American troops fled south
In November 1950, in the Korean battlefield of Chosin Lake, the snow covered the land, and the US 1st Marine Division was frantically fleeing south in the midst of the mountains and forests.
"General, call from the rear, the Watergate Bridge has been re-erected!"
Oliver Preyns Smith, commander of the U.S. 1st Marine Division, was ecstatic:
"Order full speed ahead, we have to hurry out of this ghost place!"
The American soldiers of the 1st Marine Division, under the cover of tank artillery, successfully crossed the Watergate Bridge, but were not stopped as expected.
"Why didn't Chinese shoot?"
A twinkle of doubt flashed in Smith's mind.
U.S. troops in exile
But what he didn't know was that on the top of the hill by the Watergate Bridge, ice sculptures were silently lurking.
The cold wind mixed with snowflakes fell on the faces of the volunteer soldiers who had long been frozen into ice sculptures, but they could never melt.
What is the history and past of the Watergate Bridge in 1950?
Ice Sculpture Company Warriors
The crisis of the US 1st Marine Division.
In November 1950, the 9th Corps of the Volunteer Army attacked and annihilated the US 1st Marine Division and the 7th Infantry Division in the Chosin Lake area of North Korea.
The battle was extremely fierce, the US army relied on heavy firepower such as aircraft, tanks, and artillery to build a dense defensive network, and the soldiers of the 9th Corps lacked heavy firepower and could only desperately attack the front.
After 5 days and 5 nights of fierce fighting, the 31st Regiment of the US 7th Infantry Division, code-named "Polar Bear Regiment", was annihilated by the Volunteers, but the US 1st Marine Division still stubbornly resisted.
The U.S. military is well defended
The U.S. 1st Marine Division, fully known as the 1st Marine Division of the United States Army, is the ace unit of the U.S. 10th Army and made great achievements during World War II.
The U.S. 1st Marine Division has rich combat experience and very well-equipped weapons, and has obvious advantages over the 9th Corps of the Volunteer Army:
1. Heavy firepower and mechanization.
In its escape, the 1st Marine Division relied on heavy equipment such as tanks, armored vehicles, trucks and artillery, and its firepower was very fierce, while mechanically retreating, while suppressing fire.
Volunteer soldiers could only rely on two legs to cross mountains and compete with the American army for time.
2. Air support.
Faced with the heavy encirclement of our army, the 1st Marine Division called for air support, and american bombers kept bombing the volunteer positions, hindering the volunteer offensive.
U.S. troops transport supplies
3. Logistics supply.
The US military also has advanced helicopters to transport the wounded in advance, which greatly reduces the burden of the US military when breaking through.
During the 1st Marine Division's escape, American aircraft transported more than 4,000 wounded, as well as a large number of troops and ammunition supplies by aircraft.
American soldiers not only had sweaters and sweaters and jackets to protect themselves from the cold, but they could also eat a wide variety of hot meals.
The U.S. military is extravagant in materials
But the only person who really allowed the 1st Marine Division to escape from Chosin Lake in the end was Smith, the commander of the 1st Marine Division.
Most of the senior commanders of the U.S. military on the Korean battlefield were arrogant and arrogant, with macArthur-like invectives.
But Smith was unusual, and he marched cautiously, stopping his lone army as soon as the 1st Marine Division arrived at Hagaru-ri.
As if he had smelled something unusual in the air, Smith ordered his troops to rest on the spot, build strong fortifications, and build an airstrip.
It was this that allowed the 1st Marine Division to survive the encirclement of the 9th Corps.
Commander of the 1st Marine Division, Smith
But the fleeing 1st Marine Division had a big problem:
A bridge was blown up.
Pratunam Bridge over Lake Chosin.
The escape route of the US 1st Marine Division
The escape route of the US 1st Marine Division was to retreat from Hagaru-ri to the Hamhung area, and then take a boat from Hingnam Port.
Between HaGaru-ri and the Hamhung area, there is a necessary road, and that is the Pratunam Bridge.
The Pratunam Bridge is a suspended single-lane bridge that is built across the underground diversion culvert of the Chosin Lake Reservoir and has a length of 8.8 meters.
The watergate bridge is flanked by cliffs, and once the bridge is bombed, the 1st Marine Division is really desperate.
The Watergate Bridge, partially destroyed
Such a dangerous road, did the soldiers of the 9th Corps see it?
The volunteers certainly saw the importance of the Pratunam Bridge and blew it off three times.
Why did you blow up the Watergate Bridge three times?
That's because once the volunteer soldiers blew up, the U.S. army quickly repaired it once.
On December 1, when the US 1st Marine Division had just begun to retreat south, the 60th Division of the 20th Army of the 9th Corps sent a reconnaissance team to the Watergate Bridge quietly, using the explosives it carried with it.
Blew up the Watergate Bridge for the first time
。
However, after detecting that the Watergate Bridge had been bombed, the U.S. Military immediately sent sappers to repair the Watergate Bridge using the surrounding wood.
