The "wall of fire" in winter
Wen Wang Shumin.
The wall of fire", a special heating method in this special winter area, is probably not known much now.
As for the "wall of fire", I only saw it when I joined the army at the end of 1973. I remember that it was the night of December 17, 73, the train that our recruits were riding stopped at Beijing Kangzhuang Station, and when they walked out of the door, a strong and biting cold wind rushed straight into their arms, and they couldn't help but shiver. The dark sky, under the dim light on the platform, the snowflakes flying in the wind are getting into the sleeves and neckline one by one, which is really cold!
Wearing a fur coat, leather shoes, and a fur hat, it was difficult to resist the cold wind, and they stomped their feet, rubbed their hands and faces, and waited for the Jiefang brand car with a shed and a slogan to welcome the recruits. It's been a bumpy ride, and I don't know how long it has beenSuddenly, the sound of gongs and drums from far and near broke the dark night. After a short while, the car slowly came to a halt on a hillside after passing through a camp lined with welcoming crowds on both sides of the road. We got out of the car one by one, our feet, hands and faces were numb, and our bodies felt like we had no clothes on, and we felt a little unsupportable.
Roll call, lined up, followed the leader of the veteran squad couldn't wait to enter the room, and was instantly hit by a huge heat wave, as if suddenly from the ice cellar directly into the furnace. The contrast is too obvious, and it is a little difficult to adapt to it all of a sudden. I didn't care about a lot, and I didn't dare to ask anythingAfter a brief wash, a hurried meal, and then he lay down on the Chase bunk and began to toss and turn, thinking wildly, until it was nearly dawn, and he was confused for a while.
The next day, looking at a wall nearly two meters high in the middle of the house, I don't know what to doA little closer, the heat hit my face, and I suddenly realized that the heat wave was coming from this wall. Our recruits were very curious about this, and after asking the squad leader, they found out that this wall is called the "wall of fire", which is the main facility for heating troops in cold areas in winter. It stands facing the door, dividing the room into two, erecting an iron chimney at the end of the wall, leading directly to the outside of the house, and connecting with the brick stove near the door, forming the heat energy generated after the combustion of coal, circling in the fire wall, releasing it to the greatest extent, and then excreting it along the chimney. It's a good way to do it and it's safe.
Since then, the troops have survived more than a dozen cold winters from Yanqing County in Beijing Municipality to Yi County in Baoding, Hebei Province, to Changli County in Tangshan, and then to Huailai County in Zhangjiakou and Luanping County in Chengde, Hebei. As a result, he formed a deep relationship with the wall of fire. In the hometown area, the popular is the fire kang, and its principle is basically the same, but the difference is that the fire kang burns anthracite, and the fire wall is mostly bituminous coal;The ondol heats slowly, the heat dissipation surface is small, and the heat preservation time is long. The fire wall heats up quickly, dissipates heat quickly, has a high temperature, and reduces heat quickly.
Due to my work, during the first three years of the army, my relationship with the fire wall also became closer and deeper year by year, until I was not only able to skillfully control and use it, but also learned a set of stoves and exquisite skills in building the fire wall.
As a security guard, you must not only ensure the completion of the tasks assigned by the chief, but also be responsible for the relevant affairs of life, and heating in winter is one of the main tasks. In those days, there was neither heat nor electrical equipment for heating, and coal was burned to solve the problem. In order to improve the effect, hitting the "wall of fire" has become the first choice. In the beginning, this kind of work was done by master bricklayers, and we worked as small workers. Sometimes the hands are itchy, the masters teach how to do it hand in hand, after a long time, the main procedures and doorways naturally understand a lot, and try to practice in the class row, and gradually from unfamiliar to proficient, from rough to fine, better master this craft. Since then, the fire walls in the chiefs' houses have been contracted by our guards.
I remember that in the winter of 1977, there was an interesting story because of the fire wall. After the fire walls of the chiefs were all completed, one of the chiefs disliked the poor effect of the fire wall that the deputy squad leader was responsible for, so he found someone from the logistics department to tear down and rebuild it. The deputy squad leader couldn't figure it out and asked me for an explanation. After listening to the briefing, I also became resentful: "Even if the fire wall is not well dissipated, the chief should tell me to take remedial measures." "Relying on my youth and vigor, I brought people to the scene, and insisted that the family stop work and demolish the wall that was more than half a meter high, and then I worked on it, and after half a day's effort, a brand new fire wall ended perfectly. That night, the chief listened to the "report" of the logistics personnel and did not agree with my approach. After calling me in, he got angry in front of me and criticized me seriously. And said that he would tear down the wall of fire that I had built again, and still let those people build it again. It was only after I repeatedly explained and apologized that an embarrassing joke was avoided.
For the next few years, I never started a firewall again. It was not until the beginning of 1981 that the troops were transferred from Changli County in Tangshan to Huailai County in Zhangjiakou, and I and several other colleagues were in charge of the front station work of the political organs, which gave me a place to use my firewall skills. In more than ten days, more than a dozen fire walls were erected as scheduled. Later, until he left the army in 1988, although he still lived in harmony with the wall of fire in winter, he never fought the wall of fire with his own hands.
Lighting the wall, seemingly very simple and rough work, but in fact it is very exquisite, it contains a lot of technical and principled knowledge, if it is violated, it will be half the effort, and even the blind man lights the lamp one by one. The most important thing is the opening where the stove meets the fire wall, the height, slope and size of the positionEvery partition in the middle of the wall.
One and two layers of fire blocking bricks are placed in the first placeHow much should I place?Finally, the position, height, and curve setting of the chimney on the wall of fireOnly when these key points are properly taken care of can the stove flourish and the fire wall will play its best. Otherwise, either the fire is not on, or the wall is not hot, and the wall is not insulated, which is a headache.
After returning to the field, every winter, especially when the snow is clear, the temperature drops sharply, and the house is cold and cold. Relying on a briquette stove, it is difficult to get rid of the cold. For this reason, I had the idea of using a fire wall for heating, but after careful consideration and actual design, I was unable to meet the required conditions due to many factors, and I had to give up regrettably.
Thirty-five years later, although I have never met the wall of fire again, it appears in my dreams and in front of my eyes from time to time. Especially in winter, when the weather is getting colder day by day, the experience of the troops leaning on the fire wall to warm up and fighting the fire wall will come as scheduled, so that the mind involuntarily returns to the past, and nostalgia is also born. The image left in my mind by the wall of fire in this life cannot be erased.
The wall of fire, growing in the north, has accompanied many generations, and has spent the long winter when the drop of water turned into ice and was cold to the bone. I have had the privilege of being associated with it, and I will never forget the benefits I received.
The wall of fire, a day worth telling about in life!