The newly released "Chosin Lake" movie made people really feel the heroism of the soldiers of the Ninth Corps of the Volunteer Army, and in the case of extreme cold and lack of food, the soldiers of the Ninth Corps eliminated the Polar Bear Regiment, achieved brilliant results, and played the military prestige of the Volunteer Army.
However, in stark contrast to the film, in reality, although the Ninth Corps achieved brilliant results, it also paid huge casualties, and even one division was hit by the enemy and suffered heavy losses, the division commander and political commissar were dismissed after the war, and even the unit number was revoked.
This division with heavy losses was the 88th Division of the 26th Army of the Ninth Corps, the commander of the division was Wu Dalin, who was from the old Red Army, and the political commissar was Gong Jie. What really happened?
Wu Dalin was a native of southern Sichuan County, became a soldier of the Red Army in February 1932, served as a platoon leader, company commander, battalion commander and other positions in the Red Army, and the highest served as a regimental commander.
When the Red Army was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army, Wu Dalin was appointed as a battalion instructor and served as the commander of the New Fourth Army, and later in the Liberation War, in February 1949, he was appointed as the commander of the 88th Division of the 30th Army, participating in the Transitional River Campaign.
After the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea began, the 88th Division was reorganized into the 26th Army, and according to the order, the 88th Division of the 26th Army of the Volunteer Army entered the DPRK in November, which belonged to the Rear Guard Division and was the last group of the Ninth Corps to enter the DPRK.
According to the predetermined plan, the Ninth Corps with the main force of the 20th Army, the 27th Army, a total of 8 divisions into the Battle of Chosin Lake, the 26th Army remained as a reserve, after many days of fighting, the Volunteer Army 20th Army and the 27th Army basically lost the ability to attack, and then the 26th Army was transferred to the front line.
At that time, Wu Dalin's 88th Division was more than 70 kilometers away from the designated attack position, and the order required arrival within one day, and such a task could not be completed in the midst of ice and snow, so the 88th Division asked its superiors for a day of forgiveness, and the superiors agreed, and the time was changed from December 3 to the early morning of December 4.
However, after receiving the order, Wu Dalin did not set off immediately, and did not lead the two main regiments to the south until 15:00 on the afternoon of the 3rd, and the chief of staff led a regiment and the division headquarters to follow behind.
When the vanguard troops arrived at the designated location, the enemy's vanguard troops had already passed, and the enemy's follow-up troops were passing, but the commander of the 88th Division judged that the enemy had fled, and immediately ordered a retreat.
Although the follow-up troops caught up, due to the almost loss of combat effectiveness of the rapid march, the entire 88th Division collided in the snow and was tragically strangled by the US army, leaving only a small number of people to retreat smoothly, and after the war, Wu Dalin, commander of the 88th Division, and Gong Jie, political commissar, were dismissed from their posts because of "passive fear of war."
In addition, a large number of regimental and battalion-level cadres were dismissed, and in February 1951, the number and structure of the 88th Division were abolished, and the remaining personnel were reorganized into the Special Task Force Regiment of the 26th Army.
After his dismissal, Wu Dalin was not reappointed until May 1956 as the first deputy commander and chief of staff of the 148th Division of the 50th Army, so he missed the 1955 grand award, and in August 1960, Wu Dalin left his post and died of illness in March 1991 at the age of 80.