"Who is the cutest person", this is an article that every Chinese should read.
The author, Wei Wei, learned from a battalion commander who participated in the Korean War a tragic battle, a miracle in the history of international warfare, in which a company of soldiers of the volunteer army blocked the fierce attack of tens of thousands of American troops for eight hours without danger.
This is the Battle of Songkubong that took place in the Korean battlefield, and the person who commanded this battle was Fan Tianen, known as "Fan Daring".
Blood splattered Flying Tiger Mountain
Fan Tianen is a veritable Shandong Han, who participated in the revolution in 1938, and because he was known for his fierceness on the battlefield, he was nicknamed "Fan Daring".
In September 1950, Fan Tianen had just started a family, and the couple were newly married Yan'er, but he did not expect that the Korean War broke out, the 38th Army was transferred to fight in Korea, and the leader of the 38th Army took pity on Fan Tianen, who was in the honeymoon period, so he was transferred to the Military Operations Section and transferred from the front.
But this was not Fan Tianen's original intention, and when he received the order from the military leader, he directly asked the leader to fight.
Therefore, Fan Tianen was transferred to the 335th Regiment of the 112th Division as a regiment commander.
On October 29, 1950, Van Tian'en led the 335th Regiment into Korea, but the 38th Army lost the first battle in Korea, but fortunately, the 335th Regiment won the battle in Heecheon, and even captured five truckloads of food from the enemy.
According to the regulations of the troops, all captured items should be handed over, but due to logistical reasons, the soldiers of the 335th Regiment had long run out of food, and Fan Tianen, as the regiment commander, really could not bear that his brothers were starving on the battlefield, so he left this batch of food privately and distributed these things to the soldiers.
Although there was a reason for this violation of discipline, it still brought him to punishment.
After the 38th Army missed the fighter, Commander-in-Chief Peng ordered the 112th Division of the 38th Army to move quickly towards the corner, but unexpectedly, the 112th Division was blocked under the Flying Tiger Mountain during the march.
Yang Dayi, the commander of the 112th Division, was Fan Tianen's old superior, he knew Fan Tianen's strength, and he also knew that Fan Tianen did not take the matter of punishment to heart at all, so he wanted to give Fan Tianen the arduous task of attacking Flying Tiger Mountain.
Flying Tiger Mountain is located on a traffic artery and is the only way to Junyuli.
At the same time, it is also the logistics reserve of the United Nations Army, and if it takes the corner, it can severely damage the United Nations Army.
Therefore, Flying Tiger Mountain must be in the hands of the volunteers.
After accepting the task, Fan Tianen quickly convened a meeting at the level of battalion commander to arrange the combat mission.
Soon, a brutal offensive and defensive battle began.
In the early morning of November 4, it was still dark, and the soldiers of the 2nd Battalion of the 335th Regiment had launched an attack on Flying Tiger Mountain under the leadership of the battalion commander, although Flying Tiger Mountain was supported by the US artillery battalion, but it was still no match for the belief that the soldiers of the volunteer army would win, and in the case of a fierce battle, the 335th Regiment completely occupied Flying Tiger Mountain.
In order to seize the military corner, Fan Tianen sent a battalion of soldiers to march towards the military corner, but he did not expect to receive an order from the division headquarters to "defend Flying Tiger Mountain on the spot" at this time.
This order caught Fan Tianen, as the regiment commander, off guard, after all, this was the best time to occupy the corner, why did the leader suddenly call a halt?
Although puzzled, Fan Tianen ordered his troops to return to Flying Tiger Mountain.
Overnight, Fan Tianen suddenly found that a large number of enemy troops were arranged around Flying Tiger Mountain, and with the strength of a regiment of the 335th Regiment, it was even more difficult to hold Flying Tiger Mountain.
However, behind the Flying Tiger Mountain is the Yalu River, and once the Flying Tiger Mountain is lost, the United Nations army will drive straight in.
So, as the regiment commander, Fan Tianen gave the whole regiment the order to "hold the Flying Tiger Mountain".
Flying Tiger Mountain is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and volunteer soldiers must rely on natural dangers to fight with the enemy.
On November 6, the South Korean Seventh Division launched an attack on Flying Tiger Mountain, and just after dawn, the soldiers of the Second Battalion counterattacked the enemy's attack.
Although the Seventh Division was the main force of the attack, but behind them were supported by the American army, aircraft and artillery rushed straight to the soldiers of the second battalion, and throughout the day, the enemy launched seven attacks, in order to hold Flying Tiger Mountain, the second battalion sacrificed more than half of its soldiers, even the commander of the sixth company. The instructors also died.
After a day and night of rest, the next day, the commander of the South Korean Seventh Division learned the lessons of yesterday and no longer confronted the 335th Regiment head-on, and he decided to shell Flying Tiger Mountain.
For a time, the stones of the Flying Tiger Mountain position were blown to pieces, the trunks of trees were also burned black, and the volunteer soldiers who died on the battlefield were also buried by the debris and dust set off by the bombs.
