Source: Jun Zhengping Studio · Chinese military bugle
In the American press, a photograph called "Retreat" has long been famous - a soldier with a blood-stained face, eyes looking at the sky, and his eyes full of dazed and desperate. This is the retreat of the 1st Marine Division from Changjin Lake in the winter of 1950.
What made this most elite "American Sword" unit suffer defeat was what they saw as "a volunteer army composed of Chinese peasants." This team, in the ice and snow, won the Battle of Changjin Lake, which is recognized as one of the most brutal battles in the history of human warfare.
At that time, the Korean Peninsula was experiencing a 50-year cold, and by the end of October, heavy snowfall began to fall in the Changjin Lake area, and the temperature dropped sharply, and by late November, the average daily temperature had dropped to minus 27 degrees Celsius, and the lowest temperature even dropped to minus 40 degrees Celsius. In the documentary "Ice and Blood Changjin Lake", Yu Zhilin, an old military doctor who experienced the battle of Changjin Lake, described the cold climate as follows: "At minus 40 degrees Celsius, my hands pinched iron, and my skin was sticky. If you take it down again, you will lose a piece of skin. We put the white side of the sheet, and draped it in turn, which is conducive to concealment. Lying in the snowy mountains, starving and unable to move. ”
In the bitter cold, the battle was in full swing. It was in the Battle of Changjin Lake that Yang Gensi, the first meritorious hero and special combat hero of the Chinese People's Volunteers, was born; at the mobilization meeting before the volunteers went to fight in Korea, he shouted out the "three disbeliefs": do not believe that there are tasks that cannot be completed, do not believe that there are difficulties that cannot be overcome, and do not believe that there is an enemy that cannot be defeated!
Yang Gensi fulfilled the oath he made with blood and life.
At dawn on November 29, the enemy's dense artillery shells fell on the Xiaogaoling position held by Yang Gensi and his soldiers, which was the only passage for American troops to escape south and a key point that the volunteers must defend. All the shells, aircraft bombs, and incendiary bombs poured down on this small mountain like a storm, and in a short time, the snowy mountain was black-brown. Aircraft and artillery covered American infantry, several times the size of our army, and launched a frenzied attack on the position where Yang Gensi was located.
After repelling 8 American attacks, only Yang Gensi and two other wounded remained on the 3rd platoon position, and by this time they had run out of ammunition. Seeing that a new wave of American attacks was about to begin, Yang Gensi ordered the two wounded to retreat, and the machine gunners to take the heavy machine guns away from the position, not to leave them to the enemy. Soon, the Americans launched the 9th attack, more than 40 American troops rushed up, Yang Gensi picked up the only remaining explosive bag on the position, and rushed towards the enemy. With an earth-shattering bang, Yang Gensi died with more than 40 enemies, and he fulfilled his promise of "people in the position" with his life.
At that moment, the solemn oath of "three disbeliefs" resounded in the sky, like a trumpet, high-pitched and loud, tragic and determined, it swore that the final victory would belong to us.
Every soldier on the battlefield of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea is interpreting in his own way what the "three disbeliefs" are: on the shore of Changjin Lake, rows of volunteer soldiers lie prone on positions at minus 40 degrees Celsius, holding steel guns and grenades, maintaining a neat battle formation and fighting posture, as if they are "ice sculpture" group portraits jumping up; On the north side of Shiyan Cave, when the soldier Xu Jiapeng was blasting the US dark bunker, the explosive package he carried was ineffective due to rain and dampness, and he resolutely blocked the shooting hole of the US dark bunker with his chest, covering his comrades to rush to the position to destroy the enemy army, and he died heroically; On position No. 74, soldier Wu Xianhua picked up a 10-kilogram explosive bag and rushed to the fire, even if he fell to the ground in the middle of the bullet, he still braved a hail of bullets to climb to the enemy's fire point, and finally pulled the fuse and rushed into the tunnel, killing more than 40 enemy people, and he was only 25 years old at the time of his sacrifice...
Facing the impossible task with an unyielding will is a miracle written in the Battle of Changjin Lake, and it is also a cause that the Communist Party of China has led the Chinese people to carry out for a hundred years, and each time we have achieved the final victory.
Some people once clamored for "three months to destroy China", but we fought to the end with tenacious perseverance, and finally defeated the strong with weakness, opening the turning point of the Chinese nation from decline to rejuvenation; Some people once laughed at us for being "poor in oil", but with the spirit of "I would rather live twenty years less, and desperately want to win the big oil field", we worked hard to hit the first oil well of the first extra-large oil field in New China, and threw off the hat of "poor oil"; Some people once said that Chinese could not build an atomic bomb by ourselves, but we fought with our indomitable will to rely on ourselves and have the courage to climb, and finally detonated the first atomic bomb in New China, shocking the world with a "loud sound in the East"; It was once asserted that no one could solve the problem of Chinese food, but with our sincere faith and diligent hands, we have opened a way for food production to feed ourselves, so that 1.4 billion people can eat well...
Accomplishing almost impossible tasks, overcoming arduous difficulties, and defeating powerful enemies, the "three disbeliefs" vow made that year has been practiced again and again on the land of China.
Why can we do it? We rely on the spirit of not believing in evil, not fearing difficulties, and not admitting defeat; It is a firm belief in everything for the motherland and for the people; It is the responsibility and mission of dedicating to the people, undertaking for the people, and fulfilling responsibilities for the country; It is the courage to dare to face difficulties in the face of contradictions and dare to stand up in the face of crises; It is the tenacious will to really grasp the work with the courage of "opening the road every mountain and building a bridge when encountering water", pioneering and innovating with the courage to be the first, and the determination to do good things.
Those shining beliefs nourished the spirit of a nation, and once made the barren land blossom brilliantly flowers and bear abundant fruits. Today, caring for flowers to bloom brighter and fruits to grow fuller still needs a steady stream of spiritual nourishment. Just as our predecessors nurtured hope in barrenness, our mission is to nurture the flower of hope more vigorously and more prosperously, living up to the blood and tears shed.
(Produced by Jun Zhengping Studio, China Military Bugle)