Memoirs of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea - Turning the Tide of war - 6 (Du Ping)

At the same time as the battle in Longyuanli, a company of the 335th Regiment of the 112nd Division was engaged in a fierce battle with the Ninth Regiment of the 2nd US Division at Songkuo Peak, south of Junyu-ri.

A small, nameless plateau under Matsuku Peak chokes the road from Junyuri to Shuncheon. For more than five consecutive hours, U.S. military bombs, artillery shells, rockets, and petrol bombs carried out devastating bombardment of the company's narrow position, looking far away like a lone boat floating in a sea of smoke and fire. By 10:00 a.m., the commanders and fighters of the company had suffered most of the casualties, most of the soldiers' guns and bayonets had been mutilated and broken, and their ammunition was almost exhausted. After the war, this small highland was ploughed into a pile of black scorched earth by artillery fire.

At about ten o'clock in the morning, the enemy who broke through made a desperate bet, mobilized dozens of tanks, dozens of aircraft, and dozens of cannons, and launched the fiercest counterattack. Suddenly, the scorching fire made it difficult for the warriors to open their eyes, and it was difficult to breathe. As soon as the artillery fire stopped, a group of hungry wolf-like enemies, like a flood of broken embankments, flooded toward our army's position. Company commander Dai Yucheng, instructor Yang Shaocheng, and the three platoon commanders all died heroically, and party members and almost all squad leaders also sacrificed one by one. Only Deputy Company Commander Yang Wenhai, a hygienist and several soldiers who had been wounded many times remained on the position.

Yang Wenhai glared at the swarming American bandits, picked up three or eight shots that had broken their bayonets, and shouted, "For the sake of Korea, for the sake of the motherland, for the sake of the martyrs, comrades rush!" Jumped into the enemy group; Three wounded soldiers, flaming with whirring fire, rushed towards the enemy group with their deputy company commander; Two seriously wounded people who were being bandaged broke free of the hygienist's hand, clutched the grenade and blasted Jane, and staggered toward the enemy; The young hygienist raised the splint in his hand and rushed towards the enemy group; A six-gunner who was burned by a petrol bomb picked up a shell and threw himself into the black pressure of the enemy group...

After the war, it was seen that in the positions of this company, the guns were completely smashed and machine gun parts were thrown everywhere. The remains of the martyrs, retaining a variety of fighting postures...

Almost all of the commanders and fighters of this company were killed. But they killed more than three hundred enemies, and more importantly, they bought time for the main forces to fight and created conditions for the gathering and annihilation of the enemy. Their deaths were filled with hatred for the enemy, love for the Korean people, and deep enthusiasm for patriotism and internationalism. Their death is heavier than Tarzan's!

When I heard these heroic deeds of the Thirty-eighth Army on the radio, it was already the early morning of December 1. At that time, Deng Hua, Hong Xuezhi, and Han Xianchu all went to the army, and the headquarters was only General Manager Peng, Xie Fang, and me. We were all touched by the heroic and tenacious fighting style of the Thirty-eighth Army. Mr. Peng said to me thoughtfully:

"Dupin, you're right! The Thirty-eighth Army is indeed a good army!"

General Peng's words reminded me of General Peng's doubts about the Thirty-eighth Army during the prologue battle, and of General Peng's severe criticism of the Thirty-eighth Army at the first enlarged meeting of the Party Committee of the Volunteer Army. I am glad that the Thirty-eighth Army has won the praise of General Peng for its actions.

"Did you send a telegram in the name of the Volunteer Army Headquarters and the Political Department to praise the Thirty-eighth Army?" I suggested to Mr. Peng.

After General Manager Peng agreed, the Political Department of the Volunteer Army immediately drafted a commendation telegram, the full text of which was:

The Thirty-eighth Army and the Various Armies: In this campaign, our Thirty-eighth Army played an excellent fighting style, especially the 113th Division moved quickly, and the enemy occupied Sansoli and Longyuanli first, preventing the enemy from fleeing south to help from the north. Although the enemy was under the cover of more than a hundred aircraft and more than a hundred tanks bombing all day long, repeated breakthroughs were unsuccessful, resulting in brilliant results. The Special Order commends you and wishes you continued victory:

Chinese People's Volunteer Army

headquarters

Political

When this telegram was presented to Mr. Peng for review, I stood by his side and waited, and I saw him add "Long live the Chinese People's Volunteer Army!" at the end of the telegram! Long live the Thirty-eighth Army!" At that time, I felt that it was okay to say long live the volunteer army and call a certain army long live, as if there was no precedent. Mr. Peng saw that I was standing and not walking, so he asked:

"How's it going? Any comments?"

