In April 1951, shortly after the start of the Fourth Campaign to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, Ridgway, commander-in-chief of the US Eighth Army, proposed a new move against the volunteer army, the so-called "Operation Tearing" plan.
Ridgway named this plan after "tearing" and exposed his operational attempts to the fullest: The elite units of the "United Nations Army" opened a gap in the Hongchuan and Huachuan areas, severed the connection between the volunteer army and the east-west line of the people's army, and detoured to the side of the volunteer army on the western front, so as to cross the "38th Line" again and reverse the passive situation of the war situation.
The Volunteer Army Command had long taken precautions against Ridgway's plot and immediately ordered the 39th Army to organize a movement defense on the line from Chuncheon to Huachuan, resist the enemy step by step, and delay the advance of the enemy.
After receiving the task, Wu Xinquan, a famous general of the Volunteer Army and commander of the 39th Army, immediately summoned the cadres of various divisions and regiments to study the strategy of blocking the enemy.
At the meeting, the crowd put forward several battle plans, but Wu Xinquan believed that they were all out of order, and it was not very certain to deal with Ridgway, the old fox.
Wu Xinquan simply ordered the meeting to be suspended temporarily, and he himself took out a map of the Huachuan area and examined it repeatedly.
Suddenly, Wu Xinquan noticed a small blue area on the map, and he fixed his eyes on it, thinking that the four small characters marked in the map were "Huachuan Reservoir".
At this time, he couldn't help but see his eyes light up, and suddenly laughed: "Soldiers are impermanent, water is impermanent, why don't you use this strange move to deal with Ridgway?" ”
Cai Yu, the combat staff officer next to him, asked curiously, "Commander, what strange trick did you think of?" ”
Wu Xinquan did not answer directly, but said: "In this way, you will immediately convey my order to the chief of the reconnaissance section, ask him to take the liaison officer, go to the Huachuan Reservoir to reconnoiter, and find the reservoir management personnel to understand the dam gate and the amount of water storage." ”
Not long after, the chief of the reconnaissance section returned to the military headquarters from the reservoir and made a detailed report to Wu Xinquan.
Wu Xinquan listened, and then patted his thigh and laughed: "Haha, it turns out that there are really thousands of troops and horses hidden here, and this time he Li Qiwei is better!" ”
Everyone felt inexplicable, and asked the commander where the thousands of troops and horses came from.
Wu Xinquan just smiled and said to the reconnaissance section chief: "You immediately return to the reservoir and tell the reservoir management staff: Close all the gates immediately and raise the water level of the reservoir!" ”
Immediately after, he sent someone to summon Wang Liangtai, commander of the 115th Division, pointed to the map and said to him: "Order the 1st Company of your regiment to hold on to the 288.4 heights next to the Huachuan Reservoir to prevent the enemy from attacking the north of Yingfeng Mountain." You must make full use of the conditions that the Huachuan Reservoir Dam is in our hands. Open the dam gates and flood the U.S. Marines. ”
After Wang Liangtai understood Wu Xinquan's intentions, he said happily, "Commander, your move is too great!" In ancient times, there was a Guan Yun chang flooded the Seventh Army, and now let's use the ancient for the present, flooding the United Nations Army! ”
His Sichuan accent and loud laughter shook the command post.
On the night of 8 April, reconnaissance personnel reported an important situation to Wu Xinquan: Ridgway had ordered the "United Nations Army" to begin crossing the Han River at dawn the next day.
"The thousands of troops and horses prepared for Ridgway can finally come in handy!" Wu Xinquan was overjoyed and immediately issued an order to Wang Liangtai to open the gates and release water at the Huachuan Reservoir starting at 3 a.m.
Wang Liangtai acted according to the plan and opened all 10 large gates of the Huachuan Reservoir on time.
Suddenly, the lake roared down the mountain, and the huge roar shook the valley and rushed into the river, and the large and small rivers and rivers surged with it.
The "United Nations Army" never dreamed that the volunteer army would come to such a move, some troops were blocked by rivers and rivers, some were cut off from the back roads, and some troops camped in valleys or rivers and were swept away by the water...
The U.S. army was overwhelmed by the flood offensive. The radio was a mess: "Our artillery company position was washed away by the water, the personnel and tents were swept away by the water, the road was also washed away, and we could not advance!" ”
"The communist army opened the floodgates to release water, the equipment of the 'United Nations Army' was flooded, and the advance was blocked!"
"It is inhumane for the communists to blow up the Huachuan Reservoir."
"I was an engineer company, and the river suddenly rose several feet, and the pontoon bridge we had erected was washed away..."
Li Qiwei was shocked to hear the news, and after it was found out that the volunteer army had opened the gate of the Huachuan Reservoir, causing serious losses to the US Marine Corps and the ROK 3rd Army, he ordered a task force to seize the dam in an attempt to close the gate.
However, the American army was already very timid in the night operation, and they approached the reservoir along the rugged mountain road, and then encountered the resistance of the volunteers on the way, and hurriedly withdrew. I organized it several times, but it didn't work.
The U.S. military also tried to blow up the dam in order to reduce the water level of the reservoir and reduce the threat of the reservoir to their next move, but the amount of work was too large and the plan was threatened by volunteer fire, and the plan failed.
The U.S. army took great pains to temporarily transport the storm boats and attacked from the waterway organization in the direction of Huachuan.
It was not until the 16th that the U.S. Marines slowly advanced far from the reservoir into a suitable operating environment for them.
The volunteers' strange move of flooding the US troops with the water of the Huachuan Reservoir was completely effective, and the water of one reservoir actually delayed the US troops for more than a week, which bought enough time for the volunteers to complete the withdrawal plan and organize the defensive line.
After that, the volunteer army used the natural barrier of the reservoir to hold on to the main points and continue to block the enemy, so that the "United Nations Army" paid a heavy price for every step forward in the narrow section between the Huachuan Reservoir and the Han River.
In this way, the famous general Wu Xinquan created a strange trick of flooding the enemy army on the Korean battlefield, which became a masterpiece of his military career, and it can also be called a model example in the history of Chinese and foreign wars that has been used for the present and introduced new ones.