Chapter 22 devoutly guarding the statue

In the 1970s, huge portraits of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin stood in the northeast and northwest corners of Tiananmen Square.These four giant statues are side-to-side with the portrait of Chairman Mao hanging on the Tiananmen Gate Tower, and have the same height and width.In that special era, when people came to Tiananmen Square and saw these eye-catching portraits of the five great men, their spirits were all lifted, and they all felt a deep sense of admiration from the depths of their hearts. The Chinese party and the government erected the portraits of the four great figures from foreign countries together with the portrait of Chairman Mao Zedong, the main founder of the Communist Party of China and the People's Republic of China, in front of Tiananmen Square, which has attracted worldwide attention, and declared to the world that the Communist Party of China adheres to Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought, and firmly walks the road to socialism.

I stood guard in front of the portraits of Marx and Engels twice, in 1974 and 1976, for a total of about one year.The first time was mainly as a fixed sentry, and the second time was mainly to lead the squad (riding a bicycle to be in charge of the horse, Enxiang sentry, and the two mobile sentries on both sides of Chang'an Avenue east to the entrance of the public security department to inspect and supervise) . On duty at this post, the main task is to ensure that the giant statues of Ma and En are intact.This is the sacred duty of this Sentinel.All the sentries on duty at the post often deepen their understanding of the significance of the post of the great portrait through various channels, and even integrate the image with people, and regard guarding the portraits of horses and Engels as guarding the revolutionary mentors Marx and Engels themselves, and guarding horses. , Enxiang is to defend Marxism.Everyone is proud of being able to be on duty at the post, strictly demanding themselves, standing on each shift with full political enthusiasm and high vigilance, and ensuring that there are no mistakes.On duty in front of the portrait of a great man, the above-mentioned high-level ideological understanding and self-pressurized practical actions were entirely due to the effective ideological and political work at that time, reflecting the true style of people in that era who used faith as their spiritual pillar to control their words and deeds.

In order to ensure the demeanor of the sentries, each of our sentries consciously arranges their military appearance before going to the sentry, whether they are sentry during the day or at night. From military uniforms, shoes, hats, belts to guns, they are all neat and tidy, and are checked in detail by the leader. .On duty, he stood upright and spirited, showing the good demeanor of a great man like a former Chinese sentinel. On duty in front of the statues of Ma and En, winter and summer are the biggest tests, and it is the most difficult time for sentries.Counting nine cold days, the north wind howled, and sometimes snowflakes danced all over the place. According to the requirements, the sentinels who could only stand facing the north stood against the wind, standing up against the snow.Often after a whistle blows, the cold wind stuffs the chest, the hands and feet are cold, especially the cheeks are sore and painful from the biting cold wind blowing on the face.When encountering heavy snow, the sentinel looks like a snow sculpture from a distance, always maintaining a tall and straight posture.In midsummer, the red sun scorches the earth directly, and the unobstructed giants are like sentry posts. The surface temperature is like the heat from an iron furnace. After a while, I was soaked in sweat and even dizzy.But everyone has no complaints or regrets, and they perform their duties meticulously in the habit.

A great man is like a sentinel, and he has both pain and joy.In summer, the chirping cicadas and chirping birds on the adjacent willow trees add endless fun to the boring post.Especially in spring and autumn, the climate in Beijing is pleasant, and the fragrance of flowers from the flowers in the wall of northern pine trees in front of the history museum brings fragrance to the post.During the two major festivals of "May 1st" and "11th", Tiananmen Square is filled with tens of thousands of pots of flowers, colorful and colorful, and the fragrance in the air is refreshing to the sentinels in front of the statue of great men with the soothing breeze. aroma.The crowds of people in front of the sentry, people of different skin colors, colorful costumes, and different languages, on the one hand, increased the judgment, identification and prevention and control of the sentry; Pleasure.

In order to ensure the absolute safety of the great portrait, on the one hand, we maintain a high level of vigilance at all times, and carefully observe every move of pedestrians to prevent any emergencies;Another important duty of this post is to ensure the safety of party and state leaders passing by.In particular, when Premier Zhou drove back to Zhongnanhai from the Great Hall of the People, or picked up foreign guests from Zhongnanhai to Capital Airport, we strengthened the observation of pedestrians and vehicles on the road every time, dealt with any abnormalities in time, and watched him leave safely.Because the checkpoint is located on the sidewalk leading into and out of Tiananmen Square from the east, we often encounter outsiders who inquire about the way, and we all give satisfactory answers, but occasionally we make mistakes.Once, a member of the Soviet embassy parked a Volga on the side of the road not far from the sentry post, hurried up to the sentry, introduced himself in Chinese, and asked how to get to a certain place.Before the sentry answered the person's question, he first blurted out: "Oh, it's the Soviet revisionist." This made the Soviet embassy staff blush and embarrassed.For this kind of disrespectful behavior that doesn't mind, everyone draws inferences from one instance in time, takes it as a warning, and masters the etiquette and civilized expressions in duty.No similar faux pas have occurred since.

I have been guarding the huge portraits of Tsushima and En for more than ten years. Although the sentries have changed one after another, everyone has successfully completed the guard task under the inspiration of revolutionary beliefs.