In the winter of 1958, without any warning, the 20th Corps disappeared overnight, which aroused the high vigilance of the American army. Not only is there no trace of the 20th Corps in Korea, but there is no news of the 20th Corps in China, and many of the upper echelons of the army and the families of the officers and men of the 20th Corps do not know where this unit has gone. Agents from the U.S. and Kuomintang sides searched for two years to learn that they had gone to a place called Ejin Banner and that they were building China's first missile launch site.
During the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the 13th Corps, the 9th Corps, the 3rd Corps, the 19th Corps, the 20th Corps, and the 23rd Corps of the Volunteer Army successively entered the Korean War. Of the six corps, except for the 23rd Corps, which undertook three months of infrastructure construction in the rear because of its late entry into the DPRK, the other units fought fiercely with the US military in the Korean War.
The 20th Corps of the Volunteer Army was the last volunteer unit to enter the Korean battlefield, this unit was the unit of the North China Field Army, and on the battlefield of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, Yang Chengwu, Zheng Weishan, and Yang Yong all served as the commanders of the 20th Corps of the Volunteer Army. Although this unit went to Korea relatively late, its combat effectiveness should not be underestimated.
As soon as the 20th Corps entered the Korean battlefield, it participated in the Autumn Defensive Campaign, as well as the Battle of Wendencheon, smashed the US army's attack supported by tanks with inferior equipment, infantry, Tank, air, and artillery, and the Sixty-seventh Army annihilated more than 17,000 enemy troops in 3 days, severely damaged the enemy's Seventh Division, and created the highest record for the monthly annihilation of the enemy in the Korean battlefield.
In just over ten days, the 20th Corps of the Volunteer Army crippled four divisions of the South Korean Army, captured the deputy commander of the South Korean Capital Division, the number one ace of South Korea, killed the leader of the South Korean White Tiger Regiment, and annihilated 53,000 enemy troops, directly contributing to the conclusion of the Korean armistice negotiations. After the Korean armistice negotiations, the force remained stationed in Korea to deter U.S. troops until 1958, when it was withdrawn. In September 1957, Sun succeeded him as deputy commander of the 20th Corps of the Chinese Volunteer Army, and then as acting commander of the Volunteer Army.
General Sun Jixian was also a famous general, and during the Long March, he led his troops to participate in the battles of the four crossings of chishui, the breakthrough of the Wu River, and the qiao crossing of the Jinsha River. At Anshun Field, he personally selected and led seventeen warriors to cross the Dadu River, captured and controlled the ferry position, and covered the follow-up troops to cross the Dadu River, thus becoming famous in a battle.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Sun Jixian served as chief of staff of the 772nd Regiment of the 386th Brigade of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army, taught the commander of the 1st Brigade, vice president of the 1st Branch of the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University (Shandong Kangda Branch), and commander of the 3rd Sub-district of the Luzhong Military Region, dealing a heavy blow to the Japanese. During the Liberation War, Sun Jixian served as the commander of Huaye and the 22nd Army of the Third Field Army, and participated in famous battles such as the Battle of Laiwu, the Battle of Menglianggu, the Battle of Jinan, and the Battle of Crossing the River.
After the founding of New China, Sun Jixian first studied at the Nanjing Military Academy founded by Liu Bocheng, and then served as deputy director of the Senior Command Department and deputy director of the Campaign Department of the Nanjing Military Academy. In 1957, he went to Korea and served as the acting commander of the 20th Corps of the Volunteer Army.
After the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement in 1953, the US military was unwilling to withdraw from the Korean Peninsula, in order to prevent the US military from rebelling and ensuring the security of the Korean Peninsula, at the request of the Korean government, the main force of the volunteer army did not withdraw from the Korean Peninsula. But the Volunteers have been actively pushing for the withdrawal of troops from all sides to ease tensions in the Korean region.
From September 1954 to October 1955, the Volunteer Army openly and voluntarily withdrew 6 armies and 19 divisions from Korea in three batches, and also secretly withdrew 6 corps (18 divisions) as well as artillery, anti-aircraft artillery, railway troops and other technical services. In 1955, the leading organs of the 3rd and 9th Corps also withdrew from Korea.
By 1958, the main force of the Volunteer Army in Korea was the 20th Corps of the Volunteer Army led by Sun Jixian. When the 20th Corps of the Volunteer Army was about to withdraw from Korea, Sun Jixian received a call from Yang Yong, the fourth commander of the Volunteer Army, asking him to leave and return to China to accept the new order, and the main force of the 20 Corps went to the designated place in the country. So overnight, the 20th Corps of the Volunteer Army mysteriously disappeared from the Korean battlefield.
