Written by Yuan Guoxiang
In 1972, the 10th Congress of the Communist Party of China was held in Beijing. At the meeting, Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou were in charge of the general direction, especially the representatives from the grassroots level of workers, peasants and soldiers, and the vast majority of them were well-known model workers and heroes who made major contributions. At that time, one of the "top ten" deputies elected by the party organization of the Xinjiang Military Region was Jiang Deren, head of the Qikan Frontier Station of the Ali Military Sub-district in Tibet. He is an exemplary figure who has guarded the border defense on the arduous border line, blocked the rebels for many years, and made outstanding military achievements.
I was fortunate enough to come to this frontier station twice in 1970 to conduct long-term investigation and research work, and to form a deep friendship with Comrade Jiang Deren, who was loyal, simple, hard-working, and bravely fought on the front line of border defense. I know that he is a native of Jiangjin, Sichuan, who joined the army in 1960 and served as squad leader, platoon leader, deputy company commander and border station commander in the Ali Cavalry Detachment. He has been a station commander at this key post on the front line of border defense for 3 years, which is equivalent to a company commander.
Moreover, the Kan border defense station is set up on a small hill mouth in Jiagang Township, Risong District, Ritu County, facing five mountain passes on the Ladakh Mountains, all of which can lead to the Barigas region of the mainland occupied by India. When a rebellion broke out in Tibet in March 1959, the rebels from Tibet fled westward in a vain attempt to sneak across the border from Ali, and the bandits who had defected to India with the Dalai Lama often sneaked into our territory to attack Tibetan compatriots and plunder cattle and sheep. Therefore, the area around Jiagang Township has become a key area for our army's border defense.
In the summer of 1970, the working group of the Southern Xinjiang Military Region went to the Ali Plateau to investigate and study and help with the work. I, then deputy director of the Organization Division, and Wang Yaquan, propaganda officer of the military sub-district, were assigned to the Jikan border defense station to gain an in-depth understanding of the advanced deeds of the "military-civilian joint defense" there. After the two of us arrived at the Jikan Border Station, we were welcomed by the cadres and soldiers, and we worked there for nearly a month, not only living with the soldiers, eating together, and studying together, but also training, patrolling, labor, and recreation together, especially with the station commander Jiang Deren and the interpreter Su Shengcai, and spurred the horses to travel all over the mountains and rivers of Jiagang Township, went deep into the local people, and visited house to house. At the same time, he also participated in the study, training, and labor of the Jiagang militia platoon that had made meritorious contributions, as well as the side-by-side patrol activities of the army and the people, took some good photos, and got acquainted with the armed militia platoon commander, township chief Nulayangga, squad leader Zaxi Dorjee, Tsering Dunzhu and other militia backbones. Thus, he fully grasped the situation of Jiagang and wrote the advanced typical materials of "Heroic Sentinels in the Gangdis Mountains".
Jiagang means on the iron, which is located at an altitude of 4,500 meters above sea level in a wide valley. At that time, a "outpost" people's commune was established in Jiagang Township, and there were dozens of Tibetan compatriots living a hard and happy life by planting barley and grazing cattle and sheep. They have united and helped each other with the officers and men of the border station, depended on each other for their lives, and forged a deep friendship. It was difficult for the children to go to school, so the border station set up a horseback primary school, sent Tibetan soldiers as teachers, and let a house at the entrance be used as a classroom, so that many children could read and write here and receive a good education. There is a shortage of medical treatment here, and the military doctors at the border stations see the masses free of charge, send doctors and medicines to their homes, and sometimes even treat serious illnesses brought by the masses, so that they can get medical treatment here and turn the crisis into safety. When spring came, Jiang Deren, the head of the station, discussed with the head of the township, Nulayangga, how to arrange the production of agriculture and animal husbandry and do a good job in planting farmland. The weather was cold there, and the frost-free period was only more than 100 days, and the cadres and soldiers often carried shovels and pickaxes to build canals and dams with the Tibetan compatriots, beat ice and release water, level the farmland, and bought a new type of walking plough from Xinjiang to teach the Tibetan compatriots how to cultivate and help them grow crops well. When autumn came, the barley was yellow and ripe, and the soldiers actively went out to help the Tibetan compatriots harvest and transport. When the barley was piled up in the wheat field and the soldiers helped to take a break, the Tibetan compatriots brought butter tea and barley wine to the soldiers to drink, and sang and danced with the soldiers to celebrate the harvest. The kind of intimate relationship between the military and the people and the deep affection of the fish and water not only touched them very much, but also inspired the broad masses of the people in Jiagang.
