In 1963, Zhai Wenqing, then head of the People's Liberation Army, met Yu Shuilin, a national-level hero, in the stables of a small mountain village in Inner Mongolia. The first time he saw him, Zhai Wenqing shouted: Yu Shuilin. Hearing this shout, Yu Shuilin immediately dropped what he had in his hand and said a salute in a standard military salute. Then he hesitated, because he had been away from the army for a long time. Zhai Wenqing, as the chief, was already wetting his eyes with tears at this moment.
First, the grass stack reminiscences
At that time, Yu Shuilin was called a tramp in that small mountain village, and the reason why Zhai Wenqing went to Inner Mongolia this time was first for inspection, and second, to look for him. What is the story between them? Why did the national heroes who disappeared for more than a decade appear in remote rural stables?
It wasn't just us who were curious about these questions, but also the villagers of Inner Mongolia who were next to them at the time. Looking at the "well-known" tramp in front of him and the chief who came to inspect the village chief from afar, the village chief asked everyone's doubts: Chief, what is the relationship between you and this "tramp". Zhai Wenqing said: What a tramp, he is a first-class hero of the country, but also a combat hero. He shouldn't have been here, he should have been treated better, he was the best soldier I had ever brought.
Looking at the doubtful eyes of the people, Zhai Wenqing looked at Yu Shuilin. He was supposed to enjoy special treatment, his face was now disheveled, his clothes were tattered, and the only peculiar thing was that he saluted with his left hand. But Zhai Wenqing did not care about this, he went forward to put down his saluting hand, and then looked around, in the cold winter, the stables of the stables only had dirty quilts on the bed, but they were still stacked into tofu blocks on the grass stacks.
Zhai Wenqing touched the futon, and Yu Shuilin called out next to him: Instructor. Zhai Wenqing turned his head and immediately hugged Yu Shuilin, "Good boy, it is worth it that I brought out the soldiers." The two looked at each other without words, Zhai Wenqing pulled him to sit down against the grass stack, and Yu Shuilin hurriedly said: The instructor can't do this dirty.
Zhai Wenqing said: Why not, when the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, there was this grass stack to shelter from the wind, that is happiness, not to mention that my soldiers can sleep here, why can't I sit. So the two sat down against the haystack and talked about the past, and the villagers next to them sat down, during which they heard an unfamiliar area- Hengcheng.
The story of their relationship with Hengcheng took place in 1951, when our army, under the command of Commander Peng Dehuai, successfully won the first three battles during the Fourth Campaign to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. During this period, the United Nations army led by the United States found that a hard confrontation with our army would cause them heavy losses, so the US military decided to outsmart them.
At that time, the American scouts found it very difficult for our army to supply food, and there was not enough combatants in the front line. Ridgway, who was then the commander of the United Nations army led by the United States, took advantage of our weakness and struggled to launch a counterattack. On January 25, 1951, the U.S. and South Korean troops organized troops to march toward Hengcheng in three routes (east, west, and center).
At that time, the United States sent the 8th Division of the South Korean Army and the first unit of the American Second Division as the vanguard of the central line. These two teams were given great hope by Ridgway at the time, and he equipped this vanguard force with the best military force at that time. In the face of the enemy's threat, General Deng Hua, who was the deputy commander at the time, sent the 39th, 40th, 42nd and 66th Armies of the Volunteer Army to block the attack.
On January 31, 1951, the Battle of Hengcheng was officially launched. Due to the shortage of supplies in our army at that time, the military strength was also weakening. In order to reduce unnecessary casualties, General Deng Hua ordered the 198th Division of the 42nd Army and the 66th Army to fight against the vanguard of the United Nations Army. The 42nd Army and the 198th Division cooperated with each other.
2. The Battle of Hengcheng
The troops were divided into three routes, one facing the United Nations army head-on, and the two roads encircling the United Nations army from both sides. The enemy was caught off guard for a moment. The 42nd Army and the 198th Division took the lead in annihilating the united Nations army's central vanguard, laying the foundation for victory at the Battle of Hengcheng and greatly encouraging the soldiers. In that era of great military disparities, every war relied on the blood of soldiers and the wisdom of leaders.
In the Battle of Hengcheng, the volunteer army used the tactic of crossing the detours. He also formulated a set of operational policies called "West Top East Countermeasures".
The main meaning was to leave the 38th Army and the 50th Army to hold their positions on the western front on the south bank of the Han River, not only to contain the main attacking forces of the United Nations Army, but also to buy time for the attack of the 39th, 40th, 42nd, and 66th Armies on the Eastern Front. The troops on the Eastern Front bought time to counterattack and, on a certain basis, prevented the enemy from attacking the Western Front from the flanks.
However, the main target of attack of the US army is the troops on the Western Front, which leads to the huge and huge difficulties that the defenders of the Western Front troops will face. On February 5, 1951, Commander Peng Dehuai gave orders to General Deng Hua.
The 42nd PVA Corps was ordered to move from the northeast to block the United Nations army entering the western front from the north in order to relieve the pressure on the 38th and 50th armies defending the western front. At the same time, General Deng Hua personally led the rest of the troops to continue to the east to counterattack.
