"Military Sub-Plane" by Rorschach
It's a difficult question to answer, but the first year of the founding of New China is definitely a hot candidate.
In the spring of 1949, the "World Congress for the Defence of Peace" was held in Prague, the capital of Czechoslovakia, and the Communist Party of China was invited to send a delegation to attend the congress. In accordance with the regulations of the General Assembly, delegations from various countries at the opening ceremony are required to sing their national anthem when entering the venue. At that time, New China had not yet been founded, and naturally it was impossible to have a national anthem.
However, when the Chinese delegation appeared, it was impossible to open the skylight directly at the opening ceremony and sing nothing. After urgent discussion, the delegation decided to replace it with the "March of the Volunteer Army", but the sentence "The Chinese nation has reached the most dangerous time" in it caused controversy, "Now that Peiping has been liberated and New China is about to be founded, how can it be sung like this?" ”
Finally, Guo Moruo temporarily changed the lyrics to "The Chinese nation has reached the time of great turnaround."
▲ In December 1952, Guo Moruo (second from the left in the first row) attended the World Peace Congress in Vienna
A newly born country cannot do without a national anthem. At the symposium on September 25, 1949, all parties agreed to use the "March of the Volunteers" as the national anthem, but the old question came again: should the lyrics be changed?
Li Lisan, then vice chairman of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, thought that the lyrics of "The Chinese nation has reached the most dangerous time" were inappropriate; it took us 14 years to drive out the Japanese invaders, and it took more than 3 years to defeat the "Chiang Kai-shek Bandit Army." At that time, New China was thriving, so how could there be a judgment that "it was the most dangerous time"? Another part of the population believes that, as a product of history, the integrity of the song should be preserved.
In the face of the stalemate controversy, Zhou Enlai finally said: "We still have imperialist enemies in front of us, and the more we progress in construction, the more imperialism will hate us, destroy us, and attack us. I think it is better to leave this sentence and always be vigilant! ”
Mao Zedong also agreed with this approach: "The founding of New China is a great victory for the Chinese people, but we must also think of danger in times of peace." This sentence in this song, I think it is very good, the meaning is far-reaching, I agree. ”
Facts have proved that China's leaders are far-sighted. After the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950, American bombers continued to invade Chinese airspace and bomb border towns, facing a serious threat to New China, which had just been established for less than a year.
To tell the truth, China has just experienced a long war of resistance against Japan and the War of Liberation, and it is in urgent need of recuperation, and it is difficult to say which of the situation at this time is more dangerous than before. As Chairman Mao said: "We urgently need peace building, and if I want to write the reasons for peace construction, I can write a hundred and a thousand articles." ”
Just as Chairman Mao said: "If we ignore the Korean issue, the US imperialists will inevitably advance and follow the old path of Japan's aggression against China, even more fiercely than Japan, and it will insert three sharp knives into China's body, a knife from Korea into the mainland's head, a knife from Taiwan into the mainland's waist, and a knife from Vietnam into the mainland's feet." ”
The heightened will to fight cannot negate the almost desperate gap, and the danger of this war lies in the fact that the nascent China has encountered its most powerful enemy, the United States, which is in the ascendant after World War II.
The most direct manifestation of this gap is the atomic bomb. In August 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, and for the first time in reality, mankind saw the destructive power of nuclear weapons destroying ravaging.
At that time, Chairman Mao said: "You hit you, I hit mine, you hit the atomic bomb, I hit the grenade, grasp your weakness, follow you, and finally defeat you." "Although this policy is very correct, it also shows that the gap between us and the United States is indeed huge, if conditions permit, who would want to use grenades to deal with atomic bombs?
The question is, who can guarantee that during the Korean War, the Americans would not use atomic bombs to attack the Chinese Volunteers or even mainland China?
In fact, almost at the beginning of the war, the United States had the idea of quickly ending the war with atomic bombs.
In July 1950, MacArthur advocated the use of atomic bombs to destroy bridges and tunnels connecting the Korean Peninsula with the Northeast and Vladivostok, but this method did not gain unanimous support among U.S. policymakers, after all, the anti-fascist war had just been fought, the United States was still concerned about its own international reputation, and the war situation at that time did not seem necessary to make such a big move, and the use of atomic bombs "has no basis for military point of view, and it is also questionable from a political and psychological point of view." Nevertheless, 10 B-29 bombers carrying nuclear warheads were stationed at the Guam base at the end of July 1950.
▲ B-29 bomber
The United States has not stopped studying how to use the atomic bomb against China. In November 1950, Paul Nitze, director of the U.S. Department of State's Policy Design Office, consulted Brigadier General Herbert B. Loper, assistant secretary of defense for atomic energy, about how to bomb China with atomic bombs.
