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Iron Soldier Memory|Chengdu-Kunming Railway Road Construction Career

Editor Mei Zixiang's guide:

There are many "railway soldiers" in Chengdu that I would like to meet. Wang Yuliang, a 100-year-old veteran who is still alive at the inaugural meeting of the railway column, Liu Hong, a non-railway soldier who has photographed the bridges and tunnels of the Chengdu-Kunming Railway and the martyrs' cemetery for more than ten years, and Cai Fanglu, who has grown from a railway soldier tunneler to a famous scholar and led graduate students to inspect the Chengdu-Kunming Railway on foot for 15 times. In May, I participated in the reopening ceremony of the renovation and upgrading of the Leshan Railway Soldiers Museum, and I met these respected people one by one.

Professor Cai Fanglu was one of the experts who were scheduled to give a lecture after the opening ceremony. The title of his lecture was "The Spirit of the Eternal Railway Soldiers," which was to review the arduous life of participating in the construction of the Chengdu-Kunming Railway, to refine and praise the spirit of the railway soldiers of "digging roads in the mountains and building bridges in the water," and to introduce the summer organization of graduate students to participate in social practice and visit the Chengdu-Kunming Railway. His speech won wide acclaim from the cadres of the Jinkouhe organs, middle school students, and veterans of the railway soldiers.

At the end of the meeting, during the summer vacation of the school, the 15th "Chengdu-Kunming Railway Remembrance and Inheritance Tour" organized by him was launched, and I was invited to participate. Due to the entangled affairs, I can only walk with them in the "2024 Re-Chengkun Line" WeChat group. saw him and his classmates singing "Railway Soldiers in the Quartet", trekking through mountains and rivers, crossing tunnels and bridges, and experiencing the arduous labor of railway soldiers; Discuss with the old railway soldiers and the masses along the line, and talk about the contribution of the railway soldiers to the local economic development by participating in the construction of the third line. Year after year, in addition to him, are new faces, everyone's harvest is different, but all are shocked and educated, and as a spiritual driving force for growth and development, in their different positions to create extraordinary achievements.

Cai Fanglu, born in Meishan, Sichuan Province in October 1951, is 73 years old this year. He is currently an honorary professor and doctoral supervisor of Sichuan Normal University, and has served as the chief and distinguished professor and deputy director of the academic committee of Sichuan Normal University. There are also many "titles" with high gold content: director of the Institute of Philosophy of the Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences, president of the Sichuan Provincial Research Association for the History of Chinese Philosophy, president of the Sichuan Zhu Xi Research Association, and vice president of the Chinese Zhuzi Society.

With such an "identity" and age, why do you want to take students to the Kunming Railway year after year? What is his original intention and purpose?

I read Professor Cai's book "The Construction Career of the Chengdu-Kunming Railway", and the answer is in this article.

At the age of 17, he became a railway soldier, and after a 5-year military career, he participated in the construction of the Chengdu-Kunming and Xiangyu railways, benefited from the training and training of the military camp all his life, and never forgot the difficult road construction and the sacrifice and dedication of his comrades. He believes that the spirit of the railway soldiers to conquer natural dangers and create miracles in the world is worthy of learning and commemorating by generations of young people.

What kind of warrior is this? They live in grass huts and mud houses with dry bases, eat rice mixed with salt, rarely eat meat dishes, everyone is skinny and skinny, and they are engaged in more than ten hours of physical labor every day, and they are in danger of sacrifice at any time...... This is the statue of the group! Professor Cai is a tunnel blaster, who has safely blasted more than 10,000 cannons for more than 5 years, not without danger, but has escaped death many times: escaped in the gap of "stone rain"; A 150-millimeter-long nail pierced the instep from the center of the foot and shed a bowl of blood; The calluses on the hands are three layers thick, and the knife will not bleed......

Therefore, since 2009, Professor Cai has organized and carried out summer social practice activities for graduate students (with the participation of a small number of doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows and other students and teachers in other majors), and has participated in the Chengdu-Kunming Railway for 15 consecutive years and 206 people.

