183 heavenly road

On the weekend, Li wanted to read the documents piled up on his desk all morning. The housekeeper's little sister prepared spicy Hunan dishes for him. After lunch, while he was sitting in an armchair drinking tea, Medy sent him a handwritten tiao. The envelope and the letter paper inside are printed with the rice flag of the old British House. The Chinese characters are written straight and clear at a glance:

First, the British government does not allow China to interfere in Tibet's internal affairs; Second, it opposes Chinese officials' unauthorized seizure of executive power in Tibet, and does not recognize that China regards Tibet as equal to the mainland provinces; Third, Britain does not want to allow unlimited Chinese soldiers in Tibet; Fourth, the above sections will first establish a contract, and the British side will recognize the benefits to the Republic of China; V. Temporary China and Tibet Traffic through India should be regarded as cut off.

Li Xiang ridiculously threw the note sent by Ge Fu, the British consul in Hankou, into the garbage basket.

He has never been subjected to the kind of fatigue-bombing diplomatic pressure exerted by the British this week. Sir Gefu, the British ambassador to Hankou, visited Luojiashan Villa repeatedly, inquired about the mobilization of the Hubei army and warned the Hubei government to be careful. Ge Fu still stayed as the British Consulate in Hankou after the Xinhai Revolution, and still conscientiously gave full play to his professional diplomat's expertise to carry out a policy of appeasement against Li Xiang, and he did do his best. There is no doubt that he was urged by Lord Zhu Erdian, Consul General of the United Kingdom in Beijing, and the British Ministry of Foreign Affairs, because this gentle diplomat has long been without the prestige of shouting in Hankou in the Qing Dynasty. Everyone who knows him in Hankou knows this - not only the British consul in Hankou, but also the leaders of the eleven countries in Hankou. Now we all have to be obedient grandchildren with their tails.

In Hankou, Ge Fu submitted Li Xiang one letter after another emphasizing the seriousness of the situation. In Beijing, British Consul General Zhu Andian also met with Yan Huiqing, the foreign affairs director of Yuan Shikai's government, on this Sabbath. He did not recognize the Republic of China as a threat and proposed: "If the government of the Republic of China is determined to collect Tibet and continue to send the Western army forward, the British government will not recognize the Republic of China and should help Tibet with its strength. ", he was highlighted to the seriousness of the current situation.

From these diplomatic exchanges in Britain, Li wants to find that Britain is also a screamer, and the barking dog does not bite. The British are so nervous that when he continues to march into Tibet, what Britain is willing to do is at best to give such a warning: "If the government of the Republic of China is determined to conquer Tibet and continue to send the Western army forward, then the British government will not recognize the Republic of China and should help Tibet with strength." In fact, this is what the British government is willing to do at best - it is too late to stop Li Xiang later.

Less than 10 days after the signing of the Changdu surrender agreement, and even the peaceful occupation of the Changdu area has not been completed, Li Xiang sent a top-secret emergency telegram to General Lin Tiechang, the commander of the Most Anxi National Revolutionary Army:

(I) The full entry date of large troops into Tibet can be according to your plan, but it cannot be earlier. ( II) What is the number of people in your front echelon and back echelon? If the echelon you reported has no problem for your team, if it is for Panchen to join the Tibetan team, you should advise it to postpone it and still discuss it in the Han Dynasty. It is beneficial to go after Da Nai's welcome. ( 3) Panchen Lama can send a few people to enter Tibet with Fan Ming first. The Northwest Bureau should pay attention to the leadership of the work of the Panchen Lama.

Lin Tiechang replied to Li Xiang with a telegram and gave a detailed answer. There was basically no problem.

After receiving Lin Tiechang's call back, Li Xiang informed his military leader of his idea and issued the "Training for Marching Tibet". Instructions:

1. The Fourth Division occupying Changdu, except for leaving two regiments in the Ganzi and Changdu areas to build Ganzi Airport and the Ganzi and Changdu sections of highways, the task of the Fourth Division's entry into Tibet remains unchanged. The division should be stationed in Lhasa with one regiment, two regiments stationed in Dingqing, Wushao, Lijia and Taizhao areas, and the division headquarters in Taizhao.

2. The independent detachment of Qinghai cavalry should be stationed in the Baoqian area by Yushu, and it is still under the Anxi Military Region.

4. The troops preparing to enter Tibet from Xinjiang, except for the leading troops continuing to detect the road to Kadak, the main force continued to build roads in preparation for entering Tibet at any time.

According to the order of marching, the Qinghai Independent Detachment divided the whole force into four brigades: horse brigade, cattle brigade, camel brigade and mule brigade.

The independent detachment set out from Xiangride Town, Dulan County, Qinghai Province. After an eleven-day march, it walked to Nuomu Honggang, the first mountain on the road to Tibet.

Nuomu Honggang is the first mountain on the road from Qinghai to Tibet. It is an important mountain pass of Burhan Buda Mountain. It is the watershed between the Qaidam Basin and the source of the Yellow River. It is more than 5,200 meters above sea level. It is also the first mountain we crossed on our journey to Tibet.

From Lanzhou to Xining, from Xining to Tibet, the terrain rises step by step. People walk or work. Although they feel breathless, they don't feel like going to Nuomu Honggang.

Before crossing Nomu Honggang, the alpine reaction was not very obvious. When crossing Nomu Honggang, people generally had headaches, chest tightness, dyspnea, general weakness and other phenomena obvious.

In this high and cloudy world, there are people, fields, and the cloudy barley has turned yellow, and the rapeseeds have matured.

