After being flooded by the volunteer "Seventh Army", Ridgway's first reaction was to send a task force to close the reservoir gates. The 7th Regiment of the 1st Special Warfare Division took the initiative to ask for battle, which was their best chance to be humiliated.
At the Battle of Chosin Lake, the retreating soldiers of the 1st Marine Division were eating snow
After the Battle of Chosin Lake, the 1st Marine Division, although under the leadership of division commander Smith, was able to escape the encirclement, but it was already seriously injured. MacArthur moved them to the rear, where, together with the Pseudo-11th Division, was responsible for clearing the northern guerrillas around Uiseong and Daegu. The pseudo-11th Division was a third-rate fish-belly unit, and although the First Marine Division was defeated, it was an elite unit after all, and the sense of honor in its bones was still very strong, which was a humiliation to them.
They were not willing to sink like this, and after Ridgway took over the Eighth Army, Smith repeatedly said that he would "take on more important tasks." Ridgway dispatched the artillery battalion of the First Marine Division to support the right-wing coalition attack, but was unexpectedly attacked by the volunteers, and one artillery battalion suffered heavy losses.
The American troops were attacked by volunteers and the tanks were swept away
This further aroused the anger of the First Marine Division, and now that they heard that they were going to send a contingent to close the floodgates, they naturally had to take the initiative to ask for battle. Ridgway agreed to their plan: send four companies to form a task force to seize the dam, close the gates and destroy the transmission mechanism, so that the gates could not be opened. However, after reconnaissance, the pseudo-6th Division reported that although the large units of the Volunteer Army had been transferred, they still left small units to guard the dam and prevent the US troops from closing the gates.
The task force captain, Lieutenant Colonel Rockwood, suggested: "We can learn Chinese and operate at night." Didn't the failure of Chosin Lake Chinese carry out sneak attacks at night? Everyone, including Ridgway, felt as if it made a lot of sense and could give it a try.
There were many Chinese in the First Marine Division, and Rockwood had been in the 4th Marine Regiment in Shanghai and thought he knew Chinese very well
Late at night on April 10, the contingent set off. On the road, apart from the road being washed away, there were no volunteers, everything seemed to be going well, and the task force reached the north bank of the reservoir in the dark of night, and they planned to transport two companies to the opposite bank in rubber boats, and then four companies attacked the dam simultaneously from both directions, closing the gate after occupying the dam in one fell swoop.
The two companies of task force members quietly rowed to the opposite shore in rubber boats. Rockwood thought that the operation was unknowing and would be completed, but in fact, their whereabouts had long been seen by the sentry of the 344th Regiment of the Volunteer Army.
Every move of the U.S. army was in the hands of the volunteers
As the task force reached the middle of the reservoir, there was a sudden and intense sound of machine gunfire on the opposite and flanks. Bullets splashed on the surface of the water. Nearly half of the 7th Marine Regiment were recruits from the Chosin Lake Rear, and the sudden firing made them panic, and people kept being shot and fell into the water. Not caring that they had been exposed, everyone hurried back to the north shore while fighting back indiscriminately.
Just then, gunshots rang out on the North Shore, and Rockwood felt that something was wrong. When I first came, there was obviously no one on the north shore, so why was it suddenly surrounded now? Rockwood called the command headquarters to report the failure of the operation and called for support. But the command replied: In this dark night, without the support of aircraft and artillery, everything can only be on your own, either until dawn or withdraw immediately.
Volunteer night battle
Rockwood ignored the rhetoric he had spoken before departure and immediately chose the latter. It's just that he can't understand when the volunteers on the north shore came out, and he obviously left two companies on the north bank? Unbeknownst to him, the 344th Regiment had made careful arrangements since receiving the defensive order. They ambushed troops on both sides of the reservoir, and when the 7th Marine Regiment contingent had just reached the north shore, their every move was in the eyes of the volunteers.
But the 344th Regiment did not immediately open fire, but let them perform to the fullest. When the two companies of the enemy army reached the middle of the reservoir, the volunteers on the south bank and on the dam opened fire decisively, which was the so-called "half-crossing attack". At the same time, the volunteers who were ambushed on the north bank also began to open fire on the two companies on the north bank, and the task force suddenly felt encircled.
Ridgway: The war situation is desperate
Fortunately, the Volunteer 344th Regiment only guarded the dam and did not pursue him, and Rockwood fled back. After hearing the news, Li Qiwei admitted: Chinese tactics are not so easy to learn. He later wrote in his book:
“...... But the enemy would have thought of opening the sluice gate of the Huachuan Reservoir at this time, and this move caused us serious losses. ...... We sent contingents to seize the dam and close the floodgates. However, due to the rugged terrain, low visibility, and stubborn resistance of the enemy, the attempt was unsuccessful. ”