In June 1950, the Korean Civil War broke out, and the "United Nations Army" led by the United States interfered in the internal affairs of Korea. The flames of war burned all the way to the Yalu River, seriously threatening the national security of New China.
In order to resist the United States and aid Korea and defend the homeland, the Chinese Government, at the request of the Korean authorities, formed the Chinese People's Volunteer Army to go to Korea to fight against the aggressors together with the Korean People's Army. In the nearly half century of armed struggle in our army, the war has already trained a number of outstanding commanders and fighters for our army.
Chen Geng is one of them.
Chen Geng, who was born in the shogun, showed a talent for military command from an early age, and when he played war games in his childhood, he could command the baby soldiers in the left and right neighbors of the same village and command the "battle" in a decent way. When he grew up, he not only received formal military command education in the military academy, but also accumulated rich practical experience in leading troops in actual combat for many years.
It can be said that Chen Geng is definitely a dual-material military command talent with theoretical knowledge and practical experience, and it is simply most appropriate to lead the troops to fight vicious and hard battles, and let him lead the troops to the DPRK.
But at this time, he was not in China, but in Vietnam.
After Japan's surrender in 1945, the Western colonial powers wanted to return to East Asia, and Britain and France reoccupied most of Vietnam in an attempt to turn Vietnam back into their own colonies.
In the year of the Korean Civil War, Ho Chi Minh sent a plea to China for help, hoping to use China's strength to break the French blockade of Vietnam. In order to better provide assistance to Vietnam, China not only assisted Vietnam in establishing the first modern armed force, but also in July 1950, sent military advisers led by Chen Geng, then deputy commander of the Southwest Military Region and commander of the Fourth Corps, into Vietnam to secretly enter Vietnam to guide Vietnam in launching a border campaign.
As a result, Chen Geng missed the first batch of volunteers to enter the DPRK in October. Although one south and one north, Chen Geng has been paying close attention to the situation in North Korea through the radio and newspapers at all times.
On November 1, Chen Geng finished his work in Vietnam and set off to return to China.
Before Chen Geng, who had returned to the motherland, had time to stay at home for a few more days and accompany his wife and daughter, he took the initiative to ask for help and wanted to go to Korea to participate in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. With the consent of the Party Central Committee, Chen Geng rushed from Shenyang to the Korean battlefield.
At the end of January 1951, Chen Geng arrived at the headquarters of the Chinese Volunteer Army. At that time, at the end of the third campaign, When General Manager Peng saw Chen Geng coming, he said:
"You have come just in time, we are going to hold a joint meeting of senior cadres of the Chinese and DPRK armed forces, and you can also attend this meeting and learn about the situation by the way."
At the meeting, Peng Dehuai delivered a report entitled "Summing Up the Three Campaigns and Future Tasks." After listening carefully and combining the speeches of the rest of the people, Chen Geng gained a clearer understanding of the situation on the Korean battlefield. In fact, Chen Geng, who entered the DPRK for the first time, did not really lead the troops to command, but more often went around to study in the front and back.
After returning from North Korea, Chen Geng took a short rest.
It was during this period that the first phase of the fourth campaign broke out on the Korean battlefield. Although the volunteer army achieved an excellent record of annihilating more than 22,000 enemy troops, the troops were greatly reduced in the previous battles, and the source of troops was insufficient, and it was urgent to supplement the second batch of troops entering the DPRK to participate in the war.
On February 19, Peng Dehuai, who was far away in Korea, made a special trip back to China and personally reported to the chairman on the situation on the front line, and he said to the chairman:
"The second batch of domestic troops entering the DPRK should be pulled up as soon as possible and make preparations as soon as possible." At present, only the 19th Corps has already driven through Andong, and the Ninth Corps of song Shilun can participate in the spring offensive after the Korean rest, so that the second batch of troops participating in the war has only 6 corps, and the strength is not enough, I suggest that the newly formed three corps under the command of Chen Geng be driven up as soon as possible, and other corps such as Yang Chengwu and Dong Qiwu corps should also hurry up and prepare to fight abroad. ”
On April 25, Chen Geng was appointed commander and political commissar of the Third Corps of the Chinese Volunteer Army, preparing to follow the troops into the Korean War. Just when everything was ready, Chen Geng's leg had another problem.
