The will is a strong blind man, leaning on the shoulders of a blind cripple
--Schopenhauer
This famous philosopher, born in the eighteenth century, could not have imagined that his extremely philosophical words could be embodied and appear on the battlefield of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea in the 1950s.
In the fierce Battle of Shangganling, two soldiers of the Volunteer Army, Xue Zhigao and Wang Heliang, one of them was a cripple and the other was blind, and the "lame man" carried the "blind man" on his back, guided the direction, and launched a decisive charge against the enemy.
"If you want to die, you must also die on the battlefield", those who have seen it have tears in their eyes, touching generations of Chinese. So, what is the end of the two?
Korean War posture map
There's going to be war
At dawn on June 25, 1950, the Korean People's Army crossed the 38th Parallel and launched a surprise attack on South Korea, the Korean War officially began, and two days later, the Korean People's Army occupied Seoul, the capital of South Korea. In the following time, China, the United States, the Soviet Union and other countries were involved in it to varying degrees.
The direct cause of the outbreak of the Korean War was Japan's long-term colonial rule on the Korean Peninsula, and in the process of resisting Japanese aggression, the two different forces on the peninsula had long been clearly distinguished under the separate support of the United States and the Soviet Union. After the end of World War II, with the intervention of the United States and the Soviet Union, the Korean Peninsula split along the 38th Parallel into two countries with completely different ideologies. Nevertheless, the actions of the two Koreas to unify the peninsula by force never stopped, and the two sides continued to friction near the 38th Line, which eventually triggered a major war.
On the surface, it is a war between North and South Korea, but in essence it is a war of two ideologies.
So when South Korea was defeated, the United States could no longer sit still, and on September 15, MacArthur's so-called "United Nations Army" landed at Inchon, and the tide of the war quickly reversed, and the Korean People's Army was defeated and retreated to a small narrow area in the northern mountains. Seeing that the war situation had been overturned, Kim Il Sung, with Stalin's consent, sent a telegram to Beijing requesting support, and Chairman Mao and the leading comrades of the Central Committee met for several consecutive days and finally formulated the work."
Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, defend the family and defend the country
The strategic policy of organizing the Chinese Volunteer Army to cross the Yalu River and enter the DPRK to fight.
A war to fight the national prestige of China and the military prestige of the People's Liberation Army began.
Wang Heliang
On the battlefield, the little man also has to fight with the enemy
In May 1951, in Santai County, Sichuan Province, the radio broadcast the successful victories of the volunteers on the Korean battlefield. In order to hear the news on the radio clearly, the old people stopped, the children stopped fighting, and the militiamen who were training with wooden guns in the militia camp in the county also stopped moving, and everyone had a thought in their hearts:
。
In the militia, a 22-year-old young soldier named Wang Heliang listened to the radio and clenched his fists tightly.
New China has just been founded, socialist construction is in full swing, and the aggressors have no intention of dying, and they have provoked war.
Wang Heliang, born in 1929 in Gaojiagou, Broken Stone Township, Santai County, lost his mother at the age of 8, and was taken care of by his father to raise him. Due to his family's poverty, he herded cattle for the landlord's family from an early age, and there was no place to stand.
In December 1949, Liu Deng's army liberated Santai County, and Wang Heliang's family, who came from cattle grazing, was assigned to the field. In order to protect the hard-won fruits of the revolution, he joined the militia and became a squad leader."
Follow the Communist Party and build a new China
”。
Volunteers crossed the Yalu River
In October 1950, the volunteer army entered the Dprk and launched five consecutive campaigns under the command of Commander Peng Dehuai, which dealt a heavy blow to the "United Nations Army" with backward weapons and equipment, and pushed the front line to the 37th Line in one fell swoop. However, the war was tragic, and the first 300,000 volunteers to enter Korea suffered heavy casualties after five battles. Faced with such a situation, PLA soldiers stationed in China enthusiastically signed up to fight in north Korea. In May 1951, Wang Heliang, who was the leader of the militia squad, could no longer resist his urgent desire to serve the motherland, joined the volunteer army, and became a soldier in the 5th Company of the 87th Regiment of the 29th Division of the 15th Army.
