In 1950, after the first campaign to resist US aggression and aid Korea, the volunteer army adopted the strategy of deliberately showing weakness, arrogantly indulging the enemy army, and luring the enemy to penetrate deeply, luring the enemy to the terrain conditions of the land, waiting for work, and suddenly holding a counterattack, thus achieving the campaign objective of the second campaign.
On the Eastern Front, the U.S. 10th Army, on MacArthur's orders, shifted its main assault direction from North along Chosin Lake to Wupingli to the west, with the 1st Marine Division as the main offensive. Therefore, the 5th Regiment of the 1st Marine Division, located on the east bank of the Chosin Lake Reservoir, was transferred to Liutanli, and the cover task of this flank was entrusted to the units of the US 7th Division at that time.
Because the distribution of troops in the Chosin Lake area was too dispersed, the US 7th Division had to form the 31st Regimental Combat Brigade of the 31st Battalion, the 2nd Battalion of the 31st Regiment (missing E Company, replaced by 1st Battalion B Company), the 1st Battalion of the 32nd Regiment, the 57th Field Artillery Battalion (missing C Company, replaced by the D Company of the 15th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion), and the heavy mortar company and tank company of the 31st Regiment, into a 31st Regimental Combat Team under the command of Colonel Alan McLean, commander of the 31st Regiment. Responsible for combat missions on the eastern shore of Chosin Lake.
The 31st Regiment of the US 7th Division, the so-called "Polar Bear Regiment", was formed during World War I and was nicknamed the "Polar Bear Regiment" for participating in the intervention against the Soviet Union from 1918 to 1920, so the flag of the regiment was painted with polar bears.
In fact, only the 3rd Battalion of the 31st Regiment, the 1st Battalion of the 32nd Regiment, and the 57th Artillery Battalion of the 31st Regiment actually entered the Chosin Lake area, and the 2nd Battalion of the 31st Regiment was still on its way to Chosin Lake. On November 27, the U.S. 31st Regimental Combat Team took over the position of the U.S. 5th Marine Regiment on the east bank of Chosin Lake. Its specific distribution is that the 1st Battalion of the 32nd Regiment established positions at Neidongzhi, the 31st Regiment 3rd Battalion and the 57th Artillery Battalion at Xinxingli, and the 31st Regiment Tank Company and the Regimental Headquarters Company established positions in Houpu. In order to facilitate command, the regimental commander, Colonel McLean, set up a forward command post in the inner cave.
Xinxingli is a small, humble village on the eastern shore of Lake Chosin, located about 16 kilometers northeast of Shimogaru-ri. To the north of Xinxingli, the Fengliuli River, which is connected to Lake Chosin, lies horizontally in an east-west direction (frozen). From the Fengliuli River Bridge, cross the Fengliuli River to the west, walk along the mountain road for about 5 kilometers, and you will come to a village called Neidongzhi. The village has Highland 1318 to the northwest and Highland 1476 to the northeast, and the road on the east bank of Lake Chosin passes between the two highlands. From Xinxingli, head south along the road, you will reach the small town of Houpu between Xinxingli and Hagaru-ri, about 7 kilometers from Shimogasumi-ri.
At dusk on 27 November, the 31st Regimental Combat Team faced the strength of four regiments of the 80th And 242nd Regiment of the 81st Division of the Volunteer Army. The direction of Xinxingli was the assist direction of the 27th Army of the 9th Corps of the Volunteer Army, commanded by Zhan Danan, deputy commander of the 27th Army and commander of the 80th Division, and it was planned to attack Neidongzhi with the 1st Battalion and 3rd Battalion of the 240th Regiment of the 80th Division, the main force of the 80th Division attacking Xinxingli, and the 242nd Regiment of the 81st Division penetrating south of Xinxingli, cutting off the road to Houpu.
