In February 1951, the Volunteer Army launched the famous Hengcheng Counterattack, and the 3rd Battalion of the 352nd Regiment of the 118th Division of the 40th Army was ordered to carry out a difficult combat task under the leadership of battalion commander Li Yucai and instructor Zhai Wenqing.
As the vanguard battalion of the whole regiment, they wanted to cross the enemy's defensive line and penetrate to the three forks in the southeast of Guangtian, which was deep in the enemy's depth, and cut off the road here, block the main force of the Eighth Division of the ROK Army that had collapsed and fled, and cooperate with the fraternal troops to complete the task of encircling and annihilating the enemy.
Whether they can complete the task is of great significance to this campaign, because whether this move is good or not is related to whether the entire counterattack operation is a defeat war or an annihilation war.
In light of the enemy's situation in front of him, Li Yucai made arrangements for his troops: The 7th Company and the 9th Company captured Guangtian Beishan and controlled the commanding heights; the 8th Company captured Taifeng, jammed the road, and attacked the enemy's vehicles.
Suddenly, a fire dragon-like convoy drove along the highway in the distance from the north, and Zhai Wenqing immediately led 8 companies along the highway.
The enemy convoy was coming from far away to near, its headlights getting brighter and brighter, and the vehicles were driving rumbled along the mountain road.
When the enemy's convoy drove into the middle of the ambush circle, Zhai Wenqing gave an order, and all the commanders and fighters of the battalion opened fire at the same time, and the explosions and gunshots on the highway suddenly sounded.
The enemy's convoy was attacked by this sudden attack, and the enemy in the car was blown up and cried wolf.
The jeep at the head was blown up by a grenade, blocking the road of the vehicle behind it, and the vehicle that was not blown up crashed forward and could not move.
The burning vehicles led the other vehicles crowded together, and the driver hurriedly jumped out of the car, regardless of whether there was water in the ditch on the side of the road, and jumped in without a head.
Suddenly, three tanks burst out of the fire dragon behind, rumbling, spewing tongues of fire as they walked, and firing aimlessly at the mountain, pushing away the burning cars in front of them and guiding the chaotic convoy behind them to rush forward.
Zhai Wenqing immediately ordered the 8th Company: "Immediately organize an explosion and blow up the enemy's tanks!" ”
Seeing the enemy tanks guiding the convoy forward, yu Yonglin, a soldier, pulled out an anti-tank grenade, jumped on the road like a hungry tiger pounced, aimed at the upper part of the tank, and threw the grenade on it.
Hearing only a roar, the tank burst into flames and collapsed on the ground.
Immediately after, another fighter blew up two other tanks, three piles of scrap iron, and blocked the road.
The entire battle took less than 20 minutes, and the US 2nd Division sent to support a mech artillery battalion of the pseudo-8th Division was reimbursed before it could get close to the front line.
More than 140 vehicles, more than 20 howitzers and anti-aircraft guns, and 9 anti-aircraft machine guns all became the spoils of war of the Volunteer Army.
Before the enemy's main force had collapsed, Li Yucai consulted with Zhai Wenqing and said: "Guangtian Beishan has been captured by 7 and 9 companies, and Dongshan has also been captured by brother troops, basically stuck at the intersection of the three forks. However, Hirota Nanshan is still occupied by the enemy, and this high ground is the highest mountain in this area, and not taking it will be detrimental to our defense of the current position, and I have asked the regiment to approve our capture of Hirota Nanshan. ”
Zhai Wenqing nodded in approval, he knew that Li Yucai had a strong sense of the overall situation, and he always considered the next step when fighting a war.
Although the three battalions have achieved initial victories, the situation is still very grim, and as soon as dawn comes, the enemy has the support of air superiority and can use the air force to cover the breakthrough.
If the three battalions occupied Guangtian Nanshan, they could further restrain the road leading to Hengcheng in Longtou and Hongchuan, completely block the enemy's retreat to the south, and create more favorable conditions for the entire encirclement operation.
The regiment quickly agreed to Li Yucai's request and told him that when the three battalions attacked, the regiment would provide support with artillery fire.
After continuous fighting, the three battalions experienced a great depletion of manpower and ammunition. They both knew how heavy the burden of taking the initiative to take up this burden was and how arduous the task was.
The battle to attack Hirota Nanshan began, the regimental artillery position flew in and fired shells on hirata Nanshan, and the enemy ran around in the artillery fire, and some rushed down the mountain.
Under the command of Li Yucai and Zhai Wenqing, the three battalions, under the cover of artillery fire, rushed towards the South Mountain.
The artillery fire gradually weakened, and only the enemy's artillery fire blindly fired at the side of the volunteers.
Suddenly, two red signal flares rose up from Hirota Nanshan, and the signal flares cut through the night sky and drew a red arc.
"Up!" Zhai Wenqing shouted happily, and he immediately reported the news of this victory to the regimental command post, and then advanced towards the mountain.
Unfortunately, after the battalion commander Li Yucai led his troops to the top of the mountain, he was hit by a stray bullet and died honorably in the battle to eliminate the remnants of the enemy, at the age of 30.
The enemy began to counterattack, and thousands of enemies attacked the volunteer Position of Hirota from the rear hill.
At this time, on the road from Hongchuan to Hengcheng, the "United Nations Army" driven down by the volunteers collapsed like a tide, and there was no end in sight on the north-south highway.
The commanders and fighters of the three battalions, together with the whole regiment, launched a fierce blockade battle here. Artillery fire, grenades, and bullets formed walls of fire at the mouths of various valleys and on various roads, sealing the enemy's retreat to the south.
The enemy rushed desperately to the south, and the planes in the sky were scurrying like crows on the top of the hill, constantly bombing and strafing. The two sides fought in the dark, and the fighting hardly stopped for a moment.
The "United Nations Army" fought desperately here, at all costs, in an attempt to take the road and flee, but the sharp knife regiment stubbornly stuck on the road.
More than 12,000 U.S. and Rok troops were chased and killed by volunteers in the area north of Hengcheng, and then blocked the rear road, and the encirclement circle was tightened, and the enemy had no way to escape, and was completely annihilated.
After the war, Wen Yucheng, commander of the Forty Army, shed tears and sighed: If it were not for Li Yucai leading the whole battalion to take the initiative to attack, occupy Guangtian Nanshan, and block the enemy's escape route, the entire campaign would change from a war of annihilation to a battle of defeat, then the results of the whole army in this battle would be greatly reduced!
To this end, the headquarters of the Volunteer Army awarded the title of "Sharp Knife Hero Battalion" to the third battalion of the 352nd Regiment, and the battalion commander Li Yucai was posthumously awarded the first class meritorious service and posthumously awarded the honorary title of "Second Class Combat Hero".