Among the cultural relics of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea collected by the Chinese Military Museum, there is one
Type 82 mortar
This seemingly inconspicuous "little guy" has a brilliant record.
Can mortars rival large artillery?
In the big family of artillery, mortars can be said to be an inconspicuous one
"Small Character"
Compared to the big guys such as rocket artillery and anti-aircraft guns, it looks a bit
"Pediatrics"
。
However, on the battlefield of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, mortars were the most equipped artillery of the volunteer army.
Because this kind of artillery has the advantages of low cost, easy operation, easy to carry, etc., and it is also very suitable for the mountainous combat environment of the Korean battlefield. Especially in mountain warfare and trench warfare, it is very suitable for target strikes after anti-slope and shelter.
Of course, this mortar also has its own biggest drawbacks:
Small range, poor accuracy!
This fatal shortcoming determines that it is very difficult for fighters to hit the target, especially on the Korean battlefield, under the conditions of serious shortage of Chinese artillery shells, the requirements for gunners are very high.
However, in the Battle of Shangganling, Tang Zhanghong, a volunteer soldier, used this mortar to bombard and kill more than 400 enemies! The lethality is even comparable to that of large artillery, and even more so than some large artillery!
How did Tang Zhanghong do it?
After the outbreak of the Korean War, Tang Zhanghong joined the volunteer army, and after the training, because he had studied in junior high school, he was selected by the instructor Gao Jinwen and assigned to the 82nd Mortar Company of the 135th Regiment of the 45th Division of the 15th Army.
Became a "technical soldier"
When others had a headache about professional terms such as "ballistics", "secret position", and "triangle", Tang Zhanghong understood it as soon as he heard it, and quickly memorized an artillery shooting table.
The first time he hit a target with live ammunition, he hit the target with one shot!
Then, with his beloved "small steel cannon", he rushed to the Korean battlefield.
At that time, New China had just been founded, and everything was in ruins to be rebuilt.
The cost of a shell is a farmer's annual living expenses
。 Therefore, the shells are so precious, the volunteers' requirements for the gunners are very high, and every shell they fire must be "stable, accurate, and fierce"!
Therefore, the requirements of the volunteer army for each of their gunners were "three 100":
In 100 days, with 100 shells, 100 enemies were annihilated.
It was under such conditions that Tang Zhanghong explored his own set of combat methods:
He first built a fake fortification on the position, then put the grenade package in the fake fortification and fired the grenade at the same time. At this time, the enemy will mistakenly think that the location where the grenade explodes is the position of the volunteer artillery, and then the artillery attack will be carried out. When the enemy fired, the position was exposed to Tang Zhanghong's eyes, and then he took this opportunity to fire, almost a hundred shots!
Soon after entering the battlefield, Tang Zhanghong set a record of firing 93 shells in 15 days, annihilating the highest number of 101 enemy personnel, and making first-class merit twice.
This way of fighting has caused the US military a lot of headaches. American writer David Haberstam also wrote about the methods of warfare that caused heavy losses to U.S. troops in his book "The Coldest Winter: The Korean War in the Eyes of Americans."
However, what made Tang Zhanghong "deify" this small mortar was his next performance in the Battle of Shangganling.
On October 14, 1952, the United Nations army dispatched a total of 7 battalions of troops, gathered more than 40 aircraft, more than 30 tanks, and more than 300 artillery pieces, and began a crazy attack on the Shangganling area.
The enemy's infantry, also under the cover of its artillery fire, launched an attack on our positions.
At this time, Tang Zhanghong took his mortar to the front line.
At about 5 a.m. on the 14th, the battle began. Our communication was interrupted by enemy artillery bombardment, and fire support could not be provided, so Tang Zhanghong could only stick behind our infantry and constantly use mortars to fire shells at the high ground front.
He kept loading and firing, and Tang Zhanghong's hands were bleeding profusely as the hot barrel burned.
In 2 hours, he fired 200 shells!
Just as he was firing with all his might, a shell landed next to his bunker, and Tang Zhanghong was buried in the bunker with the mortar, but fortunately, the comrades struggled to dig him out again, and he continued to fight with his head broken and bleeding with a mortar whose gun mount had been damaged.
The wounded Tang Zhanghong kept loading and firing, and many of the shells fired were carried with his blood.
The enemy's attack lasted until the afternoon, and Tang Zhanghong remained on the position, using the mortar in his hand to cooperate with his comrades to repel the enemy again and again.
In the Battle of Shangganling, Tang Zhanghong achieved brilliant results with this humble mortar:
Annihilated more than 400 enemy people!
At that time, his comrades-in-arms called him
"The Sharpshooter Who Loads the Shell with Eyes"
After the end of the war, the mortar that Tang Zhanghong used at that time was also known as the "Hero Cannon", and it was subsequently collected by the Chinese Military Museum and became history
"Witness"
Is this type of mortar really so powerful?
In fact, the eighty-two mortar used by Tang Zhanghong was called the full name
Type 20 82 mm mortar.
In 1931, the Jinling Arsenal in Nanjing was modeled on the French Brande 1930 81 mm mortar. This mortar can reach a rate of fire of 20 rounds / min, a range of 2850 meters, and the cost performance is relatively high.
Of course, if you want to use mortars to exert the power of large artillery, it seems that it is simply impossible to do so.
However, when it reached Tang Zhanghong's hands, the impossible became possible, and the record of this battle was enough to explain everything.
So, we can draw a conclusion from this example
：
Weapons and equipment may be the key factor in determining war, but talent is the decisive factor in determining the success or failure of war!
Volunteer warriors in the world, absolutely the strongest warriors!
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