On the evening of June 30, 1997, the whole world was watching Hong Kong.
At 23:58, Lieutenant Colonel Tan Shanai and the United Kingdom Lieutenant Colonel were nearly 4 meters apart, and the other party took the first step to salute and report:
"Lieutenant Colonel Tan Shanai, the Prince of Wales barracks class has been prepared, please accept it; Good luck to you and your colleagues; Sir, allow me to lay off the Prince of Wales barracks guards. ”
The camera quickly switched to Tan Shanai, and the lieutenant colonel straightened his waist and replied in a sonorous voice:
"On behalf of the Hong Kong Garrison of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, I take over the barracks, you can be laid off, we will take up our posts, I wish you a safe journey."
For these two sentences, Tan Shanai rehearsed countless days and nights; For this day, the Chinese people have been looking forward to it for 150 years.
The white horse has passed through the gap, and the sturdy lieutenant colonel is also in his old age, what happened to the life behind the bright lights?
Standing at the crossroads of the times
The Chinese government has made too many efforts to ensure that Hong Kong can return to the motherland.
The model of peace was taken into account, the model of war was taken into account as well, and fortunately, everything went well.
Since 1993, when Liu Zhenwu, commander of the 42nd Group Army, was appointed commander of the Hong Kong Garrison, it meant that the day of Hong Kong's return to the motherland had completely ushered in a countdown.
10 years ago, Tan Shanai had just joined the army, and his performance in the army had always been very good, and he was promoted from platoon commander to company commander.
In the Guangzhou Military Region, there are many people in a similar situation to Tan Shanai, and history left its mark on him in 1994, when the Hong Kong Garrison was being formed.
Speaking of the process of being selected, Tan Shanai also felt full of "surprises".
I remember one day, he took a report and walked to the chief's office, where the chiefs were preparing for a meeting, and there was a high-ranking and powerful figure at the conference table: Xiong Ziren, political commissar of the Hong Kong Garrison.
The chief's eyes kept staring at Tan Shanai, and just as Tan Shanai was about to leave, Xiong Ziren raised his voice: "Little comrade, you wait." ”
Tan Shanai immediately turned back and made sure that the chief was calling him.
Then the chief said: "If you come to one, you will say, 'You may go.'" ”
Although he couldn't figure out what the chief meant, Tan Shanai still resolutely obeyed the order and said, "You can go."
"Your voice is too low, louder!"
Tan Shanai immediately put up the soles of her feet and repeated loudly.
At this time, Xiong Ziren's eyes showed a glint of satisfaction, and he said to the other chief next to him: "I think it's okay, it's him." ”
According to the information that the leaders had at that time, the height of the opposing commander was about 1.82 meters, and Tan Shanai's height was 1.87 meters, which was taller than the other party, but it was not too tall, which just met the standard.
After learning about the task he faced, Tan Shanai was also extremely nervous: there was no precedent in the history of the founding of New China, and once the personnel were determined, there would be no substitutes.
In order to say those two sentences on the evening of June 30, 1997, Tan Shanai will face real devil training from this time on.
Although the sentences are very short, there are many things he needs to pay attention to: speak in a measured manner, and have momentum and grace, and must not stammer off the chain; Walk according to the rules, accurate to the left foot or the right foot first.
Xiong Ziren didn't look away, and locked Tan Shanai's temperament in just an instant.
At that time, Tan Shanai, who had just been promoted to company commander, had almost all the honors he could get at this stage, including excellent soldiers, excellent squad leaders, excellent staff officers, and so on.
By the time the training lasted into the summer of 1997, he was already very proficient with his comrades at the handover ceremony.
This year, the weather in Shenzhen was very hot, a total of 20 soldiers and 2 officers still maintained the strength of hard training at all times, their skin has been sunburned, no one has ever said that they are tired, at that time Tan Shanai also said to everyone:
"We have been chosen by our superiors, and we have to do our best and meet the highest standards."
Such a high standard gave the United Kingdom honor guard an opinion, because the ceremony needs to be synchronized by both sides, so when the honor guard of both sides trains together, when the British side does not meet our standards, I hope that the Chinese honor guard can slow down the pace according to their movements, and the Chinese side immediately said:
"The Chinese army has its own rhythm of the Chinese army."
Everyone also knows in their hearts that if they are still imitating the actions of the British army after 150 years of bidding farewell to the humiliation of the late Qing Dynasty, won't their dignity be lost?
