When Ridgway arrived on the Korean battlefield, he couldn't figure out why the well-equipped American troops would be defeated by the volunteers, and Ridgway once thought that the reason for the embarrassing situation of the American army was that MacArthur had no command, but when Ridgway succeeded MacArthur, he gradually understood the reason for MacArthur's failure, and Ridgway clearly realized that MacArthur's defeat was likely to repeat the same mistakes on himself.
In the third battle of the Korean War, the volunteer soldiers were brave, and once attacked Seoul, the capital of South Korea, and this battle also completely ended MacArthur's military career in Korea, and Chairman Mao even said after this battle: "Our volunteer soldiers are all treasures, can fight, can endure hardships, and can make meritorious achievements!" ”
Photo of Ridgway
Before the launch of the fourth campaign, Ridgway began to study the tactics commonly used by the volunteer army, Ridgway decided to emulate Peng Dehuai's command style, the set of "magnetic offensive" he made was essentially based on the volunteer army's tactics of enticing the enemy to go deep and counterattack on all fronts, but the only difference was that the US army had absolute superiority in weapons and equipment, so Ridgway had strong artillery support when using this tactic.
However, these factors did not prevent the volunteer army from continuing to win the battle, the fourth battle was an AMERICAN offensive, our army's defensive operation, the background of this big war is different from the previous three battles, many units of our army went to the Korean battlefield, the US army launched a full-line offensive at this time, Peng Dehuai in order to cover the completion of the assembly of the newly entered troops, took the initiative to launch a defensive war that lasted 21 days, and the main combat sites were concentrated along the Han River and the Hengcheng area.
Wu Xinquan's 39th Army, of which Wu Xinquan was the commander, was ordered to assemble in the Huachuan area not far from Hengcheng; the 39th Army belonged to the Eastern Front Group Army of the Volunteer Army, and the commander-in-chief was Deng Hua, the first deputy commander of the Volunteer Army.
At the beginning of this campaign, Commander-in-Chief Peng Dehuai set the tone of the campaign, that is, "the west top is released from the east", the western front is mainly defensive warfare, and the eastern front is mainly offensive; Deng Hua ordered the 39th Army and other units to quickly intersperse the battle in the early stage of the campaign, and the strength of the US 29th Division and the 3 divisions of South Korea was surrounded by the main forces under Deng Hua's command.
In the first battle, our army annihilated 12,000 enemies, and the remaining enemy main force was compressed in a depression, and our army could eat them at any time, but at this time, the US First Army and the US Army's 7th Marine Division rushed to reinforcements, Deng Hua realized the risk of being attacked by the enemy in the belly, and immediately ordered the whole army to retreat, and the reinforcement of the US army made the situation on the eastern front fundamentally change.
In the process of the whole army's retreat, the US army began to organize troops to pursue, and Deng Hua knew that as long as our army could withstand the pursuit of the US vanguard troops, there would be time to build a solid defensive position, and this combat task fell on the head of the 39th Army, Wu Xinquan, the commander of the 39th Army.
Deng Hua had great trust in Wu Xinquan, and the 39th Army of the Volunteer Army was one of the main forces of the Northeast Field Army at that time; in terms of combat effectiveness, the 39th Army had fought too many vicious battles in history and its combat ability was outstanding.
The predecessor of the 39th Army of the Volunteer Army can be traced back to the 15th Army in the Red Army period, the commander of the corps was the later founding general Xu Haidong, and during the War of Resistance, the 39th Army was reorganized into the 344th Brigade of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, and the first brigade commander was also General Xu Haidong, and later Xu Haidong was not in good health, Yang Dezhi served as the commander of the 344th Brigade, and this unit made the first contribution in the PingxingGuan Dajie and was commended by Chairman Mao.
Later, the 344th Brigade was reorganized into the Fifth Column of the Eighth Route Army, and General Huang Kecheng served as the commander of the column, and was ordered to lead his troops to participate in the War of Resistance in the central Soviet Union.
When the War of Liberation broke out, the northeast became the main battlefield in the early stage, Chairman Mao ordered the mobilization of many troops to fight in the northeast, and Huang Kecheng's unit was also ordered to go, and after the winter offensive, this unit was reorganized into the second column of our Northeast Field Army, with Liu Zhen as the commander of the column, this unit participated in the Jinzhou Campaign, the Pingjin Campaign, and in the Jinzhou Campaign, the second column was the first to attack Jinzhou City under the command of Liu Zhen.