The conditions in Vietnam were too harsh, and after returning to China, he hurried to Go to North Korea, and never got a good cultivation, which was the root of the disease. At the beginning, Chen Geng did not take this matter to heart, and he did not want to lose the opportunity to lead troops into the DPRK because of the injury on his leg.
However, some diseases could be resisted, some diseases could not be carried, and seeing that Chen Geng's left leg was swollen day by day, it was slowly difficult to even walk. After the doctor's diagnosis, Chen Geng's left foot was swollen and painful because of traumatic arthritis of the ankle joint, and he had to stay in China for treatment before he could act.
At this time, Chen Geng's mood fell to the bottom, and when the Third Army had begun to enter the DPRK, he was still lying on the bed recuperating. Until June, when the fifth battle was fought, Chen Geng's foot injury was not good enough.
It wasn't until August that Chen Geng, who had just recovered from his foot injury, entered the DPRK for the second time on crutches. Deng Hua, the first deputy commander of the Volunteer Army who learned of Chen Geng's entry into the DPRK, took the initiative to ask Peng Dehuai to resign, hoping that Chen Geng after entering the DPRK would serve as the first deputy commander.
The reason for this is also very simple: Chen Geng has been Deng Hua's superior since the red army period, and when Chen Geng served as the brigade commander of the 386 brigade in the War of Resistance Against Japan, Deng Hua was only the director of the regimental political office. In terms of seniority and experience, Deng Hua was no better than Chen Geng, and if it were not for Chen Geng who missed his first entry into the DPRK, the position of the second in command of the volunteer army would most likely be Chen Geng's.
After Peng Dehuai listened, he immediately refused Deng Hua's request. Deng Hua, who was rejected by Peng Zong, continued to report this request to the central authorities in his personal name, although Deng Hua's request was not groundless, but Peng Dehuai's opinion as the commander-in-chief of the Chinese Volunteer Army was also very important.
Upon learning of this, Peng Dehuai immediately drafted a telegram to the Central Committee explaining Chen Geng's reasons for not being suitable for serving as the first deputy commander. Perhaps from this point of view, Peng Zong seems to have paid little attention to Chen Geng and lacked trust in Chen Geng.
In fact, this is precisely the cleverness of Peng Zong, since Peng Zong entered the DPRK, Deng Hua has been following Peng Zong around and knows the situation on the Korean battlefield better than Chen Geng. In the process of partnering with Deng Hua, Mr. Peng also had a high evaluation of Deng Hua, and he was fully worthy of being the second in command of the volunteer army.
Everything is based on the overall situation, which is the performance of a good general.
Peng Dehuai is, and of course Chen Geng is. After entering North Korea, Chen Geng was not dissatisfied with this, and he and his former subordinate, the current leader, had a very good partner and respected each other.
After entering the DPRK for the second time, Chen Geng took the lead in rushing to the headquarters of his own three corps, and the atmosphere in the headquarters of the three corps at this time was very heavy. The reason is that the 180th Division of the 60th Army after the three corps entered the Korean War was surrounded by the US First Cavalry Division due to three days of loss of contact with the superior corps in the fifth battle, and most of the division was annihilated.
Chen Geng listened carefully to the report of Wei Jie, commander of the 60th Army, on the battle of the 180th Division, but did not agree that they blamed the loss on the communication problems caused by the transfer of the corps and the loss of radio contact.
"I don't think the main reason is these, the key is that this division commander did not resolutely lead the whole division to break through, hesitated in the face of the battle, and even delayed the fighters, in fact, this is completely possible to break through."
When Peng Dehuai held a meeting of military commanders and above after the war, the first and second leaders of each corps arrived, and only Wang Jinshan, who acted as the head of the third corps before Chen Geng entered the dynasty, did not come. After Peng Dehuai swept around the scene, his first sentence was to ask: "Why didn't Comrade Jinshan come?" ”
The people present were all too frightened to speak out, and wang Jinshan, as the first person in charge of the corps, could not run away from the losses of the 180th Division of the Third Corps in the Fifth Campaign.
Wang Jinshan was not there, and Wei Jie, the commander of the 60th Army, was there.
When Peng Dehuai summed up the fifth battle and mentioned the lessons of the 180th Division, Peng Dehuai still did not hold back and lit up Wei Jie in front of a group of generals.
