Because of his work, Uncle Lai is familiar with some machinery and equipment in the field of mineral geology. The reason why there is an illusion that this is a mining area is because most of the working sections located in the center and deepest part of the Xihai River underground project are operated with mining machinery.
Although these mechanical equipment have been dismantled or destroyed, many things left on site can prove this.
"When I followed the mark and walked there, I had the feeling that this place must be the core part of the Xihai River Project." Uncle Lai has a good memory. Many years have passed, but he can recall it with just a moment's thought.
All the details from that time.
Or maybe those things left an indelible impression on him.
The Xihai River project is huge. Some of the engineering buildings and structures located on the surface and in the shallow layers of the earth are probably all units used to serve the core parts. Because so many people are working on the project here, the logistics support is at least very difficult.
A heavy task. Those buildings can be easily blown into rubble, but the core cannot be completely destroyed.
"When I first looked at it, I thought it was mining under the earth's surface. But after looking at it again, I gave up this idea because the scale was too big and I couldn't imagine it."
The core part of the project is a huge cylindrical pit with a diameter of about 200 meters. It was built bit by bit using various mining excavation machinery. The main excavation machinery is the giant electric shovel used to mine open pit mines.
At the time, this was rare equipment, but at least thirty to forty electric shovels were used for the West Haihe River Project. Such equipment was basically imported from the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s. After the late 1970s, the Soviet Union was abandoned.
The goods are shipped from the United States via Hong Kong.
If you look at the huge Xihai River project from the surface, it will give people a very mysterious feeling, but only when you really see the core part, you will find that it seems to be a very simple thing. Their work process is not complicated at all.
There is not much technical content. It is estimated that an internal combustion or hydraulic rock drill is used to drill the blast holes, and then an electric shovel is used for the operation.
How to describe that scene? The machinery is huge, but compared with the overall project, it is like a group of small ants gathering around a huge loaf of bread, eating it bit by bit.
Uncle Lai couldn't figure it out. According to what my dad told him before, he thought the Xihai River Project was at least a military project that was strictly sealed. But everything in front of him told him that the engineering unit did nothing and spent most of its energy on it.
All used to dig holes here.
"What are they digging?" I tried my best to imagine the core part of the project. What exactly were they trying to dig in such a huge cylindrical pit?
"If you know what you are digging, then you can know the purpose and significance of the Xihai River Project." Uncle Lai smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Many years have passed since this happened, and your father has thought of many ways to find this answer."
The difficulty of the project increases with the depth of the excavation. Every few meters of excavation, a large or small platform must be built using the terrain to connect electricity and carry machinery and operators. Therefore, in this mine-like pit
There are many ladders connecting the upper and lower pits in the general huge well-shaped pit. They are all steel structures and are very solid. After careful observation, Uncle Lai saw the last few marking symbols next to a long and winding ladder. These symbols were clear.
It is shown that the person who carved the symbol went down the ladder.
"Seeing this, I almost immediately recalled what your father wanted to do when he entered the construction ruins."
My dad's days in Xihaihe were actually hard and tiring. He was just an ordinary soldier and had no chance to come into contact with the most secret things of engineering. However, the level of science and technology at that time was limited, and many jobs had to be done manually.
When doing these tasks, you will inevitably notice some situations.
Before the Xihai River Project was blown up, my dad's main task was to maintain the smooth flow of circuits and communication lines in the large mines. There were no specific working hours. When he was free, he might have nothing to do for several days, but when he was busy, he didn't have anything to do.
I couldn't take any time off for several days. During their last daily mission before they retreated, several experts came up with some equipment. The specific use of the equipment was unknown, but through a series of contacts and guesses, my dad inferred that those
The main purpose of the device is to collect data.
Facts have proved that my dad's guess was reasonable. These people collected some data, but at the critical moment, something went wrong. Some of the data samples were lost, and they only took away the remaining part.
"Little boy, let me tell you the truth. Your father always mentioned this experience in one word. I think something must have happened in the middle, so he persevered in trying to get the missing part of the data."