In the Battle of Pingjin, when Liu Yalou attacked Tianjin, Liu Zhen's second column was regarded as the main force of the siege, Liu Zhen did not live up to Liu Yalou's trust, and led his troops to attack the city of Tianjin first, and Sun Lianzhong's main forces were defeated at the hands of the second column of our army.
General Wu Xinquan's military uniform photo
After the end of the Pingjin Campaign, Chairman Mao instructed the whole army to complete the major reorganization, the second column of the Northeast Field Army was reorganized into the 39th Army of the People's Liberation Army, Liu Zhen served as the commander, wu Xinquan served as the political commissar, until after the founding of the People's Republic of China, General Liu Zhen went to work in the air force, Wu Xinquan became the second commander of the 39th Army, the Korean War broke out, and Wu Xinquan led the 39th Army to become the first unit to enter the Korean War.
In the first battle, Peng Dehuai said repeatedly: "Chairman Mao has stressed many times that we must fight the first battle after entering the DPRK! The first major victory of the Volunteer Army in Korea was won by Wu Xinquan's 39th Army.
After Wu Xinquan received the combat task arranged by Deng Hua, he did not dare to delay for a moment, and ordered the whole army to win precious time for the retreat of friendly troops, and there was a North Han River in front of the Eastern Front Group Army, which was exactly february 1951, the weather warmed, the originally frozen North Han River had also thawed, and crossing the river became a task that must be completed at present.
In this way, Wu Xinquan's task of blocking the main force of the US army is even more important, and he must lead the 39th Army to resist the enemy's attack and cover the smooth crossing of the North Han River by the main force of our army.
However, at that time, Wu Xinquan faced a big problem, that is, the vanguard of the US army was the US Army's Seventh Marine Division, and their whereabouts could not be accurately captured, which added uncertainty to the task of blocking.
Wu Xinquan had to carefully analyze on the map, the Huachuan area and the North Han River are connected, the terrain here is relatively flat, is the best place to cross the North Han River, Wu Xinquan believes that if the enemy wants to cross the river to pursue the main force of our army, this place is the most suitable place for the enemy to cross the river, the reason is very simple, the US military has a large number of heavy weapons, generally narrow areas are not conducive to the development of heavy weapons of the US army, so they will definitely choose to cross the river in the Huachuan area.
Wu Xinquan boldly reported his speculation to Deng Hua, who carefully considered it and said to Wu Xinquan, "Old Wu! Don't I know you yet? I believe in your judgment that you boldly execute according to your own ideas, even if there is a problem, I have to bear it! ”
Deng Hua had great trust in Wu Xinquan, he knew Wu Xinquan's ability very well, and in the first three battles, Wu Xinquan led the 39th Army to make great contributions, fighting against the American army, and Wu Xinquan had won dozens of battles in a row. In the eyes of Peng Dehuai and Deng Hua, Wu Xinquan's 39th Army was the unit that knew the enemy best at present.
With Deng Hua's permission, Wu Xinquan immediately led the army to advance to the Huachuan area, and the main force of the 39th Army had just arrived in Huachuan, which verified that Wu Xinquan's idea was correct, and the scouts of the 39th Army in the Huachuan area found traces of the US troops, which made Wu Xinquan more convinced that the US troops would cross the river from the Huachuan area.
But at this time the 39th Army was facing a new problem, our army and the US army arrived in Huachuan almost at the same time, the 39th Army at this time had no time to build a defensive position, the vanguard of the US army was the 7th Marine Division, followed by the First Division, the Second Division, and the Seventh Division in the South Korean capital, these enemy troops were equipped with heavy weapons, with multiple howitzers, more than a hundred aircraft, and more than thirty tanks.
Wu Xinquan was in a hurry to turn around, and while ordering the soldiers to build fortifications in the forward positions first, he locked himself in the command post and thought hard about the good strategy for retreating from the enemy, he studied the map of the Huachuan area over and over again, hoping to find favorable terrain suitable for blocking the enemy from the map.
