Chapter 4: Life at the Border Station

"Sunday is the lightest and happiest day of our week. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 However, due to the recent tension at the border, the station has stipulated that military training will also be arranged on Sunday morning. On the morning of that day, our platoon conducted shooting training, and after the training, we had to conduct a live-fire assessment. The soldiers of our platoon of three squads gathered at the side of the shooting range, with nine people standing in one team and 27 people standing in three teams, listening to Yang Zhenlin, deputy company commander, talk about the standards and requirements of the assessment. In fact, we all know the standards and requirements of the assessment, because at the end of the military training in the first month of my first month in the third company of the cavalry battalion, I had already fired live ammunition. The shooting standard is 100 meters of horizontal fire, 5 rounds of submachine gun firing 30 rings for passing, 40 rings for excellent, 45 rings for excellent. Semi-automatic rifles with 9 rounds of 60 rings are passed, 70 rings are excellent, and 80 rings are excellent. But in that live shooting, I hit a 'bald head', but I just failed. Almost all of the recruits' eggs were 'bald' in that live firing. However, since I came to the border station, not only have I been more intensive in military training, but there are also many shooting experts and pacesetters, so I often consult them, and they are also very willing to guide me and help me, and teach me the essentials of shooting and shooting skills, so I feel that I will definitely be able to get a good result today.

After talking about the standards and requirements for the shooting assessment, Deputy Company Commander Yang said to everyone in a very serious tone, "Comrades, the target in front of us is the US imperialist and Soviet aggressors. ’

Listening to Deputy Company Commander Yang's words, I remembered the scene when I saw Soviet soldiers standing in front of the outposts set up in our territory and getting carried away at us during the patrol that day. But I couldn't shoot. Now, I can shoot, and I'm going to see if I can hit the Soviet soldier if I get this shot.

I went into the firing position, picked up the submachine gun and aimed at the target at 100 meters. And the center of the target is the heart of the Soviet army. I took aim and fired five bursts in a row. After waiting for a while, the assessor over there reported that I had scored 42 rings. One of them has 10 rings, one has 9 rings, two 8 rings and one 7 rings. Then I started shooting from a semi-automatic rifle again. I actually hit 73 rings of nine bullets, and I got a good result.

Back in the dormitory, Yu Changan, the deputy squad leader, said to me, 'Yuan Guoxiao, you are really competitive today, and your grades are good. I humbly said, 'It's not the usual guidance and help you and the class leader have given me. The deputy squad leader said, "However, you must guard against arrogance and rashness and make persistent efforts." I said, 'That's nature.'" I picked up the basin and just walked to the edge of the faucet to catch the water, Platoon Leader Li came over, patted me on the shoulder affectionately with his hand, and said, "Good guy, I have a good shooting performance today, and I have won glory for your class." I said, 'It's all the result of the usual platoon commander and everyone's guidance and help.' ’

Because there is still a basketball game in the afternoon, I am a guard in our platoon, so I will definitely play. So, after washing my face, I hurried to the cafeteria, so that I could finish my meal early and practice on the court for a while. When I entered the cafeteria, there were already a lot of people. But everyone was not in such a hurry to eat as usual, so I wondered. But when I sat down at the table, I realized that instead of rice, shredded potatoes and boiled vermicelli with cabbage, there was a pot of soup mixed with sweet potatoes and rice bran. That's when I realized why everyone was gloomy and didn't want to eat, and there were quite a few people saying strange things. Because almost all the people in the border station are from our Henan side, when we were in our hometown, because there was not enough food to eat, whenever the sweet potatoes came down, we lived by eating sweet potatoes for almost half the year, eating sweet potatoes three times a day. When the sweet potatoes are cooked, the whole family picks up a bowl of sweet potatoes, no vegetables to eat, no chopsticks, not even a table, a bowl of sweet potatoes is served and stands outside the house, talking to others while eating. I don't know what other people are like, anyway, I'm scared when I eat sweet potatoes, and I feel sick when I see sweet potatoes.

