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The Contest of the Far East
Shiji is in distress and loses Kishi Ei
Use your strengths to avoid your weaknesses to lure the enemy deeper
Cheongcheon River, Chosin Lake
Recalling the fierceness of the Battle of Chosin Lake, the veterans wept
introduction
Dandong, Liaoning, many major events in the history of China and North Korea, have made the city inextricably linked to that period of history.
Song Qunji, Secretary General of the Dandong City Spiritual Research Association for Resisting US Aggression and Aiding Korea:
I was 16 years old at the time, and I saw with my own eyes that there was a paper mill on the other side of the river, and after the US machine blew it up, all the pieces of paper took off and filled the entire Yalu River, including Dandong City, which was a piece of gray soil, and the whole was covered by the sun.
Dandong volunteer veteran Niu Guiling:
We were studying, and the school was blown up by American planes, so I dropped out of school and went to work early. So I hate Americans to death.
Frozen Yalu River
On October 24, 71 years ago, it was covered in snow, and a plane was moving from south to north, at an altitude of five kilometers, along the same route as we do today.
The passengers on the plane, in addition to the commander-in-chief of the United Nations Army, MacArthur, and a group of reporters.
No one could say why MacArthur had made such a risky move. Upon his return to Tokyo, he immediately issued a statement that the UN offensive would soon end in victory.
What MacArthur called "this offensive" was the famous "Christmas Offensive."
He did not know that in a ravine that his plane had just skimmed, his opponent, Peng Dehuai, was also preparing a special "Christmas dinner" for western guests.
Wrestling far east – five Commanders of the Xiang Volunteer Army on the Korean battlefield
Episode 4: Luring the Enemy Deeper
The Battle of Unsan crushed the U.S. First Cavalry Division
On November 5, 1950, the first 10-day campaign finally came to an end.
In the sudden blow, the United Nations army retreated from the Yalu River to the south of the Cheongcheon River, and the volunteer army that secretly crossed the river gained a foothold.
Interestingly, after the first contest, the volunteers mysteriously disappeared, and the battlefield seemed to be quiet in an instant. This silence made the terrified UN soldiers feel unprecedented fear.
At this time, MacArthur did two things in succession:
The first was that he ordered the bombing of all bridges over the Yalu River to prevent Chinese troops from entering Korea, which showed that he had concerns about Chinese troops;
Then he did the second thing, announcing that he would go to the Yalu River before Christmas to end the war.
Because his intelligence officer told him that the current Chinese army in North Korea was between 44,851 and 7051 men, and that it had suffered 5,500 casualties.
The intelligence, which was in the single digits, gave MacArthur confidence that the sudden appearance of Chinese troops in front of him was not a problem at all. So, in front of the reporters, he said to his subordinates:
I've already made a ticket to the lads' wives and mothers, and the lads will be returning home at Christmas, but don't let me be a liar.
In fact, however, people are fooled.
Peng Dehuai (first from left) at the Korean front
Part 1: The U.S. army is anxious to go home for Christmas, and the volunteer army lures the enemy deeper and lays out the Cheongcheon River and Chosin Lake
On November 6, 1950, the first day after the end of the First Campaign, MacArthur immediately issued the following order to the U.S. Far East Air Force to destroy the Korean portion of all international bridges along the Manchurian border.
MacArthur was clearly pleased with the artistry of the wording of the order:
First, I blew up the Bridge of the Dprk part, so it did not infringe on China's sovereignty, and I could avoid diplomatic accusations;
Second, I blew up the bridge, which prevented more Chinese troops from infiltrating North Korea and guaranteed that I would not be threatened.
MacArthur thought it was the best of both worlds. Unfortunately, Chinese people obviously don't see it that way.
MacArthur wanted to bomb, but chairman Mao Zhou repeatedly issued a statement at that time that it was not allowed to bomb, that it was forbidden to invade China, and that China was not easy to provoke, which was Chairman Mao's exact words. So at that time, the US Congress made a resolution that if you blow up the bridge on the Yalu River, you are only allowed to blow up the half of North Korea, and you cannot blow up the northeast half. So it blew up very accurately, just blowing it off in the middle. What does this mean? Although our new China had just been established at that time, we issued a statement that the United States must still pay attention to. It does not dare to invade our Country.
