Descendants of the 38th Army and the 47th Army of the Volunteer Army
North Korea Tour (VII)
——Tears in front of the martyr's tomb
Shao Xiaobing
Go to the east coast of North Korea
Take a look and take a walk
It's always been a longing I've dreamed of
Because there used to be
A very rare special battlefield
On April 20, the DPRK side arranged for us to visit Wonsan, the largest port city on the east coast of the DPRK, and the famous scenic spot of Jingangsan.
The geographical location of Motoyama City is very special and important, it is at the waist of the bee in Korea, facing the Sea of Japan, and is a natural harbor. During the Korean War, in addition to the Inchon landing, another landing site for the US military was Wonsan. In recent years, most of the missiles launched by the DPRK have also been selected in this area.
More than 200 kilometers from Pyongyang to Wonsan and more than 100 kilometers from Wonsan to Jingangsan on the eastern front, almost all of them are mountainous.
Looking through the car window, looking at the endless layers of mountains and green forests under the sun, I seem to see the battlefield of Chosin Lake 69 years ago, and I saw the flying snow and the volunteer soldiers who braved the cold of minus 40 degrees Celsius to the death.
Which campaign of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea is the most crucial, important, and influential is undoubtedly the second campaign, because it is a campaign to turn the tide of the war. The second campaign was divided into two battlefields, the east and the west, and the situation on the western front was relatively familiar to everyone, and the first four field troops that entered the DPRK were concentrated in this direction, and in addition to the outstanding results of the battle, the 38th Army also played the prestige of the "Long Live Army".
As for the situation on the Eastern Front, for various reasons, not many people know about it, and in the words of the experts in the history of the war, the Battle of Chosin Lake on the Eastern Front was: extremely difficult, extremely cruel, extremely tragic, and extremely tragic. As Chairman Mao pointed out in his telegram to the Volunteer Army: "The Ninth Corps has accomplished a huge strategic task under extremely difficult conditions in this operation on the Eastern Front. Due to the cold climate, lack of supplies and fierce fighting, the number of personnel was reduced by as much as 40,000, and the central government was extremely nostalgic for this."
Today, re-reading a set of numbers still makes it difficult for me to let go, and my heart is like a knife. In this battle, the Ninth Corps of the Volunteer Army (Sanye's troops, including the 20th, 26th, and 27th Armies) annihilated more than 13,900 enemy troops (excluding non-combat attrition), while our army suffered 19,202 combat casualties. In particular, it should be pointed out that the frostbite (disability) of our army has reduced the number of 28,954 people, of which more than 4,000 have died of frostbite; The total number of attritions was 48,156. The number of attritions was 32.1 per cent of the total number of soldiers in the corps. That is, one in every 3 men in the corps was killed or wounded or frostbitten. The Twentieth Army suffered the most severe frostbite, most of the cadres of the third level of the battalion company were frostbitten, and many of them were disabled and died. This was unprecedented in our army's previous wars, and the losses were so great that they were completely beyond the imagination and expectations of the war.
At that time, the Jiangnan disciples dressed in cotton clothes made according to southern standards did not have the experience and preparation of the four wild troops to fight in the cold areas. It was also a cold that had not been encountered in a hundred years. As soon as they entered the war zone, they encountered heavy snow. The snow reaches 40 centimeters, and the temperature plummets to 125 to 30 degrees, and reaches 140 degrees in some areas.
A desperate poem found in the pocket of the sacrificial warrior Song Amao
"It's harder than the Long March!" Years later, General Song Shilun, then commander of the Ninth Corps, said so.
Liao Zhengguo, then deputy commander of the 20th Army, also confirmed:
"The Long March has not been frozen for so long, nor has it been starving for so long!" (Note: The Eastern Front lasted 27 days.) ）
Chi Haotian, who was once vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, recalled:
"The Battle of Chosin Lake was more brutal than any of The Battles of The Three Wilds in the Civil War!"
As I wrote this, I couldn't help but choke, and my heart fluctuated uncontrollably, as if through the blurred tears, I saw the volunteer soldiers who were struggling to advance in the snowy fields like flowers on the rare sheep gut trail, in the cold currents of Siberia, in the vast ice fields where the birds were extinct. People keep falling, and they keep getting up and moving forward!
But many people can no longer stand up after falling. On the battlefield, many officers and men stubbornly charged and fought under the condition of freezing their fingers and toes.
According to historical records, the combat casualties and frostbite of the 79th Division of the 27th Army also reached 4/5 of the combatant establishment of the whole division, and the whole division was forced to be reduced to 5 infantry companies and two machine gun companies. Some teams of the 20th Army assembled fewer than a hundred fighters. The 88th Division, which was incorporated into the 26th Army, was abolished due to adverse combat losses and heavy casualties in battle and freezing and starvation.
What is even more touching and sad is that there are 3 "ice sculpture companies" that have frozen to death on the battlefield, they are: 6 companies of the 177th Regiment of the 20th Army, 2 companies of the 180th Regiment of the 20th Army, and 5 companies of the 240th Regiment of the 27th Army.