Probably this telegram did not fully express General Peng's intentions, and then General Peng, in the name of the head of the volunteer army, personally wrote down the order to commend the Thirty-eighth Army, and informed the whole army and reported it to the Central Military Commission. The original text is:

All comrades of the Thirty-eighth Army of Liang and Liu Zhuan: This campaign overcame some of the excessive concerns of some comrades in the previous campaign and brought into play the excellent fighting style of the Thirty-eighth Army, especially the 113th Division, which moved quickly, occupying Sansoli and Longyuanli first, and preventing the enemy from fleeing south to aid from the north. There were more than a hundred enemy planes and tanks each, bombing all day long, repeatedly breaking through, and finally failing to succeed, until yesterday (thirty days) the battle results were brilliant, counting only tanks and cars, that is, nearly a thousand, and there were still many enemies who were surrounded. It is hoped that they will overcome difficulties, summon up courage, continue to completely annihilate the besieged enemy, and pay attention to blocking the enemy's northern reinforcements. Special Order rewards and wishes you continued victory! Long live the Chinese People's Volunteer Army! Long live the Thirty-eighth Army!

Peng Deng Pu Hong Han Xie Du

December 1

The commendation order written by General Peng was transmitted to the Headquarters of the Thirty-eighth Army, and the leaders of the army immediately went to the divisions to convey it, one level at a time, and soon to all the commanders and fighters. According to Comrade Liu Xiyuan, political commissar of the army, the commendation order was very strongly received in the troops and effectively encouraged the will of the commanders and fighters of the whole army to fight. They said: "Now that we are the Viva Army, we must defend this glorious title with our blood and lives, and we will never return to Our country unless we defeat the American aggressors!"

The Thirty-eighth Army made great achievements in turning the tide of the war. Far from the main force, they blocked and contained tens of thousands of U.S. and puppet troops. Except for one of the besieged enemies who had escaped from the siege, the remaining enemies were annihilated. At a very small price, they exchanged a major victory for our army on the Western Front to annihilate more than 22,000 enemy troops!

The immortal achievements of the heroes have excited the cultural warriors of the motherland. Reporter Li Zhuang was full of enthusiasm and wrote the article "The Troops Cheered by the People "Long Live""; Writer Wei Wei, when interviewing Song Bone Feng and other battle deeds, burst into tears and wrote "Who is the most lovely person?" "Young people make your youth more beautiful!" and other famous newsletters; The poet Wei Yang faced the remains of the martyrs on the battlefield and wrote sadly: "Give me the gun!" 》; Literary warriors used the heroic "Burning Man" to praise our heroes...

Since then, a unit known as the "Long Live Army" has been well known inside and outside the army, and their heroic deeds have been widely circulated.

I remember Comrade Liu Xiyuan told me: In the spring of 1951, he went back to Beijing with Deputy Director Deng Hua to report to the Central Military Commission on the situation on the Korean battlefield, and Chairman Mao shook his hand for a long time and said: Your Thirty-eighth Army has won the battle in Korea and hurt the Yankees. The U.S. military is well equipped and uses its aircraft cannons to bully us. Our method is to take advantage of the enemy's weaknesses, give play to our strong points, fight a mobile war with the Americans, fight a melee night battle, mobilize and disperse the enemy, and then concentrate the superior forces and eat it one by one, one by one.

6. Battle Flag Yan on Myohung Mountain

Before the kings of Yanmeiqi were killed, the contradictions for many years were boundless, and now they have swept away the era and the new era. The most favorite poet sings to, is in harmony with the front line Jieyin, Myoka Mountain Battle Banner Yan.

This is Comrade Mao Zedong's "Mr. Huanxi Sha and Liu [Yazi]" written in November 1950, which fully expresses the poet's joyful mood of the czech audio transmission on the front line of confrontation with the United States and Aid to North Korea.

When the Thirty-eighth Army seized Sanshouli, completed the roundabout task of the campaign, and cut off the enemy's retreat, the four armies that served as a frontal attack, in accordance with the orders of the headquarters of the Volunteer Army, regardless of all difficulties, feared all risks, and at all costs, bravely attacked, divided and annihilated the enemy.

The 359th Regiment of the Fortieth Army demonstrated the incomparable bravery and tenacity of the soldiers of our volunteer army in the battle to capture Yulongpu. On the night of November 25, the regiment was ordered to forcibly cross the Cheongcheon River towards the Yulongpu attack. While wading in the icy cold water up to 300 meters wide, it was blocked by the howitzer battalion of the US 2nd Division, the infantry battalion and more than 30 tanks. They immediately engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy and repeatedly charged and killed, until the two platoons of the sixth company and the fifth company were all heroically sacrificed, and the troops still followed in front of each other, and there was no retreat, and finally repelled the enemy, crossed the open area of three miles wide, and captured the Yulongpu position. All the commanders and fighters of the regiment still held their positions despite the fact that their cotton clothes were frozen and their legs could not be bent, and they successfully completed the task of breaking the enemy's rear road and covering the 118th Division's task of attacking and annihilating the enemy in Xinxingdong. The headquarters of the Volunteer Army promptly sent a commendation telegram commending the regiment for resolutely carrying out orders, being brave and tenacious, not being afraid of sacrifice, creating an example of boldly dividing the enemy and destroying the enemy's firepower in one fell swoop, which is a high expression of our army's glorious tradition.

