"Every nation needs its own heroes. The real hero has that deep tragic meaning: sowing the seeds, but not participating in the harvest. This is the backbone of the nation, they have endured hardships, and we have gained glory. ”
This is a very impressive sentence on the monument of the Red Army crossing the grassland, which not only expresses the hardships of the Red Army crossing the grassland, but also expresses their selfless contributions to our better life today.
The Long March was full of difficulties, especially when entering the Zoige steppe, known as the "forbidden area of life", which claimed the lives of more than 16,000 Red Army soldiers in less than seven days.
How bad is this meadow? After more than 80 years, what has become of this meadow?
"Man-eating" meadows
"The wind and rain soaked the bones harder, and the wild vegetables are full of hunger and determination. The officers and men are united in weal and woe, and the revolutionary ideal is higher than heaven. ”
In 1935, after the Right Route Army led by Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai joined forces with the left wing led by Lin Biao, the Kuomintang led by Chiang Kai-shek intended to trap the two Red Army in the barren land of northwest Sichuan.
"Don't go to that meadow, that meadow is a cannibalistic meadow, and many of the villagers in our village have died here."
Before leaving, the Red Army asked the local villagers about the road conditions of the grassland, and the villagers said that this seemingly grassland place hides many murderous swamps.
But the predictable hardships of the road did not dampen the determination to cross it, for the danger of the meadows was nothing compared to being besieged by the Kuomintang.
In August 1935, the Red Army officially began to cross this meadow, with a small amount of food to start the journey, although the Red Army only took less than seven days to cross this meadow, but the casualties were extremely heavy, as many as 16,000 Red Army soldiers died here, what kind of danger does this meadow have?
The first thing that the Red Army felt when crossing the meadow was that it was difficult to walk.
Although the whole grassland is green, most of this is a swamp trick.
The Ruoergai grassland is more than 3,500 meters above sea level, and there are many rivers, but the drainage is very poor, and a large number of swampy areas have been formed in the long run, and these swamps are overgrown with aquatic weeds, and it is impossible to distinguish whether it is an ordinary land or a swampy area.
The Red Army marched slowly along the meadow, and sometimes had to cross from one meadow to another, and if you were not careful, you would fall into a swamp, so every step the Red Army took required careful testing.
Moreover, the environment of the Zoige steppe was very harsh, there was not a day without rain, and the Red Army could only move forward in the wind and rain, which also increased the difficulty of the march.
In addition, in this humid environment, the human body can not bear it, and soldiers who are sick, feverish, or wound infections abound, and there are many soldiers who do not want to drag down the march of the team and leave the team on their own initiative.
The second difficulty felt by the Red Army crossing the meadows was the difficulty of eating.
The food brought by the Red Army on the march was very limited, and it was simply not enough to sustain the consumption of many soldiers for a long time, so the food brought by the march had already bottomed out after a short time on the march.
In order to maintain a barely subsistence supply, the Red Army could only eat grass roots, wild vegetables and tree bark to satisfy hunger, but many of these foods were poisonous, so many soldiers died from poisonous weeds.
Later, in order to reduce the loss of personnel, many soldiers were willing to be guinea pigs to test the poison, and only after making sure that there was no poison would other soldiers rest assured that they would eat it.
In addition to wild vegetables and weeds, leather products such as belts, leather shoes, and drum skins were also one of the Red Army's foods, and the Red Army would often put them in pots for boiling, and when they were soft, they would be distributed to the soldiers for use.
The difficulties encountered by the Red Army in crossing the grasslands were also the difficulty of keeping out of the cold and sleeping in the open, and as we mentioned above, the conditions of the Zoige grassland were not only difficult, but also very harsh.
It rains almost every day in the Ruoergai grassland, and the temperature difference between day and night is very large, the morning and evening are extremely cold, and sometimes even hail, while at noon the Ruoergai grassland is sunny and the temperature is as high as more than 40 degrees.
The hot spot was bearable, but when it was time to go to bed at night, the cold was unbearable, and the soldiers with limited cotton clothes could only sleep with warmth in their arms.
In addition, the geographical conditions of the Ruoergai grassland are not suitable for camping, it is full of swamps and mud fields, there are few dry and stable places, and the harsh climate also makes it difficult to build tarpaulins, and sleeping on the ground is a very common thing.
But in such harsh conditions, the Red Army persevered, with a firm conviction in their hearts, and those who died on the grass they also deserve to be remembered by all.
So after more than 80 years, what is happening to the Ruoergai grassland? Is the environment as dangerous as it once was? 、
The Ruoergai grassland has changed dramatically
"China's Most Beautiful Wetland", "China's Black-necked Crane Township", "China's Most Beautiful Alpine Wetland Grassland", do you dare to believe that these are the current titles of "man-eating grassland" Ruoergai grassland?
In 1994, the mainland began to establish a nature reserve in Zoige County, and in 1998, the state promoted it to a national nature reserve, and in 2017, the environmental rectification of the Zoige grassland was carried out, and the grassland sand control and wetland restoration project was started.
Today's Ruoergai grassland has completed its transformation and has become a picturesque grassland with four seasons.
The abundance of aquatic plants here has become a favorite place for yaks, birds, and aquatic creatures.
The vastness of the Zoige steppe has become one of the best natural pastures in Asia, and this grassland is now inhabited by many herders, who ride horses, graze cattle and live a free and nomadic life on the grassland.
The natural swamp of the Zoige grassland has become a favorite habitat for many birds, and it is also supported by the most beautiful wetlands in China.
Now the Ruoergai grassland is the first choice of many tourists, on the one hand, you can appreciate the road once walked by the Red Army, and on the other hand, you can also enjoy the scenery of the very rare grassland wetlands.
The hardships of the Red Army's long march cannot be described in a few words, and we must not forget the contributions made by the older generation to the motherland and the people, and we must cherish the hard-won happiness that we have now.
In addition, we should also learn from and inherit their spirit of selfless dedication and hard work, take up the tasks given to us by the times, and study for the rise of China.
#秋日生活打卡季#