The so-called ace troops should be victorious in war, invincible, blooming their own glory, and are deeply loved by every upper leader, and these ace troops are also their confidants.
At that time, there was such a special unit, because it was revolted from the Kuomintang troops, so this unit has always been despised and underestimated.
When the Korean War broke out, this unit became an ace army under the leadership of Mr. Peng, they not only fought bravely, but also held the US army for 50 days and suffered nearly 70% casualties.
Questions about the 50th Army's participation in the war came pouring in
In the Korean battlefield, the United States General MacArthur led the "United Nations Army" was defeated one after another, in order to turn the tide of the war, a new commander named Ridgway came to the Korean battlefield, in MacArthur's eyes, the young commander although the number of battles is not very much, but has excellent command ability, cautious use of troops in the US military is also once famous.
As soon as Ridgway took office, he immediately found out the operational shortcomings of our army. Because the logistics supply lines of the Chinese Volunteer Army were too long, in many cases they could not keep up with the speed of the march.
In other words, after each battle, the volunteers need to take a period of rest, first, to prepare for the supply line, and second, because the attrition of the volunteers will be serious for a long time, and the reinforcements will take a long time.
In view of these two drawbacks of our volunteer army, Ridgway began to quickly adjust the battle plan and formulate new tactics. In the early stages of the operation, Ridgway believed that a long war of attrition could drag our army down, and for the sudden changes in the United Nations army, the entire Korean war situation became more and more delicate.
The western front of operations has been changed, which is undoubtedly a huge pressure on the volunteers fighting on the front line. Although our 19th Corps and 3rd Corps have already entered Korea to provide support, it will take a long time to reach the front line.
At this time, as the commander-in-chief, Mr. Peng only had six armies in his hands that could be mobilized, and under this urgent situation, Mr. Peng also decided to change the previous combat routine.
At that time, Mr. Peng adopted the tactic of "putting the west top and putting it from the east". This method of combat is actually to invest a small number of troops in the western front to resist the main force of the American army, and the main force is quietly transferred to the eastern front, and when the reinforcements of the eastern front arrive, they will round up with the western front troops to besiege the enemy army.
It can be said that This set of tactical policies by General Manager Peng directly broke through the predicament of our army at that time, but compared with the Eastern Front, the operational pressure of the troops on the Western Front was extremely great.
Looking at the entire unit, the 38th Army is the number one ace main force, so in The view of Mr. Peng, this unit is bound to stay on the Western Front. Considering the speed of the operation, in order to confront the United Nations army, Mr. Peng decided to send the 38th Army and the 50th Army to fight on the Western Front. According to common sense, the effect of joint operations between the two armies is often greater than the effect of one army fighting alone.
But when the soldiers heard that this time, Mr. Peng had entrusted the most difficult task on the Western Front to the 50th Army, everyone could not sit still.
As we all know, the 38th Army is an ace army of the Chinese Volunteer Army, this team is called "Long Live the Army" by Mr. Peng, the difficult tasks of the Western Front are responsible for the 38th Army can be understood, but it is not appropriate to choose the 50th Army (an insurrectionary force) to cooperate, and everyone has expressed doubts about Mr. Peng's choice of the 50th Army to support the Western Front.
Why is the 50th Army not recognized by everyone?
So why was this rebel force (the 50th Army) not recognized? Speaking of the 50th Army, let's first introduce its predecessor as the Kuomintang 60th Army, whose commander was Zeng Zesheng, an uprising general. In that year, Zeng Zesheng led the Kuomintang 60th Army to fight Against Lin Biao, and did not fall behind several times.
At that time, this army was actually a miscellaneous army, and it was adapted from the Dian Army. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Dian army was greatly excluded from the Kuomintang and was used as cannon fodder by Chiang Kai-shek and was not taken seriously.
Zeng Zesheng
At that time, Du Yuming's army was defeated in battle, and according to the military orders of the time, it was about to be shot. But precisely because it was the Jiang family's concubine army, it not only did not receive military law, but also went to Yunnan to fight. For the cold and frozen northeast, Chiang Kai-shek sent the Dian army led by Zeng Zesheng.
In the northeast, they were beaten by the Four Fields Combat Unit, and they had no record so they could not become Chiang Kai-shek's darling. In fact, in many cases, the Kuomintang troops are a big dye tank. Many generals are corrupt and afraid of death, and when they encounter any dangerous situation, they think of themselves at the first time, not the entire army.
For Zeng Zesheng, who is upright by nature, he cannot go along with him. During the period of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communists, Zeng Zesheng found that many armies led by the Communist Party were united in their hearts and minds, and no matter how difficult the environment, everyone would work together. In the Kuomintang army, everyone is pregnant with a ghost fetus, so in Zeng Zesheng's eyes, he does not want to live a life of nepotism and corruption and incompetence in the Kuomintang warlord army.