Map of the Battle of Chosin Lake
On the night of I, 27 and 28, they were hit hard by the 80th Division of the Volunteer Army
After sunset on November 27, the wind and snow were thick, and the temperature on the east shore of Chosin Lake was minus 35 degrees. At Neidong Ridge, the three companies of the 1st Battalion of the US 32nd Regiment were connected end to end, forming an arc-shaped position convex to the north on the high ground. Among them, Company A occupied the 1318 heights northwest of neidongzhi, company C occupied the 1476 highlands northeast of neidongzhi, and company B was on the east side of the highlands and was responsible for covering the eastern side. The battalion headquarters is set up in the houses north of neidong stand.
In Xinxingli, the 3rd Battalion of the US 31st Regiment and the 57th Artillery Battalion established a circular position around the south bank of the Fengliuli River. Among them, the K Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 31st Regiment is deployed in the northeast of the village and the southern end of the Fengliuli River Bridge, the I Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 31st Regiment is responsible for the east of the village, the A and B companies of the 57th Artillery Battalion are responsible for the south of the village, and the D Company of the 15th Air Defense Brigade is responsible for the west of the village; The 3rd Battalion Headquarters of the US 31st Regiment, the L Company of the 3rd Battalion of the US 31st Regiment, and the M Company (Heavy Weapons Company) were deployed in the village.
At 12:00 a.m., the volunteers began to attack. In the direction of Neidong Ridge, the 1st And 3rd Battalion of the 240th Regiment launched an attack on three companies deployed on the 1318th Hill and the 1476 Heights, destroyed the B Company and the C Company, occupied the 1476 Heights, broke into the village, inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy, and due to insufficient follow-up strength, stopped the attack after dawn, withdrew from the village, but still occupied the east of the 1476 Heights.
In the direction of Xinxingli, the 238th Regiment and the 2nd Battalion of the 240th Regiment attacked the Xinxingli ring position from the north and east, and the 239th Regiment from the south, under the cover of mortar fire. To the east, the K Company, I Company, and A Company of the 57th Artillery Battalion of the U.S. 31st Regiment were destroyed, and the artillery was captured by the volunteers. After breaking into Xinxingli, I fought with the enemy for houses, and soon cleared the houses guarded by the headquarters of the 3rd Battalion of the US 31st Regiment one by one, and Lieutenant Colonel Riley, the commander of the 3rd Battalion of the US 31st Regiment, was seriously injured. In addition, Lieutenant Colonel Embury, commander of the U.S. 57th Artillery Battalion, was also wounded in the melee. Only the B Company of the US 57th Artillery Battalion and the M Company (Heavy Weapons Company) of the US 31st Regiment in the village are still stubbornly resisting in the Xinxingli ring position. At the crack of dawn, the 80th Division withdrew from Xinxingli, the Americans restored all the positions lost during the night, and the 105 howitzers abandoned by artillery Company A were all returned to the Americans intact.
At 7:00 a.m. on November 28, Hods, deputy commander of the U.S. 7th Division, personally led the U.S. 31st Regimental Headquarters and tank company from Houpu to try to reinforce Xinxingli. After advancing north along the road for about 1500 meters, it encountered a roadblock set up by the 242nd Regiment of the 81st Division of the Volunteer Army. After the team stopped, the first two tanks were blown up by the volunteer demolitionists in a few moments, and the American troops retreated to the rear, and the rescue of Brigadier General Hodz was easily repelled by the volunteers.
Around dark on January 28, the U.S. forces in Neidongzhi and Xinxingli ushered in a second bloody night. At 6 p.m., the sun had just set shortly after. The 238th and 239th Regiments, the main forces of the Chinese 80th Division, launched an onslaught on Xinxingli from two directions under the cover of mortar fire. Among them, the 238th Regiment of the 80th Division attacked the K and I companies of the 3rd Battalion of the US 31st Regiment from the east, the 239th Regiment of the 80th Division attacked the US 57th Artillery Battalion from the west and south, and the 2nd Battalion of the 240th Regiment of the 80th Division was responsible for blocking the Neidongzhi -- Xinxingli Highway.