"The light has arrived."

"Open the light? Does this name really have a personality?

"There are several Tibetan compatriots there."

Far away, several Tibetan compatriots were surprised to see so many troops and animals. They did not dare to contact them, but just watched from afar. Anything on a scale has a shocking side, not to mention this kind of large-scale military column, the Tibetans are so scared that their whole body is stiff.

After the light, he officially marched towards Nuomu Honggang. It is more than 30 miles from Kaiguang to Nuomu Honggang.

The sky suddenly covered with dark clouds, the thunder shook the sky, and the pouring rain kept falling. Although it rained heavily, the road was slippery, and it was difficult to walk, but they kept moving forward in the rain as usual. In the past, the waterless riverbed was caused by heavy rain and mountain torrents, and the river water soared, which stopped them from moving forward.

When they arrived at the river, they were all dumbfounded.

"How can so many mules cross the river?"

The captain of the mule said, "Let's go down the river to protect the animals and supplies to cross the river safely."

With that, he took the lead in jumping down the river, and then more than a dozen comrades also jumped into the river, and the depth of the river reached the root of people's thighs. The comrades quickly formed a human wall hand in hand, while other comrades helped pull mules and support the swraps. Everyone worked together to escort animals and supplies across the river safely. After crossing the river, I climbed the mountain again.

It was dark, the heavy rain was still falling, and the mountain road was narrow and slippery. Due to the collision between the mules, some mules were knocked to the ground. From time to time, they had to lift the saddles that hit the ground back to the mules again. It is not easy to carry a saddle on a hillside in heavy rain. After more than ten hours of difficult march, the revolutionary army finally reached the root of Nomu Honggang Mountain.

Nuomu Honggang is the first mountain to be crossed on the journey to Tibet. It is 5,200 meters above sea level, with thin air and severe hypoxia.

On the night when they arrived at the root of Nomu Honggang Mountain, many people's stomachs were bloated and uncomfortable, and the animals were also bloated.

"We got miasma?" A soldier from Hunan said in horror. He often heard the old man say that the place where the Yungui Miao people lived was full of miasma. If he was hit by the miasma, his stomach would be bloated and uncomfortable.

"Feudal superstition, demagogic military heart!" The monitor gave him a hammer: "Before leaving, the political commissar said that this is a mountain reaction caused by hypoxia, a normal physiological phenomenon."

The monitor said, holding an iron jar from the mule, connecting a leather pipe, opening the valve, and giving them the mask at the end of the leather pipe.

"Try to take two sips."

The Hunan soldier took two deep breaths suspiciously, and immediately relieved his drowsy head a lot. He said with a smile, "This oxygen can really cure the miasma!"

There is thick white snow on Nuomu Honggang Mountain all year round, and there are two rivers under the mountain. Therefore, the first problem encountered when crossing Nuomu Honggang is that you have to cross two rivers under the mountain. The water of the river is the snow melted from the snow in the snowy mountains. It is piercingly cold. In addition, it rained heavily at that time, flash floods broke out, the river water kept rising, and the water was gasping, which once again brought great difficulties for the revolutionary army to cross the river. In order to ensure the safety of the transportation of materials, the revolutionary army once again jumped into the river without hesitation, forming a wall, some people pulling mules, some people holding saddles, and escorting mules and materials across the river. Due to the cold mountain floods on the plateau, people's feet and hands are numb. After two hours of busy work, he successfully completed the task of crossing the river. Many people had a lot of small blood on their legs after crossing the river.

The second is to defeat the serious altitude sickness. Due to the continuous heavy rain, the road is narrow and slippery, and suddenly climbed such a high mountain. In addition, people with hypoxia have difficulty breathing when walking, headaches, dizziness, weak limbs, and some nausea. After a few steps, they have to stop and rest and breathe slowly before moving forward.

Chest tightness and shortness of breath, dizziness and pain in the whole body, difficulty in walking, heavy feet, walking and continuous command. At that time, everyone thought that they had encountered "miasma", so people began to inhale "oxygen" one after another.

"This oxygen consumption is too fast." The captain said.

The political commissar said, "It's better to slow down." I heard that Tibetans have to put a piece of cow dung on their heads when climbing mountains to ask for the blessing of the cow god. After hearing this, Marshal Li explained that this was to climb the mountain on the plateau. Don't be too anxious, because the plateau lacks oxygen and must walk slowly. It's not a blessing from the bull. The general also instructed not to go too quickly. Although our march is much slower than in the inland plain, I think it is still too urgent.

"Okay, it's up to you. Take your time."

In this way, the comrades encouraged and helped each other, summoned up their courage, endured headaches, chest tightness, asthma and other difficulties, and continued to climb to the top of the mountain step by step. In the process of fighting against the miasma, in order to maintain the animal power of the mule, under the leadership, the comrades did not ride the mule, but just pulled the tail of the mule and gasped and advanced to the top of the mountain step by step. It is the first time for comrades to climb such a high mountain and feel the taste of hypoxia for the first time. In the face of these difficulties, comrades with stronger physical strength also take the initiative to help weak comrades and light plateau reaction comrades to help comrades with heavy plateau reaction to fight against miasma.

Due to the continuous heavy rain, dry cow dung could not be picked up, cooking and eating without fuel has become a big problem. In order to ensure physical strength, the revolutionary army can only satisfy their hunger with fried noodles.

After suffering, headache and fatigue, all the comrades finally defeated the "miasma gas" and walked up to Nomu Honggang and reached Arag. The revolutionary army withstood the first test of hypoxia.