"Loyalty Scores a Plateau Song"
Recently, the documentary "Heroic Advance Company" jointly launched by China Central Radio and Television, Ali Army Division, Tibet Advance Company Memorial Hall and other units was broadcast on CCTV Documentary Channel. The film tells the heroic story of the first unit of the Chinese People's Liberation Army entering Tibet, the advance company that entered Tibet, crossed the Karakorum, victoriously marched into the northern Tibetan plateau, cooperated with the peaceful liberation of Tibet, and finally took root in the frontier.
The documentary begins with the "Ninth Line of Entering Tibet", which is the most difficult challenge in the eyes of contemporary explorers, showing the steep difficulties faced by the advance company in Tibet that year, causing the audience to think: why did such a team be sent at that time, and what kind of tasks did they have to undertake? The film uses field exploration and historical images to reproduce the historical scene of 136 people from 7 ethnic groups marching towards Tibet without hesitation on the snowy plateau without a guide or a guide map.
In order to show the deeds of the advance company in Tibet from multiple angles, the film uses a large number of historical materials, character interviews and field trip images. In interviews with veterans of the advance company, relatives of the martyrs of the advance company, and author of the reportage "The Advance Company in Tibet", the work of the advance company at the beginning of its entry into Tibet gradually became clear. Crossing the Kunlun Mountain, which is more than 5,000 meters above sea level, is just the beginning, and what needs to be crossed after entering Tibet is the barrier of people's hearts. With sincerity, they broke through the barriers of language, culture, and customs, used the mass line of the communists to influence the Tibetan "Xia Bao" (Tibetan: friend), opened up the resistance and blockade of the old Tibetan rulers with reasonable and restrained negotiations, carried out mass work with the fine style of "not taking a stitch from the masses," and publicized and implemented the Communist Party's Tibet policy.
In the fourth episode of "Sacrifice", the film uses telegraph documents and interview memories to connect the 8 months after the advance company was stationed in Zamamangbao, overcoming the test of life and death. In order to strictly implement the central directive of "marching into Tibet and not eating the locality," the soldiers of the advance company did not buy grain and salt from the Tibetan masses. Cutting off the transportation and supply lines in the cold winter, they were self-sufficient, digging on the permafrost with fire-baking picks, and dug out 41 underground nests, 8 horse sheds, 49 bunkers, 249 meters of communication trenches, and 2 pillboxes. The advance company survived by hunting, and in order to store a little more food for the troops, the soldier Balixiang died of exhaustion on the way to hunting. The poor living conditions caused many officers and men to fall ill, and 39 officers and men died in Zamamangbao. Deputy company commander Peng Qingyun choked up and recalled: "One day, 11 were sacrificed, and the tears dried up. ”
In the order of "Departure", "Leaping", "Xia Bao", "Sacrifice", "Meeting" and "Forward", the documentary describes the entire process of the advance company from the mobilization of southern Xinjiang to taking root in northern Tibet. When the advance company survived the cold winter of Zamamangbao and ushered in spring, the meeting of the large army came. Wang Zhen instructed the wounded and sick of the advance company to return to the plains for treatment, but he received a petition from all the commanders and fighters of the advance company, and they resolutely demanded to continue to undertake the advance mission. In August 1951, after two months of arduous marching, the troops finally arrived at Kadak, the seat of government of Ali Kaben, and raised the five-star red flag. Yu Jiang, chief designer of the memorial hall of the advance company in Tibet, said with emotion that living to death has sublimated the spirit of this unit. At the beginning of the documentary, the letters from the soldiers of the advance company before they set out for the battle became the only memory of their relatives.
At the end of the documentary, the descendants embark on a journey to find the father of the advance company, and the family letter of that year has become one of the few clues for the descendants to find their news. Chen Yongtai, the son of Chen Zhongyi, a soldier of the advance company, was the first descendant of the advance company to pay respects at the Shiquanhe Martyrs Cemetery, and he took the initiative to take on the responsibility of finding the families of the martyrs of the advance company. The film echoes from beginning to end, showing the inheritance of the spirit of the advance company.
The family letter of the father of Chen Zhongyi, a martyr of the advance company, treasured by Mr. Chen Yongtai of Gangu County
Mr. Gangu Chen Yongtai paid tribute to the martyr Chen Zhongyi's father at the Shiquanhe Martyrs Cemetery
In the film, the officers and soldiers of the advance company are not only depicted in a group portrait, but also the heroic image of Li Disan, the commander-in-chief of the advance company, is highlighted. Comrade Li Disan is good at doing meticulous political work, either in a good way or thoughtfully, and his character image is full and three-dimensional. On the way to Tibet, Li Didan couldn't eat because of his serious reaction, but he insisted on walking from the head of the team to the end of the team every day to cheer up the soldiers and write a work log. During the difficult phase of the material blockade, he wrote "Advance Song" and "Tenacious Song". At the moment when the company was sick and threatened with death, he asked the cadres to take laughter as a task to boost morale, and carried out a 20-day educational activity of "taking pride in hardship and seeking pleasure in suffering", and organized entertainment activities such as "snow Yangge song and dance". He represented the image of the party in the most difficult times and became a light that illuminated the hearts of the fighters. It was such a Communist Party member who left his 38-year-old life on the plateau. His entire net worth was recorded in his suicide note: a few books, a few clothes and a teapot for his comrades, a pen for his son, and a foxtail for his mother. He is the son of the mother, the father of the son, the fighter of the party, the brother of the fighters.
In June 1951, the frontier area of Pulan was liberated. A few months later, the advance company in Tibet was reorganized and garrisoned. The film uses on-the-spot footage to intuitively show the old appearance of the company back then and the new look of the current company. This footage brought my mind back to 2023, when I was in Pulan, 4,500 meters above sea level, to see the ruins where the advance company was stationed, and to touch the oaths written by the soldiers on the earthen wall. The motherland will never forget every son and daughter who sacrificed for it, and the people who live happily in the territory of peace will always remember their heroes.
Source: "People's Liberation Army Daily"
Author: Wang Mingzhe
Edited by Xiao Jun