- Remembering the Railway Soldiers - Yang Jiashan
Author: Huang Kangquan Compiled by: Lu Kai
In 1971, just after the Spring Festival, Xianyang No. 5 Middle School, the first day of school after the winter vacation, I just finished my work and came to from Beijing in the morning Transfer procedures to Xianyang . I was still very unfamiliar with this school. In the afternoon, I followed my new classmates to the small square behind the teaching building. Above the brick rostrum, a banner read: "Participate in the mobilization meeting for the third-line construction of ." After we sat down in class order, the school leader accompanied two soldiers to the rostrum and passed by the school. The dean of academic affairs made a brief introduction, and the mobilization meeting officially began.
The two soldiers went to Xianyang City to recruit fresh graduates and young people of appropriate age on behalf of the Railway Corps, and cooperated with the troops to participate in the construction of the Xiangyu Railway. I saw a capable soldier walking to the stage. He was about 1.73 meters tall, with a fair face, a slightly chubby round face, and handsome features. He was wearing a well-fitting four-pocket military uniform with a brown artificial leather belt tied around his waist. It shows that he is a military cadre, and he looks very handsome and handsome under the military uniform. There is no trace of him being a railway soldier who spends his days soaking in mud and water, risking his life to open mountains and build roads. He looks more like a staff officer sitting in an office.
▲Photos of Yang Jiashan back then
After saluting his classmates with a standard military salute, he began his mobilization speech. Starting from reciting Chairman Mao's quotations, using his strong Yangzhou Mandarin accent (but everyone can understand it), he introduced in detail that the Xiangyu Railway is a war preparation road planned by Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou personally, and it is a level 0 The railway (the railway from Hubei to Chongqing is always a straight railway on the same level, does not avoid high mountains and deep ravines, opens roads across mountains, and builds bridges when encountering water.
On the more than 200 kilometers of railway lines in the Shaanxi section, tunnels and bridges account for This section of the railway is 4/5. The entire Shaanxi section has only about 30 kilometers of flat land. Most of the sections are tunnels and there is a bridge between the tunnels. There are many stations that are half on the bridge and half in the tunnel.
He described the railway vividly. The scenes of soldiers digging mountains and building roads in the mountains, all the hardships and hardships described in his mouth are so spectacular. In an era when suffering is a pleasure and a pride, I can listen to him talk without a script. Talking about the importance of the construction of the Xiangyu Railway, we middle school students aged 16-7 immediately had the urge to join the vigorous construction torrent.
For two full hours, he introduced everything happening deep in the mountains like a treasure trove. , when he raised his hands again to perform the standard military salute, We sitting below burst into applause, and everyone's heart was surging with enthusiasm.
The army cadre who gave this wonderful speech was the second platoon leader of the 18th Company of the Railway Corps 5852, a let. We have not been able to change our words for decades, and we are still used to calling our railway soldier buddy Yang Jiashan "Platoon Leader Yang".
After the meeting, the students rushed to the class teacher to sign up as soon as they were asked, for fear of leaving. It was too late to register, and in the days before the official notification, Platoon Leader Yang and his partner Shi Xiaoping (the 1st squad leader of the 18th company) were busy every day in Xianyang. A number of mobilization rallies were held in middle schools, factories, and subdistrict offices. There was a rush to sign up in Xianyang to participate in the construction of the Xiangyu Railway (also known as the third-line construction).
Some female students wrote in order to go to the third line. They signed a blood letter to express their determination. Under their mobilization, the Railway Corps recruited 876 trainees in Xianyang City to form four companies (the 16th, 17th, and 18th companies of the 5852 troops, and the 21st women's company). The three male cadet companies set off first on March 23, and the women set off for the third-line battlefield on March 23.
▲ Before leaving in 1971, they took a group photo with the army representatives, company commander, deputy company commander and several classmates of the company.
Front row: Squad leader Shi Xiaoping (left) Company commander Cao Xuyi (middle) Deputy company commander Wang Chengshun (right)
Back row: Zhou Qiang (1st from left), army representatives (2nd from left), Teng Pingliang (3rd from left), Platoon leader Yang Jiashan (4th from left) and Lu Kai (5th from left)
arrived at the company residence. Platoon leader Yang and squad leader Shi lived in the company headquarters tent with us. According to the army's custom, the platoon leader slept in a single bunk and the squad leader slept in a side bunk. , Platoon Leader Yang, the company commander, and the instructor slept on three wooden stick beds in the tent respectively. Squad Leader Shi and the five members of our company crowded on a common bed made of wooden sticks. This is the best bedding for the company. The others are all Jisuke.
▲Photo of Squad Leader Shi Xiaoping back then
Two weeks later I went to the health team to study intensively. When I came back, Platoon Leader Yang and Squad Leader Shi had returned to the army company. Because our 18th Company of Cadets was attached to the 18th Company for the construction of the Lanhe Tunnel, so although we could not get along with Platoon Leader Yang day and night, we met often.
