The Zhiliu Railway is the second north-south railway trunk line in China and an important part of the construction of the third line. It has witnessed the struggles and sacrifices of a generation, and has also changed the face of the regions along the route. As an educated youth, I have participated in the construction of the Zhiliu Railway, and I have personally experienced arduous struggles and unforgettable friendships. Here are my memories and feelings.
Cut the queue to the countryside
From educated youth to retirement, the years are long, and there are many feelings.
On February 25, 1969, I was cut into the 10th production team of the Longhui Brigade of Xindu Commune in Hexian County (Hezhou City), and I had just entered the age of 17, and I had become a labor force in the society.
In the production team and the members of the company, get up early and work hard to make more efforts for rural agriculture, do their best, learn and work at the same time, and ask questions if they don't understand. During the one-year period of going to the countryside to join the queue, I learned a lot of basic farmland work with my spirit of being willing to endure hardships and learning Xi with an open mind, such as: shoveling the foundation, provoking trouble, threshing, drying grain, plowing, harrowing, shoveling seedlings and other physical skills. After two years of practical exercise, I have been tanned**, my body is strong, and in the eyes of the members, I am no different from the young men in the countryside, and I have erected a big muzi.
Participate in the militia company
Time flies so fast that in mid-September 1970, I was assigned by the production team to attend a militia company formed by the commune, saying that I was going to go for training before the construction of the Zhiliu Railway. The production teams are selected to participate in the lottery are all strong laborers. After three days of short military training, he learned the basic militarization essentials such as backpacking, holding guns, and standing posture, and became a soldier of the Zhiliu Railway of the 23rd Company of the 5th Battalion of the 2nd Regiment of Hexian County.
That morning, the militia soldiers of the 23rd Company who participated in the battle of the Zhiliu Railway gathered in front of the large playground of the auditorium of Xindu Commune9 rifles, the ** at that time was limited, not every militia fighter could be equipped with a gun, we lined up in a neat line and were ready to go. At about 9 o'clock in the morning, the militia fighters marched on their newly learned steps, held high the flag of the 23rd Company, and set off on foot to Wuzhou under the leadership of the company commander and instructor.
At the beginning, because the selected soldiers are all young and middle-aged laborers who work in the production team in peacetime, and the marching team has been kept very neat, I am the same as other comrades-in-arms with ** on my back, and there is no difference between the young and strong militia from the countryside, which reflects the fact that the educated youth are cut into the countryside and tempered by life, and have achieved good results in physical strength and spirit.
A company with more than 100 people, walking on the uneven road, needs to reach the destination as soon as possible and at the scheduled time, how much time does it take?How long is the road?How to solve the difficulties encountered, such as: slow marching speed, difficult to go to the toilet. The company commander and the instructor discussed and decided: All actions should be under command, and there should be no more delay. I gave the task to me, who was already a propagandist at the time, and I conveyed it through a semiconductor speaker.
The company commander announced: The comrades-in-arms are all from the same commune or the same village, and it is their own glory and their family's glory to come out today to participate in the construction of the Zhiliu Railway, and I hope that everyone will help each other and overcome difficulties. Solving the toilet problem: Centered on the road boundary, men on the left and women on the right. After about 100 kilometers of walking for two days, the team successfully passed through Shatou Town, Shiqiao Town, Libu Town, and Cangwu Town, and arrived in Wuzhou City on the third day, where they were placed in Wuzhou No. 3 Middle School for accommodation.
That night, in order to welcome the arrival of the participating Zhiliu soldiers, Wuzhou City arranged for us to go to the Wuzhou City People's Auditorium for a movie. I took advantage of this opportunity to ask the company for leave, and after getting permission, I jumped out of the team and went home. Before I got home at 6 o'clock in the evening, when I was still 2 meters away from home, I couldn't control my mother's excitement and shouted, "Mom......."Mom......This shout attracted all the mothers in the neighborhood to look in the direction of the sound. When the mother heard the familiar voice, she hurried out of the house and said, "My son, my son, my son......."Holding my hand with one hand, he walked briskly back to the dining table at home and beckoned the family to hurry up and start eating. When my father heard the sound, he also came over to see the excitement. The eldest brother was careful, took a look at me, and saw that I was empty-handed, and I didn't even carry my satchel, and said, "What's wrong?".When I get home at this time, if I take the shuttle bus back, it's not this time, do you pick up the car and come back?I shook my head and waved my hand: "No, no".