This unique teaching method has achieved remarkable results in cultivating people with virtue: more than a dozen of them have been admitted to doctoral students in key domestic universities, and 2 have studied abroad; Six students have won the National Scholarship for Master's Students, one student has won the National Scholarship for Doctoral Students, and many students have published papers and won awards in academic journals such as Philosophical Studies. Professor Cai's pioneering work and achievements have also attracted the attention and praise of media such as People's Daily and experts in the field of education at home and abroad. Graduate student Xie Ming's thoughts may represent the common aspirations of teachers and students who participated in the "Re-walking the Chengdu-Kunming Line": "Every minute sitting on the Chengdu-Kunming Railway train, it is possible to meet the heroic soul of a martyr. So, please listen carefully to the gratitude and respect from the bottom of each passenger's heart. Your efforts and sacrifices have changed the fate of 20 million people along the railway, and the originally isolated southwest region has advanced for 50 years. It is precisely because of you and enthusiastic young people like you that a poor and backward China has become rich and powerful today. And what our generation has to do is to follow the road you have paved, step by step, to make our China better and stronger! ”

Chengdu-Kunming railway construction career

Cai Fanglu

Iron Soldier Memory|Chengdu-Kunming Railway Road Construction Career

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the construction of the third line, and as the builder of the Chengdu-Kunming Railway, a super-large project of the construction of the third line, I recall the arduous years of the construction of the Chengdu-Kunming Railway and am full of emotion.

I am a veteran of the 1st Battalion and 2nd Company of the 46th Regiment of the 10th Division of the former Railway Corps, who joined the army in March 1968, joined the party in May 1970, and retired in March 1973, and am almost 73 years old this year.

56 years ago, I enlisted in the army from Xicheng District, Chengdu City, and was fortunate to participate in the construction of the world-famous Chengdu-Kunming Railway, and later participated in the construction of the Xiangyu Railway. Yunnan's economic development has contributed.

Iron Soldier Memory|Chengdu-Kunming Railway Road Construction Career

After graduating from Chengdu No. 31 Middle School in March 1968, I enlisted in the army at the age of just over 16. At that time, the construction of the Chengdu-Kunming railway was in a critical period. Because the rebels in the Xichang area engaged in armed struggle, which had a great impact on the construction of the third-line railway, the railway troops were strictly disciplined, were not disturbed, and continued to carry out construction as usual. However, due to the rebels' armed struggles and the blockage of traffic, the materials of the five major automobile transport companies were often unable to be transported, and even the food and supply of the construction companies became a problem. There was a period of spring famine in our 2nd Company, when there were no vegetables to eat, and everyone ate rice every day with salt, and they had to undertake heavy physical labor, military training, and tolerance duties for more than 10 hours a day. Due to the lack of nutrients, everyone is skinny. But it was in this environment that we overcame all kinds of difficulties and completed the construction task every day. At that time, Chairman Mao repeatedly issued instructions and appeals such as "the Chengdu-Kunming Railway must be repaired quickly", "the Chengdu-Kunming Railway cannot be repaired, so I rode a donkey to the ferry port (now Panzhihua City)", and "the Chengdu-Kunming Railway is short of money to repair, so take my manuscript fee", and other instructions and appeals, so that the officers and men of our railway soldiers who built the road were greatly encouraged and spurred, and they were determined to overcome all difficulties, so that Chairman Mao could rest assured that this third-line steel artery of great strategic significance must be repaired on time and with good quality within the time specified by the party and the state.

