On the Korean battlefield, the 38th Army's fierce attack on the US Army was "crowned" by the Long Live Army, which is a remarkable legend.
Everyone may know that when the 38th Army first entered Korea, it was once scolded by General Peng and could not lift its head, so why did the 38th Army fight a beautiful turnaround battle under pressure in just over a month? The reason for this is probably not only the bravery and good fighting of Liang Xingchu, commander of the 38th Army. The author combed through the deeds before and after the second battle and found that there was a general who played a very important role in the turnaround of the 38th Army and could be called the benefactor of the 38th Army.
1. General Peng angrily criticized the 38th Army
In October 1950, when Liang Xingchu first entered Korea, he encountered the darkest moments of his life.
General Peng ordered Liang Xingchu to lead an army to attack Heecheon and kill the Eighth Division, the main force of the South Korean Army. With a first-class main force to dry a division of the South Korean Army, Peng Zongman proposed that this was a clutch. Who knew that there was a fire, and Peng Zong was surprised. The 38th Army did not even see the shadow of the Eighth Division of South Korea, and Peng Zong could not help but be greatly angry.
After the end of the first battle, Peng Zong angrily scolded Liang Xingchu in front of all the generals above the commander level: "What are you the main force!" ”
General Manager Peng also let out a stern speech: "If the next time the fight is not good, the military commander will be removed!" The troops are going to cancel the number! ”
Since Liang Xingchu joined the army, he had never encountered such a nest thing, and the nest bag that was beaten in battle was scolded in public, and his face was eager to be stuck in the crotch of his pants.
The history of the 38th Army is extremely brilliant. When the army entered the northeast, the Shandong First Division led by Liang Xingchu was the first-class main force under the Northeast Democratic Coalition Army. 101 fought the most advanced battle of Xiushui Hezi annihilation in the northeast, and the main force used was Liang Xingchu's troops. Later, three times in Jiangnan, the Great War of Siping, the Battle of Western Liaoning, and the attack on Shenyang, the Kuomintang army was frightened. In the Battle of Pingjin, Liang Xingchu led an army to attack tianjin city, and after 29 hours, broke into the center of Tianjin city and destroyed Chen Changjie.
Piles and pieces are all hard battles that are famous in history.
The Northeast Military Region evaluated Liang Xingchu's department and made the following comments:
Heroic and tenacious, resolute in carrying out orders, rich in combat experience, good spirit of fierce attack, not afraid of sacrifice, able to withstand casualties, the spirit of repeated charge in continuous battles, tenaciousness, high morale in battle, defense, attack, field battles, and offensive attacks, the first and second main divisions of the northeast army (at that time it was still a division, later expanded into a column, and the whole army was reorganized into the 38th Army).
The name of this so-called first-class main force is naturally famous throughout the army and resounds throughout the northeast.
Mr. Peng's sentence "What are you considered to be the main force", how big the blow to Liang Xingchu can be imagined.
So what happened during the first battle, causing the 38th Army of the Tiger Wei Division to fail to capture the South Korean troops?
It turned out that at that time, Peng Zong's order to Liang Xingchu was to attack Heecheon from afar and surround and eat the Eighth Division of South Korea.
Who knew that on the way to the march, the Korean People's Army suddenly sent information that Hee-cheon was stationed in a black regiment of american troops with about a thousand troops.
Liang Xingchu felt a little unsure. Is it the South Korean Eighth Division, or the American Army? If it is really the US army, according to the pre-war plan of a division to fight, I am afraid it will not be possible.
At that time, the various departments marched relatively slowly, because of the lack of guides, the life was not familiar, and only one division drove to Xichuan. Liang Xingchu, with the idea of preferring to believe that he had no credibility, postponed the general attack time for one day, and waited for a later division to arrive before launching the attack. As a result, the exchange of fire was dumbfounded, where is the U.S. army black regiment? It's just a pseudo-eighth division.
Moreover, most of the main force of the pseudo-Eighth Division also withdrew, and the 38th Army attacked and took an empty city, which was called a lonely one.
