On December 21, 1951, on the battlefield of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the 2nd Battalion of the 524th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment of the Volunteer Army, using anti-aircraft artillery guerrilla tactics, shot down four US aircraft in One fell swoop in Xincang.
Two U.S. officers and a pilot parachuted and became prisoners of our army. There was also a guy who jumped out of the plane without carrying a parachute and was thrown to death.
According to the accounts of the American prisoners, the American colonel who was thrown to death was named Stile and was the commander of the US anti-aircraft artillery battalion.
The commander of the US anti-aircraft artillery battalion was shot down by the volunteer anti-aircraft artillery battalion, which was simply a fantasy. In fact, the truth is not bizarre, the US Air Force was beaten dizzy by the volunteer anti-aircraft artillery unit, the US anti-aircraft artillery unit, want to break the head can not think, are peers, why is the gap so big?
Therefore, the commander of the US anti-aircraft artillery battalion, with a pious attitude of "studying," took a plane to "observe and study" over the volunteer anti-aircraft artillery position. As a result, "the organs calculated too cleverly, but they mistakenly lost Qingqing's life", and finally ended up with a sad end of destroying people and dying.
The 524th Regiment of the Volunteer Anti-Aircraft Artillery Corps, which created this miracle of battle, was actually not formed for a long time.
On October 28, 1950, the newly formed 14th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment (renamed the 524th Regiment) was ordered to send an anti-aircraft artillery battalion and an anti-aircraft machine gun company as the first echelon of anti-aircraft firepower of the Volunteer Army, and to cooperate with the Thirty-eighth Army of the Volunteer Army to enter Korea and carry out air defense combat tasks.
At that time, U.S. aircraft were rampant, and bombers were flooded during the day, carpet bombing of ground targets.
At night, U.S. aircraft often drop strings of parachute-descending flares to illuminate the ground within a radius of hundreds of kilometers as bright as day, while U.S. aircraft fly around the illumination area and begin to attack recklessly once they find suspicious targets.
Due to the lack of actual combat experience, the anti-aircraft artillery unit of our army suffered heavy losses in the first two months or so.
After crossing the Yalu River to Pyongyang, this section of the road, due to the US military bombing day and night, the road conditions are extremely poor, the mountain is high, the road is steep, the cliff is deep, the curve is sharp, the road surface is full of bomb craters, the most fatal thing is that it cannot move during the day, and it is impossible to drive the lights at night, so there are repeated overturning accidents.
At noon a few days later, the three companies of anti-aircraft artillery were hidden in the Guren Cave, and because the camouflage was not done well, they were discovered by the US reconnaissance planes, and then dozens of enemy planes bombarded the Guren Cave indiscriminately. As a result, the three companies lost two vehicles and an additional 500 rounds of artillery shells.
Undaunted by the danger, the soldiers of our army rose up to fight back, wounding one enemy plane, and the rest of the enemy planes saw that the situation was not good and fled into the wilderness.
If the results of the battle of Guren cave are still not satisfactory, then the battle of Mingwendong on December 9, our army suffered a big loss.
Two anti-aircraft artillery companies, hidden in a ravine near Mingwendong during the day, also because the camouflage was not meticulous, were discovered by the US reconnaissance plane and immediately launched an attack.
Due to the erroneous decision to conceal weapons and equipment and personnel separately in advance, the soldiers hiding in the mountain woods could only watch as the US planes indiscriminately bombed the weapons and equipment hidden in the ravines.
The bombing lasted for more than two hours, and three of our anti-aircraft guns were destroyed, as well as the loss of 7 cars and thousands of shells.
The anti-aircraft artillery unit of our army failed to succeed, so it had to withdraw to Ji'an (now Ji'an City) for repair.
On January 5, 1951, the superior replenished the anti-aircraft artillery regiment with more than 60 cars, 4 37 mm anti-aircraft guns, and more than 200 drivers. Three days later, the anti-aircraft artillery regiment crossed the Yalu River again and rushed to the front line by train.
Since air supremacy is in the hands of the U.S. military, trains can only be hidden during the day and travel at night, and strict lighting controls must be implemented.
When the train reached Caoshang Station, the railway was blown up by US aircraft, and the anti-aircraft artillery regiment of our army actively organized the soldiers to unload their cars and rely on cars to maneuver forward.
