- On the way to the front line
On June 23, 1951, a volunteer army marched by train from Xiangcun, Wuqing County, Hebei Province, to North Korea. For safety and cover, the warriors lurked in the woods until the sun went down. With the sound of the assembly trumpet, everyone quickly picked up their backpacks weighing fifty or sixty pounds and marched in a column. At dusk, a bridge is crossed, and under the bridge is the Yalu River, the dividing line between the mainland and the Korean Peninsula. After crossing the bridge, he left his homeland and went to his friendly Korea and embarked on the front line of the battle.
Soldiers on a train bound for the Korean battlefield
Chinese Volunteers marched toward Korea
Since setting foot on Korean soil, everyone has set out at dusk every day, marched at night, and camped early in the morning. When it comes to the campground, there is no house, usually a few people team up with two raincoats to set up a small tent, and then use other raincoats to spread on the ground to camp and sleep. The warriors ate only a few grains a day, and there were no vegetables. Under such circumstances, it is necessary to march tens of kilometers a day. After arduous struggle and 29 consecutive days of marching, the troops finally reached the 38th Line ahead of schedule and actively threw themselves into the training campaign aimed at repelling the enemy's summer and autumn offensives.
- A heroic division
In October 1951, the 612th Regiment of the 204th Division of the 68th Army of the Volunteer Army marched all the way and arrived at the 938.2 Highland in Korea in the evening, which is the highest hill in the surrounding area and is of great strategic significance.
Discover the enemy planes! The volunteers quickly determined the height and number of frames and entered the combat state
The enemy's blockade of the 938.2 heights was quite tight, and the enemy aircraft constantly dropped heavy artillery shells and napalm bombs, and the medium artillery also continuously bombarded the positions. After going to the high ground, the food and water of the logistics troops were not delivered, and the soldiers had not eaten or drunk for several days. When they were really thirsty, the warriors held their own urine in their hands to drink, and when they finished drinking, their mouths were swollen so that they were not their own.
Volunteer soldiers received a drop of seepage water from the wall of the tunnel for the wounded to drink
Volunteer soldiers stored water from bunkers
The battle was fought very fiercely, and the casualties on both sides were very heavy. On the fourth day, the soldiers ran out of bullets, the enemy continued to attack upwards, and the warriors rolled stones down the hill and put on bayonets to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy. After a few days of fighting, only 7 men remained in the company guarding the position. Later, the six connections descended their positions, and the wounded and sick of the first company withdrew to the headquarters.
In recognition of this heroic company, the Volunteer Army headquarters gave a company a special merit. Posthumously remembered the special merits of company commander Gao Chengshan and awarded the title of first-class combat hero.
- Suicide note from a 17-year-old war nurse
My meritorious plan
In order to give more strength and meritorious service to the people in this battle, and to fight for Chairman Mao's glory, I have also formulated (formulated) my plan, which are as follows:
(1) As much strength as I have, I will take out as much as I can, and the work I can do will definitely be completed.
(2) To do a good job in the work of protecting education, now we have a comrade in the class, he will not do sanitary work, we must teach him, such as some work that can be used now, such as the precautions for rescue work, the method of tying (wrapping) and so on.
(3) Obey the order and listen to the command, not afraid of hardship and tiredness, when caring for the wounded, be at ease with the child (carefully), comfort him very well( and ask the wounded to get hot water and hot food.
Li Boren 1952. 11． 12
Martyr Li Boren, a native of Licheng County, Shandong Province, joined the army in February 1951 at the age of 15 and worked as an assistant nurse in the surgical nurse class of the regimental health team.
In June 1951, Li Boren's unit was ordered to fight in Korea. Carrying dozens of pounds of grain, ammunition, and first-aid kits, he braved the rain to climb mountains and stay in the woods overnight, not afraid of hardship, not afraid of tiredness, high morale, and joined the Communist Youth League in December 1951.
In the summer of 1953, the headquarters of the Volunteer Army launched a large corps operation on the korean central line, which caused the American army to flee and was forced to sign an armistice on July 27. However, on the evening of the day before the armistice (26th), hundreds of US artillery pieces slammed into our position, and aircraft indiscriminately bombed, causing many casualties in our troops. Li Boren risked his life and bravely rescued the wounded. Unfortunately, enemy artillery fire hit the open ammunition depot, causing a huge explosion in the blink of an eye, and Comrade Li Boren was unfortunately killed at the age of 17. When the comrades in the logistics department buried the martyr's body, the health captain pulled out the martyr's suicide note from his blood-stained jacket pocket.
Suicide note of martyr Li Boren
- Behind him is the motherland
When the volunteer soldiers were in Korea, they ate rations such as sorghum rice, fire-roasted, fried noodles, etc., and when there was no water in winter, they ate it with snow. Due to the harsh conditions, many soldiers had not eaten a mouthful of vegetables for three years, were seriously deficient in nutrition, and suffered from night blindness.
Volunteer soldiers constructed shelters
The days of the winter storm and snow are very difficult, and the soldiers have no quilts, but rely on the thin "cotton jackets" they wear. On snowy days, north Korean temperatures often reach minus thirty or forty degrees, and some soldiers are frozen to death and frostbitten. In the summer of April and May, when the weather warmed up, the volunteers tore open the cotton clothes and pulled out the cotton on their chests, leaving only a thin layer, and the cotton on the back did not move, and they had to be covered with quilts at night. Due to the humidity, long-term non-bathing, resulting in a crazy flood of lice, the warriors can only run to the forest to take a shower when it rains, take off the cotton clothes when the weather is good, the lice will fall in piles, and everyone humorously calls the lice "glory worms".
On the battlefield, facing the motherland, the soldiers raised their hands and swore an oath: "Resolutely defend the motherland, stick to the tunnels, fight to the end, and fight until victory!" ”
Under the harsh conditions of the time, only faith sustained them. Because behind them were the motherland and their hometown, they charged into battle in a foreign country without hesitation, shed blood and sacrificed, won a great victory in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and defended the dignity of the Chinese nation.