On November 25, 1950, in the second campaign of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, our volunteer army once again won a great victory, and our army gave a devastating blow to the United Nations army led by the United States, and the Seventh and Eighth Divisions of the South Korean Army, most of the Turkish Brigade, and a reinforcement regiment of the Seventh Division of the United States Army were all annihilated, and most of the US Second Division, the First Marine Division, the US 25th Division, and the First Cavalry Division were annihilated. In this battle, more than 36,000 enemy prisoners were killed and wounded, including more than 24,000 American troops, and Lieutenant General Walker, commander of the US Eighth Army, was killed in a car accident during the retreat. What the US military could not accept was that this victory of the volunteer army actually stemmed from the temporary release of 100 US prisoners by Mr. Peng. What's going on here?
On November 4, 1950, the Volunteer Army, which had been fighting in Korea for only 16 days, won consecutive victories on the Korean battlefield, and not long ago clamored to push all the way and completely crush the US Eighth Army of the North Korean People's Army. The appearance of Chinese troops on the Korean battlefield not only disrupted the UN military's plan to quickly occupy all of North Korea, but also plunged the WHITE House into extreme uneasiness and confusion. U.S. President Harry S. Truman was very worried that the Chinese military would fully intervene in the situation in North Korea, because this would greatly hinder the offensive of the United Nations army.
However, the mentality of the commander-in-chief of the United Nations Army, MacArthur, was completely different from Truman's, although the first confrontation between the United Nations Army and the Volunteer Army was met with a head-on blow, but MacArthur still believed that this was only a symbolic dispatch of troops by China as a member of the Soviet bloc, and the US military intelligence department had already reported to him the deployment of Chinese troops in the DPRK, and the report showed that the Chinese army in the DPRK had only a few divisions, numbering between 44851 and 70051, and after the first confrontation, the casualties of 5500 people were not enough to be afraid.
In addition, after the end of the first battle, the volunteer army suddenly took the initiative to retreat, completely disappeared from the field of vision of the United Nations army, won the battle but did not take advantage of the victory to pursue, which was very abnormal in MacArthur's view, the only explanation is that the Chinese army is bluffing, they do not have the strength to compete with the American army.
A few days later, MacArthur flew from Tokyo, Japan, to the Korean front, determined to launch an east-west attack on the volunteers with 5 armies and 13 divisions of nearly 220,000 people, in an attempt to crush the volunteers in one fell swoop.
Just as MacArthur was beginning to fully deploy the next offensive plan, the Volunteers suddenly disengaged from the Americans, and the troops retreated from the Cheongcheon River, and it was not without reason that the Volunteers would behave so strangely. Since the volunteer army in the first battle was not fully exposed, this time Mr. Peng decided to adopt the strategy of luring the enemy to go deep, luring the enemy to an area familiar to our army and then counterattacking in the campaign.
Luring the enemy deeper is a very bold plan, and if you are not careful, you may cause a whole line of shock. Therefore, before implementation, there must be a set of strict action plans, but also someone responsible for luring the enemy, and this heavy responsibility of luring the enemy deeply fell to the 112th Division of the 38th Army, according to the plan formulated by General Peng, the 112th Division should retreat while fighting when it comes into contact with the United Nations army, and it is most appropriate to withdraw to 30 to 50 kilometers, showing that our army is very weak, making them feel that these communist troops are the remnants of fleeing north, so that they can go to the death trap built by our army.
The strength of the six armies of our 42nd Army, 38th Army, 40th Army, 39th Army, 66th Army and 50th Army, from east to west, is arranged in an inverted V-shape in the rear, like a huge fishing net, waiting for the United Nations army to take the bait. Although the bait was thrown out, Lieutenant General Walker, commander of the US Eighth Army, was very cautious in dealing with the volunteers, and the whole team advanced north very slowly, because in the first battle of Unsan, Walker had paid a terrible price for the advance, and the 8th Regiment of the US 1st Cavalry Division and the 15th Regiment of the 1st Division of the South Korean Army were annihilated by the Volunteers in this battle.
Since then, Walker has become extremely sensitive to the volunteer army, and he has always been suspicious of the current retreat of the volunteer army, although MacArthur, who was far away in Tokyo, constantly warned him not to worry about the sky and go north at full speed, but Walker still used the excuse of insufficient supplies, delayed it again and again, and warned his men to retreat as soon as they smelled Chinese food.
The US military moved slowly, which made Mr. Peng extremely anxious, the original plan of action was repeatedly postponed, in order to let the US military relax its vigilance, Mr. Peng had a plan, since the US military is so suspicious, then we will fundamentally dispel the concerns of the US military.
On November 20, Mr. Peng ordered the 112th Division to stop luring the enemy deeper, and at the same time ordered the 39th Army, which had captured the largest number of prisoners, to immediately release 100 wounded and sick American prisoners. Originally, according to international practice and humanitarian spirit, the prisoners captured on the battlefield would not be exchanged until after the war, and some of them could also be used as chips in the post-war negotiations, and at this time, the release would inevitably lead to some discordant voices in the army, because these prisoners were paid for by the soldiers at the cost of blood, or even the loss of important comrades. However, Mr. Peng did not make this decision on impulse. In fact, the release of these 100 US prisoners of war is precisely the most crucial part of Peng's plan to lure the enemy deeper.