I remember that year, I also participated in an activity to help the production team build a conference room. The army and civilians went out together, men, women and children all came to participate, some with mud, some moved clods of soil, and built a mud house in half a day, which was a long-awaited great joy for the nomadic people living in tents on the grassland. After the project was completed that night, under the light of the setting sun, the celebration song and dance began again. To my surprise, not only can the female compatriots sing and dance, and can make difficult and beautiful dance movements such as cranes drinking water and flapping their wings and taking off, but the tall and fat head of Nulayangga Township is even more amazing in dancing and surpassing the crowd. He is enthusiastic and unrestrained, heroic and chic, and when he jumps to the climax, he can step more than a meter in one step, and he continues to change tricks. This opened my eyes to the fact that Tibetan folk dances were so colorful. It's a pity that I only photographed the house repair, not the unique dance.
Of course, the main activities I have participated in are military-civilian joint defense, patrolling side by side. In Jiagang Township, a member of the joint defense team was killed by the rebels, so they shared the same hatred for the enemy and repeatedly demanded the establishment of a militia organization. In consideration of the need for border tranquility, the Ali Prefectural Committee and the Military Sub-district, with the participation of the Jikan Border Station and with the personal help of Jiang Deren, first formed a militia platoon in Jiagang Township and distributed weapons to the militia. The people of Jiagang and the militia who had been oppressed by the three major lords and the scourge of the rebels and bandits understood that weapons were not easy to come by, and they were the lifeblood of defending their happy lives. Therefore, they are very protective of their guns, and they often wipe them clean, and they carry them with them when they go out, so that they can use them at any time. I have participated in their military training and taken pictures of target shooting, so I can say that they are a militia that is ready to fight when called upon.
After the establishment of the Jiagang militia platoon, it closely cooperated with the border defense station, often participated in military and civilian patrols, and went to the front line of border defense to perform duties. At the same time, a joint defense network between the military and the people was established, and every herdsman became a sentinel, strictly guarding the border defense of wind and snow. Over the past few years, they have captured 8 special enemy personnel who had infiltrated our territory, blocked 84 people in 4 groups of people who had fled abroad, and thousands of cattle and sheep. For example, the little brothers Deji and Yixi found a suspicious foreign businessman, one of them warmly poured tea for reception, and the other went to the border station to report, and I arrested and examined it, and sure enough, this was a spy with an intelligence mission. The militia squad leader, who had been beaten lame by the lord, found the traces of a group of fleeing people, and when he passed by the tent of the hygienist Gasang Doma, the female militia changed into a man's clothes and went to chase with him. When they found a tent and a flock of sheep, the hygienist came back to report the news, and Zashi Dorjee stepped forward to dissuade them. Although the dissuasion was ineffective, it bought time, and the military sub-district quickly sent a car to bring in the troops, stopped the dozens of Tibetan compatriots with 15 tents and thousands of cattle and sheep, and persuaded them to return to their hometowns. Incidents similar to the arrest of enemy elements who crossed the border and the interception of fleeing masses have occurred here many times.
It is precisely because of the outstanding achievements made by the joint defense of the army and the people at the border station and the militia platoon at Jiagang that the militia platoon was awarded the collective third-class meritorious service, and was also set up as an advanced unit for militia work by the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which was in charge of the Ali region at that time, and the platoon commander Nulayanga was also elected to Beijing to attend the National Day ceremony and meet Chairman Mao, the beloved leader of the people of all ethnic groups. When I participated in the compilation of the article "Heroic Sentinels in the Gangdis Mountains" and a photo I took of the military and civilians patrolling side by side, which were published by the Xinhua News Agency and publicized by the People's Daily and the People's Liberation Army Daily, Jiang Deren was also elected by the Xinjiang Military Region as a delegate to the 10 th Congress of the Communist Party of China, and he also met Chairman Mao, the great leader I missed day and night. At the same time, he was cordially questioned and received by Ye Jianying, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission.
The diligent and hard-working stationmaster Jiang Deren became famous at once, but he was not arrogant or rash, and still maintained his true character of hard work and hard work. Later, he was transferred to a military department as a section chief, fought on the Ali Plateau for several years, and returned to his hometown in Sichuan in 1975. Unfortunately, we lost contact with him in recent years, and I have been looking for him many times in recent years, and I have written directly to the Jiangjin Civil Affairs Bureau and his hometown Rongchang County, but I have not inquired about his whereabouts. It seems that this honest man is doing honest things somewhere. I hope he is in good health and has a good job, and once I find out about his whereabouts, I will definitely send him books and photos to pay my respects.