"As the ice grows stronger, the ground begins to crack." At 23:59 on December 21, we ushered in the winter solstice. On this day, the sun shines directly on the Tropic of cancer, which is the longest night in the northern hemisphere. On this day, in the White Mountains and black waters, in the snow covered plateau, in the depths of the ocean, above the blue sky... A group of people stick to their positions. They have a common name - People's soldiers. Since the winter solstice, the sun's back and forth movement has entered a new cycle, which means a new life. Before dawn, Chinese soldiers are the brightest "stars" in the night sky. Many, many long nights, they have been holding on silently. Under this guard, every night of the motherland will usher in a safe morning. —— editor Guard the longest night for you set sail ■ special reporter of PLA Daily Li Wei and correspondent Li Hongming Night wraps the sea and the sky together. On the channel paved with moonlight, the Huangshan ship chased the moon through the wind, and every wave excited was like a loud note. Near the winter solstice, there is a full moon. It seems that only the hot tea can dispel the fatigue of the long night. In the cab, on the ship commander's seat closest to the moonlight, Captain Qiao Lei picked up and put down the teacup from time to time, as if to add "punctuation" to the long night. "Captain, you'd better not be on duty after midnight." Looking at his narrower eyes and deeper lines between his eyebrows, the officers and soldiers around him advised Qiao Lei more than once. Qiao Lei has his own idea: the deeper the night, the more vigilant it is. That night, the waves were not surprised, and the Huangshan ship patrolled the coastline of the motherland as always. Suddenly, an "uninvited guest" appeared on the air-to-air radar, and a foreign fighter plane broke into the "line of sight" of the Huangshan ship. In the face of special circumstances, Qiao Lei responded calmly. He ordered the signal soldiers to shout solemnly on the international public channel while issuing relevant preparation instructions. At the same time, the Huangshan ship carried out large angle navigation maneuvers. In the face of our efficient and deterrent response, the external aircraft left bitterly and the sea and sky returned to peace. "We plow the waves and plough the sea at the southernmost end of the motherland in order to let the morning light over our heads and into thousands of families behind us." Perhaps it is the professional habit for many years, shouldering the sacred mission of defending the motherland's coastal areas. Qiao Lei always has such an awe inspiring hardness and self-confidence in his bones. There is no need to say more about safeguarding rights at sea. Qiao Lei was also full of confidence in international competitions. That year, Huangshan warship was invited as the only representative of the Chinese navy to participate in multinational maritime joint exercises with more than 10 countries. In the early stage, everything was calm, and the performance of Huangshan ship was commendable. During the sea live fire, the organizer changed the target style and extended the shooting distance. Facing the onlookers of old naval powers, Qiao Lei quickly studied with the officers and men of the main artillery unit to change the strain. Finally, in the rumble of gunfire, the target was covered by dense bullet holes. "If we want peace, we must have the confidence to win wars. What confidence is, what we do is confidence." On the way back, Qiao Lei wrote down his feelings about the joint performance in his notebook. The sea never fails every sailor who paddles hard. This year, Huangshan warship won eight first and four second places in the professional competition of a destroyer detachment in the southern theater. Its total score ranked first among the detachment and won the title of "iron fist warship". Looking back on the track, Qiao Lei increasingly felt that the most difficult thing was not to fight with his opponent, but to constantly break through himself and climb to a new height. The deputy director of the sea, Xiao Li Cun, was deeply impressed by this—— In a sea training resumption, Xiao Li village reported the counterattack time in seconds. But after thinking deeply, Qiao Lei decisively asked that "the firing time must be accurate to centisecond". From seconds to centiseconds, it seems that it just moves the decimal point forward by two digits, but the hardships paid are unimaginable. The observation and early warning mode is added, the firing data setting is adjusted, the action password is simplified, and the system software is optimized. A decimal point redefines the theoretical data defined by the manufacturer, and the operational accuracy is further improved. On 360 days of the year, most of them are driving ships up the sea. In Qiao Lei's view, "the sea is a vast fertile land. Only by hard work can we harvest the fruits of victory". As the ship kept moving forward, the night became lighter and lighter, and the golden edge of the red sun gradually appeared in the horizon. Dawn is coming. On the ocean, the Huangshan ship is sailing. Garrison the border ■ Feng Yakun, Wu Jun As dusk fell, when the last golden afterglow left observation post 5592, the highest post in the army was covered by cold wave and night. In the post, Liu Jun, a cook, is waiting for his comrades in arms to return. "The winter solstice is coming soon. The instructor specially told me to make some dumplings in addition to dumplings." Looking at the dinner in front of him, Liu Jun said with satisfaction. Tangyuan is specially prepared for WAN Zixin, the only young man in the south of the post. "How cold!" In the distance of the post, the first-class soldier Wan Zixin made a white fog. He rubbed his hands hard, and the cold mask was already covered with thick frost. At the moment, the snow on the border is cold, but wan Zixin's blood is hot. So far, he is still proud of his "warm blood" when he joined the army. In the midsummer of last year, he was deeply attracted by the recruitment publicity during his first summer vacation of his university career, and took the initiative to sign up and choose to serve in difficult and remote areas. Wan Zixin comes from Gaoyou, Jiangsu Province, from the water town in the south of the Yangtze River to the highest post at an altitude of 5592 meters. After crossing 4000 kilometers of magnificent mountains and rivers, he came to the military camp of his dream - "model camp for Plateau border defense" Gangba border camp of a border regiment of Tibet Military