According to The instructions of General Peng, the 39th Army released the 100 American prisoners in batches on the highway in front of the position a day later, and out of the spirit of humanitarian concern, before the 39th Army released the prisoners of war, they would conduct a physical examination to ensure that every wounded and sick prisoner could be treated.
In addition, when the 39th Army released the American prisoners of war, it would also specially reveal to them that the supply in Korea was too difficult, there was no ammunition and relief materials, we were not the main force, and after you were released, we would withdraw to the country and not fight.
After doing this work, the 39th Army began to carry the American prisoners of war on stretchers one by one and sent them to the side of the road to be handed over to the American soldiers who came to meet them.
The friendly attitude displayed by the Chinese army succeeded in convincing the 100 captives from their hearts, and in their perception, the captives were nothing more than chips on the negotiating table, and if they were caught, they would be severely tortured, even if they did not lose their heads. But the Chinese army not only did not do this, but treated them as if they were their own people, and even sent them back intact, which they never expected, so many prisoners of war returned with gratitude and said that we would never fight Chinese again, and at the same time conveyed to the United Nations headquarters that the Chinese troops were about to withdraw from Korea.
In order to convince the enemy that our army was really about to withdraw from Korea, General Manager Peng immediately ordered all the soldiers to discard some old guns and other combat materials when they retreated, so as to confuse the enemy's sight.
MacArthur believed that because the UN army's artillery fire was fierce, the Chinese support forces could not enter the Korean battlefield, and the Chinese troops now participating in the war were not only very limited, but they also lost their confidence in battle in the face of the superior firepower of the UN army, so they released the US prisoners of war in advance in order to seek leniency from the United States after the war. MacArthur was convinced that a full-fledged victory for the United Nations army would soon come. But what he didn't know was that just north of them, 380,000 volunteers were already waiting for each other, ready to fight the enemy to the death.
On November 21, in accordance with MacArthur's strategic deployment, the entire unincorporated force entered the intended starting line of the attack, and MacArthur planned to advance in three routes, in a fan-shaped formation, with the US First Army on the left wing, the US Ninth Army in the middle, and the Rok II Army on the right flank. MacArthur's deployment was very simple, that is, relying on the powerful firepower of the US army, pushing all the way flat, and then covering the dense firepower in turn, completely eliminating the resistance of the volunteer army.
But such a deployment also has a fatal weakness, the UNITED Forces scattered in fan-shaped queues, in the process of advancing, it is difficult to form effective mutual support, and the further north they advance, the front of the front line will be pulled loose.
To this end, the Volunteer Army was determined to adopt the tactic of "left attack, defense, right containment" to cope with the overall pressure of the United Nations army. First of all, the 38th Army and the 42nd Army attacked the ROK Second Army, which did not have high combat effectiveness on the right flank, opened the gap in the front line, and then detoured to the rear of the enemy side to cut off the connection between the east and west lines of the US army, and then used the 39th Army and the 40th Army to block the US Ninth Army on the road to prevent its eastern reinforcements, and finally the 66th Army and the 50th Army held the enemy forces and waited for the enemy troops who might pass by the sea.
MacArthur's U.S. Tenth Army faced three corps of the Ninth Corps led by Song Shilun, totaling 150,000 men.
On November 24, MacArthur, surrounded by U.S. generals and a large number of reporters, confidently announced that the United Nations army would launch a general offensive today and that all American soldiers would be allowed to return home before Christmas.
At dusk on November 25, the United Nations army, which was advancing north with all its might, was suddenly awakened by a loud charge, and the six armies of the Volunteer Army on the Western Front suddenly appeared from all directions and pounced on the enemy on a 200-kilometer front, and the second campaign of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea was officially launched.
In just one day, the 38th Army captured Unsongli southwest of Tokugawa, blocked the retreat of the Han Seventh Division, and wrapped all the more than 5,000 people of the main force of the Han Seventh Division in dumplings.
At the same time, the 39th And 40th Army in the middle of the road also launched an all-out attack on the US Second Division and the 25th Division in strict accordance with the pre-war deployment of Mr. Peng, and in the continuous grenade explosions, the US soldiers suffered countless casualties.
Two days later, the American army with strong firepower superiority could not hold out, and the 7th Company of the 24th Regiment of the US 25th Division decisively raised its hand to surrender to the volunteers.
On December 24, after 29 days of continuous pursuit, the volunteers suddenly pushed the front to the 38th Line and captured the Wengjin Peninsula and the Yan'an Peninsula south of the 38th Line. The U.S. Army fled all the way, the U.S. Tenth Army and other units escaped from the sea, losing more than 36,000 people in the entire battle, and the 38th Army alone captured 1,008 American soldiers.
This beautiful victory greatly exceeded Mr. Peng's expectations, and also greatly damaged the morale of the US army, and also made the prestige of General Peng spread throughout the United Nations army, perhaps as a merit student at West Point, MacArthur himself could not imagine that he would lose to the grassroots general Peng Dehuai, who had only read for two years.
"Soldiers, tricksters also". We have to admire the generals of our volunteer army, because it is precisely because of their far-sightedness and the wisdom of their trade-offs that China has risen rapidly and has the long-term peace and stability of the current decades.
The spirit of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea will last forever, and we salute the officers and men of the Volunteer Army!