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china news service, beitun, xinjiang, october 3 (reporter cheng xiaolu and zhao yamin) "my family lives at the end of the road, and the boundary monument is behind the house; crops are grown on the boundary river, and sheep and cattle are grazed on the border." xinjiang production and construction corps ( beitun city of the 10th division (hereinafter referred to as "the corps") is the northwestmost division city of the corps. it is located adjacent to the republic of kazakhstan to the west and mongolia to the east. this jingle, which is widely recited locally, is the poetic expression of the "daily life of guarding the border" by the people of the corps. here, the "couples' post" who regard the post as their home is a gentle fortress that firmly protects the "north of the northwest".

ma junwu and zhang zhengmei introduced their experiences of guarding the border at the junwu post. photo by cheng xiaolu

military outpost: inheriting the spirit of “defending the land” by the boundary river

"i only do one thing in my life. i am a guard for the motherland." on september 28, the reporter walked into the military post of the 185th regiment of the 10th division, known as the "no. 1 couple post of the northwest militia". a line on the outer wall eye-catching characters come into view. this sentence is the solemn oath and true confession of 55-year-old border guard ma junwu.

the military post is also known as the sandek post. "sandek" means "empty box" in kazakh. as it is described, the post is located in the northwestmost desert of our country and is deserted for dozens of miles.

the establishment of the outpost dates back to 36 years ago. the winding arakbek river was originally a natural national border. in the spring of 1988, snowmelt floods raged and the river bank burst at sandek. according to international practice, if the river changes course, our territory may be transferred to neighboring countries. with the determination that "not an inch of the country should be lost," the 185th regiment, surrounding fraternal units, and local people of all ethnic groups fought hard for 16 days and nights to return the river to its original course. afterwards, the 185th regiment set up a militia post at the breach, and ma junwu, who participated in the "homeland guard war", became the first border guard at the post. that year, he was 19 years old.

in 1992, ma junwu married zhang zhengmei, who was also a "second-generation military reclamation worker." the couple patrolled, guarded water, and protected forests along the more than 20-kilometer-long border in their jurisdiction.

the employees of the 185th regiment all know how strong willpower it takes to stay here for decades. floods in spring, mosquitoes in summer, sandstorms in autumn and ice and snow in winter are all "extreme challenges" to survival. the staff of the group field showed reporters a mobile phone video sent by colleagues who participated in the border protection. in the picture, the border guards were wearing anti-mosquito protective gear that covered their whole bodies. the mosquitoes isolated by the protective gear were so dense that it made people's scalp hair grow. numb. according to estimates, the mosquito density here in summer is as high as nearly 1,800 mosquitoes per cubic meter, which can kill poultry and livestock. in his early years, ma junwu's dog was bitten to death by raging mosquitoes. when he went out to patrol the border, he put a piece of gauze soaked in diesel on his head. the pungent smell could drive away some mosquitoes, but it also made his face burn.

compared with the inconvenience caused by mosquitoes and snow, ma junwu is more concerned about the floods that may affect the boundary river. "because it is a snowmelt flood, we basically have to fight floods every april. moreover, this year's flood lasts particularly long. in previous years, there were only one or two flood peaks at most, but this year there were three or four flood peaks." however, there was not much worry in his words. , "why hasn't the embankment burst again in so many years? because we have experience, and we can prevent no matter how big a flood is."

dike breaches are not the only danger. zhang zhengmei remembers that when ma junwu was clearing weeds in the river, a wave hit and his raft was instantly washed away. "i chased him for several miles on the shore. fortunately, he had good water skills and was in a place where the current was slow. i grabbed a tree branch and climbed onto the shore. at that time, i was filled with joy and sorrow, and i threw myself into his arms and cried loudly."

in recent years, as conditions in all aspects have gradually improved, such thrilling moments have become less and less frequent, and the once-quiet military outposts have become more and more lively. in 2017, a new border guard duty point was built next to the military post, border guards were enriched, and a flood-fighting soil defense memorial hall was built. in addition to patrolling the border, ma junwu served as a volunteer commentator, telling visitors about the past events of fighting floods and defending the land and the inheritance of the corps spirit.

fu yongqiang and liu guizhi were interviewed at beishawo post. photo by cheng xiaolu

beishawo post: planting the hope of "revitalizing the border" in the desert

on september 29, the reporter came to the beishawo post of the 186th regiment of the 10th division. as far as he could see, a 3-story building with camouflage exterior walls and the surrounding trees created a lively scene that made people it is completely impossible to tell that the outpost is actually located on the edge of the gurbantunggut desert (commonly known as "north sand nest"). in fact, this place was once a barren land ravaged by wind and sand. the people who "painted" the first touch of green here were fu yongqiang, director of beishawo post, and his wife liu guizhi.

in 2004, 30-year-old fu yongqiang came to xinjiang from henan to work and became a construction worker in the 186th regiment. in 2012, he brought his family to beishawo post, and since then he has made the post his home, starting a life of guarding the border with "farming is to stand guard, and grazing is to patrol."

liu guizhi remembers that when she first arrived at the outpost, the house was surrounded by sand dunes. strong winds blew the sand to the door of the house, which could pile up half a meter high. the first thing the couple did when they got up every morning was to take a bag and "carry" the sand out of the house. . in order to improve the ecological environment, the 186th regiment organized personnel to transplant trees and plant saplings around the beishawo post. fu yongqiang and liu guizhi carefully took care of saplings and grass seeds while patrolling.

"planting a tree is more difficult than raising two children." liu guizhi said, "after the tree is planted, if it is not watered in time, the leaves will wither. we often get up in the middle of the night to water the tree, and work day and night to plant the tree. when we were hungry, we would go inside to eat a few bites, and when we were full, we would go out to water the trees and keep them from being blown into the house.”

five or six years later, beishawo post became an oasis in the desert. about 30,000 lush trees cover more than 300 acres of land managed by fu yongqiang and his wife, effectively blocking the spread of the desert.

say goodbye to the desert, and life becomes enriched little by little. the regiment field and relevant departments applied for funds such as projects to revitalize the border areas and enrich the people, and built cattle and sheep pens, vegetable greenhouses, sprinkler irrigation facilities, etc. at the beishawo post. now, not only is the outpost covered with green trees, but it is also self-sufficient in fruits and vegetables. fu yongqiang and his wife also raised more than 50 cows and hired a kazakh herdsman to help herd them.

"i want to expand the cattle pen and raise hundreds or thousands of cows, so that everyone can see that although guarding the border is hard, some people can get rich on the border. this will attract more people to come and guard the border. ." fu yongqiang said.

"my son and daughter didn't understand when i came to beishawo post, but now they all say, dad, you are right to take this path." fu yongqiang said happily that now his son and daughter-in-law are also employees of the regiment and have also become guards. lineman. my daughter, who graduated from college this year, signed up for the western college student volunteer service program and volunteered in qinghe county, altay region. “and she signed up for the special project of defending the country and guarding the border, and the service area is also on the border.” (over)

source: china news network