The Watergate Bridge is a bridge, but in the battlefield of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, it is not just a bridge, but a ghost gate that is destined for life and death.
Pratunam Bridge
At the end of November 1950, at the Battle of Chosin Lake, the U.S. coalition forces that launched the arrogant "Christmas Offensive" were confronted by the Volunteer Army. In this campaign, the volunteers not only completed the division and encirclement of the US ace First Marine Division, but also completely annihilated the polar bear regiment that the US army was proud of.
More than 10,000 soldiers of the US First Marine Division, which suffered a crushing defeat, fled southward, and this escape was destined to be the "longest retreat" in history. Their estimated escape route was from Chosin Lake all the way south until they fled to Hingnam Port.
The commander of the U.S. First Marine Division, Smith, had a sad face, and he was keenly aware of a cruel truth: the Volunteers wanted to completely annihilate the First Marine Division and completely erase them from the sequence of battle.
Smith determined that this battle was the most tragic battle encountered by the First Marine Division in the 160 years since its formation. This ace army that used to make the united states proud, now like a lost dog, they can't think of anything but to escape.
Before that, before the volunteers suddenly came out, they were invincible, and Smith even had a perfect idea: to intersperse to the west side of Chosin Lake to implement a strategic encirclement of the main force, completely annihilate the collapsed Korean People's Army, and then drink the Yalu River, and "return to the DPRK" before Christmas Festival. If this strategy succeeds, the history of Korea will be rewritten, and the glorious history of the First Marine Division will be added.
Unfortunately, man is not as good as heaven. The appearance of the volunteers disrupted all their deployments, and they now had no choice but to flee for their lives.
The First Marine Division in exile
Smith knew that MacArthur would do everything in his power to help the First Marine Division escape, after all, if they were to be completely annihilated, the face of the United States would be lost. In fact, MacArthur had earlier ordered a powerful air and sea force to help the U.S. Army retreat at all costs.
MacArthur, bent on a "dignified retreat," dispatched hundreds of bombers to bomb indiscriminately along the way. Under this wave of operations, their south escape channel was forcibly opened. At the end of this escape, "Xingnan Port", there are 193 ships, including 7 aircraft carriers, waiting in a solemn position to meet the escape of their fleeing troops.
Even so, the escape route of the US coalition army is still difficult, and along the way, they are fighting against the extremely cold weather, and they are ready to face the mysterious volunteer army.
At the 1071 Heights Of Xiaogaoling, the U.S. coalition army had encountered a complete blockade by Yang Gensi Company. In order to prevent them from approaching the heights, the volunteer soldiers of Yang Gensi's company repelled 8 fierce Attacks of the American Army in succession. During the 9th attack of the US coalition forces, Yang Gensi actually shouted "fire at me" and died with more than 40 US troops holding explosives packages.
The experience of Highland 1071 completely collapsed the psychological defense line of the US coalition army, and while they were shocked, they also pinched a cold sweat for their escape. Just 6 kilometers from this position was the Watergate Bridge, and the closer they got to this place, the more nervous Smith and the U.S. coalition became.
The Pratunam Bridge is an 8.8-meter-wide bridge built on a cliff face, and it is the only way for the U.S. military to retreat south. Fleeing basically means that they have reached the end of their escape, because it is only 60 kilometers away from Xingnan Port, and all the way is Pingchuan Avenue.
The Watergate Bridge is almost equivalent to the Nai Ho Bridge, and in the past, it is born again, and if it cannot be passed, it is hell.
Knowing that the Watergate Bridge was a matter of life and death, Smith sent a battalion and 40 tanks as the vanguard to protect the life route. Song Shilun, commander of the battle-hardened Ninth Corps, also knew that the Watergate Bridge was the life gate of the US coalition forces, and he resolutely ordered the blow-up of the bridge.
Thus began a scramble for the Watergate Bridge.
As early as December 1, before the arrival of the U.S. coalition forces, a battalion-level reconnaissance detachment of the Volunteer 60th Division was punctuated near the Watergate Bridge. Because of the long-distance attack, the soldiers arrived at the Watergate Bridge with less explosives, but they still strictly followed the combat instructions and blasted and destroyed the wooden bridge.
Although the blast only destroyed the bridge deck, the soldiers judged according to their previous experience that it was impossible to restore the bridge to the point where it could be opened to traffic in this "ghost weather".
To the surprise of the volunteer soldiers, when they saw that the bridge deck was destroyed, the US army engineer battalion actually drove in some strange machines and repaired the bridge with a pile of wood in only half a day.
The repaired bridge is not only accessible to soldiers, but even trucks carrying goods can pass through it without seeing the bridge shake. The soldiers of the reconnaissance detachment were in a hurry: they could not complete the task and were criticized for the second, how could they be worthy of the other fighters who gave their lives to stop the American troops along the way?
What if the U.S. military repairs the bridge? The answer for the volunteers was: keep bombing.
As the volunteers prepared to continue bombing, the enemy also increased their defense of the Watergate Bridge. However, on the night of the successful repair of the bridge deck, that is, on the night of December 4, the Volunteer Bridge Bomb commando team cleverly dodged the enemy's flares and sentries, crawled forward in the snow, and installed explosives on the heavily guarded Watergate Bridge. And all this, the enemy army was completely unaware.