At that time, there was a scarcity of living materials, and it was difficult to guarantee the supply of many other things except food. At that time, there were many road construction troops and migrant workers, and there were hundreds of thousands of people along the railway construction site. When the spring is not green, there is no way to buy vegetables along the entire Chengdu-Kunming Railway. The compressed dried vegetables transported from other places are difficult to eat, and they are fried after soaking in water, and they taste like pig food, but even so, the compressed dried vegetables are not long to be eaten. Then eat pickles (dried radish, mustard). When the pickles are finished, they eat the kelp, which is boiled in water and salted. There is not much kelp, and it is eaten in a few days. In the end, there was no food, so everyone had to eat salt and rice. There was no meat in the company for a long time, and there was very little oil and water. Therefore, Chairman Mao sent people to send pork to the railway troops to show his concern. I remember that day, a military cadre rode in an open-top military jeep, stood on the car, held a plate above his head, and a piece of frozen pork weighing about 5 catties was contained in a transparent plastic bag. From north to south, they drove all the way and were welcomed by the officers and soldiers who built the road along the way. The officers and men of our battalion rushed to both sides of the road on the other side of the Anning River early to welcome the pork sent by Chairman Mao (that is, the cadre sent it by car). Afterwards, the troops were given a portion of the pork that was delivered. However, there is not much meat, and the key is that it reflects Chairman Mao's concern and love for the vast number of railway soldiers and fighters who built the Chengdu-Kunming Railway. This deeply touched everyone, inspired our fighting spirit and courage to overcome difficulties, and accelerated the construction progress.

Although at that time we wore the old Soviet-style cotton uniforms worn by the veterans of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea sent by our superiors, we repeatedly rinsed them in the ditch and wore them as work clothes, and lived in the simple grass huts and mud houses built by ourselves, without meat, vegetables, oil and water, and we had no stomach every day. Although the conditions are difficult, under the education of the leaders and the words and deeds of the veterans, we are all accustomed to it, and we are proud of our suffering, and we are happy with it, and we do not feel sad at all. But the more bitter and tired the sweeter the heart, always maintain a high and vigorous fighting spirit, stick to the belief in adversity, one is not afraid of hardship, the other is not afraid of death, put life and death out of the way, work hard. Out of the morning exercises, the slogans of one, two, three, and four shouted earth-shattering. After finishing work, he practiced three or five steps and three or five shots; Emergency binding, night practice. Sometimes I also engage in training, once a five-kilometer cross-country, I ran the first place in the whole company with the No. 2 equipment, in addition to the Type 56 submachine gun on my back, I also took the initiative to help the machine gunners in the squad carry the Class 56 light machine gun. At that time, there was really an inexhaustible amount of strength and energy. No matter how hard and tired you are, when you get up from sleep, you look like a little tiger alive.

As soon as they encountered an emergency, difficulty, danger, or major emergency engineering task, the comrades of the whole company expressed their determination one after another, challenged and responded to the battle, and each squad and platoon beat gongs and drums and enthusiastically went to the company headquarters to read out the letter of determination to express their determination to resolutely complete the major construction task, for fear of falling behind. He even bit his fingers with his teeth and wrote a blood book to express his firm determination. I also used a nail clipper to cut my finger and write a bloody book once.

Soon after I arrived in the old company, in August 1968, I was transferred to the technical department of the battalion headquarters on the order of my superiors, and after a short period of training, I returned to the company to serve as a demolition soldier in the company, mainly responsible for tunnel blasting operations and the construction of roadbeds outside the cave. This is a very dangerous job. I remember one time, after the other cannons were fired, there was only one squib left without sounding. A veteran did not wait for the allotted time of 15 minutes, and rushed to the construction site in order to catch up with the schedule. As a result, the cannon rang out unexpectedly, and the old soldier was shattered, and his body and torn military uniform were blown up and hung on a tree, and he died a glorious death. I have been a railroad soldier for a few years, and I have personally lit more than 10,000 cannons, and every time I need to be bold and careful, I can't tolerate the slightest sloppiness.

