In the spring of 1969, the international situation was changing rapidly. China's top leaders frequently adjusted their strategic deployments, setting off a wave of preparations for war of "digging deep holes and storing up food". At that time, I was eagerly waiting for my parents' vindication due to my family background. My father's old comrade-in-arms, Uncle Chen, the chief of staff of the military sub-district, lent a hand and helped me become a "backdoor soldier".
The friendship between Uncle Chen and my father stems from the life and death they shared during the Korean War. In the tragic encirclement and annihilation battle on the Gaema Plateau, my father carried the seriously injured Uncle Chen out of the pile of dead bodies in the severe cold of more than 20 degrees below zero. The blood of the two froze in the low temperature, and they were finally separated by the nurse cutting open the flesh. This life-and-death friendship made Uncle Chen resolutely decide to help me. When asked what kind of soldier I wanted to be, I blurted out "Air Force", but Uncle Chen laughed and scolded: "It's not that easy to fly a fighter jet! Go to the field army to train for a few years, and then transfer to the military district headquarters after being promoted."
Due to time constraints, I didn't have time to go back to Ganggangyingzi to say goodbye to Fatty, Yanzi and others in person, so I could only send a letter in a hurry. Unexpectedly, three months later, I felt ridiculous for my initial guilt - compared to the situation I was about to face, the life of an educated youth was simply heaven.
I was assigned to a unit that was about to be transformed into an armored division. However, after just three months in the recruit camp, I received an order to be transferred to the 62nd Squad Station at the Kunlun Pass on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The unit was then reorganized into an engineering unit with the task of building a top-secret underground combat readiness facility deep in the Kunlun Mountains.
Kunlun Pass is 4,767 meters above sea level and is a "permafrost desert landform" composed of ancient complex metamorphic rocks. The troops knew nothing about civil engineering except digging trenches, so a large number of engineers and technicians were sent to guide us, and we also received five months of intensive training. My class was the advance team, shouldering the heavy responsibility of finding a hidden construction site and heading deep into the Kunlun Mountains.
The Budong Spring is a must-go place for us. It is located on the north bank of the Kunlun River, also known as the Kunlun Spring. The spring water gushes all year round and does not freeze in the cold winter. The local Tibetans regard it as a sacred spring and worship it. Legend has it that in the early days of liberation, three soldiers drowned while bathing in the spring. Their tombs were placed in a nearby military station, which was also our last supply station. The superiors strictly prohibited bathing here, and this iron rule cast a layer of mystery on the Budong Spring.
As we stepped into Kunlun Mountain, the whole team was quickly hit by a strong altitude reaction. Everyone's face turned purple and their eyes were blurred, as if they were in a dream. The continuous mountains were like a silver-gray dragon, and our team of more than a dozen people was as small as an ant. During the march, I couldn't help but think of the "Sixteen-Character Yin-Yang Feng Shui Secret Art" left by my grandfather. The book records that the Kunlun peaks are the ancestors of the dragon veins in the world, and countless ancient secrets are buried. The legendary mausoleum of King Gesar and the gate to the Demon Kingdom are hidden among these mountains.
At dusk the next day, sporadic snowflakes floated in the sky, indicating that a heavy snow was about to fall. We set up camp to rest. The four engineers and technicians accompanying us, especially the female engineer, were tortured by the plateau environment and lay in the tent gasping for breath. The company instructor, squad leader and medical staff were busy taking care of them and persuading them to eat to relieve the symptoms of hypoxia.
The soldiers gradually adapted to the plateau environment with the physical fitness they had built in the recruit camp. We lit special white coal balls to keep warm, and sat together eating half-cooked noodles and compressed biscuits - in high altitude areas, water can't be boiled at all.
During the chat, Xiaolin, the big guy and Ga Wa pestered me to tell stories. I racked my brains and remembered the folk legend manuscript borrowed from Tian Xiaomeng, so I told the story of "One Hundred Beauty Skins" vividly: Female college student Zhao Pingping met a graceful officer on the train and was deeply attracted by his conversation. When they parted, the officer entrusted her to send a letter home. Unexpectedly, after Zhao Pingping entered the officer's house, she was drugged by the old woman. When she woke up, she found herself tied to a skinning bench and the walls were covered with human skin. The old woman grinned and showed the letter, which read: "The 100th beauty skin has been sent, please check it." It turned out that this group of spies skinned women to load explosives...
Just when I was speaking excitedly, the second squad leader suddenly interrupted: "Hu Bayi, you are making up stories again! The class meeting is about to begin, you speak first!" I was not willing to be outdone, so I imitated his accent and retorted, but he suppressed me with "the squad leader's order". Just when the stalemate was going on, the instructor Li Jian came over. This veteran in his thirties was friendly and had no airs. Seeing this, the second squad leader suggested singing to boost morale in a panic, and with the words "Er Ya Ma Er Lang Shan, get ready, sing", he led everyone to sing in unison.
The singing echoed in the snow, and the desolate Kunlun Mountains and the majestic military songs set off each other. Even the engineers in the next tent forgot about the altitude sickness for a while, immersed in this exciting atmosphere, looking at the endless peaks in the distance, their thoughts drifting away. No one knows what secrets and challenges are waiting for us in the depths of the Kunlun Mountains behind this singing.