Among them, the freezing death of the fifth company of the 240th regiment of the 80th division of the 27th Army was even more heartbreaking, when the 5th company was waiting for the attack to start the position, but when the charge horn sounded, no one stood up to attack, and when the angry regimental battalion commander rushed to the front, the scene he saw was all painful and silent, and he wept with sorrow. The officers and men of an entire company that had been formed into a battle formation were all frozen to death in the snow, each holding a steel gun in preparation for the charge, staring angrily at the front, and none of them looked back.
The company of more than 100 people turned into ice sculptures that never melted, becoming "Qiu Shaoyun" in the snow!
A company of the 60th Division of the 20th Army, which had set up an ambush at the crucial Watergate Bridge, was in a favorable position. When the U.S. First Marine Division rushed across the Watergate Bridge to see the Frozen Chinese soldiers, several soldiers with grenades in hand were dying, and their spirit of seeing death as a homecoming made the enemy awe-inspired! When the follow-up troops arrived, they all cried a lot when they saw this, and then frantically rushed into the battlefield.
I sincerely admire and praise the troops of the Ninth Corps participating in the Battle of Chosin Lake, especially the Twentieth Army and the Twenty-seventh Army, who carried forward the tenacious spirit of "as long as there is one more person, this person will continue to fight", and made indelible achievements for winning the second battle.
In the Battle of Chosin Lake, the first special meritorious hero and special combat hero of the Chinese Volunteer Army emerged, and the first "hero of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea" of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army, Yang Gensi.
The 3rd Company of the 172nd Regiment of the 58th Division of the 20th Army was named "Yang Gensi Company" by the Headquarters of the Volunteer Army; The 31st Regiment of the 7th Infantry Division was completely annihilated by the 27th Army, the regimental commander, Colonel Aaron ▪ McLaughn, was killed, Lieutenant Colonel Don C. Foxe, who took over as the regimental commander, was captured, and the flag of the 31st Regiment was captured. This was the only formed unit of the US Army-level unit that was completely annihilated by the Chinese People's Volunteer Army in the entire War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. These honors and victories were earned with the lives of countless volunteer soldiers.
According to the recollections of the entourage, one day in September 1952, Song Shi, then deputy commander of the Volunteer Army and commander of the Battle of Changjin Lake, went to his post. He stopped by the Yalu River, and for a long time he did not say a word in the direction of Chosin Lake, his face was solemn, and he bit his lip. Only to see him take off his hat and bend down and bow deeply. When he looked up and put on his military hat to give a solemn military salute, people found that the iron-blooded general who had experienced hundreds of battles was already in tears.
I regret that this visit to the DPRK did not arrange a visit to the chosin lake area of the former battlefield, but I could only look at the direction of Chosin Lake on the Gaima Plateau and silently pay tribute to the martyrs!
The car arrived at Wonsan, and it was nearly noon. After lunch, the receptionist did not arrange for us to visit the cityscape, we only looked at the wonsan port and the blue sea in the distance.
According to the schedule, we will go to the tomb of the martyrs of the Wonsan Volunteer Army to pay tribute. This makes me, who knows a little bit about military history, a little confused. In this place of Wonsan, the troops of the Volunteer Army did not engage the "United Nations Army" on the ground, and after the second battle, Wonsan has been under the control of our army. Moreover, the eastern part of the armistice line near Wonsan was attacked and defended by the Korean People's Army from beginning to end. After inquiry, it was learned that at the end of 1952, in order to prevent the enemy from landing on the east and west coasts of Korea, the 12th, 15th and 21st Armies of the Volunteer Army and their subordinate units were deployed to fortify the eastern coastline of Korea. It is estimated that the volunteer officers and men who died in Wonsan were killed by enemy aircraft.
The bus we were riding on got off the main road and drove along a mountain village road, and the dust that rolled up could not be dissipated for a long time. It is sparsely populated, the land is barren, surrounded by several small villages, and the topography belongs to the semi-mountainous area. After traveling about a dozen kilometers, the car stopped at the bottom of a hillside, and looking up, there were dozens of tall pine trees on the mountain, and several local officials were waiting at the intersection.
The gray strips of stone steps, washed as clean as jade ladders by the rain, are surrounded by green grass and blooming wildflowers. Jiang Kebin and Liu Nanzheng carried the wreath up the stairs, the eldest sister of the Southern Expedition is nearly seventy years old, seeing that she has difficulties in climbing the slope with the wreath, someone wants to help her, but she insists on refusing, still moving forward with difficulty, which is really touching. Everyone silently followed, somehow? I felt the footsteps suddenly become particularly heavy, not a long distance, and seemed to have walked for a long, long time.
When I came to the slope, the scene in front of me made my heart tremble. On a flat ground the size of a basketball court, stood two huge graves, no tall monuments, and the surface of the tomb was not covered with cement, let alone any decoration, it was a completely old, original ordinary grave. Later, I learned that since the volunteers returned to China in 1958, we were the only Chinese to come to the festival. It is also surrounded by several volunteer cemeteries of the same size.