You can't hold the Korean People's Army at fault for inaccurate intelligence, after all, people are kind enough to warn you.
General Peng scolded Liang Xingchu so much that he was out of his mind, and Liang Xingchu was unwilling but had words of suffering, and returned to the 38th Army with a stomach full of anger.
Liu Xiyuan, political commissar of the 38th Army, later recalled that Liang Xingchu returned to the military headquarters, crying and mourning, and his two big eyes were round. Liang Xingchu said: "It is okay to scold me Liang Xingchu, but I can't think straight of criticizing the 38th Army." The two had been working together for such a long time, and Liu Xiyuan saw Liang Xingchu for the first time like a mourning concubine.
Liang Xingchu Pingsuri was full of wind and fire, cheerful and capable, and the military command post he led was also full of wind and fire. After being trained by General Peng, Liang Xingchu's emotions also spread to the military command post, and everyone crept around, afraid of provoking Liang Xingchu.
That night, it happened to be snowing again, Liang Xingchu and Liu Xiyuan walked in a circle, neither of them could say a word, and the snow fell on their bodies for a while, and the atmosphere was dull and terrible.
Before Liang Xingchu could ease up, the headquarters of the Volunteer Army suddenly sent an order: the 38th Army immediately retreated 30 kilometers.
Liang Xingchu was full of excitement: What does Peng Always plan to do? Won't let us fight?
2. Han Xianchu accompanied the military overseers
Liang Xingchu did not understand. At this moment, why do you want to withdraw your troops? MacArthur, the commander in chief of the U.S. military, was arrogantly clamoring to end the Korean War before Christmas and let american soldiers go home for the New Year. In this case, it is necessary to go forward, how to retreat.
However, Liang Xingchu was also not an ordinary person, and he carefully observed the map and understood. These 30 kilometers are very exquisite.
This is the place where our army has just fought, and the situation has been thoroughly understood. Moreover, the further north we go, the more mountains there are, and the farther away we are from the rear of the US army, this situation seems to be more conducive to our army's war of annihilation. Retreat and fight again, to benefit ourselves and not to the enemy. The clouds at the beginning of Liang Xing's heart began to disperse. Liang Xingchu and Liu Xiyuan called a meeting of cadres at and above the regimental level and immediately studied the next combat action according to Zhisi's orders.
At this moment, a legendary general came to the headquarters of the 38th Army. When Liang Xingchu saw him coming, he was happy and surprised at the same time.
who? Deputy Commander of the Volunteer Army, Han Xianchu.
Han Xianchu (1913), a year younger than Liang Xingchu (1912), was both tiger generals in the original four wilderness, and during the same period served as the commander and commander of the column. Han Xianchu was a typical professional soldier, who did not talk much, was good at studying war in war, and although he had no experience in a legitimate military academy, because his mind was very flexible, he gradually stood out in the four wilds where the fierce generals were like clouds, and grew into a general with excellent strategic vision.
In March 1949, the whole army was reorganized and a corps-level unit was established, and Han Xianchu was promoted to deputy commander of the Twelfth Corps, at this time Liang Xingchu was still a military commander, which shows Han Xianchu's excellence. In 1950, Han Xianchu launched the Hainan Island landing campaign in advance and successfully led the army to liberate Hainan, which was the peak of Han Xianchu's military career.
Han Xianchu came to the 38th Army, Liang Xingchu was happy because the two old comrades-in-arms and good brothers who had fought side by side came together again, and what was surprising was that Han Xianchu had been fighting with the 40th Army, how did he suddenly run to the 38th Army?
At the beginning of Han Xianchu's entry into the DPRK, he did always follow the 40th Army, because he was the first commander of the 40th Army in Siye and had a deep affection for this army, so he always fought with the 40th Army as the deputy commander of the Volunteer Army. He suddenly changed an army, Liang Xingchu felt, there must be a deep meaning in it.
