On April 22, 1952, the smoke of the fourth campaign of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea was not dissipated, and the fifth campaign was launched. This was a crucial battle to resist US aggression and aid Korea. By the end of the Fifth Campaign around June 10, the Sino-North Korean coalition had stabilized the front near the 38th Parallel. After the end of the fifth campaign, the Americans realized that it was unrealistic to "solve" the North Korean problem in a short period of time, and finally sat down at the negotiating table.
In this campaign dominated by counteroffensives, there was a defensive campaign that seemed inconspicuous but turned the tide of the entire war: the Iron Plains Blockade. It is not as eye-catching as the Filmed Chosin Lake and Shangganling, but it has the danger of not losing any vicious war to resist the United States and aid Korea, and condenses the wisdom, bravery and blood of tens of thousands of soldiers.
The story begins with the change of commander of the US military.
Just eleven days before the outbreak of the Fifth Campaign, U.S. President Harry Truman removed MacArthur, the former commander-in-chief of the United Nations Forces, and replaced it with General Ridgway. Compared to MacArthur, who was arrogant and light and therefore almost dumpling-wrapped by the volunteers at the Battle of Chosin Lake, Ridgway was a real ruthless man. He summarized the strategic and tactical characteristics of the enemy in the first four campaigns, capturing one of the volunteers' Achilles heels: logistical supplies.
During the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, because there was no air superiority and under the unscrupulous bombardment of enemy planes, the logistics supply of the volunteer army was extremely difficult, and the traditional "soldiers and horses did not move, and grain and grass went first" was difficult to realize. When the volunteer soldiers carried out large-scale in-depth and large-scale interspersed operations, turning the enemy's rear into the front line of battle, they could only carry supplies with them. The amount of ammunition and rations a volunteer soldier could carry was only about seven days's worth of his needs—something Ridgway had deduced from the duration of each interspersed volunteer operation. Based on the characteristics of the Volunteers' "Weekly Offensive", Ridgway developed a rather sinister plan. Aren't you going to fight strategic depth, divide and encircle each annihilation? Then I'll give you a depth long enough —a depth that you can't turn around!
Throughout the fifth campaign, Ridgway ordered the army not to love war, to use long-range artillery and air strikes to suppress the volunteers, to avoid close combat, and to fight and retreat, so that the volunteers who were divided into east and west and all-out attack gradually dispersed in their usual strategic depth of play. The volunteer troops were indeed like a boiling knife cutting through the butter, but it was also inevitable that it would sink deeper and deeper into the sticky butter. On 21 May, the volunteer forces, lacking sufficient logistical supplies and heavy firepower, began to retreat across the line.
Ridgway had waited for a long time for the opportunity to come. As soon as he received the news of the withdrawal of the volunteer army, he immediately ordered a large-scale counteroffensive. Relying on the superiority of the US military's strong mobility, armor, firepower and air strike power, more than 47,000 US troops broke through the volunteer defense line and directly inserted themselves into the Iron Plains.
Why Hit Iron Plains? Because this was the logistics supply center and transportation hub of the Volunteer Army, the entire evacuation and the great reorganization operation needed to be completed with the help of iron. Because of the failure of the previous battle, there were many omissions in the deployment of the retreating volunteer army, and the Iron Plains area, which should have been heavily guarded, was almost open, and only one of the nearby formed troops was the 63rd Army, which had just experienced a fierce battle and was exhausted. Ridgway's style of play can be described as the most time-saving, labor-saving and effective. If Ridgway succeeded, a large number of ungranished and bombish volunteers south of the 38th Parallel would be wiped out, and the Battle of Tieyuan would have become the second Inchon landing.
The truth that Li Qiwei understands, of course, Mr. Peng also understands. Faced with such a dangerous situation, Mr. Peng gave a death order to Fu Chongbi, commander of the 63rd Army: Hold the Tieyuan for fifteen to twenty days! On the other side, General Manager Peng urgently ordered the other withdrawn troops to travel day and night to rebuild the defensive line.
Thus began a magnificent spectacle of flesh and blood on the Korean battlefield. On 1 June, the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division first attacked the 187th Division. The 1st Cavalry Division was the elite of the American Army, and the 187th Division thus persevered under the overwhelmingly superior artillery fire of the American Army. On the other side, the 189th Division, which was firmly entrenched in the eastern defense line of Tieyuan, also joined the multinational mixed miscellaneous troops of the United Nations Army. The volunteer soldiers on both sides encountered different difficulties: the 187th Division's position was narrow, but the enemy's firepower was strong and well-trained; the 189th Division faced the enemy's combat effectiveness was low, but the combat terrain was more unfavorable than that of the 187th Division, and the length of the front was six times the length of the 187th Division's front, and it was difficult to have sufficient troops to deploy in depth and echelon like the 187th Division.
