5.6 kilometers south of Gutori, South Hamgyong Province, North Korea, there is a bridge built on a cliff, 8.8 meters wide, in the Korean War more than 70 years ago, China and the United States around this otherwise inconspicuous small bridge, launched a fierce and magnificent offensive and defensive war...
The outbreak of the Battle of Chosin Lake at the end of November 1950 made the "United Nations Army" frantically advancing experience the feeling of kicking the iron plate, and the First Marine Division, known as the ace unit of the US Army, was divided and surrounded by volunteers, and had to flee south in a frenzy, preparing to flee all the way to Xingnan Port.
MacArthur understood that the Volunteers were definitely trying to annihilate them and completely eliminate the First Marine Division from the U.S. military battle sequence, so that the U.S. army would even have an ocean phase in front of the world. MacArthur, of course, could not allow this to happen, and specially dispatched hundreds of bombers to bomb and help the first landing division retreat.
At this time, the Shuimen Bridge, which is only 60 kilometers away from Xingnan Port, is very important, which is the only way for the US military to retreat south.
The volunteers were also well aware of the importance of the Watergate Bridge, and Song Shilun, commander of the Ninth Corps, specifically ordered that the Watergate Bridge be blown up at all costs.
On 1 December, a battalion-level reconnaissance detachment of the 60th Division of the Volunteer Army punctured near the Watergate Bridge and immediately began blasting operations, because there was very little explosive left, so it only blew through the bridge deck, and according to the experience of the soldiers, the bridge could not be opened for a week. As a result, the US army engineer battalion quickly pulled in bridge repair equipment and repaired the car in only half a day.
After blowing up the Watergate Bridge, the enemy strengthened its defenses against the Watergate Bridge. Volunteer soldiers organized a bridge bombing commando team on the night of December 4, quietly lurked on the Watergate Bridge, successfully blew up the bridge, and in case of any case, they also focused on taking care of the surrounding wood.
With a few loud noises, the Watergate Bridge was blown up for the second time.
However, before the volunteers could rejoice, they saw a reinforcement of American troops with strange equipment, once again repairing the Watergate Bridge with steel and wood, and it was stronger than before, and it was no problem to pass the tank.
At this time, the soldiers of the reconnaissance detachment had run out of explosives, and while they sought support from their superiors, the United States also specially transferred a tank battalion to strengthen the defense of the Watergate Bridge. In order to guard the small bridge, the enemy deployed a total of 40 tanks and dozens of artillery, in addition to the bridge deck with a powerful fire network woven with light and heavy machine guns.
Two days later, the volunteer support unit also arrived.
The reinforcements were soldiers of the 7th Company of the 3rd Battalion, 240th Regiment of the 80th Division of the Volunteer Army, and they had not eaten for two days in order to rush the road. Considering that the bridge had been blown up twice before, and twice repaired by the enemy, the fighters decided to blow it up directly along with the foundation of the bridge.
Only to see hundreds of volunteer soldiers wearing cotton jackets, carrying explosives packages to launch a fierce attack on the Watergate Bridge, after paying heavy casualties, successfully broke through the enemy's fire network, and blew up the Watergate Bridge with the bridge deck and the bridge foundation.
The volunteer soldiers originally thought that in this way, the enemy army would not be able to escape even if it inserted its wings. However, what they did not expect was that the Americans who jumped the wall in a hurry only took three days to urgently produce 8 sets of M-2 steel beams from Japan, four sets of steel beams can form a steel bridge, and two sets are made just in case.
After the steel beams were ready, the US military sent all these steel beams to the Watergate Bridge through large transport aircraft and airdropped them.
Relying on this newly erected steel bridge, tens of thousands of American troops and more than a thousand tanks fled to Nanxing Port in a hurry, and when the large troops of the volunteer army arrived at Nanxing Port, the enemy army had already left by boat.
It can be said that if it were not for the huge industrial gap between China and the United States, these more than 10,000 enemy troops would be doomed to remain in the ice and snow of North Korea.