The 335th Regiment, which had lost more than half of its soldiers, took advantage of the cessation of artillery fire to launch a counterattack, but how could the old equipment match the advanced weapons of the South Korean and American forces.
Soon, there was a gap in the position held by the second battalion, but it was only when Fan Tianen sent the soldiers of the guard company to the position of the second battalion that he was able to stop the enemy.
In the following days, the enemy intensified its offensive, and many fighters continued to fight after being wounded, and some fighters died with the enemy without fear of death.
On November 8, the enemy launched its final attack, and the enemy even sent nearly 100 aircraft to bombard our position, and the soldiers of the 335th Regiment were hungry for several days after holding their positions.
In these two days, in addition to picking up guns to fight, it was to endure hunger and rest, and in the face of the powerful attack of the US army, the soldiers of the Flying Tiger Mountain position had begun hand-to-hand combat.
This battle lasted for more than ten hours, but Yang Dayi, commander of the 112th Division, called a halt to the battle and ordered "the 335th Regiment to withdraw from the position of Flying Tiger Mountain."
Fan Tianen, who received the order, immediately became angry, and he took his soldiers to hold out in Flying Tiger Mountain for three whole days, sacrificing most of the soldiers, in exchange for giving up Flying Tiger Mountain, which made Fan Tianen difficult to understand, so he refused to agree to carry out the order of the division headquarters.
In this regard, division commander Yang Dayi had no choice but to report to the headquarters of the volunteer army, and finally General Peng personally ordered Fan Tianen to give up Flying Tiger Mountain.
So why did Zhiji choose Flying Tiger Mountain first?
According to the original plan, Shiji ordered the 38th Army to seize the military and control the enemy's material hoarding, but as the United Nations army moved south, the role of capturing the army was meaningless, so Shiji changed the tactics and lured the United Nations army to the north, waiting for the opportunity to destroy the United Nations army.
It's just that this is a military secret, and Fan Tianen has no right to know, and the order he received is only to hold Flying Tiger Mountain, and he does not know that he is guarding it to gain time for the arrangement of other troops.
However, Flying Tiger Mountain was the main road for the enemy's northward advance, and originally according to Zhiji's plan, the 335th Regiment only needed to hold Flying Tiger Mountain for three days, but I did not expect that this unit held it for five days.
Just after the mobilization of the various units of the volunteer army has been completed, the United Nations army is still blocked in Flying Tiger Mountain, and even the confidence of the north advance has been shaken; in order to let the enemy army enter the trap laid by the volunteers, it can only let the volunteers guarding Flying Tiger Mountain take the initiative to withdraw from the battlefield and make way for the enemy army.
The Flying Tiger Mountain offensive and defensive battle was his first large-scale battle in the dynasty, in this battle, he achieved a brilliant record of nearly 2,000 wounded enemies, and this battle also made Fan Tianen famous, but there were more thrilling battles waiting for him ahead.
Fierce battle pine bone peak
After the Battle of Flying Tiger Mountain, the 335th Regiment was temporarily replenished and rested, and with the start of the second battle, the 335th Regiment was again engaged in intense battles.
After the start of the Second World War, according to Shiji's orders, the main battlefield of the 38th Army was in Tokugawa, but the 335th Regiment had long been far away from the main battlefield in order to carry out its mission.
Fan Tianen, the defeated American soldier, could no longer look at it, and he wanted to catch the "big fish", so he led his troops to march rapidly in the direction of Xinxinli, where the American army retreated.
Due to the malfunction of the radio station contacting the division headquarters, this march was completely Fan Tianen's own initiative, perhaps by providence, allowing Fan Tianen to catch a big battle.
After the 335th Regiment completely annihilated an American army, it finally got a useful radio, and immediately reported the position to the division commander and sought combat missions.
At this time, the division commander Yang Dayi had just received an order from the commander of the 38th Army to "quickly occupy Songku Peak."
But Yang Dayi's two regiments were all blocking the enemy, and there were no soldiers to adjust, not to mention that his current position was too far from Songgu Peak, even if it was a rapid march, he could not catch up, and Yang Dayi was thinking about how to solve it, when Fan Tianen's telegram arrived.
Yang Dayi learned from the telegram that Fan Tianen's 335th Regiment was near Songku Peak, so he gave Fan Tianen the task of "occupying Songbone Peak and blocking the US troops fleeing south".
Fan Tianen, who received the task, immediately led the soldiers of the 335th Regiment to seize Songku Peak before dawn, but before he could build fortifications, the US Second Division had already reached Songbone Peak.
The US Second Division was surrounded and blocked by the volunteers along the way, and had just escaped the siege of the 40th Army, but did not expect to encounter the attack of the 335th Regiment at Songku Peak, at this time the Second Division was already a defeated division, all of them were downcast, but they also knew that as long as they could pass Songbone Peak, they would definitely survive, otherwise they would either die or be captured.
