"What you can't get on the battlefield, you can't get at the negotiating table."
In the face of the attitude of the United States when negotiating an armistice agreement in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the leaders of both China and the DPRK deeply understood the meaning of this sentence.
The War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea lasted for a total of 3 years, during which the negotiation period lasted for 2 years.
During these 2 years, it was always a fight and talk, until the armistice agreement was officially signed.
Background to the war
Korea became a Japanese colony in 1910 and was not liberated until After Japan's surrender in 1945. In 1948, with the support of the Soviet Union and the United States, the Korean Peninsula was divided into North Korea and South Korea in the south, bounded by the 38° north latitude line, and both sides considered themselves to be the orthodox side.
North Korea took the lead in launching an offensive against South Korea, and at the beginning of the war, it almost completely crushed South Korea, and soon captured Seoul. But South Korea, as a member of the Allied forces, had the most powerful country in the world at that time as a backer.
The United States soon became involved in the war in the name of helping its allies.
In fact, north Korea dared to suddenly attack South Korea, and there must be the acquiescence of the Soviet Union behind it, and the reason why the United States chose to participate in the war,
First, communism in East Asia will not be allowed to dominate
，
The second is
Seeing the opportunity from this war, wanting to get the springboard of the Korean Peninsula,
Thus attacking China in the name of "defense" and finally signing an armistice agreement to gain practical benefits.
China has learned the lessons of the previous Japanese invasion of North China, and naturally it is impossible to sit idly by and ignore North Korea.
The Soviet side said that it would not participate in this war, and secretly made a lot of efforts.
The reason why the armistice agreement was discussed for 2 years before it came to fruition was that the United States had always refused to make concessions on the land issue.
They always think they still have an "advantage" overall.
Several negotiations have demanded that the Chinese and North Korean troops retreat and cede about 10,000 square kilometers of land to act
Compensation for their "air and sea superiority"
。
The Chinese and North Korean sides rejected this unreasonable demand, and the United States also held the illusion of defeating the Chinese volunteers and continued to attack with aircraft and artillery. Soon, almost as it had done when China was not afraid to support North Korea, reality was completely at odds with the United States' ideas, and with the outbreak and end of the Battle of Shangganling, the shocked United States had to return to the negotiating table again.
Battle of Shangganling
On October 14, 1952, China and North Korea had shifted from an offensive to a strategic defense, building fortifications in the Shangganling area for nearly a year. At this time, the United States launched the largest attack on this land in a year, which took a month and a half
"Battle of Shangganling"
The U.S. side calls it
"Battle of Triangle Hill"
On average, the U.S. military fired 24,000 shells at the land every day, and According to Admiral Hong Xuezhi, the U.S. military fired on the first day
300,000 shells
The ground on the ground is completely fluffy, and if a person walks on it, the loose soil will go directly beyond the knees. The fortifications on the ground were completely destroyed, and even many tunnels were blown up by the Us army by 3 or 4 meters.
The area of Shangganling was very small, and the original PLAN of the US Army only needed two battalions, which could be easily taken in 5 days with the artillery coverage of aircraft and tanks.
The first artillery strike took place at 4 a.m., and a total of 300 guns from 16 artillery battalions, as well as 40 aircraft dropping bombs and 120 tanks, were involved in the operation.
It was on this day, on the Chinese side
135th Regiment, 45th Division
With tenacious willpower, with like
The tunnel of the "Great Underground Wall"
It blocked the enemy's attack more than a dozen times.
The days of the tunnel warfare were very hard, when the enemy's artillery was pouring madly, and the supplies could not be transported to the front line. Everyone can only eat half a piece of compressed biscuits a day, many people can't drink a drop of water a day, and they can't swallow the cookies for a long time.
There was no saliva and no water, only to drink urine to help them eat, which the warriors at that time called "glorious tea".
Many people may not have that experience, and their mouths are so dry that they can cut their tongues and mouths when they eat biscuits. There was also a tunnel where a total of about 10 soldiers starved to death, and when they were found, they were still holding guns at the entrance of the tunnel.
One apple and one second-class work
During the Battle of Shangganling, there was such a criterion for meritorious service:
"Whoever can send an apple into the tunnel will be given a second-class merit."
It sounds simple, but it's hard to really do it.
If you want to send supplies in, the transporter may be sacrificed every step, the enemy's aircraft will drop bombs and shoot as soon as they see the transport troops, the logistics troops prepared 80,000 pounds of apples, and finally only sent 1, and it was also picked up by a small soldier on the road, and the logistics personnel responsible for transportation were all sacrificed.
In order to successfully deliver supplies into the tunnel, the logistics force could only crawl a little forward, but even then, it would have to be transported by relay after the sacrifice of the previous person.
In just over a month, the fighters in charge of the transport lost nearly 2,000 people, accounting for 14% of the total casualties.
In 43 days, a total of more than 100,000 people participated in the battle, the Chinese volunteers repelled more than 900 enemy attacks, sacrificed 11,529 soldiers, the casualty rate exceeded 20%, the United States and South Korea mainly allied forces sacrificed more than 25,000 people, the casualty rate exceeded 40%, and soldiers on both sides suffered miserably.
At that time, the soldiers in the tunnel often said this sentence:
"Living to be 20 is enough!"
The apple that was sent in took a bite and spun around, and finally there was a large part left, Huang Jiguang used his body to block the enemy's gun hole, and his company was only 5 people left under a shell.
It is the dedication of these young heroes who are not afraid of life and death that makes us sit back and relax today. The Battle of Shangganling faced the strongest country at that time, and these warriors still fought and won the battle.
Breaking the "undefeated myth" of the US military
After that, no country dared to invade China.
--Ends--