Chapter 35 The Mighty Teacher - Chinese Guard of Honor

On the occasion of the 82nd anniversary of the birth of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, I specially write an article reviewing the guards of honor for readers. In the 1970s, the Beijing garrison where I was located had a world-famous special force—the honor guard of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, Army, Navy and Air Force.The food for the guards of honor is a second-class stove, which is slightly higher than that of the regular troops. There are also pig farms and vegetable plots used to subsidize the food.Except for woolen clothes, zipper coats and other dresses for important ceremonial occasions such as welcoming and seeing off foreign guests at the airport, the rest of the time is dressed in the same way as the regular army.In order to keep the uniforms clean and tidy, the uniforms are kept by the battalion headquarters. When performing tasks, they will be collected by each company according to the number of dispatched personnel, and will be returned to the battalion headquarters after performing the tasks.The battalion commander at that time was Zhou Jianheng. Although he was unknown, Cheng Zhiqiang, the squad leader of the 9th squad under him at that time, became the commander of the battalion (battalion commander) later, because of the TV series "Chinese Guard of Honor" broadcast on CCTV. The captain of the brigade is famous all over the world.The Chinese honor guards, who have always been known as mighty teachers, have demonstrated the training of guards of honor to the world with their majestic military posture, neat formation, handsome appearance, exquisite and integrated spears, and skillful drawing of knives. The hardships in life and the solemnity when welcoming and sending off foreign guests.

The honor guard battalion (team) at that time was basically the same as today's guard of honor brigade in terms of tasks, affiliation, training methods, and welcoming methods.The difference is that the number of people has increased, and the venue for reading has been changed from the Capital Airport to the current Great Hall of the People. In the 1970s, the guard of honor battalion (team) recruited recruits mainly through two channels: one was to select recruits from the recruits recruited by the whole division every year before the end of the recruit company training.The selection criteria are mainly that the height should be more than 1.75 meters, the facial features are correct, and the body is fit.There is no need to consider the political review, because the recruits of a certain guard division are all selected according to the special forces, and the political review has been strictly conducted before conscription.I remember that in the recruit company of Beijing Institute of Technology, I was called out of the queue by three instructors of the guard of honor battalion. I watched for a long time, but I was not selected, and I was assigned to the unit in front of Tiananmen Square. In 1971, 1973 and 1975, the guard of honor battalion (team) selected a number of honor guards from Wu'an, Handan, Feixiang, and Yongnian in Hebei from the recruit company, and became a new force of the guard of honor battalion (team).The second is that the Guard of Honor Battalion went directly to Qingdao, Dalian, Qinhuangdao and other northern coastal areas to recruit recruits, because the people here were tall, handsome, and belonged to the northern language family, so it was an ideal source of soldiers for the Guard of Honor Battalion.

According to fellow comrades in the guard of honor battalion (team), the new fighters selected to the guard of honor battalion, after a period of training, if they still fail to meet the requirements of serving as guards of honor in large-scale occasions, they will be assigned to the cooking class or pigs. Fields, vegetable plots, farms, etc. to do logistical work.You can get a glimpse of the strict requirements of guards of honor. The training subjects for guards of honor mainly include standing posture, queue, line-up, holding guns and splitting guns.These seemingly simple training contents must be uniform and uniform, and each movement cannot be practiced without thousands of individual and synthetic training.

