In July 1952, Peng Dehuai personally ordered Yang Chengwu, who had returned to China to recuperate, and was appointed as the acting commander of the 20th Corps of the Chinese Volunteer Army. At this time, the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea had entered its second stage, and armistice talks were under way. In order to cooperate with the negotiations, the volunteer army actively carried out defensive operations and tactical counterattacks in the style of "zero knocking on the candy".
An almost crazy battle plan
In May 1953, in accordance with the instructions of the Central Military Commission, the Volunteer Army decided to launch a summer offensive, and the 20th Corps took on the task of frontal combat in the Jincheng area. At that time, the Positions of the United Nations Army in the Jincheng Area (883.7, 949.2 and Cross Mountain) protruded more than 10 kilometers to the north, like a "wedge" deeply wedged into our army positions, which was very eye-catching. This area is full of lofty mountains and mountains, ravines and ravines, the enemy occupies a geographical advantage, is condescending, can be attacked or defended, and can advance and retreat freely, and our army is very passive.
In order to reverse the passive situation, Zheng Weishan was determined to take the initiative to attack, seize the enemy position in the Jincheng area, and pull out this "wedge". Zheng Weishan once again exerted a bold and careful style, carefully inspecting the terrain over and over again. He found a dense forest less than 200 meters in front of the American forward position, and his long-developed military sense of smell made him acutely aware that a team could lurk here, surprise and catch the enemy by surprise.
His idea coincided with that of Zhang Zuyu, the commander of the 60th Army, who, after careful consideration, came up with a bold battle plan. 3,500 troops of our army were lurking in the forest of the enemy's forward position in advance, launching an attack after dark, and if the lurking went smoothly, the battle could be ended that night, and then the time to build fortifications and replenish ammunition was ready for the enemy's counterattack after dawn.
At the same time, the 21st Army and the 54th Army attacked both sides, the 60th Army and the 67th Army attacked the front, and the 68th Army as a reserve, so that the enemy 883.7 and 949.2 highlands and cross mountains (The first cave South Mountain) and the Shangyan position could be captured in one fell swoop.
At that time, the distance between the positions of the enemy and us was about 3 kilometers, and the forest where our army of 3,500 people was lurking was only 200 meters away from the enemy's forward position, and it was very difficult to complete the lurking task without being discovered by the enemy. Arguably, this is a bold, almost crazy battle plan.
Arguments in the war room
Although Xu Shiyou, Li Tianyou, Du Yide, Li Chengfang, and other members of the watching group came to the war room of the 20th Corps, there was a rare silence. Everyone did not evaluate Zheng Weishan's battle plan, you look at me, I look at you.
In fact, fierce generals like Xu Shiyou and Li Tianyou, who have been in the battlefield for a long time, understand in their hearts that this is a bold and risky combat plan. Everyone does not speak, and it is not that they disagree, because they all know how to use troops to win by surprise.
If these 3500 people succeed in lurking under the eyes of the enemy, the advance of the offensive plan will be smooth, not only can combat the mission, but also become a classic example of ambush warfare.
From the perspective of battlefield position, 3500 people lurked 200 meters away from the enemy army, as long as one person moved, there was a possibility of being discovered, and it was too difficult to succeed in lurking.
If the enemy finds these 3,500 people, in the absence of air supremacy, in the face of the United Nations army with modern weapons and equipment, not only will our lurking team be in great danger of being completely annihilated, but the expected goals of our army will not be achieved, and it will also directly affect the process of armistice negotiations.
Zhang Zuyi
At this time, Zhang Zuyu, commander of the 60th Army, stood up, expressed his support for this battle plan, and took the initiative to request that the 60th Army take the main offensive task. He believes that the forest in front of the enemy's position is well protected and has the possibility of lurking 3,500 people; the rushing flow of mountain streams provides the conditions for the sound of lurking and concealment; and some of the underground tunnels of our army have been dug below the enemy's forward positions, which is conducive to the quiet transport of some weapons to the lurking sites.
He made a detailed and comprehensive analysis, but the other military generals involved in the discussion had their own opinions, and there was little explicit support, and the war room soon fell into a dead silence.
