The full text of Recalling the Iron Man

Remembering the Iron Man

Author: Wei Gangyan Source: Daqing Iron Man Wang Jinxi Memorial Hall

On the eve of the Spring Festival in 1973, I was in the train-shaped cabin of the 1205 drilling team in Daqing.

The night is already deep. The old comrades who talked about Iron Man all day long have also left, but I am not tired at all. The notebook in front of me records their eagerness to fight in the new area. When it comes to the cruel persecution of Iron Man and his indomitable fighting spirit, these drillers who did not even frown in the blowout fire, Drops of hot tears fell on the front of the work uniform!

A question that had been hidden in my heart for a long time jumped out again: Where is the sin of the Iron Man? What is wrong with Daqing? Why until this moment, the motherland has been destroyed On the ground, under the red flag of Daqing, there are still dark shadows and the whistling wind? Who are they? Where do they want to lead China? In my chest, there are clouds of wind and snow flying. I pushed open the door and walked out.

How familiar, this boundless snowfield with all the white sky! Iron man, in such a severe winter night, after being besieged, you woke up from the empty stage, moved outside, He reached out and took out a hanging icicle from under the eaves, sat down against the wall, sucked it, and looked around, where is this place? Suddenly, an old master in an apron walked up to him from the dark and handed him an icicle. Bowl of hot noodles. Iron Man brought it over and picked it up with chopsticks, and two tender white poached eggs were exposed... The old master knelt down and said eagerly: "Go quickly, Iron Man! They are going to kill you!" followed by the few who gathered around. The comrade also chimed in: "Go to Beijing and see the Prime Minister!" "It doesn't matter if you don't have travel expenses, we'll help you get it." Iron Man looked affectionately at the faces of these strange class brothers, was silent for a while, and shook his head. He said quietly: "I won't leave!" Then he raised his head, shot out a sword-like gaze, and said sonorously: "I won't leave!"

Iron Man, why did you say "I won't leave"? ?What did you think? When you boarded the train bound for Beijing at the invitation of Premier Zhou, when you saw the Prime Minister’s kind face and held those warm hands, what was going through your mind? When When you see the Prime Minister's eyes flashing like lightning under his thick eyebrows, angrily attacking those conspirators who tried to cut down the red flag of Daqing, what is going on in your heart?... I thought, pondered, and the iron man showed up in front of me. Those days when we got along...

In the spring and summer of 1964, I came to Daqing. I was packing my luggage and preparing to go down, when a waiter came to me and told me: "The Iron Man is giving a report. , don’t you want to meet him?” I hurried over and squeezed into the small conference room that was filled with water.

Is this the Iron Man who roared so loudly that the earth shook three times? Look at him, facing the admiring eyes of the room, he looks so comfortable, as if he was squatting next to the derrick chatting about family matters. He was wearing a peaked cap with a broken brim, and his collar was open. The cuffs and knees of his cotton overalls were frayed, and traces of sweat, oil stains, and rust could be seen everywhere. The most eye-catching thing is the dense and deep wrinkles that appeared prematurely on the forehead and corners of this middle-aged man’s eyes! These wrinkles, his clothes, and his demeanor make people feel that this is a hard piece of hair that stands abruptly on the top of the mountain. rock. The cool sun and strong winds carved deep lines on it; the rain, snow, frost and dew left patches of moss on it. It takes root in the earth, connects the mountains, and stands tall in the wind and thunder of history!

It sounds like the report is coming to an end. He said sincerely: "Without Chairman Mao and the Party, I would have been thrown into Yumen long ago. Donggang is feeding the wolves. Where are there workers like me in the country? Without the fire of revolution, we are still just a piece of raw material. Without Mao Zedong Thought, we are still just a pot of water?... I thought at that time The Party saved me, and I was going to do it hard. But I didn’t know exactly what kind of cupboard the working class was carrying on their shoulders. When I was attending the National Day ceremony in 1959, I was woken up by the gas pack on the car! The pressure of the country has been put on my shoulders! I don’t know where the energy came from. Not to mention the derrick, even an iron tower can be erected! Isn’t there a crane? Lift! This is how the word "lift" is pronounced! ”

The meeting is over. The iron man was very happy when he heard that I was going down, and said: "Water has a source, trees have roots, and many people go to the grassroots to run around. It's not possible to just listen to a few of us. Daqing is nothing more than not believing in ghosts and evil, and daring to admit and resolve conflicts." .