The soldiers of the anti-aircraft artillery regiment learned the lesson of the last loss, and resolutely and meticulously carried out the camouflage of the anti-aircraft artillery when they camped. Everyone wore the cotton jacket over and put the white cotton jacket inside outward.
When passing through dangerous road sections, air guard posts were dispatched in advance, and once they found that the US troops were coming, they immediately fired warning shots.
Cadres at and above the platoon level of the whole regiment are not allowed to sit in the cab and stand on the outer pedals of the car to grasp the situation happening in the outside world in a timely manner.
The first, second, and fourth gunners, all marching in their seats, ready to engage in battle.
When the enemy aircraft attacks, the ranging hand needs to calculate the speed, azimuth, flight altitude, and wind direction and other important parameters of the enemy aircraft in time.
Each gun was equipped with 40 shells on its vehicle. In addition, the driver is required to drive steadily, so that when the car is running, it can strike at air targets.
The anti-aircraft artillery regiment was thrilled along the way and successfully arrived at the designated position. Due to the limited number of anti-aircraft guns, only the railway transportation hub can be protected first.
The Shunchuan Datong River Railway Bridge and the Chengchuan Boiling River Railway Bridge are the key targets of the US military aircraft, and these two bridges have been repeatedly blown up and are still being repaired. Because there is no air cover, the railway bridge is basically repaired at night and bombed during the day, and it is still far from being opened to traffic.
After the anti-aircraft artillery regiment entered the position, it provided reliable anti-aircraft firepower for the renovation of the bridge, and after the American aircraft were hit several times, they no longer dared to be as unscrupulous as before, and the work of repairing the bridge could also be carried out during the day, and the speed of repair was greatly improved.
The U.S. Air Force was reluctant and on February 14, it began switching to B29 heavy bombers to bomb the two railroad bridges.
In light of the changes in the enemy aircraft, our anti-aircraft artillery unit has also actively adjusted its tactics and adopted concentrated fire strikes, that is, several anti-aircraft guns aimed at one target at the same time. As a result, in just five days, three U.S. B29 heavy bombers were shot down.
The U.S. military then changed its tactics, with fighters providing fire cover and bombers penetrating at low altitudes to bomb targets.
In view of the changes in the enemy, our army also quickly formulated countermeasures, hit the enemy with a time difference, concentrated firepower, and scattered the enemy's faster fighter formation. The slower bombers, without air cover, had to drop bombs haphazardly and return home.
On March 12, the Second Battalion of our anti-aircraft artillery, which was guarding the Boiling River Railway Bridge, received an early warning signal that "enemy planes are approaching" and quickly made preparations for battle.
Four U.S. Mustang (F51) fighters entered the range of anti-aircraft guns. A single salvo of more than 20 anti-aircraft guns of our army scattered the formation of enemy planes.
The U.S. aircraft adjusted their formation and began to dive against the anti-aircraft artillery units on the ground, and as a result, the first aircraft plunged headlong into the fire net and was shot and exploded.
The other three enemy planes saw that the situation was not good, and hurriedly pulled upwards, and the anti-aircraft artillery unit of our army, taking advantage of the opportunity of the enemy plane's speed to decrease when it was pulled up, fired fiercely at the No. 4 aircraft flying at the end.
The plane suddenly lost control before crashing, when U.S. Air Force Major Carl S. Oberley chose to skydive to escape. This is the first American pilot recorded by our anti-aircraft artillery unit to be captured.
The heavy losses made it difficult for the US Air Force to bear it, and it has since abandoned the bombing of the Datong River Bridge and the Boiling River Bridge.
After the railway bridge was repaired, the anti-aircraft artillery unit of our army proved its strength with practical actions.
No matter how powerful the anti-aircraft guns are, they are only defensive weapons, and if we want to seize the air superiority in the north of Korea, it is difficult to rely only on anti-aircraft guns, and if we want to firmly hold the air superiority in our hands, we must use our aircraft to deal with the AIRcraft of the US army.
With an airplane, there must also be an airport for the take-off and landing of the aircraft.
In April 1951, the head of the Volunteer Army decided to build several front-line airfields.
