The word surrender means humiliation for the vast majority of soldiers, especially the Chinese People's Liberation Army, everyone generally has the backbone of "rather standing and dying than kneeling and living" and the determination to fight to the end.
However, there is no shortage of alternatives in this world, and during the self-defense and counterattack war against Vietnam, the 50th Army had such a company commander, who led more than 200 soldiers in the whole company to surrender.
Let's put it this way, after the counterattack, our army was captured a total of 239 people, and the number of surrendered contributed by this company commander alone was 219.
His actions not only caused heavy losses to our army, but also left an extremely inglorious mark in the history of the 50 th Army. The military history of the 50th Army said: "The reputation of our army has been seriously damaged, and the lesson is extremely painful." ”
Everyone knew that this was a great shame, but the company commander said that he surrendered because he was powerless and to save the soldiers.
So, why did this unit surrender, and what happened to this company commander?
A heroic division that grew up from the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea
The 50th Army was a unit transformed from the 60th Army of the Kuomintang during the Liberation War, and it was only given the number in January 1949. It is very young, but its combat effectiveness is not bad, and it has participated in a series of battles such as the Battle of Western Hubei and the Battle of Chengdu.
It's a pity that there are so many masters in the PLA troops, and the 50 th Army could have won the record, but it is not very conspicuous in it. For a long time, its presence was very low.
The battle of the 50th Army's fame was the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. On October 25, 1950, the first campaign to resist US aggression and aid Korea began, and the 50th Army was organized as the 50th Army of the Chinese People's Volunteers and fought in Korea.
It's also sad to say. After entering Korea, until the end of the second campaign, the 50th Army was still a small transparent and had been fighting on the second line. The army commander Zeng Zesheng once described sadly that they were so "unpopular" that they were not even qualified to be scolded by Mr. Peng.
went to the battlefield in order to earn a share of the glory of defending the country. However, after the 50th Army entered the DPRK, it either served as a reserve or cooperated with other units to fight, and really let go of its hands and feet to fight, and there was almost no frontal battle with the enemy, and this feeling of aggrieved made the soldiers of the 50th Army very uncomfortable.
The whole army held their breath and tried their best to fight a good battle.
The battle is really coming. After the outbreak of the Third Battle to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the 50th Army accumulated a lot of strength, and its vanguard 149th Division completely annihilated the heavy tank unit of the 29th Brigade of the British Army south of Gaoyang.
Don't underestimate this enemy army. Its equipment is very advanced, it is tanks, planes and artillery, and the 50th Army is so poorly equipped that it looks like a "primitive man".
In the face of this group of rumbling steel monsters, 50 military grenades, with blasting canisters and explosives packs, forcefully eliminated a tank squadron, creating a military miracle of "infantry defeats tanks".
When this good news reached the headquarters, Mr. Peng was first incredulous, and then ecstatic, and commended the 149th Division.
The soldiers of the 50th Army were crazy with joy. Immediately afterwards, they made persistent efforts to fight on the south bank of the Han River in the fourth battle, paid great sacrifices, firmly held the Baiyun Mountain, Maoluo Mountain, Brother Mountain and other highlands, prevented the enemy's crazy counterattack, and won precious time for the main force of the Volunteer Army to launch a counterattack on the Eastern Front.
After this battle, the 50th Army played a great military prestige, became famous, and became a rookie on the battlefield from a small transparent counterattack, and was praised as a "heroic unit." ”
Zeng Zesheng was moved to tears: "Our 50th Army can finally raise its head in front of our brother troops!"
However, it turned out that Zeng Zesheng was moved too early. What he didn't expect was that the glory that the soldiers of the 50th Army had exchanged for their lives and blood would cast a shadow in the future, and the brave and good 50th Army also lost the opportunity to make meritorious contributions.
There are many reasons why the 50th Army was revoked, but one of the reasons must be the battle of self-defense and counterattack against Vietnam, which was regarded by everyone as a great shame......
