On June 30, 1951, after the heavy blows of the five large-scale battles of the Chinese Volunteer Army and the pressure of anti-war at home, US President Truman instructed The Commander-in-Chief of the "United Nations Army", General Ridgway, to make a gesture to the Chinese and North Korean troops through the press to demand an armistice and peace talks.
Truman
On July 1, Commander-in-Chief Peng Dehuai and Prime Minister Kim Il Sung replied to General Ridgway's statement, suggesting that the two sides hold peace talks in the Kaesong area of the "38th Parallel" from July 10 to 15. Since then, the Korean War has ended a period of large-scale mobile warfare, and the two sides have fought and talked on the "38th Line" for two years. On June 8, 1953, China and the United States finally reached the "Agreement on the Repatriation of Prisoners of War", which was a decisive step towards peace.
Syngman Rhee
This was clearly unacceptable to the Syngman Rhee authorities, who believed at the time that north Korean forces could successfully unify the entire Korean Peninsula. On June 18, the Syngman Rhee clique in South Korea seized 27,000 prisoners of war of the Korean People's Army in the name of their immediate release, and arrogantly shouted "alone" and "marched north" in an attempt to sabotage the armistice and peace talks.
Under this situation, the Chinese Volunteer Army issued a combat order to launch a counterattack in the Battle of Jincheng on July 13, 1953, in order to strike hard at the frontal enemy, cooperate with the armistice negotiations, promote the early realization of peace, and achieve the long-term goal of our side controlling favorable positions after the armistice and facilitating the long-term struggle in the future.
Nineteen hundred tons of shells were fired in twenty-eight minutes, something that the volunteers had never dared to imagine at the beginning of the war. This was the largest artillery bombardment of the Chinese army in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and it was also the first time that the Chinese army occupied the ground firepower advantage of the campaign. In the key direction of the shelling, the density of the volunteer artillery reached about 120 guns per kilometer, and the density reached the general standard of the Most Fiercely Fought Soviet-German Battlefield in World War II.
The intensity of the volunteers' artillery fire in the Battle of Kimseong was extremely unprecedented; under the swept up by the fierce artillery fire, the positions of the South Korean army collapsed completely, and it took only one hour for our volunteer army to break through the enemy positions in its entirety, and the lightning and artillery fire reflected the red light of the sky and the figure of groups of volunteers rushing to kill bravely, and the volunteer army swept through the entire South Korean army position like a fierce tiger descending the mountain.
In the Battle of Jincheng, the First Ace Capital Division of the South Korean Army was the primary focus of the Volunteer Army. The "Capital Division" is one of the four main divisions in South Korea, the number one "ace" division, and the whole division is full of American equipment. Its division emblem is a white tiger's head with bloody fangs, and senior U.S. military generals call it "South Korea's First Honor Division" and enjoy the reputation of "invincible tiger" in South Korea.
During the Korean War, the "Capital Division" single-handedly attacked, overwhelmed 325 kilometers, and unexpectedly took the port of Cheongsin, which was the northernmost Korean city seized by the North Korean army; after the Chinese volunteer army entered the DPRK and the "United Nations Army" and the ROK army fled to the south flank of the "38th Line," they still held the Position of Xiangyang. It became the only piece of territory reserved by the "United Nations Army" north of the "38th Line".
The South Korean "Capital Division" consisted of the 1st Regiment, the 2nd Regiment, the 17th Regiment, and the 18th Regiment, of which the 1st Regiment was fully equipped, well-equipped, and strong in combat, and most of the "White Tiger Regiment" had made the first contribution in the previous meritorious deeds of the "Capital Division." In the Battle of Xiangyang, north of the "38th Line", the "White Tiger Regiment" stubbornly held its position and won the reputation of "the main force of the national army". South Korean President Syngman Rhee personally awarded the "White Tiger Regiment" a new regimental flag - the "Tiger Head Banner". Since then, the nickname "White Tiger Regiment" of the 1st Regiment of the South Korean Capital Division has been a hit. The regiment was fully equipped with American equipment, one battalion of the Regiment A, four artillery battalions, and a large number of deep artillery and aviation support.
However, at the beginning of the Battle of Jincheng, the "White Tiger Regiment" had long been blown up by the artillery fire of the volunteer army, and under the fierce attack of the volunteer army, the "White Tiger Regiment" had to retreat to the "Icelandic Defense Line" in the second defensive zone while fighting. The volunteer army pursued and encircled the front-line combat units of the "White Tiger Regiment" as many as possible.
