Lao Qin wrote last week an article entitled "Survivors of the 'Ice Sculpture Company' at Chosin Lake, Limbs Amputated, Had Sweet Love, 87 Years Old This Year," which mentioned that in the Battle of Chosin Lake, the three companies of the 6th Company of the 177th Regiment of the 59th Division of the 20th Army of the 9th Corps, the 2nd Company of the 180th Regiment of the 60th Division of the 20th Army, and the 5th Company of the 242nd Regiment of the 27th Army's 80th Division were frozen to death because of their lack of cold materials, and they were called "Ice Sculpture Company."
Relatively speaking, the 26th Army, one of the three corps of the 9th Corps, entered the DPRK a little later, and was more adequate in the supply of cotton clothes and cotton pants. That is, the 26th Army did not appear as an organized "ice sculpture company". But there were also "half an ice sculpture company", "ice sculpture row", and "ice sculpture class". Zhou Quandi, a survivor of the Battle of Chosin Lake, was in the 231st Regiment of the 77th Division of the 26th Army, 2 Battalions and 2 Companies, which can be regarded as "half an ice sculpture company". When the charge horn sounded, only nearly half of the warriors in the company could jump from their positions. Zhou Quandi's hands and feet were all frozen and he could not move. After the battle, his limbs were amputated and he was classified as "first-degree disabled".
On October 31, 2020, when Zhou Quandi, then 86, participated in an event to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, he said that he had a major regret in his life, that is, he was robbed of his limbs by a snowstorm and failed to destroy an enemy on the Korean battlefield.
To be honest, the 26th Army fought very bitterly in the Battle of Changjin Lake, Lao Qin said in the subsequent article "In 1954, the identity of a cleaner in Henan was exposed, he was sent to Beijing, and he became Chairman Mao's guest", and Zhang Renchu, commander of the 26th Army, later wrote an inspection. In the fourth and fifth battles that followed, the 26th Army performed amazingly, with 6 first-class combat heroes emerging! Lei Baosen, a hero of the first rank whose hero level is comparable to Qiu Shaoyun's level, is the leader of the demolition squad of the 9th Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 234th Regiment of the 78th Division of the 26th Army, and he also created a glorious example of destroying enemy tanks with infantry weapons in the combat history of our army -- he led 8 soldiers in the whole class to destroy 11 tanks and 1 jeep of the US army in one go, and there were no casualties in the whole class.
Speaking of the combat heroes who emerged in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, Lao Qin wrote earlier in "My Movie < Chosin Lake> dissatisfaction: Heroes should not be hidden, there is no need to beautify the enemy" mentioned that in the entire War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the most tragic battle process was the 20th Army, and the most heroic combat heroes were also the 20th Army, with a total of 52 people.
The most famous combat heroes of the 20th Army were none other than Yang Gensi, Chen Baofu, Mao Xingbiao and Zhou Wenjiang.
In September 1950, these four men participated in the First National Congress of Combat Heroes and Model Workers, however, only in the Battle of Chosin Lake, Yang Gensi and Mao Xingbiao were heroically sacrificed, and Chen Baofu was seriously injured in many places, but fortunately the treatment was timely and saved his life.
Zhou Wenjiang served as the deputy company commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 177th Regiment of the 59th Division of the 20th Army in the Battle of Changjin Lake, and in the Battle of Xixingli, he fought fiercely with the enemy for 7 days and nights and repelled 28 enemy attacks. Under these circumstances, Zhang Yixiang, commander of the 20th Army, in order to save this combat hero, ordered him to be transferred from the front line and became the deputy chief of the youth section of the division's political department.
In this way, Zhou Wenjiang was able to return to China unscathed after the victory in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and later served as deputy commander of the Nanyang Military Subdistrict of the Henan Provincial Military Region.
Of the 3 corps of the 9th Corps, the 26th Army served as a reserve force in the Battle of Chosin Lake, and the 20th Army and the 27th Army were put into battle as the main force, so the tragic situation of the 27th Army was not much worse than that of the 20th Army, and the whole army emerged with first-class heroes such as Yu Xitian, Kong Qingsan, Gao Jinghao, and Tan Bingyun, as well as first-class model Sun Fengju.
In addition, the results of the 27th Army were even more brilliant - it annihilated more than 4,000 people in the 31st Regiment of the 7th Infantry Division, the 1st Battalion of the 32nd Regiment and the 57th Artillery Battalion of the Division, and captured the flag of the 31st Regiment.
This is the only example of a complete regimental structure of the Entire War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea in which the Volunteer Army completely annihilated the US Army.
Admiral Chi Haotian, who was a member of the 15th Politburo of the CPC Central Committee and vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China, was the deputy instructor of the 3rd Battalion of the 235th Regiment of the 79th Division of the 27th Army during the Battle of Changjin Lake, and his situation in the Battle of Changjin Lake was somewhat similar to that of Zhou Wenjiang: the charge was too fierce, and the commander was worried that he had lost, so he was replaced.