At this time, Instructor Wei said to everyone, 'Comrades, our great leader Chairman Mao said that the proletariat can only finally emancipate itself when it liberates all mankind. Two-thirds of the world's toiling people are still in dire straits, and we need to be rescued. Now the US imperialists and the Soviet Union are also eyeing us in a vain attempt to launch a war of aggression against us, and we will suffer twice and suffer two sins, and we will not agree to a thousand or ten thousand. For this reason, according to the arrangement of the party committee of the Tacheng Military Sub-district, today we will educate everyone on remembering the bittersweet feelings. We must let everyone not forget the class hardships and remember the blood and tears. Listening to what the instructor said, everyone knew about it, and began to scoop the sweet potato soup in the basin with a rice spoon, and ate the sweet rice of memories. I didn't want to eat sweet potatoes even if I was hungry, but because it was a bittersweet meal, I couldn't help but eat it, so I dug two spoonfuls of thin soup and drank it.

Because I didn't eat well at lunch, I felt that I didn't have enough energy and fighting spirit when I competed in the afternoon. Both players seemed a little lazy when they came on the field, so they didn't run and scramble very hard during the game. Although the audience came a lot, the applause was sparse and the cheers were weak. I started running happily, but after running for a while, I started to feel stomach acid, and I always wanted to vomit. Therefore, as soon as the first half ended, I said to Platoon Commander Li, 'Platoon Commander, let's change people, I really can't hold on.' With that, he ran to the toilet and spat out a large piece of acid water in the toilet. However, when I came back from the toilet, Platoon Commander Li said to me, 'Xiao Yuan, you still have to continue to play, Wu Da is injured and can't play, if you don't play again, there will be not enough people.' At this time, the score of the two sides is 41:35, and we are still 6 points apart. Because Wu Da is our main striker. So, I said to the platoon commander, 'Wu Da can't get off the field, as soon as he gets off the field, the game will be one-sided, so what's the point of seeing?' ’

At this moment, Deputy Station Chief Pei and Instructor Wei brought a handsome soldier who was 34 or 5 years old and wearing a four-pocket military uniform to Platoon Commander Li and said, "Platoon Commander Li, this is Li Lianxiang, a photographer from Bayi Studio who came to our border station to engage in photography work, and now he is assigned to your platoon and third shift. Platoon Commander Li immediately shook hands with the man and said, "Welcome, welcome." ’

As soon as the two said a few words, the second half was about to begin. Seeing that Platoon Commander Li would not let him go, Wu Da said to Platoon Commander Li, 'Platoon Commander, I can not get off the field, but my leg is injured and I can't play forward, so I can only play guard. ’

Platoon Commander Li scratched his head and said, 'If you don't play the striker, who will the striker play?' Because usually our team can play the striker, only Wu Da is the only one, he doesn't play the striker, and no one plays the striker anymore. At this time, Comrade Li, who had just arrived at Bayi Studio, said, 'Platoon Commander Li, why don't I rush the ducks to the shelves and make a scene for everyone?' Platoon Commander Li glanced at Comrade Li and asked, 'You can also play basketball?' Comrade Li said, "I used to be on the school basketball team. When Platoon Commander Li heard this, he said happily, "Great, then you can play the striker and let Wu Da play the guard." Xiao Yuan doesn't have to play. ’

As soon as everyone saw that our team had been replaced by a newcomer, before they knew who this person was, they saw Comrade Li break through to the basket several times in a row, and the score was overtaken to 50; 48。 Watching Comrade Li's superb and wonderful performance, everyone immediately cheered up and couldn't stop applauding. Seeing that the situation was not good, the opponent hurriedly called a timeout, made a substitution, and changed tactics again, preparing to rush the score over. However, no matter how the opponent changes, the score is getting bigger and bigger. In the end, our first row won 83:72 against the third row.

As soon as the game ended, everyone gathered around to shake hands with Comrade Li and hugged him to our dormitory. What I didn't expect was that the squad leader assigned Comrade Li to me and formed a gang of pairs. And his bed was next to mine. I think that when I am with such a person, I will definitely improve very quickly.