Yu Shuilin was a soldier of the 8th Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 352nd Regiment of the 40th Army, and Zhai Wenqing was the instructor of the 8th Company. At this time, our army under the leadership of General Deng Hua had reached the vicinity of Hengcheng and Pingli. However, both places needed to be attacked, and the Volunteer Army was not strong enough to attack both places at the same time.
If the attack on Tongpingli could not only prevent some of the UN troops who were going to the Western Front for support, but also deter the UN forces on the Western Front. Thus alleviating the pressure on the volunteer army on the western front, it can also shorten the marching distance of the 39th and 40th armies to a certain extent, so that the generals do not have to be too tired.
However, the Five Battalions of American Troops stationed in Tongpingli, and the relatively strong defenses made it unlikely that the enemy would be annihilated. If the volunteers could not capture Toppyeong-ri in two days, the American troops and the South Korean troops from all sides would rush to support, which would make the volunteers fall into a very passive situation in the next battle.
However, if the volunteer army attacked the western front of Hengcheng, it would be in crisis, but Hengcheng had gathered a large number of troops, and although the Korean army was invincible in the war, it would not be a problem if the volunteer army went to cooperate and take Hengcheng. Therefore, after analyzing the situation, Commander Peng Dehuai ordered the volunteer army to take the lead in attacking Hengcheng, and ordered the 42nd Army to speed up the march and go to the western front as soon as possible.
Because once Hengcheng was captured, it was very advantageous for the next attack of the volunteer army. On February 10, 1951 Chinese the main forces of the 40th, 66th and 42nd Armies of the People's Volunteer Army and the 1st Division of the 39th Army were assembled, and the Hengcheng counterattack was officially launched at 17:00 on February 11 and ended in the early morning of the 13th.
General Deng Hua combined the Korean terrain with the tactics of roundabout encirclement to counterattack the enemy. In order to prevent the enemy's reserve support, all the soldiers of the 3rd Battalion of the 252nd Regiment of the 40th Army, where Yu Shuilin and Zhai Wenqing belonged, received orders before the battle began: secretly lurking behind the enemy army.
3. Latent missions
The purpose of such a lurking is twofold, one is to cut off the enemy's retreat, and the other is to prevent the enemy's continuous support. There was a "Y" junction in the rear of the enemy, where the soldiers of the 3rd Battalion set up their dormancy, but as soon as they reached the dormant, they ran into a mech artillery battalion of the U.S. Second Division. It's just that the U.S. military didn't know that there were volunteers lurking at this intersection.
But when the volunteers of the 3rd Battalion saw this artillery company's first thought, they desperately wanted to stop this unit. Because this artillery battalion has a size of 1,000 people, and there are dozens of armored vehicles. If this force reached the front, it would inflict heavy losses on the Volunteers.
It was only the 3rd Battalion that faced such an artillery battalion, and it was really difficult to annihilate them all. So after the analysis, the battalion commander ordered: do your best to annihilate it, if not, desperately organize them to advance, and stop the large rear troops from counterattacking successfully. So the soldiers of the 7th Company and the 9th Company of the 3rd Battalion took the lead in seizing the heights and setting up sniper rifles, while the 8th Company lurked on the road and prepared to face the enemy head-on.
When the American artillery battalion entered the range of our army, the officers of the 8th Battalion took the lead in firing with machine guns, and then threw countless grenades into the road and on the car. Suddenly, the artillery fire was continuous, and the volunteer army occupying the high ground was lurking and firing at the enemy at the same time.
The sudden attack coupled with the bullets in the middle of nowhere overwhelmed the American troops. However, the U.S. army did not all eat white rice, and the panic quickly disappeared, and the U.S. army quickly organized the formation, and the U.S. commander immediately ordered two tanks to open the way for the troops behind.
In the face of such a heavy mech, the advantage of the 3rd Battalion of the Volunteer Army disappeared. Although the Volunteers at that time had grenades that could shell tanks, but ammunition was scarce In the face of a large number of heavy mechs, the 3rd Battalion chose to use anti-tank grenades to blow up the tanks. Time passed by minute by minute, and the anti-tank grenades thrown out failed to stop the two tanks that had opened the way in front of them.
At this time, there were not many grenades left in the 8th Company, and the instructor Zhai Wenqing was anxious to think of a way, in fact, it was not impossible, if he wanted to successfully blow up these two tanks, someone must be able to get close to the tank, but this was destined to be a gamble that would never return, so Zhai Wenqing made up his mind to take this risk, but Yu Shuilin saw his idea and stopped him.
"Instructor you give me the rest of the anti-tank grenades, I'm going to blow up those two, you can't go, you have to stay here and command them." Instructor you believe me I promise to complete the task. ”
Zhai Wenqing's first reaction was to refuse, but the battlefield was not the time for you to come and go, and he gritted his teeth and said to Shui Lin: You give Lao Tzu a return alive. Immediately the order was issued: his grandmother's, the 8th Company of soldiers obeyed the order, set up machine guns to open the way for Yu Shuilin.
