On April 22, 1951, the fifth campaign to resist the United States and aid Korea began, and in the fierce battle that lasted for 50 days, the volunteer army annihilated 82,000 enemy troops, while itself lost 85,000 people. This was the first time in five campaigns that the Volunteers had suffered greater losses than the enemy. How could the volunteers, who had been fighting the U.S. army for seven or eight months, suddenly behave abnormally? It turned out that this was directly related to an air raid by the US military half a month ago.
In the 5th campaign, the 19th Corps braved artillery fire to cross the Linjin River
In preparation for the fifth campaign, the Volunteers stockpiled a large number of supplies, including food, food, clothing, medicine, as well as a large number of newly introduced military transport vehicles, anti-tank weapons, and automatic weapons. Such a huge amount of materials were all piled up in Sandeng-ri, Gangdong County.
SamDen-ri can reach Pyeongkang by rail to the south, and to the west via Pyongyang to Dandong, which is an important transportation node in the entire north and an important strategic supply point for the volunteer army. In addition to a large number of military supplies, in order to facilitate the rescue of the wounded, the three military station branches of the First Base Hospital of the Volunteer Army were also moved to the ravines around Sanda.
The First Base Hospital Station Branch in Sandori
For such an important target, the US military's aerial reconnaissance has never stopped. During the day, when the US planes boarded the three boards, whether they found the target or not, they would drop some bombs indiscriminately. Even at night, the US planes had to be dispatched at least two or three times a night, and under such a severe air defense situation, the volunteer logistics units could only do their best to camouflage.
However, there is a gap in the hundred secrets. On April 8, 1951, a train carrying supplies was discovered by U.S. aircraft because it was not concealed in time, and the U.S. military was ecstatic. In just a few moments, the US military dispatched nearly two hundred planes in several batches and indiscriminately bombed Sandengli and Sandeng Station, and the bombardment lasted for 10 hours.
Sandengli was an important strategic supply point for the Volunteer Army
During this bombing, the volunteers suffered extremely heavy losses. The 150 trains stopped in Sandang were destroyed 90 times, and the losses that can be counted were 2.88 million kilograms of grain, 430,000 kilograms of soybean oil, 410,000 sets of summer military uniforms and shirts, 190,000 pairs of rubber shoes, heavy losses of guard troops, logistics personnel, wounded and medical personnel, and a large number of materials burned under the gasoline bombs of the US military can not be counted.
Even more distressing is the near-depletion of much-needed anti-tank weapons, automatic weapons and transport trucks on the front lines. According to rough statistics, before the battle began, more than 70 percent of important materials such as grain and ammunition were lost, and General Manager Peng was so angry that he smashed the table on the spot. The start was unfavorable, and the entire Shiji commander's mind was overshadowed, fighting or not fighting?
After the US planes found Sandengli, they sent nearly 200 aircraft to bomb for 10 hours
At this time, the situation on the front line was already like an arrow on the winding, and it had to be sent. After weighing the pros and cons, the fifth campaign was launched on time, but the difficulties faced by the volunteers in this campaign were even greater than those faced by the second campaign. The battle had only just begun, and some troops were running out of food.
The 60th Army of the 19th Corps ran out of food before the battle began, and they could only exchange towels and other items with some eggs with the local people. The depth of their attack was nearly 50 kilometers of grain-free areas, and after crossing the 38th Line, the warriors could only pull some undecorated soybeans from horse dung on the side of the road to fill their hunger.
In the fifth battle, a combat model class of the Volunteer Army blocked the enemy at Jixiong Mountain
Because the front-line troops did not have summer clothes, they could only use knives to cut through the winter clothes and pull out the cotton inside. Lack of food and clothing can still be overcome, but the lack of technical weapons, in the face of the allied mechanized troops, the volunteer army can not effectively block, the soldiers can only use flesh and blood to block the United States army rumbling tanks. Many troops were divided and surrounded behind enemy lines.
However, what Ridgway did not expect was that the coalition forces could not eat the Nineteenth Corps of the Volunteer Army despite having all-round advantages in air superiority, logistics, firepower and mobility. By the second stage of the five campaigns, the Volunteers had run out of ammunition, and the staff officers still reported to Ridgway that the coalition forces had failed to thoroughly improve the situation on the battlefield.
After the fifth battle, the Volunteers and the People's Army were cheering victory
Hearing the news, Ridgway was silent. He said: "We have exhausted all the technical means since the war, using all weapons except atomic bombs, but the results of the battle are regrettable, and the coalition forces have done their best. With the exception of partial restoration of the pre-campaign Allied front, all the armored forces advancing north were blocked and stalled. If you want to hit the main force of the Chinese, you need to find another way,...... A return to the Yalu River is still far away.