When the bridge was blown up for the second time, the volunteer soldiers also took extra care of the wood around the bridge.
"Bang bang bang", with several fierce bombardments, the Watergate Bridge, a checkpoint through which the US coalition troops must flee, was once again destroyed.
However, just as the volunteers were happy for the second successful blowing of the bridge, a more strangely equipped Mechanized American army came to support during the day, and at the same time, the large troops fleeing all the way were also approaching the Watergate Bridge step by step.
When this strangely equipped force arrived, it quickly repaired the Watergate Bridge with the steel materials and residual wood they had brought with them. The volunteer soldiers were stunned: the newly built steel and wood bridge looked stronger than before. They watched as dozens of tanks "rumbled" past...
The reconnaissance detachment wept without tears: they had no explosives available. It should be known that on the battlefield of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the enemy has all kinds of heavy weapons and so on, and the volunteer army is not only backward in equipment, but also often "uses one less."
As for food, it is even more incomparable, the U.S. coalition is meat, eggs, milk, etc., while the volunteer army only has potatoes. On the way to pursue the US coalition army, the volunteer army was vividly described as "one person and one potato, chased to the end of the sea" .
Volunteers climb the ice and lie in the snow
Faced with this embarrassment, the volunteers had to seek support from their superiors. As the Volunteers sought help, the U.S. army stepped up its defense of the Watergate Bridge: they urgently dispatched a reinforced tank battalion.
At this point, it was impossible for the volunteers to sneak up on the Watergate Bridge, and they had only one last way left: a strong attack. In the case of a huge disparity in weapons and equipment, the volunteer army had to carry out the third mission of blowing up the bridge: it could only "fight with their lives".
On the night of December 6, volunteer support units arrived, and on the same night, they decided to blow up the bridge for the third time in the snow and ice. At this time, they were faced with the equipment of the reinforced tank battalion of the Us coalition troops stationed at The Watergate Bridge: a total of 40 tanks, dozens of artillery, and a large number of light and heavy machine guns formed a fire network...
The "most powerful" weapons of the Volunteers were only small-caliber mortars, and they had almost no heavy firepower.
The Watergate Bridge is right in front of the volunteers, and everyone knows that blowing up this bridge will not only prevent the U.S. troops from continuing to flee south. It can also receive a large number of heavy equipment (tanks, artillery, trucks) that the U.S. army has not had time to blow up, and capture thousands of wounded American soldiers. In this way, the volunteer army can achieve the strategic goal of severely damaging the main force of the US army.
If the bridge is blown up, the main pursuing force of the volunteer army can catch up, and perhaps, it can also wait for the opportunity to annihilate the US First Marine Division.
The key to everything is at the Watergate Bridge.
The 7th Company of the 3rd Battalion, 240th Regiment of the 80th Division, which rushed all the way to the Watergate Bridge, rushed to support and joined the bridge bombing commando team. When company commander Jiang Qingyun led the company to the Watergate Bridge, the assault team had been running out of food for two days.
The first on the right is Jiang Qingyun
On the battlefield, military orders are everything, and they can no longer care about the cold and hunger. Without resting or eating, they quickly joined the fight.
Because there was almost no cover from heavy fire, Jiang Qingyun and hundreds of other volunteers could only wear cotton jackets (white outside) and carry explosive packs, and attack the Watergate Bridge from all directions.
During the charge, 30 meters from the bridge, Jiang Qingyun was hit by two bullets and fell on the snow, because of excessive blood loss, he struggled several times and failed to get up.
After Jiang Qingyun fell, his comrades-in-arms made great sacrifices, but each of them did not flinch in the slightest. One fell, the other continued to rush...
In the end, the volunteers broke through the Fire Blockade of the American Army and successfully destroyed the newly built Pratunam Bridge with its base for the third time.
After dawn, a division commander of the Volunteer Army carefully observed the results of the battle through a telescope. After seeing that the original bridge foundation had all been destroyed, he reported to the chief with tears: "The Watergate Bridge has been completely destroyed, and the US army has no way to retreat!" ”
When the Watergate Bridge was completely destroyed, the main force of the US First Marine Division also arrived at the Watergate Bridge. Smith looked at the empty canyon in front of him and lamented vigorously, "Oh God, God! ”
Smith knew that the main force of the volunteer army would only need three or four days to rush to the Watergate Bridge, and at that time, their most elite unit in the United States would undoubtedly die. Looking at the crowd of wounded soldiers and heavy weapons, his brow wrinkled.
Desperate, Smith sent MacArthur a telegram of determination, telling the manager that they were ready for total annihilation. Smith also told in the telegram:
"Only from Hagaru-ri to Gutu-ri, on the 18-kilometer escape road, the US army was chased and intercepted by the volunteer army all the way, which took 38 hours, an average of 500 meters per hour, and 34 casualties per kilometer! Moreover, this is also in the case of full mechanical movement and air force escort. ”
MacArthur understood that once the main force of the Volunteer Army caught up, the US First Marine Division would definitely disappear from the war sequence completely.