After a while, we became acquainted. His name is Li Lianxiang, a native of Shanghai, 34 years old, a party member, who has filmed many films such as "The New Tsar's Anti-China Atrocities", and has been to the front line of "Resisting US Aggression and Aiding Vietnam" for interviews and filming. He also told me that they were able to come to Xinjiang to shoot at the border because of the help of the head of the Central Leading Group for Special Period. Listening to his words, I was even more impressed with him. He said that at the Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the leaders of some news media learned that the Xinjiang Military Region might have some action in the transfer of Chulchutte, so they asked ** to go to the Xinjiang Military Region to cover and shoot the film. But when the media made a request to the Xinjiang Military Region, they said that it had to be approved by the Central Military Commission's working group. Due to the flight of border residents in Xinjiang, border control is very strict, and interviews are generally not accepted; The accommodation conditions at the border are also relatively poor, which is inconvenient for reception; The border situation is also relatively tense, and in case of death, it will be even more impossible to explain. However, after ** learned about this, he immediately called Huang Yongsheng, the head of the office team of the Military Commission, and lost his temper and said: 'Won't my words work in the army?' As soon as Huang Yongsheng heard this, he hurriedly informed the office of the Central Military Commission and allowed the news organization to send people to Xinjiang to cover the news.

That day, he asked me to take him out to see the current Sino-Soviet border. I took him up to the top of the Iron Hill and pointed to various directions to tell him about the history and reality of our border line being constantly encroached upon by the Soviet army, and also told him about the recent interdiction and counter-blocking clashes between us and the Soviet army near the No. 40 boundary point. When he listened to my story, he was very angry and said that he must more thoroughly expose the expansionist ambitions and ugly features of the new tsar of the Soviet Union, so that the people of the whole country and the people of the world can see it clearly.

At night, it was my turn to stand guard between eleven and twelve o'clock. Li Lianxiang asked to stand guard with me, saying that he wanted to experience the life of border guards. So, the two of us went up to the observation post on the iron hill. With a steel gun in my hand, I fixed my eyes on the territory to the west that had belonged to our country for thousands of years, but which had been occupied by the Soviet Union. Under the silent night, the flat Gobi and the beautiful Alahu Lake have fallen asleep, and gusts of cold night breeze have hurriedly blown through the silent emptiness. I wonder if the robbers are also sleeping in this silence? I don't think they're going to sleep. The darker and quieter it gets, the more they think about how to steal and rob others.

On the west side of the hill, the ghostly outposts of the Soviets were still lit up, staring at us like two glowing green wolf eyes, as if they were about to pounce on us when we weren't looking. They were only a few tens of meters away from us, and if it was daylight, they could see the Soviet sentries clearly.

I stood in the outpost with a gun, staring at the empty and dark Soviet border and the outpost opposite, and asked Li Lianxiang, 'You are a college graduate, a photographer at Bayi Studio, you live in a big city, you live comfortably and happily, why did you come to our difficult and dangerous border station?' ’

Li Lianxiang sat next to me and said, 'I am a revolutionary soldier, and my career is to make more and better films to educate and inspire the people. Then he said to me with emotion, 'A man's life should be spent in such a way that when a man looks back, he does not regret that he wasted his time, nor is he ashamed of his inaction. I said, 'That's what Ostofski said.' Because I've seen 'How Steel is Made.' He said, 'Yes, we should all live like Paul Kochakin.' ’

Suddenly, I saw three or four lights flickering in the distance in the dark Gobi, and although I couldn't hear the sound from a distance, it looked like Soviet tanks or armored vehicles were moving. I immediately said to Li Lianxiang, 'Brother Li, look, there are a few lights moving over there. He looked over there for a moment and said, 'That's a Soviet tank or armored vehicle moving, and I'm afraid they're going to do something.' ’

After a while, I saw that where the lights had just been turned on, there was a firelight like a fireflower that reflected a large area of the night sky, and the rumbling sound of artillery fire could be clearly heard. I said to Li Lianxiang, 'That's the Soviet army using the night to conduct artillery drills. Li Lianxiang said, "They must be doing something again, or they are not honest at such a late hour." ’“