushed back to fight.
The small hole that opened from here stretched outward inch by inch.
(iv)
Outside the cave, the commanders and fighters who were digging inward on the main cave collapse body accelerated forward after dealing with the new landslide.
The distance inside and outside the cave is getting closer, and the battle is more difficult. Yuan Wuxue, who had always been at the forefront of the battle, felt like a ball of cotton stuffed in his chest at this time, and it was particularly difficult to breathe. He thought: We are in a panic when we dig outside the hole, and the comrades-in-arms who are blocked inside must be even more uncomfortable, if we can poke into a pipe, we can not only ventilate, but also exchange news, how good it would be! His idea was immediately supported by the rescue command post. They found a long steel pipe, and in order to prevent the core of the pipe from being blocked when the pipe was lowered, they put a glove on one end of the steel pipe and poked it into the hole. A steel pipe connects the inside and outside, and the revolutionary comrades-in-arms are intimate. The commanders and fighters who had been holding out in the cave for a long time suddenly heard the cordial voice of Deputy Commander Liu from outside the cave from the steel pipe, and they immediately boiled, and people couldn't help but cheer: "Long live Chairman Mao!" Long live the Communist Party!"
With the joint efforts of both outside and inside the cave, the landslide finally dug a small hole more than two meters long. Wu De'an, deputy battalion commander, and Wu Yangran, deputy instructor, quickly organized more than 100 comrades to withdraw, and there were not many people left in the cave. Wu Dean rushed forward with all his might, reclining down to hold the supporting wood, lighting the way with a flashlight in one hand, and pulling the soldiers to evacuate quickly with the other. When the soldiers crawled out of the hole in his legs with tears in their eyes, Wu De'an and Wu Yangran finally evacuated the danger zone.
After more than 14 hours of heroic fighting, all 127 commanders and fighters in distress escaped safely at 1 a.m. on 6 July. The chiefs and comrades who had been waiting at the entrance of the cave for a long time rushed forward together to support and embrace the comrades-in-arms who had escaped from danger. Medical personnel immediately resuscitated the fourteen fighters who were in a comatose state. They held these fighters tightly in their arms in the cars that went to the regimental health team, and constantly delivered oxygen to them.
Leading comrades at all levels of the army and localities rushed to the health team one after another to visit the soldiers who had escaped danger. On the morning of the 7th, the responsible comrades of the prefecture and county came to express their condolences with the cordial concern of the people of all nationalities for the soldiers, but when they walked to the bed of the new soldier Shen Fu'an, there was no one to see, and they saw a note pressed under the tea jar. He said that he would use the second life given by the party and Chairman Mao to accelerate the construction of socialism.
At this moment, Shen Fuan, whose condition has not yet recovered, is walking towards the tunnel construction site with pride in the snow rolled up by the wind.
After the tempering of this emergency battle, the commanders and fighters are even more convinced that as long as they arm their minds with Mao Zedong Thought, any difficulties can be overcome and any dangers can be overcome!
A few days later, red flags fluttered on the construction site, artillery rumbled, and singing was loud, and it was another boiling battle scene.
Xinhua News Agency correspondent Xinhua News Agency reporter