The officers and men of the 80th Division followed in succession, shouting wave after wave, repeatedly attacking the Xinxingli ring position from two directions. By midnight, the positions of the K and I companies of the US 31st Regiment and the US 57th Artillery Regiment had been opened, and the Xinxingli ring position was in danger of collapsing. At this time, the M19 half-track 40 mm self-propelled anti-aircraft guns deployed in the west of the village opened fire, and under the fierce fire of the M19 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns and various firearms, the officers and men of the 80th Division, who had suffered heavy losses and were cold and tired, could not continue to break through, further expanded the results of the battle, and had no choice but to retreat after dawn on the 29th. The K Company and I Company of the 31st Regiment suffered about half of the losses and were merged into one rifle company.
Around 8:00 p.m., the 1st and 3rd Battalions of the 240th Regiment launched a second onslaught on NeidongZhi, with the 1st Battalion of the 240th Regiment making a frontal attack, while the main force of the battalion detoured to the western flank exposed by Company A and broke into the position of Company A. Feith, commander of the 1st Battalion of the U.S. 32nd Regiment, drew 30 men from the battalion headquarters to replenish Company A.
By 11 p.m., the 1st Battalion of the 240th Regiment was in a standoff with the Americans at Heights 1318. At the same time, the 3rd Battalion of the 240th Regiment attacked upwards from the eastern slope of Hill 1476 in an attempt to break through the combined headquarters of Company C and Company B. However, under heavy enemy machine gun fire and 81 mm mortar fire, it was suppressed on the eastern slope of Hill 1476.
At 2 a.m., Colonel McLean and Lieutenant Colonel Fiss were afraid of being annihilated alone, and the two decided to withdraw the battalion to Xinxingli to join the other two battalions there. Lieutenant Colonel Fiss decided to abandon the various miscellaneous supplies carried on the trucks to transport more than 100 wounded throughout the battalion.
At 4:30 a.m., all vehicles of the 1st Battalion of the U.S. 32nd Regiment turned off their headlights and began to retreat slowly south along the road in the cold darkness of the night. Infantry from Company C and Company B walked east and west on both sides of the road to protect the convoy. At dawn, when the battalion reached the northern end of the Fengliuli Bridge, about 1500 meters from Xinxingri, it was blocked by a roadblock set up by the Volunteer Army, and was immediately fired by the rifle machine gun fire of the 2nd Battalion of the 240th Regiment.
Battalion Commander Fiss immediately ordered the Campbell Platoon Commander of D Company to take his two heavy machine guns and a 75 mm seatless gun to the high ground on the side of the road and take frontal cover; Company B and Company C took the mountain road to the back of the barricade, and led Company A to go around the back of the barricade from the frozen lake of Chosin Lake. In this way, the three companies, acting together with the heavy weapons of Campbell's platoon commander, broke through the barricades.
At 9:00 a.m., the 1st Battalion of the US 32nd Regiment crossed the Fengliuli River Bridge and entered Xinxingli in its entirety, joining forces with the 3rd Battalion of the US 31st Regiment and the US 57th Artillery Battalion. During the breakout, Colonel McLean, the commander of the U.S. 31st Regiment, was killed by our volunteers.
Ii. Annihilated by our 80th Division on the way to retreat
As a result of the death of Colonel McLean, the commander of the 31st Regiment, the commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 31st Regiment and the commander of the 57th Artillery Battalion, and Lieutenant Colonel Feith, commander of the 1st Battalion of the 32nd Regiment, became the commander of the 31st Regimental Combat Team.
As the remnants of the U.S. army entered Xinxingli, after two consecutive nights of bloody fighting, the already dilapidated Xinxingli ring position was finally replenished by about 500 officers and men. At the same time, the Marine Corps Marine and Air Liaison Group of the 1st Battalion of the 32nd Regiment also restored land-air liaison in Xinxingli.