Battle of Shame: One general is incompetent and exhausts the three armies
In 1979, beacon fires were lit on the Sino-Vietnamese border, and the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam began.
Due to the good performance on the Korean battlefield, the 50th Army was also ordered to go out this time. At the beginning, the 50th Army performed very well, playing with superiority on both the Eastern and Western Fronts. However, when the battle reached the third stage and the PLA withdrew to the country, the unexpected happened.
The protagonist of this incident was the 150th Division. This team was adapted from the Liaoning Provincial Independent Division. Before participating in the Vietnam War, they were mainly engaged in production activities, raising pigs, planting vegetables, building houses, building roads, etc., and their military training was not very strict.
At the end of 1978, the relations between China and Vietnam suddenly became tense, and the smell of gunpowder became stronger, and the Central Military Commission began to actively prepare for the war, and the 150th Division, a "amateur player", also expanded from 6,000 to 11,000. Along with this, there are also a variety of advanced weapons.
The soldiers of the 150th Division had not seen so many brand-new weapons, and they were in a hurry for a while. It was not easy to get all the men and guns ready, but a new problem arose: there were not enough cadres.
How can cadres who do not take the lead in marching and fighting? As a result, the 150 th Division came in a panic with a wave of major personnel adjustments. Those who were originally squad leaders were promoted to platoon commanders, and those who served as platoon commanders were promoted to company commanders. There are also some soldiers who do not have an "official position" but have served for more than two years and have also been promoted to squad leaders and deputy squad leaders.
In this way, the cadres are enough, but because the number of soldiers has increased too much, many cadres do not understand the soldiers under them and are in a state of "not knowing each other".
All in all, compared with other divisions of the 50th Army, the 150th Division is like a temporary grass platform team. Due to its lack of combat experience, it has been playing the role of a reserve force since it entered the battlefield, carrying out the tasks of clearing out the remnants of the enemy and collecting the enemy's materials in the area west of Gaoping.
At the beginning, the 150th Division did a good job, although they had little experience, they still had some combat capabilities. After going to the front line, they carried out a large-scale liquidation of the remnants of the enemy in the designated area, covering the friendly forces to fight and evacuate.
If the 150th Division has been like this, it will be fine, although it cannot kill the enemy head-on, but it can slowly accumulate combat experience in actual combat. However, everyone should not forget that the 50th Army was also "aggrieved", and some leaders saw that the 150th Division had not been "turned positive" and could not bear it anymore, so they tried every means to get a combat mission: to cover the withdrawal of the main force to the country.
After receiving this task, the soldiers of the 150th Division were excited, gearing up to fight a few beautiful battles, raising their eyebrows.
The 50th Army also attached great importance to this task, and specially sent three cadres at the deputy army level to strengthen the command of the 150th Division. The three cadres are: deputy army commanders Guan Huoming and Liu Zhonghe, and deputy political commissar Hou Peiju.
So, without any run-in period, as soon as the three entered the army, they began to carry out their tasks. In this situation of "everyone is not familiar with each other", accidents have become expected.
On March 11, the 150th Division cleared all the enemies on the retreat line of the main force, successfully covered the withdrawal of the main force, and successfully completed the combat mission. At noon, the 150th Division was ready to withdraw to the country.
However, where are the troops going to be withdrawn? In response to this question, Liu Tongsheng, commander of the 150 th Division, and Guan Huoming, deputy commander of the 150 th Division, quarreled fiercely. Liu Tongsheng believes that the task has been completed, so it is enough not to make any extraneous troubles, return along Highway No. 3A, and return to China safely.
However, Deputy Commander Guan did not want to return along the road, and his ideal route was the line of Langzhuang, Naga, and Sanlong, where the troops could retreat while clearing out the remnants of the enemy and supplies.
It sounds like Deputy Commander Guan's plan is more "profitable". However, the route is not simple. It is an interspersed route of the 121st Division, with complex terrain and rugged roads, and it is enough for experienced veterans to walk here, let alone the novice of the 150th Division. Moreover, how many enemies are entrenched there, no one knows.
