Author: Yu Zejiang
13. The first sighting of a giant cockroach in Laos
In January 1971, the institute received a telegram from the 80 Hospital Medical Center in Luang Prabang, saying that a Lao People's Army battalion commander had been wounded by a Pearl bullet and that more than 100 pieces of shrapnel had been implanted in his body, and that our medical clinic needed to go to Luang Prabang to help with the operation.
After receiving the telegram, the institute immediately selected people to form a cooperative group. When the list was announced, I was among them. This is incomprehensible to me and all my comrades. The team was led by Director Ding, Li Dejun, Dr. Sun Yongan, a male nurse in the operating room, accountant Zhang Guozhang, and guard Ding Changhua and me.
Director Ding said: "There are few people in the guard class, and there are many people in the cooking class of the big stove, so let Yu Zejiang follow me and be a correspondent."
After more than a year in Laos, we have been on the old western front, and we have cut plantain poles as far as 52 kilometers. I haven't even been to the capital of Mengsai Province. Having this opportunity to walk to the interior of Laos is simply something I have always dreamed of. As a cook, I never dreamed that I would get this beautiful difference.
The hospital sent a veteran driver, Fang Xiao, to drive an ambulance to carry a group of 6 of us from Natong to the direction of Mengsai. After walking more than 10 kilometers, I walked out of the primeval forest and entered the Mengsai Dam.
Mengsai Dam is about the same size as Mengyang Dam in Xishuangbanna, and is similar to Xishuangbanna's climate, environment and geography. The phoenix tail bamboo sways in the wind, the banana trees are graceful, the phoenix flowers are golden, and the poppies are fragrant. The capital of Mengsai Province is located in the center of the dam. Speaking of the provincial capital, it is only a slightly larger village. No high-rise buildings, no streets. The provincial government is a tin house.
When we arrived at the Mengsai River, the Chinese-aided highway branched off here, one along the river and the other along the river. We stopped at the fork in the road to find out which way to take the New Western Route. However, all the Chinese migrant workers have been evacuated, and the Lao people do not understand the language, and there is no translator to accompany them. According to the custom of the water flowing eastward, we went upstream of the river.
After about an hour's drive, the road broke off next to a bridge under construction. We stopped the car, and the construction team was Chinese migrant workers, and they told us that this was the eastern route, and it was going to Cambodia. Luang Prabang wants to take the new western front, and we are asked to "turn around".
We were so confused that we had to turn around and head westward in the direction of Mengsai.
On a newly excavated roadbed in a riverbank, our car was stuck in a large mud puddle, and there were no other vehicles or people on the road except our car.
The car was bouncing in the mud puddle for a long time, and we pushed the car very hard, but the car still couldn't climb out of the mud puddle.
It is also a guerrilla zone, sometimes the Lao People's Army has the advantage, and sometimes the Vientiane puppet army has the advantage. If the car is stuck for a long time, I can't tell what will happen?
When I saw that there were phoenix tails by the river, I suggested cutting some bamboos and cutting them under the wheels.
Director Ding agreed with my suggestion. Since the situation of friend and foe was not clear, Director Ding made a brief arrangement: the driver, Fang Xiao, was on standby in the car, he and Dr. Li Dejun were on guard on both sides of the car, Ding Guichang was in charge of guarding, and Sun Yongan, the nurse, and I went to chop bamboo. In the unlikely event of an attack by the puppet army, we will rely on the body of the car as cover.
Cut some bamboo, broke it, put a meter long and a piece of cushion under the wheel, and as soon as the car refueled, it still started. The wheels climbed up the pothole, and they slid down. It was too late, but it was too soon, and the nurse and I quickly took off our tops and put them under the wheels, and the car finally climbed out of the pit.
As soon as the car climbed out of the mud pit, the US military plane flew into the sky, and Director Ding ordered the driver: "Rush the car into that bamboo forest!" As soon as Fang Xiao stepped on the accelerator, the car entered the phoenix tail bamboo forest.
Because our car was covered in mud and water, and the road was the same color, it was estimated that the enemy pilots could not see us clearly in the air, so the enemy plane circled twice, and had to let off two loud farts and flew away.
The car climbed a 30-kilometer slope. The engine water temperature exceeded 100 degrees, spewing boiling hot water, and the car suddenly stalled and stopped on a slope.
To cool down, you have to use cold water. Where is there water on this mountain? It is my duty to go below the ravine to fetch water, without doubt.
Zhang Guozhang led me, carrying a bucket out of the highway and going down the deep ditch. After about two or three miles, he went to the ditch and fetched water. Zhang Guozhang folded a wooden stick, and the two of us carried the bucket, I was in front and he was behind.
In the dense forest, there is no road. I am ahead, to find the way. Zhang Guozhang walked behind, and the barrel was not bright. Climbed to a hanging wall, Zhang Guozhang slipped on his foot, he deviated, the bucket slid to his chest, slammed it, Zhang Guozhang took a few steps back, dragged me out two meters away, a bucket of water was all poured clean, we had to go back to the ditch to get water again.