Lieutenant Colonel Fiss began to strengthen the new inner ring position, forming a ring position with artillery as the core and infantry companies as the periphery. The K and I companies northeast of the village were merged into one company, the 57th Artillery Battalion, which suffered heavy casualties, was transferred into the village to occupy positions, and the three rifle companies of the 1st Battalion of the 32nd Regiment were deployed in the ring position from southeast to northwest. Inside the village are the 57th Artillery Battalion, the battalion headquarters of the three battalions, the D Company (heavy weapons company) of the 1st Battalion of the US 32nd Regiment, the L Company of the 3rd Battalion of the US 31st Regiment, and the M Company (heavy weapons company) of the 3rd Battalion of the US 31st Regiment.
The Land-Air Liaison Group called for support from the "Pirate" aircraft and requested the transport aircraft to resupply the ammunition. On the afternoon of November 29, two C119 transport planes and a helicopter flew over Xinxingli. The transport plane dropped much-needed ammunition from the defenders, and the helicopter carried away the wounded Lieutenant Colonel Riley, commander of the 3rd Battalion of the U.S. 31st Regiment, and Lieutenant Colonel Bryan, the commander of the U.S. 57th Artillery Battalion. But the two battalion commanders were taken away, which was a heavy blow to the morale of the defenders in the new village.
On the afternoon of November 29, Hodz, deputy commander of the US 7th Division, organized the tank company and regimental headquarters company of the US 31st Regiment to try to open the Xinxingli-Houpu Highway again. The Chinese 242nd Regiment was still rock-solid in its retreat to the south by Fester's detachment, and the second attempt to open the road failed.
At dusk on the same day, the US 10th Army issued a retreat order to its subordinate units on the Eastern Front. The 31st Regimental Combat Team was under the control of the 1st Marine Division. However, the 5th and 7th Regiments of the 1st Marine Division were unable to protect themselves, and the Marines in Hagaru-ri were unable to divide their troops to go to the east bank of Chosin Lake to rescue the 31st Regiment Combat Team. Nothing can be done but provide air support. On the morning of the 30th, the 2nd Battalion of the 31st Regiment finally began to move north to Hagaru-ri, and before they could go far, they received direct orders from the military headquarters to drive to Gutuli to assist the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Marine Regiment in defending there.
The 31st Regiment Combat Team in Xinxingli was under siege and became a truly lone army. There are only two ways out: rely on air support to hold Xinxingli, and wait for the Marines to come to the rescue in a few days; Break south, retreat into Shimogaru-ri, and join the Marines. Either way out is quite dangerous.
On the night of November 29, Xinxingli, who was under siege, spent a relatively quiet night. During the day on November 30, U.S. Marine Corps "Corsair" aircraft continued to circle around Xinxingli, providing strong air protection for the Xinxingli defenders. On November 30, the 27th Army adjusted its deployment, and the 241st Regiment of the 81st Division finally rushed from the direction of Zhan Lake to the east bank of Chosin Lake after several days of extremely arduous marching, and joined the siege of Xinxingli. In this way, the Chinese army used to besiege Xinxingli with as many as five regiments (three regiments of the 80th Division, the 241st and 242nd regiments of the 81st Division), determined to launch a general offensive on the night of the 30th and annihilate the 31st Regimental Combat Team.
At night, Xinxingli was shrouded in darkness. The wind and snow are mixed, and the temperature is below -30 degrees. At 10:00 p.m., the 241st Regiment of the 80th Division took the lead and launched an unsuccessful attack on the A Company of the US 32nd Regiment from the southwest of the village. Subsequently, the 241st Regiment turned its attack to the north of the C Company of the US 32nd Regiment, trying to open a breakthrough from here. The officers and men of the 241st Regiment ignored the fierce fire of the C Company and repeatedly launched a series of surprise attacks forward and back. By midnight, the 241st Regiment had suffered heavy losses and had to stop the attack on Company C.
