Author: Kuyutei
In September 1950, the 50th Army of the People's Liberation Army stationed in Changsha, Hubei Province, received orders to go north to join the Northeast Frontier Army. At that time, the Korean War had broken out, and for the security of the northeast border, the northeast border guard army was established, and 700,000 troops were assembled to prepare for battle.
The 50th Army was an uprising unit of the former 60th Army of the Nationalist Army in Changchun, which was established for a relatively short time, and although it participated in the battle to liberate Yunnan, its foundation was relatively thin, and it did not fight any tough battles in two years.
Political Commissar Xu Wenlie was worried about this, many cadres of the 50th Army are insurrectionary cadres, and in the sequence of the People's Liberation Army, the combat effectiveness is relatively average, if you want to fight with the US army, which has absolute superiority, can the 50th Army do it?
It is true that the 50th Army will face the most severe test since its formation. On October 25, 1950, the 50th Army, as the first batch of volunteers to enter Korea, crossed the Yalu River and began to fight.
It is gratifying that before leaving for North Korea, political commissar Xu Wenlie made more preparations to let Hubei urgently supply cotton clothes to the whole army, and it was this decision that saved the lives of an unknown number of people.
As soon as it entered Korea, the 50th Army encountered many problems, the US planes were too rampant, not only wantonly bombarded in the air, but even chased soldiers to strafe, in order to reduce casualties, the 50th Army could only march at night and hide during the day, so the speed of the march was greatly reduced.
A US marine division is equipped with 950 guns of various kinds and has a tank regiment, while the entire army of the 50th Army has only 16 mountain guns, 45 82 mortars, and 10 chemical mortars.
The huge difference in equipment and all kinds of discomfort on the battlefield made the 50th Army a little overwhelmed. In the first battle, the 50th Army fought as a campaign reserve, and several battles were fought, and although there were small victories, they also let go of the enemy that was supposed to be destroyed.
The first battle fought by the 50th Army in Korea did not grasp the timing of killing the enemy well, and it can even be said that it was a defeat. But after the war, Peng Dehuai only scolded the 38th Army and did not mention the 50th Army at all.
The 38th Army is the trump card in the volunteer army, and its combat effectiveness is also recognized in the four wildernesses, due to a wrong intelligence, the 38th Army did not penetrate Xichuan in time to block the enemy's retreat and missed the fighters.
After the war, Peng Dehuai gave a meeting to the commander, and in front of everyone, he scolded Liang Xingchu, commander of the 38th Army: "A black regiment scared you to pee? The 38th Army is the main force? The main bird! ”
Liang Xingchu was scolded so much that he couldn't raise his head, and he secretly made up his mind that he must fight well next time.
General Zeng Zesheng
Zeng Zesheng, commander of the 50th Army, saw it in his eyes and hurt in his heart, and the performance of the 50th Army in the first battle was equally unsatisfactory, but Mr. Peng did not mention the 50th Army at all.
Zeng Zesheng knows very well that this is called a drum that is not afraid of the hammer, why does Mr. Peng not mention the 50th Army at all? On the one hand, it can be considered that this is a care for the 50th Army, after all, the 50th Army is an insurrectionary force, with a short formation time and a more complex composition of the troops; On the other hand, it can only be shown that the 50th Army is not yet that drumming and is not qualified to be hammered.
This is like an excellent student and a poor student, an excellent student who does not do well in an exam will definitely receive "key attention" from the teacher, or even severe criticism, but for a poor student, the teacher may not pay attention.
In Zeng Zesheng's view, the 50th Army is like that bad student, and the 38th Army is the top student. The second battle immediately began, and the 50th Army went to the battlefield again, and this time the action plan was originally no problem, the 148th Division was responsible for the attack, the 150th Division cooperated, and the 149th Division was responsible for interspersing and blocking the enemy's retreat.
However, the deputy commander of the 148th Division led the team to the wrong way and did not arrive at the designated place in time, again delaying the fighters. In the second battle, the 38th Army quickly penetrated into Sansholi and Longyuanli, fought a big turnaround, and taught the enemy a hard lesson, and Mr. Peng did not hesitate to praise and shouted: "Long live the 38th Army!" ”
Since then, the 38th Army has not only become the strongest unit in the volunteer army, but also the name of the Banzai Army is also well-known at home and abroad. On the other hand, the 50th Army threw itself into the air three times in the second battle, and Zeng Zesheng's pressure was obvious.