At the same time that Wang Heliang joined the army, in another land in Sichuan, a warrior named Xue Zhigao also opened the way to the north
。 No river is not an army, in the war years, Sichuan boys will never be soft.
Due to his thin body and short stature, the commander of the 5th Company only arranged for Wang Heliang to be a communication soldier. But he was bent on going to the front line to fight, "just wanting to fight the enemy on the battlefield with real swords and guns." The company commander saw that he was full of ambition, so he had to arrange for him to train with other soldiers, from weight training to the use of firearms to digging trenches and tunnels, Wang Heliang was never absent, and he always had endless momentum.
On his first day in North Korea, Wang Heliang was deeply shocked by the tragic scene in front of him: in the smoke of the war, the smell of burning objects was very unpleasant, there were ruins and broken walls everywhere, and there was not a complete house in sight, and there was no complete chimney. Many roads were blown up, bridges were blown up by planes, logistics could not keep up, and local grandmothers had no food to eat. In order to save food, the volunteer soldiers ate only two meals a day, and dug up wild vegetables when there was not enough fried noodles to eat. In order to deliver wild vegetables to the volunteers, North Korean children were blown to their bones by stray bullets.
Including Wang Heliang, many volunteers were young men in their twenties, who were not only going abroad for the first time, but also the first time they really went to the battlefield, and of course, it was also the first time they witnessed such a tragic scene. Their hearts are deeply stimulated,
But they know very well that only by turning grief into strength can they drive away the invaders one day early and Chinese the people to peace
In March 1952, Wang Heliang's 15th Army was transferred to Pingkang, where he was tasked with defensive operations during the day, digging tunnels and repairing fortifications, and at night, Wang Heliang and his comrades secretly lurked at the forefront of the position, sneaking and blocking the enemy. Sometimes, Wang Heliang went for several days, lying in the snow all night waiting for orders, taking advantage of the enemy's lack of preparation to launch a sneak attack. On the first mission, Wang Heliang did not adapt, closed his eyes and fell asleep. The squad leader was an old revolutionary, and quickly woke him up, but a handful of snow was stuffed in his mouth, and Wang Heliang suddenly woke up. Sleeping in the snow is no different from suicide, and with this lesson, Wang Heliang no longer dares to doze off.
Upper Ganling
"Blind man with a lame back", bloody battle on Ganling
On October 14, 1952, under the command of Ridgway, the "United Nations Army" launched the famous "Jinhua Offensive", and the enemy and us launched an unprecedented fierce competition for a position of about 3.7 square kilometers in Shangganling. In order to seize the two heights of 537.7 and 597.9, the enemy used more than 300 cannons to carry out two consecutive days of firepower attacks on the positions held by the 15th Army of the Volunteer Army. Subsequently, the enemy dispatched 3,000 aircraft to pour bombs on the positions, and there was no grass on the high ground, becoming a scorched earth, and the density of firepower exceeded that of any battle during World War II.
By the 20th of the battle, the enemy occupied all the surface positions except the three positions northwest of Hill 597.9, and the volunteers were forced to switch to tunnel operations. The enemy could not be attacked for a long time, and began to block the tunnels where the volunteers were stationed, cutting off supplies. The tunnel troops are short of water and food, and the situation is extremely difficult. In order to continue the battle, the water-starved warriors could only drink their own urine, and when there was no urine, they would lick the wet rock with the tip of their tongues, or lie on the ground and take a few breaths of cool air. Nevertheless, not a single volunteer soldier cried out in pain, and there was only one belief in their hearts:
Hold the tunnel and retake the position
！
Volunteer soldiers bandage their wounds
On October 30, the Volunteer Counterattack war officially began. Wang Heliang's 5th Company participated in the battle to attack the 537.7 Highland North Mountain, and he took the initiative to ask for help and served as the leader of the combat group.
The battle lasted until November 4, under the attack of the enemy's intensive fire, the 5 companies suffered heavy losses, and the troops of more than 100 people were reduced to only a dozen people, and the voices of comrades were almost heard on the position.
