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The first time I saw this set of photos was a year ago. During this period, I had many exchanges with the author. Xiang Wenjun attaches great importance to these works that have been filmed over the years and have been arduously traveling. He must make changes and strive for excellence. Therefore, we saw the final presentation of the works.
Open the picture, and the black and white pictures brought me the touch and shock directly to my heart. Dozens of pictures, carefully looked at them, like a lingering and low whispering, and a thousand twists and turns. There is no splendor of thick ink or intense praise, it upholds the simplest color in the world, and takes you to experience the harsh wind and frost of the snow-capped mountain passerby; lets you listen to the loyalty of the officers and soldiers on the Karakoram Mountain without fear of life and death and perseverance in loneliness. Dozens of pictures and decades of persistence, just as Xiang Wenjun himself said: "In recent years, I have visited the plateau border defense at an altitude of more than 4,500 meters, and my footprints are spread all over every military camp on the snow-capped mountains. I once joked to my friends that for me, there is no word "hard and tired" in this life, because in those days of plateau border defense, my comrades and I have endured all the hardships in this life and suffered all the sins in this life." Now, let us walk into the Karakoram border defense in Xiang Wenjun's lens together, and approach the ordinary and lovely plateau soldiers. The image cannot speak, but it is a cinnabar mole in your heart, freeze and commemorate.
In the western part of the motherland, the Himalayas, Gangdise Mountains, Karakoram Mountains, Kunlun Mountains and Tianshan Mountains, the five majestic mountain systems work together to raise an unparalleled highland, and at the same time create a green border that is the highest and arduous. The average altitude there is 4,500 meters, covered with ice and snow for many years, the air is thin and deserted. Geologists classify it as a "perfrost layer" while biologists call it a "forbidden zone of life", these names foreshadow its incomparable danger.
2001 Spring Festival, officers and soldiers of Shenxian Bay Border Defense Company lit bones to keep warm during patrol. As the former Silk Road ancient road, the Karakoram Pass is scattered with countless white bones of cattle and horses, silently telling the dangers of the border.
Since ancient times, there have been borders, and there are borders, there are defenses. Each of the heroic officers and soldiers guarding this high ground has a heroic story, and each of them is ordinary and great. This ever-silent high ground does not hear the sound of killing or smoke of gunpowder, but the tragic tragedy of life and death is no less than any tragic battlefield. Isn't it? The average altitude is more than 4,500 meters, which is a forbidden area for life and a snowy area! Here, the first thing every officer and soldier faces is the test of hypoxia reaction in the high cold. In mild cases, there will be headache, brain swelling, heartbeat, and breathing difficulties; in severe cases, there will be constant vomiting, water and rice, and unconsciousness. Here, being able to survive is a great victory. On plateaus with less than half of the oxygen content, survival is difficult, and it is necessary to develop strong skills to fulfill sacred duties. Climbing ice and snow and working on the polar regions is common. There is no small matter at the border, everything is connected to Beijing. Both of them are vigilant and always stare at the border line, ready to deal with border emergencies at any time.
In July 2008, Karasu border guards under Gonggel Peak on the Pamir Plateau conducted routine patrols of the border line as planned.
has been stationed on the plateau border for a long time. Some of the officers and soldiers have sunken nails, some have hair fallen off, some have enlarged ventricles, and some have remained on the top of the snow-capped mountains forever... They have lost their bodies, suffered their wives, and misled their children. They are unqualified sons, unqualified fathers, and unqualified husbands, but they are the best soldiers. They use their overdrawal of their lives to defend national territorial sovereignty and the peaceful and happy life of the people! It is impossible to have no love for the people, no loyalty to the motherland, no courage to overcome all difficulties, and no spirit of daring to win and willing to shed blood! When we enjoy peace, we should thank them on the top of the snow-capped mountains, these lovely plateau border guards, who protect the peace of the motherland with their loyalty, youth and even life. Salute to the plateau soldiers!
In September 2009, the officers and soldiers of the Heweitan Border Defense Company, which was at an altitude of 5,400 meters, went to the construction site in the wind and snow.
In July 2010, sailors from a water squadron stationed on the shore of Pangong Lake were conducting beach training.
In February 2011, officers and soldiers of the 5390 outpost named after the altitude were patrolled on the border.
In December 2014, a land aerial helicopter successfully landed on the Zhipuqi Border Defense Company at an altitude of more than 5,100 meters in the hinterland of the Himalayas, sending supplies to the isolated island where the mountain was blocked with heavy snow.
In April 2015, officers and soldiers of the patrol team of the Xilanta Border Defense Company of the Ali Military Sub-district of Tibet marched hard on the snow and went to Maxiang Pass, which was at an altitude of 5,659 meters.
2015 New Year's Eve, Zhaxigang Border Defense Company Non-commissioned officers Ciren Dunzhu (right) and Wang Jun (left) melted snow and boiled water to prepare lunch for the patrol team.
Bangong Lake, Yinjie Lake in China, with an altitude of more than 4,200 meters. Every winter, the water squadron only leaves a few sailors to guard the camp.
Border is not a forbidden place for women. A large number of heroines are active on the plateau border defense and guard the border with men. On February 4, 2010 (the first day of the Lunar New Year), three female nurses stationed at the Thirty-mile Barracks Medical Station in the hinterland of Karakoram Mountains flew kites in the cold wind to celebrate their first Spring Festival on the plateau border.