On the day of February 16th, Shen Qixian, chief of staff of the 39th Army of the Volunteer Army, tapped his shoulder and complained as he walked into the command post, Shen Qixian said: "How did you encounter such a ghost weather, this rain is too heavy, the water level of the Han River has soared!" ”
Photo of General Deng Hua
Shen Qixian's words made Wu Xinquan's heart tremble, and Wu Xinquan raised his head and asked, "Old Shen! What did you just say? ”
Shen Qixian repeated what he had just said again, and Wu Xinquan suddenly burst out laughing, and he hugged Shen Qixian and said, "Old Shen! I'm finding a way to defeat the enemy! ”
Although Shen Qixian did not know what had happened, he could tell from Wu Xinquan's words that our army was about to win the battle, and Shen Qixian also laughed with Wu Xinquan.
Then Wu Xinquan said, "My style of play is the inspiration that your old Shen gave me!" Have you heard the story of Guan Yu's flooding of the Seventh Army during the Three Kingdoms period? ”
At this time, Shen Qixian understood Wu Xinquan's meaning, and his eyes also began to glow, Wu Xinquan pointed to a place on the map and said: "Here is the Huachuan Reservoir, the main force of the US army is currently on the west bank of the North Han River, there is the downstream of the Huachuan Reservoir, and now it is raining heavily everywhere in Huachuan, we just need to fill the Huachuan Reservoir with water... ”
Wu Xinquan did not continue to say the next words, Shen Qixian helped and said, "In this way, the enemy will drink soup in the big water!" ”
Wu Xinquan immediately found a few scouts, he pulled Shen Qixian together to the Huachuan Reservoir for field investigation, Wu Xinquan found that there were a total of 12 gates in the Huachuan Reservoir, he ordered that all 12 gates be closed, the torrential rain did not stop for a moment, after returning to the command post, Wu Xinquan ordered: "Now the forward troops must always observe the movement of the US troops, until they receive my orders, everyone is not allowed to launch an attack on the US troops!" ”
The purpose of Wu Xinquan's military order is obvious, he does not want to fight grass and snakes, such a rainy season, the roads in the Huachuan area become muddy, the US army's howitzers and other heavy weapons can not advance quickly, the enemy's attack will definitely be much later than expected, so Wu Xinquan should make good use of this fighter.
In order to slow down the marching speed of the US troops, Wu Xinquan ordered the strength of three regiments to quickly destroy the roads that the US troops had to pass, and laid out a number of minefields, so that the US troops had to be busy building roads and bridges, and on rainy days, their mine detectors were destroyed, and for a time the US Seventh Marine Division was unable to move, and its main force was stranded on the west bank of the North Han River.
Time passed day by day, the real six days, the US Army's Seventh Marine Division only advanced less than five kilometers, at this time the Huachuan Reservoir was basically full of water, at one o'clock in the morning of February 22, Wu Xinquan ordered the 115th Division of the 39th Army to go to the Huachuan Reservoir to open the floodgates, 12 gates were half opened, and the water rushed to the west bank of the North Han River like ten thousand horses.
At that time, someone suggested that the Huachuan Reservoir should be blasted, so that the water would be more fierce, wu Xinquan rejected this suggestion, he sighed and said: "After all, we are fighting on Korean soil, and it is best to destroy less!" ”
Wu Xinquan is well-intentioned, the war is already very tragic, whether it is the Korean people or the soldiers of our army, everyone has sacrificed enough things, Wu Xinquan can't bear to destroy all the Huachuan Reservoir.
At this time, the US Seventh Marine Division was building a pontoon bridge on the water of the North Han River, and they finally arrived at the site of the crossing of the river, and the commander of the US Marine Seventh Division felt very strange that their troops had not been blocked by the volunteers for so many days, which was an incredible thing, and the commander thought that this was a sign that the volunteer army had collapsed, but unfortunately he thought all this wrong!
Just as dawn was approaching, the SEVENTH Marine Division of the US Army was organizing people to cross the river, and more than 2,000 US soldiers were gathered on several pontoon bridges, and suddenly the water poured down from a high place, washing away several pontoon bridges of the US army, and more than 2,000 soldiers of the US army were also swept away by the water.