Liang Xingchu's intuition was correct. When Han Xianchu came to the 38th Army, he was indeed entrusted by Peng Dehuai to go to the front line to command the 38th Army and the 42nd Army to fight together.
After all, the previous battle of the 38th Army was not well fought, and in the upcoming second battle, we must be doubly careful.
Third, Han Xianchu made a clear distinction between public and private
In addition to unifying the command of the two armies, Han Xianchu had additional tasks to continue to knock Liang Xingchu.
Mr. Peng actually saw it at the summary meeting that Liang Xingchu had emotions and was not convinced. The main force on the head of the four fields has fought all over the country, and there have been few defeats since the founding of the army. Can you not be proud! Although Peng Washui could deter Liang Xingchu, he did not dare to say that a single criticism would make him realize the essence of the problem.
In order to be able to bend and stretch, one must not accept praise without accepting criticism. When Han Xianchu arrived at the 38th Army, he was not embarrassed to say harsh words because he and Liang Xingchu's contemporaries were discussing friendship. On the contrary, at the meeting of cadres above the 38th Army, he instead sharply criticized the 38th Army for not fighting well.
Han Xianchu said, "This time, Peng Zong wants you to retreat 30 kilometers, how are you evacuating?" Worried isn't it? He took a deep breath of smoke and continued, "I know, you want to fight, fight, fight, don't you?" ”
Liang Xingchu was about to speak, when Han Xianchu suddenly put away his smile and his face was like frost: "I want to criticize your 38th Army, you did not fight well in the first battle, and General Peng said angry words to you as the main force, but your first battle was indeed not won well, and you failed to live up to the hopes of the party and Chairman Mao for you!" ”
As soon as Han Xianchu uttered these words, all the cadres present were shocked. What Han Xianchu said was correct, during the first campaign, Chairman Mao sent a telegram to Zhisi five times, personally inquiring about the location and deployment of the 38th Army.
Why do you attach so much importance to the 38th Army? Not because of how expensive the 38th Army was, but because of the importance of the battle. Our army has always paid attention to the victory of the first battle. The 38th Army went deep and attacked the enemy of Xichuan, which was the key battle of the first battle.
As a result, the 38th Army beat the rabbit with grass, and the rabbit did not fight, but only a pile of weeds. Seriously failed to live up to the trust of the superiors!
Han Xianchu's words caused the guilt of all the cadres below Liang Xingchu of the 38th Army.
Han Xianchu hit the iron while it was hot, and then told everyone about the particularity of fighting against South Korea and the US military, to the effect that this is no longer a domestic battlefield, and the strength of the US army is far beyond our expectations. You can't carve a boat and ask for a sword, but always look at the present with the eyes of the past.
He spoke simply, although not much, but fist to flesh, everywhere hit the pain point, the cadres of the 38th Army from uncomfortable, holding their breath, to shaking, touching, to thinking, understanding, attention was gradually twisted by Han Xianchu to the right topic. Unconsciously, there was a positive change in the atmosphere of the meeting.
Liang Xingchu first said: "The first battle was not well fought, and it was my commander who did not command well. Mr. Peng criticized me I can't understand, now that I think about it, wrong is wrong, and you can't always your tail. ”
Liang Xingchu showed the true colors of a famous general, not obsessed with criticism itself, but focusing on how to fight the next battle, he expressed his understanding of Peng Zongzong's intention to order the troops to retreat, and boldly looked forward to the prospect of how to lure the enemy to go deep and fight a dumpling battle in the familiar area.
In the end, the 38th Army is the main force, and the military quality of cadres at all levels has been blown out. As soon as Liang Xingchu said these words, everyone basically understood it thoroughly, and immediately grasped the key point of General Peng's combat intention: to lure the enemy deeper!
Retreat is not snow hiding, but entrusted with a larger task.
The atmosphere of the venue boiled over!
Han Xianchu smiled and stopped talking.