The slogan of the Working Committee this year is to move forward according to the dichotomy! I say, when we go down, we should not just listen to the high standards, but also listen to how we came from the low standards, and what are the low standards now..." This is us

Not long after, he came to see me for a meeting. After standing and saying a few words, I asked, "Where are you going? It's urgent. "What?" He held the car door in his hand, turned around and said happily: "What, you want to go for a walk with me? Okay, get in the car!" "

As soon as we set out on the road, we saw a striking slogan: "Advance in Dichotomy!" Iron Man lit a cigarette, turned his face and asked me: "Can you sing Qin Opera? Do you like it?" There are some stories there that make people think. As a person, you must always remember "Zoumaicheng". The brain of that surnamed Guan, just having the Five Tiger Generals, just remembering to pass the five levels, his tail is raised to the sky, at the end, how is it? It collapsed!" With that, the car turned off the road, and walked on the grassland.

"Here we are!" After getting out of the car, the iron man led me to the entrance of an abandoned well, stamped his feet and said, "This is an abandoned well that was filled in by the 1205 team!..." "Why?" "It's tilted, four degrees seven. The straight well in front was made after filling in this well. "

The Iron Man sat cross-legged on the grass, patted his forehead with his hand and said: "This is the command headquarters. If you can't house a good commander, you will have to find a bad one. Once the headquarters collapses, even if you have the ability to cross the ocean, you will drown. In 1963, the situation improved and the strings were loosened a bit. The leader of the well team only focused on grabbing the small red flag and ignored the big red flag; he only grabbed the drill bit, not the head. As a result, the well was tilted. The roots of this matter are still here with me. We are not afraid of the sky or the earth. The most terrible thing is to ignore politics! When filling the well, the people on the well team carried the cement with tears in their eyes. Someone said sadly: "There has never been such a move in the history of the team!" I said: "I don't remember it." This piece of team history is fake, so I can’t write it down! What I’m afraid of is that you won’t keep it in your heart! “It’s cold or hot, windy or raining, I’m here to see it.” Do you want to learn the 'two theories'? This is a living textbook!"

Then, the iron man showed me a few more scenes of "stumbles" and "falls". Suddenly, I felt that I was sitting next to me. Under the cotton work clothes of this simple drill worker, there is a profound and profound world! Seeing me leaning on the car seat and being silent, he smiled and asked: "It's not light to see these things, but we people, Can you hold the award flag and grin all day long? There was a man who went to Beijing with a few of us for a meeting, shook hands with Chairman Mao, and had his picture taken. He asked for that photo to show off everywhere, and he was astonished at it. I said: ‘Comrade, Chairman Mao is shaking hands with Daqing! You can’t wash your face with the sweat of hundreds of thousands of workers!’ This didn’t sound good, but I still hoped he would listen. The road is still very long! We have only walked a few steps!... Communist Party members cannot live by selling plasters. If this continues, it will collapse!"

In 1965, I moved to the Iron Man House. At this time, he had already served as the deputy commander of the drilling headquarters, but he was still the same as when he was in the drilling team. , he was at home, and there was a constant flow of people in the house; when he went out, he was surrounded by crowds of people who came to talk, to "complain", to help him, and to resolve conflicts. I said to the iron man with a smile. : “Wherever you go, there is a reception station. He smiled and said: "What can we do? We are the Communist Party! Someone has to take care of these things that are not involved! The family members have no oil to burn, and the drillers dozens of miles away feel cold." . We can't just put Marxism-Leninism and the party's policies on bookshelves and folders! Right?"

One day, he took me to the family base. As soon as I stepped into the outer door of the nursery, I heard Tie Ren hurriedly opened the door of the nursery and went in. He saw a little baby sitting on the ground crying and wiping away tears. Tie Ren raised his voice and asked, "Where is Auntie?" A middle-aged employee's family member hugged him. Iron Man hurriedly walked over with a child. Iron Man criticized her excitedly: "The drillers are fighting hard on the front line, but you let their children cry?..." She looked at Iron Man without saying anything or making excuses... and drove us back. When he arrived, a cadre went to the front to do some errands. When he got off at the location, he said: "Comrade Lao Tie, that aunt is a good comrade. She is holding someone else's child, and the baby sitting on the ground crying is actually her own flesh and blood!" Iron Man's eyes widened: "Oh?... Cough!" He shouted to the driver: "Turn around and go back!" The car turned sharply and rushed towards the nursery.

