As we all know, in the war years, heavy weapons like cannons are very important for troops, and no soldier will be willing to destroy cannons with their hands. However, during the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, such an extremely rare thing happened: In the absence of heavy weapons of the volunteer army, a deputy commander went so far as to strongly demand that the fraternal troops push a cannon off a cliff.
If you don't understand what happened, you will definitely think that this thing is very strange. In fact, the root cause of the incident is that although this cannon was destroyed, it saved tens of thousands of troops. What's going on here?
In May 1951, the invading enemy forces were forced to retreat from the Yalu River to the south of the 38th Parallel after being hit by five consecutive offensive campaigns launched by the Volunteer Army and the People's Army. This is undoubtedly a good news for the Chinese and DPRK armies that is exciting and worth rejoicing in.
However, after continuous combat, the volunteer army also exposed the weakness of relatively lagging logistical support and serious shortage of food and weapons and ammunition.
The leaders of the enemy army grasped the law of the volunteer army relying on "one rice bag" to fight the "prayer offensive", and when the volunteer army had just finished the fifth campaign (the second stage of the eastern front) and withdrew from the battlefield and moved north, they gathered two legions and four divisions of the Li puppet army and launched a "blitzkrieg" attack on the eastern front.
The enemy chose Fupingli and Huachuan as their targets. This is because Fupingli is the ferry port of the Zhaoyang River, and Huachuan is where the highway bridge on the banks of the North Han River is located. If these two key points can be seized, the retreat route of several volunteer armies moving from east to west on the south side of Huachuan Lake (formed by the formation of water storage in the upper reaches of the North Han River) can be cut off, and the volunteer army will be plunged into an unfavorable situation.
On May 23, the 20th Volunteer Army was ordered to move north from the county and the area south of Linhe to the area east of Jinhua for recuperation. Due to the barrier of Huachuan Lake, one division crossed the Zhaoyang River north from Fupingli, and two divisions moved through Huachuan. Since the commander and political commissar Zhang Yixiang was recuperating in The Country, the 20th Army was actually under the full responsibility of Liao Zhengguo, the deputy commander known as the "one-armed general" (in October 1940, he was unfortunately blown off his right arm while dismantling a grenade for the repair center).
Two days later, the rear guard regiment, which had crossed the Zhaoyang River in Fuping, encountered the vanguard of the US First Division, which was trying to seize the ferry. The regiment did not wait for the orders of its superiors, took the initiative to occupy the high ground on the north bank of the Zhaoyang River, and launched a fierce battle with the enemy army. Although the enemy bombarded with heavy artillery at long range and also engaged in airborne combat, the regiment fought for 6 days until friendly neighbors and the people's army arrived.
Liao Zhengguo and his two other divisions passed through Yuchuanli to the rest and assembly area on the way to cross the Ash Valley Ridge Winding Mountain Road along the south side of Huachuan Lake, and also passed through the passes of 90,000 Li Da Nang and Huachuan Bridge.
On the night of May 26, Liao Zhengguo, along with operations staff officer Chen Fu and others, was riding an American jeep and encountered a crowded marching procession on the Gray Valley Ridge Highway. Infantry, artillery, logistic convoys, and numerous wounded stretchers marched very slowly. Liao Zhengguo's jeeps are also often parked and stopped.
It was almost midnight when the whole march came to a halt on the road, not knowing what was happening ahead, and hearing the muffled sound of gunfire not far to the west.
"Things have changed!" Liao Zhengguo frowned and said.
Operations Staff Officer Chen Fu immediately jumped out of the car and went to persuade the troops in front to give way to the side and let Vice Commander Liao's car pass.
After walking for another three or five miles, we reached the sharp bend in the road of Ash Valley Ridge and could no longer advance. An American 105 mm howitzer truck of the brother troops was reclining on the road, and the front wheels of the tractor had slid under the shoulder of the road, and half of the body and cannon had become a roadblock on the road. Dozens of artillery soldiers dragged their guns backwards, and a cadre next to them was in command. Apparently, the wrecked gun car was the reason why so many troops on the road were not moving fast.
At this time, Liao Zhengguo came to the cadre and said, "When will I be able to pull up the artillery truck?" ”
Although the artillery cadre did not know Liao Zhengguo, he saw the guards and the parked jeep next to him, judging from Liao Zhengguo's age and temperament and the special right-hand prosthesis, this was a high-ranking chief, and he saluted unnaturally and said: "Chief, I am not sure when I can drag it up." ”
"What should I do when it's dawn?" What if a large number of teams in the back can't get by? Liao Zhengguo continued to ask questions.
The artillery cadre said with great embarrassment: "Chief, we have no way to do this." ”
At this time, not far to the west, there was a flash of shell explosion and a dull explosion. An American night aircraft dropped flares not far ahead. This shows that the attempts of several corps of the Volunteer Army to move have been exposed, and the enemy has made a sudden move.
"Push this cannon down!" Liao Zhengguo pointed to the deep cliffs and valleys below the highway and commanded in a very resolute tone.
"Chief, this can't work!" Our heavy weapons are very scarce, and if I lose this cannon, I will definitely be severely punished! The artillery cadres were in a hurry.
"Push it down! I'm responsible. I'll give you a note. Liao Zhengguo's tone was very firm.
Chen Fu knew Liao Zhengguo's character, and he was a man who could do whatever he wanted. Chen Fu then said to the artillery cadre, "This is our commander, you can rest assured," and at the same time quickly took out a blank piece of paper from his satchel and handed it to Liao Zhengguo.
With his left hand, Liao Zhengguo wrote the following in his characteristic italics: "Received an American 105 howitzer." Liao Zhengguo. 1951.5.270”
He looked at his watch, and it was past 12 o'clock in the middle of the night. In this way, a gun truck that was supposed to slide down, dozens of fighters only slightly pushed, it slid down the steep cliff, and a rumbling sound came from the empty valley.
It turned out afterwards that if the passage of the volunteer army was opened more than ten minutes later, it was very likely that it would encounter the attack of the US Second and Twenty-fourth Divisions. It can be seen that due to Liao Zhengguo's decisiveness, he won time and saved tens of thousands of troops.