In the Third Campaign to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, after the Volunteer Army and the Korean People's Army won a great victory and occupied Seoul, General Peng ordered all troops to stop pursuing and retreat tens of miles to rest. The Soviet ambassador to North Korea at the time, Compatibility military adviser Stikov, directly questioned Peng Zong in person.
Stykov said to Mr. Peng: "The enemy is defeated and retreated, why don't you pursue?" Where is there such a commander? You, immediately change your plans and order your troops to continue their pursuit..."
The third campaign was the first major offensive between the Volunteer Army and the Korean People's Army. The first two battles were spearheaded by the United Nations army, but this one was a pursuit campaign launched by the Volunteers on their own initiative.
Sketch of the Third Campaign
Ridgway let the Rok army serve as cannon fodder
After the end of the second campaign, Walker, commander-in-chief of the US 8th Army on the Eastern Front, was killed in a car accident during the retreat, and Ridgway was ordered to fly to Korea to take over as the commander-in-chief of the US 8th Army.
At this time, the United Nations army had just experienced the rout of the second battle and was demoralized. But Ridgway knew that there was no time for him to slowly rest and reorganize his troops, because the volunteers would surely take advantage of the victory to pursue and launch the next wave of offensive.
Ridgway
At this time, Ridgway believed that the strength of the troops in his hands was too small, and he could only passively defend, use the advantages of the navy and air force to defuse the offensive of the volunteer army, and then wait for the opportunity to counterattack.
The United Nations Army suffered heavy losses in the second battle, and the US 2nd Division was severely damaged by the 38th Army of our volunteer army during the siege and annihilation of the Cheongcheon River, and is currently resting in the Area of Hongchuan and Dichuan as a reserve.
The 10th Army (under the jurisdiction of the 3rd and 7th Divisions and the 1st Marine Division) was also attacked by the 9th Corps of the Song Dynasty during the Battle of Chosin Lake, especially the 1st Marine Division, which was severely damaged, and the 10th Army fled to Busan by boat in a panic, and is currently resting in the area of Busan and Daejeon, and cannot participate in this campaign.
At the end of December 1950, Ridgway quickly formulated his defense plan, roughly as follows: the United Nations army built two defensive general fronts along the 38th Line, the first from the Linjin River in the west to Xiangyang in the east, and the second from the government in the west and jiangling in the east.
Among them, the distribution of the US-ROK coalition army is also more interesting, and the first line of defense is Rhee's ROK troops, the South 1st Division, the Southern 6th Division, the South 2nd Division, the South 5th Division, the South 8th Division, and the South 3rd Division, deployed from west to east on the first defensive trunk line.
The second line of defense, mainly the troops of the American and British armies, the three infantry divisions of the US army were located in the rear of the ROK army, such as Uijeong, Chuncheon, and other areas, ready for mobile operations. Two British brigades and one Turkish brigade were positioned around Seoul, posing as if they were holding Seoul.
After reading the deployment of the United Nations army, I feel that the ROK army should be cannon fodder on the first line, whether the ROK army can hold it or not, first let the ROK army grind out the first wave of the most fierce offensive of the volunteer army, and then deploy the US troops on the second line, which can be mobile according to the battlefield situation and can retreat and defend. If it cannot be defended, the US military can also quickly retreat, because the main force of the US army is basically placed on the main road of transportation.
Mr. Peng's strategic deployment
At the end of the second campaign, the 9th Corps of Song Shilun was also seriously reduced in the Battle of Chosin Lake, of which frostbite was the most reduced, and the two main armies of the 20th and 27th Armies of the 9th Corps were severely damaged and had to rest. The 9th Corps could only send 8 regiments of the 26th Army to participate in the campaign, and General Peng let the 26th Army serve as a reserve.
At this time, Peng Zong's strength was also insufficient, the 9 corps could not participate in the battle, then the 13 corps in their hands, but the 13 corps had already fought two consecutive battles, and the troops also had a lot of attrition. Just as the Korean People's Army was also reorganized in the rear, Kim Il Sung sent a total of 35,000 people from the 1st, 2nd, and 5th Armies of the People's Army to participate in the 3rd Campaign, under the command of President Peng, at this time the total number of the front line of the Sino-Dprk coalition army was about 300,000.
Peng's offensive deployment was divided into two directions, with the 38th, 39th, and 40th Armies of the 13th Corps concentrated on the left column on the western front to launch an offensive north of Seoul, which was the main direction of attack, and the target was directed at the Rok army's ace South 1st Division and The South 6th Division; the 50th Army and the 1st Human Corps launched an offensive from the area northwest of Seoul from Kaesong, northwest of Seoul; and the 42nd and 66th Armies of the Right Column on the Western Front attacked the Rok army in Chuncheon, in response to the actions of the main force of the left column.
On the eastern front, the 2nd and 5th Armies of the People's Army steadily advanced southward, and the eastern front was high and densely forested, with relatively small populations and cities, so it was not the main area for both sides to compete.