When the enemy's situation is unknown, the combat strength is insufficient, and the terrain is not familiar, it may not be a good strategy to take this road.
Unfortunately, the headquarters of the 150th Division adopted Guan Huoming's suggestion and decided to let the 448th Regiment serve as the vanguard and follow the line of Deputy Commander Guan.
The 150th Division was not strong in combat and inexperienced, and the same was true of the 448th Regiment. During the advance, due to lack of experience, the vigilance troops failed to detect abnormalities on the road, which led to the second battalion being attacked by Vietnamese troops in Ban Anh West.
The scale of this Vietnamese army was actually not large, but the second battalion really lacked the experience of fighting the enemy head-on, so it immediately became a mess and called the regimental headquarters to lead the main force back to help.
After receiving the distress signal from the 2nd Battalion, the division headquarters agreed to the request for reinforcements, but the military headquarters did not agree, saying that the 2nd Battalion would fight on its own. At this time, the military department obviously forgot that a group of recruits in the second battalion, even the commander had just been promoted not long ago, how could they cope with this raid?
In the end, the 2nd Battalion tried its best, fighting for an afternoon and an evening before barely breaking out of the encirclement.
The Vietnamese army still did not give up, and some remnants of the defeated soldiers quietly stayed behind the second battalion, did not attack, and followed like this.
In the early morning of the 12th, the 2nd Battalion received an order from the regimental headquarters to rest on the spot. The place where they rested was a valley, which was actually very suitable for defense and ambush, but the 2nd Battalion made a fatal mistake at this time: it did not seize the high ground on either side.
So, just as the second battalion was resting, the main force of the Vietnamese army arrived and immediately seized the high ground. Occupying favorable terrain, they divided and surrounded the second battalion, and then launched a fierce attack.
The second battalion was stunned and again asked for support, which was again rejected by the military headquarters. Obviously, the military department is very confident in the second battalion, but the second battalion really can't hold on.
Under the heavy encirclement of the Vietnamese army, the second battalion gritted its teeth and resisted, but the effect was not good and the losses were heavy.
The 448th Regiment in the front learned that the rear troops were surrounded, and immediately sent the 1st and 8th companies back to reinforce. However, these two units also encountered the Vietnamese army and were imprisoned.
The soldiers of the first company were several times less than the Vietnamese army, but they fought bravely, and they were not afraid to fight with the Vietnamese army. Therefore, although they were inferior in numbers, they still inflicted heavy losses on the Vietnamese army and successfully broke through.
In comparison, what Balian did was very humiliating. was also surrounded by the Vietnamese army, and the commander of the 8th Company, Feng Zengmin, and the instructor Li Heping did not want to fight to the death, but to be a turtle with a shrunken head.
The two men held a military meeting in a deliberate manner, and finally decided to lay down their arms and surrender.
As soon as this decision was announced, Wang Lixin, deputy company commander, was half angry. They didn't fight with all their might, but they even thought about surrendering to the Vietnamese army, what about their faces, and their backbones? These two people were not only sorry for the military uniform on their bodies, but also sorry for the expectations of the motherland and the people.
Wang Lixin was angry and anxious, but he couldn't change the decision of the two people. So, he resolutely selected some fighters from a platoon and led them to break through, preferring to die in battle rather than be prisoners.
In order to stimulate the fighting spirit of the soldiers, Wang Lixin divided all his dry food, and rushed to the front when he charged, and his majestic figure was as tall as a mountain.
The soldiers were inspired, their blood boiled, and they shouted that they were fighting with the Vietnamese army. They may not be the most combat-ready fighters, but they are certainly the bravest.
In the end, only two of the 43 soldiers brought by Wang Lixin survived. The two soldiers who survived recalled the scene of Wang Lixin's sacrifice, and tears wet their eyes.