When the volunteer army was fighting fiercely with the capital division on the front line, the headquarters decided to send a penetrating force directly behind the enemy to behead the White Tiger Regiment in Erqingdong.
When screening the personnel of this surprise attacking force, the regimental headquarters also had strict requirements:
1. Must be combatants above the rank of deputy platoon.
Second, the individual soldiers have excellent quality and can cope with one-to-many complex combat situations.
Third, brave and good at fighting, able to achieve interspersed detours in complex terrain and complete decapitation operations.
Zhao Renhu, former deputy commander of the Qingdao Garrison District, was the deputy commander of a regiment of the 203rd Division of the 68th Army of the Volunteer Army and the commander of the surprise attack on the "White Tiger Regiment." He led an interspersed detachment (500 people) into the enemy's rear to destroy the enemy's artillery and destroy the enemy's "White Tiger Regiment" regimental headquarters.
They quickly passed through the 3-kilometer artillery blockade area and advanced deep into the South Korean army. On the way, about 1 company of the South Korean Army reinforced to the north, and the 5th Company of the leading detachment immediately annihilated most of it with heavy fire. At 0:50 a.m. on the 14th, after the interspersed detachment entered Sannanli, the 5th Company advanced in the direction of The Upper Maple Cave; the 4th and 6th Companies, under the guidance of the reconnaissance squad, plunged into the Erqing Cave. At 1:40 a.m., at the mouth of The Erqingdong Ditch, it encountered the 2nd Battalion of the South Korean Army Mech Regiment riding more than 40 vehicles, and immediately attacked it head-to-tail and annihilated most of it.
In the course of advancing toward the regimental headquarters of the "White Tiger Regiment," in consideration of the fact that large troops could easily expose targets in action, 10 fighters selected by the reconnaissance company of the 607th Regiment of the Volunteer Army, who had the strongest combat effectiveness, under the leadership of deputy platoon commander Yang Yucai, all dressed in South Korean military uniforms, secretly infiltrated into the Erqingdong of the regimental headquarters of the "White Tiger Regiment." In addition, two Korean People's Army liaison officers (both Koreans) sent by the North Korean Army also joined the squad, posing as South Korean officers.
Zhao Renhu (second from right)
Each member of the 12-member secret squad was armed with pistols, submachine guns, grenades, and incendiary grenades, as well as Soviet-style special operations weapons and tools such as communication radios, rope ladders, and sabotage scissors. They carried a total of 8 American-made M1 carbines, 2 M1 semi-automatic rifles, 3 M3 submachine guns, 5 M1911A1 pistols, 4 daggers, 3 grenades, 40 grenades, and more than 3900 rounds of various bullets. The firepower is very powerful.
Before the detachment set off, it said that if the bullets ran out and the food ran out, the large troops could not enter and they could not get out. Then fight alone behind enemy lines and take advantage of the enemy. Even if the task cannot be completed and all are sacrificed, it is also necessary to make the enemy pay several times the price, create conditions for the interspersed of large troops, and never give the enemy a bargain to take advantage.
These scouts must all be brave and good at fighting, astute, and pick from the king of soldiers; second, they must be able to perform reconnaissance tasks in complex and unfamiliar terrain and mountains. The choice of scouts is to have a flexible mind and excellent individual quality. In particular, the 12 people in this squad were all veteran scouts.
Yang Yucai is tall and tall, and he is particularly good at running between mountains when he grows up herding sheep in the mountains, and his mind is quick and calm. He soon became an extremely good scout by virtue of his excellent conditions, spying on the enemy in a mysterious way between the mountains of the dragon pan of the various enemies, reconnoitring the terrain, running as fast as the wind, as fast as electricity, and the enemy's reaction had long disappeared into the depths of the dense forest.
While fighting against the enemy, Yang Yucai repeatedly completed the extremely difficult tasks assigned by the troops, ran to the enemy's base camp to "grab his tongue," and greeted him with a grenade when he left, turning the enemy headquarters upside down. Yang Yucai was soon appointed by the troops as a reconnaissance platoon leader under the condition of repeated achievements.
The combat goal of their 12-man detachment was to secretly infiltrate the regimental headquarters of the "White Tiger Regiment" located in Erqingdong and unexpectedly attack a "Black Tiger Digging Heart" to destroy the entire enemy's regimental headquarters in one fell swoop, thus plunging the remaining enemies into a chaotic situation of leaderlessness and forming an overwhelming situation of fighting against the enemy.
At 00:04 on July 14, 1953, the squad was ordered to leave.