Regarding General Chi Haotian's brave style of fighting, Lao Qin wrote in his early years such as "Watching this general tell about the experience of personally blowing up tanks in battle, which is fresh and interesting, thrilling and exciting", "In the past, he took care of this little comrade-in-arms everywhere; later the small comrade-in-arms became the leader, so he said to him", and told a series of articles about his heroic deeds such as leading the 73rd Regiment of the 9th Column of the East China Field Army to blow up more than 20 tanks of Du Yuming's group army and capturing a battalion of Du Yuming's group army.
When the Ninth Column annihilated Huang Baitao's corps in the area of Nianzhuang, Chi Haotian and company commander Xiao Xiqian entered Huang Baitao's headquarters together.
Of course, Chi Haotian's most stunning feat was in the war to liberate Shanghai—he led three soldiers from the sewers to the enemy's division headquarters, captured the deputy commander of the 204th Division of the Kuomintang Youth Army without firing a single shot, and forced his division headquarters and three battalions to lay down their weapons.
Because of this, he was rated as a second-class meritorious service, and later he was rated as a regimental first-class combat model and a third-class people's hero in East China.
Nie Fengzhi, commander of the 27th Army, praised this combat hero who was just in his early 20s, affectionately calling him "Chi Bold" and praising him as a "bold hero".
In the Battle of Chosin Lake, the 27th Army surrounded and annihilated the 31st Regiment detachment of the US 7th Division in Xinxingli and continued to encircle and annihilate the American troops in Liutanli.
The U.S. army was distraught, desperately trying to break through in the direction of Xiayuli under the cover of aircraft artillery.
Peng Deqing, then commander of the 27th Army, strictly ordered the 79th Division to organize troops to attack the fleeing enemy in all directions.
Chi Haotian, deputy instructor of the 3rd Battalion, and Xin Dianliang, deputy commander of the 7th Company, led the 7th Company, and deputy battalion commander Gao Yunlong led the 9th Company in a difficult pursuit of the fleeing American troops.
Chi Haotian had courage and insight, paid attention to efficiency in his actions, but did not rush forward, did not venture forward, rationally arranged firepower, and took several hills in a row.
In order to open up contact with the 237th Regiment, the regimental commander Wang Qixiu ordered the 3 battalions to organize a reinforced platoon to carry out the operation.
Chi Haotian drew 1 squad from the 8th Company and 2 squads from the 7th Company, quickly formed a reinforced platoon, and together with Xin Dianliang led a fierce attack, conquered 4 high ground of the enemy in a row, captured more than 20 guns and 1 recoilless gun, and smoothly connected with the 237th Regiment.
Peng Deqing learned from the regimental commander Wang Qixiu about the heroic killing of Chi Haotian and Xin Dianliang, and considering that both of them were well-known combat heroes of the whole army, he was worried that they had some losses, and quickly sent someone to replace them and ask them to work in the battalion headquarters.
With regard to General Peng Deqing, Lao Qin wrote about the "Ten Tiger Generals" series of the Volunteer Army last year, in which the article "Peng Dehuai Made Mistakes in the Korean War, Lost Nearly 100,000 Troops, Peng Deqing Was Not Afraid of Danger, And Led His Troops to Retreat" mentioned that in the fifth campaign to resist US aggression and aid Korea, because US Commander Ridgway had already figured out our army's "weekly offensive," he used the so-called "magnetic tactics, and went to war, resulting in the rapid advance of our 9 corps, the lengthening of the front line, and the difficulty of logistics. Eventually, our army was forced to take over. Ridgway saw the timing and ordered Van Vliet to lead a "task force" organized by tanks and motorized infantry to cut and encircle our army in sections. Under such circumstances, the 27th Army, the 12th Army, the 15th Army, and the 60th Army encountered dangerous situations one after another. Among them, the 180th Division of the 60th Army was basically completely destroyed. That is, our army annihilated 82,000 enemy troops in this battle, but lost 85,000 of its own. Peng Deqing, commander of the 27th Army, was not afraid of danger, had the wind of a general, calmly commanded the whole army, alternately covered by various units, and flexibly interspersed in the gaps surrounded by the US troops.
Chi Haotian performed well in the course of this northern retreat.
At that time, he was the acting instructor of the 3rd Battalion, and was ordered to lead the 3rd Battalion to cross the Zhaoyang River first, control the key points such as Galuli and Guandaili, block the United Nations army, and cover the main force of the division to cross the Zhaoyang River.
In the case of the disparity in strength between the two sides, Chi Haotian led 3 battalions of warriors to fight with the enemy in a bloody battle, supported bitterly, and completed the task entrusted by his superiors.
After that, he retreated into the mountains and forests to engage in guerrilla warfare with the enemy who surrounded him.
When he heard that there were logisticians in the brother division headquarters who had been left behind and surrounded, he led the whole battalion back to kill them, found the logistics personnel who had fallen behind in the encirclement of the US army, and led them across the Zhaoyang River again.
After this battle, Chi Haotian was officially appointed as the instructor of the 3rd Battalion and was awarded the third class merit.
In September 1952, the 27th Army held a meeting of heroic models, and Chi Haotian was rated as a first-class meritorious serviceman and was awarded a national flag medal of the third class of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, becoming the only cadre above the battalion level of the 79th Division to receive this medal.
In September 1988, Chi Haotian was awarded the rank of general, becoming one of the 17 generals of the time.