Finally on the evening of June 30, Tan Shanai arrived at the scene.
The noisy environment here was never part of the training, and there were staff, Hong Kong residents, and British military family members present, and when they left Shenzhen that day, everyone's clothes and shoes were wet, and it took a lot of effort to tidy them up.
In order to be able to play the national anthem at 0:00:00 on July 1, no link can go wrong.
Even if the United Kingdom makes a mistake, they have to try their best to make up for the opportunity, and every second has been fought for a long time at the negotiating table, after all, countries want face.
The British initially said that their national anthems would be played until the last second of June 30, but the Chinese did not agree, because it was impossible to make the national anthems of the two countries seamless, and the conductor would need 2 to 3 seconds to start his hand.
After enduring 150 years, I can't wait for a second.
As a result, the British spokesman's speech that day was 23 seconds longer than the stipulated time, which means that Tan Shanai, who is waiting, has to implement the emergency plan.
All the preliminary links were accelerated, and at 23:58, Tan Shanai completed the feat of life, but the British army went wrong again: the national anthem was played 12 seconds ahead of schedule.
The flag-raiser Zhu Tao did not move at all, his mind was also running rapidly, as long as there was a difference of one second, the rise speed of the five-star red flag was 12.3 centimeters slower.
The cameras of the world were aimed at Tan Shanai a minute ago, and now they are immediately aimed at Zhu Tao.
Countless training sessions had already made Zhu Tao form muscle memory, and after a long 12 seconds, he suddenly made a strong effort to raise the five-star red flag to the top of the flagpole as planned.
All the fighters successfully completed their tasks, and their efforts were never in vain.
Whether it is Tan Shanai, Zhu Tao or those soldiers who worked hard for the handover ceremony, this is their focus, and they have never forgotten this day.
At 5 a.m. on July 1, a light rain fell on the streets of Hong Kong.
The military vehicles of the Hong Kong Garrison drove up with the August 1 military flag, and the citizens on both sides of the road threw bouquets of flowers onto the cars, and a new history belonging to Hong Kong arrived.
Tan Shanai has been in the military camp for more than 20 years, and he has experienced a lot of Chinese history, and he often sighs about it.
He said:
"There are so many scenes in life, only this scene is very clear in my mind, even the point on the ground I can't forget, when I look back on the past, I realize more and more that this thing is so important."
Bidding farewell to the barracks and memories, Tan Shanai also rushed to a new journey in life.
Time cannot erode the soul of the army
As long as I think of the night of June 30, 1997, the corners of Tan Shanai's mouth will be smiling, it was the most shining 10 minutes of his life.
Eight years later, in 2005, at the age of 41, he ended his 22-year military career, and when considering employment, he chose to go to the Huangtian Police Station in Bao'an District, Shenzhen to become a community policeman.
Thinking back to the glorious deeds not long ago, there will still be some gaps in Tan Shan's love.
In the army, he was a cadre, and he was able to give orders, and after coming to the police station, he dealt with the trivial matters of his parents almost every day.
He said:
"I've always been very strong, but I also know very well that no matter how strong a person is, there will be a vulnerable side."
Shenzhen is the forefront of China's reform and opening up, and protecting the law and order here has become Tan Shanai's new pursuit, and his father's story also made him instantly alert.
He still remembers that his father used to be the secretary of the village branch and grew up in a time of poverty, when ordinary people even had a luxury to eat.
When my father first took office, the villagers went out to beg for food, but in order to reverse the current situation, my father led everyone to build farms, forestry farms, and oil factories, and gradually put the village on the road to prosperity.
The village became rich, but the economic conditions of the Tan family had not been reversed, and his father was still away from home all day long, devoting himself to new construction.
After so many years, my father has never stood in the spotlight, isn't my father excellent?
In the process of adjusting the mentality, no one around me knows.
Besides, 8 years have passed, Tan Shanai's face has also changed, and no one around him knows that he once stood in the spotlight, so he also set a new goal in life: to do every little thing well.
Those trivial things are all major matters related to the happy life of ordinary people in Tan Shanai's eyes.
Soon after he came out of the police, he encountered something very speechless: a "big case" of group beating caused by 1 yuan.
The reason is this, a taxi driver added a fuel surcharge of 1 yuan to the passenger, the passenger had never heard of this fee, and immediately scolded the other party as a "black car" and resolutely refused to give it.
Other drivers are not easy to mess with, how can they mix in the "brother circle" after the 1 yuan can't be collected?