This is not to blame the eldest brother, since I went home for the Spring Festival in 1970, my family has not received my letter, and when I come back at this time, it is inevitable that I will misunderstand. I explained: "This time, the production team was sent to participate in the construction of the Zhiliu Railway and passed through Wuzhou, and many people from the commune went there." The mother asked, "Isn't it necessary to plow the fields in the countryside?"The little sister was very happy to see me, and hurriedly called on the side: "Brother sit down, sit down, eat."
This is the second time I have returned to my parents since I went to the countryside in 1969, just like the song sung by singer Liu Hegang. Before the meal was full, I saw my mother secretly wipe her tears, and my father also took this opportunity to get up and leave the table, and they all said that they were full. Only I am still eating with my head down, I feel that I have been going to the countryside for more than a year, and I only go home to eat the food cooked by my mother during the Spring Festival. After a while, the wind swept away, and even the vegetable juice was eaten. Looking at the table, I suddenly understood that my father's departure and my mother's nagging at the table were all for the sake of giving up the food for me. Late at night, I hurried out of the house and rushed back to the company.
In the afternoon of the second day, the company started from San**, passed through Da Nan Road, Dadong Road, Zhongshan Road, and arrived at the passenger station, there was no large-scale farewell ceremony along the way, only the people of Wuzhou on both sides of the street enthusiastically shouted: "Learn Xi from the militia of the third line of Zhiliu!."Salute to the militia of the third line of branches and willows!In order to boost morale, I led my company comrades to chant: "Learn Xi from the working class!"Hats off to the working class!”
The company took a three-o'clock boat to the original Guixian passenger station, an iron ship with a large flat barge, no beds, no fences, men and women on one side, the toilet is in the back corner of the stern, a hole with a bull's eye window, although the deck has been cleaned, but you can still see the original red background and black color of the ship, indicating that it is usually used to carry goods, or coal large transport ships.
We were on a large flat steamer, pulled by a mobile boat with the word "Guituo" written on it, and slowly left the port on the river, at this time it was late autumn, the Xijiang River was entering the dry period, plus sailing against the current, the two boats one after the other, the speed was still relatively slow. Wuzhou Port to Guixian Port, the total length of the waterway is 413 kilometers, the beach is dangerous, the bay is many, and the voyage passes through Tengxian, Pingnan, Guiping, Shebu, and other counties and towns. After two days and two nights of water sailing, we arrived at the passenger station of Guixian (now Guigang City). After going ashore, we boarded the train on foot.
The next morning, I didn't know where I went, after getting out of the car, I immediately continued to walk, at this time, some of the militia comrades in the team had swollen feet, and some had back pain, but no one was left behind, and no one complained. The comrades-in-arms supported and encouraged each other and held hands. In addition to carrying a rifle on my back, I also took the initiative to help my comrades-in-arms, although I carried three rifles, I did not forget that I was a propagandist, and used the semiconductor horn I brought with me to read *** quotations to the team: "Make up your mind, not afraid of sacrifice, overcome all difficulties, and strive for victory" greatly boosted morale.
Construction of the Zhiliu Railway
The company finally arrived at our destination in Meltwater and arranged for us to live in a hut made of thatch. The thatched greenhouses were built one after another, and there were five militia companies that had arrived: Xindu Commune, Pumen Commune, Renyi Commune, Babu Town, Liantang Commune, etc., and these five companies were composed of five battalions, called the 23rd Company, the 24th Company, the 25th Company, the 26th Company, and the 27th Company. The battalion propagandists were composed of seven educated youths, Wuzhou educated youth: Yang Weidong, Cai Jingyu (later transferred to the regiment headquarters), Huang Hongying, Liang Haiying (later transferred to the regiment headquarters);Eight-step educated youth: Tan Shisu, Huang Xiufang, Gao Lao (can't remember the name), etc.: Our task is: seize the opportunity and vigorously publicize *** about: "The third-line construction should be grasped quickly, the money is not enough, you can take my salary out;The third-line construction can't be built in a day, and I can't sleep well in a day;The construction of the third front should be ahead of the war, even an hour in advanceDon't miss the opportunity, the time will never come" and a series of important instructions.
