At 9:00 a.m. on December 31, 1983, in the square of a certain organ of the railway corps, the brightly colored military flag fluttered with the wind in the winter sun, and under the military flag, all the officers and men were standing upright.
What is different from the past is that this group of railway soldiers who open roads in the mountains and bridges in the water never say a word of bitterness and tiredness, at this moment, their eyes are red, and tears are swirling in their eyes.
The regimental political commissar stepped onto the podium and read out the order to all the officers and men: "According to the decision of the State Council and the Central Military Commission, the railway troops of the People's Liberation Army are merged into the Ministry of Railways and collectively transferred to work. From January 1, 1984, the former railroad soldiers..."
The soldier who was accustomed to seeing the wind and rain had just read a few words, and his voice choked up, and the tears of the soldiers under the stage could not be stopped at all.
Chairman Mao Zedong's inscription
After the political commissar had finished reading out the order, the regimental commander stepped onto the podium and shouted to everyone, "Let's raise our spirits!" come! Let's sing our railroad army song one last time! 'Carrying that outfit on his back and carrying that gun' (Note: the song "The Railroad Soldiers Are In All Directions") ..."
But the lyrics had just been sung, and the voice of the regimental commander trembled a little, and the soldiers below sang loudly with tears, but the singing and crying completely replaced the song.
This song, which they were most familiar with in the past, and who did not know how many times they had sung it, may never have the opportunity to sing it again.
Because after this day, the "railway soldiers" will become a piece of history of the Republic and the People's Liberation Army, and will also become a past that every railway soldier can never return to.
Since the late 1970s, with the changes in the situation at home and abroad, the party and the state have gradually shifted the focus of their work to economic construction, but at this time our country still maintained an army of four or five million people.
The large size of the army not only puts pressure on the national economy, but also does not do a good thing for its own benign development.
Therefore, The far-sighted and courageous Deng Xiaoping decided that the army must be reformed. Among them, the railway troops, which have a scale of nearly 400,000 people but have gradually become useless, have become the focus of attention.
Jude's inscription
The central government first adopted some reforms to make the railway troops self-sufficient in terms of funds, which alleviated some of the financial pressure.
But the railway troops still maintain a huge scale of hundreds of thousands of people, where does the source of soldiers come from? In the end, it still falls on the people, so for the whole country and the people, this is still a big burden.
To this end, in 1980, the central government carried out a greater streamlining of the railway troops. According to the relevant orders, the railway soldiers were reduced by more than 170,000 people and retained 200,000 people.
Correspondingly, the railway divisions, independent regiments, academies and other institutions belonging to the railway troops have also been abolished.
At this time, many railway cadres believed that the size of the troops had been reduced, the organization had also been reduced, and when necessary, they could be merged with the Railway Engineering Bureau, at least the branches of the army could be retained, and the officers and men did not have to take off their uniforms.
Soon, however, I don't know where the news came from, saying that the railway soldiers were going to decouple from the army, and the troops took off their uniforms and merged into the Ministry of Railways.
This news shocked many people, because it was equivalent to saying that the railway soldiers had been abolished!
On January 30, 1982, the sixth day of the first lunar month, the snow was still there, and the new taste of Beijing had not yet gone far, and people could still hear the sound of firecrackers from time to time, but the railway cadres were not in much mood to feel such an atmosphere.
On this day, Chen Zaidao, then commander of the Railway Corps, summoned relevant personnel to a meeting to discuss and study the current situation of the troops. Unexpectedly, at the meeting, all kinds of various and vivid sayings reached Chen Zaidao's ears.
Some people said that they wanted to take off their uniforms, some said that they wanted to merge, and some said that the railway soldiers might not be able to keep it. After Hearing these words, Chen Zaidao immediately slapped the table:
If the system changes so big, if it really changes, it will always give us a greeting to the first and second leaders! We must act in accordance with the instructions of the Central Committee and the Central Military Commission, and we must not make a fool of ourselves as soon as there is any disturbance!
After listening to Chen Zaidao's words, the crowd did not dare to say anything in their mouths, but their hearts were still muttering; although Chen Zaidao stopped the crowd, all kinds of statements had noses and eyes, which made him have no accuracy in his own heart, so Chen Zaidao decided to find someone to ask him in person.
Chen Zai said
Early the next morning, Chen Zaidao rushed to the office of Yang Dezhi, chief of the general staff. He asked straight away: Everyone has spread the word that the railway soldiers want to take off their uniforms and decouple from the army.
Yang Dezhi paused slightly, then nodded, and then introduced some information to Chen Zaidao. At this time, Chen Zaidao was not only surprised by what he knew, even less accurate than the gossip, but also began to worry about the future of the railway troops, because the troops really had to take off their uniforms en masse!
In the next few days, his mood has been difficult to calm down, how can we make the vast number of officers and soldiers accept this result?
But it was always time to come, and Chen Zaidao, after thinking twice about it, announced the news at a meeting on February 4: Comrade Deng Xiaoping had already made a decision, and the railwaymen had decoupled from the army, and the railwaymen had taken off their uniforms and merged into the Ministry of Railways.
