Author: Former veteran of the Fiftieth Army of the Volunteer Army? Li Mingzhen Li Jinhua
The American invading forces, under the blows of the third battle of our volunteer army, lost Seoul and retreated to the area near the 37th parallel. Its military prestige has been seriously damaged, the feeling of defeat inside the invading camp has become more and more serious, and Britain, France, and other countries have lost confidence in the US invasion of Korea. President Truman, unwilling to risk an expanded war or withdraw from Korea on his own initiative, hastily sent Ridgway, the commander of the Airborne Division at World War II landings at Normandy, to take over Walker's (dead) command of the U.S. Eighth Army in a vain attempt to make a comeback.
In the fourth battle, we were forced to fight. Due to continuous combat, the troops were overly tired and anxious to rest, the 19th Corps sent by the Central Military Commission had not yet arrived, the second batch of 9 corps entering the DPRK was still resting in the Yuanshan and Xianxing areas of the Eastern Front, and only the first 6 corps that could be put into the front line were the first 6 corps that had entered the DPRK to be rested.
On January 25, the enemy concentrated 230,000 troops from 5 armies, 16 divisions, 3 brigades, and launched an attack on the 200-kilometer defensive front of our front, and its main force, the US First Army and the 6 divisions of the Ninth Army, were placed on the western front, led by Li Qiwei's troops. General Peng immediately made a decision, and after sending a telegram to Chairman Mao on January 31, he decided to fight four battles, sending Han Xianchu to the western front to command the 50th Army, the 112nd Division of the 38th Army and other units to organize defense, and Deng Hua led 4 armies to defend the eastern front.
According to Shiji's deployment, the front of the Fiftieth Army on the defensive belt of about 40 kilometers on the south bank of the Han River was the direction and focus of the enemy's attack, and it was also the main group of the enemy's offensive forces. The 148th Division was ordered to defend the areas of Repair Mountain, Maoluo Mountain, and Neifei Mountain; the 149th Division defended the areas of Baiyun Mountain, Guangjiao Mountain, Wenheng Mountain, and Guoguo Peak; and the 150th Division defended in the areas of Donghe Mountain and Jinliangchangli.
On January 25, the US Second Army on the western front launched a frontal attack from Yemuli to Kim Liangchang, and the enemy used more than 200 aircraft, more than 80 tanks, and 300 guns of various kinds to cover the US Third Division, the Twenty-fourth Division, the Twenty-fifth Division, and nearly 60,000 people of the South Korean Army, and launched a fierce large-scale attack on the front of our army's defense. After January 27, the enemy used 10 times the strength of our (447th Regiment) to frantically bombard the positions of the 447th Regiment, which was held in front of Brother Peak and Dongyuanli in Baiyun Mountain, to cover its troops to attack in turn.
Our commanders and fighters fought in bloody battles, repelled more than a dozen enemy attacks every day, lost their positions and regained them, persisted for 11 days and nights, killed and wounded more than 1,400 enemy soldiers, and defended the main peak of Baiyun Mountain. The 443rd Regiment of the 148th Division fought bravely and tenaciously, and the 2nd Company of the 444th Regiment resisted the attack of the enemy's 1st battalion, repelled the enemy's repeated charge, and the machine gunner Wang Ying ran out of bullets, picked up the explosive package and rushed to the enemy group of more than 300 people, and died with the enemy.
On 31 January, the commander of the Volunteer Army gave a general commendation to all the commanders and fighters of the Fiftieth Army, and highlighted the 443rd Regiment, the 444th Regiment, and the 447th Regiment, who resisted the attack of the enemy's superior forces and held their positions under the heavy bombardment of enemy aircraft, tanks and artillery. The 445th Regiment crossed the Han River with a dozen bare butts wading through the ice and snow waters of the company battalion scale, and fought bloody battles at Feng'en Temple, and more than 200 people, including Deputy Battalion Commander Yang Rong and Deputy Instructor Pu Honglin, were buried at Feng'en Temple.
From January 25 to March 15, during the 50-day and night defensive operations on the north and south banks of the Han River, the Fiftieth Army of the Volunteer Army killed and wounded more than 11,000 enemy troops, captured 61 enemy aircraft, shot down and wounded 15 enemy planes, captured thousands of guns, cars, and military materials of all kinds, dealt a heavy blow to and consumed the enemy's living forces, clamped down on the enemy's main offensive groups, delayed the enemy's attack, ensured the rest of our main force and the advance of follow-up troops, and bought time and made contributions to our volunteer army's preparation for the next great counterattack in the campaign.
In the 50-day and night defensive battle in the north and south of the Han River, the first person in the command post of the volunteer army "Liangshanbu" (that is, the Fiftieth Army) was Xu Wenlie, the political commissar, who sat in line day and night. The war was changing rapidly, and many sudden emergencies were decided by Political Commissar Xu first. In the military command post, in addition to the three "division fingers" special lines, the key regiments (the 447th and 444th regiments) also have special lines.
Zheng Zhushu, a staff officer who guarded the special line, often transferred the telephone calls between Lu Zhao, political commissar of the 447th Regiment, and Xu Wenlie, and directly commanded the regiment to hold Baiyun Mountain for 11 days and nights, giving it the good name of "Baiyun Mountain Hero Regiment". In the fourth campaign, which lasted 87 days, our volunteer army annihilated 78,000 enemy troops, making the "LiangshanBu" (50th Army) famous in the world.