"Wei Jie! Your 180th Division was completely able to break through, so why do you say they were surrounded? They were not surrounded, but the enemy ran ahead of them! Can't rush through during the day, at night is still our world, there is no enemy in the back, there is no enemy in the middle, it can be completely passed at night, why is it surrounded? How did you become a military commander? Who smashes the radio station and burns the codebook when it encounters a blockage?! ”
Wei Jie was also criticized by Peng Zong, scolding him so much that he could only bow his head and remain silent. The more General Manager Peng scolded, the more angry he became, it was a teacher, when had he suffered such a big loss since entering the DPRK. If Wei Jie, like Liang Xingchu, the commander of the 38th Army, had put two words on top of his mouth when he was scolded by General Peng, General Peng might not have been so angry.
But Wei Jie didn't say a word, which completely annoyed Peng Dehuai, and he scolded Wei Jie with a split head and a face. Deng Hua and others present did not dare to stop him, and at this time, whoever spoke was scolded.
There was no way, Hong Xuezhi and Deng Hua could only find Chen Geng sitting by the door, they knew that although Chen Geng was late in entering the DPRK among this group, his seniority was among the best. Chen Geng has always been the image of Mr. Good in the team, he speaks, maybe Peng can always listen.
Chen Geng's reaction was also fast, and he couldn't control the scene a little, so he stood up and said:
"Boss? Half a day later, everyone didn't dare to move, is it time to eat, the stomach is grumbling."
After Peng Dehuai listened, he was angry and funny, and when he said that he wanted to eat, only Chen Geng dared to do so. Mr. Peng also knew that Chen Geng was giving Wei Jie a break, but everything that should have been said had been said, and those who should have been scolded were also scolded.
"Well, since Chen Geng is hungry, let's eat first," said the atmosphere in the conference room. Since entering the DPRK for such a long time, in the face of powerful enemies and cruel situations, the entire Shiji has tensed a nervous nerve. Chen Geng was different, after he came, he smiled and giggled all day long, and looked like he was full of optimism.
On the battlefield, he often said some passages to amuse everyone and ease the tension brought by the battlefield. Among the photographs on the battlefield of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea is a photo of Peng Dehuai, Chen Geng, and others with two generals of the Korean People's Army. The happiest smile on the photo is Chen Geng, which is also one of the few photos of Peng Zong smiling on the Korean battlefield.
Chen Geng knew that the more cruel the situation and the more powerful the opponent, the more we must pay attention to the adjustment of mentality, otherwise before the enemy army defeats us, we will be defeated by ourselves first.
Of course, Chen Geng's role is not only to adjust the atmosphere; when he first entered the DPRK, he discovered that the tactics of the US army in the fifth campaign had changed, and the enemy was changing, and we must also change. During the second time during the DPRK, Chen Geng found that the casualties of the volunteer army in the first five battles were too large, and the ratio of casualties between the enemy and us was not equal, and there were often one-to-two and one-to-three situations.
This situation has to be pondered, the enemy's artillery fire is too fierce, and we suffer too much when fighting defensive battles. Although we fought very tenaciously and our will to fight was much higher than that of the enemy, such a large number of casualties had to be taken seriously. Chinese the lives of the soldiers of the People's Volunteer Army, each of which is precious, and must not be exchanged for victory with casualties.
In this regard, he specifically proposed to implement Mao Zedong's tactic of "knocking on the candy" and let the troops fight a small-scale war of annihilation, and also put forward five suggestions for improving the tactics of the volunteer army.
Among them, there are improvements to the original combat concept of "coexistence and death of the situation and the position", and he did not overemphasize the importance of the position itself, but emphasized relying on the position to deal a heavy blow to the enemy.
This is not to say that the soldiers' will to fight and the importance of holding their positions should be weakened, but that they can be more intelligent in tactical defensive warfare, that is, the preservation of living forces is also the key to holding positions. This point coincides with Chairman Mao's view that "the land that exists is lost, the land is lost, the land is lost, and the land is lost."
Fighting hard and hard, not only are the casualties huge, the people are lost, and the position cannot naturally be defended; and if the enemy is given a huge amount of damage at the same time, it can preserve the living force, even if the position is lost, it can also take advantage of the enemy's lack of foothold to counterattack and retake the position.