When it was inserted into the open land on the south side of Poplar, it was blocked by heavy enemy artillery fire. Taking advantage of the gap between enemy artillery shots, the squad leapt to the front of the enemy position on Hill 380 in one breath, counted the number of people in the hidden place, determined the direction, and then plunged into front of the enemy's barbed wire. At this time, it was found that there were three barbed wire nets that had not been destroyed by our artillery fire, blocking the way. In order to buy time, it was decided that one person would lie on the barbed wire, and the others would step on the comrade.
During the march, Zhao Shunhe, the deputy squad leader who was walking in front, stepped on the mine. Yang Yucai ordered everyone to lie down and quickly cleared the mines himself. The class moved on.
After crossing the road, in order to avoid the minefield, the whole class followed the ditch washed out by the rain. After marching to the road directly into the Erqing Cave, it disguised itself as the enemy's retreating scattered troops and rushed to the depths of the enemy.
At The Yongjin Bridge, which was only six kilometers from the target, it encountered a South Korean patrol. Yang Yucai was bold, took the interpreter and guide alone, and pretended to be a South Korean soldier who was an adviser to escort the US army, and took the initiative to come forward and successfully passed this pass.
Yang Yucai
At one o'clock in the morning, 12 scouts finally sneaked into the last electric barbed wire bush at the white tiger regimental headquarters. The lights of the enemy command post were so clearly visible that even the voices could be heard.
What Yang Yucai did not expect was that Cui Xiyin, the leader of the White Tiger Regiment, actually dispatched a tank company and an armored company to defend the regimental headquarters more than twenty kilometers away from the front, and more than ten tanks and more than twenty armored vehicles and automobiles surrounded the command center of the White Tiger Regiment headquarters tightly.
Just then, something very funny and very critical happened. Borrowing the light of the enemy's flares, Yang Yu found that there was one more person behind the team, only 13 people in total, and it was very obvious that there was one more at once. So Yang Yucai quietly walked over, taking advantage of his lack of attention and snatching the gun from his hand. After interrogation, it was learned that it was originally a messenger soldier from the first battalion and company of the White Tiger Regiment. Frightened by the roar of the volunteer artillery, he slipped out of the fortifications to escape, and when he fled, he encountered a volunteer detachment dressed in Korean military uniforms, thinking that his own people were retreating, so he followed.
Yang Yucai explained our army's capture policy to the trembling South Korean soldier and asked him, "What is the password for tonight?", and got a positive reply from the South Korean soldier. The Korean People's Army liaison officer next to him also took a dagger to scare him in Korean and killed him if he dared to tell a lie. The South Korean soldier replied again in the affirmative.
Led by the Korean People's Army liaison officer, he relied on his officer uniform and the password of the night to deceive and repeatedly mixed with two checkpoint sentries in a row.
Entering the door of the White Tiger Regiment headquarters, at this gate, cars were parked. It turned out that the top brass of the "White Tiger Regiment" had all arrived today, the deputy commander of the "Capital Division" was also there, and more than a dozen officers were holding a meeting, and the lights were bright. There were more than 30 cars parked in front of the regimental department, and many people were busy moving things.
Yang Yucai divided the squad into 3 combat groups and attacked separately, signaling the action with the sound of gunfire attacking the guard platoon. The volunteer soldiers were like wolves that had shed their sheepskins, and as soon as the guns of the attacking guard platoon sounded, the first thing to do was two grenades at the window of the regimental headquarters. With two loud noises, the lights went out and the house collapsed. Then he kicked open the gate of the regimental headquarters, and a meeting was in progress. After all, Choi Hee-in, commander of the White Tiger Regiment, and the deputy commander of the "Capital Division" were leaders, and after hundreds of battles, they immediately jumped out of the window to escape when they saw the situation was not good, and the last impression of the remaining officers and more than a dozen officers on this world was that a long tongue of fire licked at them, and in just a few tens of seconds, under the crazy strafing of the volunteer soldiers, more than a dozen South Korean officers were all headshot. Deputy Division Commander Lin Yichun escaped from the regimental headquarters and ultimately failed to escape the palm of the volunteer army, and was captured by the volunteer army on the way.
Before leaving the door, Yang Yucai saw an iron shelf on the side of the conference room wall full of corpses, on which hung a white tiger's head military flag, Yang Yucai rushed over to tear off the flag of the White Tiger Regiment, and took the booty in his pocket. Who knew that this area was brought into the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution and became a historical witness to the annihilation of the "White Tiger Regiment".