A tall and tall standing posture is the basic requirement for guards of honor.In order to practice their standing posture, the guards of honor stand with their heads held high, their chests held high, and their stomachs pulled in like bamboo for three to four hours, up to six hours.As the saying goes, "Three nines in winter and three days in summer", in midsummer, the scorching sun is like fire, and the wind is like a furnace. The captain (battalion commander) standing on the podium gave an order, and more than 900 guards of honor officers and soldiers lined up on the training ground. Standing vertically as a wall on the smoky concrete floor, apart from the irritable chirping of cicadas in the distance, you can only hear the breathing of comrades-in-arms.Time is passing quietly, sweat is flowing slowly.One hour later, the soldiers' military caps and backs were completely soaked; two hours later, the sweat dripped down the trousers in two circles under the soldiers' feet; three hours later, white sweat stains appeared on the armed belt for a week , Sweat can be poured out of the black leather shoes... The insects mistook the soldiers for green sculptures. Generally, there is no one to drive away the biting mosquitoes.Some new fighters couldn't hold it anymore, and after fainting, they still kept standing upright.Beijing's "March 9th" is freezing cold and the wind is biting.Standing in the empty training field, the exposed face was red and swollen with pain like needle pricks, and the five fingers were frozen together as if glued together, so that after the training was over, they were so numb that it was difficult to bend.In order to practice a straight standing posture, each team made a standard wooden stick for each soldier, and inserted it firmly into the back belt.After three hours of standing training with equipment, each of them is like a stiff puppet, and the bones seem to have changed shape.In order to develop the natural straight shape of the body, the soldiers do not sleep with pillows, but lie flat on the wooden bed to maintain their body shape.This is indeed a difficult living habit for new soldiers who are used to sleeping on pillows at home.But this is not just an order, but also the basic skills of a guard of honor.Soon everyone was lying on a horizontal line with tenacious perseverance.Many soldiers feared that they would not be able to maintain a good sleeping position after falling asleep, so they took the initiative to tie themselves to the bed with backpack straps before going to bed.

If standing posture training is individual training based on individual soldiers, then formation training is collective training based on battalions and companies.Turning left and right, turning forward and backward, must be in the same direction and at the same speed, and there must be no difference in the slightest; when starting and walking, the speed is the same, and the step distance is the same. on the same straight line.These mechanical movements sound very simple, but it takes dozens or hundreds of people to achieve a high degree of consistency, and it is difficult to achieve the standard without tens of thousands of hard training.The most distinctive feature of guards of honor is going forward, which can be said to be the soul of guards of honor.Whether welcoming foreign guests or seeing off foreign guests, or major state events, as long as the guard of honor kicks out a uniform goose step, people will be amazed. The national prestige and military prestige shown in that kind of majesty will make people feel a sense of national pride.But going forward is the hardest and most difficult subject in the training of guards of honor.From the beginning of the recruits to the discharge of the army, the goose step accompanies each guard of honor throughout his entire service career without interruption.Kicking with the wind, landing and smashing into the pit are the basic requirements for the legs and feet of the forward step.Take kicking as an example. In order to achieve stability, mediumness and ruthlessness, soldiers tied sandbags on their calves, and the kicked legs and feet stayed at a height of 25 centimeters. Three minutes, five minutes, ten minutes, twenty minutes.Sweat casts perseverance, and perseverance releases sweat.The white lines of the stride are eye-catching, the feet are high and straight, and the pace is one step per minute.This is the iron rule that cannot be moved forward.Those who do not meet the standard in normal training will use the old to lead the new to individual training or practice at night and at noon by themselves.My legs were swollen and my arms were hurting. After a day of training, I couldn't get on the bed with both legs, but no one complained. They were all proud of being a qualified guard of honor.Hard work pays off. After hard training day after day, the standard goose step of each team has been kicked out. Standing on the podium with his eyes closed, the captain (battalion commander) listens to the ear drums coming from under the reviewing platform. The clicking sound, based on years of experience, has been judged to be all up to standard.The old and new fighters integrated into one will go forward vigorously from the barracks training ground to the capital airport, to the front of Tiananmen Square, and to the National Games...

The front splitting gun is a risky training content in the guard of honor battalion.It requires the guards of honor to suddenly give an order when they are walking forward, and rows of special fiberglass semi-automatic rifles with bayonets opened (the fiberglass automatic rifles were used in the past, but semi-automatic rifles were used instead due to the inconvenient magazines), and they flashed with a click. There was a silver light pointing forward, and the tip of the back row of spears was only 2 centimeters away from the right ear of the soldier in the front row.Anyone who makes a slight deviation in any movement will be bleeding, or even life-threatening.During training, it is common for the bayonets of the soldiers in the back row to lift up the caps of the soldiers in the front row.In order to prevent the habitual problem of the fighters' head tilting to the right at the moment of splitting the gun, a pin was fastened on the collar, and if it was slightly tilted, it would pierce the neck, effectively correcting the irregular movements.Extraordinary intensive training has made every guard of honor very proficient in the action of splitting the spear in the goose step, and there have been no mistakes in countless large-scale performances, which has become a highlight of the guard of honor to show their splendor.