As soon as he got out of the car, Iron Man broke in and looked around. He found that the little kid had washed away his tears and was sitting on a small stool playing with a ball. He lifted the doll up and looked at it, holding it tightly to his chest.

In the evening, I was writing in my diary. Iron Man came back from the meeting, shook off the snowflakes on his body, and sat quietly rolling a cigarette and smoking. Suddenly, he said: "You should write down what happened today. Look at the sister-in-law today, laying her own flesh and blood on the ground and crying, and holding in her hands is brother driller's baby! Not to mention this, call me After making a fuss and taking credit for it, she didn’t say anything back or get angry, she just smiled and listened, “Brother, can you and I do this? We talk about being a hero every day, this is what a hero is!” I asked him to stand up and count all the unsung heroes and mentors and friends, from the old chief to the ordinary drill workers, from the masters in Yumen to the fellow villagers in Daqing, all those who had strict requirements on him and inspired and educated him. He remembers and misses everyone. Finally, he took a deep breath and said: "When I think of these comrades, these unknown heroes living and dead, I ask myself: Can you meet the requirements of these comrades? Can you represent their wishes? You can't be less Do you want to do something low-level?"

When the lights were turned off, the night was already deep. For a while I heard him tossing and turning on the bed. Iron man, what are you thinking about? How well the workers put it: Even if the bones of the iron man are smashed, you can’t find the scum with the word “I”! Who wants to work well will not be affected by your selflessness and fearlessness? Moved, don't you think deeply in front of your spirit of always being strict with yourself? You yourself are the representative of thousands of unsung heroes!...

I am leaving Daqing temporarily. Before leaving, Iron Man asked me to visit someone. "Who?..." "I asked you to bring food stamps and money to his family this year." Oh, it was Comrade Zhang Qigang, the driller who died!

The car was racing on the vast snowy field. . When he arrived at the grave, Iron Man walked over and silently looked at the snow-covered grave mound. That gaze was like shooting through the soil and seeing the friendly faces of his comrades. At this time, I thought of the mother of the martyr with white hair on her temples, sitting on the kang and confiding to me. The iron man seemed to have read through my mind and asked, "How is the old man's health? Does he have food? Have you looked at the urn or the rice vat? We need to open the lid of the urn and take a look, then we can rest assured." After saying this, he He strode to a primary school next to the grave and told the teacher who came out to plant a tree next to the grave and bring students to visit the grave. He said: "We must tell our descendants that Daqing did not collapse from the ground, and the red flag did not float from the sky. Anyone who opposes the party or the red flag of Daqing must fight against him, or else he will be sorry for the heroic spirit of the martyrs!"< /p>

That night, I opened my diary and thought about everything today. Suddenly I felt: How superficially do I understand the iron man around me? On his shoulders, there is not only the pressure of the country's oil shortage; in his heart, there is more than just sympathy with class friendship; in his simple work clothes, there is a A red heart that encompasses the entire proletariat and revolutionary people! The cells and nerves in his body strongly reflect their joys and sorrows, wishes, feelings, joys and sorrows! That’s why he has such a keen political vision and an unyielding backbone , a thoroughly clear mind, and a solid and firm pace.

When the black clouds are rolling, Iron Man, why do you risk walking dozens of miles to go to the "first well" again? When you touch the unloading platform and the water well again, is it just Are you looking back at the fighting years?

No, standing here, you can overlook the ins and outs of this great struggle and see the future prospects of the struggle. When Chairman Mao commanded the Daqing people to walk thousands of miles of frost and snow and set up a red flag here, the people cheered thunderously and dedicated themselves to the fight. However, it wasn’t until I faced the bad guys who had been fighting with them for more than ten years in that gloomy basement, and saw them rushing towards Daqing in red robes and holding sharp knives, that I really felt the value and glory of this red flag. ?This "first well" is a steel thorn stuck in the enemy's throat! Daqing's red flag is a signal of victory in the battle! Isn't that why you said "I won't leave" An oath?

