The snow-capped mountains in Pamirs are long and continuous; The cold wind is blowing from the valley, whining.
Yuqitashi, which means "three stones" in Kirgiz, is located between three snow-capped mountains and is also the border between China and Kyrgyzstan. The company's resident is 3059 meters above sea level and nearly 200 kilometers away from the nearest county seat. Every year, mountains are closed by heavy snow for five or six months, which is called "Snow Island".
12km life passage
"The road conditions are very good today." Wang Caiyun, the squad leader who took us up the mountain, said, "The border checkpoint just now is 0/2km away from the company/kloc-0. When it snows, the car can't drive, so people can only go there to get food, and then the company will ride a horse to pick it up. No matter how heavy the snow is, the horse can't walk and can only rely on people's backs. In the eyes of officers and men of Yuxi Tashi, this 12 km mountain road is the' transit passage' of life. "
Speaking of this "passage of life", 15 Wang Caiyun, the fourth-level master sergeant who has taken root in border defense, has endless stories.
Before the Spring Festival the year before last, in order to ensure the officers and men to celebrate the New Year, the regiment coordinated local snowmobiles to transport materials up the mountain. Wang Caiyun and his comrades-in-arms began to look forward to it from the 29th of the twelfth lunar month, but the bad news came: the engineering vehicle pushing snow accidentally ran off the road and fell into a glacier in the heavy snow, and the driver jumped out of the car and was rescued, but the materials fell halfway.
So thy Company set up a "food team", carrying backpacks and riding chargers to rescue supplies.
"I remember that day at MINUS 35 degrees Celsius, the snow was deep, the road was difficult to walk, the wind was strong at the top of the mountain, and the avalanche always tested the reaction of officers and men. If you can't run, you will be buried. " Wang Caiyun said that in order to keep their attention, officers and men took turns telling jokes while walking.
Wang Caiyun walked behind the team and suddenly found soldier Xiao Keruo sitting on horseback, motionless, without saying a word. Wang Caiyun felt something was wrong and ran to pat him on the shoulder. Unexpectedly, Shockletti plunged off his horse and fell into the snow. The officers and men quickly picked him up, helped him rub his hands to keep warm, and called his name. It took him a long time to wake him up.
That day, the officers and men walked for eight hours before they saw the car. The snowmobile that fell into the glacier could not be saved, and people began to pack materials into their backpacks: tomatoes frozen like stones, eggs that could not be broken for a long time, and canned drinks frozen into various shapes. ...
The horse can't move, so everyone takes up their backpacks and leaves. The snow is so soft that you can't reach your knees when you step on it. It's hard to walk with dozens of kilograms of goods on your back. In order to save energy, everyone stopped talking and just lowered their heads. Take out your backpack and give it to others if you can't carry it. If you can't move your feet, pull them with your hands and walk like a radish.
"At that time, everyone carried it back and forth at least twice, and all the materials were carried back to the company on New Year's Eve." Wang Caiyun said.
Patrol at an altitude of 4000 meters.
The snow sparkled in the dazzling sunlight. A team of border guards patrolled the border at the top of the mountain with knee-deep snow.
Snow coat, sunglasses, winter boots, fully armed, we set off with the patrol. Soon, the mountain trails let us find that these preparations are far from enough.
The snow is so thick that we can only walk the last three kilometers. The higher you go, the thicker the snow will be, and you will gradually approach your waist from your knee. Every step forward, you should do the action of "lifting your legs high", pull your feet out of the snow, and then step on the frozen snow in front.
Looking back at the last Liu Yuan, I saw that she leaned over, put her hands on her knees, gasped, and bangs formed popsicles and hung on her face.
"Don't stay up, I'll send you back!"
"no! If you come, you can't delay the patrol! " Liu Yuan took a deep breath, with the help of her husband Jin Xinxin, pulled her legs out of the snow and crunched on the snow pit ahead.
"one! Two! Three! ..... ""Come on, sister-in-law! " The whole team cheered Liu Yuan's voice resounded through the valley. Jin Xinxin walked ahead and stretched out her hands backwards to pull her lover.
It was getting dark, and there was a strong wind at the mountain pass, and the temperature dropped to MINUS 43 degrees Celsius. At this time, the team finally reached the patrol duty point at the border. It took six hours to walk the last three kilometers. "This patrol road is not easy to walk!" Liu Yuan was in tears with excitement. "I have guarded the border defense of the motherland for many years, and the border guards and soldiers have made me so proud!"
"I have border defense, please rest assured the motherland!" At the duty station, the company commander Wei Wei took the patrol members to swear to the national flag, and the high-pitched voice echoed among the mountains.
Colorful "vegetable exhibition hall"
Rows of vegetable seedlings are scattered, and the sun shines through the greenhouse, making the seedlings particularly strong.
"In the past, the company used to eat vegetables and shipped them from the mountains once every day on 10. Once, a heavy snow surrounded the company into an' island'. On the way, the vegetable delivery truck had to go back. In the end, we even finished eating cabbage, radish and potatoes, and everyone could only stand at the door of the vegetable cellar and look at each other. " Sun Hongfa, a soldier on the side, said, "A few years ago, in order to let the officers and men of the post eat fresh vegetables, the superiors built a' new insulation vegetable cellar' for the company, which can keep fresh in winter and summer, and also built a new vegetable greenhouse with insulation interlayer. Now the officers and men of the company can eat several dishes every meal and are well prepared. "
"Frontier defense is very bitter, but if we can improve our living conditions by our own efforts, we can also make the soldiers feel more at ease." Coming out of the work shed, Wei Wei pointed to a row of small buildings and said, "Last year, our barracks had a network signal. Now we have built a basketball court and a table tennis room, and officers and men can relax and entertain when they rest. "
Seeing the soldiers posting Spring Festival couplets, Liu Yuan pulled Jin Xinxin aside and took out his mobile phone. "When I arrived, my parents recorded a little video for you."
In the picture, Kim's mother said, "Liu Yuan is guarding our little family. My son defends the country. He is on the snowy mountain, guarding everyone. " Jin's father, who hasn't said much, said, "Xinxin will try to go home for the New Year next year!" Looking at their parents' greetings, both young people were red-eyed.
Surrounded by snow-capped mountains, the whole company melted in the glory of the sunset. This light slowly spread all over the snow-capped mountains, illuminating the barracks and roadsides of officers and men. ...
(Liu and Chen Shengsheng participated in the writing)
People's Daily (February 9, 2020, 06 edition)