At this time, more than a dozen grenades suddenly exploded in the crowd, and the charging combat team was blown up, one soldier was killed on the spot, and the other soldier fell in place.
Wang Heliang was also overturned by the air wave of the grenade explosion, and when he opened his eyes again, there was a sharp pain coming from his face, his face was covered with blood, and his left eyeball was hanging outside the eye socket, dangling around.
Wang Heliang could not see it, so he had to anxiously call for his comrades-in-arms, but did not get a response.
When he struggled to climb out of the trench, a faint voice came from around him, and he listened carefully, it was the voice of deputy squad leader Xue Zhigao. He followed the sound and climbed to Xue Zhigao's side, and when he touched it with his hand, he found that Xue Zhigao's legs had been blown off, and only a little skin was still attached to it. Wang Heliang endured severe pain, took out the first aid kit he carried with him, and quickly bandaged the wound of the deputy squad leader.
At this time, there were only two soldiers left on the position, Wang Heliang and Xue Zhigao, one became blind and the other became a cripple, and the two were gasping for breath, not knowing what to do for a while.
After a long time, Wang Heliang said:
Deputy squad leader, I rushed up the mountain with you on my back, you directed me how to go, let's go up and fight together!
”
Xue Zhigao's spirit perked up and he shouted, "That's it!" ”
Portraits of Wang Heliang and Xue Zhigao
As a result, two warriors from Sichuan launched another charge at the enemy, Wang Heliang as the "legs", Xue Zhigao as the "eyes", forming a "complementary combat group" to continue the battle.
The two men first used the explosive canister and then the turntable machine gun to strafe at the enemy who pounced on them, repelling two successive enemy attacks.
Taking advantage of the pause in the war, Wang Heliang groped out of the bunker to collect bombs, but when he had just climbed out not far, a loud noise suddenly came from behind him.
Xue Zhigao fired the last grenade and died with the enemy who touched it
。 Wang Heliang also passed out due to excessive blood loss.
In the blur, Wang Heliang heard the company commander shouting: "Wang Xiao Ghost, are you still alive?" Wang Heliang nodded with the last bit of strength. At this time, the company commander's left hand had been blown off, leaving only a little skin connected, and he could not move Wang Heliang, so he called out several soldiers and sent Wang Heliang to the rear hospital. During his hospitalization, Wang Heliang often remembered Xue Zhigao's last words to him: "Heliang, you carry me, Ge Laozi, today you must slaughter these turtle sons!" In his later years, Wang Heliang recalled that scene and was still heartbroken.
A life of poverty, a last wish in his later years: just be able to eat enough
After the Battle of Shangganling, Wang Heliang was sent back to China for treatment, his left eye was completely blind, he could only be equipped with a false eyeball, a shrapnel in the right eye socket could not be removed, and finally only a little vision was restored. "When the weather is bad, my father will hold his head in pain," wang Renfu, wang Heliang's son, said.
The heroic deeds of Wang Heliang and Xue Zhigao were widely circulated on the Korean battlefield, and the soldiers used their deeds to boost morale whenever they encountered danger.
In recognition of Wang Heliang's contributions, the Volunteer Army Headquarters awarded him the Order of "Combat Hero of the Second Class" with special merit
Plaque of Meritorious Service
In 1953, Wang Heliang returned to Santai County, Sichuan Province, studied culture under the arrangement of the army, arranged work for him, elected him as a deputy to the First People's Congress of Sichuan Province, and gave the greatest care to the heroes.
Wang Heliang was poor all his life and never asked the organization for special care. In 1991, before the death of the elderly Wang Heliang, he left a testament to his family: "
Don't bother with the organization, just eat enough
。 ”
After Wang Heliang's death, his wife and children lived an ordinary life, living a life of poverty, but contentment and open-mindedness. Later, many social organizations launched social donations to them, but They were rejected by Wang Heliang's family. Today, more and more people have learned about the heroic deeds of Wang Heliang and Xue Zhigao on the battlefield of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and people have followed in their footsteps to build the motherland into a prosperous and strong country.