One day in early May 1953, Brigadier General Olard, brigadier general of the Canadian 25th Infantry Brigade, was having dinner at the headquarters of the U.S. 8th Army in Seoul, but he was a little distracted. According to his judgment, the volunteers were likely to launch an attack on the Lower Bexian North Hill garrisoned by the 25th Brigade in recent days, so as soon as he finished eating, he immediately returned to his headquarters, only to see a scene that almost made him nose out: the people in the headquarters were having a party! Olard was about to lose his temper when volunteer artillery fire struck!
Brigadier General Olard succeeded Brigadier General Robin Hood as the commander of the Canadian 25th Brigade, and Robin Hood led the 25th Brigade of more than 8,000 people in the Battle of Seed Hill to be blocked by a company of volunteers for 3 days, allowing the main force of the volunteer army to successfully complete the strategic transfer.
Van Vleet, who was the commander of the 8th Army at the time, was furious, believing that Robin Hood was 80 times more numerous than his opponents in the battle, and that he did not fight a small high ground for 3 days, and was counterattacked by his opponent using night cover, losing a company at once. After this counterattack, Robin Hood was even less fighting until the volunteers completed the task of blocking and voluntarily abandoned their positions. Shortly after the war, Robin Hood was removed from his post.
Robin Hood in the Battle of Seed Hill
When Olard took over, he found that the entire 25th Brigade was in a state of confusion, and the troops were distracted and absent-minded. If it were not for his personal supervision, the scattered pits dug by the soldiers would not even be able to effectively cover themselves. Olard was helpless in this situation, because even he himself felt that it was a hopeless war.
By 1953, calls for an armistice were growing. Olard still had a high degree of military sensitivity, and he believed that the volunteers were likely to gain the military initiative while negotiating. At this time, every military victory was achieved, which was to add some chips to the armistice negotiations. The 25th Brigade's garrison of The Lower Beehu North Hill was one of the targets of the Volunteer Army.
The Volunteers were studying the terrain
The elevation of the Lower Bexian North Mountain is only 70 meters and the slope is relatively gentle, and the terrain on the north and south sides is open, which is easy to attack and difficult to defend. In order to defend this position, the 25th Brigade also made a lot of efforts, they built a total of 15 large and small bunkers, 30 underground and semi-underground shelters, 1 circular trench, 6 barbed wire, and a large number of mines were buried in front of the barbed wire. C Company of the 3rd Regiment of the 25th Brigade was stationed on the high ground, within 400 meters of the heights, supported by two other companies of the 3rd Regiment.
The 387th Regiment of the 133rd Division of the 46th Army of the Volunteer Army began to prepare for an attack on the Lower Beexian North Mountain from April 1, and the purpose of the attack was twofold, one was to train the troops, and the other was to kill and wound the effective forces of the Canadian troops. To this end, the 387th Regiment drew 3 platoons from 3 companies to serve as offensive forces. The attacking force consisted of 3 120 mm heavy mortars and 15 82 mm mortars, in addition to 20 mountain guns of the 44th Artillery Regiment to provide fire support.
In order to find out the enemy's situation, the three platoons of the attack spent a month, taking advantage of the night to approach the enemy's forward position every day, observing the enemy's terrain, fortifications and fire points, all the personnel involved in the battle had made two field visits, and captured 3 prisoners to understand the situation. The Canadians were unaware of the true intentions of the volunteers, and only Olad was vaguely uneasy.
On May 2, Taylor, the new commander of the 8th Army, invited him to dinner at the Headquarters in Seoul, and Olard felt that this was not a good time to eat, but he did not dare to refuse the invitation of the new superior, so as soon as he finished eating, he hurriedly resigned to Taylor and returned to the headquarters.
The U.S. military sent tanks as fixed fire points to assist in the defense
When Orade arrived at the headquarters it was already 10 o'clock in the evening, the lights were bright, everyone was happily attending the party, Olard almost died of anger, he ordered that the party be stopped immediately, and all the personnel returned to their positions. But what he did not know was that at the time of his order, the volunteer offensive forces had been quietly lurking in the intended offensive position for an hour and a half, and the Canadian army knew nothing about it.
Just as Olard was throwing a tantrum, there was a sudden muffled explosion outside, and the volunteer artillery preparations began, and the headquarters was suddenly panicked. The minefields and 6 barbed wire fences first marked by the volunteer army were all destroyed by artillery fire, and due to adequate preparations, the volunteers occupied the full surface position in only 19 minutes, and the Canadian army turned to the tunnel to resist, and by 0:27 a.m. the next day, the entire enemy on the high ground was completely annihilated.
Volunteer soldiers who get training in battle
Since the purpose of this operation was not to occupy the beishan highlands under the occupation, after completing the predetermined combat objectives, the volunteers took the initiative to withdraw from the battle. Only then did the Canadians organize artillery fire to begin a counterattack, but the Volunteers not only retreated, but also took 18 prisoners, and the battle ended in a total victory for the Volunteers.
Although Olard has a certain sensitivity, but the imperial subordinate is incompetent, the entire army after experiencing several defeats are in a state of chaos, encounter such a strong opponent of the volunteer army, how can it be undefeated?