The surprise attack on the White Tiger Regiment began only an hour later, and 12 volunteer soldiers turned the Erqing Cave upside down. After destroying the command, they did not give up, and even killed the oil depot and ammunition depot near the regimental headquarters in one breath, the explosions sounded one after another, the roaring fire reflected the sky, the guards of the White Tiger Regiment headquarters were in disarray, and each of them fled for their lives, and the South Korean troops of the tank company were frightened to throw away the tanks and frantically fled, and the tanks became the decorations of the Erqingdong defense line. The raid destroyed the regiment's chain of command, depriving the South Korean troops deployed around them of command, and the soldiers discarded their weapons and ammunition and fled in all directions.
After the war, after statistics, in this battle, 12 volunteer soldiers actually destroyed more than 200 enemy soldiers in an hour, including almost all the officers of the White Tiger Regiment, including more than 10 officers, while the 12 volunteer soldiers created a miracle of 0 casualties.
The annihilation of the White Tiger Regiment disrupted the defense system of the South Korean Army and played a key role in the smooth completion of the first step of the campaign by the Western Bloc.
Then, Zhao Renhu led the interspersed detachment under the cover of night darkness, took the opportunity to annihilate most of the US 555th Howitzer Artillery Battalion located near the regimental headquarters, and occupied the highlands north of Lishidong and Beitingling at 3 o'clock on the 14th.
When the heroic deeds of the "White Tiger Regiment" regiment banner and Yang Yucai's squad were reported to Yang Yong, commander of the corps, Yang Yong immediately ordered Yang Yucai to be given special merits, awarded the title of first-class combat hero, and 13 members of the reconnaissance squad were awarded collective special merits. The heroic deeds of Yang Yucai's squad quickly spread throughout the army.
The Battle of Jincheng was the last battle of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. In this campaign Chinese the People's Volunteer Army annihilated more than 53,000 enemy troops, crippled 4 divisions of the South Korean Army, and recovered more than 160 square kilometers of positions, effectively cooperating with the armistice negotiations.
Peking Opera raided the White Tiger Troupe
These 12 heroes belonged to the 68th Division of the Volunteer Army, and the predecessor of the 68th Division was the Erye Six Columns, and the commander was Wang Jinshan. There is a TV series based on General Wang Jinshan called "Bright Sword". Yang Yucai, the leader of the reconnaissance platoon, was awarded the first class combat hero after this battle and was credited with special merit. The protagonist of the modern Peking opera "Surprise Attack on the White Tiger Troupe", "Yan Weicai", which came out in 1964, is based on Yang Yucai.
In the autumn of 1963, the revolutionary modern Peking Opera "Surprise Attack white tiger troupe" toured Shandong for the first time, and at the end of each tour, the scene resounded with thunderous applause. "Surprise Attack on the White Tiger Regiment" soon became the talk of every family after tea and dinner, and Yan Weicai also became a catchy combat hero for people, and became an idol in the hearts of countless people's children. The play quickly became the front page headline of major newspapers in China, and "Surprise Attack on the White Tiger Regiment" was all over the country.
In 1964, the touring team arrived in Beijing for a performance, Chairman Mao was accompanied by the founding general Xiao Hua and others to watch, the chairman clapped very happily, after watching it, the chairman asked Xiao Hua endlessly: "Is this Yan Wei a prototype figure?" "After getting a positive answer. Chairman Mao asked Xiao Hua again, "Is this man still there?" What position is it now? Xiao Hua, who had prepared his homework in advance, hurriedly reported Yang Yucai's recent situation to the chairman. Mao Zedong said: "In the past, he made mistakes, but he was forced to go to Liangshan, and people still corrected it very quickly!" He is a hero of the people, and such a talent should not be buried!
Yang Yucai was stationed in Xuzhou with the 203rd Division of the 68th Army. 11 years after the Battle of Jincheng, Yang Yucai was promoted from deputy platoon commander to deputy company commander of the reconnaissance company. Every day, the front-line troops are still crawling and fighting, and they are engaged in basic training!
After 11 years, he was promoted two levels, mainly because Yang Yucai was arrested by the Kuomintang before joining the People's Liberation Army, who was once a kuomintang messenger, and who joined the People's Liberation Army in 1949, joined the army late, and his cultural level was low, so the promotion speed was very slow.
With the advice of the Supreme Leader, Yang Yucai was quickly promoted, and gradually promoted from deputy company commander to deputy division commander and finally retired. He died in Beijing on May 26, 1999, at the age of 73.