Just after midnight, the 80th Division lined up the 240th, 238th, and 239th Regiments from north to south in the east of Xinxingli, and launched a fierce attack on the K and I companies of the 3rd Battalion of the US 31st Regiment to the east of Xinxingli. By 3 a.m., the 240th Regiment had broken through the K Company's position from the northeast, tearing open a large opening in the northeast of the circular position. Soon after, another company broke into the positions of Company K and Company I. However, due to the lack of modern means of communication, although the troops have opened a breakthrough, they cannot gather follow-up forces to develop the offensive, and the officers and men who break into the enemy position can only fight in the same place.
Thus, at the breakthrough point and the four breakthrough points to the northeast of the circular position, the volunteers and the remnants of the K and I companies formed a confrontation until dawn. Lieutenant Colonel Fiss in the village immediately ordered the D Company (Heavy Weapons Company) of the US 32nd Regiment to organize a counterattack and reseal the breakthrough northeast of the Xinxingli Ring Position. By this time, it was already dawn, and after a fierce battle in the middle of the night, the U.S. army held the eastern half of the Xinxingli ring position.
After dawn, wild storms and snow enveloped Xinxingli, which meant that the Xinxingli ring position could not receive air support. Under the cover of the wind and snow, the volunteer army continued to attack, with the 241st Regiment from the west and the three regiments of the 80th Division from the east and south, launching a new offensive. By 10:00 a.m., four Chinese regiments and the Feist detachment had entered a white-hot state around the attack and defense of Xinxingli. The 31st Regiment's combat team was soon overwhelmed, and Lieutenant Colonel Fiss began to consider withdrawing from Xinxingli.
At this time, a Viking plane suddenly appeared from the clouds, came over Xinxingli, made contact with the ground, and told Lieutenant Colonel Feith that the weather might improve at noon that day, and the Marines' aircraft would fully cover the task force's breakthrough to Shimogaru-ri. After an hour, the snow was getting lighter and the weather was starting to improve.
Fiss was determined to set the breakout time at 1 p.m. The units of the 31st Regimental Combat Team immediately began to act on the orders of Fass, deciding to discard all their bulky equipment and break through lightly. The 57th Artillery Battalion ran out of all remaining shells, then destroyed 105 howitzers and blew up trailers; D Company of the 15th Air Defense Group destroyed almost all of its self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, leaving only one M19 self-propelled anti-aircraft gun and one M16 half-track self-propelled quadruple anti-aircraft machine gun to be responsible for opening the way ahead in the event of retreat. The 22 trucks and jeeps left were reserved for the seriously wounded of the 600 wounded, while the rest had to retreat on foot.
At 1 p.m., the 31st Regimental Combat Team began to retreat southwest. At the front of the line, the M16 self-propelled anti-aircraft machine gun carried Lieutenant Motrud, the platoon leader of the 3rd Platoon of C Company, and several soldiers, who were responsible for opening the way; This was followed by the C Company of the 32nd Regiment, followed by 22 vehicles carrying the seriously wounded and the M19 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, while the lightly wounded advanced on foot with their vehicles. To the west of the vehicle column was the frozen lake of Chosin Lake, and to the east was the A Company and B Company of the 32nd Regiment. Company A is in front and Company B is in the rear, traveling on the east side of the highway, protecting the east side of the convoy. Behind the convoy were the footmen, from front to back, the 57th Artillery Battalion A and B companies, the 32nd Regiment Heavy Mortar Company, the 31st Regiment 3 battalion, the 15th Air Defense Brigade D Company.