I felt that this task was both difficult and glorious, and I had become a railway soldier as an educated youth who had gone to the countryside to receive education and training, and I secretly made up my mind: "Do my best, Xi study hard, and keep working hard." ”
The task of the Fifth Battalion was to remove the big mountain in front of it, which was high, had a large slope, and had a wide operating area. With the equipment and technology at that time, in addition to the hard work and enthusiasm of all the militia comrades-in-arms, there was no advanced scientific and technological support, let alone advanced supporting facilities such as excavators and mud trucks, and they only relied on explosives, hammers, steel drills, hoes, "chicken" hoes with long and short handles, more than a dozen wooden carts, and primitive labor tools such as flat poles, dustpans, and shovels.
All the militia comrades-in-arms of the fifth battalion overcame difficulties and rose head-on, in accordance with the principle of "** is an important factor in war, but not a decisive factor, and the decisive factor is people not things", we carry forward the spirit of Yugong moving mountains and digging mountains every day, and divide the work of the five companies into two shifts, and the seven educated youth propagandists also have a clear division of labor.
We often shuttle between the two large class operation areas, find good people and good deeds in a timely manner, report in time, and write praise;Organize manuscripts, publish wall newspapers, go to the company to interview, work overtime, and sometimes dig soil, pick mud, and push carts with comrades-in-arms.
During an interview at the construction site, it was found that several militia comrades-in-arms squatted down in the operation area of the 23rd Company, as if discussing something and discussing something. When I got closer, it was the Wuzhou educated youth militia: Zhang Miaolian, Li Huiqing, Su Jinxiong, and Zhong Xi.
Nine, Uncle Yagui, they held a dustpan in their hands, the iron wire device on both sides, carried out research and analysis, the original two sides of the iron wire curvature to carry out reform attempts, the original front and rear iron wire fixed curvature greater than 90 degrees, improved into a half-moon arc, the bearer does not need to bend down to dump mud, can directly in the run, with the hands to grab the two ends of the flat pole to hang down the rope hook, several educated young people self-drilling, back and forth many times, grasp the main points, familiar with the free, first in the squad, platoon, and then in the company. Such a small technological reform has increased the workload. It has changed the usual action of stopping, bending over and carrying the tail of the dustpan to pour mud. With the vigorous support of the battalion headquarters, I and seven educated youth propagandists from the battalion headquarters have intensified our efforts to publicize and popularize such advanced reforms, and the two classes have also begun to use this method. In the operation area, this new practice has been imitated, and the male comrades-in-arms help the female comrades-in-arms to help each other, and the progress of the work has been significantly accelerated.
The revolutionary and desperate spirit of the third-line fighters in Zhiliu has been witnessed by myself and witnessed it. This revolutionary spirit of "not being afraid of hardship, not being afraid of death" is worthy of publicity, and at the same time, it is also convenient for future generations to better understand the wits and courage of the comrades-in-arms of the militia of the educated youth, a generation that cannot be overcome by any difficulty.
Back to the production team
Time flies very quickly, just after the Spring Festival in 1971, it was April, at this time, most of the militia comrades-in-arms on the third line of branches and willows had to return to their original places, because this was the busy season of spring ploughing in the countryside, and for agricultural planting in the rural areas, it was a good time in the spring of the year, and it was necessary to invest a lot of labor to sow spring ploughing, compete for time, grab speed, and not miss the agricultural season. The vast number of militiamen and comrades-in-arms who participated in the battle of the Zhiliu Third Line Railway were given a big turnaround, and I returned to the production team that had joined the team more than a year ago, and threw myself into spring plowing production with the members.
The Zhiliu Railway is a miracle forged by our generation with blood and sweat. It is not only a traffic artery, but also a spiritual road. It has taught us the spirit of not being afraid of difficulties, daring to innovate, uniting and cooperating, and contributing to society. Although the years have passed, our memories of the Zhiliu Railway and the era of educated youth will never disappear. We want to pass on this history so that more people can understand the contributions we have made to the country and the people.
sigh that the years have flown by, and the past is difficult to go back. Qingshan is still getting old, and I salute the past with a glass of wine.