In 1951, the U.S. military blew up the "Qingchuan River Bridge", the transportation artery, the train transporting supplies was stranded by the river, and the volunteers on the front line had run out of rations.
This heroic volunteer soldier is called Yang Liandi, who was born in 1919 in a poor family in Tianjin, and has been selling coolies since he was a child.
In 1949, 30-year-old Yang Liandi joined the army and entered the People's Liberation Army Railway Corps.
When repairing a high bridge on the Longhai Railway, Yang Liandi bravely climbed the pier more than 40 meters high, saved a lot of time, completed the task ahead of schedule, and won the title of "Climbing Hero".
On the first anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Yang Liandi, as a model worker, was invited to watch the ceremony on the tower of Tiananmen Square.
After going through the arduous years, looking at the scene of the motherland's celebration in front of him, Yang Liandi secretly vowed that he would make more contributions to the country and the people in his lifetime.
A few days later, the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea officially began, and groups of volunteer soldiers stepped on a foreign land for the sake of peace and justice, and Yang Liandi also became the first batch of volunteer railway soldiers to enter the DPRK.
Although the railway soldiers did not carry guns to kill the enemy, their role on the battlefield was very large, and they had to ensure the smooth flow of the railway, so as to replenish the food and ammunition of the volunteer soldiers on the front line in time.
At the same time, their mission was arduous and dangerous, as enemy planes constantly bombed the transport routes.
As the Volunteer Army continued to advance southward, the rear transportation line became more important, and the US military of course recognized this, so from the very beginning of the war, the US military sent almost 80% of its bombers to constantly bomb our rear transportation lines.
Soon after the war began, winter began, the temperature in North Korea reached minus 30 degrees, individual units at the front had run out of food, and many soldiers dug up wild dried vegetables to eat in the snow.
Yang Liandi worked the front line of emergency repairs, regardless of safety and health, and soon became a model for everyone to learn again.
In July 1951, the U.S. military sent thousands of warplanes to drop hundreds of tons of bombs on the Cheongcheon River Bridge, completely breaking the bridge and destroying even the most critical No. 3 pier.
The Qingchuan River Bridge is an important passage from the Yalu River to the front line, and at this time, hundreds of transport vehicles are stranded on the riverside and cannot pass.
The central leadership urgently ordered: immediately resume traffic at all costs!
Unexpectedly, the house leak happened to rain overnight, and the Qingchuan River ushered in a catastrophic flood once in 40 years, and the flood wave after wave made the already difficult task more difficult.
This arduous task was handed over to Yang Liandi, who had become the deputy platoon commander, and he led his entire platoon of soldiers to rush to the Qingchuan River.
Looking at the monstrous flood, Yang Liandi, who couldn't swim, did not hesitate, tied up the wire rope and rushed down, and the soldiers followed closely.
But at this time, the flood was rising violently, and their temporary bridge was destroyed by the flood as soon as they turned their eyes.
The soldiers were not discouraged and continued to work in the wind and rain, but at this moment the flash flood broke out again, and the waves crashed like small hills, and the soldiers built 11 temporary bridges were destroyed, and the flood even washed away the 30-ton bridge that sank to the bottom of the river 1 kilometer away.
There was the wanton and indiscriminate bombing of enemy planes and a rare flood that occurred once in 40 years, and although Yang Liandi's whole body was soaked and rotten, he didn't care about the pain in his body at all, but put all his mind on how to build a bridge.
Looking at the anxious faces of the soldiers, Yang Liandi came up with a brilliant idea: to stand the crossed steel rails at the bottom of the river and build a pontoon bridge on them.
As soon as the idea came out, everyone hurriedly worked hard again, but seeing that it was about to be completed, when Yang Liandi turned around to connect the rails, he suddenly dizzy and fell into the river.
There was only a military hat left on the river, and Yang Liandi, who couldn't swim at all, didn't know where he was washed away.
The soldiers sacrificed their lives to find him, and finally rescued him more than 100 meters away from the bridge, but what everyone didn't expect was that Yang Liandi, who was unconscious, was still holding the heavy steel tongs in his hand tightly.
When he woke up, he said to the soldiers: "Our job is to repair, and the tools in our hands are our weapons, which must not be discarded."
Yang Liandi's invention of the steel rail pontoon bridge is unprecedented, this invention made the interrupted Qingchuan River Bridge open to traffic ahead of schedule, the train was able to pass in time, and the materials were sent to the front line, indirectly saving the lives of tens of thousands of volunteers.
Yang Liandi, who made great contributions in the rush repair, was rated as a first-class combat hero, won the Order of the Republic of Korea, and returned to Beijing as a model worker to attend the National Model Worker Congress.
On October 1, 1951, Yang Liandi once again climbed the Tiananmen Tower to watch the ceremony and was cordially received by Chairman Mao.
The leader said to Yang Liandi: You are a hero, you can stay in China to work, and you don't have to go to the front line.
But Yang Liandi said: I am a soldier, and I should be where the troops are.
After attending the meeting, Yang Liandi returned to the Korean battlefield non-stop.
At this time, the United Nations forces were close to madness, and they resorted to all kinds of vicious means to stop the transportation of the volunteers.
The US planes not only dropped more bombs, but also mixed with a large number of time bombs that exploded from time to time.
In May 1952, Yang Liandi took people to inspect the bridge, and he found that because there were too many cars passing at night, the track was 5 centimeters cheaper.
Yang Liandi immediately organized people to repair the track, but unfortunately, a time bomb buried in the soil suddenly exploded, and Yang Liandi was hit in the head by a shrapnel and died heroically.
Yang Liandi, who was only 33 years old, closed his eyes forever.
Yang Liandi sprinkled his blood and sweat on the land of North Korea, and a generation of heroes fell like this, and the bones have been buried in the Shenyang Martyrs Cemetery for nearly 70 years.
The only thing that is gratifying is that after the hero, Yang Liandi's two sons are in important positions and are very promising, inheriting the spirit of the heroic father and shining in the post.
Yang Liandi defended the oath of defending the country with his life, and his name is not only engraved on the monument, but also forever remembered in the hearts of the people.
Resources:
"National Memory" 20201112 Tribute to the Heroes of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea Yang Liandi CCTV