One day in December 1951, Bi Xuyang, commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 239th Regiment of the Volunteer Army, went to the cooking class to check, and accidentally saw a steamer with a blue cloth in it, which was very eye-catching, he was curious, picked up the cloth and shook it open, and couldn't help but be surprised: Isn't this the FLAG of the US Army? It was embroidered with a fierce-looking eagle, which was confirmed to be the regimental flag of the 31st Regiment of the 7th Infantry Division of the US Army, which had just been annihilated by the volunteers.
The flag of the 31st Regiment is open to people in the Military Museum
In the early days of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the Volunteer Army had planned to annihilate the US army division-level units in an organized manner like the US mechanized divisions that fought the enemy at home. However, it was only when the volunteers really handed over that the domestic Mechanic Division and the real American Division were two completely different concepts. Not to mention the annihilation of US division-level units in an organized system, it is not easy to annihilate US military camp-level units in an organized system, and the firepower of others is too strong. But once, with one exception, this was the only time the Volunteer Army had completely annihilated a U.S. legion-level unit.
The second battle, Chosin Lake.
While the Volunteer 20th Army surrounded the U.S. First Marine Division, the 27th Army also engaged the U.S. 7th Infantry Division on the eastern front of Chosin Lake, and on their front was the 31st Infantry Regiment, known as the "Polar Bear Regiment". Named an infantry regiment, it was actually a "battle group", because on the basis of the original 31st Regiment, the battle group was also equipped with the 1st Battalion of the 32nd Regiment, the A and B Companies of the 57th Field Artillery Battalion, and the D Company of the 15th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion.
Volunteer soldiers chased after the enemy through thick snow
The entire battle group was over 3,500 men under the command of 31st Regiment Commander McLean. On November 27, 1950, the 80th Division of the 27th Army surrounded the 31st Regiment Battle Group in Xinxingli. The Volunteer Army launched an onslaught with four regiments of 238, 239, 240 and 241 from the southeast, south, northeast and west respectively, and the 242nd Regiment was responsible for blocking the enemy's reinforcements.
In the darkness, Bi Xuyang, commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 239th Regiment, led two combat groups to touch a position of the US army, surrounded by more than a dozen cars and tanks, there were two tents, bi Xuyang judged that this was likely to be the command organ of the US army. Just as they were preparing for further action, the Americans spotted them, and an officer shouted at them at the door of the tent, and the volunteers raised their guns and hit them, and the American officers fell to the ground in response.
Regiment Leader McLean was the first to be killed (courtesy of United Press International)
It was later learned that the officer was Colonel McLean, the commander of the 31st Regiment. His death plunged the U.S. military command into disarray. Many years later, the U.S. military's explanation for this was that he saw someone inside the defensive circle and thought it was his own people, but he didn't expect that the volunteers had touched it.
When the soldiers rushed into the tent and saw that it was full of telephones, telephones and other communication equipment, there were combat maps hanging on the walls, and there were unburned documents on the ground, and the whole tent fled clean. The men of the 3rd Battalion quickly took all the valuables with them, and Zhang Jiqing, the commander of the communications squad, seized the regimental flag of the 31st Regiment at this time.
U.S. aircraft drop white phosphorus bombs at Volunteer positions (U.S. Army photo)
After a brief period of confusion, Lieutenant Colonel Donface, commander of the 1st Battalion of the 32nd Regiment, took over as commander. He gave full play to the superiority of the American army's firepower and formed a circular defensive circle with tanks. A company slowed the volunteers' attack with dense firepower while calling for air support.
At this time, the 4 regiments of the Volunteer Army, in the previous bloody battle, the troops had been reduced by one-third, the soldiers who had not eaten a hot meal for several days in a row, the ammunition was also very limited, and the heavy weapons were only grenades. The firepower of the US army was continuous, especially the 15th anti-aircraft artillery battalion, which was equipped with 4-barrel .50-caliber M16MGMC air defense machine guns and double-barreled 40 mm M19GMC air defense aircraft guns, which brought huge casualties to the volunteers.
The M16 anti-aircraft vehicle of the 15th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion of the US Army, which carried a four-pack large-caliber machine gun, became the sworn enemy of the Volunteer Army
The 8th Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 241st Regiment fought only 1 man in the attack, and was still holding on to the battle, and its will to fight made the enemy fearful. By 30 November, after confirming that reinforcements were hopeless, Fiss decided to lead his troops through. With 10 tanks as the lead, he headed south along the road under the cover of more than 40 aircraft, and the 242nd Regiment, which had been responsible for reinforcements, was just in their retreat.
The 242nd Regiment had blown up the bridges on the road beforehand and had finally succeeded in stopping the enemy at Hill 1221. When the American planes came to support, the 242nd Regiment immediately rushed into the enemy position and mixed with the enemy troops, and the American planes lost their targets and did not dare to open fire casually, so they had to fly around the battlefield. The two armies, on the other hand, were caught in their own melee.
U.S. aircraft bombed volunteer positions
During the battle, Lieutenant Colonel Fiss was wounded by a volunteer grenade, and the entire force collapsed. Feith, along with many of the wounded, huddled into the truck and tried to rush off the road and flee south from the frozen lake, only to be hit by a volunteer incendiary bomb and burn all the people on board.
Feith was listed as missing after the war until 2011, when one of the remains found on the battlefield that year was DNA-compared and identified as Fiss himself, and Feith went from disappearance to death. Congress posthumously awarded him the Medal of Honor, and the Navy awarded him the Presidential Medal.
Lieutenant Colonel Donfez was finally killed after 60 years of disappearance
According to the history of the Volunteer Army, about 1,000 men of the 31st Regiment broke through the blockade of the 242nd Regiment and ran out, but were finally annihilated by the Volunteer Army in the Areas of Houpu and Surabaya, leaving only more than 200 people to flee to Xiagaru-ri. From that point of view, the battle group of the 31st Regiment belonged to the formation and annihilation, which became the only AMERICAN corps-level unit that was annihilated by the formation on the battlefield of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
The Volunteers fought at night in Xinxingli
Our army also paid a huge price in the battle, the 4 regiments participating in the battle were reduced by nearly one-third, and the 5 companies of the 242nd regiment froze to death on the position in the ambush battle, which was painful. The regimental flag of the 31st Regiment was taken by the cooking class to make a drawer cloth because of the thick fabric, but fortunately it was discovered by Bi Xuyang in time and handed over. Today, the flag is a national first-class cultural relic, lying in a military museum.