Region. The average altitude here is 4800 meters, the minimum temperature is - 40 ℃, and there are more than 200 strong winds above grade 8 every year... The harsh natural environment really gives Wan Zixin a "downfall". In Wan Zixin's opinion, the biggest growth in coming to the border is not the adaptation to the snow plateau, but the experience of the soul. *** These words have always been kept in mind by border officers and soldiers. "Have you brought all the first-aid drugs? Don't forget the portable oxygen bottle!" Before departure, company commander Wang Xu told everyone again and again. The end of this patrol is 6280 meters above sea level. We must be fully prepared. After driving on the border highway for nearly an hour, the patrol team came to the starting point of foot patrol. What comes into view is a blue and white ice lake. At the end of the lake is the magnificent qudennima glacier. The end of the patrol is above the glacier. Along the Bank of the ice lake, we headed for the glacier and went to the end of the lake. The glacier formed by glacier melt blocked the way of the officers and soldiers. "The river is not deep, just below the calf, but at the moment of entering the water, the cold rushed straight to the top of the head from the soles of the feet, and immediately felt that the breathing was going to stop." Wan Zixin once slipped in the glacier due to lack of experience. He still can't forget the bitter cold. Across the glacier, the next problem faced by officers and soldiers is to climb the glacier. Under the glacier, ice cracks up to tens of meters deep, turbulent underground rivers and ice as sharp as a blade threaten the safety of officers and soldiers all the time. Facing the steep ice slope, Sergeant sienema took the lead. He stuck close to the glacier and dug ice holes on it with a dagger to facilitate his comrades in arms to climb behind. Resisting altitude sickness, the patrol officers and soldiers finally reached the destination after about three and a half hours of trek. After observing, checking and recording, and confirming that there were no abnormalities, the officers and men unfolded the national flag they carried with them and solemnly vowed: "it is better to die ten steps forward than to live half a step backward. If there is me in the border defense, please rest assured of the motherland!" The oath resounded through the sky. dawn ■ Zhuang Yan, special reporter of PLA Daily, pan Mengting Fog cage south of the Yangtze River, the night is waning, and thin white smoke rises on the ground. In the airport, moonlight and lights are intertwined, and busy vehicles overlap with running figures. In the barracks of an air force aviation regiment in the eastern theater, flight captain Wang Xingxian reconfirmed the route of today's night flight. 30 minutes before takeoff, the hangar. Under the huge wings of the bomber, the crew were all in place. The winter solstice is coming, and the reunion day adds some special meaning to the night flight. In the cockpit, Wang Xingxian listened to the roar of the engine and thought of his family in the distance. When he came home from his last vacation, his son took a third grade craft class. He didn't know where to pick up a pile of materials and "build" a plane. On the way to pick up his son from school, his son rode on his shoulder and raised the plane above his head. "I'm guarding their dreams. Whenever I think so, I don't dare to slack off." Thinking of this scene, Wang Xingxian's eyes were firmer. "You can take off." With the launch of the signal bomb, the bomber roared into the sky with its tail flame and quickly hid in the dark night. At 3 a.m., when people are most tired. Above the clouds, Zhai Hexing, the pilot next to Wang Xingxian, touched his chest. In his inner pocket there was a picture of a girl smiling like a flower. That is his wife Wang Chunlin. That time, Zhai Hexing, who finished visiting relatives, was about to leave. On the occasion of parting, Wang Chunlin took him to the boarding gate and watched her lover go farther and farther. She turned her back and wiped her tears. "Spring forest." There was a familiar voice behind Wang Chunlin's back. As soon as Wang Chunlin looked back, Zhai Hexing raised his mobile phone and said, "love to cry. Smile and I'll take a picture of you." Later, Zhai Hexing printed out the photos and put them in his lined pocket. That's the nearest place. "In this way, no matter how far the plane flies, I can find my way home." He said. When the navigation lights on both sides of the airport runway gradually "dim" in the dawn, Wang Xingxian returned from the night flight with a bomber. Subsequently, Tian Shaochun, a 27 year old pilot, also landed safely. Before taking off last night, the newly married wife told Tian Shaochun that the dumplings from the winter solstice had been put in the refrigerator and hoped that he would return safely. "Last night, I flew over thousands of lights. Among the countless lights, I seemed to see the one in our house." At dawn, Tian Shaochun returned to the dormitory and wrote such a sentence in the memo. Sharpen sword ■ special reporter of PLA Daily yuan Shuai and correspondent Li Hongjie In winter, I met the rare sunshine in the mountains of southern China. The light passes through the towering trees, leaving spots between the leaves. Having no time to enjoy the scenery in front of him, Zhu Haohui, second sergeant of a test company of a brigade of the rocket army, entered the working state early. For this 23 year old test veteran, today, as usual, is full and busy. Put on the "tooling", eliminate the static electricity of the whole body, wear anti-static bracelets and gloves, and Zhu Haohui quickly walked into the test site. There is Zhu Haohui's most familiar "battlefield". A dark green missile car slowly drove out, which was the protagonist of today's test. In the rocket army, if the launching specialty is the "sword bearer" of the "great power long sword", the testing specialty is the "Medical Examiner" of missiles. "The status of the missile and whether it meets the launch requirements largely depend on our test horn." Talking about her major, Zhu Haohui took pride in her words. "Bugler in place!" With the command of the commander, the bearing carrying the "great power heavy weapon" slowly rotates, and the missile test enters a critical moment. In the eyes of the new comrades in arms, Zhu Haohui is a famous professional "Da Na" of the whole brigade. But he knew in his heart that it was not easy to do a good job in the testing profession. Sometimes it was like groping in the dark