In 1965, Lieutenant General Louis Puller, who lived in Virginia, received a visit from a military writer and former Marine, Leon Pooch, at his home, the first time the two had met since the Battle of Chosin Lake, and The first thing Puller said after meeting was: "Have you unfrozen, Sergeant?" ”
1st Marine Division at Chosin Lake
Originally a Marine, Porky almost froze his feet during the Battle of Chosin Lake and was sent to a Japanese hospital to recuperate. After returning to China, he wrote about his own affairs in the book "Gathering in Hell". In the book, he insists that Lake Chosin is the hot spring pass of the First Marine Division. In that battle, the First Marine Division had two enemies, one was Chinese, and the other was heavy snow.
Born in Iowa, Poch snow was not uncommon for him, but at Chosin Lake he saw heavy snow that he would never forget, accompanied by lightning, and whenever this happened, the Navy's F4U Pirate fighter-bombers could not be moved at all, and the Marines in the heavy snow could only fight with the M1 rifles in their hands.
F4U carrier-based aircraft parked on an aircraft carrier
After retiring from the army, Porky went to college and read the materials in the library to learn that the winter of 1950 was the coldest winter since 1888 was recorded. Vehicles do not dare to turn off at night, and once they are turned off, they may never be able to start again. Medical officers kept the syringes and morphine all close to their bodies to prevent them from freezing.
Early one morning, the thermometer in the command post showed minus 54 degrees, and the pen ink that Boach had inserted in his pocket froze and exploded. The cereal was poured with hot milk for less than 30 seconds and it froze as hard as a stone. Many automatic weapons are frozen and unusable, and the bolts of the M1 rifles are pulled every ten minutes to prevent them from freezing.
The Battle of Chosin Lake lasted 17 days, and every day the Marines spent in despair
Among Poche's comrades-in-arms were second-time veterans who had fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and they had always believed that there could be no more difficult battle than the Battle of the Salient, but the Battle of Chosin Lake made them completely change their minds. Porky believes that in addition to the once-in-a-decade cold, the ubiquitous attack of the Chinese has made his heart palpitate.
One night, a large hole was cut in the tent where they lived, and several grenades were thrown in, killing the priest and several members of the army. Immediately after the sound of submachine guns "clicking", Pooch reacted quickly, and rushed out of the tent with several soldiers, and more than 20 shots were fired in his sleeping bag, and the down flew wildly.
The grenade was one of the few heavy weapons the Volunteers had
Rushing out of the tent, Poche instantly felt that his face, hands and feet were unconscious, and the camp was in a low valley, and the fierce small arms shooting and Chinese scolding were heard from the high ground on both sides, and he could only mechanically pick up his rifle and shoot at the enemy. Such battles made the Marines miserable, and for two weeks they fought day and night with the invincible enemy, and 11 people were awarded medals of honor in 11 days, which showed the fierceness of the battle.
Faced with such a dilemma, the Marines complained. They directed their anger at Commander Almond of the 10th Army and Commander MacArthur of the Far East. Locals had warned against launching winter operations in the area, but the fact was that the Marines had not only been launched, but had also been scattered along 40 miles of mountain roads, and their nearest reinforcements were 70 miles away (the Polar Bear Regiment of the 7th Division), and in fact they were quickly wiped out by the volunteers.
The US military vehicles in the night sound did not even dare to turn off the fire, otherwise they could not start again, which was bullying the volunteers without the air force
Many people are afraid to live, do not know whether they will be able to go back alive, the "LIFE" magazine with the army ingested reporter Duncan asked, what do you want the most? Everyone answered: I want tomorrow! During a hand-to-hand combat, Porky was knocked unconscious by a volunteer slam on the front door, and when he woke up, he found his feet completely unconscious. Luckily, he soon met the other Marines and was moved to the truck.
A documentary of Lake Chosin filmed in the United States
The First Marine Division eventually broke out of the encirclement with its strong logistical capabilities, and the New York Times called the retreat an "epic feat" no less significant than the Dunkirk evacuation. Surprisingly, more than 7,800 people in the First Marine Division, wearing thick down cold suits, suffered frostbite, of which more than 300 froze to death. The rate of frostbite was close to 30 per cent, more than the volunteers wearing only thin cotton jackets.
After the war, the United States studied the winter clothes of the volunteers to find out why they were "not afraid of the cold"
The First Marine Division originally had the nickname "Old Bread", and after this battle, the survivors had a new nickname" "Cold Bread", in The Words of Porky, "We are all frozen, and we don't want to go to such a cold place in this life." ”