On May 21, 1951, on the south side of the Han River on the Eastern Front of Korea, heavy rain poured down and the spring cold was steep.
Wang Jinshan's face was pasted on the map to study, and the first phase of the fifth battle was about to end, and Shiji ordered the troops to retreat in an orderly manner and arranged for the troops to break the rear.
Wang Near the Mountain
In order to avoid the simultaneous retreat being crowded and trampled, Shiji ordered the 39th Army to retreat north early in the evening of the 21st, but Wang Jinshan, without The approval of Shiji, also ordered the 15th Army to move north on the evening of the 22nd, thus exposing the 180th right flank of the 60th Army. Subsequently, the 60th Army received an order from Wang Jinshan to serve as the rear guard of the whole corps and to be responsible for guarding 8,000 wounded.
However, at this time, only the 180th Division was left in the headquarters of the 60th Army, the 181st Division was under the command of the 12th Army, and the 179th Division was assigned to the 15th Army. In this way, in essence, the 180th Division acted as the rear guard of the whole corps. And from this moment on, the 180th Division was directly under the command of Wang Jinshan, and the commander of the 60th Army, Wei Jie, became the commander of the light pole.
Wei Jie
For the first time, the 180th Division lost the opportunity to retreat
On the 22nd, the 180th Division at this moment has become a lone army, but it is still heroic and tenacious in seeking the enemy and annihilating. As a result, a large number of enemies were attracted, and the US 7th Infantry Division, the 1st Marine Division, and the South Korean 6th Division began to attack the 180th Division.
The 180th Division struggled to kill the enemy, and suffered heavy losses under the powerful artillery fire of the Americans.
Wei Jie, commander of the 60th Army, realized that the 180th Division was alone and that the danger was increasing. Deputy Commander Zha Yusheng said to Wei Jie: "I mean that the main force of the 180th Division should be withdrawn to Jiangbei." But the commander and the commissar shook their heads, no, they had to hold out for 3 to 5 days.
On the afternoon of May 23, Wang Jinshan of the 3rd Corps issued another order: "All units cannot withdraw, and will withdraw after the wounded are transported..."
This order was obviously problematic, and the other troops had long since withdrawn to Jiangbei, and only the 180th Division could be bound by this order.
Immediately, Wei Jie and Yuan Ziqin gave the 180th Division an order: the 180th Division covered the transfer of the wounded and blocked the enemy at the south of the Han River.
The 180th Division lost its second chance to retreat north
After receiving the order, division commander Zheng Qigui, acting political commissar Wu Chengde, deputy division commander Duan Zhanglong, and chief of staff Wang Zhenbang were all surprised! According to the plan, the 180th Division was planning to cross the river on the evening of the 23rd and had already withdrawn from its position.
Zheng Qigui
Zheng Qigui, a native of Anhui, was born as a farmer and was more honest. He was silent for a moment, still deciding to obey the order. The troops were divided into two echelons, the second echelon of organ personnel, which retreated as planned, and the division headquarters and the first echelon re-entered the position.
The second echelon took advantage of the night to jump into the river, the river was not deep, the US military blockade was not strict, and on the morning of the 24th, they reached the opposite bank.
The wind is cold and the water is cold, and the soldiers of the first echelon have already felt a kind of tragedy, the army retreats to the north, and the lone army advances south, what does this mean?
The 180th Division once again reported the enemy situation to the headquarters of the 60th Army: the American army detoured 10 kilometers from the right flank!
When Wei Jie heard the news, his face turned pale, and the 180th Division had reached the critical point of life and death. He quickly reported to Wang Jinshan, commander of the 3rd Corps, and waited for instructions!
After the request for instructions was sent, it was like a stone sinking into the sea, and after waiting for a day, Wang Jinshan did not return the call, and finally sent the combat staff to go directly to find it, and the military headquarters was only 15 kilometers away from the corps headquarters. Tianbei did not find it, but found a telephone line, and finally contacted the corps headquarters, Wang Jinshan ordered: the 60th Army can not withdraw.
Wu Chengde
After another day of waiting, the 180th Division was completely surrounded, and even the headquarters of the 60th Army was almost surrounded, and Wei Jie was almost captured.
On the morning of May 24, Wei Jie felt that the situation was getting worse and worse, and prepared to call Wang Jinshan, the headquarters of the corps, but he could not call. At 4 p.m., he finally made up his mind to give the order: the 180th Division crossed the river!
But at this time, the river surface has been tightly sealed by the US military. The U.S. army began to launch a frenzied attack on the 180th Division, and after repelling the enemy again and again, the 180th Division was also seriously injured and ran out of ammunition.
At this time, Wei Jie had a big doubt in his heart and asked The Chief of Staff Deng Shijun: "Do we have a problem with our command?" Chief of Staff: "The main problem is in the leadership of the Corps."
Wei Jie then asked, "Does Commander Wang have an opinion of us?" Why did he ignore our request for instructions? ”
The chief of staff could not answer either.
In fact, the real situation is that from the 23rd, Wang Jinshan's radio station was blown up, and he lost contact with the outside world for three days. At the critical juncture of life and death for the 180th Division, he "lost contact".
Is there a reason to lose contact with the outside world when the radio is destroyed? Obviously not, you can contact the brother troops, borrow a radio, and generate electricity to Shiji.
This was also the key point that Liu Bocheng later questioned Wang Jinshan.
On May 25, after the 180th Division crossed the river, it was still surrounded by American troops, with no reinforcements, no food, and three ammunition. The most important thing is that the breakthrough site stipulated in the military order is actually a high mountain Eagle Peak Ridge that has been occupied by the US army, with an altitude of 1436.9 meters. The 180th Division was starved of food, and it had no strength to climb such a high mountain, and when it reached the middle of the mountain, it was attacked by the US troops from front to back, killing and wounding countless people.
On May 27, 28, the 180th Division finally took Eagle Peak Ridge, and Wei Jie ordered it to break through in the direction of Shicangli, at this time there were only 400 men left in the division! Zheng Qigui ordered these people to be organized into 4 companies, and Zheng Qigui, Duan Longzhang, Wang Zhenbang, and Wu Chengde each led a company to break through in the direction of Commander Wei's orders. Because there was no guide, the result was to run wrong and return to Eagle Peak Ridge, at this time Eagle Peak Ridge was occupied by the American Army, the 180th Division was once again besieged, and at the moment of life and death, it burned the code, smashed the radio, and scattered the breakthrough.