Guards of honor also have several special trainings.One is the training of paying attention to the state guests.It is required that each soldier's gaze should move with the simulated state guest but not blink.Do not blink your eyes for more than the specified time.Although some eyes were red and hurt from staring, they all practiced not closing their eyes. No one blinked when welcoming the state guests.The second is the training of one flag-bearer and two flag-bearers representing the army, navy and air force in holding, carrying and guarding the flag.Every time a mission is performed, the flag-bearer and flag-bearer stand at the front of the guard of honor, followed by the captain (commander) of the guard of honor, and then the soldiers of the guard of honor representing the three armed forces.As the vanguard of the guard of honor, the flag bearers have higher and stricter requirements in terms of appearance and movement. Naturally, their training is more difficult and more arduous.A flag bearer in the guard of honor battalion was transferred to a certain aircraft in our battalion to be re-elected as the company commander.Judging from his thick eyebrows and big eyes with Chinese characters and his majestic demeanor, it can be seen that the flag bearer is the most beautiful man among the handsome men in the guard of honor camp, and he is also a pacesetter in military training.The third is password training for the commander (captain) of the guard of honor.In the welcome guard of honor, the only commander (captain) is particularly eye-catching.The command not only requires a handsome and majestic appearance, quick thinking, and determined command, but also a loud and magnanimous password, with strong penetrating and deterrent power.The command at that time was not equipped with a command knife, and relied on password command.Therefore, after thousands of years of regularized password training, the passwords of the previous commanders have been shouted purely and thickly, with the momentum of overwhelming mountains and seas, and they can be known as the command of the guard of honor battalion just by hearing their voices.

In the 1970s, under the guidance of the comprehensive foreign policy of Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai, my country ushered in another peak period of foreign affairs activities.The protocol department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs made more and more frequent welcome calls to the guard of honor camp via the garrison area and a certain guard division.After hard work and rich experience in welcoming guests, the guard of honor has fulfilled its mission and arrived at the Capital Airport again and again in a Czech green sedan car (special guard of honor car) sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. One by one foreign heads of state and heads of government (visiting foreign presidents and vice presidents, presidents and vice presidents, and prime ministers and deputy prime ministers all send a guard of honor).Because it was still in the Cold War period, the relationship between the visiting country and our country was different, and the size of the country was different, so the guard of honor and the number of welcome people at the airport were also different.Small countries have an honor guard of 150 people, with 1,000 people welcoming the masses; friendly countries have an honor guard of 240 people, with 4,000 people welcoming the people; Western countries such as the United States and Britain have only 360 honor guards and no welcoming people.From the Capital Airport to Beijing Railway Station, and from Beijing Railway Station to Diaoyutai, at the first place where state guests disembark from the plane, train or car, there is an extraordinary figure of the guard of honor.Especially in 1972, with Nixon's visit to China, a large number of leaders of Western countries and second world countries flocked to China to visit, and the task of the guard of honor was very heavy.But no matter how daunting the task, they took the one-hour reading from prep to finish seriously.The powerful and majestic appearance and valiant and heroic posture have left a deep impression on Chinese and foreign people every time.In addition to the task of welcoming guests, the honor guard battalion (team) also undertook large-scale national events such as the entrance ceremony of the red flag team in the Third National Games in different periods, and sent instructors to train a large number of queue pacesetters for fraternal troops and localities.Wherever they went, the imposing manner and unique charm of these guards of honor representing Chinese soldiers gave people a sense of respect.

With a flick of a finger, more than 30 years have passed. When I saw Zhang Shijun and other comrades-in-arms in the guard of honor battalion who have turned 50 again, although my hair has grown gray and the crow's feet at the corners of my eyes have grown a lot, I still feel comfortable sitting, standing, and walking. They still maintain the upright, straight, majestic, majestic demeanor of the guards of honor, which shows that the living habits of the guards of honor have left indelible marks in their lives. May the Chinese guard of honor, a wonderful flower in the military, bloom forever.