During my days of construction at the railway construction site, I was repeatedly thrilled and had a brush with death. For example, when the Jinsha Tunnel collapsed, a big stone fell close to me, almost killed, once when the Jinsha Brigade excavated the roadbed and fired a blast, the explosion of very high stones in front and back of me was very fast, landing soundly, I danced in the middle of the rockfall to dodge, a little bit was smashed to the head and died. When firing the gun, if you encounter a squib, you will deal with it alone to eliminate the danger. I resorted to the method of flushing the squibs with water from a mobile rubber hose to separate the explosives from the detonators in order to remove the danger. At this time, you must not use metal tools such as peach-shaped hoes or steel drills to plan, because as soon as the metal tools touch the detonator, it is easy to cause explosives to explode, which is the valuable experience that many comrades-in-arms have exchanged for with their blood and lives. In addition, it is necessary to strictly abide by the regulations that the blasting operation must be carried out after 15 minutes before entering the site, and many blasters and soldiers are suddenly killed by the explosives that delay the explosion because they rush to the construction site without waiting for the specified time to arrive in order to catch up with the schedule. The tragedy occurred due to the lack of implementation of rules and regulations and the rush to rush for time and schedule.

Iron Soldier Memory|Chengdu-Kunming Railway Road Construction Career

On the left is the hillside where the construction was carried out, and the second on the left is Cai Fanglu (taken by Zhang Qiuyun in early 1969)

In the spring of 1969, the second year of enlistment, the Jinsha Tunnel construction site constructed by the 1st Battalion of the 46th Regiment encountered a large landslide, and the 4th Company of the Brothers Company suffered several casualties. After a memorial service was held in the camp, the organization personnel continued to rescue and stop the landslide. Due to the broken geology of the Jinsha Tunnel and the poor stone quality, the face of the collapsed tunnel became bigger and bigger, and finally collapsed into the Tongtian Cave, and the grass and trees on the mountain collapsed into the tunnel. The troops who were ordered to rescue the disaster could not stop the landslide, and they collapsed as much as they dug up, and news of casualties kept coming. Moreover, if the collapse cannot be stopped, the progress of the project will not be discussed. The construction period is getting tighter and tighter, and the Jinsha Tunnel must not be allowed to become a bottleneck project on the Chengdu-Kunming Railway. Therefore, after on-site investigation, the superior leaders and technicians ordered my 8th squad to cooperate with the tunnel rescue troops, climb to the Tongtian Cave on the mountain to block the mouth of the collapse, and control the collapse from the source. At that time, I was already the deputy squad leader, and the squad leader was sent out to support the peasants, and I acted as the squad leader. After accepting the task, I led more than 10 soldiers from 8 classes to climb the halfway point of the collapse from the foot of the mountain, only to see that the mouth of the collapse was funnel-shaped, the size of a basketball court, and the trees on the mountain collapsed into the tunnel with the mud and rocks, and they were still collapsing down vigorously. If the collapse cannot be stopped as soon as possible, the comrades working in the tunnel will be in danger of their lives at any time. The order issued by the higher authorities was that the collapse must be stopped as soon as possible, but the slope of the Jinsha Tunnel is very large, seventy or eighty degrees, and there is no road at all. It is more than 100 meters high from the foot of the mountain to the Tongtian Cave, and it is still tired and out of breath when you climb it empty-handed, not to mention that you have to carry cement, sand and gravel and other materials to stop the collapse up the mountain by hand. It can be seen that the work is very difficult. However, to stop the landslide, every second counts, and the progress of the project cannot be delayed any longer. Our whole class of soldiers insisted on using their hands and feet on the steep slope where there was no way out, stepping out of a road, loading heavy cement, sand and gravel in sacks and tying them on their backs, carrying them to the site of the collapse again and again, and then attracting mountains and water, mixing them into concrete, pouring them into the mouth of the landslide, and covering the collapsed mountain. Due to the large working surface, heavy tasks, and many materials needed, the comrades-in-arms of the whole class overcame all difficulties and worked day and night to rescue the emergency. Everyone was drenched in sweat, and their hands and feet were worn out. When you are thirsty, take a sip of mountain water; When they were tired, they brisked themselves and carried forward the fighting style of the railway soldiers who fought continuously, and in just a few days and nights, they stopped the collapse site with concrete pouring within a radius of several tens of meters. The safety of the construction comrades in the tunnel was ensured, so as to overcome the collapse and make the progress of the project move forward.