The 31st Regimental Combat Team had just left Xinxing when it encountered stubborn resistance from the 241st Volunteer Regiment. On the road southwest of the village, barricades were set up to block the convoy's way. The four "Viking" planes that were circling overhead saw the situation and immediately dropped napalm bombs on the barricades. Napalm broke through the barricade, but also hit the 3rd Platoon of C Company at the front of the column, and the M16 anti-aircraft machine gun that was supposed to open the way suddenly burned up, and the C Company formation became chaotic, and the wounded convoy behind it also followed. Subsequently, the other pedestrians fell into the confusion of the formation like dominoes, and soon the various units were mixed together, and they were chaotically walking south along the road.
Officers and men of the Volunteer 241st Regiment on the east side of the road continued to fire light weapons on the road, creating more chaos for the American army. As a result, the formation of the vehicle column was even more chaotic. Company C of the U.S. 32nd Regiment, which was the vanguard, and Company A, which was the vanguard, had completely lost its structure. The officers and men of the two companies were in groups of three or five, mixed up in front of and behind the line. Seeing this, Lieutenant Colonel Feith had to let Company B, which still maintained a certain order, serve as the new front flank.
At the front of the line, Lieutenant Motrud, commanding Company C, led 11 soldiers as they raced south along the road and opened fire to the east, about 3 kilometers southwest of Xinxingli. Here, a frozen mountain stream crossed them, and there was a bridge on the creek that had been blown up by the volunteers. No sooner had they crossed the ice stream and stepped onto the south bank than they were shot at the 3rd Battalion of the Volunteer Regiment's 242nd Regiment on the 1221 High Ground on the commanding heights south of the remnant bridge. Lieutenant Motrud was shot in the head and fainted on the ground. The dozen or so soldiers who followed him fled desperately, abandoned him, and rushed south. At this time, the time is more than 2 p.m.
Highland 1221 is located about 4 km southwest of Xinxingli. Below the western slope of the highland is the ice surface of Lake Chosin, and below the eastern slope is the highway – here, the road circles a semicircle around the entire eastern half of highland 1221 before pointing straight south. Therefore, the highland is the key to blocking the Xinxing-ri- Hagaru-ri Highway. When the volunteers occupied this area, they were able to control a section of the road about 1 km long on the high ground with firepower. If the 31st Regiment Fighting Team could not destroy the Volunteer positions on Hill 1221, it would not have been able to escape.
By 3 p.m., the column of vehicles crowded into a regiment also reached the northern end of the Ice Creek Broken Bridge, and the 3rd Battalion of the 242nd Regiment on the 1221 heights immediately concentrated infantry machine gun fire on the column. Now, the officers and men of the 31st Regiment Combat Team had lost their morale and were hiding in the vehicles, as if they would be safer. Lieutenant Colonel Fiss was so anxious that he ordered his vehicles to rush across the creek at all costs, and then began to organize the infantry to muster up the courage to attack the 1221 heights.
Under The Strict Orders of Fiss, the convoy of wounded began to cross the creek at the risk of crushing the ice. The first to act was the M19 self-propelled anti-aircraft gun. It braved the rain of bullets to reach the south bank, and then began to drag the vehicles to the south bank one by one. The car that crossed the creek continued south along the road until it reached the eastern slope of Highland 1221. Here, the convoy was forced to stop in front of a barricade. Rifle machine gun fire from the 3rd Battalion of the 242nd Regiment of the Volunteer Army on the 1221 High Ground then poured into the convoy, while the lightly wounded American and Korean casualties around the convoy relied on the vehicles to return fire, and the two sides fired at each other.
At the same time, Feith and several officers were mobilizing The American and Korean infantry to organize an attack on Hill 1221, and soon gathered more than 600 people. Under the cover of the "pirate" aircraft, they began to attack from east to west in the following four routes: Fis led 350 men to detour towards the eastern slope of Hill 1221; Captain Kitts, commander of the K Company of the U.S. 31st Regiment, led 210 men to attack along the road; Beagle, commander of the D Company of the 32nd Regiment, led 75 men (mostly lightly wounded) from the front to the 1221 heights; Smith, commander of A Company of the U.S. 32nd Regiment, led 15 men on a hill on the western slope of Hill 1221. However, when the four-way men and horses began to attack, most of the other officers and men in the column who were not organized scattered and fled to the ice of Chosin Lake to the west.