The 542nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment received orders from its superiors and was placed under the command of the 64th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division of the Volunteer Army to provide air defense protection for the Shunchuan (Changshanli) airfield, which was being actively constructed.
Shunchuan Airport is surrounded by mountains, the main runway is about 2 kilometers long, the width of the airport is about 500 meters, and the VB-13 "Tasong" giant bomb used by the US military has carried out large-scale damage to the airport runway. The bomb is 6.4 meters long, 1 meter in diameter and weighs 5.4 tons. During World War II, Germany's largest battleship, the 50,000-ton Tirpitz, was killed by this bomb.
The U.S. military dropped a huge bomb on the flight track, and the crater that exploded required more than 100 engineers to work hard overnight to fill it.
After our anti-aircraft artillery unit was stationed at Shunchuan Airfield, according to the previous bombing laws of the US army, it was found that enemy planes always cut in from both ends of the runway and swooped down from a high altitude at a 45-degree angle to bomb the runway of the airport.
In addition, it has also been found that every time before the enemy plane bombs the airport, it always uses reconnaissance planes to reconnoiter around the airfield, and after determining that there are no volunteer anti-aircraft artillery units around, it will then bomb the airfield.
The reason why the US military did this is because it can carry the "Songta" giant bomb, only one type of B29 heavy bomber, and this aircraft is large in size and slow in flight, plus the airfield is surrounded by mountains, as long as the airport is protected by anti-aircraft artillery units, the B29 bomber will not escape the doom of being shot down.
The engineers who built the airport were deeply disgusted by the "Songta" giant bomb, and they found Peng Zongyi, the commander of the 542nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment, and told his thoughts.
Peng Zongyi made a small calculation, and when the US reconnaissance plane was carrying out high-altitude reconnaissance, the fighters fired several shots at the reconnaissance plane, and the reconnaissance plane flew away, and since then the airport has never been hit by a "Songta" giant bomb.
Commander Peng also took advantage of this opportunity to divide the anti-aircraft artillery regiment into two roads and ambush them at both ends of the airstrip, and everyone knew in their hearts that the battle of wits and courage with the US aircraft was just the beginning.
With a reliable air defense network, the speed of construction of the airfield has increased dramatically, which makes the Americans feel like they are on their backs.
On the morning of April 28, 1951, four US "Mustang" fighters, in order to evade the surveillance of our air defense early warning, flew over the ravines around the airport in an ultra-low flight state, preparing to carry out a destructive sneak attack on the airport runway.
As soon as these US planes appeared, they were confronted by our army's small-caliber anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns.
The American plane piloting the flight was shot down on the spot, and the American pilot Dinshak was also captured by our army.
I don't know whether the American army was poor in skill, or whether they had a vendetta against the pilots, but they did not learn the lesson of Dinshak's capture, and used the same tactics to attack one after another.
Seeing that the US troops were so generous, the 542nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment reluctantly took down the US fighter planes sent to the door one by one. In a single day on May 8, four American planes were shot down and another American pilot was captured.
This time, the US army really hurt, and was forced to switch to B26 bombers, using night raids to drop bombs at the airport from a high altitude.
After the anti-aircraft artillery unit discovered that the enemy planes were coming, they implemented strict light control on the airfield, and the us B26 bomber generally flew at an altitude of more than 4 kilometers, and this height was also outside the range of our army's 37-millimeter anti-aircraft guns.
However, in the dark night, at an altitude of more than 4,000 meters, it is difficult for the US military to accurately find the target of the attack, and can only throw the bomb out carelessly.
By mid-May, the main building of the airport, such as aircraft runways, hangars, oil depots and other facilities, was basically completed, and the fighter group of our army was about to be stationed.
This time, the US military was really panicked, and even used desperate means to dispatch 13 B29 heavy bombers at a time, hiding outside the range of our anti-aircraft artillery unit, and throwing hundreds of time bombs at the airstrip and anti-aircraft artillery positions.
The enemy uses time bombs, which brings a lot of trouble to our army, because you don't know when he will explode.
A 500-pound time bomb fell from a height of several kilometers, and the warhead sank into the soil layer two or three meters deep. It takes more than a dozen fighters to dig it out for more than three hours, and if the bomb explodes during this time, it will cause heavy casualties to the fighters who are working around.
