An American war correspondent asked the retreating U.S. soldiers: If it's Christmas, what gift would you most like to get? The soldier thought for a moment and said: I hope to have tomorrow.
This is a true portrayal of the Soldiers of both China and the United States during the Battle of Chosin Lake. On November 28, 1950, the 113th Division of the 38th Volunteer Army had lost contact with the headquarters, and no one knew where the 113th Division was. Now, the missing 113th Division was stubbornly advancing towards Sansholi, but at this time they were still more than thirty miles away from the target.
There is an enemy security company in Sansholi, and only by controlling Sansholi can we firmly block the enemy troops retreating south and reinforcing from the north. The 113th Division arrived at a speed of 145 miles per night at a speed of five minutes ahead of schedule, locking the gate of sansoli. When the Volunteer Command received the news that the 113th Division had reached Sansholi, the entire command became a sea of joy.
In his book "Decisive Battle of Korea," the war correspondent Li Feng recorded the change in Peng Dehuai's expression after receiving the news: he had been tense before and now he finally smiled, and immediately ordered that the 113th Division must resolutely block Sansholi and cut off the enemy's southward escape route.
Sansholi was occupied by volunteers, dealing a heavy blow to the morale of the American troops who were fleeing south, and its influence was immeasurable. Commander Walker could only consider the question of retreat. He ordered the 5th Regiment of the 1st Cavalry Division of the U.S. Army to march north for reinforcements, hoping to open the retreat route. It was a well-known unit that, although fully mechanized, retained the title of cavalry.
The current situation is that the retreating American troops to the south and the Fifth Regiment of the First Cavalry Division reinforced by the North Shangsong are only 1 km apart, and the 113th Division of the 38th Army is sandwiched between two enemy forces in this short 1 km. There are hundreds of planes above and dozens of tanks below. Whether or not you can stare at it deadly determines the final outcome of the southward fleeing US troops, and this fierce battle is destined to go down in history.
Sandwiched in the middle, the 113th Division had only a dozen mortars, thousands of rifles and hundreds of machine guns, facing the U.S. army of steel, and the pressure it was carrying could be imagined. "Decisive Battle of Korea" quoted the recollection of a veteran soldier: This was not a war of equals at all, the firepower of the United States was too strong, and it was beaten up in a minute, and it was not so miserable when the Battle of Huaihai was fought.
At 10:00 a.m. on the 28th, the Volunteers received new news: the main American division north of Tokugawa was also retreating southward, and the United Nations army mobilized a large number of reinforcements from the direction of Shunchuan. This made the situation of the 113th Division even more tense. Once sansholi is lost, the U.S. troops fleeing south and moving north will inevitably merge into one, and all pre-war deployments will be in vain.
Now that it was time to enter the reserves, the 113th Division, at the critical moment when the three institutes were about to be captured, asked the reserve 337 regiments to counterattack, and finally stabilized the front, and the battle was fought until 5 p.m. Before the Americans gradually retreated, and both sides returned to their positions to lick their wounds.
But the commander of the 113th Division found the problem. This is obviously the only way for the US military to pass, why stop after a day? The chiefs immediately looked at the map and found a country road, there was no way to pass through the mechanized troops, but the infantry passed without problems, the American troops were likely to flee south from here, this place is Longyuanli!
After some research, the 113th Division immediately dispatched the reserve 337th Regiment to Longyuanli and reported the situation to the 38th Army Headquarters. This made everyone worry, the 113th Division had already done its best to stick to the three institutes, how to stick to Longyuanli at the same time? After Liang Xingchu, commander of the 38th Army, received the situation, he quickly ordered the 114th Division to set off immediately to reinforce the 113th Division in Longyuanli.
Due to a problem with the 114th Division's radio, the order was ten hours late. However, because of this ten hours late, the 114th Division just encountered the enemy that the 337th Regiment intended to block in Longyuan, and directly launched a fierce battle there, which made the American army feel very depressed.
When the 337th Regiment of the 113th Division, which had been marching overnight, arrived at Longyuanli, it found that this was a country road, and the map was not accurate at all, which was a road wider than Sanshouli. If the UN army is blocked in the three houses, it will inevitably retreat through this place. Fortunately, the volunteer forward commanders and fighters found this loophole in time, and finally plugged the gap in the enemy's retreat.
The Number of UN troops now in the pockets of volunteers is as high as 40,000 to 50,000, but the 38th Army can only put in 25,000 troops. They know what that means. They simply sent a telegram to the command: "We are prepared to pay any price for the victory of the battle." A fierce battle is about to begin.
I hope you will read More of Li Feng's "Decisive Battle of Korea." The book goes from the Yalta Agreement to the end of the Panmunjom negotiations, and the explanation of the 113th Division's Blood Battle Dragon Source is particularly profound. The author Li Feng said in "Decisive Battle of Korea" that the title of the Long Live Army was launched in the bloody battle of the 113th Division, and its significance cannot be exaggerated no matter how it is praised. "Decisive Battle of Korea" has two volumes of 600,000 words, click the link below to buy.
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