introduction:
How much shock did the Decisive Battle bring to the Americans?
All this can be seen from the words of the post-war American media and AMERICAN military history experts.
Commenting on the Battle of Ganling, the United Press said: The casualty rate of the Chinese and American armies in this battle has reached the highest point in a year.
This is the media's assessment from the perspective of war casualties.
Associated Press reporter Rendorf said in the report:
The Battle of Jinhua had become a bottomless pit, swallowing up more allied military resources than any Chinese general offensive.
This is the media's assessment from the perspective of war attrition.
General Van Vliet, who presided over the battle, said:
It was the bloodiest and longest-running battle of the war, and it suffered heavy losses for the United Nations forces.
This was the army's post-war summary of the battle, and Van Vliet used two of the most, one major, to disguise his embarrassment, as well as his inner uneasiness.
Finally, let's look at the American military historian Walter W. Bush. G. Hemt, in the book The U.S. Army in the Korean War, comments:
Operation Showdown got a mocking ending.
This is an assessment that elicits from the perspective of war strategy.
How can a battle that thinks it is well prepared ended up like this, just a mockery?
The summary and evaluation of the above four levels make us understand the particularity of this battle and the deep impression left on the Americans.
What exactly did the Volunteers do?
What is the story of the causes and consequences of this war?
Why did this battle come to this?
Why did the UN forces suffer when they were well prepared?
With these four questions in mind, let's go back to the front line of the war and look at Shangganling, the 3.7 square kilometer mountain that created miracles, everything that has happened.
(Decisive Battle of Shangganling)
One: Shangganling and all-round wrench wrist.
Looking back at this battle and seeing the causes and follow-up of the war, countless people will understand the particularity of this battle. This particularity is reflected in three aspects.
First of all: it is a great war fought by the enemy and us in an irregular way of war.
Second: it was a wrenching battle to gain an advantage in the Panmunjom negotiations.
Finally: it is a battle of spiritual will in which both sides gather all the strategic elements and devote themselves wholeheartedly.
The unnatural, wrench-wrist as the purpose, the collection of all strategic elements, the battle of spiritual will, this is the special feature of the decisive battle of Ganling.
This peculiarity allowed the Volunteers and the United Nations Army to fight a final hard-fought battle on the battlefield. This is a four-dimensional aspect of the battlefield, and geographical conditions, will to fight, strategic game, and arms coordination are indispensable.
The superior United Nations army has left the volunteer army with no room for ingenuity and compromise, and the volunteer army can only win in the limited four dimensions of the battlefield, exerting each dimension to the extreme, and fighting a battle aimed at crushing the spiritual will of the other side.
With flesh and blood, hard resistance to steel flames, with repeated competition, instead of sports tactics, with personnel barriers, facing a dense charge.
In short, both the United Nations and the Volunteers were forced to abandon their proud ways of fighting in this battle.
The volunteers switched from a mobile war to a positional war, and the United Nations army actually charged at the dense fortifications.
At any cost, regardless of life and death, regardless of casualties, whoever backs down first is equivalent to losing the battle.
Although the UN forces are not good at intensive charge, they still have the advantage of firepower and mechanization.
On the part of the volunteer army, it is not allowed to rely on the world's first tactical command and will to fight, build temporary fortifications with both hands, use the anti-slope tactics of tunnels and refueling tactics, and resist the overwhelming artillery and infantry coordination tactics of the US army, and engage the short troops of the United Nations army.
Under Van Vleet's almost unlimited amount of ammunition, he made walls of flesh and blood and insisted on fighting.
(Stills of the Volunteer Army in the Tunnel)
Two: Deep political and economic interaction before the miracle.
Long before the Battle of Shangganling broke out, the U.S. army and the United Nations army were a bit overwhelmed!
This is reflected in both the data list and the international game!
Let's take a look at the list of data first.
The Korean War was a local war, but the military expenditure was as high as more than 20 billion US dollars.
You know, at the peak of World War II, the United States spent more than $80 billion in military spending in 1945.
At that time, the United States had more than ten million troops, hundreds of aircraft carriers, and only so much military expenditure, but how big was the scale of the Korean War? With so much money spent, the grievances of the American taxpayer are palpable.
This invisible economic and political pressure was transmitted to the front line, and only then did the Panmunjom negotiation period begin in July 1951.
When the Korean War also shifted from the stage of mobile warfare to the stage of strategic stalemate, the battlefield game became equally important as the international game.