The news soon reached the Pentagon, and at the emergency meeting, everyone's face was gloomy, and most of them supported acknowledging defeat and withdrawing troops from the peninsula. Truman even wanted to authorize MacArthur to use the atomic bomb to free the army and maintain "national honor."
This proposal did not scare China, but it did scare its neighbors. According to later archives, the Pentagon had completely abandoned the idea of winning and only hoped to withdraw with dignity. Therefore, there was a later Armistice Agreement at Panmunjom. Obviously, the Battle of Chosin Lake has severely frustrated the american spirit.
The Pentagon's emergency meeting didn't make a name for itself, and Smith sighed in the snow as he prepared to die on the Watergate Bridge. After all, in 3 days, no one can build a bridge out of thin air.
smith
No one expected that under the action of survival instinct, Smith had a sudden idea: "If you use ready-made bridge technology, use finished steel beams and sectional erection, and then airdrop to the Watergate Bridge, can you quickly complete the erection?" ”
After Smith reported his whimsy, the American side, which felt that it was "possible to try", acted quickly, and at the urging of the United States, thousands of people in Mitsubishi, Japan, began to urgently produce M-2 steel beams, while the US air base in South Korea began to test the air-dropped steel beams.
That's right, they wanted to build a complete bridge (4 sets of M-2 steel beams) at lightning speed, and then airdrop directly over the Watergate Bridge.
In order to ensure that nothing goes wrong, Smith, who has always been meticulous, decided to make two whole bridges, that is, make eight sets of steel beams, and airdrop them to the Watergate Bridge.
Three days later, the volunteers noticed that a large transport plane had suddenly appeared over the Watergate Bridge. And the scene that happened next made them even more jaw-dropping: countless pairs of parachutes appeared in the sky, and under each two parachutes hung a huge "big guy". "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight," yes, eight in all.
Aerial shot of steel beam real video
One of these eight sets of "big guys" also fell into the position of the volunteer army, and at this point, the volunteer army understood: this is a bridge, and they threw the built bridge into the position of the Watergate Bridge.
Under the cover of the Air Force, the engineering battalion with 4 sets of large bridge steel began to be built urgently. In just one day, the bridge was erected, and the life passage of the US coalition army fleeing south was erected again...
The volunteer soldiers were stunned, and they realized that the blockade and bridge blowing operations carried out by countless soldiers with their lives would all be in vain. Who would have thought that the bridge would be built and "fly" from the sky.
What limits the imagination of the volunteers is backwardness. At that time, the United States was already an industrial power, and China's industrialization construction had not even really begun...
After the Watergate Bridge was re-erected, more than 10,000 people and more than 1,000 tanks and vehicles of the 1st Marine Division and more than 1,000 tanks and vehicles that had fled in a hurry were safely evacuated. They then blew up the newly erected bridge to intercept the volunteer pursuit.
When the soldiers of the 1st Marine Division crossed the bridge, they all drew crosses on their chests and prayed to God for mercy. They all believed that God had saved them, that God had kept the volunteers from catching up before they had built the bridge.
U.S. troops in exile
But that time, it wasn't God who helped the U.S. coalition, it was the damn weather. North Korea was the coldest winter in nearly a hundred years, and according to later sources, the lowest temperature reached minus 53 degrees on the day they fled.
The volunteer army that was chasing all the way, in the absence of clothes and food, still had to fight against the two fierce enemies of extremely cold weather and US aircraft bombing, so how could they catch up in time?
But even so, on the day that the US coalition army escaped, there was still a heroic company that broke through many difficulties, successfully reached the hill opposite the Watergate Bridge, and prepared an ambush.
The terrified Americans found themselves in an ambush circle, but the volunteers did not fire a single shot, and they were shocked. Curiosity prompted them to get closer, and it turned out that the volunteers had long been frozen into ice sculptures because of their long-term lurking, thin clothes and hunger.
When the U.S. military saw the volunteers, they still had their eyes wide open and they maintained a posture of being ready to fight.
According to later information: on that day, a bold American soldier tried to take down the gun in their hands, but their hands were already glued to the trigger, and with one force, 3 fingers were broken. Greatly shaken, Smith solemnly took off his hat and saluted the ice sculpture company with a standard military salute.
When the large troops of the volunteer army pursued to Xingnan Port, the US troops had already passed through the 193 ships and calmly withdrew.
Decades later, when mentioning the Watergate Bridge, the U.S. military with a lingering heart confessed that it was the disparity in industrial civilization between the two sides that saved them.
After this bloody lesson, China began to fight and build at the same time, and in the next three years, when the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea was carried out to the third stage, we were already a huge modern army with 1,400 Soviet tanks and 3,000 aircraft of various types. Shame and courage, only when you see "backwardness", can you catch up!
At the end, attach a desperate poem from the pocket of the thin underwear pocket of the ice sculpture company martyr Song Amao (Shanghai soldier):
"I love my loved ones and my country / I love my honor even more / I am a glorious / Volunteer soldier / Ice / I will never submit to you / Even if I freeze to death / I will stand proudly on / My position."