Fourth, bravely bomb tanks
So Yu Shuilin braved artillery fire to rush to the enemy's tanks, with the cover of 8 companies of soldiers and volunteers on high places, when Yu Shuilin blew up the first tank, it was still relatively smooth. Taking advantage of the confusion of the artillery fire, he lurked in the trench near the first tank, then got up and placed the anti-tank grenade on the tank's tracks, pulled down the pull ring, and then hid back in the trench at the first time.
As the pull ring pulled the grenade explosion tank was also damaged, Yu Shuilin successfully blew up a tank, which was when he was preparing to go to the vicinity of the second tank, but found the tanker in the first tank jumping out. Yu Shuilin then shot him to death, thus successfully exposing his position.
So the second tank began to attack him, and the instructor Zhai Wenqing watched nervously as he dodged the tank's attack and ordered the soldiers to cover him desperately. He then detoured to the rear of the tank in the water forest, and as the tank attacked elsewhere, he placed the grenade on the tracks of the second tank, and the tank exploded. At the moment of the tank explosion, the battalion commander ordered grenades and bazookas to attack the vehicles and tanks in the rear, and after a burst of artillery bombardment, the volunteers attacked.
At this time, the AMERICAN troops had already been bombarded and turned around to flee, and the volunteers immediately pursued. At this time, Zhai Wenqing looked around for Yu Shuilin, and when he saw Yu Shuilin, he found that he was covered in blood, and his right arm had been shot, but he was still desperately holding a grenade, pulling a pull ring in his left hand, and in front of him were eight American troops who had been forced into a corner.
At the moment of seeing Zhai Shuiqing, Yu Shuilin said: Instructor I completed the task, and then fainted. When Yu Shuilin woke up again, he was at the back of the medical office. The first thing he heard when he woke up was that the instructor had asked him for credit. Now he is a national second-class combat hero, and he has made a first-class meritorious service.
Yu Shuilin, who knew this news, was unusually happy, but he could no longer go to the battlefield, because his right arm could not be treated in time and could only be amputated. In a corner of the medical office, Yu Shuilin was unusually silent, and in the face of the help of medical personnel, he was like a breathing doll at his disposal.
But after a few days, this corner, and even this medical office, could not find the figure of Yu Shuilin. He could no longer go to war himself, and staying there would delay the time of medical personnel, so he went through the procedures for retirement, and after retiring, he also went to find several jobs, but he was not hired because he was disabled. So he returned to his hometown of Meihe Village in Chifeng County.
Back in the village, he didn't tell a single person about his past. Because he went back with one arm, the people in the village thought that he had caused trouble outside and fled back. Since he now has only one arm, his life is poor, and he has no relatives, and there is no place to live in his hometown, he began to wander in the village.
When it was cold, I spent the night in the stables, and when I was hungry, I would pick some wild fruits to get some food. Later, the people of the village took pity on him, so they let him live in the stables of the production team to feed the horses, and the family took turns to feed him. At that time, the country was in a time of waste and waiting to be rebuilt, and his hometown was also very poor, and the quilt was given to him by an old family.
Fifth, thousands of miles to find soldiers
After the end of the war, Zhai Wenqing asked people about Yu Shuilin several times, but there was no news of him. At one point, he even thought he had died in that land. It's just that everyone has the idea of returning to the roots of the fallen leaves, and Zhai Wenqing thought that even if Yu Shuilin had died in battle, he would have to hear the news of him, whether he was dead or alive, he would also bring him back.
However, the conscription system at that time was not perfect, and there were no detailed information about Yu Shuilin in the army, and Zhai Wenqing learned after several investigations that his hometown was the beautiful river village in Chifeng County. So he took the opportunity to visit Inner Mongolia in 1963 to look for Yu Shuilin in the beautiful river village.
Listening to the two men talk about the past, the villagers were silent, although what they talked about was a distant past, but they could clearly remember how many grenades the troops had at that time. After the local government knew these things, it immediately gave Yu Shuilin a house, and the people of the eight villages in ten miles enthusiastically introduced the girl to him, but Yu Shuilin felt that he had broken an arm, afraid of delaying the girl and not wanting to get married.
Later, someone introduced him to a woman with a weak eye, and the two married and lived their own little lives. At that time, during the three years of national difficulties, the troops gave Yu Shuilin some grain, and Yu Shuilin refused to accept it under Zhai Shuiqing's "compulsory order" before accepting it. Later, Yu Shuilin died, and Zhai Shuiqing personally handled the aftermath for him.
The pure brotherhood between these two soldiers has touched many people, and Yu Shuilin's integrity and kindness in sacrificing himself to the party and the people are even more unforgettable. The most regrettable thing between them is that they have not been able to go to the battlefield together since the Battle of Hengcheng.
However, buried under that land, there are many regretful soldiers, and they feel that they have "not built anything" without killing them. They regretted that they had left in such a way, but they did not know that it was they who shook the hearts of the whole world, and it was they who imprinted the five words of the Chinese volunteer army in the hearts of American soldiers.