Iron Soldier Memory|Chengdu-Kunming Railway Road Construction Career

The mountain outside the entrance of the Jinsha Tunnel and the chain bridge over the Anning River (the bridge was washed away during the summer flood in 1998) (photo by Zhang Qiuyun in early 1969)

In addition to completing the construction tasks in excess of the quota and with quality and quantity, as the acting squad leader, the 8th squad under my leadership was ahead of the company's work in all aspects such as political ideology, military training, 38 work style, internal sanitation, tolerance service, agricultural and sideline production, and cultural and sports activities. By the end of 1969, my superiors awarded me the honorary title of "Four Good Classes" in Class 8. Anyone who has served as a railroad soldier and worked in a construction company knows that this honor is not easy to come by. I myself have also been awarded the honorary title of "Five Good Soldiers" by the Railway Corps Command and the Political Department for three consecutive years.

Iron Soldier Memory|Chengdu-Kunming Railway Road Construction Career

Professor Cai Fanglu was awarded the honorary title of "Five Good Soldiers" in 1969.

In the arduous construction, whether it is digging tunnels, building bridges, or digging roadbeds, there are dangers everywhere, and you may be injured or even sacrifice your life at any time, including artillery, landslides, accidents, etc. Almost every day, the soldiers' bodies, hands and feet are worn out, bleeding and hanging flowers, which is a common thing and not worth mentioning. It's normal to bleed and get injured every day, but it's not normal to bleed a day. Later, the calluses on my hands were three layers thicker, and I couldn't bleed even if I scraped them with a knife. For a period of time, due to the construction of bridges and roadbeds, I worked outside the cave under the scorching sun every day, which made my skin dark and peeled off several layers of skin.

The center of my right foot was pierced by a large 150 mm nail during a tunnel construction, when I jumped from the upper pit to the bottom of the pit and jumped onto the wooden formwork with the nails nailed, and the nail pierced from the center of the foot to the instep. The pain was unbearable, and I rolled from side to side in a heart-wrenching pain, and the hygienist couldn't hold me down, so I pulled the nails out of the center of my feet along with the wooden formwork. The blood flowed like an infusion, and there was enough to have a bowl. During the period when I was recuperating from my foot pain, I was cared for by the leaders and comrades, the cooking class cooked me a sick meal, and the deputy company commander personally brought me hot water to wash my injured foot. It made me deeply feel the warmth of the big revolutionary family. Although I went through all kinds of hardships and trials of life and death, in any case, I was fortunate that I was finally discharged safely and returned to my hometown after honorably fulfilling my military service obligations. Liang Guoren, who enlisted with me from Chengdu No. 31 Middle School, was not so lucky, he died in the line of duty in September 1969 and was buried in the Martyrs' Cemetery in Dechang County, Sichuan, at the age of 19. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of his death, in the summer of 1999, I made a special trip to the Dechang County Martyrs' Cemetery to sweep the grave of the martyr Liang Guoren. Those comrades-in-arms who died bravely often come to my mind, and I will always miss them.

There are also many comrades-in-arms who were heroically injured in the construction and left with lifelong disabilities. There are also many air gunners who dig tunnels and drill rock holes because they have more exposure to dust, and they get silicosis, and their lungs slowly harden and die. One of my Leshan veterans, who enlisted in the army in 1965, contracted silicosis, sweating and breathless, and his face was pale. Later, he was only arranged to work in a cooking class, doing some light labor, and waiting for demobilization to return to his hometown. They made significant contributions and sacrifices to the construction of the Chengdu-Kunming Railway, and we must never forget them. The Chengdu-Kunming Railway was completed and opened to traffic on July 1, 1970, and I don't know how many railway soldiers, railway workers and migrant workers have paid the price of blood sacrifice, wounded and disabled, and sick and early death.

