In September 1950, under the banner of the United Nations, the United States gathered troops from 15 countries to invade Korea, and Turkey was one of the first major belligerents, sending an entire brigade - more than 5,000 soldiers. And their troops are also known as Turkish brigades.
Logically speaking, Turkey is separated from North Korea and China by thousands of miles, one in the Far East and the other at the end of West Asia, which can be said to be well water does not violate river water. But why did Turkey send so many troops for North Korea, a country that cannot be defeated by eight rods?
First, Turkey has a relationship with China
If anything, the Turks and China do have quite a relationship. Because according to the "research" of Turkish historians, the Xiongnu, Xianbei, Rouran, Turkic and other peoples who once dominated the Mobei steppe are the ancestors of the Turks.
Later, the Turks read the "Records of History" by Sima Qian, a historian of the Western Han Dynasty on the mainland, and they were like treasures. It turned out that in 209 BC, the Xiongnu killed his father, starting his conquest of a generation of Tianjiao, and thus establishing the first nomadic empire in history.
Therefore, the Turkish army took 209 BC as the date of its founding. Even they embedded the number "209" in their military insignia. In the eyes of the Turks, their ancestors have been "fighting" with Chinese. The Great Wall of China was built to guard against their ancestors. Their direct ancestors were the Western Turks who were subdued by the Tang army. Later, this Western Turkic army continued to move westward and established its own state, the Ottoman Turkish Empire, on the Ankara Peninsula. Therefore, the Turks have always considered themselves descendants of the Turkic peoples.
Regardless of the true history, the Turks do believe that their ancestors fought against Chinese.
It has to be said that the Turks are still quite capable of fighting. In 1453, the Turks first destroyed the Eastern Roman Empire, but used it as a base to expand into the interior of Europe, which terrified the countries of Western Europe. After more than 200 years of expansion, the Ottoman Empire declined rapidly and became the sick man of West Asia. Its vast territory was also divided up by Britain, France, Russia, Italy and other imperialists.
Although the country has declined, it does not mean that their army cannot fight and is not fierce. In some battles, the Turkish army performed much better than the Qing army of the same period. By the time of World War I, Turkey had joined the German-Austrian Allies and was at war with the Entente of Britain, France and Russia. In the Battle of Gallipoli, the Turks made a great deal of might, annihilating 250,000 British and French troops in the first battle, creating a miracle in the history of war.
However, the good times did not last long, after the First World War, Turkey, as a defeated country, was once again dismembered and divided, and finally a large country spanning Europe, Asia and Africa, shrunk in a corner of the Asia Minor Peninsula, has been taoguang and recuperated, and has no sense of existence in the world. From World War I to World War II, Turkey, as a neutral country, did not participate in the war. So why did Turkey send so many troops to North Korea on a whim during the Korean War?
Turkish military emblem, pay attention to this "209"
Of course, Turkey did not come to the Far East to "get justice" for their Turkic ancestors, the holiday of a thousand years ago has long disappeared. The Turks did this only because of the will left by their founding father, Mustafa Kemal:
"After a war, you must follow the British in the war."
After a crushing defeat in World War I, Mustafa Kemal believed that only by taking the stronger side could he gain more. After the outbreak of World War II, the German army was in full swing in Europe. As traditional allies, the Turks refused to stand with the Nazis. On the contrary, the Turkish government has been eye-to-eye with the British and is a potential helper of the Allies.
After World War II, the United States replaced Britain as the world's hegemon. Following the teachings of the Father of the Nation, the Turks plunged headlong into the camp of the United States and became a member of NATO. Turkey thus became a bridgehead to contain Soviet expansion.
Second, the Turkish brigade "broke" the ROK army
Historically, Turkey and Russia have a deep grudge, having fought 11 wars. After World War II, the Soviet Union was even more aggressive and eager to move Turkey. In order to guard against the Soviets and to garner more support from the United States, the Turkish government decided to send troops to North Korea, which had nothing to do with it. Its commander was Brigadier General Yazgi, who had participated in the aforementioned Battle of Gallipoli and was a Turkish war hero. It can be seen that Turkey has high hopes for this force.
On the Korean battlefield, the combat effectiveness of the Turks should not be underestimated. Both the volunteers and the US military praised their fierceness and tenacity.