The momentum is like breaking bamboo, liberating Seoul
On the night of December 31, the main forces of the 50th, 38th, 39th, and 40th Armies of the Left Column on the Western Front, as well as the 1st Human Corps, launched a powerful offensive against the Defense Line of the United Nations Army on the Rinjin River, and the enemy tried to resist by relying on the natural dangers of the Rinjin River plus the strong offensive built, especially the most elite South 1st Division of the ROK Army, with the intention of stubborn resistance.
But the 39th Army, the ace of my four fields, did not blow out, the 116th Division of the 39th Army used the two artillery regiments temporarily assigned to suppress the fire of the ROK Army with a total of 45 artillery pieces, and the sharp knife troops of the 116th Division immediately broke through from the center, crossing the enemy's minefield along the way, climbing up steep cliffs, opening the way for large troops, and directly breaking through the frontal position of the ROK South 1st Division.
The Roks had never seen this, but they did not expect that the volunteers would be able to easily break through their carefully constructed positions from the front. What can I do? Run on your legs.
It was not so easy to run, and the 117th Division of the 39th Army had already interspersed with detours and successfully intercepted many of the routs of the South 1st Division and the South 6th Division. The Rok army was defeated and fled south. However, the ROK army relied on the cover of the US air force and successfully escaped, and the plan to completely annihilate the two ROK infantry divisions failed.
The volunteer offensive was progressing smoothly, and all the units were steadily advancing, but the U.S. Air Force was so powerful that on average, a group of bombers were dispatched every 10 minutes, which could effectively support the retreat of the United Nations army, so our army never encircled and annihilated the enemy, basically a chase and annihilation battle.
Originally thought that the UN army would fight a defensive battle when it retreated to Seoul, but it was not expected that the UN army did not intend to hold Seoul at all. On 3 January, Ridgway ordered his troops to retreat south of Seoul.
On the afternoon of January 4, the 39th Army, the 50th Army, and the 1st Human Corps entered Seoul one after another
General Peng Mingjin collected troops, and Soviet advisers questioned
After the capture of Seoul, Mr. Peng ordered the various departments to take a short rest and prepare to continue to advance south after the rest.
The 116th Division of the 39th Army sent a reconnaissance unit across the Han River to search south, and as a result, the reconnaissance unit searched south for 30 miles without finding the uncommune troops, and then General Peng received telegrams from various departments, all of which found the UN troops on the south bank of the Han River.
How quickly did the UN forces withdraw? At this time, the Han River was frozen, and General Peng ordered the 50th Army as the vanguard to cross the Han River and pursue it to the south, and then the various units followed, but the volunteer troops did not encounter decent resistance along the way.
Peng always felt that this was a planned retreat of the UN forces, and they were luring our troops. If our army is too hasty to go further south, then supply will become a big problem.
Once the US Air Force strengthens the blockade of the volunteer supply line, the supply of more than 200,000 volunteers going south will become a big problem.
Moreover, the Korean People's Army was too aggressive before, and was landed by the US army in Inchon, directly cutting off the KPA's waist, and the lesson of blood is still vividly remembered. Therefore, General Peng ordered the troops to stop pursuing and retreat north to the Seoul area to rest. At this time, the volunteer army had been fighting hard for many days, the soldiers were very tired, the 13th Corps had fought three consecutive battles, and the soldiers were very tired.
Peng's sudden order to retreat aroused the displeasure of Kim Il Sung and Soviet military adviser Stekov, who hoped that the volunteers would take advantage of the victory to pursue.
General Manager Peng said directly: You yourself command the Korean People's Army to go south, but you have just finished resting, our volunteer army has already fought three consecutive battles, and the soldiers are exhausted. In this way, the People's Army continued to attack southwards, and the Volunteer Army was responsible for garrisoning the coastline and maintaining the lines of communication.
Kim Il Sung had no choice but to give up, but he invited soviet military adviser Stikov to exert pressure, and the Soviet adviser directly approached Peng Dehuai and questioned Peng Zong in person, saying: "The enemy is defeated and retreated, why don't you pursue?" Where is there such a commander?
Mr. Peng said, "Do you know what a war is?" I am responsible for the lives of hundreds of thousands of volunteer soldiers, for the people. ”
"The army must turn to the defensive and rest, and no soldier or pawn can advance south
On January 6, the volunteer army and the Korean People's Army departments withdrew to rest, and by January 8 the battle was completed, and in the third battle, the volunteer army and the people's army pushed the front 80 to 110 kilometers south, killing and wounding more than 19,000 enemy troops, and our side suffered more than 8,500 casualties, including more than 2,700 people in the people's army.
General Manager Peng resolutely and timely collected troops, avoided the counterattack of the United Nations army, let our army take the initiative in the entire third campaign, and did not let the United Nations army take advantage of it, which reflected General Manager Peng's superb command technology.