Chapter 88 Antifreeze expert Chi Haotian

Among the 27th Army that entered the DPRK, there was Chi Haotian, who later served as the vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China. At that time, he was still a deputy battalion-level cadre and served as the deputy political instructor of the 3rd Battalion of the 235th Regiment of the 79th Division. He was responsible for the marching, camping and storage management of the 3rd Battalion. According to his recollection, the weather was so cold that many soldiers were frostbitten.In order to prevent the soldiers from freezing, he loves to use his brain and is creative, and he came up with a set of "earth" methods.

One is to "move" to prevent freezing. He said to the soldiers: "You must move. If you don't move, the blood will not circulate. If you don't circulate, you will be easily frostbitten." Therefore, no matter how tired the march is, he does not allow the soldiers to sit down and rest. "move". A brother army saw the small flat-bed train pulling wood in the big ravine, so they went up and sat for a while.Although the marching speed increased, many soldiers' legs and feet were frozen, and many of them could not walk. The second is to treat cold with "cold".

Chi Haotian was born in poverty. He recalled that when he was a child in the Northeast, his father taught him a anti-freeze trick: when your hands are frozen, you must not bake them with fire, but wash them with snow and cold water. The more you rub them, the warmer they are, so as to prevent them from freezing.So he mobilized soldiers to wash their hands and faces with snow.Every time he went to a camp, he took the lead in rubbing his legs and feet. He also asked the soldiers to rub their feet with snow balls, either by themselves or each other, until the feet were "live" and warmed up.

In order to prevent frostbite, Chi Haotian, who is usually very easy-going, has extremely strict requirements on the soldiers. From company, platoon to squad, he checks at every level and implements them one by one. No negligence or "laziness" is allowed.He also asked health workers and military doctors to take their own responsibilities, and whoever "leaked" should be held accountable. Such a "earth" method is very effective, and the officers and soldiers of the 3rd Battalion rarely suffer from frostbite. When the brothers heard about it, they followed suit.