Fourth, Han Xianchu made a fierce bet
In the second battle, the 38th Army quietly unfolded and prepared for the battle. MacArthur, however, was still immersed in wishful thinking, believing that the Chinese army was only 60,000 or 70,000 people, which was not enough to stop the American army. MacArthur ordered the "United Nations Army" to divide into east and west lines and advance northward in an all-round way.
The Western Front, with the U.S. and South Korean armies as the main force, a total of 130,000 people, crashed into the volunteer defense line.
General Peng resolutely ordered that the two armies of the 38th Army and the 42nd Army should directly attack the Tokugawa front. The key to Tokugawa's position is the combination of the US forces on the eastern and western fronts, and General Peng's intention is to cut off the connection between the US troops from here, and from Tokugawa all the way south, to the depth of the US army, and then to break the US offensive from the overall situation.
The entire 38th Army was extremely excited. Mr. Peng scolded and scolded, deep in his heart he still attached great importance to the 38th Army, and once again handed over the most important task to the 38th Army, and the whole army rubbed their fists and palms up and down, ready to do a big job.
At this time, Liang Xingchu made an "untimely" request.
Originally, General Peng demanded that the neighboring 42nd Army take out a division to assign to the 38th Army, and the two armies joined forces to fight Tokugawa. This is also a good intention, increase the strength of the troops, and strive to ensure that nothing goes wrong.
Liang Xingchu proposed to Han Xianchu that the 38th Army should fight Tokugawa alone, not the division of the 42nd Army.
The purpose could not be more obvious. It was good for the brother troops to help, but the merits after the victory were not clear, not pure, and the 38th Army could not rely on this victory to wash away the criticism received in the previous battle.
The problem was handed over to Han Xianchu, and Han Xianchu was also a little difficult.
At the work level, he can reprimand Liang Xingchu with a straight face, and he can refute the face of the 38th Army. However, the requirements put forward by Liang Xingchu are not all at the work level, this is a major matter related to the honor of the 38th Army and liang Xingchu's personal reputation, and it cannot all be forced to order using the relationship between superiors and subordinates. At the level of personal feelings, Han Xianchu very much wanted to give his old brother a face and let the 38th Army fight this battle alone.
But what if you can't beat it? What if you let the enemy run away again and again?
The "United Nations Army" has 130,000 troops on the Western Front, and if the Battle of Tokugawa is fought and the enemy is aware of our intentions in advance, the 38th Army will not only be unable to successfully complete the task of interspersing and cutting, but may also be surrounded and cut by the enemy.
The stakes were high, and it was difficult for Han Xianchu to make a decision.
But he couldn't refuse.
The honor of an army is even more a matter of great concern to the future, morale, and destiny of this tiger and wolf division. If you can't turn over again this time, the spirit of the soldiers will be greatly frustrated, and it is very likely that they will be hidden in the snow and adjusted back. He had been a military commander and knew what it meant to the troops.
Han Xianchu hesitated.
With the enemy situation changing thousands of miles a day, and time being ten million times more valuable than gold, Han Xianchu thought about it for a whole day.
On the morning of November 24, the day before the general offensive was scheduled to be launched, he finally made up his mind to adjust General Peng's orders, no longer assigning the 42nd Army to troops, but letting the 38th Army fight Tokugawa alone!
To put it bluntly, it's almost a gamble.
Han Xianchu bet on Peng Zong's trust in himself, in case the 38th Army was unfavorable to the battle again, or even led to the collapse of the Western Front, Han Xianchu's military career would also fall into a big trough, especially the failure of this kind of big war that concerned the overall situation and was extremely political, and the main general would most likely fall into the trough and never climb out again.
His strength is the strong combat effectiveness of the 38th Army.
This is not a matter of will, but the high degree of trust that Han Xianchu has accumulated over the years of fighting side by side with Liang Xingchu, and the trust that can be trusted in life and death can be trusted.
General Manager Peng received a request from Han Xianchu to change his plan sent back from the front line, and he was not angry because of the change of troops in the front. There will always be a reason for the first line, and General Peng made a final decision: the 38th Army single-handedly fought Tokugawa.