According to the agreement of the Korean armistice negotiations, the 20th Corps of the Volunteer Army was stationed on the Korean Peninsula. However, in the winter of 1958, more than 100,000 troops mysteriously disappeared, and even the commander Sun Jixian did not know where to go, which aroused the vigilance of the Americans, and the Americans and Chiang Kai-shek constantly sent agents to search for the whereabouts of this unit, but what they did not expect was that not only was there no trace of this unit on the Korean Peninsula, but there was no trace of this unit even in China.
After Sun Jixian returned to China, the comrade who received him took him to the office of Xiao Hua, deputy director of the General Political Department.
After xiao Hua saw him, he said straight to the point: "Old Sun, the Central Military Commission's decision to let you come back is to give you a new task, which is also approved by Chairman Mao himself, and let you go to the Great Northwest to prepare for the construction of a missile test range!" ”
Sun Jixian listened to it and said, "I don't know anything about engaging in such cutting-edge technology and such an important job." Director Xiao, you know, I have always led soldiers to fight! ”
In fact, at that time, not only Sun Jixian, but many generals responsible for the construction of two bombs and one satellite, such as Li Jue and Zhang Yunyu, did not understand the relevant technology, but they still took on the heavy burden for The sake of China's national defense cause.
The reason why Marshal Nie Rongzhen chose Sun Jixian to take charge of the construction of the missile base was because he knew well the man of this old subordinate. From the time of the Red Army, Sun Jixian was Nie Rongzhen's subordinate. Every time he fights, Sun Jixian will not be afraid, and Sun Jixian is very good at learning, which can be seen from his performance at the Nanjing Military Academy.
The 20th Corps of the Volunteer Army was chosen to undertake this mission because Nie Rongzhen had tasked this unit in the past
The foundation is good, the style is hard, and it can especially bear hardships. And the pulling of the whole system is conducive to secrecy,
The construction of the missile launch site is undoubtedly top secret, and the amount of engineering is large, and there are many builders required; if troops and personnel are selected and transferred from all over the country to build it, it will naturally be detrimental to secrecy. Pulling the past into construction in a neat and systematic manner is also conducive to management and improving work efficiency.
In that difficult era, the operation methods of the vast number of officers and men were extremely primitive, mainly relying on heavy labor tools such as shovels, sacks, bamboo baskets, and hammers, and relying entirely on the physical strength of the vast number of officers and men, and there was almost no modern construction machinery.
So much so that when Soviet adviser Qedukov inspected the construction site, he believed that it would take at least 15 years to build a missile launch base in a primitive way like China's.
However, to his surprise, it took only 3 years for the Chinese soldiers to build a huge missile test base.
This missile base was mainly built by the 20th Corps, so the code name of this base is "20 Base". At that time, in order to quickly learn the relevant technology for launching missiles, Li Fuze (founding major general), deputy commander of the missile base, like ordinary soldiers, conducted relevant training and study under the command of Soviet instructors.
Although Li Fuze was much older than ordinary students, he quickly completed the corresponding training and study tasks. When Li Fuze returned to the missile base, he was very angry after seeing the many martyrs' cemeteries.
He said to Sun Jixian, "Commander, how did you bring the soldiers, so many people died in peacetime." ”
Sun Jixian was also angry and said to Li Fuze: "What are you roaring, I have deeper feelings for them than you!" How to die, tired to death, let poisonous mosquitoes bite to death, lassa dead, eat steamed buns choked to death, do you believe? Carrying a sleeper on his shoulder, he didn't even have time to chew the bun in his mouth. Have you ever seen tens of thousands of people rarity? Fifty degrees of heat, thinning, but also have to carry sleepers, carry rails, fifteen years of work let me finish in three years, what do you want me to do? They, many of them died in my arms! The general, who had not shed tears during the war years, wept silently at the graves of these martyrs.
These martyrs, one generation of suffering, two generations, or even three generations of suffering, when they came, they only knew the west, but they did not know where they were, and out of secrecy, they could not contact their families. After two years of doing so, the officers and men realized that they were in a place called Ejina Banner and that they were building China's first missile launch site. In September 1960, China's first short-range missile was successfully launched, and in November 1960, China's first medium-range missile was successfully launched.