On October 19, 1950, the Turkish brigade disembarked at the port of Busan, with a fierce appearance, flowing beards, and wearing traditional Turkish scimitar in addition to firearms. Most of these soldiers were mountain people on the border of the Caucasus, who were offensive and merciless, and were born warriors.
After a short period of training and redressing, the Turkish brigade was soon sent to the front by their American superiors to participate in the second campaign of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. It was very unfortunate that the Turkish brigade encountered a formidable opponent at the beginning, the 38th Army of the Chinese People's Volunteers. The 38th Army, that is, the first column of the Northeast Field Army, was the number one tiger under Lin Biao.
One is a wild wolf from West Asia, the other is a Siberian tiger from the white mountains and black waters, what kind of sparks will burst out when the two armies collide?
On November 25, 1950, the Second Campaign to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea broke out. Commander-in-Chief Peng Dehuai, with the 38th Army as the spearhead, made a large-scale detour in the direction of the weak Tokugawa of the allied forces, aiming directly at the only retreat of the "United Nations Army" - Sanshori. As long as our army takes the lead in seizing this place, 200,000 "United Nations troops" will be surrounded and slaughtered by our regiments.
In the first campaign, the 38th Army did not fare very well. At the post-war summing-up meeting, the 38th Army and its commander Liang Xingchu were criticized by Peng Dehuai by name. In the second battle, the whole army of the 38th Army was holding back its strength and must fight this battle well.
After the battle began, the 38th Army, like a group of tigers, launched a fierce assault on the ROK 2nd Army in Delhi. In just one day, the Second Army collapsed "hopelessly". The 38th Army then penetrated through the gap in the Second Army and quickly penetrated behind the US First and Ninth Armies. If the 38th Army achieves its goal, the entire U.S. 8th Army will be in danger of total annihilation.
In order to prevent the 38th Army's major detour, US Lieutenant General Walker urgently ordered the Turkish brigade to move to Candy Ridge in an attempt to plug the gap. As long as they hold the Jianri Ridge, the US army will be able to calmly retreat
For the Turkish brigade, Lieutenant General Walker is still very confident. The barbarism of the Turks, even American GIs have lingering fears. They were fierce and fierce, ate a large amount of bread, and received two pounds more bread a day than the American army. Before the war, the morale of the Turks was very strong. They are gearing up to fight a good battle so that they can win glory for their motherland. But it turned out that the Turkish brigade defended the Candy Ridge, like blocking the barrel with the lid of aspirin, and could not be blocked at all.
On 27 November, the Turkish brigade landed at Candy Ridge and established a defensive line. Under the cover of night, the Turks suddenly saw a large number of figures "ready to move" at the bottom of the mountain. The Turkish brigade thought that this must have been Chinese attacked, they were all yellow-skinned and black-eyed, and they were right. Immediately, the excited Turks opened fire, knocking down the "Chinese" down the hill and taking several hundred prisoners.
The U.S. Ninth Army was overjoyed and immediately sent liaison officers to check the results. It's good not to check, but a check can make the Americans angry. It was really a flood that washed the temple of the Dragon King, and the Turks were defeated by the South Korean soldiers who had retreated from the Tokugawa front. They managed to escape the encirclement of the 38th Army, but they were killed by the Turks who did not distinguish between the enemy and me. This can really be called a cruel black humor on the battlefield.
The farce of the "United Nations Army" killing each other had just ended, and the 342nd Regiment of the 114th Division of the 38th Army was killed under the Rising Sun Ridge. How did the Turks behave in the face of real Chinese?
Third, the "three fierce" against the foolish
At this time, Peng Dehuai, who was in the rear, was closely following the movement of the battlefield. When he heard that it was the Turkish brigade stationed at Jiari Ridge, Peng Dehuai felt a little puzzled, so he asked the chief of staff Xie Fang:
"What is the Turkish brigade?"
Xie Fang has attended a military academy and Chinese has spoken a lot, which can be described as knowledgeable. He said calmly:
"There are about 5,000 of them, and they are said to be very fierce and brave."
In this regard, Peng Dehuai disagreed: "You can't win a battle by barbarism, watch my 38th Army sweep him." Let them know what the "three fierce" tactics are.
The "three fierce" tactics are the magic weapon summed up by our army to win. The first to propose this tactic was Lin Biao, commander of the Northeast Field Army. The so-called "three fierces" are "fierce blows", "fierce rushes" and "fierce pursuits".