So, the Second Division soon launched an attack on the 335th Division on Pine Bone Peak.
On November 30, the Battle of Songkufeng officially began.
In order to eliminate the volunteers on Songku Peak as soon as possible, the 9th Regiment of the US Second Division launched an attack on Songku Peak, and in order to make the attack smoother, the 2nd Division also pulled all aircraft, artillery, and tanks to the front line to cover the 9th Regiment.
Guarding the forward position of Songku Peak were the three companies of the first battalion, and in order to be able to block the US 2nd Division in front of Songku Peak, the third company paid a heavy price.
At the beginning of the war, the American convoy was immediately attacked by the machine gunner of the third company after marching to the firing range of the third company, and the tire of the vehicle was shot out, blocking the passage of subsequent American vehicles.
In order to ensure that the road was clear, the Americans launched an attack on the third company, and the soldiers of the third company had to block the enemy while dodging the shells falling from the planes in the sky, and the soldiers of the third company united as a city, blocked the first charge of the American army with exhausted bodies, and successfully killed hundreds of enemies.
At nine o'clock in the morning, in order to seize the first line of life, the US army launched another attack, this time in order to successfully break through the blockade of the third company, the US army doubled its strength, in the face of such an overwhelming attack, Fan Tianen was afraid that the third company could not hold up.
To this end, the light and heavy machine gunners of the second battalion were specially ordered to quickly support and reduce the pressure on the third company.
Sure enough, with the support of supporting machine gunners, the enemy's second charge again failed.
However, the enemy, who had no way to retreat, could only move forward, and an hour later, the Americans attacked again, this time, using incendiary bombs and petrol bombs while increasing their forces.
At the moment when the shells fell on the camp of the third company, the flames rose into the air, the stones were burned red, and the soldiers, enduring the smoke and dust, enduring the flames burning their skin, they firmly held their positions and did not flinch.
In the course of the engagement, more than a dozen volunteer soldiers were hit by incendiary bombs, and they pounced on the enemy in flames, dying with the enemy.
The commander of the third company dragged his wounded left leg to direct the battle before he died, and the instructor Yang Shaocheng engaged the enemy in a white-knuckle battle without bullets, and finally died with the enemy when he was physically exhausted.
In this small position, the people in front fell, and someone in the back filled the vacancy, the bullets were gone, there were bayonets, bayonets were broken and there were bodies, although there were no fortifications, but they forged the hardest fortress with their bodies.
For a whole day, the third company held the position, they eliminated more than five hundred enemy troops, and did not allow a single American soldier to cross the position, but this was at the cost of only seven soldiers left in the third company.
As the gunfire of the Songkubong position gradually disappeared, the narrow position was covered with corpses, including the remains of American soldiers and volunteer soldiers, and the Battle of Songkubong was the most tragic confrontation between China and the United States on the Korean battlefield.
At the end of the battle, as the rest of the troops stood on the positions of the third company, they were full of broken guns and dark trees lit by incendiary bombs, as well as the sacrificed volunteer soldiers who remained in an offensive stance.
As the commander of the third company, Fan Tianen couldn't help but burst into tears when he saw this scene, and even President Peng couldn't help but say: Long live the 38th Army! Fan Tianen was awarded the honor of "Model Regiment Commander", and the third company was also known as the "Hero Company".
After the end of the Korean War, because of his outstanding achievements on the battlefield, Fan Tian'en was appointed as a division commander after returning to China, but when he was awarded the rank in 1955, Fan Tian'en was only awarded the rank of colonel, according to his achievements in the Korean battlefield, it was more than enough to evaluate a colonel, how is it just a colonel?
There are two main reasons for this problem:
First of all, in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the ranks of the People's Liberation Army were full of fierce generals, and many company commanders and battalion commanders who fought with the communist ranks in the early days of the revolution were awarded ranks according to their achievements and enlistment time as long as they did not die on the battlefield and still served or worked in the army after the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Among these people, Fan Tianen was relatively short in the army and younger, so it was not appropriate to award too high ranks.
Secondly, although Fan Tian'en was brave and fierce, he was criticized for distributing captured materials directly to his soldiers on the Korean battlefield, in fact, there was a reason, which is not a big mistake, but the PLA discipline is strict, and this mistake also affects his rank evaluation.
epilogue
After being awarded the rank of colonel, Van continued to serve in the army, and by the second time he was awarded the rank of colonel.
However, in 1986, he was already the commander of the garrison, already a veritable general, but unfortunately at that time the rank system was abolished, and when the rank system was restored two years later, Fan Tianen had retired, and he never had the opportunity to hang the general star again, but in people's minds, he was still the invincible "Fan Tiger" on the battlefield.
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How did the 38th Army become known as the "Long Live Army" Liu Yongqiang
Weeping Blood Pine Bone Peak - the fiercest battle of the Korean War