What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
Chinese The 16th Group Army of the People's Liberation Army is one of the main forces of our army, stationed under the snow-capped Changbai Mountain, and has the reputation of "Changbai Tiger". The predecessor of the 16th Group Army, the 16th Army, was also the first and only composite army of our army at that time. In the Korean battlefield, the 16th Army was also the most well-equipped and highest-composed division of the Volunteer Army. However, it was a pity that this Tiger and Wolf Division entered the DYNASTY too late.
The 16th Army is a unit with a long history, which was first developed and expanded on the basis of revolutionary armed forces such as the Nanchang Uprising, the Pingjiang Uprising, the Shonan Uprising, and the Western Fujian Rebellion, and performed well in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation, and was the ace unit in the Second Field Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
During the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the 16th Army was sweeping through the southwest and liberating a large area of Sichuan and Guizhou. Subsequently, the 16th Army carried out the task of suppressing bandits in Guizhou, so it missed the previous stage of the battle.
In February 1951, the 16th Army was reorganized into the 16th Army of the Chinese Volunteer Army, preparing to enter the Korean War. Chairman Mao attached great importance to the entry of the 16th Army into the DPRK, because this unit would be the first to be fully equipped with Soviet-style equipment and built after the formation of the "joint command" of the Soviet Army, and each division was equipped with an artillery regiment and a tank self-propelled artillery regiment, and its firepower far exceeded that of the first units to enter the DPRK.
In the early stage of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, our army could be said to have suffered enough losses in insufficient firepower. Some people may have to ask: In the War of Liberation, our army captured more than 30,000 artillery pieces of various types from Jiang Zhiqing, the commander of the transport brigade. The reason for this is that during the Republic of China period, China's industry was really too poor, military orders and government decrees were not unified, and all warlords of various branches did their own thing, and there was no unified way to purchase weapons. The result is the "Universal Brand" weapon, which comes from Britain, Japan, the United States, France, the Soviet Union, Italy, Czech Republic and other countries, with unmatched equipment, lack of ammunition and accessories, which causes great difficulties for later maintenance.
At the same time, although our army's artillery is numerous, it can not be of much use, and among the 30,000 artillery pieces, mortars under 82 mm account for more than 80 percent, and mortars over 120 mm and howitzers above 100 mm are only about 500. The "Military History of the Chinese People's Liberation Army" once compared the gap in weapons and equipment between the early volunteer army units and the US army, and summed up this gap in 12 words: "The enemy has no one, the enemy has more than me, and the enemy is good and I am bad." ”
The number of artillery in one corps of the Volunteer Army is less than half the number of artillery of a division of the United States Army. And the power and caliber can not be compared with the Artillery of the Americans. Therefore, on the battlefield, the volunteer army basically fought with the aircraft, tanks and artillery of the US army with its flesh and blood.
In the first three battles, the US army encountered a surprise attack by our army and suffered a major defeat. At the same time, the US military was not accustomed to our army's roundabout, interspersed, and enveloping tactics, so it collapsed. After all, with the old military regulations of the US military, once the rear road is encircled, it will immediately retreat.
However, Lieutenant General Ridgway, the commander-in-chief of the US Army, gradually discovered that in the face of our army's encirclement and siege, there was actually no need to flee. It is only necessary to rely on armored vehicles and heavy artillery to form a circular defense line on the spot to block the encirclement of our army. Because our army lacks heavy weapons, it is impossible to break the "iron turtle" made of steel by the enemy army. In the daytime, when the air force arrives, it will be the time for our army to be unilaterally bombed. Therefore, in the fourth and fifth battles, our army suffered a defeat in the face of the new tactics of the US army, and the losses were very heavy.
And this is the background of the 16th Army's entry into the DPRK.
The impressive achievements of the volunteer army with their blood and lives proved their worth to the world and impressed the shrewd Stalin. Finally, Stalin sent a steady stream of Soviet-made arms that he had promised long ago to China. At the same time as the equipment entered China, there were also Soviet officers, who would teach Chinese soldiers to use these weapons by hand.
In this way, the officers and men of the 16th Army handed over the old guns and guns and old equipment used to fight Chiang Kai-shek, replaced them with a full set of Soviet-style equipment, and the grass-roots officers such as platoon leaders and squad leaders were basically equipped with turntable machine guns and Bobosha submachine guns. At the same time, the 16th Army was also equipped with a large number of artillery, tanks and armored vehicles, and its combat effectiveness was unprecedentedly strong.
