Author: I look at history
On June 10, 1953, the second phase of the Summer Offensive to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea was about to begin. The 200th Division of the 67th Army, in accordance with the orders of its superiors, prepared to take the "capital heights" and "model fortresses" painstakingly operated by the US and ROK troops on the second night -- Gyeonggi Mountain (called the Cross Mountain by our army).
Master Li Jing
After two weeks of intense preparations, there were only 20 hours left before the general offensive was launched. Li Jing, the commander of the 200th Division, and Gao Zhanjie, the political commissar, although exhausted, could not sleep worriedly.
The two were anxious because the 21st Regiment under the command of Kim Yi-yeol of the Eighth Division of the ROK Army not only defended the Cross Mountain very fortified, but the forward positions were covered with barbed wire, minefields, and crisscrossing communication trenches, and there were as many as 4 floors of light and dark fire points from the mountainside to the top of the mountain. In addition, there are more than 3 tunnel fortifications connecting the support points of each position.
It is not easy to capture a position with tunnels as a defensive tactical system. This time, the division commander Li Jing was going to fight this battle, and the trouble was a little big.
Considering the arduousness and complexity of the battle, Qiu Wei, the commander of the 67th Army, who also could not sleep, called before the war and asked Commander Li Jing: "What is the situation now?" Does the rain affect us"? ”
General Qiu Wei
Li Jing, who was already a little nervous and uneasy, thought that he was a bit slack, and under the reminder of the military commander, he found his own omission -- how much impact did the rainy day have on the artillery? How can this impact be reduced?
Li Jing immediately summoned the director of the artillery of the 200th Division, proposed the possible impact of rain on artillery shooting, and asked for an immediate test firing. The director of artillery frowned and said that it was impossible to conduct test firing now, for two reasons.
First, the time is running out.
Second, on rainy days, the entire Cross Hill was foggy, and the forward artillery observers could not see the impact point of the shelling at all.
What to do?
After repeated discussions with the comrades in the division, Li Jing adopted a plan, using a cannon to test fire once on the hill where it could be observed, checking the firing of Zhu Yuan, and then notifying other artillery observation posts at the front.
Although this problem was solved relatively satisfactorily, Li Jing was not at ease and began to consider other problems.
The 200th Division attacked Cross Hill, deploying 120 cannons per kilometer of front, and 25 minutes of artillery preparation time to shoot out 20,000 shells. If you count the fire cover forces launching a charge and supporting the troops to repel the enemy counterattack, at least 70,000 shells will be consumed.
Li Jing believes that since we know that rainy days have an impact on artillery shooting, we should respond scientifically and carefully to avoid wasting ammunition. You must know that these shells are bought with the blood and lives of the logistics units of the volunteer army, and as a commander, you must prevent wasting it because of negligence.
At this time, the commander of the main attack regiment called and asked to face the division commander. Li Jing inquired about the situation at the front, and the head of the main attack regiment reported that several enemies were moving towards the lurking area, and Li Jing immediately arranged a response plan.
Hanging up the phone, the tunnels of the 200th Division's command post tensed up. The staff officer on duty hurried in and reported an emergency: the enemy suddenly fired several shots at the tank positions of our army's lurking tanks, and may have discovered our army's hidden troops.
It turned out that this was a dangerous move under Master Li Jing. Hide the tank troops lurking in the old places where the enemy often shells, and when they launch an attack, they will cooperate with infantry, tanks, and artillery to catch the enemy by surprise and attack him. This idea is good, but before the battle is launched, in case the enemy finds our tank units in advance, the consequences are unimaginable.
Li Jing carefully studied the situation and believed that the first night, when our army's tank units sneaked into the position, they were very hidden and the enemy could not find out. Therefore, he ordered the staff officer on duty to strengthen observation and find a way to find out the intention of the enemy's shelling; at the same time, he informed the forward artillery command post that as soon as the enemy found to be firing at the tank lurking positions of our army, the two artillery battalions of our army, which were responsible for suppressing the enemy's artillery, immediately opened fire to suppress the enemy.
After 15 minutes, Li Jing, who summarized all aspects of the situation, finally figured out the situation. Although the cunning Jin Yilie had a premonition that our army was going to attack the Mountain of Crosses, he mistook the main direction of our army's real offensive and knew nothing about the tank units of our army that were lurking under his own eyes.