There was another situation that MacArthur did not know: Peng Dehuai arranged countermeasures for the bombing of jiangqiao before entering the DPRK.
Hong Xuezhi said that once the bridge is blown up by the Americans, it will be very difficult for our volunteers to cross the river and transport materials. So Peng Dehuai said to build more pontoon bridges. According to this instruction, we have built six pontoon bridges here, a total of ten passages, and there are also railway bridges in Dandong and Ji'an.
Although two bridges over the Yalu River were bombed one after another, Chinese troops continued to drive into North Korea through these simple pontoon bridges. By the time of the second campaign, the volunteer army had reached 380,000 troops.
At this point, MacArthur's intelligence officers told him with conviction that the Chinese army in North Korea was between 44,851 and 7051 men and had suffered 5,500 casualties.
The numbers were precise to single digits, and MacArthur had no reason to doubt such intelligence.
Yang Feng'an, former military secretary of Peng Dehuai:
Our main force has not been exposed, and the U.S. military thinks we have only fifty or sixty thousand people. At this time, MacArthur felt that he could go home for the holidays on Christmas night.
November 23, 1950, is the Traditional Thanksgiving Day in the West. The soldiers enjoyed fine wine, coffee, and turkey, and the next day they were going to attack again, and their goal was to hurry to the Yalu River, end the war early, and return home before Christmas.
Many of them, however, never had the chance to go back.
We took small troops to attack, I fought hard, and when the large troops came, I retreated in the established strategy, and when we retreated, we also dropped some small guns and cannons, and even luggage, as if we had lost the battle, so as to confuse the enemy and further indulge them.
Peng Dehuai, during the Liberation War, he turned the tide of the northwestern China war with an absolutely weak force. Now, he has shown a superb command art, luring enemy troops to the intended battlefield, and everything is ready.
This scheduled battlefield is the line from the Cheongcheon River in the northwest and chosin lake in the northeast.
On November 25, 1950, the scheduled launch time of the second campaign, all the processes seemed to be under Peng Dehuai's control, but an accident occurred.
On the morning of the same day, a US plane suddenly attacked the volunteer headquarters in The Great YuDong, and the high-temperature incendiary bombs directly hit the headquarters.
If the enemy sneaks into the volunteer headquarters, can MacArthur directly hit his opponent Peng Dehuai?
Part 2: The command headquarters is in distress and loses Kishi Ying, and revenge begins, sealing the route of the US army to the south
The military and civilians built a pontoon bridge to send volunteers across the Yalu River
On October 19, 1950, the main force of the volunteer army was divided into three routes, crossing the Yalu River from the three major ferries of Dandong, Changdian, and Ji'an, Jilin Province. Yang Yutian, then the radio captain of the 13th Corps of the Volunteer Army, also crossed the river on the same day.
Yang Yutian walked through the Changdian Ferry. At that time, he did not know that among the team that crossed the Yalu River with him from here was a person who later moved the entire Chinese to tears, Mao Zedong's eldest son, Mao Anying.
After Mao Anying followed Peng Dehuai to Dandong, he remained in the Thirteenth Corps. After Peng Dehuai crossed the river, he followed Deng Hua, deng Hua led the people of the headquarters, from the pontoon bridge to the river, he did not walk from the bridge at that time, the photos also prove that they are from the pontoon bridge across the river.
Mao Anying's public identity at that time was Peng Dehuai's Russian translator. He is the identity of the chairman's eldest son, and only a few people such as Yang Feng'an know it.
After we introduced each other, only these people inside us knew, and outsiders didn't know. After I met him, this man was very handsome, very personable, approachable, very calm in speech, and his personality was more introverted. We all said that this person looks very stable and can get along with everyone.
On October 21, 1950, Mao Anying rushed to Dayudong with the headquarters of Deng Hua's 13th Corps to meet Peng Dehuai, who arrived here two days earlier.