Why this negotiation can begin, it is still the Americans who have taken the initiative to contact us, who have passed on the news through the Soviet Union in the hope of holding armistice negotiations on the Korean Peninsula. Although the Soviet Union was happy to see the United States caught in the quagmire of the Korean War, Stalin still chose to support the negotiations based on the consideration of watching the fire from the other side.
Since then, both the enemy and us have understood that the strategic goal of this war has changed from driving the other side down the Pacific or hitting the Yalu River to how to rely on the victory of the war to gain the initiative in negotiations.
That's where two things happen.
The first thing is what Chairman Mao said: Talk while fighting, and promote talks by fighting
The second was the deployment of U.S. troops: General Ridgway, who had reversed the tide of the war, was transferred to Europe (May 1952) in exchange for a more diplomatically and politically savvy Wayne Clarke to succeed Commander-in-Chief of the United Nations Forces.
All this is a two-handed preparation for negotiation and war.
Economic pressures are transmitted to politics, which then triggers strategic and personnel changes.
However, while negotiations continue, so does the war, which is triggered by an accident.
(UN forces will continue to change)
Three: VanVleet's obsession and "Showdown Operation."
On April 3, 1952, a B-26 bomber sailed from Gunsan Air Base to Shari-in, the capital of North Hwanghae Province, on a bombing mission. At that time, the US summer offensive was in progress, and the US Air Force made a large-scale move to attack the rear of the volunteer army and cut off the logistics and transportation line of the volunteer army.
This is the famous "strangulation war" and "anti-hanging war".
In order to resist the US air raids, the Volunteer Anti-Aircraft Artillery Group is always vigilant!
Although the B26 bomber carried out a bombing mission at 3 a.m., it still did not escape the anti-aircraft guns, and the B26 was shot down after a round of fire.
Subsequently, an important person in the US military lost his son in old age, this person was Van Vliet, and his son was the pilot of the B26.
The death of his son on the battlefield made VanVleet deeply resentful and unforgettable. Six months after suffering the loss of her son, VanVleet submitted her long-planned "Operation Showdown" plan. This plan to fight a limited war based on absolute firepower is VanVleet's revenge and deepest provocation.
It is the negotiations that provoke, the children who take revenge, and the volunteer lines that are in danger. If all goes well, the game at the negotiating table may change.
The commander-in-chief of the U.S. military, Clark, has said before that he is a man of deep political and diplomatic knowledge.
Based on this, his perspective on the problem must have both political and diplomatic aspects, and Van Vliet's plan, which can be said to be well versed in Clarke's heart, is a political and diplomatic battle plan that is also very clever!
The reason is none other, the goal is limited, the scale is controllable, and the effect is obvious.
First of all: we see that the goal is limited.
According to the plan, the target of the showdown operation was the very inconspicuous main position of the volunteer army, the two highlands 597.9 and 537.7 in front of the Five Holy Mountains, and if it were not for this war, no one would know where these two highlands were.
Second: we look at the scale controllable.
In VanVleet's original plan, the estimated casualties of his own side were within 200, because the volunteer troops on the opposite side were only two companies, and such a battle plan did not mean to make a big fight.
Finally: we see that the effect is obvious, and this effect has both military and political effects.
Militarily, the seizure of these two high ground can directly threaten the main position of the volunteer army, the Five Holy Mountains, the US military through the control of the highland is equivalent to controlling the road area below, the US military really wants to launch a large-scale attack can use the road to let the mechanized troops drive straight in, insert into the rear of the volunteer army to implement the bag and clip tactics, and form an advantage in the battlefield pattern.
Politically, a small operation on this battlefield of less than 4 square kilometers will not break the pattern of confrontation between the two sides, nor will it undermine the overall negotiation process, as long as the military victory is won, it can gain a comparative advantage at the negotiating table, and it can also help the Democratic candidate Truman who participated in the presidential campaign to reverse the unfavorable situation.
Based on this, the US military believes that limited and controllable can change the pattern of front-line confrontation, show off force, and help the big boss campaign battle plan to pass smoothly.
Clark and Van Vliet calculated a lot, but missed a little!
That is, the volunteer army did not give in to any land, heroic and unmatched, and finally made it difficult for them to ride the tiger.
(Drama photo)
Four: The battle begins.
On 14 October 1952, well-prepared Un troops launched an offensive and began shelling the 30-kilometer-long Volunteer line of defense. The intention was to use an all-out offensive posture to allow the volunteers to concentrate on the direction of the Five Holy Mountains and the Western Mountain positions and cover the suddenness of the main attack area.