This once again proves that in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the volunteer army was still able to do an excellent job of concealing and camouflaging before the war under the circumstance that there was a large gap in equipment between the enemy and ourselves, which was rare in the world's military history.
Soon, the second phase of the summer offensive to resist US aggression and aid Korea was officially launched.
Commander Zheng Weishan
Just when Taylor, the new commander of the US Eighth Army and hailed by the US military as "the most outstanding general after World War II", commanded the ROK army and fought inextricably with the 180th Division under the command of the 60th Army commander Jang Zu-woo, Zheng Weishan, commander of the 20th Corps, ordered the 200th Division of the 67th Army to immediately launch a general attack on cross hill defended by the 21st Regiment of the 8th Division of the ROK Army.
At the order of Li Jing, commander of the 200th Division, hundreds of cannons slammed into the enemy's positions like mountains and seas.
According to the plan, when the various latent troops entered the designated position and were about to launch an attack, an unexpected thing happened, and the 5 companies responsible for attacking the main peak did not send a special signal that all of them were in place. Aren't the 5 companies all in place?
Li Jing judged that if the machinery and other signals were sent and then shelled the main peak position, the 5th Company was likely to be suppressed by enemy fire in the impact position, so he picked up the phone and ordered the artillery command post to fire at the main peak position of Cross Mountain according to the battle plan!
An hour later, when the various offensive units of the 200th Division successfully took the predetermined targets, reported how many enemies were captured, how many weapons and equipment were captured by the enemy, and even the names and deeds of the combat heroes who emerged in our army in this battle, there was still no movement in the main peak position that made Li Jing worried.
If you really didn't take the main peak position that night, you would be in big trouble! The enemy can quickly reinforce the main peak positions, and if the battle turns into a stalemate, it will not only greatly increase the casualties of the friendly troops on the flanks, but also destroy our army's battle plan for the smooth capture of the entire Cross Mountain.
The complication of the problem is that, according to the situation reported by the commander of the main attack regiment, the 5th Company of the main offensive regiment should launch a charge to attack, but we have not found the signal sent by the enemy to open fire on the main peak position and the 5th company to attack the main peak position.
This question is not simple, Li Jing made the following judgment:
1, the enemy is not clear whether our army has occupied the main peak position.
2, the 5 companies that attacked the main peak position were beaten down by the enemy, because the Rok army defending the main peak position had a battalion of troops, hundreds of people, and the strength of the 5 companies was far greater.
At this point in the battle, Li Jing resolutely ordered the commander of the main attack regiment to send the only company in his hand to the main peak position to find out the situation first. If the main peak position is not taken, attack immediately.
If the main peak position is not fully controlled, it will cooperate with the 5 companies to destroy the remnants of the enemy; if the position has been completely captured, cooperate with the 5 companies to cope with the enemy's counterattack or advance to expand the results.
At the same time, Li Jing once again ordered the artillery command post to prepare for a second concentrated fire on the main peak position.
What was surprising was that when this company reached the main peak position, it was surprised to find that the song of the volunteer soldiers was actually heard in the tunnel of the main peak position.
It turned out that when the 5th Company arrived at the designated position to prepare for the attack, it was suddenly hit by enemy artillery fire, and the company commander and deputy company commander were seriously wounded on the spot. At the critical moment, Ren Zhiming, the commander of the assault platoon, stepped forward and led the whole company to quickly launch a charge.
In the period of five minutes before and after, with a company of troops, the ROK battalion guarding the main peak position destroyed 12 fire points and 4 tunnels; in one fell swoop, it captured the enemy artillery observation post and the battalion command post, and captured more than 50 ROK soldiers in the tunnel.
The fly in the ointment is that during the battle, all three walkie-talkies carried with them were damaged, and the red and green signal flares fired by the four signal guns to capture the main peak were too low to be detected in time by the forward artillery observation center of our army due to the smoke and smoke on the battlefield.
At this point, the gripping Battle of Cross Hill has finally come to an end. It took only 80 minutes for the 200th Division of the 67th Army to take down the fortified position that the United Nations army had painstakingly managed for two years.
Looking back at the Battle of Cross Mountain, Qiu Wei, commander of the 67th Army, promptly reminded Li Jing of the 200th Division's correct judgment and quickly came up with countermeasures, and there was a thrilling episode in the battle, which also showed once again that the volunteer soldiers were not only brave and good at fighting, but also the commanders were even more strategic and decisive, which was the key to ensuring the final victory!
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