Of the four lines of forces attacking The 1221 Heights, the other three fled to the west of the Chosin Lake Ice After occupying the 1221 Heights. Only Lieutenant Colonel Fiss's 350 men detoured southeast of Hill 1221 to the back of the barricade, where Lieutenant Colonel Fiss led a small number of men to carry out a surprise attack and open the road. However, Lieutenant Colonel Fiss was killed by a grenade with a kidney injury and died of his injuries.
It was 6:30 p.m. and it was already dark. The convoy of wounded continued south. By this time, the number of vehicles in the convoy of wounded had been reduced to 15, and the M19 self-propelled anti-aircraft gun had been abandoned because it was out of gas. The entire convoy, covered by lightly wounded and uninjured soldiers walking on both sides of the vehicle, slowly headed south in the darkness of the cold night. By 8 p.m., the convoy approached Houpu, and the officers and men saw the two piles of tank wreckage left on the road by the tank company of the US 31st Regiment on the 28th. Bypassing the tank wreckage, the convoy walked another 1500 meters south to reach Houpu.
Since the U.S. 31st Regiment Tank Company and regimental headquarters company in Goura withdrew to Hagaru-ri on November 30, the 1st Battalion of the 242nd Regiment of the Volunteer Army had already occupied Goura and was waiting for the Americans for a long time. The officers in the convoy discussed that the volunteers had already occupied Houpu and that the convoy and the small number of infantry covering the vehicles would commit suicide if they tried to force their way along the road through Houpu. For now, the only way to do this was for the infantry to cross the ice to the west and escape on their own, while the vehicles forced their way through the back pool to try their luck. In general, it is possible to escape one and count one. Thus, the infantry covering the vehicle quickly fled in half, with about 100 men volunteering to stay. Immediately, more than 70 of them launched a tentative attack on Houpu, which was met with stubborn resistance and quickly withdrew to the vehicle.
By 10 p.m., the 3rd Battalion of the 242nd Regiment of the Volunteer Army moved south and began to attack the rear end of the convoy. The convoy began to enter Houpu first, and just as it was about to enter the town, it was met with machine gun fire from the 1st Battalion of the 242nd Regiment of the Volunteer Army from both sides of the road. In a few moments, the driver of the first three cars was shot and killed. The three cars suddenly crashed into a ball, and the road was blocked. The officers and men who were able to leave the convoy had no choice but to abandon their vehicles and flee for their lives, leaving all the seriously wounded in the full car in place, and the tortuous retreat of the convoy of the wounded ended in failure. In this way, on the night of December 1, the combat team of the 31st Regiment of the US 7th Division was completely annihilated by the Chinese 27th Army. The three battalions lost all their vehicles and heavy equipment, and only 490 officers and men who escaped to Hagaru-ri were uninjured, and were organized as army battalions during the retreat of the 1st Marine Division. Among the abandoned supplies and equipment of the US 31st Regimental Combat Team, the officers and men of the 239th Volunteer Regiment found a flag. There is a polar bear on the flag, which is the flag of the 31st Regiment. Today, the flag is still displayed in the Military Museum in Beijing for visitors to see.
Polar bear flag
Third, the reasons for the collapse of the US 31st Regimental Combat Team
1. Weak brigades are alone
In the early days of the Korean War, the original mission of the US 7th Division was to remain in Japan. As an occupying force that remained in place, the combat effectiveness and personnel quality of the division were even inferior to those of the US 25th Division, the US 2nd Division, the US 24th Division, and the US 1st Cavalry Division, which were also in the Army, and even more so, and even worse than the Marine Corps.
