In October 1951, Panmunjom. Shortly after the meetings, an Associated Press reporter stopped volunteer negotiators and offered to meet someone shortly after the talks. The reporter did not know the man's name, but he knew his deeds. After listening to the reporter's description, the head of the volunteer army waved his hand and arranged! The next day, in the large board room of Panmunjom, a special press conference was held, and Zhao Zhili, commander of the 1st Company of the 344th Regiment of the 115th Division of the 39th Army of the Volunteer Army, appeared in front of the reporters, who was the person the reporters were looking for. What exactly did he do that attracted so much curiosity from journalists?
[U.S. Army Pershing tank washed away by the flood]
During the fourth campaign, in order to delay the attack of the American army, Wu Xinquan, commander of the 39th Army, and Wang Liangtai, commander of the 115th Division, staged a great drama of "flooding the Seventh Army". They stored water in the Huachuan Reservoir for 8 days, and then suddenly opened the floodgates when the U.S. armored forces crossed the river, and a large number of U.S. cars, tanks, and artillery were washed away. Li Qiwei couldn't believe it after hearing the news, can the battle still be fought like this? Mountains, rivers and mountains can be soldiers.
But Ridgway was not a good friend, and soon woke up. He ordered the 3rd Regiment of the 1st Marine Division to rush to the Huachuan Reservoir, and as long as the Huachuan Reservoir Dam was captured, there was a way to control the flood. But the devil is one foot tall, and the road is one foot high. Wu Xinquan had long expected that the US army would come to such a hand, so he ambushed a strange army on the 288.4 high ground near Huachuan Lake, which was the 1st Company of the 334th Regiment led by Zhao Zhili.
【Volunteers in platoon】
On the morning of April 9, the 3rd Marine Regiment rushed to Huachuan Lake, but as a squad of sharp soldiers, it was strafed by the heavy machine guns of the volunteers, and all the squads were reimbursed, and the remaining Us troops hurried back. At 3 p.m., the U.S. military sent a company along the ridge to sneak up on 2 platoons, only to be found by 2 platoons, and 2 platoons fired fiercely to repel the U.S. troops.
At 4 p.m., the U.S. military dispatched aircraft to bomb The 288.4 Heights. The entire height was only 500 square meters, and the U.S. military dropped a large number of incendiary bombs and petrol bombs, and the entire highland was blown into a sea of fire. The bombardment continued until dark, and after the American troops withdrew, the 1st Company hurried to repair the fortifications in the dark of night, because they knew that there would be a greater fierce battle tomorrow.
At dawn on the 10th, the US planes and artillery began to bombard the volunteer positions, and thousands of shells fell on the 2 platoons and 5 squads of positions at the forefront, the mountain stones were blown into powder, and the trees were uprooted. After the shelling stopped, the 3rd Marine Regiment dispatched a battalion to attack the 5 squad positions, and after a fierce battle, the 5 squads repelled the US attack.
However, the First Marine Division was the elite of the Us army, and after a setback, it became more ferocious, and there was almost no rest, and immediately changed another battalion to pounce on the volunteer position. At this time, Zhao Zhili had rushed to the front command of the 5th squad position, and he commanded the battle while shooting and throwing grenades. The US military could not resist for a long time and wanted to withdraw. Zhao Zhili immediately ordered the 5th squad: Attack! One squad attacked the collapsed army of a battalion.
By 3 p.m., the 1st Company had repelled a total of 6 U.S. attacks, annihilating hundreds of enemy troops, and the U.S. offensive was temporarily stopped. In the early morning of the 11th, the US military attack began again, the plane dropped countless napalm bombs, and the grass and trees on the mountain had long been gone, but the mud was bubbling with fire. The 5th squad leader Wang Wenhai's clothes were burned, and when he took off his clothes and shot at the enemy with a machine gun bare-chested, he was unfortunately shot and killed.
The U.S. army was also extremely fierce, and a gun group carrying a recoilless gun ran to the volunteer fire point less than 30 meters in front of the fire point and fired, and the fire point was muted with one shot, and several soldiers were killed on the spot. Zhao Zhili, his deputy squad leader, and Liu Qinghua killed the red eye, rushed over with the machine gun, and almost put the muzzle of the gun on the head of the US artillery group and opened fire, eliminating the gun group.
【US Army Recoilless Gun Group】
Unable to capture a small position for three consecutive days, the 3rd Marine Regiment began to fight timidly, believing that the volunteer army holding its position was not a company, but a battalion or even two battalions, relying only on the strength of one Marine Regiment, and there was no chance of victory. However, under The Strict Orders of Ridgway, on the 12th, the US Army launched two more attacks on The 288.4 Heights, both of which were repelled by Zhao Zhili. At this time, the water of Huachuan Reservoir has long been flown out, and even if it is taken down, there is no point. After paying the price of hundreds of men, the 3rd Marine Regiment retreated in ashes.
After the flood, the road collapsed, the road was muddy, and the US armored forces could not move. The original 10-hour journey, the U.S. army walked for 7 days, the volunteers have long taken this opportunity to move to safety. Zhao Zhili led the 1st Company to hold out at the 288.4 heights for four days, making outstanding contributions to the great drama of the "Flooded Seventh Army", Zhao Zhili was awarded the second class merit, and the sacrificed squad leader Wang Wenhai was posthumously credited with the first class merit.
The battle drew a keen interest from Associated Press reporters: "The courage shown by both sides in the battle is amazing, it is a collision of aces against aces." It was no less than the battle for the Strait of Gibraltar between Britain and Spain. After the interview, Zhao Zhili was even titled "the victor of the battle of Gibraltar in the East".
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