Oh, yes! I have seen countless tall and majestic martyrs' cemeteries built, but this kind of "shabby" martyrs' cemetery is the first time I have seen it. At this moment, I really want to thank the Korean comrades for their true presentation and intimate arrangement, which made me understand what is the meaning of "burying loyal bones everywhere in Qingshan".
We placed the liquor, canned food and food we brought from Beijing in front of the martyrs' tombs, and everyone lined up in a neat line to bow deeply to the martyrs, and I saw that everyone had a solemn expression and tears overflowed from their eyes. At the tomb of the martyrs, anyone with a conscience will show pity and sadness, not to mention that we are the descendants of the volunteer army.
Commander Jiang Kebin read out the sacrifice with emotion and full of sadness.
Volunteer descendants re-cross the river, bringing only sacrifices and no guns. With the liver and intestines of the martyrs, the heroic soul returned to his hometown as soon as possible. The rising sun in the East is shining brightly, the volunteer descendants continue to write history, cross the boundary river to inherit great love, and the friendship between China and north Korea is passed down for thousands of years.
Liu Jun, a descendant of the 38th Army, also recited the commemorative poems he wrote.
At the time of the Second Campaign to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the company commander of the "Longyuan Li Tegong Third Company," the son of the combat hero Zhang Youxi, The Former Deputy Chief of Staff of the 38th Group Army, and Zhai Dongchao, a descendant of the combat heroes of the 47th Army, gently sprinkled liquor on the martyrs' tombs, and the mellow aroma of wine spread in the air, and the drops of wine slowly penetrated into the grassy loess. I really hope that the heroic martyrs who are buried in the ground can taste this sweet wine from the motherland and feel the affectionate greetings and infinite thoughts of distant relatives.
We circled around the tomb of the martyrs for a long time, unwilling to leave for a long time, and everyone gathered around a small tombstone, carefully identifying and chanting the name on it, and the stele did not engrave the name, place of origin, age and position of the owner of the tomb, only a vivid name.
According to the North Korean comrades, more than 200 volunteer martyrs were collectively buried in these two tombs, and a small number of people left their names.
Sorrow poured from the heart, tears poured down, unconsciously I fell on the tombstone, my cheeks pressed against the top, although the touch was cold and stinging, but at the same time I felt that it was alive, it had temperature, heartbeat, blood flow, was not what I was embracing now a living volunteer soldier? At this moment, it seems that my ears hear the trumpets of the charge coming from the ground, the roar of bombs and the calls to my loved ones...
There are several unforgettable moments that move people. Comrade Shi Xiaosen knelt down in front of the martyr's tomb, tears flowing down his face, and he kept shouting: "My dear ones!" We're coming!
The two Koreans guarding the mausoleum: Kim Jin-chul and Lin Jung-ho hurried to come, and it is not difficult to see from their thick and simple expressions and the dark faces left by the perennial wind and sun that they are the grassroots people near here.
The DPRK side presented the calligraphy and paintings written by Zhong Jijun, a descendant of the 38th Army Volunteer Army, and the DPRK personnel happily accepted them.
Everyone shook hands with them and thanked them for waiting, caring for and managing this small cemetery of volunteer martyrs for many years. Indeed, the cemetery is clean and tidy, which is inseparable from their hard work.
When they left, Zhu Hua gave them a deep bow, which made the two feel honored and excited.
The DPRK personnel who have been quietly watching our martyrs' graves are deeply affected and touched by our true feelings, and I found that they are also silently wiping tears and sighing.
The local person in charge told me that every year on the Qingming Festival and important anniversaries, local people and Young Pioneers spontaneously and organized to visit the graves. Deputy Secretary-General Lin Guanghao of the DPRK-China Friendship Association later told me: Your actions just now are so touching, I have received many Chinese delegations, and it is rare to see people like you!
The activity of paying homage to the tomb of the volunteer martyrs is short-lived, the long-term thoughts are long-lasting, and the more pure spiritual activities like this, the better. I was thinking, strive to come back to Korea in my lifetime, go to the Volunteer Martyrs' Cemetery (cemetery) more, and let the emotion turn into action.
Leaving the cemetery, the car drove far, and looking back, the two tomb guards were still waving to us, and we should be deeply blessed with them, my strange and close Korean brothers! In the distance, the pine trees on the gradually blurred hillside resembled the soldiers in a line: tall, stoic, tenacious. Some people describe the pine tree as not decorated, and its coat, worn for years, decades, or even hundreds of years, although it looks rough and old, it is so solemn, heavy, and strong, and it can give people long-term attention than the gorgeous coat, which is a kind of deep admiration in the soul. I think that the heroic souls of the martyrs of the Volunteer Army have the temperament and character of the pine trees, and the martyrs of the Volunteer Army who are accompanied by pine trees will always stand tall in the heavens and the earth...
Note: It has been learned from relevant parties that the DPRK side is ready to, with the assistance of relevant Chinese departments, to concentrate on the burial of the volunteer martyrs' tombs (graves) scattered in the DPRK within a few years, and to build more, larger, and more standardized volunteer martyrs' cemeteries.