On the afternoon of November 30, Almond, Commander Smith of the U.S. 1st Marine Division, Barr, Commander of the U.S. 7th Division, and Hodz, Deputy Division Commander, held a meeting in Hagaru-ri and made a decision not to rescue the Fester detachment for a short time. The sacrifice of the 31st Regimental Combat Team only affected the situation on the eastern shore of Chosin Lake, and the cutting off of the Long Pass would prevent the US 1st Marine Division from withdrawing from the Gaima Plateau. The trade-off between the two naturally focuses on the long pass. As an army, the 31st Regimental Combat Team could only be temporarily abandoned by the US 10th Army and became a truly lone army.
The officers and men of the 31st Regimental Combat Team itself were not resolute in their will to fight, their organization and command were ineffective, and the timing of retreat was unfavorable. In the process of retreating, the form of the new marching army was disrupted. On the way, in front of the Ice Creek Broken Bridge, the 1221 Highland, and the Houpu Three Times, there was a phenomenon of officers and soldiers breaking up. In the face of the brave battle of the volunteer army in the ice and snow, it is reasonable that it will eventually collapse.
2. Arrogance and arrogance
In this battle, although the firepower gap between the two sides was very large, the 31st Regimental Combat Team repeatedly violated the taboo of dispersing troops, and its ring position configuration was also very loose, far less tight than several ring positions of the Marine Corps. On the night of November 27, when the main force of the US 1st Marine Division was fighting in Liutan to meet the volunteer attack, the officers and men of the US 31st Regimental Combat Team fell asleep. Officers and men of the Volunteer 80th Division stormed into the Xinxing-ri ring position and stabbed many American and South Korean soldiers who were still sleeping with bayonets in their sleeping bags. The volunteers who rushed into the village of Xinxingli used submachine guns and grenades to wipe out the American troops sleeping inside room by room.
On the afternoon of November 28, U.S. 10th Army Commander Almond flew by helicopter to Neidong, and a farcical ceremony was held. Almond pointed to the map and said to Commander McLean and Battalion Fiss: "At the moment, all that is holding you back is the remnants of the Chinese army fleeing north." We still have to attack, we still have to fight to the yalu River. Don't let a few Chinese washers stop you! (Many Chinese in the United States worked as laundromats, which is a derogatory term for Chinese)" Therefore, the two retreats of the 31st Regimental Combat Team were decided on the spur of the moment during the battle and were not well planned.
3. Get out of the rear
Smith, commander of the 1st Marine Division, established a series of supply positions along the way during his march to Liutanli, and his 1st Regiment was responsible for protecting its logistical transportation lines. The supplies stored in Zhenxingli, Gutuli, Hagaru-ri, and Liutanli enabled the Marines to receive supplies in a timely manner. The airfield built in Hagaru-ri transported 4,500 wounded, relieving the Marines' retreat.
In contrast, the 31st Regimental Combat Team was light and fierce, and the rear was left alone once it was cut off by the 242nd Regiment of the Volunteer Army. Its breakthrough in Xinxing was also relatively hasty, the retreat was not replenished with ammunition and materials, and some small arms only had one magazine left; The vehicle column, carrying 600 wounded, had to retreat along the road; Two companies of the 31st Regimental Combat Brigade were withdrawn to Hagaru-ri, and the retreat was lost. Retreats on the battlefield are the most difficult, and it is difficult to succeed by relying on lone troops.
In the Battle of Chosin Lake to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the Volunteer Army basically annihilated the 31st Regiment Combat Team of the US 7th Division in Xinxingli, killing the regimental commander and capturing the regimental flag, creating the only example of the Volunteer Army's total annihilation of the regiment in the entire Korean War. Even the 1st Marine Division, in an interview with television in his later years, said: "If the Chinese have certain air power and logistical support, the 1st Marine Division will certainly not want to escape alive." ”