After the outbreak of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the Volunteer Army inflicted heavy casualties on the US army through several large-scale battles. From the end of the fifth campaign, the volunteer army began to change soviet equipment in terms of light weapons, and the Teggarev light machine gun (commonly known as the big pan chicken), the Bobosha submachine gun, the Mosin Nagant rifle, and some Katyusha rocket artillery, as well as tanks, heavy artillery and other weapons were also successively installed in the front-line troops.
Although in the three years of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, it was mainly light weapons, and heavy weapons could not be compared with the United States in the later period, but with the installation of Soviet weapons, the volunteer army began to gradually grasp the initiative on the battlefield. In October 1952, after realizing the gradual superiority of the Volunteer Army, the U.S. Army prepared to launch a so-called "showdown plan", planning to take the 537.7 and 597.9 heights in the Shangganling area occupied by the 15th Army of the Volunteer Army in six days at the cost of 200 casualties, and give the Volunteers a chance to get off the horse.
On October 14, 1952, the U.S. military used 320 artillery, 47 tanks, and 50 aircraft launched a fierce artillery bombardment of 30 kilometers of the front of the 15th Army of the Volunteer Army, of which the 537.7 and 597.9 highlands in the Wushengshan area were the most violent. Guarding the 537.7 heights was a company of the 135th Regiment of the 45th Division of the 15th Army of the Volunteer Army, and guarding the 597.7 heights was a platoon of the Ninth Company and the Eighth Company of the 135th Regiment of the 45th Division of the 15th Army of the Volunteer Army, with a total of one reinforced company strength.
After the end of the artillery preparations, the US Seventh Division and the ROK Second Division launched a fierce attack on the two highlands of the Volunteer Army, the volunteer officers and men immediately returned fire, on the 15th, nearly 400,000 rounds of ammunition were fired in one day, grenades and grenades were thrown, due to the long period of high-intensity continuous shooting, the weapon loss was also very amazing, a total of 10 Soviet turntable machine guns, 62 submachine guns, 90 rifles were destroyed, accounting for more than 80% of all weapons! In order to avoid the artillery fire and air attacks of the American army, Cui Jiangong, the commander of the 45th Division, lost his position during the day and let the troops take it back at night.
Qin Jiwei, commander of the 15th Army, saw the fierceness of the US attack and began to strengthen logistical support, adding 8,000 grenades to each company. In order to reduce casualties, the 15th Army finally abandoned its surface positions and switched to tunnel operations. At that time, the logistics department of the 15th Army bought 30,000 kilograms of apples from the rear, but it could not be transported, and finally Qin Jiwei ordered that the apples could be sent in for second-class merit, and only one apple was sent into the tunnel.
The U.S. army was originally going to take Shangganling at the cost of 200 casualties, but it fought a war of attrition with the volunteers, and the 45th Division of the 15th Army of the Volunteer Army was sent to the battlefield by all the organ personnel and miscellaneous personnel, and the strength was still insufficient. On October 24, General Qin Jiwei sent all 96 officers and men of his guard company to support the No. 1 tunnel of Highland 597.7, but suffered huge casualties while passing through the enemy artillery blockade area, only 24 people reached the tunnel, and even the instructor Wang Hu was killed.
From November 1, the 12th Army of the Volunteer Army began to support the 15th Army, and gradually grasped the initiative in the Shangganling area, and finally launched a counterattack to retake the surface positions in the Shangganling area. The Battle of Shangganling lasted forty-three days from October 14 to November 25, 1952, and the U.S. army fired 1.9 million shells and more than 4,000 aerial bombs at the volunteer positions, but still ended in failure. In this battle, the volunteer army annihilated 15,000 enemy troops, including 5,000 American troops, 10,000 Rok troops, and 11,000 volunteer casualties, of which 4,838 were sacrificed and 6,691 were wounded.