At the same time as the indiscriminate coverage attack, the UN army concentrated more than 200 artillery pieces and more than 200 sorties of aircraft, and bombarded the 597.9 and 537.7 heights guarded by only two companies with more than five times the amount of ammunition.
After countless indiscriminate bombardments, in order to smooth the attack, the United Nations Army specially arranged 3 infantry battalions to charge, hoping to beat down!
(Coalition Bomber)
Before the war, in order to boost morale and publicize the effect, the United Nations army even invited many international media to observe the battle.
From this, it can be seen that this battle is the sword pointing to why? Never the ownership of the two highlands, but the negotiations behind Panmunjom.
But their wishful thinking met the "tunnel" tactics of the volunteers.
The world's first volunteer army with the highest tactical literacy has built complex and strong tunnel fortifications based on the unique granite and limestone terrain of the highlands and the rugged mountainous landforms.
When I read the Korean War materials, I often see that the volunteer army's method of warfare is to rely on rocks and cliffs to build fortifications!
This mountain fortification, which can defend against the enemy's artillery attacks, can also be condescending to block the enemy's mechanized troops, creating a battlefield situation favorable to the volunteer army in the battle.
With the cooperation of North Korea's unique limestone and granite landforms, the "tunnel" tactics of the volunteer army that constantly created miracles appeared.
In the more than a year of the confrontation on the 38th Line, the volunteer army rotated the troops stationed in the area of the Five Holy Mountains, and never slackened off in the construction of the tunnel fortifications, in order to build a solid fortification, the volunteer soldiers not only dug with shovels, but also used bombs to blast granite!
It is precisely this long-term combat readiness and unremitting excavation that has led to the miracle of resisting the 1.9 million shells of the United Nations army with the help of tunnels.
In the face of the volunteers' tunnel tactics, Van Vliette, who thought he had unparalleled firepower, suffered countless losses, thinking that he could vigorously produce miraculous firepower coverage, and returned in the face of the strong fortifications of the volunteer army.
On the first day of the battle, they lost. But, they are still not willing?
Countless media watched, they had prepared for so long, and fired so many shells, how could they retreat as soon as they hit?
(Tunnel Tactics)
Five: Refueling tactics and volunteer firepower.
The all-out offensive of the United Nations army is a cover, the key offensive is true, and the volunteer army certainly sees it clearly.
The sinister intentions of Operation Showdown, as well as Van Vliet's tactics, made the volunteers understand that this guy's goal was to lay down the two high ground in Shangganling to gain an advantage in the subsequent negotiations.
In the face of the enemy's aggressiveness, how can we admit it? Subsequently, countless support troops began to enter the Shangganling area.
The original two companies later became battalions, regiments, and divisions, and finally became military units after continuous fierce battles.
The Volunteers are increasing their troops, and the United Nations army is unwilling to give up and continues to increase its troops.
However, relying on the strong tunnels, the volunteers offset the enemy's firepower superiority and continued to complete the task of holding on.
Among them, in addition to the tunnels, there was also the support of the volunteer artillery.
Throughout the Battle of Shangganling, artillery bombardment was not one-sided.
According to post-war statistics, the US army spent 1.9 million shells, the data of the volunteer army is more than 400,000 rounds, although the artillery consumption ratio of the two sides is 1 to 4, but it has to be admitted that the US artillery is still dominant.
(Endless shell casings)
The US artillery, in addition to bombing the tunnel fortifications, also has a considerable part used to block the surrounding support of the traffic of Shangganling, which is also the source of the volunteer army's soldiers who hold the high ground, even apples are difficult to eat, under the enemy artillery blockade, it is difficult to send up.
At the height of the battle, Qin Jiwei, commander of the Fifteenth Army, even sent his own guard company to the front line to send supplies, and not many people could finally break through the defense line.
The artillery superiority of the United Nations Army made the artillery of the Volunteer Army, which was limited by the small caliber and small number, decide to adjust the tactical defense line with the main purpose of "killing and injuring the enemy's living forces", which is undoubtedly a confrontational style of play!
Because the tactic of the Un army is to put in a large army for a tactical charge of man-sea after the fire is covered.
At this time, the shelling was very effective, after the US army went to the heights, the US artillery would not open fire, the volunteer artillery roared, and it could also effectively cooperate with the volunteer soldiers who insisted on holding the tunnel to fight.
These two highlands were held out, sawn, artillery covered so repeatedly, changed hands dozens of times.
Both sides of the battlefield paid a huge price, among which the main attack, but also often the sea of people charged the U.S. army casualties were heavier. 、
According to post-war statistics, the United Nations suffered 25,000 casualties and 13,000 casualties caused by artillery fire.