So, under the driver's half-scolding and half-coaxing, the passenger simply gave 1 yuan.
But this passenger is not a fuel-efficient lamp, "soft persimmon" is estimated to be at the beginning will not refuse, in line with the idea of "endure for a while, the more you think about it, the more angry", the passenger just arrived at the destination and got off the car and kicked the taxi, fortunately, the door was strong, and there was nothing wrong with the car.
The problem was "dignity", the taxi driver simply did not leave, immediately took out the Nokia and called the other brothers, and "spit fragrant" at the passenger, not allowing him to leave.
The passengers were not afraid of the driver at all, and they also took out Nokia to call the good buddies who came to Shenzhen to work together, and both sides gathered all the way.
The war was about to break out, and the enthusiastic citizens hurriedly called the police after seeing this, and it was Tan Shanai who was responsible for the police.
After coming to the scene, he found that Wu Yang was full of people, and he was a little crying and laughing after approaching and asking, but the people on both sides were still in the east and west, and the mixing of various dialects made Tan Shanai extremely big.
Seeing that no one was injured at the scene, Tan Shanai simply let each other mediate, and then the matter was resolved.
In cases like this, Tan Shanai has also dealt with countless cases, and what is new in the eyes of ordinary people is "commonplace" in his place.
On the busiest day, he went to the police 31 times in a row and quickly resolved all 31 contradictions.
Even if it is all miscellaneous and trivial, in Tan Shanai's eyes, it is also the responsibility of the police, since he has chosen this job, he must do his best.
It happened that in December 2008, the Bao'an Branch set up a special security brigade, and the leaders of the branch knew that Tan Shanai was born in the army, so they gave him the task of training.
Now, the fine traditions of the army finally have a chance to be displayed here, and he has set an example and strictly disciplined himself to give a new look to the special security brigade of more than 1,000 people.
Whether it is the team structure, management system or target tasks, he is responsible for it, and after standing at the forefront of the team again, everyone knows about his past and respects him.
Whenever there is any sudden and urgent task in the office, Tan Shanai always rushes to the front line, which is also seen by other colleagues.
Since the transfer of jobs, Tan Shanai has been awarded the advanced individual of the Shenzhen public security system once, the second-class merit once, the third-class merit twice, and was later promoted to the deputy captain of the patrol brigade of the Bao'an Branch.
When Shenzhen held the 26th Universiade, Tan Shanai almost fainted on the post in the scorching heat, but fortunately, his colleagues found it in time to relieve him from the heat and cool down, which avoided the danger.
As the days passed, he never missed the news about the Hong Kong Garrison.
After 17 years in the public security system, Tan Shanai took advantage of a study visit to Hong Kong again.
The moment he set foot on this land, Tan Shanai instantly fell into the memories of his youth, he said:
"More than ten years have passed, and I feel very good, and now Hong Kong is more prosperous, and even the gap with it is narrowing."
At the age of 54, he also gave interviews to the media, and the most asked questions were about 1997.
The picture of the handover is still fresh in my memory, and Tan Shanai is not so "low-key" at this time, and he excitedly recounted that moment:
"I feel very proud, in fact, the live performance is better than the training, the atmosphere is set off, everyone's goosebumps are erected, you can use 'perfect' to describe the scene back then."
After the interview, the reporter found that Tan Shanai arrived in Shenzhen during the "juncture" period, but she has been living in poverty for more than ten years, and her wife has been laid off.
Whether he was in the army in the past or in the public security now, he has power in his hands, and he has never used the power in his hands to seek even the slightest benefit.
When his father, who was in his 80s, was selected as an "outstanding Communist Party member" again, Tan Shanai was greatly shocked, and he also said:
"My father's generation experienced more, and the beliefs in my heart were more pure."
It seems that his father is still his idol.
With the passage of time and the same original intention, he has always adhered to everything he has identified and maintained the true character of a retired soldier.
What other veterans do you know about the other veterans who made history with Tan Shanai? Welcome to leave a message in the comment area to discuss.
Resources
1. Change military uniforms into police uniforms! Tan Shanai wears a navy blue police uniform and gives a new mission to protect the people "Shenzhen News Network"
2. Unload the halo and take root at the grassroots level, sink down and create brilliance again "Bao'an Daily"
- The "star officer" 25 years ago is still a "star" today! "China Military Network"
4. 23 years ago, he said to the British army domineeringly: "You can be laid off!" The Paper