From the insurrectionary army to the heroic force, the 50th Army of the Volunteer Army eliminated the British army's tank battalion

Source: China National Defense News, China Military Horn

Author: Mao Weihao Wu Zhuqing

The 50th Army of the Volunteer Army captured some officers and soldiers of the Royal Tank Battalion of the 29th Brigade of the British Army.

Classics

Death is the festival, and the victory is the will.

In the past and present wars, the fighting spirit has always been an enduring topic. Attack must be conquered, defend must be strong, step on the bones of the enemy and sing triumphantly. No languishing army can win a battle, and a listless soldier doesn't even have a chance to survive on the battlefield. The main discussion of "Writing and Talking about Reaching Power" is to grasp the rhythm of battle and adapt to changes at the right time, but in the opening chapter, it first emphasizes the role of fighting spirit, and uses this as the basis for judging the situation and understanding the situation.

A classic example

In December 1950, in the third battle of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the 50th Army of the Volunteer Army was responsible for besieging the 29th Brigade of the British Army, which was covering the retreat of the American army. The brigade was recognized as the best of the British army, having participated in the Normandy landings and was an ace unit under the famous General Montgomery. During the battle, the volunteer soldiers were brave and tenacious, fearless of life and death, carrying blasting canisters and explosive bags, and launched a desperate contest of will and steel with the British tanks. During this period, squad leader Li Shilu even broke into the enemy tank group alone with an explosive bag, and blew up three tanks by himself. In the end, the British suffered heavy losses, and their 29th Brigade Royal Tank Battalion became the largest tank unit to be annihilated by the Volunteers to date, and was wiped out by infantry with only small arms and explosives packs. The 50th Army also became famous in the first war and became a well-known team in the Volunteer Army. What many people can't imagine is that the predecessor of the 50th Army of the Volunteer Army was the 60th Army of the Kuomintang Army, which belonged to the Yunnan Army sequence and was a miscellaneous army in the eyes of Chiang Kai-shek. Because of its weak combat effectiveness, it was nicknamed "Sixty Bears" by the Kuomintang Army. In the Liaoshen Campaign in 1948, the 60th Army revolted on the battlefield and was later reorganized into the 50th Army of the People's Liberation Army. When the news of this battle reached Beijing, Comrade Mao Zedong laughed heartily: "This unit was '60 bears' under Jiang someone, but when it came to the people's army, it became '50 fierce', and the US army could only suffer defeat in front of them!"

战例解析

From the insurrectionary forces to the heroic force, the fighting spirit played a key role. How to understand, cultivate, and carry forward the fighting spirit so that it can continue to radiate strong vitality in the new era is an important topic facing our army at present.

The role of the fighting spirit is to stimulate combat effectiveness. The fighting spirit is like a catalyst that inspires great fighting power. For example, in the Battle of Julu in the last years of the Qin Dynasty, the state of Zhao was surrounded by the Qin army and begged for help from the state of Chu. Xiang Yu led 200,000 Chu troops to the rescue and faced 300,000 horses of the Qin State. After the Chu army crossed the Zhanghe River, Xiang Yu ordered the soldiers to carry dry food for three days, and then chiseled through the ferry boat and smashed pots and bowls, so as to show that they had the determination to advance without retreat and fight to the death. Under the leadership of Xiang Yu, the soldiers of the Chu army instead inspired a strong fighting spirit that was not afraid of life and death, and under the leadership of Xiang Yu, they rushed to the death and defeated the Qin army after 9 consecutive charges. The Battle of Julu not only relieved the siege of the Zhao army, but also caused the Qin army to collapse from then on. In addition to "breaking the kettle and sinking the boat", there are many such examples in the history of ancient and modern Chinese and foreign wars, such as Han Xin's "last battle" and Zhu Yuanzhang's "quarrying and abandoning the ship". From the perspective of energy utilization, these combat examples show that morale and fighting spirit are like "catalysts" that can enable soldiers to stimulate stronger "combat energy" in a short period of time, so that troops with relatively weak strength and combat strength can have stronger combat energy than their opponents when their morale is strong and their fighting spirit is high, and then defeat a strong enemy. This is also the reason why commanders often have to carry out "pre-war mobilization" of their headquarters before launching a battle.

The support of the fighting spirit is firm conviction. In the War of Liberation, the 60th Army of the Kuomintang Army was like a plate of scattered sand due to the lack of faith support and ideological arming. After joining the PLA, armed with Mao Zedong Thought, this army was injected with a soul and shared emotions and beliefs. The once cowardly and fearful soldiers have become brave and fearless warriors, exerting unprecedented combat effectiveness. This is also the main reason why Dong Cunrui, Huang Jiguang, Qiu Shaoyun, and other heroic figures in the history of our army have followed one after another, because they have completely regarded themselves as an integral part of the army's collective in their thinking, resolutely obeyed the interests of the overall situation at critical moments, and would rather sacrifice their egos to complete their tasks and achieve their great egos. This kind of "same frequency resonance" at the ideological level enables every soldier to go all out under the orders of his superiors, treat death as home, and give full play to his overall combat effectiveness. This is exactly what Sun Tzu said in the Art of War: "Those who want the same up and down win".

The soil of the fighting spirit is the equality of officers and men. The equality of officers and soldiers is a manifestation of being recognized and finding a sense of belonging. In the War of Liberation, such a group appeared - "liberation fighters", who were Kuomintang soldiers who volunteered to join the People's Liberation Army after being captured in battle. These "liberation fighters" were ridiculed as "bears" in the Kuomintang army, but in the people's army, they became tenacious and brave warriors who were not afraid of sacrifice. For example, Lu Xinli, a first-class heroic model, was arrested by the Kuomintang and became a deserter many times after joining the army, and often said that "whoever eats food will be given to whomever he wants." After joining the People's Liberation Army, after the education and transformation of our party, he fought bravely and made great contributions in the Battle of Yichuan. The reason is that after our army receives the "liberation fighters", it usually organizes a "grievance rally" with squads and platoons as a unit, and the soldiers pour out their bitter life of being oppressed by the landlords and bullies before joining the army. At this time, not only the "liberation fighters" but all the officers and men responded with one voice and sought the same breath when they resonated emotionally, and merged into a real collective. In this collective, everyone gains a sense of belonging and identity, and becomes close comrades-in-arms in getting along day and night, sharing weal and woe.

The guarantee of the fighting spirit is that "the branch is built on the company". The performance of the volunteers on the Korean battlefield made the US military regard the Chinese army as "the toughest opponent it has encountered since the two world wars," so much so that when summing up the lessons and lessons of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the scholars of the US Military Academy at West Point repeatedly mentioned one sentence: "The US military is not afraid of the modernization of the Chinese army, but is afraid of the Maoization of the Chinese army." The fact that the Chinese military is able to do this is closely related to the basic principles and organizational structure of "insisting on the party commanding the gun" and "building branches on the company". The relationship between the party and the gun is between the mind and the limbs, and the relationship between the branch and the company is the relationship between the nerves and the muscles. "Persisting in the party's command of the gun" ensures that the army has a direction and soldiers have faith; and "building branches on the company" ensures the in-depth implementation of the party's ideology and the resolute implementation of the party's will. The chief designer behind this exquisite structure is Comrade Mao Zedong, which is also an important reason for the "Maoization of the Chinese army" that the US military fears.

(Produced by China National Defense News, China Military Horn)