During the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, if someone asked what was the biggest difficulty encountered by the People's Volunteers, many people would blurt out the word "weather."
As a high-latitude country, North Korea's winter temperatures can reach more than minus 40 degrees Celsius, and fighting in such severe cold, the volunteer soldiers in thin uniforms face great challenges brought by the weather.
In addition to the body, firearms can also be frozen due to cold climates, especially when wading in water, the probability of firearms being frozen is greatly increased.
Once, at the beginning of the battle, the machine guns of our army were frozen into popsicles.
At the critical moment, the machine gun does not go off, what to do?
The anxious fighters hurriedly crammed their machine guns into their chests, trying to use their body heat to melt the ice, but to no avail.
Just at the last moment, the company commander had an idea and shouted: "Hurry up and pee!"
So, did this trick work, and what was the outcome of this battle?
1. At more than minus 20 degrees, the volunteers forcibly crossed the Qingchuan River
On November 25, 1950, as the Western Front of the Chinese People's Volunteers launched a full-scale counterattack against the enemy, MacArthur, commander-in-chief of the "United Nations Forces", attempted to use the Cheongchon River in central Korea as a natural barrier to stop the pursuit of the volunteers.
With a width of more than 300 meters and a depth of 1.5 meters, the Cheongcheon River is so fast that it will not be frozen even in extreme cold.
At that time, the temperature in the Qingchuan River area was as low as minus 20 degrees, and the river water was so cold that as soon as you stepped your legs into the water, you would immediately lose consciousness, let alone wade through the water.
The enemy stood on the other side of the river and was complacent, thinking to themselves that as long as the volunteers rushed into the Qingchuan River, they would not be frozen to death, but they would also be frozen to slow down, and then they would only become a living target.
At 8:30 p.m. that night, Han Xianchu issued an order for the 359th Regiment of the 40th Army to send four assault companies to forcibly cross the Qingchuan River.
The assault company that received the order immediately set off, and the heroic volunteer soldiers rushed towards the Qingchuan River for more than 20 miles, and soon arrived at the bank of the Qingchuan River.
In the dark night, the Qingchuan River reflects a sparkling white light through the moon, as if it is a sharp ice blade, ready to cut people into pieces at any time, and like the fangs of a poisonous snake, waiting for the prey to come to the door, and then inject deadly venom.
At this time, the Qingchuan River revealed four words everywhere - eerie and terrifying.
However, the fearless volunteer soldiers did not have time to think about it so much, and they jumped into the river without hesitation to protect their homes and defend the country.
They had just run for a long time, their legs were as hot as flames, and they were immersed in the biting ice water in an instant, and their leg bones seemed to be suddenly shattered by a heavy hammer.
In the face of such intense pain, none of the warriors stopped their steps, they clenched their teeth and continued to advance with willpower beyond mortals.
Gradually, the water became deeper and deeper, the surface of the water was above the chests of the soldiers, and the cold air rising from the surface of the river continued to pour into the lungs of the soldiers, and the hot hearts stubbornly resisted the ice blades piercing into the chests, pumping the fiery blood to the bodies of the soldiers.
The warriors are marching in the icy waters!
Second, the battle began, but the machine gun was frozen
The enemy on the other side saw a figure through the mist rising from the river, and they immediately fired a flare, and the night suddenly became like day.
The flares were followed by relentless artillery fire and cold-blooded bullets, and the crossing of the river was discovered by the enemy!
Columns of water mixed with blood splashed on the surface of the river, and the fighters of the machine gun crew who rushed to the front died one by one, and the machine guns and the bodies of the martyrs were washed into the bottom of the river with the waves set off by the explosion of the shells.
"Counterattack!" company commander Zhang Bingrong raised his gun high and roared angrily!
Luo Shaoqing, the leader of the machine gun group, heard the order of the company commander, and despite his seriously injured body, he resolutely dived to the bottom of the river and scooped up the machine guns that had fallen into the river one by one.
One of the fighters raised the machine gun handed over by Luo Shaoqing and carried it on his shoulder, and then another soldier stood behind him and immediately pulled the trigger.
However, at this time the machine gun had long been soaked with water, and as soon as it came out of the water, the barrel of the machine gun was firmly frozen.
The anxious warrior hurriedly crammed the machine gun into his chest, trying to use his body temperature to melt the ice.
However, his chest was already soaked with ice water, and he could not melt the ice in the barrel at all.
Another row of vicious bullets and deadly shells shot at the soldiers, and Luo Shaoqing shouted: "Company commander, the barrel of the gun is frozen, what should I do?"
"What should I do, what should I do?" Zhang Bingrong thought anxiously as he looked at the fallen soldiers one by one.