Iron Soldier Memory|Chengdu-Kunming Railway Road Construction Career

In 2009, he took graduate students to the Dechang Martyrs Cemetery to sweep the graves of the railway soldiers, and Liu Hongbing (middle) delivered a eulogy (photo by Yan Nengkang)

In March 1973, after I was discharged from the army from the Xiangyu Railway Construction Site, I first went to university, and then studied philosophy, and successively served as the director and researcher of the Institute of Philosophy of the Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences, the chief, distinguished and honorary professor of Sichuan Normal University, and the doctoral supervisor. As a teacher, I have not forgotten the glorious tradition of the railway soldiers, and have been committed to promoting and inheriting the valuable spirit of the railway soldiers.

As a veteran of the railway army, since 2009, except for 2020, when I was unable to travel due to the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, I have led a total of 206 teachers and students to re-walk the Chengkun Line for 15 consecutive years. Through the martyrs' cemeteries, walking on foot the tunnels, roadbeds and bridges built by the railway soldiers in those years, visiting the railway soldiers museum, going deep into the countryside, Yi cottages, schools, enterprises, and troops to conduct field social surveys and field investigations, interviewing veterans and old migrant workers, interviewing old villagers, giving books, money and oil, holding seminars, holding lectures and other colorful social practice activities, so that the students can personally feel the hardships of the railway soldiers in road construction and the harsh environment, and learn their spirit of sacrifice and dedication for the country and the people. I learned things that I couldn't learn in the classroom.

Those comrades-in-arms who died bravely often come to my mind, and I will always miss them. It is my responsibility as a veteran of the railway soldiers to carry forward the spirit of the railway soldiers and pass it on from generation to generation. Finally, let us continue to work hard for the development of the spirit of the railway soldiers and pass it on from generation to generation!

Iron Soldier Memory|Chengdu-Kunming Railway Road Construction Career

Professor Cai Fanglu organized teachers and students to participate in the photo selection of "Re-walking the Chengdu-Kunming Railway".

Iron Soldier Memory|Chengdu-Kunming Railway Road Construction Career
Iron Soldier Memory|Chengdu-Kunming Railway Road Construction Career
Iron Soldier Memory|Chengdu-Kunming Railway Road Construction Career
Iron Soldier Memory|Chengdu-Kunming Railway Road Construction Career
Iron Soldier Memory|Chengdu-Kunming Railway Road Construction Career
Iron Soldier Memory|Chengdu-Kunming Railway Road Construction Career
Iron Soldier Memory|Chengdu-Kunming Railway Road Construction Career
Iron Soldier Memory|Chengdu-Kunming Railway Road Construction Career
Iron Soldier Memory|Chengdu-Kunming Railway Road Construction Career
Iron Soldier Memory|Chengdu-Kunming Railway Road Construction Career
Iron Soldier Memory|Chengdu-Kunming Railway Road Construction Career
Iron Soldier Memory|Chengdu-Kunming Railway Road Construction Career
Iron Soldier Memory|Chengdu-Kunming Railway Road Construction Career
Iron Soldier Memory|Chengdu-Kunming Railway Road Construction Career
Iron Soldier Memory|Chengdu-Kunming Railway Road Construction Career

In 2024, "Chengdu-Kunming Railway Remembrance and Inheritance Tour".

Iron Soldier Memory|Chengdu-Kunming Railway Road Construction Career

In 2024, teachers and students walk on the bridge of the Chengdu-Kunming Railway Tunnel.

Iron Soldier Memory|Chengdu-Kunming Railway Road Construction Career

In May 2024, Professor Cai and I attended the reopening ceremony of the Leshan Railway Soldiers Museum and took a group photo in front of the museum's statue.

Iron Soldier Memory|Chengdu-Kunming Railway Road Construction Career

Source: Mei Zixiang Book House official account

Braided hair: Iron Sword