5. The Tokugawa Victory
On 25 November, the 38th Army, under cover of night, divided its forces and pounced on Tokugawa.
Liang Xingchu learned the lesson of the last false intelligence leading to slow operations, and dispatched a strong reconnaissance team of up to 323 people in advance, led by Zhang Kuiyin, chief of the reconnaissance section of the 38 army headquarters, to Tokugawa to reconnoiter intelligence. At the same time, Liang Xingchu strictly ordered all divisions to advance at full speed and not to stop for any reason along the way.
When the large army set out, Han Xianchu did not dare to be careless, and personally gave an explanation to the reconnaissance team, and it was necessary to get the intelligence accurate. After that, he and Liu Xiyuan, political commissar of the 38th Army, rushed to the garrisons of various divisions to observe their actions.
When the great war began, the situation changed, and hundreds of thousands of troops of the enemy and us confronted each other, even if the famous generals such as Han Xianchu also played drums in their hearts!
Fortunately, the 38th Army did not fail in its mission, did not repeat the mistake of the last time, and arrived at the outskirts of Tokugawa more than ten hours ahead of schedule. The reconnaissance team also did not bear the expectation of transmitting true information, and the enemy of Tokugawa had only one division in South Korea.
Liang Xingchu could not contain his excitement and ordered the whole army to make a general attack in advance, and at one time the various units of the 38th Army came down like a fierce tiger and launched a fierce attack on the enemy of Tokugawa, and it took only 7 hours to completely annihilate the enemy army.
Of course, the battle was not as simple as we said, and the divisions of the 38th Army ran all the way to complete the tactical encirclement, and the process was very complicated, not to mention that we could not explain this short article clearly, even if we wrote another five thousand words or ten thousand words, it would be difficult to describe them all. The battle was also fought fiercely, and the officers and men of the 38th Army held their breath of evil breath and had a rather lifeless spirit when they fought, and both officers and soldiers bravely attacked, and Li Jitai, political commissar of the 112nd Division, was actually injured in the battle, which shows the fierceness of the battle.
In this campaign, the 38th Army spent more than a day to attack 70 kilometers, destroyed 3,128 enemy personnel in 7 hours, captured 156 artillery pieces, 218 cars, and 3 radio stations, wounded one enemy plane, and captured 1 colonel, 1 lieutenant colonel, and 5 majors of the US military advisory group.
Han Xianchu, Liang Xingchu, and Liu Xiyuan went to the prisoner-of-war shelter and saw the members of the US military advisory group, who said very frankly: "I really can't imagine that the counterattack of your communist army is so cleverly and tightly organized, it is almost like being a prisoner in a dream!"
On the 27th, Chairman Mao sent a congratulatory telegram wishing Tokugawa a great victory, and the Volunteer Army Headquarters issued a general order commending the Thirty-eighth Army.
Han Xianchu's heart relaxed a little, but it was not particularly steady.
After all, the Tokugawa Victory killed only the South Korean puppet army, their combat effectiveness was too far worse than the US army, and our surprise attack and intensified attack were only a basic operation, and they could not show the true level of the 38th Army.
It is still some distance away from the general goal of interspersing, detouring, and cutting off the enemy's rear road proposed by General Peng. The U.S. military was not a fool, and when Tokugawa was taken down, they would certainly determine the intentions of the volunteers. At that time, the US army will retreat to the south, and the US army further south will definitely go north to meet, and the place where the two enemy forces meet is the front where the 38th Army is responsible for cutting and cutting.
The real challenge is yet to come!
Sixth, brilliant victory
Liang Xingchu was still more practical than Han Xianchu.
He knew better than anyone the enormity of the combat tasks behind him.
After the capture of Tokugawa, the 38th Army continued to penetrate south at full speed. The most important of these was the 113th Division, which ran to the three institutes. Sansho-ri was the only way for the main U.S. army to retreat southward, and if it could not be taken here, the victory of tokugawa would be greatly reduced.