Iron man, why did you go and set up a recycling team in person as soon as you returned to Daqing after you were elected as a member of the Central Committee? Yes, you feel sorry for the lost steel pipes and equipment; but you feel even more sorry for Lin Biao. A group of people tried to negate the tradition of the "two theories" and tried to corrupt the Daqing army.

You are fighting a special battle with your chest raised, and you are defending the position invaded by the demonic mist!

Just after the Spring Festival in 1973, I took a car to the recycling team. The sky was very overcast, with fine scattered sleet falling from time to time. The further we went, the more deserted the road became. Outside the car window, there were only gray well houses flashing by occasionally. Before my eyes, I felt like I could see the Iron Man leading the recycling team workers again, carrying scrap wood on their shoulders, picking up old bricks and tiles, facing the dark wind and mist, walking towards the meadow step by step with their chests held high!

After getting off the bus, I looked around. Well, there are rows of workshops and warehouses, repaired derricks, vehicles, and piles of recycled steel pipe equipment. All of these are made possible by the iron men and workers in this deserted meadow. On the top, with strong hands and strong shoulders, a new world was created!

This is the place where prefabricated housing frames were assembled to support the new district in the late winter of 1970. It was freezing cold, and who would be dispatched to do the field work? Iron Man went back and led the 1205 drilling team that he had personally brought out, and walked through the ice and snow to light the battle bonfire again. Some people said: Why did the old captain ask the benchmarking team to do this? Some people said: If you want to do it, you should give some good materials. This is the job of the 05 team! The iron man was lifting the steel frame. When he heard this discussion, he put down the steel frame and said: " If you want to use good materials to do showy work, you still need us?!" He approached the drillers who gathered around him and said: "Comrades, how did Team 05 become the benchmark team? Without the sweat of the logistics comrades , with all the red hearts of our brother units and the hard work of the Party and the people, can a benchmark team pop out of the ground? I called you here not to weld a few frames, but to light up the bonfire of battle again and burn off our pride. Drive away the evil spirit and refine the righteousness!"

Twilight is falling. I rested on the bed in the house, touching the rough and dry walls with my hands... On the first day when the house was built, Iron Man insisted on moving into the wet house. He refused to move until arthritis broke out and half of his body was numb. Walk. Yes, when had he ever taken care of himself? When he was suffering from cancer before his death, he still remembered that there were bedbugs in the family base and needed to be cured. He asked people to buy dozens of kilograms of dichlorvos, and gave detailed instructions to pay attention to safety when using it, and to report to him after spreading it. However, he would never see this report letter again! He solemnly requested that all martyrs and work-injured comrades in Daqing be registered and made a register, visit and visit regularly, solve difficulties, and send the register for inspection. However, he will never see this list of class brothers who care about him day and night again!

I turned on the light, sat at the table, and stroked the table used by Iron Man, Iron Man, Isn't it at this table that you have received many comrades-in-arms who have come from far away? You encourage them to resist the evil wind. Even if you go all out, you can't throw away the "two theories" and "three elders and four strictness". Your lifeblood is on this table. Didn't you hesitate to write a letter to Premier Zhou to speak out? Your thunderous and electrifying report still roars to this day and shines brightly in the sky!

From now on From a driller who walked onto the drilling floor with tears of gratitude and fought hard to repay the party's kindness, to a general who shouldered the pressure of the country and fought with his life and blood. This is the glorious journey of Comrade Wang Jinxi.

This great moment on October 6, 1976, was a new peak in the Chinese revolution. We stood on the peak dyed red by the morning glow, and saw what a long, tortuous and magnificent journey there was from the boat in Nanhu to the endless future!

Whenever we are at such a critical moment, You will see that every milestone in the history of the revolution, every turning chapter of the poem, and every great people's hero, shine with new splendor and radiate new light. So, we seemed to see again: on that long journey, on that vast snowy field, a marching army - the iron man and his comrades, holding hands, striding towards the future of communism Walking, walking...

(Originally published in "People's Daily" on June 5, 1977)