Despite the difficult situation, the soldiers of the 189th Division held out for three full days, leaving enough time for the comrades of the 188th Division in the rear to build fortifications. On 4 June, the 188th Division, which had basically completed the construction of the fortifications, replaced the 189th Division in its defense. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the tunnel construction technology that our army "learned" from Japan shone brightly on the Korean battlefield, and the intricate tunnel fortifications played a remarkable role in defending against US artillery fire and blocking the advance of US armored units. The soldiers of the 188th Division were remodeled from the tunnels left by the South Korean army to form a cobweb-like defense system. An American pilot looked down on the volunteer positions in the air and said, "These Chinese are a bunch of moles!" ”
This is a real "bull-to-head" battle. By this time, both sides had no choice but to make a desperate bet and kill the red eye. Unlike previous campaign annihilation battles, the 188th Division's mission this time was to use every trench and every undulation on the ground to slow down the movement of the U.S. mobile units as much as possible. The depth of the great losses suffered by the volunteers in the fifth battle has now become the last straw. The 188th Division's long and winding tunnels spread throughout the position, in order to lengthen the strategic depth, so as not to collapse in one place and collapse the whole line. This is a clear and dangling defensive line that will never retreat.
However, under the bombardment of the "VanVleet Ammunition Quantity", the fortifications were not enough to protect the lives of the warriors. Trenches do maximize the cushioning of bombs, but The American artillery ploughs the hill several times, and if a bomb just lands next to you, then any concealment and cover will do nothing. The Americans were really helpless and began to throw napalm bombs into the trenches. This petrol bomb can still burn in the pouring rain and will not be extinguished until all the combustible materials around it have been burned.
In such a battle, which was dizzying just by listening, the volunteers still played at a high level. Many of the commanders of the U.S. forces opposed to the 188th Division were from West Point, and during their studies at the school, they developed a combat mindset: when the flanks or rear were surrounded, they should not break through. Volunteer soldiers may not know this, but they know how to seize the opportunity. The soldiers of the 188th Division found that when the American army attacked, it was "like going to work at the point", the offensive power was insufficient, the sharpness was almost exhausted, and once the flanks were attacked, they would retreat. As a result, the 188th Division waited for rabbits in the gap of the position, closed the door and beat the dogs, repelling the small infantry attacks of the American army again and again. As for the tanks and artillery, they were effectively intercepted by the trenches. In this way, the 188th Division dragged out the time until June 10. On the other hand, the 187th Division has not been idle, stubbornly resisting the Attack of the American Army on the West Road, and constantly drawing troops to support the Eastern Front positions. By the 9th, Xu Xin, commander of the 187th Division, had only one regiment left in his hands. Xu Xin gritted his teeth and asked his superiors for instructions: Can you take out the artillery?
It turned out that the 63rd Army had been holding an artillery piece in its hands and had not been sent to the battlefield for a long time. This is definitely not the vice of some Kuomintang troops to use the troops as private property, but a last resort. The highest specification artillery units available to the Volunteers were not at the same level as the American artillery, and once the bombardment began, our artillery positions would soon be destroyed by the Americans. Moreover, our side still lacks anti-aircraft artillery units, and as long as the artillery positions are exposed, they will soon attract air raids and are unable to counterattack. Unless it was a last resort, the 63rd Army was reluctant to release this artillery unit. However, it is now a last resort.
Late on the night of 10 June, a single flare struck the front, and the 63rd Army took advantage of the night to disperse large-caliber mortars and Katyusha rockets scattered in more than a dozen infantry positions, firing suddenly, taking out all the shells in the shortest possible time. The infantry of the 187th Division then charged into the American positions in the light of the fire and began the short engagement of the volunteers, which they were best at. Some of these shells that entered U.S. positions hit U.S. ammunition reserves well, triggering a spectacular series of explosions. The US troops, who had always been "better off losing equipment than losing people", quickly dropped the burning weight and withdrew from the battlefield, leaving an empty camp.
The battle was fought bitterly. Xu Xin was still not finished, and called the military commander Fu Chongbi to ask for someone, and wanted to do it again to thwart the arrogance of the devil. As a result, Fu Chongbi said very calmly, "How do you see me going with you?" The thought of this sentence made people's backs chills—which meant that the entire rear command guard regiment and even the miscellaneous personnel were all on the front line. The 63rd Army, which was so large, had actually reached the point where it was necessary to hollow out the headquarters to supply the front-line troops. At this time, the front-line combatants of the 63rd Army suffered more than 10,000 casualties, and the front-line combatants who still had combat effectiveness were almost only a fraction of the casualties.
Fortunately, Shangfeng's retreat order finally arrived. On June 12, the large units of the Volunteer Army had completed their deployment, a complete defensive line was re-established, and the General Headquarters of the Volunteer Army ordered the 63rd Army to withdraw from its position and rest. Prior to this, on June 11, Ridgway reluctantly ordered the cessation of the attack on Tieyuan.
Iron Plains held. It should have been a comforting moment, but for many of the fighters who have lived through the battle, it hasn't been. The shadow of this battle has accompanied them for the rest of their lives. Many years later, an old man who had experienced the iron original blood war murmured: Iron yuan, should be called "blood yuan".