Shangganling, a small village in the southern foothills of the Five Holy Mountains. On the left and right sides of the village, there are two small hills - 597.9 Highland and 537.7 Highland, which are horns each other, belonging to the forward support point of the main defensive line (Five Holy Mountains), with an area of 3.7 square kilometers. Due to the narrow terrain, the defenders can only put up to two links on it.
These two highlands, the position of the front out, wedged into the enemy line, the Volunteer 15th Army often from this side to do things, cold guns and cold artillery, so that the American army is very scratching their heads.
Van Fleet, commander of the U.S. Eighth Army, was determined to launch a "showdown" tactical operation to capture the two company positions and improve the defensive posture.
Due to the narrow terrain, the position of the forward, convenient for the U.S. artillery coverage, and not the focus of the volunteer army's defense, the U.S. military staff believe that it is relatively easy to fight, estimated to have 16 artillery battalions and air force support, in 5 days, pay about 200 casualties, can achieve the tactical objective.
Unexpectedly, from October 14 to November 25, 1952, a small-scale tactical attack and defense, because of the struggle for "face" and "one breath", the two sides actually hit the red eye! The repeated tug-of-war, which lasted 43 days, turned into a protracted and fierce battle.
The Battle of Shangganling is famous for its narrow combat area, the number of troops invested by both sides, the length of its duration, the brutality of the battle, the fierceness of its firepower, and the heavy casualties.
Clarke, commander-in-chief of the "United Nations Army", said: "This is Verdun on the Korean battlefield." Lin Biao said, "Shangganling is a meat grinder!" ”
Clark said in his memoirs: "We had more than 8,000 casualties, mostly of the officers and men of the Republic of Korea, which is disproportionately large compared to what we have gained." The enemy lost at least half as much as we did, but I don't think the operation was a success. ”
In "Korea: Our First Defeat," The American military correspondent Bevin Alexander wrote: "From the attack on October 14 to the gradual stop on November 18, the UN positions were only slightly improved, and the losses were too great and too great." To pay such a price in order to achieve a limited goal is nothing short of a wasted effort. ”
The heroic struggle of the volunteer army has made Shangganling a monument!
According to the records of the war, in the Battle of Shangganling alone, 44 people won the title of "Combat Hero" and more than 200 people received the title of Hero Collective; among the 12 "Heroes of the Republic" awarded to the Volunteer Army by the DPRK, 4 people participated in the Battle of Shangganling, namely Huang Jiguang, Qiu Shaoyun, Hu Xiudao, and Sun Zhanyuan. In the 43 days, as many as 38 people were counted as names as the enemy.
△ Huang Jiguang's younger brother Huang Jishu came to Shangganling and paid tribute with flowers in front of the bunker where his brother sacrificed
According to Qin Jiwei, commander of the 15th Army,
Battle of Shangganling,
Compared with who is more fierce and fierce, Shangganling won the battle, which can beat down the morale of the US army by a large margin.
At dawn on October 20, all the surface positions of Shangganling were lost, and the forward company moved to the tunnel to hold firm.
A week later, there was no water or food in the tunnel. When the wounded were thirsty, they licked the wet stone wall of the tunnel with their tongues.
In this extreme survival dilemma, when it was dark, the tunnel troops also organized small detachments to attack, bombed bunkers and touched sentries, causing the US troops to be overwhelmed with grass and trees, and the night was not peaceful.
If the tunnels are not removed for a day, the US military will not be able to live in peace for a day. The US military tried its best to fire close to the pit entrance with a recoilless cannon; hoisted the pit crossing with a mortar; blasted it with an explosive package; threw grenades into the tunnel; even used a P-51 aircraft to dive and strafe at a low altitude; smoked with poison gas bombs and sulfur bombs; blocked the opening with boulders; plugged the vent with barbed wire wrapped in a ball; and chiseled eye charge from the top of the tunnel to blast... The US army destroyed for many days, and finally had to erect three barbed wire fences at the mouth of the cave, build two bunkers, and adopt siege tactics.
