During the years of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the Chinese People's Volunteer Army and the United Nations Army had five large-scale battles. The heaviest casualty was also the last, considered by Marshal Peng Dehuai to be the last of four defeats in his military career.
In the fifth battle, the volunteers suffered a total of 75,000 casualties. In order to save hundreds of thousands of volunteers on the way to retreat, the 63rd Army, as the queen of the palace, made a huge sacrifice of 22,000 casualties in just 14 days of bloody fighting.
In May 1951, the rainy season on the Korean Peninsula was about to begin, deep into the hinterland of Korea, the volunteer army that could not hold the fifth battle was already slightly tired, and because the front line was too long, the supply line in the rear also allowed the United Nations army to use air superiority to cut off, and the volunteer army that was about to run out of ammunition had to choose to retreat.
Since Ridgway, who had just taken over the supreme baton of the coalition forces, had achieved his goal of luring the enemy deeper, how could he let the volunteers retreat unharmed, and Ridgway, who sensed the intentions of the volunteers, immediately gathered the commanders of various armies, mobilized the elites of ten countries, and formed the pursuit force of the Ten Nations Alliance.
The retreating Volunteers were pressed by the Un forces, armed with a large number of mechanized and heavy weapons, and chased them all the way, repeatedly threatened by the coalition forces. Because our army has no mechanized equipment and carries a large number of wounded, it has no advantage in marching, and once it is caught up, it is extremely vulnerable to the heavy fire of the enemy, causing more casualties. In order to give the large troops time to retreat, the commander-in-chief Peng Dehuai ordered that the 60th Army should be responsible for delaying the Un army and covering the retreat of the large troops.
The 60th Army was only defensive in the face of the enemy's superior firepower, and could only attempt to delay the further northward movement of the coalition forces and pose a threat to the large forces. However, at this time, the 180th Division did not really understand the strategic intention, and due to improper command, it was intercepted by the "Niuman Sharp Knife" composed of the Ten-Nation Alliance. The 180th Division was annihilated and almost completely annihilated.
Peng Dehuai, who heard the news, was greatly shaken, in front of the volunteer soldiers who had left their hometowns, and behind them were the menacing United Nations pursuers, who wanted to compete for more time to retreat for the retreating volunteers, but this was bound to require someone to make great sacrifices for this. Peng Dehuai, who had been thinking for a long time, drew a battle line, and this line was the blocking position of the troops behind the palace and the logistics support base of our army, which was the Tieyuan area.
The Tieyuan area is an endless plain. With easy access and flat terrain, if this line could be defended, the volunteers would not only be able to retreat safely, but could also be ready to attack at any time. However, the volunteers attacked in such an open field, and the elite troops of the Ten-Nation Coalition Army, which had many mechanical equipment and heavy weapons, had no advantage and would cause great sacrifices. Peng Dehuai, who has always loved soldiers like a son, fell into deep thought. But he had no choice but to tearfully issue an order to the 63rd Army to hit the stone with a pebble, so that the 63rd Army would hold the Iron Plains for half a month, even if it was the last soldier, it would also protect the lives of hundreds of thousands of volunteers.
Before the officers of the 63rd Army could dig the 25-kilometer-long trench, the US Eighth Army had already launched an attack on the Cheorwon position, followed by the elite troops of the United States, Britain, Canada, South Korea and other ten countries, and marched to the Tieyuan front line under the cover of aircraft artillery. The 63rd Army, with only 20,000 men, fought a deadly battle with a coalition of 50,000 men without support.
In the case of absolute inferiority in strength and equipment, Yang Dezhi, commander of the 63rd Army, knew that if he wanted to hold out in Tieyuan for 15 days, he absolutely could not fight hard, but could only stubbornly hold on. The Eighth Army, which had been severely damaged by the Volunteers, poured 1,800 shells into the Volunteers' positions in just one hour, in a vain attempt to tear a hole in the positions and pursue the retreating Volunteers. At this time, the soldiers on the position also began to fight with flesh and iron.
In order to fight the enemy more effectively, the 63rd Army constantly changed tactics and harassed the Advancing United Nations Forces. And use sophisticated tactics to inflict massive damage on the enemy. When carrying out mortar bombardment, the enemy is first gathered together, and then a cannon is fired into the enemy's position, and whenever the soldiers on the first front are killed, the volunteer army behind them is replenished to the front line to prevent the enemy's shells and aircraft from causing large-scale damage to our soldiers.
The soldiers of the 63rd Army fought tenaciously, through flexible tactics and the spirit of not being afraid of life and death, firmly pressed the UN army on the Tieyuan front, did not let the enemy army cross the line one step, and after 14 days of bloody fighting, successfully delayed the speed of the allied attack and helped the retreating volunteer soldiers win time.
When the 63rd Army successfully completed the task of blocking the attack, Peng Dehuai went to the 63rd Army to comfort the soldiers, and when he saw the ragged volunteer army covered in blood, Peng Dehuai could not help but burst into tears. At the cost of 22,000 casualties, 63 military annihilated 15,000 UN troops, completely combating the arrogance of the UN army and saving most of the lives of the volunteers.