A few days later, with the approval of the central authorities, the headquarters and party committee of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army were formally established. Peng Dehuai served as commander and political commissar, and his fellow Hunan compatriot Deng Hua served as the first deputy commander and deputy political commissar.
At the same time, the party organization of the headquarters organ was also rapidly established, and Mao Anying, 28, was elected as the leader of a party group. Group member Liu Xiang was impressed by this.
Former Peng Dehuai driver Liu Xiang:
At that time, I wanted to go back to the army, and I didn't want to drive a car for the chief. I told Mao Anying about this, and he talked to me. I said that I wanted to return to the troops, but I was afraid that I would not be able to complete the tasks arranged by the organization and that the security of the chief would not be guaranteed. Finally, talking about it, Mao Anying was like a big brother, he said, Xiao Liu, transferring to the chief's side to work is the trust of the organization in you, do you have doubts about the trust of the organization? I snapped up and said, no. At that time, I didn't have long been in the party. He said, without that you can work with peace of mind. He was quite principled. I spoke to Mao Anying, for the first and last time.
During Peng Dehuai's War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, Liu Xiang was always his driver.
At that time, the Volunteer Army did not have air superiority, and even the Volunteer Command, which was relatively in the rear, was often threatened by enemy aircraft. On October 24, the newly established Party Committee of the Volunteer Army held a special meeting to discuss air defense.
The party committee of the volunteer army was responsible for the safety of General Peng, and the party committee of the volunteer army held a meeting on the evening of the 24th and said, who is responsible? Deng Hua, Du Ping, and Hong Xuezhi were all there. Deng Hua said that Lao Hong was still in charge. Hong Xuezhi said okay. Because he and Mr. Peng often play chess.
General Hong Xuezhi during the Period of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea
On November 25, 1950, Hong Xuezhi conscientiously performed his duties.
Hong Xuezhi told Mr. Peng that we had to go out and defend ourselves. Mr. Peng said, I want to go to you, I am safe here. Hong Xuezhi was also very insistent, saying, No, the Central Military Commission also has a telegram to ensure your safety. Saying that he did not listen, Hong Xuezhi did not care about three seven twenty-one, dragged him away, dragged him to two hundred meters away from the office, there was a small natural hole, Deng Hua and Hong Xuezhi dragged him to it, and took some of the paper that General Manager Peng had drafted the telegram for him, and stayed there for more than two hours.
This day is November 25, the day of the second campaign scheduled by the Volunteer Army, and Peng Dehuai must always keep abreast of the situation on the front line.
In order to ensure the safety of General Peng, Yang Feng'an, the military secretary, walked out of the air raid shelter and returned to the headquarters built on wooden planks to learn about the situation from the staff officer on duty. Here, he met Mao Anying and another staff officer, Gao Ruixin.
Unexpectedly, this was the last time they would see each other.
After I asked about the situation, I also said, "Pay attention to air defense." As a result, before I could take ten steps, the American plane returned. I said, no, the staff officer and the guards all ran out, and neither of them came out. They were sacrificed. I told Mr. Peng that the people in the office came out except for Comrade Gao XX, who did not run out. Mr. Peng was stunned when he heard it, and he could not speak for half a day.
When he was sacrificed, we all burst into tears and circled around, starting with Mr. Peng. In retrospect, the one that burned was miserable...
Today, in the place where the hero crossed the river, there stands a school named after him. The teachers even squeezed out funds and set up a museum of Mao Anying's deeds.
Liu Siqi has come here many times and left an inscription for the school. Past principals and teachers have also collected many photos, and this exhibition hall is completely self-reliant by the school. We all know that Mao Anying was the first person in the Volunteer Army, and he was the first to ask to join the Chinese Volunteer Army. Therefore, his status in the eyes of the people of the two countries is quite high.
Volunteer soldiers attacked and advanced in the snow and ice
On November 25, 1950, the day of Mao Anying's death, at dusk, revenge began.
The battle began first on the central front, and in just one day, the Volunteer 38th Army captured Tokugawa, opening a gap between the US Eighth Army and the Tenth Army.
According to the instructions of the command, the next task of the 38th Army was to insert itself directly into sansholi and seal the southward escape route of the Eighth Army.