Strategically, the destruction of the northeastern industrial cities of Shenyang, Anshan, Harbin, Fushun, And Luda will kill and injure a large number of civilians, easily causing Soviet intervention and opposition from Asian countries; and tactically bombing Chinese troops, it is difficult to determine the target, and if you are not careful, you will also blow up the US troops on the opposite side... The United States decided to continue to observe the war situation before deciding, but the U.S. State Department suggested that the use of atomic bombs against China could be considered in cases where conventional weapons could not win or if they could win but the U.S. casualties were too large.
▲ Statistics of U.S. troops invading China's border in 1950, source: People's Daily, November 12, 1951 "My Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Issued a Statement Severely Denouncing MacArthur and Austin's Shameless Rumors"
It can be said that whether China will be bombed by atomic bombs on a large scale depends to a large extent on what the United States thinks.
But in late 1950, with a series of defeats by the U.S. military on the battlefield, the use of atomic bombs was no longer just a possible choice, but an urgent need, and more and more people in the United States supported a nuclear strike against China. MacArthur advocated the expansion of the war to The Chinese mainland, claiming to drop 35-50 atomic bombs on heavy industrial and military bases in northeast China; after striking at the Chinese offensive, laying a radial strip along the Yalu River to prevent China from launching another attack.
On April 6, 1951, Truman approved the handover of nine nuclear warheads to the Air Force and agreed to station nuclear-armed B-29 bombers at the Okinawa base. In September and October 1951, the United States conducted simulated nuclear strike training in North Korea.
By 1952, the U.S. military was conducting simulated exercises for tactical nuclear strikes. During the 17-day exercise held in early 1952, 11,500 Army and 750 Air Force personnel participated. In a similar exercise held in May, 10,000 soldiers participated. These soldiers were deployed in areas closer and closer to the center point of the explosion to test the capabilities and effectiveness of a nuclear attack, the most recent of which was only half a mile from the center point of the explosion.
In 1950, before the outbreak of the Korean War, MacArthur met with U.S. President Harry Truman on Wake Island
It was almost like a paradox, the more heroically the Volunteers fought on the battlefield, the stronger the American impulse to use the atomic bomb.
The US Seventh Fleet has also reached the Taiwan Strait, and Chiang Kai-shek seems to see the hope of "counterattacking the mainland": "I believe that with the cooperation of the United Nations navy and air force, the counterattack of the Taiwan Army on the mainland can be responded to by 1.5 million guerrillas on the mainland... Then the situation in South Korea will change radically."
At this time, there were still a large number of remnants of the Kuomintang, local armed forces and bandits in the mainland, rioting and destroying everywhere. In the first 10 months of 1950 alone, there were 816 insurrections in the country that sought to overthrow the new regime.
At that time, when everyone was discussing the national anthem with great hope, I am afraid that few people could have imagined that the revolutionary achievements achieved decades ago would face a serious threat from the inside to the outside in less than a year, and the Chinese nation had once again reached the "most dangerous time" again.
This desperation extended from the overhead atomic bomb to every short engagement of the battle, and was vividly reflected in the Battle of Watergate Bridge.
On November 30, 1950, after a fierce battle at Chosin Lake, the U.S. Marine Division finally discovered that it would never have to worry about retreating without retreating, although division commander Oliver Smith was still stiff- We are not retreating! We're attacking in a different direction! ”
During the day, relying on the cover of aircraft and tanks, the US army desperately broke through to the south, and at night the volunteer army took advantage of the night to take back the heights and positions lost during the day, and when the battle was most intense, the US army only retreated 500 meters a day.
The key point is the Pratunam Bridge, located 5.6 km south of Guturi. Although the span of the bridge is only 8.8 meters, but below it is a cliff, the Pratunam Bridge is the only bridge that can pass vehicles and people, and it is also the bridge that the US military must pass through to escape from the Chosin Lake area and retreat south to Zhenxingli.
This is the place where both sides must fight, and in "Chosin Lake's Water Gate Bridge", the task of blowing up the bridge is given to the Seven Companies.
In the absence of reinforcements, it was a near-suicide mission. In the original book "Winter and the Lion", it is described as follows: "Most of the time, the one-touch collapse of the American army is an illusion, but in fact it is to open up the distance in order to unfold their overwhelming superiority firepower." The response of the volunteers is to stick close, I have no superior firepower, but I will never give you the distance to play to the advantage. ”
This is simply rushing to the muzzle of the enemy's gun, "Seven companies of sticking to it is really not discounted, the soldiers who rush to the front of the line fight to feed the bullets with their bodies to create a delay of one or two seconds, then the rain of grenades that follow, followed by the infantry attack against the dust and shrapnel." ”
Of course, this is not a reckless sacrifice. In the film, the audience can see the warriors' clear offensive strategy and strict policy: some people attract attention, some people deal with fire points, and some people are responsible for the most dangerous bridges.
