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Fight for 19 days, one hundred thousand military pickaxes were sent to the frontline
In the "One hundred thousand Military Pickaxes" exhibition area of the China Industrial Museum, a group of group sculptures vividly recreate the scene of the Chinese People's Volunteers holding military pickaxes and digging trenches more than 70 years ago. Next to the group sculptures, there are also physical military pickaxes from that time displayed, with mottled rust resembling the imprints of time, quietly telling the story of the "One Hundred Thousand Military pickaxes" to every audience member.
In 1950, Shenyang Heavy Machinery Factory received orders from superiors to produce one hundred thousand military pickaxes within two months for digging trenches on the frontline of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea. All employees of the factory overcame unfavorable conditions and adopted the method of "stacking cores and string casting", relying on the tactic of crowds of people, to complete the task in only 19 days.
Zhu Deyi, former chief engineer of Shenyang Heavy Machinery Factory, recalled in 2012 as follows:
At the end of October 1949, we produced the first furnace of molten steel in New China. In the autumn of 1950, the Machinery Bureau ordered me to attend a meeting. The director announced the order at the meeting, requiring us to produce one hundred thousand military pickaxes and send them to the frontline within two months. Such a heavy task was unbearable, and I quickly returned to the factory to report to the factory director and launched a general mobilization throughout the factory. At that time, the factory had not yet recovered its vitality. We were both happy and worried about accepting such a difficult task at once. Military pickaxes are a military task with strict technical conditions. There are more than ten processes in total, and each one cannot be careless. Military pickaxes must be sturdy and easy to use, as well as convenient to carry. The weight error of each military pickaxe should not exceed two taels
The first difficulty in making military pickaxes was' no rice to put into the pot '. Our factory had the ability to make steel, which was an advantage at that time. Without raw materials, we mobilized all the staff in the factory to pick up scrap steel and make steel ourselves. Thanks to the 1.5-ton small electric furnace, one difficulty after another was overcome. The formation of the pickaxe head was not yet completed, and the burrs had to be polished according to technical standards. The pickaxe head had to be sharpened, flattened, sharpened, quenched and other processes to be completed one after another.
In order to cooperate with the construction of military pickaxes, the factory specially installed a batch of grinding machines to intensively polish the pickaxes. According to the requirements of the drawings, one end is sharp, the other is flat, and both ends are quenched to increase hardness, ensuring that the construction of fortifications on the battlefield is invincible. After the military pickaxes are completed, they need to be weighed one by one, and those weighing more than 2 taels need to be polished down until they meet the standards. Because soldiers have to carry pickaxes on their backs to march and fight, it will increase their burden if they are too heavy. After passing the inspection of each process, the pickaxes need to be coated with black paint, packaged and transported in batches to the destination, and distributed to the soldiers before the Chinese People's Volunteers crosses the Yalu River.
Tens of thousands of military pickaxes were continuously sent to the frontline, and Shenyang's military enterprises worked day and night to deliver powerful weapons to the soldiers fighting against the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea.
In supporting frontline production, the production of Factory 53 has grown significantly year after year. In 1951, the output increased fourfold compared to the previous year, and in 1952, it doubled again. On December 24, 1952, the Financial and Economic Committee of the Central People's Government and the All China Federation of Trade Unions jointly made a decision, approved by Premier Zhou, to award the glorious title of "Model Factory" to Factory 53. Commander in Chief Zhu De wrote an inscription for the factory: 'You are the model of relying on the working class to run the factory and enterprise well.'.
Shenyang produces whatever is needed on the frontline. The Shenyang Bridge Factory, Tractor Factory, Blower Factory, Biscuit Factory, Northeast Pharmaceutical Factory and other large and small factories in Tiexi provided the frontline troops with gun saddles, aircraft auxiliary fuel tanks, artillery vehicles, military pickaxes, rice frying machines, military biscuits and a large amount of drugs for production.
During the two years and nine months of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, made positive contributions to winning the war.