What everyone did not expect was that the 113th Division of the 18th Army, which was carrying out this task, suddenly disappeared.
Where did this force go? Can the volunteers seal up the three houses and annihilate the enemy in large numbers?
Part 3: The barefoot Chinese soldiers stomped on the thick snow and pounced on the enemy, and the American army collapsed
The English letter "V", in the eyes of Westerners, this letter often represents victory.
But on the Korean battlefield 71 years ago, the letter was the nightmare of the entire United Nations military.
An American officer has this description of the letter:
The basic tactics of the Chinese army are a V-shaped offensive formation in which they force the enemy to move in this formation and then surround the edge of this V-shape. At the same time, another force moved to the opening of the V-shape to stop any attempt to escape and to block reinforcements.
Despite such an accurate description by the US military, in the three-year War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the V-shaped offensive method of the Volunteer Army was still tried and tested in front of the UN army.
Pursuing volunteer soldiers
In the second campaign, the unit that wanted to complete the task of sealing the V-shaped opening was the 113th Division of the 38th Army of the Volunteer Army.
However, in the process of carrying out the mission, this unit with an important mission suddenly disappeared.
This can't help but make everyone anxious.
Yang Yutian, former radio director of the Chinese Volunteer Army Headquarters:
The 113th Division had no news for one day and one night, and General Peng was anxious. Xie Fang personally came down and went to my cave.
Retreating U.S. troops
By this time, the U.S. Eighth Army had found that the right wing had lost cover, and they began to retreat south, necessarily at Sansholi on the north bank of the Datong River.
If the Volunteers did not take this point, the United Nations army would successfully withdraw to the safety zone south of the Datong River. As a result, the volunteers' strategic attempt to annihilate the enemy's living forces north of the Cheongcheon River would also fail.
Then, where did the 113th Division of the 38th Army, which carried out the task of seizing the three houses, go?
Yang Yutian and his colleagues did their best and did not receive any signal from the radio station of the 113th Division.
Just as the Volunteer Command was worried about the 113th Division, an American reconnaissance plane spotted a unit on the road to Sanso-ri, which was walking on the road in broad daylight.
The pilots mistakenly thought it was a withdrawn South Korean army.
After a few hours, the pilot began to regret it. Because that unit was the 113th Division of the 38th Army of the Volunteer Army. In a bold and peculiar way, they unexpectedly seized the three houses.
As a result, the 113th Division suddenly sent a signal, sent a report, and reached the designated place, area Fifty-fourth. I picked up the phone and reported to Mr. Peng, and after Mr. Peng listened, someone later said that Mr. Peng was excited in the office. Arriving is victory, cutting off the enemy's retreat route, because the US army is a mechanized force, they can't turn their heads, the mountain roads are very narrow, and they are stuck. The enemy began to waver and began to retreat. Mr. Peng is a word, resolutely blocking the attack. It's a few minutes back and forth, just so fast, two or three minutes back and forth.
Volunteer soldiers who died in heavy snow
The 113th Division fought for two days, resolutely resisting the enemy's north-south attack, and the UN forces, which had been cut off from the rear, began their real nightmare.
Jiang Yonghui, deputy of the 38th Army, later wrote such a poetic passage:
I stood on a high place, looking south, the cold moon and the cold star shining on the battlefield, the explosion of thunder tearing the sky... The fierce battle between the enemy and us along the highway was a majestic and magnificent scene that I had never seen in decades.
None of the films have made such shots. At that time, the U.S. army was so powerful, so bad that the car was stuck in the road, something was wrong, they rushed back, they took the tank arch, arched to the outside of the road, the car flipped to the side, the tank also turned here and there. After the artillery ran away, all the complete rucksacks were still on the position, and they didn't have time to bring them, and the military supplies and food were all in a cardboard box, including chocolate, cigarettes, cans, and everything. I seized a can of cocoa powder, which was of very high quality and was a treasure for us. The mountains were full of equipment they had left behind. The highly modernIZED US military force has made us fight like this.