I stood on the big rotten wooden stick that had been used to draw water, filled the bucket with water, and with a vigorous lift, I felt the rotten wood roll, rolling me down the ditch. I called out to Zhang Guozhang: "Accountant Zhang, why does this rotten wood roll?" Zhang Guozhang stretched out his hand to pull me up from the ditch, took the bucket, and said, "You come up, I'll go fetch water." How can there be a strange thing that rotten wood will turn over? ”
Zhang Guozhang took the bucket and was filling it with water and handing it to me when the rotten wood under his feet shook. Zhang Guozhang hurriedly jumped on the ditch and said in surprise: "It's really a strange thing." I looked closely, and felt that the rotting wood looked like regular scales. I said, "Accountant Zhang, this is not rotten wood, it's a giant python." ”
Zhang Guozhang picked at the rotten bark with a wooden stick, "Yo, what a big python." This is exactly when it hibernates. We tossed around a few times and got it sentient. If this is in China, we will have to make a meritorious contribution and dedicate the python to the zoo. It's a pity that this is in Laos. Get out of here, in case it comes to its senses, we're probably no match for it."
This was the first time I had met a python in a primeval forest, and I was walking on it. If it hadn't hibernated, we wouldn't have been able to eat and walk around. It's called luck in misfortune.
With great effort, we carried a bucket of water onto the road. Water was added, the temperature cooled, Fang Xiao ignited, and the engine roared.
I told Director Ding about the encounter with the python, but they didn't believe any of them. Accountant Zhang told the whole story, but no one believed it. Sun Yongan said: "Let's all go and see?" Director Ding waved his hand: "The implementation of the task is important, and it cannot be delayed any longer."
In June 1970, he and Qiu Shengwei and Cao Tianyun were in Natong, Laos (the card is Lao Wen: Natong)
We drove forward for more than two hours, saw a group of Chinese migrant workers, and asked, "80 Hospital is just in front of us." Let's move on.
This business trip is unforgettable for me. The cab of the car can only seat two people, one is the driver and the other is Director Ding. There were 5 of us, all crammed into the carriage. After sitting for two or three hours, the air in the carriage became thinner, and I felt dizzy, chest tightness, and nausea.
I couldn't stand it, so I had to ask to stop and get out of the car to get some fresh air. Every time the car stopped, I jumped out of the car and vomited, and the yellow bile came out. That discomfort is worse than suffering from a serious illness.
The new western route is unfolding, and the road surface is a freshly dug soil foundation, with large potholes and small concaves, making it difficult to move an inch. I never get motion sickness, but in the tin box, the air is poor, and the car is exhausted from the previous pad, and the body shakes a lot, and it is turned into darkness and vomits after a few clicks.
The others vomited to death, and the air in the carriage was suddenly stinking and unbearable. We had to ask to stop the car, get some fresh air, and clean the car.
After tossing for half an hour, I had to continue walking. After walking for a while, I stopped to change the air, and I wanted to come out with a view of the scenery, but my jaw couldn't stop this journey as soon as possible.
I finally got to the 80 hospital to go to the old medical center, and it was already more than 6 o'clock in the afternoon. The leaders of the medical center of 80 hospitals received us, and the medical affairs were mainly the affairs of Director Ding and the doctors, and we did not know or understand.
That night, Ding Changhua and I were arranged to sleep with the driver Fang Xiao. Director Ding, Li Dejun, Sun Yongan, and nurses participated in the operation of the wounded in Laos, and it was not until 5 a.m. that all the more than 100 pieces of shrapnel on the wounded were removed.
After returning to Natong, Director Ding praised me at the general meeting of the institute, saying that I was "not afraid of hardship, stolen goods, sacrifice, assertive, not panicked, and made valuable contributions to the completion of the task."
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About the Author:
Yu Zejiang, Mongolia, writer, pen name: Zhan Yu. College culture, member of the Communist Party of China, native of Bijie City, Guizhou Province. He joined the army in November 1968 and served as a soldier, a health officer, a political officer, an instructor, the head of the war news report team of the division's political department, and a political instructor at the Kunming Army School. In April 1985, he transferred to the local government and served as director; Director of the Bureau, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group; Secretary.
He has been climbing lattice all his life, and has written the novels "Three Sections of Grass", "Farewell to the Phoenix Neck Bridge", "A Good Wife Like a Mirror", and "Love"; Non-fiction literature: "Quenching the Years", "The Mountain Road Bends", "Life with a Story", etc.; He is the author of large-scale documents such as "Selected Historical Figures of Qixingguan District", "Jungle 139", "Seven Stars Shining" and so on; His books include "Selected Award-winning Works of Zejiang" and "Collection of Essays of Zejiang". He retired in 2009 and now lives in Mayuan Community, Qixingguan District, Bijie City.
Editor: Fang Yingxin "White Waves"