Original creator: Li Shuhai
Wei Qike's comrade-in-arms' "Battle Song of the Railway Soldiers" is about to be published, this 36 chapters, 300 pages, nearly 200,000 words of the novel is a work of nostalgia and nostalgia for the old railway soldiers to the long-deceased railway soldiers.
Although the author narrates the heroic deeds of the railway soldiers in the form of a novel, singing and crying to build the national defense railway, the people and things in it all come from the life and work of the railway troops in those years.
It's safe to say that the real situation can only be harder, more complex, and more thrilling than in fiction. The novel is only a part of the work of a certain railway soldier, which is a rare episode. Even so, the novel truly reflects the greatness and brilliance of the railway troops.
▲ Wei Qike is writing.
Wei Qike was my comrade-in-arms of the railway soldiers in the same region, he joined the army in 1968, and I joined the army in 1973. He worked in the Southwest Command of the Railway Corps, and I served in the 1st Division of the Railway Corps. Originally, we didn't know each other. It is known that Wei Qike's name was in the newspapers of the eighties and nineties of the twentieth century.
At that time, he often published his works in "People's Daily", "Hebei Daily", "Handan Daily" and "Handan Evening News". Especially in the newspapers of Handan City, his poems have been published frequently. But I never knew him. It wasn't until 2018 that I was fortunate enough to join the "White Waves" comprehensive group established by my comrades-in-arms of the Railway Soldiers.
And among the many comrades-in-arms, I saw the name of "Wei Qike". With the excitement of a chance encounter, I tried to have a chat with Wei Qike, and it didn't matter, he was indeed the same Wei Qike I had seen in the newspaper in the past. Moreover, he is also a native of Handan, and he is also a veteran railway soldier with 16 years of military experience.
What a coincidence! The writer I once admired met in a group of comrades-in-arms, and my excitement was self-evident. In 2019, the comrades-in-arms of "White Wave Love" gathered in Yangzhou during the fireworks in March.
▲The author (left) and Wei Qike together.
I met Mr. Wei Qike, who I had admired for many years in the capital of Qionghua. My first impression of him was that he was kind, humble, steady, wise, and approachable. In Yangzhou, he gave me three novels and a collection of poems. From this, we have established a deep friendship.
Since then, we have often chatted in WeChat, on the phone, and in videos, talking about the past and the future, and chatting about the future.
In January 2023, he told me on the phone that he had met several veteran cadres who had retired from other units while walking. During the chat, when they learned that Wei Qike was a railway soldier, they all sincerely praised the railway troops.
After they learned that Wei Qike had published several novels and poetry collections, they invariably encouraged him to write a novel about the story of the railway soldiers, so that more people could know about the railway soldiers in the past and learn more about the heroic stories of the railway soldiers.
When Wei Qike told me about this situation, I immediately expressed my approval and gave me positive encouragement and support. Since then, Wei Qike's comrades-in-arms have devoted themselves to the preparation of data collection and plot conception.
Hard-working people, the sky does not pay. After several months of careful preparation, in the fiery May of 2023, Wei Qike's comrades-in-arms finally entered the creation of novels that reflect the construction of railways by railway soldiers under difficult and difficult conditions.
Since we are in constant contact, he shared with me some of his ideas and pictures in the creative process, as well as the progress of his writing. Although he has long since retired, he still shoulders the responsibility of taking his grandchildren to school in the family. He could only write for an hour or two a day after sending his children away.
In the hot summer, on the dog days, even if the average person sits at home, he must turn on the air conditioner and shake the fan. Wei Qike, on the other hand, plunged headlong into writing, sharing joy and sorrow with the characters in the book in the flow of sweat. Day by day, month by month, in November of this year, he finally completed the first draft of his 200,000-word novel.
The railway soldiers have fought hard for decades, and the scenes of hundreds of thousands of railway soldiers fighting the heavens and the earth have been condensed by him into his painstaking work - "Railway Soldiers' Battle Song". At this point, he was finally relieved, but he wished.
"Battle Song of the Railway Soldiers" depicts the third company of a certain regiment of the railway soldiers in the deserted mountains, in the flaming mountains of the vast Gobi, in the high-altitude areas of the cold and oxygen-deficient areas, and in the primeval forests of the "no man's forbidden zone", carrying out the task of building a national defense and combat readiness railway again and again, overcoming many difficulties and obstacles.
Overcoming the unbearable harsh environment of ordinary people, carrying forward the revolutionary spirit of the railway soldiers of "one is not afraid of hardship, the other is not afraid of death", digging roads in the mountains, building bridges in the water, and successfully completing the task every time.
The novel focuses on the growth of the protagonist Hou Changan in the Third Company and the touching deeds of leading the soldiers of the company in the process of road construction, and praises the heroic feat of leaving the hope of life to others between the comrades in the tunnel collapse and construction, and sacrificing himself with his own injuries.
At the same time, the spirit of solidarity of the officers and men of the army in making concerted efforts to build a national defense and combat readiness railway was described. The characters of Commander Qin, Company Commander Hou, Instructor Fan and Deputy Captain Yang are vividly and delicately portrayed in the book, vividly showing their revolutionary optimism in overcoming difficulties, and their selfless dedication to complete the construction task without fear of bloodshed and sacrifice.
The book is also interspersed with a large number of real photos of the life and battles of the railway troops, and the insertion of these original on-site photos undoubtedly adds richer content to the book and further enhances the readability of the book.
This is a microcosm of the 35 years of glorious combat history of the railway soldiers. After reading the novel, those who are familiar with and understand the railway soldiers will be more admired and nostalgic for the distant army; For young people who don't know about the railroad soldiers, it will be a remembrance of the history of the heroic struggle of their predecessors.
"Battle Song of the Railway Soldiers" is a heroic war song, a heart-wrenching hymn, and a precious classic.
Thanks to the writer Wei Qike for his dedication to the former railway troops!
2024.7.24
Editor: Mao Mi "White Waves"