"By the end of the battle, there was no longer a single person standing on the hill, we were seriously wounded and unable to move in the grass, and a dozen enemies rushed to the position. The deputy company commander rushed to the enemy from a hidden place with a bundle of grenades, and died with them. ”
In fact, the behavior of Wang Lixin and the soldiers is a common phenomenon in the 150th Division. Although they lacked combat experience and were not very capable of combating, they never took a step back. Even if they were scared and overwhelmed, they still held their guns and fought bloodily, either successfully breaking through or dying heroically.
Compared with these heroes, Feng Zengmin and Li Heping are like two clowns jumping off the beam. They led more than 200 soldiers of the Eighth Company to surrender, leaving an extremely inglorious page in the history of the 50th Army.
After the war, Deputy Chief of General Staff Yang Yong personally visited the 50th Army to sum up the lessons learned from this time and hold relevant personnel accountable. After this battle, one of the two deputy commanders of the 50th Army was demoted, one was transferred from his post, and the deputy political commissar was also given a warning. In addition, this "surrender incident" is also recorded in the military history of the 50th Army: "The reputation of our army has been seriously damaged, and the lesson is extremely painful." ”
Of course, that's not the end of the story. When the Chinese and Vietnamese armies exchanged prisoners of war, Feng Zengmin and Li Heping, as well as more than 200 officers and men of the Eighth Company, stood in the ranks of the prisoners with their heads down.
It should be pointed out that in this exchange of prisoners, China only had 239 people, and the Eighth Company accounted for 219 people, which can be regarded as a unique "glory".
After all the captives returned to China, the trial of Feng Zengmin and Li Heping was also on the agenda. In the end, they were sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Later, someone once asked Feng Zengmin why he surrendered, and he said that it was to save those young and immature soldiers. "There is nothing that can be done. He said.
However, powerlessness is never a reason to surrender. Not to mention the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation, let's talk about the aforementioned 50th Army fighting the blocking battle on the south bank of the Han River.
At that time, the 50 th Army was facing the ace of the US army, and it was too inferior to the enemy in terms of equipment and strength, and this situation in which the enemy was strong and weak was enough to be "powerless," right? At least it was worse than the situation of the Eighth Company, right? But did they surrender? No.
In this battle, the soldiers of the 50th Army, 7 whole companies, 31 whole platoons, and 138 whole squads all died heroically, and there was no one left, and the positions were full of the remains of the martyrs.
However, even with such heavy casualties, the 50th Army still did not give an inch, biting the enemy to the death, blocking it on the south bank of the Han River for more than 20 days, and made a great contribution to the final victory.
If you think that the 50th Army and the Eighth Company are not comparable, then let's talk about the sacrificed Wang Lixin. Wang Lixin walked out from the Eighth Company, and he also encountered the dangers encountered by the Eighth Company. However, he did not surrender like Feng Zengmin, who felt "powerless", but shed blood and fought until the last moment.
It's really clear at a glance.
Some people may feel that from a humanitarian point of view, Feng Zengmin's behavior is understandable, after all, there is nothing wrong with cherishing life. However, this is a cruel battlefield, not daily life, there are too many situations of "powerlessness" on the battlefield, if all soldiers are like him, feel "powerless" and surrender, then this battle can not be fought?
Not to mention, because of this incident, the 50th Army was also revoked, which can be described as a pit for others and for themselves.
Therefore, the experience of Feng Zengmin and Li Heping is worthy of sympathy, but it is not worthy of forgiveness. Their deeds will forever be nailed to the pillar of shame.
Information References:
People's Information - In the counterattack against Vietnam, the company commander surrendered with the whole company's soldiers, and the head of the General Staff was furious and ordered severe punishment
Bloodstained Battle Flag Red - The tragedy of the 448th Regiment in the retreat of the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam: more than 300 people died and more than 200 people were captured
China Military Network-Long March Supplement丨A beautiful battle in which infantry defeated tanks