People with a little military knowledge know that in order to achieve a high degree of unity and close coordination when troops are fighting, the requirements for the concept of time are very strict.
When to start artillery preparations, when to launch an attack by infantry, when to transfer artillery fire, these are all secretly and seriously transmitted to the lower units in a secret manner after the decision of the supreme commander of this battle.
For subordinate commanders, there is only the responsibility of strict implementation, and there is no power to change.
However, during a battle during the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, a division commander of the Volunteer Army went so far as to arbitrarily change the military order without asking his superiors, ordering the firing of artillery five minutes in advance.
It was in the summer of 1953 that the Volunteer Command was determined to launch a major counterattack against the enemy in the area south of Kimseong with the Twentieth Corps as the core, and to strike hard at the elite divisions of the ROK Army, the Third Division, the Sixth Division, and the Eighth Division, especially the invincible White Tiger Regiment.
Yang Yong, commander of the Twenty Corps, agreed very much with the statement that "artillery is the god of modern warfare" and was determined to make the artillery unit shine in the Jincheng counterattack.
To this end, he mobilized more than 880 artillery pieces into combat, and personally determined that 21:00 on July 13 would be the specific time to carry out the artillery attack.
The unit responsible for annihilating the "White Tiger Regiment" was the 203rd Division of the Sixty-eighth Army of the 20th Corps of the Volunteer Army.
Known as the "First Regiment of the Capital Division" of the ROK Army, the "White Tiger Regiment" is a well-equipped and well-armed "ace unit" with good combat effectiveness, with a strength of 1,000 people.
It also occupies a "Missouri Line" that took 20 months to build and is touted as "impregnable."
Yang Dongliang, commander of the 203rd Division (a native of Dingzhou, Hebei, a founding colonel), sent a crack detachment headed by Yang Yucai, the commander of the reconnaissance platoon, and ordered them to boldly penetrate into the enemy's depths and quietly cross the so-called "Missouri Defense Line" of the ROK army, with the goal of completely annihilating the "White Tiger Regiment."
After 14 days of meticulous planning, strict implementation, and repeated inspections, the 203rd Division made all the pre-war preparations, only to wait for Commander Yang Yong to issue an order to start the general offensive.
At dusk on July 13, the sky was thick with clouds and the weather was unusually hot.
In the command post of the 203rd Division of the Volunteer Army, everyone was waiting in a tight line, all the telephones to the various artillery groups were connected, and hundreds of artillery pieces were all ready for fire.
Time is passing by minute by minute, and the time is getting closer and closer for the volunteers to officially launch a general offensive, and a stormy battle is about to be staged...
To everyone's surprise, the South Korean artillery took the lead in breaking the silence on the battlefield. At 20:50, the artillery unit of its "Capital Division" suddenly began to shoot fiercely at the units of the 203rd Division of the Volunteer Army without warning.
The situation on the battlefield has changed dramatically! This situation was not expected by the volunteer generals, and one emergency telephone after another was quickly transmitted to the command post of the 203rd Division!
Judging from the enemy's movements, it is very likely that they were aware of the time when the volunteer offensive was launched, and the preemptive shelling was clearly a vain attempt to sabotage the artillery counter-preparations for the volunteer offensive operation.
Yang Dongliang raised his watch to see that the time was 20:55, and there were still five minutes before the start of the total attack. These five minutes are only a short moment in natural time, but in terms of combat time, it is the key to success or failure.
Yang Dongliang, who has experienced hundreds of battles, certainly understands that the time for preparing for the start of the artillery fire of the entire campaign cannot be changed arbitrarily without special circumstances.
The reason is simple - early or delay is not good for the attacker, especially starting the artillery preparation early will often attract the enemy's neighboring fire to the front of their own attack, which is equivalent to "igniting the fire".
But Yang Dongliang also knew very well that the hand of artillery anti-preparation was extremely powerful. It can destroy the attacker's offensive readiness, paralyze the various arms of the attacking side in its positions, and even completely bankrupt the offensive operations of the attacking side.
The situation is critical and a quick decision must be made!
Yang Dongliang was well aware that ordering early firing without authorization was an act of "disobeying military orders" and would be severely punished.
But he knew better that the slightest hesitation and dullness would have disastrous consequences for the troops!
At such a critical moment, which may have a major impact on the overall situation of the campaign, is it important to gain or lose the individual's honor and disgrace, or is the victory of the entire army important?
He made a resolute decision, raised his right arm high, slashed down decisively and forcefully, shouted "fire", and instructed the chief of staff to immediately report this decision to the military command post.
The commander, after a brief flash of thought, decisively raised his right hand, slashed down fiercely, and gave the order to "fire".
The signal troops, who had been waiting for a long time, quickly passed the order to the various artillery positions.
Suddenly, the "rumbling" guns sounded, cannons, howitzers, pursuit guns, rocket launchers, tank guns, recoilless guns... They all opened fire in advance with the order of Master Yang.
Like the wind roaring, like the waves roaring, like thunder and lightning roaring, like the beasts roaring!
The sky was red and the ground was shaking,......
The fortifications of the "White Tiger Regiment" collapsed one by one in the midst of lightning and thunder...
At the same time, the personnel and equipment of the Volunteer Army were also very effectively protected.
This was the effect of firing five minutes in advance, which shattered the enemy's artillery counter-preparations, reduced the damage to our personnel and weapons, and paved the way for the infantry to annihilate the "White Tiger Regiment."
Shortly after the end of this battle, Yang Dongliang, who advocated arbitrarily changing military orders, was not punished by his superiors, but made great contributions because of the momentary decision at a critical moment, and was commended by the corps and Zhisi, and was promoted to the position of first deputy commander and chief of staff.