When American soldiers reminisce after the war, they often mention the terrible Katyusha rockets of the Volunteer Army.
(Katyusha rocket)
Six: The tactics that are changed and the will not to change.
From the beginning of the volunteer army's entry into the DPRK, the tactical style of the volunteer army was mainly sports warfare and interspersed tactics.
This was the tactical norm of the first five campaigns, a tactic that was subjected to harassment and suppression by the enormous air superiority and firepower superiority of the U.S. military.
However, this does not mean that the volunteer army cannot fight a trench war.
After the Korean War entered the stalemate stage, the volunteer artillery, which had been gathering momentum for a long time and had limited space to exert, finally seized the opportunity to prove themselves with strength, and the casualties of 13,000 UN troops in the Battle of Shangganling were a sign of the change in the tactics of the volunteer army, and also the precursor of the Platon Army from the era of millet plus rifles to the era of heavy missile artillery firepower.
Strong fortifications were the cornerstone of defense, and the brilliance of the artillery allowed the volunteers to finally win the battle in another way.
This strategic shift changed the tactics of the volunteers, but it still did not change the will to fight of the volunteers.
The repeated scramble for the high ground was the result of the confrontation between the volunteer army and the US army.
Only by gaining a firm foothold on the high ground and breaking the strategic intention of the US military can we have the initiative in the Panmunjom negotiations, and prove in the international arena that the volunteer army will not fall behind even if it is a head-on and hard-core US army, so that the Americans will retreat in spite of difficulties.
The stories of countless heroes, too many and too many, they use the courage of their predecessors and successors to explain the importance of the will to fight.
The succession of the former servants is precisely the basis for the final victory of the volunteer army.
(Former servants and successors)
Here we can imagine the battle scene of the volunteer soldiers at that time.
The US aircraft in the sky were bombing, followed by endless heavy artillery fire, the defensive positions were trapped because of this three-dimensional strike, and many fighters, in order to cope with this fire coverage, could only disperse the formation and retreat the large troops to the bunker.
The number of soldiers who can garrison a position is limited, and the countless positions of the volunteer army are often in groups of three, and if a soldier on the position is sacrificed, a soldier will be sent out of the tunnel to support the position.
In this way, the casualties on the front line are greatly reduced, and the positions are not incapacitated.
In this way, the volunteer army used the method of succession, and in this contest of willpower, the United Nations army lost its will to fight.
The battle, which lasted for more than a month, was won by this round of warrior relays.
Countless soldiers, at that moment, when they jumped into the bunker, their firm eyes, their resolute backs, and the affectionate gaze of their comrades-in-arms were the embodiment of this fighting spirit.
Where there are no apples, there is one we have to share in food, because we are comrades-in-arms.
Where there is no water source, we must drink together, because we are comrades-in-arms.
Where there is no farewell, every warrior who goes out, we will not forget.
Holding the steel gun of the comrade-in-arms and continuing the mission of the comrade-in-arms is the greatest war in the history of mankind.
(Camaraderie)
End:
Such an opponent is something that the Americans have never seen before.
After a sustained tug-of-war, Clark and Van Vleet finally stopped reinforcing their troops in Gangalyeong, the main attacking American troops were exhausted, the reinforcements from the American mainland would not come, and the ensuing battle was actually the South Korean army, they all came, and the victory and defeat were divided.
On November 20, 1952, the Volunteer Army recaptured Position 6 of Hill 537.7, and on November 25, the Volunteer Army's 537.7 Heights Replacement Campaign ended. The wrench on the negotiating table extended to the battlefield before the Battle of Shangganling, but the US army still lost!
The US military and political circles finally reached a consensus that the Korean War can only end here.
Everything that followed had the far-reaching impact of this battle.
In January 1953, the Democratic Party lost the election to Truman and stepped down, and Eisenhower became the new president of the United States.
In the summer of 1953, the Volunteer Army launched the Summer Offensive and the Battle of Jincheng successively, determining the pattern of the 38th Line.
In July 1953, the Korean Armistice Was officially signed at Panmunjom.
On this small 3.7 square kilometer battlefield, the volunteer army once again interpreted the peak of the world's light infantry, and also made the volunteer army's huge artillery firepower first appear.
A battle that determined the pattern of Northeast Asia.
Tribute to the heroes, tribute to Shangganling!
VanVleet's ammunition volume has become a thing of the past, and today we have become a brave and firepower-first iron-blooded army.