The U.S. army collapsed
That night, Jiang Yonghui and his military commander Liang Xingchu received a telegram from Peng Dehuai, the last line of which made the two tough guys shed tears:
Long live the Chinese People's Volunteer Army! Long live the 38th Army!
At the time of the summary of the first battle, Liang Xingchu did not plug in, so Mr. Peng was very angry and said that he wanted to kill Liang Xingchu's head. He was more strict with Liang Xingchu of the Thirty-eighth Army, because Liang Xingchu had followed General Peng during the Pingjiang Uprising in 1928. After this army did a good job for the second time, it said that the Thirty-eighth Army was long live, so Peng always rewarded and punished strictly.
Commander of the Battle of Chosin Lake Song Shilun
Two days after the battle began on the Western Front, the 9th Corps of the Volunteer Army, led by another Hunan general, Song Shilun, with nearly 100,000 men, also launched an attack on the US Tenth Army on the Eastern Front.
Yang Gensi saved his position with his life in exchange for another victory for the Volunteer Army in the Battle of Chosin Lake.
The Ninth Corps on the Eastern Front was in east China, that is, in the Shanghai area, and the cotton clothes in east China were different from those in the north. The cotton coat in the north is three and a half pounds of cotton, and the cotton coat of the southern soldier is one and a half pounds of cotton, a difference of two pounds.
Yang Ruipeng, former liaison staff officer of the Volunteer Army Command:
In the second battle, they wore this thin cotton coat, wearing a single shoe and a single hat, and the so-called cotton hat is also equal to a single hat, that is, two layers of cloth wrapped in a little cotton. At the time of the Second Korean Campaign, they were in the north of North Korea.
Former Volunteer Army Headquarters Confidential Staff Officer Bian Enkui:
Winter is so cold, there are more than thirty degrees below zero, so what to do? I pulled the iron ring of the big cap, put it on my head, and got a towel set, which was not like a look. Cold, no way. As long as you lie on the snow, whether you are injured or not, you can't stand up, and your feet and legs are frostbitten.
Volunteer soldiers in the Battle of Chosin Lake crawled above the snow and ice
The soldiers were very hard, and some troops, just in the middle of the attack, could not get up, they froze there, and some companies were like that.
Ice sculptures in film and television dramas. In fact, the 20th Army did not have this kind of cotton hat with ear protection, they still wore a large brim hat.
A photograph displayed in the Military Museum of the Chinese Revolution shows soldiers holding snow balls and fried noodles in the snow and ice, with happy and contented expressions on their faces.
The only thing that makes people feel heartache is that these faces are really too young, and the innocence and innocence in their eyes make people can't bear to believe that they are warriors who are about to charge.
It's not easy to come over. These people, who did not take anything, gave their lives for the motherland, and now these people should be at ease. (Elder Yang kept sobbing)
Volunteer soldiers marched to the Cheongcheon River
The volunteer soldiers braved the cold and waded across the Cheongcheon River
The main target of the Ninth Corps was the 1st Marine Division of the United States Marine Corps, which had swept through the Japanese army in the Pacific.
On that cold winter day, the U.S. Marine Corps' First Division, an unbeaten unit, suddenly fell from heaven to hell.
Soldiers of the 9th Corps are charging
They were horrified to see a group of barefoot Chinese soldiers swooping down on them in the minus 30-degree temperature, stepping on the thick snow. They simply could not understand why these Chinese soldiers, who could not even provide food and clothing, had such a strong fighting capacity.
Faced with a mental blow more deadly than a bullet, they completely collapsed.
Volunteer soldiers who charged at the Battle of Cheongcheon River
Destroyed U.S. tanks
Immediately afterward, MacArthur gave the order to retreat across the board.
This five-star general, who had always looked down on the Chinese army, finally paid the price for his arrogance. But he refused to accept defeat and was ready to regroup and compete with Peng Dehuai again.
The 1st Division of the United States Army collapsed
On the Korean battlefield in the Far East, in the next round of the contest, who will die in the end?
Today's story ends here, tomorrow to tell the "Wrestling Far East - Five Commanders of the Hunan Volunteer Army on the Korean Battlefield" The fourth "Three Yang Kaitai", please continue to pay attention.