Border is always a world of ice and snow. In March 2015, the patrol officers and soldiers of the Pulan Border Defense Company marched hard on nearly 1 meter thick of snow.
When crossing the glacier, the Tibetan warrior Gejia fell off the ice without any strength. Fortunately, there was no danger.
Plateau Border Defense Company's three-dimensional reservoir. When winter comes, the entire Karakoram Mountain is solid, including water that is essential for life. So the officers and soldiers took the ice back into the room to store it in order to melt the ice and get water.
Plateau cookware, people who have not lived on the plateau will definitely be unfamiliar with it. There is no pressure cooker on the plateau, so you can only eat raw rice. In the summer of 2005, in the hinterland of Karakoram, plateau cooks were burying pots in the wild to cook.
Plateau outpost "comrades-in-arms" love. Heiga is a military dog in the border defense company of the Ali Military Sub-district. I took this photo in 2006. Heiga passed away in 2014. The company officers and soldiers buried it on the hillside next to the camp. It only did one thing in its life, and that was to guard the border.
The higher the altitude, the less oxygen, and people without sufficient oxygen will become extremely difficult for them to survive. If you don’t have oxygen, open your mouth and increase your breathing frequency, because someone must guard the place called the border. In January 2011, officers and soldiers of the Karasu Border Defense Company on the Pamir Plateau crossed Dazaka, a 5,400-meter-long trip to patrol the Ice Towerlin.
Polar climb. Defending the country and guarding the border is not only about survival, but more importantly, to develop strong skills. In the Shenxian Bay Border Defense Company, at an altitude of 5,380 meters, the officers and soldiers continuously strengthened their physical fitness by climbing the sentry to make themselves more adapted to the plateau.
Patrol in extreme weather is never interrupted. During the Spring Festival in 2014, officers and soldiers at a duty point at an altitude of 5,390 meters were patrolling in the life-forbidden area.
Yak is a transportation tool for officers and soldiers of the Hongqilafu border defense company on the Pamir Plateau when patrolling. Although it is called the "Plateau Boat", it is often deterred when facing dangerous patrols.
There is no way ahead. In July 2005, officers and soldiers of a border defense regiment patrol the Kleqing Valley under the K2 Peak. Because the road was washed away by the river, they could only move forward with difficulty.
Life and Death New Tibet Line. In July 2002, a border defense regiment transported a pig from the Kazan Pass Border Defense Company died of an oxygen deficiency due to a car trapped in a "dead ditch".
There is no way in the world, and more people will be walking on it. The roads on the border were measured by soldiers with their steps. In July 2004, a border defense company sent a patrol team to the unmanned land.
In order to be prepared to deal with border emergencies at any time, a border defense regiment pulled officers and soldiers to a strange area with an altitude of nearly 5,000 meters and practiced hard skills. Even if you walk a few steps here, you will have a long breath. The intensity of such training can be imagined.
The way to visit relatives. Wind and snow will always be the protagonist of the plateau border defense. Some border defense companies have a heavy snowfall for half a year. If the officers and soldiers encounter urgent matters at home, they need the assistance of the entire company to walk out of the mountain. In February 2004, the border defense company of the astronomical point in the Karakoram Mountains was blocked by heavy snow. The officers and soldiers walked over Ice Pasaka to send the platoon leader home to visit relatives.
Snow Mountain Witness the love of soldiers.Like the love stories of most plateau border guards, Xu Fang, a Gansu girl who works in the ancient capital Xi'an, learned about and fell in love with Wang Junneng, a driver of the Zhaxigang Border Guard Company, who was far away in the sky, through radio waves.
flowers on the snowy plateau are always something that soldiers love. Because in this frozen soil, more love is needed to water the flowers and plants.
Someone has calculated that on a plateau with an altitude of more than 4,500, even if you lie down and don’t move, it is equivalent to carrying a weight of 30 kilograms in the plain area. During the Spring Festival in 2013, Ma Xiaolong, a soldier of the Krkturk border defense company on the Pamir Plateau, fell behind during patrol and collapsed on the snow.
has a kind of rendering called shouting. The empty highlands are nothing but wind and snow, but also stones. When you are lonely, shout at the mountains! The communication with the echo becomes a complete revelation. In October 2004, officers and soldiers of the Shenxian Bay Border Defense Company, which was at an altitude of 5,380 meters, were shouting at the mountains.
Soldiers on the plateau have a state called hypoxia. Oxygen is colorless, odorless and invisible, but it is indispensable. Without it, there is no life. Arts team dancer Aziguli fainted on the stage at an altitude of more than 4,700 meters.
The soldiers guard the frontier like eagles.
Their resolute steps and majestic bodies have brought peace to the border defense of the motherland. During the Spring Festival in 2010, officers and soldiers from the 5390 outposts in the hinterland of Karakoram Mountain walked towards the post.
goes to heaven. In June 2008, officers and soldiers of a border defense company under Tomur Peak, the main peak of Tianshan Mountain, patrolled the border line with an altitude of more than 5,000 meters. Because the slope was too large, they could only lead the horses to advance slowly.
Source: Military Daily reporter WeChat
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