In February 1952, Chen Geng returned to China again to deal with domestic affairs, and it was not long before he received the order to enter the DPRK for the third time. The main reason for entering the DPRK this time was that General Peng had physical problems and wanted to return to China for medical treatment, so Chen Geng was sent to act as Peng Zong's deputy in the DPRK.
In fact, Peng Zong's health has always been bad, and after arriving in North Korea, the situation has deteriorated, and the Central Military Commission has repeatedly asked Peng Zong to return to China for medical treatment, but peng Zong has refused on the grounds that he is busy with official duties.
This time, Chen Geng personally came with the orders of the chairman and the central authorities, and Peng Zong had to decide to leave for China in April. Before returning to China, Mr. Peng was still not at ease with the situation in North Korea, and he and Chen Geng said:
"If an armistice is achieved, I would like to make Deng Hua the commander-in-chief of the Volunteer Army, Gan Si as the political commissar, and Yang Dezhi as the deputy commander." But if you continue to fight, you become the commander. ”
From this, we can see that General Manager Peng has trust in Chen Geng and that General Manager Peng knows that if there is a truce, Deng Hua and others can handle the situation in Korea well, and Chen Geng still has many domestic affairs to deal with. However, once the battle was to continue to be fought, Chen Geng's qualifications and ability could assume the position of the number one of the volunteer army.
On April 8, Chen Geng convened the Party Committee of the Chinese Volunteer Army and established the main division of labor after General Peng left, at this time Deputy Commander Deng Hua was also treated at home, and the work of grasping the overall situation on the Korean battlefield fell to Chen Geng alone.
When Chen Geng inspected the front-line troops, he was full of praise for our army's improved "cat ear hole." It was the late stages of the war, but the enemy's artillery fire was still fierce. In order to reduce the killing and injury of enemy artillery fire, the volunteer soldiers on the front line connected the "cat's ear hole" through the tunnel to expand the space. With the addition of the characteristics of the combat fortifications, the locals could jump up from the tunnels and strike when they approached the position.
In this way, not only did the warriors' space become larger, but the air also became more circulating. Chen Geng saw the magic of this "cat ear hole" in the front-line battle, so he ordered the Third Corps to take the lead in tunneling all its front-line positions, opening up and reinforcing each other.
With practical experience, he also held a meeting at the level of military commanders at the headquarters of the Volunteer Army, and he ordered all armies to sum up and learn from each other, and it is necessary to do a good job in the tunnels and form a complete offensive and defensive system. U.S. commanders once said that China's military is not here to fight. It was to build the underground Great Wall.
By the end of the Korean battlefield, the total length of the tunnels built by the Chinese Volunteer Army was about 1290 kilometers, and the length of the trenches and communication trenches was about 6240 kilometers, so the tunnels and trenches built by the volunteers on the Korean battlefield were indeed longer than the Great Wall.
In the Battle of Shangganling, the enemy's artillery fire was enough to cut the hill of the volunteer position by nearly two meters, but it still did not make the 15th Army lose its combat effectiveness, and the biggest contributor was the tunnel fortifications on the Shangganling position. Before the Battle of Shangganling, Chen Geng learned that the tunnel fortifications of the Shangganling position had not yet been completed.
He then transferred from the Three Corps a group of soldiers with experience in building tunnels to carry explosives and other equipment, and fought for three consecutive months to complete the tunnel fortifications in the Shangganling area. Therefore, although the artillery fire on our army's positions was continuous, the tunnels hidden inside the mountain effectively reduced the casualties of our volunteer soldiers.
By the end, the U.S. Seventh Division was nearly collapsed, and no matter how many rounds of artillery fire there were, the volunteer gunfire was incessant.
In addition to the tunnels, the Volunteers also changed their previous tactical play in this campaign. Counter-attack tactics on the Western Front were noticeably more flexible, with constant limited attacks on enemy weaknesses.
The volunteers did not go to the headquarters, so they went to fight one company after another, one battalion after another. It seemed that there was no loss, but after more than a month of fighting, the enemy army found that it was unconsciously less than fifteen thousand people. The positions that had been so hard to occupy could not be left in their hands, and they were retaken as soon as they were laid.
In fact, this is the result of Chen Geng's tactical reform of the volunteer army, and the Battle of Shangganling also fully proved Chen Geng's unique command ability.
Text/Disciplinary Case
Reference: "Records of Chen Geng's Three Entry into the Dynasty" Yin Jiamin