"Fierce strike", even if the fire is concentrated and equipped, machine guns, mortars, artillery are fired at the same target, in order to destroy the enemy in an instant.
Dash, even after a "fierce hit", when the enemy is in a daze and panicked, use commandos to launch a bayonet and grenade charge at enemy troops. Those who stab the enemy with bayonets and dare not stab the enemy with bayonets are not the bravest troops and soldiers; our army must establish the prestige of bloody bayonet battles and the courage to advance with the flying explosion of grenades, which is what we call "fierce charge."
Finally, there is "fierce pursuit"; even if our military "rushes" to crush the enemy, it will launch a chase like a sea of mountains with the momentum of "remaining courage to chase after the poor cowards" and completely destroy the enemy.
The so-called "three fierce mengs" are by no means foolish and brave, but should combine the tactics of "one point and two sides," "four fast and one slow," and "three and three systems" to preserve themselves as much as possible and kill and injure the enemy.
It can be said that the bravery of the Turks is incomprehensible and reckless ferocity, while the bravery of our army is based on wisdom and bravery. In this regard, the Turks are completely inferior.
Before the battle began, the officers and men of the 342nd Regiment had already discovered the presence of the Turkish brigade. At that time, Turks were sitting in groups around a campfire to ward off the cold, and the motors and lights of the cars were not turned off. It's all me in the dark, and the enemy in the light. The 7th Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 342nd Regiment took advantage of the night and quietly touched the enemy troops. The big scalp shoes of the warriors, stepping on the snow crunched. In order not to let the enemy find out, the fighters took off their leather shoes one after another, preferring to freeze rather than expose their targets.
As our troops approached the enemy, they suddenly jumped up and threw grenades at the Turks. The sudden attack frightened the Turks. Unprepared, the Turks had to abandon their cars and artillery and flee to the heights, leaving behind more than 400 corpses. At one o'clock in the morning, our army successfully occupied the Jianri Ridge Pass and captured 10 prisoners.
In order to save the defeat, the Turks launched a counterattack on the mountain pass, and the 2nd Battalion of the 342nd Regiment detoured to the rear of the enemy with surprise troops, annihilating more than 200 enemies. The remaining enemy troops had to continue to huddle on the hill.
Wang Pili, the political commissar of the regiment, asked the prisoners to ask questions in English, French, and Korean, but they could not ask anything. These people have thick beards and mumble not knowing what they are talking about. In the midst of a few words, the translator seemed to hear the sound of "spitting up" and "legs", and then linked to their armbands of stars and moons. Commissar Wang finally confirmed that they were Turks.
Commissar Wang also found that each of these Turks had one or two North Korean copper spoons and copper bowls hanging from their butts, running up and jingling, like a string of bells. It turned out that the Turks thought that these bowls and spoons were made of gold, and they were ready to bring them back to Turkey after the war and sell them to make a fortune! Our army cadres repeatedly told them that these things were not made of gold, but they just didn't believe them and were reluctant to throw them away.
Subsequently, our troops continued to launch an onslaught on the siege of Turkey at the Candy Ridge.
To the surprise of our army, the Turks were quite stubborn and actually blocked several rounds of our offensive. In other words, the American, British, and South Korean troops would have fled long ago if they had outflanked the back road. However, the Turks were quite stubborn, even if they fought to the death, they still dared to wave a big knife and launch a countercharge against our army.
Volunteer soldiers generally believed that the Turkish brigade, although generally equipped, was indeed a strong enemy. They have a strong will to fight, are brave and fierce, and are few units that can fight a white-knife battle with our army. Compared to the American military, the Turks are more flexible and more similar to the Japanese.
At that time, the person in charge of attacking Jianri Ridge was Cao Yuhai of the 1st Battalion of the 342nd Regiment. Since several rounds of attacks did not achieve the desired results, Cao Yuhai withdrew the attacking troops and rearranged the combat mission. Cao Yuhai and the instructor agreed that although the Turks were brave, they were not insurmountable, because the soldiers of the 38th Army were more courageous than them, so our army must carry forward the spirit of "three fierceness" and the tactics of "three three systems", form dense formations into scattered tactical groups, and drive the Turks down the mountain.
Having made up its mind, our troops first concentrated machine guns and mortars to carry out concentrated attacks on the key defensive areas of the enemy. After the fire preparations, the soldiers of the 3rd Company of the 1st Battalion were divided into three tactical groups in accordance with the previous regulations of Lin Biao, and on the principle of "three and three systems", they alternately covered and killed the heights held by the Turks. In a short time, our army conquered three hills. As long as one more hill is conquered, the Turks will not be singing.