The commander of the US Seventh Marine Division kept asking for help, ridgway soon learned of this, the US military high-level exploded the pot, some people said that this was a natural disaster, some people said that it was caused by bad luck, but Van Vleet, who was the commander of the US Eighth Army at the time, did not think so, and he insisted that this must be the tactics of the volunteer army.
FanFrett's words surprised Ridgway, and Ridgway couldn't help but ask, "Can the battle still be fought like this?" In order to rescue his troops, Ridgway and Van Vleet also took a plane to the Huachuan area to check, when Ridgway saw the tragic situation of the US Seventh Marine Division soaking in the water, his emotions were very excited, Ridgway hugged his head and said: "Such a scene is a nightmare!" An entire ace division turned into an immobile loach! ”
The person who signed the curtain to create this nightmare for the US army was Wu Xinquan, who more than a thousand years ago drowned in the Forbidden Seventh Army and now reappeared on the Korean battlefield, and Wu Xinquan immediately ordered the main forces of the 39th Army to occupy the favorable heights in the North Han River area, place the artillery of the whole army in a favorable position, and fire at the US Seventh Marine Division trapped in the water.
In this battle, Wu Xinquan almost completely annihilated the US Seventh Marine Division, the US casualties exceeded half, Ridgway urgently mobilized more than 200 aircraft to cover the retreat of the US Seventh Marine Division, and at this point Wu Xinquan took the initiative to end this battle, at this time the other main forces of our army had already crossed the North Han River, and built a solid defensive position, quietly waiting for the arrival of the US follow-up troops.
In this battle, Wu Xinquan's 39th Army defeated the Ace Troops of the US Army without firing a single shot, which was a miracle, Deng Hua was very happy after learning of the course of this battle, he reported Wu Xinquan's performance to Peng Dehuai, Peng Dehuai laughed and said: "In ancient times, the Seventh Army flooded the Seventh Army through Wu Xinquan, and it was a good story that the American soldiers were flooded by Wu Xinquan' water! ”
Wu Xinquan led the 39th Army to retreat to the other side of the North Han River, at this time Deng Hua called wu Xinquan to tell Wu Xinquan a good news, that is, the 19th Corps of the Volunteer Army, which had newly entered the Korean War, had been assembled and could be put into battle at any time, and Wu Xinquan shouted loudly: "My old chief is here!" That's great! ”
After the victory in the fourth campaign, Peng Dehuai reported the process of the whole army's battle to Chairman Mao in detail according to the usual practice, and after Chairman Mao read it carefully, he pointed to the report and said: "The 39th Army is becoming more and more able to fight, and this Wu Xinquan has even used the tactics of flooding the Seventh Army, and the fight is really good!" ”
Chairman Mao's words of praise for Wu Xinquan were soon sent to Peng Dehuai's command post with the telegram, and Peng Dehuai showed Chairman Mao's telegram to the whole army, and this honor belonged to Wu Xinquan, commander of the 39th Army.
The commander of the 19th Corps of the Volunteer Army was General Yang Dezhi, during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Wu Xinquan served as the commander of the 344th Brigade of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, and Yang Dezhi was the brigade commander of the 344th Brigade.
Under the leadership of Wu Xinquan, the 39th Army's achievements are obvious to all; in the first campaign of the Unsan Blockade, the 39th Army made great achievements and completely annihilated the strength of the three regiments in South Korea; in the second campaign, Wu Xinquan led the 39th Army to take the lead in entering Pyongyang and became the model of the whole army in Peng Dehuai's mouth; in the third campaign, Wu Xinquan led his troops to attack Seoul, annihilating 11,000 enemy in the first battle, and Wu Xinquan also planted the flag of the 39th Army on the land of Seoul.
Photo of General Wu Xinquan (left) and his comrades-in-arms
In 1955, Wu Xinquan, as the last batch of volunteer troops to evacuate Korea, he just in time for the conferment of titles, this year Wu Xinquan was awarded the rank of lieutenant general, after returning to China, Wu Xinquan also served as the chief of staff of the Shenyang Military Region and other important positions, and later was promoted by Chairman Mao, and also became the deputy commander of the ARTILLERY UNIT of the People's Liberation Army, with high achievements.