Bells... The suffocating dullness was broken by the rapid ringing of a telephone, and the phone call came from Deng Hua, political commissar and acting commander of the Volunteer Army. "Comrade Zheng Weishan, we have considered your battle plan, and we believe that the conditions for fighting the 883.7 highland and the 949.2 highland are not ripe. Our opinion is not to fight, please consider. ”
Zheng Weishan replied emphatically: "I am determined, and I am responsible for the mistake." In this way, the battle plan was determined. The 180th Division of the 60th Army took the main offensive task.
The 180th Division's battle for revenge
Zheng Weishan attached great importance to this latent surprise attack and personally went to the 60th Army to guide the preparations for the war. He said to Zhang Zuyu: "More than three thousand people lurked to the front of the enemy position for a day and a night, and if they could not think of anything at all, and if they did not solve any problem, they might fall short. ”
The 180th Division of the 60th Army of the Volunteer Army suffered great losses in the early battles, and the whole army took this ambush as an opportunity to avenge the shame and actively prepared for the battle. When Zhang Zuyu mobilized before the war, he said, "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to turn around. For the honor of the 60th Army, we must go all out to fight this battle!"
In view of the huge difficulties of this lurking and concealment, the 180th Division adopted various lurking methods, repeatedly rehearsed and explored, repeatedly summed up experience, and discussed the details of the problems such as going to the toilet, sneezing, coughing, eating, drinking water, and insect bites in the process of lurking one by one, and looking for solutions.
In order to reduce the number of times to go to the toilet during the incubation period, Zhang Zuyu asked him to eat some "dry food" in advance and eat more milk powder, biscuits, fruits, etc. to change his eating habits. Zhang Zuyu believes that the key to this campaign is to lurk, no matter what methods everyone adopts, as long as they are not discovered by the enemy, in "when the battle starts, as long as these three thousand people can stand up and charge, victory will be eight or nine points." ”
The results of the war proved that Zhang Zuyu's judgment was correct.
From midnight on June 9 to the early morning of June 10, 2 regimental command posts, 4 battalion headquarters, 13 infantry companies, 4 machine gun companies, and reconnaissance and communication detachments of our assault force successively arrived at the designated positions and lurked.
Everything was as calm as usual, the breeze gently caressed the earth, the streams in the forest babbled, the birds in the woods chirped and called for companions, and suddenly more than 3,500 people lurked, as if they did not exist, without arousing their slightest alarm.
Although the enemy did not find anything unusual, he still fired cold cannons into the woods where the latent troops were located from time to time, causing dozens of people of the latent troops to be injured, some of them broke their arms, some of them injured their legs, and some of their intestines flowed out, but in order not to expose the target, they endured great pain and did not make a single groan.
After Zhang Baocai and 15 other soldiers were injured, they did not let their comrades-in-arms rescue, nor did they take the initiative to bandage, and they have been silently insisting, without making a sound, and finally they all died heroically.
Zheng Weishan sat motionless in the command post, the new commander Yang Yong and political commissar Wang Ping were also quietly waiting, and Xu Shiyou, commander of the 3rd Corps, and Du Yide, deputy political commissar, also rushed to understand the situation. As the minutes and seconds passed, it was finally dark, and our army's latent troops had successfully been lurking for 20 hours.
Zheng Weishan looked at his watch, and at 8:20, he decisively issued an attack order. Our artillery shells poured out and smashed into the enemy positions one after another. The artillery fire of our army continued to extend forward, the soldiers of our army who were lurking jumped up, the surprise attack began, and the soldiers fell like divine soldiers from heaven, killing the enemy with vengeful anger, and a fierce charge, the enemy had not yet returned to his senses, and he had already collapsed into an army.
Subsequently, the 20th Army took advantage of the victory to pursue, and after 5 days and 6 nights of exhaustive pursuit and fierce fighting, successfully captured 9 defensive positions such as 883.7, 949.2, and 902.8, and achieved a successful example of annihilating an enemy regiment since the defensive battle of our army.
Zheng Weishan and Zhang Zuyu, two founding lieutenant generals who came out of the Dabie Mountains, cooperated closely on the Korean battlefield and, with a fearless revolutionary spirit, dealt a head-on blow to the UN army, played a role in the prestige of our army, and effectively promoted the smooth progress of the armistice negotiations.
2020 marks the 70th anniversary of the Chinese Volunteer Army's war to resist the United States and aid Korea, and I would like to commemorate those soldiers who died on the Korean battlefield.