In the summer of 1972, the great leader Chairman Mao said in colleges and universities across the country: "Universities still need to be run. What I am talking about here is that science and engineering universities still need to be run, but the academic system must be shortened, education must be revolutionary, the bourgeoisie intellectuals rule the schools "The phenomenon can no longer continue", college enrollment was resumed, and Platoon Leader Yang was selected by the army to study at the Beijing Iron and Steel Institute (now the University of Science and Technology Beijing) and became the first batch of workers, peasants and soldiers. College Students.
When he passed the construction site with a backpack on his back and a travel bag in his hand, Lu Kai and I happened to be at the construction site, and we said goodbye to each other. That year, Platoon Leader Yang was 23 years old. Looking at his retreating back, we envied him so much. I am both envious and nostalgic. The railway soldier brother we are most familiar with has gone to Beijing. I wonder if we will see him again in the future.
▲Photos of Platoon Leader Yang after he went to college
The communication conditions at that time were also poor, and we gradually lost contact, but we did not forget Platoon Leader Yang. For many years to come, whenever our comrades got together, Xiang The construction of the Chongqing-Chongqing Railway (i.e. the third-line construction) is always the subject of our discussion. Every time we think of Platoon Leader Yang and his comrades from the 18th Company of the army, and relish the interesting stories from that year, especially the words of Platoon Leader Yang: The optimistic lie of "you can eat fried dough sticks as long as you go into the construction site" has been firmly remembered by Xianyang students for decades.
After the cadet company withdrew, we always wanted to contact Platoon Leader Yang. When we were on a business trip to Yangzhou, we also had the expectation of meeting him by chance in the vast sea of people, but we were never able to do so.
later learned that after Platoon Leader Yang graduated from the Beijing Iron and Steel Institute in August 1976, he was assigned to the Handan Railway Arsenal. In 1982, he changed jobs and returned to Yangzhou, where he worked as the director of the Yangzhou Justice Bureau until his retirement.
▲Photos of Platoon Leader Yang after he went to college
In 2008, I received a call from Lu Kai. He excitedly told me that Platoon Leader Yang was found through his former comrades from Yangzhou in the 5852 Army Regiment Propaganda Team.
After sharing the joys and sorrows for more than two years, the students and the railway soldiers fought side by side, shed blood and sacrificed their lives. They were born and died in the same tunnel, and they were as close as brothers. So the railway soldiers and the trainees naturally became comrades-in-arms, buddies, even though the trainees were not real "soldiers".
In those difficult years, the blood-stained friendship formed an indissoluble bond between the iron soldier and the student soldier. Although we were far apart in the following decades, we could never forget each other. Our longing for each other did not fade with the passage of time, but became more intense.
Xue Bing and Jie Bing, who were both in the regiment's literary propaganda team, also went through many twists and turns and finally got in touch. At their first gathering in Nanjing after decades, they helped us find Platoon Leader Yang, whom we had missed for many years.
▲We accompanied platoon leader Yang Jiashan on a tour of Famen Temple in Shaanxi. From left to right, Lu Kai, Ma Lianying, Yangjiashan platoon leader and Huang Kangquan.
Lu Kai notified several of our closest comrades about the news immediately, and also informed Platoon Leader Yang’s phone number. I dialed immediately, but couldn't get through because the line was busy. I called several times until the call finally got through at around 10 o'clock in the evening. It turned out that several impatient buddies called Platoon Leader Yang one after another after getting the phone number.
Two weeks later, four of us flew to Nanjing. (Yangzhou Airport was still under construction at the time) Due to the flight delay, when we arrived in Nanjing, there were no Airbus buses to Yangzhou at the airport. Without any hesitation, we took a taxi to Yangzhou, and it was already late at night when we arrived in Yangzhou. Platoon Leader Yang stood at the agreed location and waited eagerly for more than four hours.
Platoon leader Yang was drafted into the army on March 21, 1968, and he took us students to the third line on March 22, 1971., It was almost the same month and day. Under his leadership, we have gone through the trials of life.
▲After we contacted platoon leader Yang Jiashan, the Yangzhou comrades from the 52nd Regiment of the army returned to where the 52nd Regiment was based.
Acacia and friendship for thousands of miles, we renew our relationship in Yangzhou and Xi'an. Decades have passed and we are together again. Now that we have all entered old age, we miss each other all the time, miss our "Platoon Leader Yang" Yang Jiashan, and miss our comrades and friends in Yangzhou. Over the years, we have been visiting each other like relatives, which lasted for half of our lives. century of deep friendship.
I wish our friendship will last forever!
Editor: Yan Jingping's "White Waves"