Although the 50th Army was not criticized by name, it was still required to summarize and review. The 50th Army Headquarters held a meeting, and the commander Zeng Zesheng did not hear the words of reflecting on mistakes and humbly asking for advice, but heard a bunch of complaints.
Some cadres said: "The old foundation of the 50th Army is not good, and they dare not penetrate it." Some said: "It's not a matter of tactics, but the insurgents are afraid of the Americans." ”
After everyone discussed for a while, many veteran cadres of the People's Liberation Army complained: "You should not leave the old army and come to the 50th Army." "A lot of people are asking for the old unit to be transferred back.
When Zeng Zesheng saw his subordinates in chaos, he really couldn't suppress the fire, and shouted: "I'll go as a cook for the 38th Army!" The old cadres' comments caused the dignity of the uprising cadres to be swept away, and the venue fell into an extremely embarrassing situation for a while.
In order to ease the atmosphere, Li Zuo, chief of staff of the rebel cadres army, said with a smile: "You can transfer back to the old troops, where will our uprising cadres be transferred?" ”
After everyone listened, they calmed down, and everyone knew that it was not possible to fight a war, and it was not possible to complain about the soldiers, and the main problem was still on the cadres.
Subsequently, political commissar Xu Wenlie took the initiative to report to Zhi Si and assumed responsibility for missing fighters in two battles. In fact, after the Changchun Uprising, the 50th Army was reliable after a long period of training and transformation, and the troops were by no means so vulnerable, in other words, the strength of the 50th Army was underestimated.
After experiencing the first two battles, the 50th Army made up its mind, on the one hand, actively searched for its own reasons, summed up experience, and strengthened confidence on the other hand, in the subsequent battles, the soldiers only held one belief: die to die, live to live, do not die as a hero, live as a hero!
Zeng Zesheng, commander of the 50th Army, took the lead in setting an example for the soldiers, and when the US fighters attacked, the staff officers of the military department lay down and evaded, while Zeng Zesheng stood upright in place, motionless.
When the troops forcibly crossed the Datong River, the temperature dropped to minus 20 degrees, Zeng Zesheng took off his cotton pants, and was the first to wade across the river.
Zeng Zesheng had a deep affection for the 50th Army, and although they were rebel troops, he did not want himself and his troops to be looked down upon by others, so he had to fight a victory.
In the third battle, our army launched a large-scale counterattack against the United Nations Army, the United Nations Army hurriedly retreated, the volunteers began a race to annihilate the enemy and capture prisoners, and after the 149th Division of the 50th Army did not fall behind, its 445th Regiment promptly penetrated to Gaoyang Fomi and stopped the enemy's armored forces.
At this point, the 50th Army finally learned to intersperse roundabouts, and not just fight defensive battles. For this battle, each company was equipped with blasting canisters, explosive packs, cluster grenades, and every soldier held his breath and had to smash the enemy's turtle shell.
Facing the enemy's tanks, the fighters of the 50th Army rushed up like a tiger descending a mountain with explosive packs and blasting canisters, and in order for the explosive packs to explode quickly, the fighters cut the lead short, and this experience caused the enemy heavy losses.
In the narrow valley, explosions were heard one after another, enemy tanks and armored vehicles were beaten to pieces, and in the end, the 50th Army destroyed and captured 31 enemy tanks and captured 193 enemy in this battle, and their opponent was the famous ace British army, the Royal Heavy Tank Battalion.
The troops reported the battle report to the Zhi Division, but Mr. Peng still couldn't believe it, and the strict order must be verified, and after verification, it was found that the 50th Army was indeed fighting beautifully. This battle not only proved that the enemy's tanks were not invincible, but also finally made the 50th Army raise its eyebrows and exhale.
Just as the so-called people do not help themselves and it is difficult to help, 50 military efforts to interpret this famous saying, in order to win respect and honor, others are unreliable, the only thing to rely on is themselves!
[Deeply cultivate the history of war, carry forward positive energy, welcome to contribute, private messages will be replied]