This new tactic of the US military caused great trouble to our army at the beginning, and the runway that had been built was blown to pieces, and the auxiliary facilities around the airfield were destroyed.
On the position of the 7th Company of the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment, 35 heavy time bombs fell in one day.
The fighters of the anti-aircraft artillery company could no longer take care of dealing with the American aircraft, and they had to transfer the weapons, ammunition and materials on the position in time before the time bomb exploded.
But only a few days later, the time bomb dropped by the Americans became a treasure in the eyes of the soldiers of our army.
I don't know who invented the technology to dismantle the time bomb, turn off its timing system before the bomb explodes, and pull out the gunpowder.
A 500-pound time bomb can pull out more than 200 kilograms of gunpowder, which is made into a blasting canister and become a weapon for our soldiers to attack the stronghold.
Although the problem of time bombs is solved, the B29 heavy bombers that come in groups every day to drop bombs are still frustrating.
At this time, the superior commander sent charcoal in the snow and equipped the anti-aircraft artillery regiment with 85 mm anti-aircraft guns. The effective firing of this anti-aircraft gun reaches a height of more than 10,000 meters, and everyone knows what this means for the B29 bomber, which flies at an altitude of only more than 6,000 meters.
The arrogant U.S. military did not know anything about this, and still adhered to the bombing mode of wide-ranging and thin harvest, and as a result, three B29 bombers were reimbursed under the muzzle of the anti-aircraft artillery regiment.
The U.S. military was beaten to the ground, and finally stopped for a while.
It wasn't until August 24 that U.S. aircraft made a comeback, this time with 26 Meteor (F84) fighter jets. This is the 1st generation of the US military jet fighter, because this aircraft has a secondary fuel tank under the wing, so the fighters of the anti-aircraft artillery regiment call this fighter "oil picker".
Today, however, the 26 "oil pickers" of the US military are all soy sauce, and they are responsible for pretending to maneuver outside the airfield to attract the firepower of our anti-aircraft artillery unit. There are also 12 tactical nuclear jet fighters F 84 (nicknamed Thunderbolt), using rockets to suppress dive fire when using our anti-aircraft artillery positions.
At this time, 11 B29 bombers took the opportunity to invade the airfield from an altitude of 6 kilometers and try to bomb the airfield.
Our anti-aircraft artillery unit had long been prepared, immediately carried out a strike on air targets, immediately shot down a B29 bomber, in addition to the US pilots, there were also 10 crew members of our army as prisoners.
This was the first time since the beginning of the war that the anti-aircraft artillery regiment had captured so many American soldiers, and the soldiers were very happy. In contrast, the 5 jet fighters that were shot down were insignificant.
In the autumn of 1951, shunchuan airfield was successfully put into use, and the air force of our volunteer army, after several air battles, firmly controlled the air supremacy in its hands in a very short period of time. Since then, the skies over the airport have become quiet. The heroes of the Anti-Aircraft Artillery 524 Regiment are useless.
A commander who had commanded the anti-Japanese guerrilla warfare invented the tactic of "anti-aircraft artillery guerrilla warfare" on a whim, that is, to let the anti-aircraft artillery units ambush the area where enemy planes often appeared and wait for the opportunity to launch an attack on the enemy.
After receiving the task, the 524th Regiment handed over the task of guarding the airfield to a newly formed anti-aircraft artillery battalion. Then take the equipment to "fight guerrillas".
Anti-aircraft guns were originally passive defensive weapons, but now they take the initiative to find and strike the enemy, and the fighters are somewhat unaccustomed.
But only 5 days later, the anti-aircraft artillery guerrilla warfare made the US army suffer.
On the evening of November 3, the 3rd Battalion of the 524th Regiment laid an ambush near the Cishan Railway Station.
At six o'clock in the morning of the second day, 16 US F80 fighters, lined up in a column, bombed our army's railway line leading to the front line, flying at an altitude of only about 1 kilometer.
The soldiers of our army, who are accustomed to fighting regular warfare, are a little overwhelmed for a while, because they did not have the orders of their superiors before, and they were punished for firing artillery without authorization.
Chen Lin, chief of staff of the Third Battalion, is a young man with a lot of ideas, and he believes that the essence of anti-aircraft artillery guerrilla warfare is to be mobile and flexible, and the fighters are fleeting, and there is no need to wait for the commander's orders.