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration flashed through his mind, and he yelled, "Hurry up and pee!"
Hearing the instructions of the company commander, the fighters hurried into action. They worked in pairs, one was responsible for lifting his comrades and the butt of the machine gun out of the water, and the other immediately urinated on the barrel.
The trick worked, and the ice in the barrel came loose. Then the fighter slapped the barrel hard, and with a "purr", ice slipped out of the barrel.
The machine guns are ready to use, and the fighters immediately launch a counterattack against the enemy on the shore!
Zhang Bingrong roared angrily: "Comrades, rushing to the riverside is victory!"
As the roar of the company commander resounded across the river, the soldiers were boiling!
"For the people!"
"For the Motherland!"
"For victory!"
"Rush!"
……
The battle cries of the fighters echoed for a long time on the Qingchuan River, and under the cover of the machine gun crew, the fighters rushed to the river bank in one go.
Suddenly rushed to the shore from the icy river water, and the trouser legs that had been soaked in water condensed into popsicles in an instant.
But the fighters did not notice this at all, their legs did not stop for a moment, only the sound of "click! click!" was heard one after another, and the trouser legs were cut in two, the upper part remained on the soldiers' legs, and the lower section was left in place.
The soldiers who were the first to land on the shore raised their bayonets and went straight to the enemy's artillery position, and the water droplets stuck to the sharp tips of the knives, condensing into beautiful ice flowers, and the soldiers' chests, backs, shoulders, and arms were also covered with ice flowers, which emitted brilliant light under the illumination of the moonlight.
The enemy looked at this scene that can only be seen in mythology, and they were all stunned at once. Before they could come to their senses, the ice flowers had already pierced into their bodies.
As the artillery positions were broken by our troops, all the fighters landed ashore, and they pounced on the enemy in the form of tigers descending from the mountains.
And by the river, there are trouser legs in a running posture, and under the trouser legs are shoes frozen on the ground, and in the shoes are the foot skins of the soldiers condensed on the soles!
The enemy set up a 5-mile-wide blocking position along the Qingchuan River, and they were full of confidence in the Qingchuan River defense line, naming it after the commander-in-chief of the "United Nations Army" and calling it the "MacArthur Line."
However, it was this line of defense that MacArthur was so proud of, and it took only one night to break through under the heroic charge of the volunteer soldiers like gods.
The enemy was crushed, throwing away his armor and fleeing, and the 5 mile wide position was littered with enemy corpses, wounded soldiers, and deserters who pretended to be dead.
In order to escape, the enemy drove tanks and cars in a panic, and one by one fell into the trenches dug by himself.
The brave assault company soldiers of the 359th Regiment successfully completed the task of forcibly crossing the Qingchuan River and cut off the enemy's retreat to the south.
3. Follow-up
After successfully breaking through the positions along the Qingchuan River, our army launched an encirclement and annihilation of the US 9th Army in the area on the south bank of the Qingchuan River.
The U.S. 2nd Division was almost completely annihilated by our army, the U.S. 25th Division, the 1st Cavalry Division, the British 29th Brigade, and the 1st Li Puppet Division were each annihilated by our army, and the Turkish Brigade was completely annihilated.
Later, in the commendation order to the 359th Regiment, the Volunteer Army Headquarters praised the battle of forcibly crossing the Qingchuan River as "a magnificent mountain and river" and "a high expression of the glorious and great spirit of the Volunteer Army"!
MacArthur originally planned to rely on the cold and turbulent waters of the Qingchuan River and the dense firepower of the coastal positions to block the pursuit of the "United Nations Army" by the Volunteers, but he did not expect that this place would become their burial place.
Perhaps MacArthur will never understand why they failed when they have the most advanced weapons in the world.
Why?
Because what they are waging is itself an unjust war, and they are invading other people's homes in a foreign land, and the officers and men of the "United Nations Army" will not have firm faith in their hearts at all!
When they looked at the compatriots killed by US shells on the Sino-North Korean border, at the bombed villages and farmlands, at the North Korean Amani who lost their children, and at the North Korean comrades who were bruised all over their bodies, at that moment, they knew that only by fighting to the death could they make their families and brothers and sisters healthy!
Therefore, the volunteer soldiers can advance in the river water at minus 20 degrees, continue to run without hesitation when their legs are frozen on the ground, and continue to fight fearlessly despite being covered in bruises!
How can aggressors who take pleasure in invading other countries understand such beliefs?
Many American veterans who participated in the Korean War called the volunteer soldiers "gods", but the volunteer soldiers could not be gods, they were also mortals who knew pain and bloodshed, but they had a heart that always beats, a heart that will never be wavering, and a heart that will not be swerving until death!
Salute to the heroic People's Volunteers!