Before the 16th Army entered the DPRK, Chairman Mao twice received its commander, Yin Xianbing. Yin Xianbing was once a red soldier, who grew up to become a military commander and was well versed in the art of war. When the bandits were suppressed in Guizhou, his chief Liu Bocheng warned him:
"To concentrate forces, don't press five fingers on fleas, five fingers press five fleas, and the result is that not a single fleas can be pressed."
Yin Xianbing knew that "don't press a flea with five fingers" is the image of Mao Zedong's idea of "concentrating forces to fight a war of annihilation." Therefore, when the bandits were suppressed in Guizhou, Yin Xianbing's army achieved quite remarkable results. And this is also one of the reasons why Chairman Mao weighed Yin Xianbing heavily.
After 6 months of training, the 16th Army finally entered Korea and participated in the round battle. At this time, the Korean battlefield has entered the stage of position warfare, and the 16th Army equipped with modern equipment is eager to try and wants to show its skills. Yin Xianbing wanted to see how powerful the so-called "United Nations Army" really was.
However, at that time, the war had entered the stage of fighting and talking, so the 16th Army had not been able to really exert its strength, and could only shoot some cold guns and cold guns, or send a few tanks to attack the enemy's artillery positions. Even so, however, the presence of the 16th Army made the "United Nations Army" very nervous. After all, the officers and men of the "United Nations Army" all know that the volunteer army is strong in combat and is only poorly equipped. Now that the Chinese soldiers on the other side have been equipped with Soviet-style equipment, is it still necessary?
Therefore, during the Panmunjom talks, the US negotiators always said that our negotiations were not sincere, and even transferred a well-equipped and well-trained veteran team to the middle of the demarcation line. Therefore, the US side questioned: "Are you going to fight a big war?" ”
On July 17, 1953, just as the two sides were about to sign an armistice, the 16th Army finally waited for the time to use force. The opponent was 527.7 Heights, held by a company of the 38th Regiment of the 2nd Infantry Division of the United States Infantry. The attacking force was the 9th Company of the 136th Regiment of the 46th Division of the 16th Army. The 9th Company is known as the "Red 9 Company".
Just as the so-called "killing chickens must use a cattle knife", in order to conquer this small position. The 16th Army concentrated 83 artillery pieces of various calibers, adjusted the firing of various elements, and carried out saturated attacks on the enemy's positions. In just 5 minutes, the enemy's surface positions were basically flattened. The American soldiers stationed on the high ground had no idea that our army had used such ferocious firepower.
The Tiger and Wolf Division, which had long been unable to hold back, under the leadership of the instructor, launched a rapid attack on the enemy's position. In just 1 hour, the battle was over, and a company of the enemy was completely destroyed.
Subsequently, the US 2nd Division hurriedly sent a company to counterattack, only to be hit home by 16 military heavy artillery. Others said, just fight a company, how did Commander Yin use so many cannons? Yin Xianbing said: "I am the commander of the Composite Army, and of course I should be more generous when using artillery fire!"
The next day, the 10th Company of the 136th Regiment of the 16th Army launched another onslaught on a high ground held by the Dutch, and in just 30 minutes, a Dutch company was completely destroyed.
On the 21st, the 7th Company of the 94th Regiment launched a surprise attack on the 2nd Company of the 31st Regiment of the 2nd Division of the ROK Army on the 248.8 heights, and it took only 30 minutes for the enemy to reimburse one company.
In only 2 hours, the 16th Army killed 3 companies of the enemy army, and the Soviet-style equipment plus the volunteer army was simply invincible in the world. Yin Xianbing even said afterwards:
"The strength of the US military is just like this, except for strong firepower, strong positions, good response and coordination, and nothing else is worth mentioning."
With these "small achievements", Yin Xianbing is ready to "play with big tickets". He planned to organize a large-scale offensive combining infantry, artillery, and tanks, directly attack the headquarters of the US 8th Army, and push the front forward by 20 kilometers. Before Yin Xianbing could actually implement the results, Deputy Commander Yang Dezhi called:
"Old Yin, forget it, the enemy is screaming at Panmunjom, if you want to sign, don't fight."
When Yin Xianbing heard this, he was anxious, and it was a pity that he had just prepared to make a big deal and ceased to fight. So Yin Xianbing threw the red pencil in his hand on the map:
"Yankee, why don't you always have a hard time with Lao Tzu?"
Later, Marshal Peng Dehuai also said with regret:
"It seems a pity that our battlefield organization has just been prepared, and it seems a pity that it has not been fully utilized to deal a greater blow to the enemy."