On October 26, the 15th Army transferred divisions, regimental organs, and logistics personnel to form a foot transport team of more than 8,500 people, day and night, braving the tight seal of American artillery fire, to transport urgently needed supplies to the Shangganling Tunnel.
Sometimes a transport platoon went up, forty or fifty people when they went, and only four or five people when they returned, and the casualty rate of the fire line transporters was as high as 90%.
Because it was easy to be leaked by the enemy by carrying water on the back of the kettle, the 15th Army decided to transport radishes and apples instead, which could both quench thirst and fill hunger. Under the tight seal of enemy artillery fire, it was not until the 9th day that Song Dexing, the instructor of the transport company, and two fire line transporters sent three bags of turnips into the first tunnel.
The 15th Army purchased more than 30,000 kilograms of apples. The military department ordered that whoever could send an apple into the tunnel would immediately be credited with second-class merit, but in the end only one would be sent in. As a result, the moving story of "An Apple" was born in the Shangganling Tunnel.
The telephone line between the rear and the tunnel was even more bombed. At the expense of many signal soldiers, it is difficult to ensure the smoothness of the telephone, and you can only grab one sentence and count one sentence. Communication hero Niu Baocai, in the last breath of his life, used his body to connect the interrupted line and grabbed 3 minutes of talk time.
On the eve of the great counterattack, Qin Jiwei spoke to the troops trapped in the Shangganling Tunnel and just said: "Tell the comrades in the tunnel that the military party committee and military chiefs are very worried about the comrades in front of them..." He was unceremoniously interrupted by the telephone operator."
The chief should not be long-winded, pick up the important words, and give the order first
。 ”
△ Qin Jiwei ,commander of the 15th Army (second from left) and Zhang Yunyu (third from left), chief of staff of the 15th Army, are at the military command post
In the memories of the US military participants, the Battle of Shangganling is also thrilling and will never be forgotten!
U.S. 31st Infantry Regiment Regiment Commander Lloyd M. R. Moses, seeing that Shangganling could not be attacked for a long time, personally went to the position and saw the volunteer soldiers through the blazing artillery fire and launched a fearless attack. Greatly shocked, he thought it was the most terrible warrior.
A veteran of the US military recalled: The US military blew up a volunteer tunnel on a high ground and covered all the people inside. Just as the American troops rushed to the top of the mountain, a volunteer soldier jumped out of nowhere, rushed into the crowd, and died with the explosive canister. In hindsight, the warrior may have been an observation post sent out of the tunnel.
One U.S. military recalled: "What is shocking and incredible is that the Chinese soldiers can still persist in the tunnels, and again and again brave the rain of bullets and fire to rush out and compete for the top of the mountain, so that everyone thinks that this is caused by taking medicine to the soldiers." ”
An American soldier, a baseball player before enlisting, took prisoners on the front and caught a skinny volunteer sentry, and the baseball player clipped him under the tuck and brought him back. The sentry struggled desperately all the way, preferring to die. Back at the camp, he was caught alive.
In September 2008, a delegation of Chinese business community visited the United States and met McCarahan, an American veteran who had fought in the Battle of Shangganling. He recounted a personal experience.
Mc Callaghan, along with his company, supported by aircraft, tanks and artillery, fought for two days and rushed up to the main peak of Triangular Hill (Heights 597.9). On the entire position, only more than thirty corpses were left, and there was an unarmed Chinese soldier!
The Chinese soldier leaned back against a charred tree trunk, covered in dirt and blood, and made a "twittering" cry from his mouth.
"Don't shoot! He has no weapons! Mc Callaghan shouted to the American soldiers beside him.
"He's carrying a walkie-talkie!" Someone screamed.
This reminder made Mai Callahan realize what was going on..... But it was too late, and countless shells poured down like hail.
The entire position of the U.S. army, only 3 survivors, Mc Callaghan's left leg below the knee is all gone.......
The Chinese interpreter at the scene said:
"Mr. Callahan, you said you couldn't understand what the Chinese soldier was saying, and now I can translate it to you. He's saying, '
Dear chiefs, comrades-in-arms! For victory, shoot at me!
’”
At this time, the Chinese personnel present were all in tears!