In order to show the cruelty of this battle, the crew experienced a four-month long snow shooting, and the director and actors worked hard day and night in the cold weather of more than minus 20 degrees, and even froze to sleep on the snow at one point, "Whether it is the plot or from the difficulty of shooting, including post-production, "Chosin Lake's Water Gate Bridge" is more than the previous work. ”
If you connect the story of the two movies that last for more than 5 hours, after the paving of "Chosin Lake", the Watergate Bridge is the climax of the whole story. In order to be able to match the most important part of the whole story, "Chosin Lake No Shuimen Bridge" has comprehensively upgraded the film scene on the basis of the previous work, "almost every shot must do special effects, and the technical support of the modern film industry", all in order to restore the most real and cruel battlefield.
In the words of director Xu Ke, compared with the previous work, "Chosin Lake No Shuimen Bridge" is "colder, more bloody, more cruel, more hot"!
But history is often more brutal.
The war has been fought to this point, and the tragic sacrifices and the difference in equipment will not make people feel desperate for a long time, "the most desperate thing for them is the broken bridge: just like this, the work has been paved from four or five meters to three or four meters, which is still a lot of work used by the engineering vehicle to fix the base, with the base, the next time they will be much faster." ”
The soldiers watched as the U.S. military used some advanced machinery they had never seen before, and quickly repaired the bridge they had desperately blown up.
The United States inadvertently revealed its more terrible side here. In 1950, the U.S. steel production was 87.72 million tons, while China's steel production was only 600,000 tons; the total industrial and agricultural output of the United States was 280 billion US dollars, and China's was only 10 billion US dollars. This is a crushing process from industrial scale to scientific and technological development.
If construction machinery is beyond the minds of the warriors, then the airdrop bridge prefabricated parts have exceeded their imagination. Historically, after the soldiers blew up the bridge for the third time, a deputy division commander of the 60th Division personally inspected the edge of the cliff, and from the perspective of Chinese observation, with Chinese understanding of science and technology and industry, he concluded that there was no half a year for the US military to rebuild the bridge here.
As a result, the US military airdropped 8 sets of M-2 steel beams, one of which fell into the volunteer position, one set was seriously deformed after landing, and the other 6 sets were successfully received by the US army. The next day, an all-steel bridge, through which all heavy mechanical vehicles, including tanks, could pass, appeared on the foundation of the bridge, which had been blown up by the volunteers.
▲ The vehicles of the 1st Marine Division passed through the Watergate Bridge
Zhang Yixiang, commander of the 20th Army of the Chinese Volunteer Army, once said: "At the Shuimen Bridge, even if you give me a heavy artillery, there will be one, and the First Marine Division will not be able to run!" ”
However, there is not a single heavy artillery. Is this uncomfortable? It must be false to say that it is not uncomfortable; to hold back or not to hold back? It was so depressing.
In the film, when the soldiers see the bombed US helicopter, they say with envy, this is a new thing in the United States, you can go straight up and down, when can we have it ourselves? After saying this, they rushed to the next battlefield.
It was under such an almost complete backward situation that the Volunteer Army won the final victory in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and also protected the hopes of the newborn republic and nation.
They may not know how much advanced equipment and machinery the United States still has, but they know exactly what they should do.
But the volunteer soldiers have an iron will, but not an American superhero, they are ordinary people with flesh and blood, everyone's father, child, brother and brother, the most lovely people, so the audience will be moved by the brotherhood and comrade-in-arms in "Chosin Lake", after the preparation of the previous part, this emotional resonance in "Chosin Lake Water Gate Bridge" more moved the audience.
In the film, the older brother sees his brother's growth and tells him under the Watergate Bridge, "How you want to fly and how you run next, you decide" - the brutal battle makes the younger brother quickly grow into a warrior, and he can't protect him forever.
But the brother was not at ease after all, so he shook his brother's hand and said again, "The hands and feet are sharp, and the farther the grenade is thrown, the better." ”
No one wants their brother to go to the battlefield, but these soldiers also know that the sacrifice of themselves and their brothers and comrades on the battlefield is to protect the motherland behind them and thousands of brothers and sisters.
Which year is the most dangerous in China? Some people say that in 1937, Japan began to invade China in an all-round way; some people say that it was in 1941 when Japan was frantically sweeping up and the Soviet Union fell into a bitter war; some people said that it was the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, and China faced an opponent it had never encountered; and even some people said that it was the time from the Galaxy incident to the bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to the plane collision in the South China Sea in the 1990s and early 21st centuries.
Each of these statements is very reasonable, and every situation is also very desperate, and each time it is "the Chinese nation has reached the most dangerous time." But the question we really have to ask is: Why China has always survived despair again and again.