In this case, he led the Kuomintang 60th Army in an uprising. It is also the reason why many people think that the 50th Army cannot shoulder this heavy responsibility, but they do not know that such a miscellaneous army, which is despised by the world, has become the ace army in the hands of President Peng.
The Korean battlefield is famous
General Manager Peng chose the 50th Army to fight on the Western Front, in fact, he had his reasons. Before the uprising of the 50th Army, it was the Kuomintang 60th Army, and compared with other armies, the most distinctive feature of the 60th Army was its proficiency in defensive warfare. In the Battle of Taierzhuang that year, the Kuomintang 60th Army annihilated more than 12,000 Japanese troops in one fell swoop.
During the battle, the officers and men of the 60th Army swore to die for stubborn resistance, the brigade commanders and regimental commanders all sacrificed heroically, while the officers and men of the middle and lower levels were always ready to die with the enemy by pulling grenades, and the bravery of the 60th Army left a deep impression on the Japanese army. In the Battle of Taierzhuang, the casualty ratio of the 60th Army and the Japanese army was 1.5:1, and the 60th Army annihilated many Japanese troops at a small cost of casualties.
It is precisely because the 60th Army has an immovable military heart and steely willpower that Mr. Peng will disregard the opposition of the people and send the 50th Army Brigade of the Volunteer Army to fight on the Western Front, and this battle also made the 50th Army completely turn over and play a glorious role.
In January 1951, Ridgway changed his combat strategy, adopted a simultaneous approach, and jointly carried out land-air cooperation operations with our army with advanced weapons and equipment. Especially after entering February, Ridgway's attack became more and more fierce, and at this time, the 50th Army's combat became more and more difficult, with an average of three or four companies dying on the battlefield every day.
But even so, the soldiers of the 50th Army still preferred to die, and after nearly eight days and nights of fighting, the 50th Army suffered heavy losses, but even so, they did not lose their positions. At the most intense time, when the entire platoon of fighters was killed, a machine gunner in the 50th Army collected the weapons of his comrades and the enemy, filled all the guns with bullets, and then held the machine guns back and forth alone, changed positions, and constantly strafed to suppress and repel the US army's four successive attacks, killing more than 60 enemy people in one fell swoop.
In repairing positions such as Baiyun Mountain, the 50th Army also fought fiercely, using their flesh and blood to confront the advanced armed American troops. The enemy's reinforcement divisions were the main force, and the intensity of their bombardment was very fierce, and the intensity of the shells fell on the positions like a downpour.
The 50th Army, which was bombarded almost every second, still stubbornly resisted, not letting the American army take a step forward. Faced with such a battle report, even Ridgway was shocked, what kind of steel force could withstand such a strong bombardment by himself, even the mountains could be flattened, and the 50th Army still stood still and garrisoned its position. Because of the heavy casualties, Zeng Zesheng finally had to shrink his troops, mainly to stick to the main points, and do everything possible to contain the enemy's northward advance.
The 50th Army's stubbornness to die made the US army completely lose its temper. At that time, the standard combat weapons of the US army were very sophisticated, not only tanks, shells, and aircraft, but also ordinary troops, and it was already very good to be able to persist in confrontation with such a tough enemy army for 10 days, but the 50th Army held the US army for 50 days, and the number of US casualties reached 70%.
After the victory of the fourth battle, the commander of the 38th Army sighed: "The greatest hero of this battle is the 50th Army", and because of this battle, the 50th Army completely turned over. The achievements of the 50th Army were recognized by the whole army, and it became another ace army created by Mr. Peng himself.
At the domestic meeting, even chairman Mao, the great leader who rarely praised the public, praised the 50Th Army three times and twice, praised the Good Fighting of the Korean Campaign, and the fact that the 50th Army was able to win such a special honor, and it was inseparable from every soldier in the whole army, and Zeng Zesheng also said with tears: "My brothers in the 50th Army can finally raise their heads in the army in the future." ”
Returning from the front to the embrace of the motherland, Zeng Zesheng, the leader of the 50th Army, was personally received by Chairman Mao, who, after inquiring about the situation of the 50th Army after the war, also urged Zeng Zesheng to recuperate well and make greater contributions to the motherland in the future. In the first ceremony held by our army in 1955, Zeng Zesheng was awarded the rank of lieutenant general until 1973, when he died of illness in Beijing at the age of 71.
The 50th Army was a miscellaneous army in chiang Kai-shek's eyes, but it became an ace army in the hands of Mr. Peng. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, our army carried out a million-dollar disarmament, and the 50th Army and its 150th Division were withdrawn, of which the 149th Division was also assigned to the 13th Group Army.
The 52 Mountain Infantry Brigade, which is now stationed in the Tibet Border Region, inherits the blood of the 50th Army, garrisons the border of our country, and defends the country.