The railway cadres and relevant personnel who heard this news suddenly fell silent. Because although the same news had been heard, it was gossip that had not yet been confirmed, but this time it came out of the mouth of the commander of the railway troops, and if there was still a trace of illusion in the crowd before, then after listening to Chen Zaidao's words, everyone knew that the dust had settled.
Although it is unacceptable for a while, as a cadre of the army, it is the most basic requirement to carry out orders and strict implementation.
Finally, at the meeting, Chen Zaidao and the crowd reached a resolution: First, the personal arrangements should be unconditionally obeyed by the arrangements of the party organization regardless of whether they advance or retreat; second, as long as the Central Committee and the Central Military Commission formally decided on the system of railway troops, they must resolutely implement them.
However, it was also suggested that Chen Zaidao, who was the commander of the railway troops, and several other senior railway cadres could report to Deng Xiaoping again.
In fact, the report here is to reflect some opinions within the railway soldiers and see whether the railway soldiers have room for maneuver on the issue of taking off their uniforms and leaving the army.
Chen Zaidao knew that Deng Xiaoping was a man whose determination would not waver at once, but he also thought that as a Communist Party member, under the premise of obeying his superiors, reflecting opinions was allowed by organizational discipline.
Therefore, at a meeting, after listening to the decision of the railway troops to be merged into the Ministry of Railways conveyed by Zhang Zhen, deputy chief of the general staff, Chen Zaidao and the two political commissars of the railway soldiers (Note: Lu Zhengcao and Kuang Fuzhao) reported to Zhang Zhen the opinions within the railway troops and wrote a written report, asking Zhang Zhen to forward it to Deng Xiaoping.
Railroad service symbol
In the report, the three generals reflected the most concerned issues and reasons for the railway troops at that time: they hoped that the railway troops could be retained, because in the future, in case of war, they would still need railway soldiers, and the railway soldiers would be responsible for their own profits and losses, and would not add a burden to the country.
But Deng Xiaoping's answer was very crisp and sharp, and after listening to the report forwarded by Zhang Zhen on behalf of Zhang Zhen, he immediately said: The decision to abolish the railway soldiers has been decided, and there is nothing to say. When the war started, the Ministry of Railways was full of railroad soldiers. The implementation of conscription by railway soldiers will increase the burden on peasants!
Deng Xiaoping's reply not only highlighted the determination of the central authorities, but also clarified one of the key issues that the railway soldiers had to solve at that time, that is, the huge size of the soldiers was a burden for the country and the people.
In fact, this is not just a problem of the railway troops, but a common problem that the whole army of the people's army urgently needed to solve.
For the sake of the long-term plan of the country and the nation, as well as for the healthy development of the army itself, the central authorities must concentrate their limited human and financial resources on more urgent aspects such as economic construction.
In April 1982, the General Office of the State Council and the General Office of the Central Military Commission issued an order to the Railway Corps: abolish the railway corps system, merge the railway troops into the Ministry of Railways, and the relevant personnel should be responsible for the transfer of good work.
When the relevant orders reached the beginning of the railway troops, some officers and men felt lost in their thoughts and emotions, after all, as a branch with a glorious history of several decades, they were thus abolished, and they had to take off their uniforms forever, bid farewell to the flag, and leave the troops.
Such loss is very normal and understandable, but as a people's army under the leadership of the party, obeying orders and listening to commands, and putting the people and the overall situation of the country first, has long been written into the hearts of every railway soldier.
They just silently continued to stick to their posts, waiting to say goodbye to their military careers forever.
When the time came to the last day of 1983, many railway agencies, troops and academies held a farewell ceremony on this day, and the scene we mentioned at the beginning belonged to one of them.
With the slow landing of the military flag, every officer and soldier of the railway corps could not cry. The next day, January 1, 1984, the Railroad Corps officially withdrew from the stage of history.
Finally, let us conclude today with a Xinhua news agency newsletter and some figures: Since its establishment in July 1948 in the Northeast Theater for more than 30 years, the Railway Corps has successfully completed the tasks entrusted by the Party and the people.
During the period of the War of Liberation, they achieved the goal of "building railways wherever the army fights"; during the period of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, they established "steel transportation lines that cannot be broken and are constantly bombed"; in the period of socialist construction, they built more than 12,300 kilometers of railways, accounting for one-third of the newly built railways in the country.
In addition, according to statistics, in the more than 30 years of history of the railway troops, for the various causes of the country and the nation, more than 8,000 officers and men of the railway troops have died heroically, and more than 59,000 officers and men of the railway troops have been wounded and disabled.
It can be said that without the dedication and sacrifice of the railway soldiers, there would be no achievements of the republic today! Not to mention the stable life we have today! The Republic will never forget the Railroad Soldiers, and the people will never forget the Railroad Soldiers!
Content Source:
Chen Hui, "The Establishment and Abolition of Railway Soldiers of the People's Liberation Army", Party History Expo, No. 11, 2005
Wang Kaizhong, "Heroes Don't Speak, Mountains and Rivers Testify: Unforgettable Railway Soldier Spirit", Times Report, No. 3, 2019
Chen Zaidao: Memoirs of Chen Zaidao and so on