On the battlefield of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the only time the Volunteer Army annihilated the US Army-level units in an organized manner was the second campaign to annihilate the 31st Regiment of the US 7th Division in Xinxingli. But in recent years, there have always been some people who have been clamoring that the 31st Regiment was not annihilated by the formation, because the 31st Regiment was not completely formed at that time, and so on, as if saying this would save a little face for the defeated American army. So was the 31st Regiment annihilated as an organization? Let's take stock today.
【The flag of the 31st Regiment is now available for people to visit in the military boli】
The annihilation of the establishment system (also known as the annihilation of the whole system) is actually a product unique to Our country and appeared during the Liberation War. At that time, due to the low productivity of industry and the incomplete logistical and military replenishment system, once the enemy army was annihilated, it was almost impossible to rebuild the annihilated troops. Therefore, our army attaches special importance to annihilating the enemy army in an organization. However, the armies of Western industrialized countries do not exist in this problem, and even if the troops are annihilated into formations, they can rebuild the troops by relying on strong industrial production capacity and a system of soldier replenishment. After the US 31st Regiment was annihilated as a formation, it did not cancel the number of withdrawals from the battle sequence, but quickly rebuilt, and later served as the main attack of the Coalition forces in the Battle of Shangganling.
So what is the annihilation of the establishment? Generally speaking, the elimination of the opposing party's command organs, leaders and commanders, the annihilation (including the killing and wounding of prisoners) of more than 80% of the combatants is considered to be annihilated as an organization, and those who do not meet this condition can only be regarded as heavy losses or loss of combat effectiveness. In Xinxingli, the Volunteers killed Colonel McLean, the leader of the 31st Regiment, destroyed the 31st Regimental Headquarters and captured the regimental flag of the 31st Regiment, and later killed Lieutenant Colonel Feith, who had succeeded him. This can be called a complete elimination of the enemy's command organs and commanders.
[Volunteers attack in the snow]
Let's take a look at how many people the 31st Regiment was annihilated. The 31st Regiment in Xinxing was missing 1 Battalion, and many people asserted that the 31st Regiment was not completely annihilated, because the 1st Battalion was not present. Many sources refer to the 31st Regiment in Xinxingli as the "31st Regiment Battle Group", because although he lacked 1 battalion, he supplemented the 1st Battalion of the 32nd Regiment, and the lieutenant colonel Feith who replaced the command was the commander of the 1st Battalion of the 32nd Regiment. In addition, the 31st Regiment also strengthened the 57th Field Artillery Battalion, plus the heavy mortar company, battalion headquarters company, service company, anti-aircraft battalion, tank company, the entire 31st Regiment Battle Group reached 3300 people (excluding the 660 Koreans attached), exceeding the original 3191 number of personnel.
Although the organization was somewhat chaotic, it was complete from regiment to battalion to company. On November 27, 1950, the 80th Division of the 27th Army of the Volunteer Army had completed the encirclement of the 31st Regiment Battle Group, and the 4th Company of the 239th Regiment touched a us camp with a ring fortification of more than a dozen cars and tanks outside the camp, with several tents in the middle. When volunteer soldiers rushed into the camp, they were spotted by the Americans, and an officer stood outside the tent station and questioned loudly, only to be shot dead. This man was Colonel McLean, the leader of the 31st Regiment.
[Killed McLean (Courtesy of United Press International)]
The leader of the 31st Regiment became the first person to die in this battle, and many years later the explanation of the American army was that he saw someone in the defensive circle, thought it was his own, and did not expect the volunteers to touch it. The soldiers rushed into the tent and found that it was full of communication equipment and a battle map on the wall, only to learn that it was a command post. Zhang Jiqing, the head of the communications squad, ripped off the regimental flag hanging on the wall and stuffed it into his satchel, which is now a first-class cultural relic, lying in a military museum.
After McLean's death, the 31st Regiment was briefly confused and was replaced by Lieutenant Colonel Feith, commander of the 1st Battalion of the 32nd Regiment, the highest ranking regiment. The 31st Regiment still had 37 tanks and 46 artillery pieces, and the number of other bazookas, mortars, field guns, and mountain guns was unknown. The battle was fought extremely hard, and the volunteers not only had to endure the double blows of the American aircraft in the sky and artillery on the ground, but also had to endure the cold of more than thirty degrees below zero. By December 1, the four main offensive regiments of the 238th, 239th, 240th, and 241st were reduced by about one-third, but the American army finally could not hold out, and under the cover of 40 aircraft and 10 tanks, began to break through to the south desperately, and the result was that the 242nd Regiment that was aided was intercepted.
The 242nd Regiment had blown up bridges on the road and eventually stopped the enemy on the 1221 heights. During the battle, Lieutenant Colonel Feith was wounded by a grenade, and he and his soldiers desperately squeezed into the truck and rushed out of the road, preparing to flee south from the frozen chosin lake ice, only to break the ice and fall into the water and freeze to death. Because the body could not be found, Lieutenant Colonel Feith was included in the list of missing persons until his remains were found in the Chosin Lake area 61 years later, and it was determined by DNA comparison that it was Feith himself, and he finally turned from disappearance to death.
Less than 1,000 men rushed out of the blockade line of the 242nd Regiment, but were annihilated by other volunteer troops in the Goura and Surabaya areas, and only 200 escaped to Hagaru-ri. According to U.S. military statistics, the 31st Regiment Battle Group lost a total of 2958 people (excluding Koreans), almost completely lost. Two commanders were killed, the regimental headquarters was surrendered, the regimental flag was surrendered, and 90% of the personnel were lost.
【After the 4th Company of the 239th Regiment, it was awarded the honorary title of Xinxingli Combat Model Company】
After this battle, the volunteers learned how difficult it was to annihilate an American army in an organization, and for the American army, annihilating a unit in an organization would not cause a major psychological blow, because they would choose to rebuild. Therefore, after the second battle, the volunteer army no longer required the annihilation of the US division and regimental units, but gradually changed to the tactic of "zero knock kraft candy".