At about 5 p.m. on December 31, 1950, the Third Campaign to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea officially broke out. A total of 300,000 volunteers and the Korean People's Army broke through the "United Nations Army' Defense Line" of the Imjin River in just one hour, and under the onslaught of our army, the "United Nations Army" collapsed like an unstoppable avalanche. The Rokmen's war history describes this as follows: "The soldiers of the United Nations army threw away all their heavy artillery, machine guns and other support weapons, climbed into the truck and sped south. They had only one thought: to throw that terrible enemy off a few miles and run as hard as they could! Run! The uncontrollable retreat frenzy spread. ”
At this time, Ridgway had just taken over as the commander of the US 8th Army, and he was anxious in the face of such a big rout. Ridgway crossed his jeep in the center of the road and tried to drive the retreating soldiers back to the front, but he soon found that all this was in vain, and he had no choice but to order the general retreat. The Chinese and North Korean armies pursued the hundreds of miles long front. Although the "United Nations Army" was mechanized and ran fast, and it was difficult for the volunteers to catch a large number of enemies on two legs, the soldiers still pursued forward, trying to eliminate more enemies.
In pursuit, the units of the Volunteer 50th Army crushed the resistance of a battalion of American troops, and then met the "Royal Heavy Tank Battalion" of the British 29th Brigade and the 1st Battalion of the Royal Rifle Regiment, which was responsible for the retreat of the American army in the Government of Parliament. After more than three hours of fierce fighting, the tank battalion was completely annihilated. A group of British soldiers raised their hands and stared at the explosive canisters and explosive packages in the hands of the volunteer soldiers, and one British soldier said confusedly: "The planes in the sky are ours, the tanks and cannons underground are ours, but who knows, it is also us who are the last to be captured." ”
After that, the volunteer army crossed the 37th Line, continued to pursue south, and liberated Seoul. Among them, the 116th Division of the 39th Army fought all the way to the vicinity of Suwon, becoming the farthest division of the Volunteer Army to attack the south in this campaign. On January 8, 1951, the Headquarters of the Volunteer Army ordered the pursuit to be stopped and defended on the spot. However, this decision of our army aroused the dissatisfaction of Kim Il Sung, who believed that the "United Nations Army" had been greatly defeated, and if the Volunteer Army continued to pursue southwards, it could drive the American troops out of the sea. Stopping the pursuit at this time is equivalent to giving the enemy a chance to breathe, and wasting the fighter in vain.
So why did the Volunteer Headquarters order a halt to the pursuit? Because at this time, our army's supply line was already more than 300 kilometers long, and under the bombardment of enemy planes day and night, the logistical support could not keep up, some troops did not even have fried noodles, and there was a serious shortage of ammunition. At the same time, although the enemy was in a state of great rout, the main force was still there and did not suffer a devastating blow, and Ridgway had stabilized his position in the Luochuan River and built several steel defense lines. At this time, our army is already very tired, and there is a shortage of food and ammunition, and if it attacks strongly, it is bound to pay a very high price.
The warriors fed their hunger by frozen potatoes
However, Kim Il Sung turned a blind eye to these practical difficulties and blindly demanded that our army continue to pursue. At this time Stalin sent a telegram in which he said: It is wrong to force the south, and there is no doubt that the truth is in the hands of the comrades of the Volunteer Army, who have defeated the most powerful enemy in the world with inferior equipment, and whose commanders are genius military men and respectable. After reading Stalin's words, Kim Il Sung no longer insisted on his opinion. Facts have proved that our army's practice of stopping the pursuit was very correct, and in the absence of heavy weapons and a lack of food and ammunition, if we still want to attack the steel defense line of the US army, the difficulty can be imagined.