"Yeah." I nodded.
I think my dad seems to be conflicted about this matter. He knew that Xihaihe was a place where he could come if he wanted to, but he didn’t, at least between the time he was demobilized and when he started working.
Yes. It was only when the exploration team happened to pass near the Xihai River that my dad had the idea of taking a look again.
After setting the goal, Uncle Lai convinced several of his companions that the environment had affected the others. Along the way, they had implicitly regarded Uncle Lai as their temporary leader, so when Uncle Lai said he wanted to go down, no one objected.
.
The huge mine is so deep that you can’t even illuminate it with a miner’s lamp. The maximum drilling depth of the down-the-hole drilling rig is 20 meters, so every time the mine is dug about 30 meters down, a platform must be built. Uncle Lai and the others are on the first circular platform
After searching around carefully, I went down to the second platform.
Something happened at this place. They were suddenly attacked.
"Is there anyone under the mine?" I felt something was wrong. The Xihai River Project had been completely destroyed for at least several years at that time, and all personnel were evacuated. Who attacked Uncle Lai and the others? I started sweating on my head. Could it be my dad? This should be
impossible.
"I don't know if that thing is a human being." Uncle Lai turned around and pointed to the small room in the back: "What attacked us is the same thing as the ghost in the eyes of a cursed person."
The attack came so suddenly that people were caught off guard. Uncle Lai and the others didn't react at all. By the time they discovered the danger, two people had already been pushed directly off the platform. The height was so terrifying that it was absolutely impossible for people to fall.
Alive again. When they came down, they never expected that there would be anything alive here, so they carried guns on their backs. Uncle Lai was a little in a hurry. Before the gun could pull the trigger, he was knocked down by a ghost, and he rolled and rolled several times.
We reached the edge of the iron railing of the platform. The platform had also been blasted and was tilted. The iron railing was useless and could not stop people. Uncle Lai was extremely nervous. As long as he passively rolled forward a meter or two, he would be gone.
Fell down from the platform.
No one could save Uncle Lai. One of the remaining two companions was about to be pushed off the platform by the ghost like him. The other managed to fire a shot, but missed the target.
"I felt at that time that I was going to die, that I would definitely die."
The situation happened so quickly that people couldn't have much room to think, but at this moment, Uncle Lai caught a glimpse of a figure that suddenly rushed out. The figure felt very familiar to him, that was my dad.
After my dad rushed out, he hesitated. Because he was overwhelmed by the situation at that time. Uncle Lai and another colleague were both in danger. Even if he tried his best to save, he could only save one. The lives of both people were equal to death.
It's up to my dad to decide.
There was nothing we could do about it. If we hesitated any longer, we might not be able to save either of them. My dad was very decisive at the time. After thinking about it for a moment, he came directly to Uncle Lai.
The outcome of the incident was obvious. Uncle Lai had a broken arm, but his life was saved and he was rescued. However, the other companion was not so lucky, and no bones were left.
After Uncle Lai got out of trouble, he was very angry, but my dad held him back. Judging from the situation at that time, it was obviously not the first time my dad had dealt with this kind of thing. He knew that stalking would bring more serious consequences.
The only way was to try every means to escape. The three people hugged each other tightly, finally crawled out of the mine, and then returned along the original route.
Three of the four people brought by Uncle Lai died. This was a rare accident in the team at that time. My father took the main responsibility. He may have realized this. After having a look at the unit, he never came back.
When the company announced that he was being fired, he had actually resigned voluntarily.
"Little boy, there is something I have to tell you. You know, I feel very regretful and depressed." Uncle Lai shook his head gently: "This time your father went out, it actually has a lot to do with me.
, if I hadn’t been so busy at the time, maybe he wouldn’t be like this.”
"What? Uncle Lai, what's wrong with you? What happened?"
Uncle Lai's expression did look regretful. He thought for a moment and told me that about two years ago, he went out once for business matters and met someone on the train back.
It was precisely because of meeting this person on the train that the following series of things happened.