The Turks, seeing our army pouring towards the tide, did not seem to be very afraid. Their officers stepped forward one after another, threw their hats on the ground, and then scolded their soldiers sharply: "Take this as a boundary, take a step back and kill." "The descendants of the Ottoman Empire, its ferocity is really not covered.
And our army was not to be outdone, and Sun Yongchang, instructor of the 3rd Company, raised his arms and shouted:
"Comrades! The opportunity for meritorious service has arrived! It's a hero and a good guy who rushes with me! ”
Subsequently, Sun Yongchang took the lead, carrying a rifle, braving the enemy's rain of bullets and bullets to kill and injure the mountain first. And the warriors, not to be outdone, followed the instructor and launched a white-knife charge at the Turks. Seeing this, the Turks pulled out their snowy scimitars at their waists and howled like beasts. They frantically fought back down the mountain and engaged in a bloody white-knife battle with the volunteer soldiers.
Our army has been fighting with Japanese soldiers who are good at white-knife warfare for a long time, and has long mastered the art of fighting bayonets. In terms of strength and stature, we are inferior to this group of "Turkic iron horses". But in terms of tactics, cooperation and skill, the Turks are far from our opponents. Our army fights a white-knife battle, with a small group of three people, and tries to tighten the formation as much as possible so that it can fight more and less. Therefore, a scimitar of the Turks often has to face two or even three bayonets of our army. As a result, the Turks were quickly defeated in a white-knife battle.
Just as the so-called army was defeated, overnight, the Turks were defeated under the three fierce tactics of our army. Under the fierce pursuit of our army, the Turkish brigade of more than 5,000 people suffered heavy losses, only 2 companies remained intact, and the rest of the troops were beaten to pieces.
Seeing that the situation was not good, the Turks did not care about what "step back" and killed, and they quickly mixed into the torrent of the "United Nations army" retreating to the south. Although the volunteers and the Korean army were also yellow, the Turks finally experienced the difference between the two with their lives.
In this way, the ridge was occupied by the heroic 38th Army. Then the 114th Division marched south, and together with the 113th Division, it quickly plunged into the rear of the enemy army.
Of the 5,090 men of the Turkish brigade, 741 were killed, 2,068 wounded, 163 missing, 244 captured, and 298 non-combat attrition were catastrophically defeated, but they were annihilated without organization. After the Second Campaign, the Turkish brigade was replenished with troops, and later participated in the remaining battles of the Korean War.
Fourth, true bravery
We have never intended to belittle our enemies, and as a servant of the United States, Turkey has performed well. Even the U.S. military, which loves to dump pots on its allies, praised the Turks' strong will to fight. After all, in the second battle, the Turkish brigade slightly delayed the advance of the 38th Army at a significant cost, covering the American army to a certain extent. To a large extent, the Turkish brigade paid for MacArthur's arrogance and stupidity.
And for our army, the Turks are also indispensable formidable enemies. The loss of more than 30% of a unit without collapse is already quite good. And the Turkish brigade, with losses of more than 70%, still has the strength to fight with our army, which can be considered excellent. In the subsequent battles, our army has always placed the Turkish army side by side with the American and British troops. After the fifth battle, Mao Zedong established the "zero-knock cowhide candy" tactic, which also aimed to annihilate a battalion of the American, British, and Turkish armies.
Many friends take pleasure in belittling the Turkish brigade, but in fact, it is not necessary, so belittlement of the enemy, in fact, you are insulting the heroic volunteer martyrs who shed blood in the bitter cold land!
We were able to defeat such a fierce enemy not because the enemy was weak, but because our army was strong and braver than them. The Turks came to fight in Korea in search of money, as can be seen from the copper bowl hanging from the back of their butts. Their ferocity is more akin to the barbarism of their nomadic ancestors.
And our army came to Korea to defend the country and to avenge the dead Korean people. The bravery of justice is always better than the ferocity of barbarism. And this is why Commander-in-Chief Peng Dehuai is so disdainful of the Turkish brigade. As the saying goes, the benevolent is invincible.
Today, our army's weapons and equipment are incomparable with those of the past, but the "three fierce tactics" are still the magic weapon of our people's army. When narrow roads meet, only the brave can win the final victory.