At Chen Lin's insistence, the fighters resolutely opened fire, and sure enough, the enemy planes fell, and the enemy planes flew in the valley, unable to turn, and lined up to send them to the gun ports of our army.
The last enemy plane that flew in the end saw that the situation was not good, turned around hurriedly, crashed into a hill in panic, exploded and caught fire, and the smoke from the fire went straight into the sky.
After the war, when the three battalions summed up their experience, they all agreed that if the firing time could be advanced by one minute, at least one enemy aircraft could be shot down.
The regimental commander learned his lesson and ordered the soldiers not to stick to the command of their superiors in the future, as long as the conditions were right, a cannon could also be fired.
After a period of tempering and adaptation, the fighters became more comfortable with the use of anti-aircraft artillery guerrilla warfare.
On December 1, the 6th Company of the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment set out from Yangde and when it walked to Wenjing, it found the enemy situation, and 12 US F84 fighters flew at an altitude of 2 kilometers and flew over the heads of the 6th Company.
The company commander ordered fire, and with only 163 rounds of shells, he shot down and wounded one enemy plane. This was also the first time that the 524th Regiment took the initiative to shoot down enemy aircraft on the way to the march.
On December 10, a company of the second battalion of anti-aircraft artillery set up an ambush in the stone bridge, and as soon as the position was laid out, 12 F51 aircraft were sent to the door, and the company commander gave the order to open fire, immediately shooting down one enemy plane, wounding two, and the rest of the enemy planes fled in a daze.
After receiving the battle report, the commander of the second battalion felt that the ambush position of the 4th Company was sensitive, the enemy would not give up easily, and it was very likely to carry out retaliatory bombing of the positions of the 4th Company.
The commander of our battalion decided to make a plan and ordered the 4 companies to move immediately, camouflage the original position as a fake position, and the four companies ambushed around the false position.
The battalion commander was worried that the four companies were alone, and he also transferred the 6 companies to the area around the false position.
Enemy reconnaissance planes conducted three consecutive days of high-altitude reconnaissance of the false positions and found nothing unusual.
On December 15, the U.S. military mobilized a total of 24 aircraft of various types, and it was strafing and bombing against the false positions.
When the American planes had tossed enough, our anti-aircraft artillery unit suddenly opened fire, shooting down one "Black Panther" (F 9 F) fighter on the spot, and injuring two supersonic fighters.
Although the battle shot down the American aircraft, it did not achieve the desired effect, mainly due to insufficient ground firepower.
The superiors judged that the US military would definitely take retaliatory actions. Two battalions were mobilized and ambushed again around the false positions.
On December 21, the US military mobilized more than 100 various aircraft, crashed into the ambush circle of our anti-aircraft artillery unit, and was shot down 4 fighters on the spot. These include the U.S. military's earliest early-class early warning aircraft, the TBM3.
The strange appearance of this plane attracted the attention of our soldiers.
Before the plane crashed, U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Thrace, Anti-Aircraft Artillery Major Staff Officer Hudson, and a pilot parachuted and took prisoner.
There was also a U.S. military colonel who jumped off the plane without carrying a parachute and fell to his death. According to the confessions of the captives, the American colonel who was thrown to death was the commander of the anti-aircraft artillery battalion.
Recently, US aircraft have been repeatedly attacked by anti-aircraft guns and suffered heavy losses, which has caused the US pilots to be afraid of war. The senior commander of the US anti-aircraft artillery battalion, who did not believe the pilot's words in any way, decided to go to the front line himself. As a result, there was a ruin.
After the battle, our army continued to use guerrilla tactics of reorganizing the spirit into a whole, and successively shot down two enemy planes in the battle of Masanli; shot down one enemy plane in the battle of Gagawa; and shot down three US planes in the battle in the courtyard.
On May 6, 1952, on the battlefield of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the 542nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment, which had held its position for 20 months, was ordered to return to China for recuperation.
In the past 20 months, the regiment has fought 1480 battles; shot down a total of 53 Us aircraft of various types; and damaged 214 enemy aircraft. 14 American pilots were captured alive; 10 bomber crews were captured alive.
For the 542nd Regiment, which had been formed for less than three years, it was already very good to achieve such combat results.