The U.S. puppet army on the western front suffered heavy losses under the heavy blows of the six corps of the Volunteer Army. The US Second Division, the Turkish Brigade, and the Puppet Second Army have lost their combat effectiveness. The U.S. Twenty-fifth Division was severely damaged. The US 1st Cavalry Division, the 24th US Division, and the Pseudo 1st Division all suffered heavy casualties. In order to avoid the total annihilation of the army, the enemy carried out a general retreat to the 38th Line on December 1.

On December 6, I regained Pyongyang, and the flag of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea flew high on Peony Peak again.

At the same time, on November 27, our Ninth Corps on the Eastern Front, under the command of Commander Song Shilun, unexpectedly launched a surprise counterattack against the 1st Marine Division and the 7th Infantry Division in the Chosin Lake area.

The Twentieth, Twenty-sixth, and Twenty-seventh Armies under the jurisdiction of the Ninth Corps were one of the main forces of the Third Field Army and fought many beautiful battles. Comrade Song Shilun, commander and political commissar, studied at the Whampoa Military Academy, joined the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army in 1929, served as a guerrilla leader, division commander, army chief of staff, and army commander, and was a combat general. I knew him in 1936, when he was the commander of the Thirtieth Army of the Red Army in northern Shaanxi, and I was the director of the political department of the army. Before entering the DPRK, when the Ninth Corps was assembling along the Jinpu Railway in Shandong Province, Commander-in-Chief Zhu De personally went to Qufu to make political mobilization to cadres at and above the regimental level and made a report on the situation in the Korean War and the significance of the operation in Korea, and the morale of the troops in resisting US aggression and aiding Korea was very high. From November 7 to 19, after the corps entered the DPRK from Ji'an and Linjiang, it undertook the task of fighting on the eastern front in the second campaign.

Lake Chosin is located between the Dongzhan ridge mountains and the Wolf Forest Mountains in northern Korea, and the white mist rises from the lake every day at dawn, and the high mountains of the Wolf Forest Mountains are on her east and west sides, converging with cold currents and wind and snow from Siberia. Open the map and take a closer look at the appalling place names: Snow Cold Ridge, Desolate Mountain Ridge, Sword Mountain Ridge, Dead Eagle Ridge... It fills people with chills. The vast number of commanders and fighters fighting in the Chosin Lake area were covered with snow and sand and ice in the cold wind and snow, as if they were wearing silver iron armor. Under such extremely difficult conditions, their slogan is: "There are no insurmountable difficulties, no invincible enemies!" One by one, they fought bravely, annihilating more than 13,000 people of the enemy's US First Marine Division and the Seventh Infantry Division, forcing them to flee from the sea. On December 24, our army recaptured the Yuanshan, Xingnan areas, and coastal ports, and completed a huge strategic task. The Twenty-seventh Army, commanded by Commander Peng Deqing and Political Commissar Liu Haotian, set a record for the total annihilation of one regiment of the U.S. Army when it surrounded and annihilated the 31st Regiment of the 7th Infantry Division of the Xinxing Limei Infantry Division. General Manager Peng said that in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, there was only this time, and the rest were many establishments of extermination battalions. General Manager Peng expressed satisfaction with the strong will to fight and the fearless spirit of the Ninth Corps, and asked us to send a commendation telegram on December 15.

The Twenty-seventh Army was put into battle by pawns. It took only a month from October 27 to shandong to receive orders to enter the DPRK, and to November 27, when the battle began. Due to the short period of time, there was insufficient preparation for tactical training in the military field, and there was a lack of investigation into the geographical enemy situation and mass conditions of the operations in Korea. Political preparations were also insufficient, and even such a major event as announcing to the troops the task of entering the DPRK for combat was carried out in a hurry during the railway transportation. The preparation for the material support work was even worse, the urgently needed insulation clothes were not transported in time, the combat equipment was not equipped at all, the troops only brought a little supply, and five days later the whole army suffered a grain shortage. Under such difficult conditions of serious lack of preparation, the vast number of commanders and fighters of the Twenty-seventh Army were able to realize the call put forward by the party committee of the army to "fight the first battle abroad and strive for victory in the first battle, mainly because the army has good political quality and a good military foundation. The party committees at all levels of the army are strong, and there are also a number of outstanding grassroots political work cadres represented by Chi Haotian, a political instructor of the third battalion of the 235th Regiment of the Seventy-ninth Division and a first-class meritorious hero.