As soon as the Volunteers bombed the bridge, they saw that the US army had repaired the bridge so quickly and decided to blow up the Watergate Bridge twice.
But at this time, the Watergate Bridge was already guarded by the American army, and the volunteer soldiers used the night cover to take cover on the night of December 4.
The second blow up the Pratunam Bridge
In order to prevent the U.S. army from repairing the bridge again, the volunteer soldiers destroyed all the wood near the Watergate Bridge.
However, the degree of mechanization of the US military is too high.
The U.S. sappers brought in a batch of steel directly, built the Watergate Bridge for the second time overnight, and the newly built Watergate Bridge was of better quality and could easily pass through a tank.
In order to prevent another accident at the Watergate Bridge, the US heavy tank force guarded the bridge.
The U.S. military is heavily guarded
"You must blow up the Watergate Bridge again!"
Jiang Qingyun, deputy company commander of the 7th Company of the 3rd Battalion, 240th Regiment, 240th Division, 27th Army, 9th Corps, led 20 soldiers to form a death squad and launched a third attack on the Watergate Bridge!
In order to better conceal, the daredevils wore the white lining of the cotton jacket on the outside, using the cover of night, carrying the explosive package a little bit forward.
"Dadada..."
The daredevils approaching the front were spotted, and the U.S. troops were firing wildly.
Jiang Qingyun rushed to the bridge with everyone's life, as long as he rushed to the bridge, there was still a chance!
Eventually, the daredevils rushed to the bridge and suppressed the defending Americans.
A loud "boom",
The Watergate Bridge was bombed for the third time
！
This time, even the base of the Watergate Bridge was blown up by the daredevils.
Volunteer soldiers in a surprise attack
In order to repair the Watergate Bridge, the US military airlifted the bridge components!
Can the U.S. military still repair the Watergate Bridge?
The volunteers in 1950 could not imagine the advanced logistical support capabilities of the US military.
The U.S. military urgently produced eight huge sets of steel components in Japan, each weighing 1.1 tons.
U.S. military airdrop bridge components
The U.S. military used eight C-119 transport aircraft to transport eight sets of bridge steel components over the Pratunam Bridge and used special parachutes to drop them.
The Pratunam Bridge was repaired for the third time, and the new bridge carried more than 50 tons and could pass all heavy equipment, including tanks.
An ecstatic Smith immediately led the 1st Landing Division through the Watergate Bridge.
U.S. troops pass through the Watergate Bridge
Like a frightened bird, the American troops were uneasy and alert, but the expected sniper attack of the volunteer army did not come.
Didn't the Volunteers deploy sniper troops by the Watergate Bridge?
The real answer brings tears to one's eyes!
Ice sculptures on the side of the Watergate Bridge.
Knowing that the US 1st Marine Division had crossed the Watergate Bridge and fled south, Huang Chaotian, commander and political commissar of the 58th Division of the Volunteer Army, was furious:
"What's going on? Let the 1st Marine Division run like this! ”
"What are the snipers at Watergate Bridge doing?"
Originally, in order to cut off the route of the US army to escape south, Huang Chaotian made two preparations, and at the same time as blowing up the bridge, he also lurked two companies of the 172nd Regiment of the 58th Division at the pass near the Watergate Bridge.
But this position did not fire a single shot, and the volunteer soldiers who went to check on climbed the top of the hill, and the scene in front of them made everyone stunned:
Ice sculptures are still standing on the ground!
The lurking warriors dressed in thin cotton coats had long been frozen into ice sculptures, they were a little crouched by the stones, some lying in the snow nest, their frost-covered eyes still staring ahead, and their frozen hands were still clutching the guns in their hands.
But these heroic warriors could never stand up!
In 1950, the situation in the Korean battlefield suddenly changed, and the 9th Corps, which was assembling in Shandong, received an urgent telegram and immediately went north to enter the DPRK.
Too late to wait for a change of clothes, the volunteer soldiers, dressed in thin cotton clothes, set foot in a foreign country without complaint.
On December 8, 1950, the night when the U.S. 1st Marine Division passed through the Pratunam Bridge, the local temperature in North Korea plummeted, from minus 30 degrees to minus 40 degrees.
The volunteer soldiers lurking in the positions could only choose to silently endure the cold and hunger, even if they were frozen into ice sculptures, they never gave up their positions and spirits!
Heroic volunteer soldiers
In the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the Ice Sculpture Company of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army was not just a company, it represented a group, represented the tenacious fighting spirit of the volunteer soldiers who regarded death as a homecoming, and represented the indomitable national spirit of the Chinese people!
With this article, Jin remembers the great ice sculpture company soldiers in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea!
Interested readers can read another article of mine, also about the ice sculpture Company, "1950, Dead Eagle Ridge in Chosin Lake, Why That Ice Sculpture Shocked both the enemy and us".