The 113th Division marched at full speed to Sansholi, without radio on the road to prevent enemy reconnaissance. In order to prevent the BOMBING of the US army, it does not camp at night and does not sleep at full speed.
Since the beginning of the war on 25 November, the 113th Division had not slept for several days, and the soldiers were hungry, sleepy, cold, and extremely tired. However, the commander of the 113th Division, taking the overall situation as the most important thing, endured the pain and ordered the whole division to advance at full speed.
The warriors dozed off as they walked, and the people behind them had to put their arms on the shoulders of the people in front of them to ensure that they did not fall behind at night.
It was under such difficult circumstances that at 8 o'clock on November 28, the AMERICAN troops who fled south in a car arrived at the Sansoli position five minutes ahead of schedule, and quickly cut off the road to block the enemy!
Han Xianchu, Liang Xingchu, and Liu Xiyuan were at the military command post, standing by the telephone all night, anxiously waiting for news. Han and Liang paced back and forth in the command post, cigarettes one after another, and cigarette butts all over the floor. At dawn and the enemy planes moved more frequently, Han Xianchu suddenly stopped pacing, locked his brows, stared at Liang Xingchu and Liu Xiyuan and asked in a low voice, "Do you see if the 11th and 3rd Divisions can arrive?"
"I see that I can arrive, please rest assured." Liang Jun's commander said angrily.
As he was speaking, the combat staff officer rushed in, holding a telegram in his hand, and shouted loudly: "The 113rd Division has occupied Sanshouli at 8 o'clock and has completely annihilated the enemy, and the enemy is preparing to break through from Sanshouli and is now waiting for orders." Han Xianchu and Liang Xingchu shouted out almost at the same time: "Good! ”
The Battle of Sanshosuri is destined to go down in history!
After November 28, after the Americans on the Western Front were hit head-on, they retreated southward with their heads held, and large groups of enemies poured into Sansholi.
Sansho-ri became the focal point of the entire Western Front!
History seems to repeat itself. In October 1948, Liang Xingchu led a column to block Liao Yaoxiang's corps in Montenegro, stumbling like a steel nail to the enemy several times, and finally playing a world-shattering victory.
Today, it is the enemy of superiority and the line of resistance that must be fought for.
The officers and men of the 38th Army lived up to their expectations, once again turned into steel nails, and stubbornly held the three houses!
The repeated attacks of the US army were fruitless, and the enemy who retreated to the south and the enemy who aided the north were only a few kilometers apart, but they were blocked by the front and rear of the 38th Army, and they could not converge.
Seeing that the other armies of our volunteer army were pressing towards the sansho-ri line, the US army finally gave up continuing to attack the sansho-ri defense line and turned to the direction of Anju to break through.
The 38th Army was victorious! The Second Battle of the Volunteers was a great victory! MacArthur's Christmas offensive was now in vain.
Peng Dehuai was overjoyed by the performance of the 38th Army, and he personally wrote the famous comment on the telegram commending the 38th Army:
Long live the Chinese People's Volunteer Army! Long live the Thirty-eighth Army!
After Liang Xingchu received the telegram, he could no longer bear the pressure of many days, and his eyes burst into tears. He held Han Xianchu's hand tightly, and he understood that if it were not for Han Xianchu's support, there would be a long-lived army today!
As the great hero behind this legendary turnaround battle, Han Xianchu did not receive much attention in various reports later. Probably the public only pays attention to the brilliance on the table, and lacks in-depth observation of the heroes behind the scenes. General Han Xianchu did not seek fame and fortune, it was good to win the battle, and it didn't matter what else.
But the real masters and connoisseurs know it. After the war, Political Commissar Liu Xiyuan was ordered to return to China to report on the victory, and Peng Zonghuai reminded him in person: "Don't forget, if it weren't for Deputy Commander Han to speak for you, from Tokugawa to Sansho, your credit would have been divided away by other troops." Han Xianchu is your benefactor! ”
History is not always superficially lively, and the deep joint points really determine the direction of the long river of history.
Admiral Han Xianchu mighty!