Zeng Zesheng, commander of the 50th Army of the Volunteer Army, is one of the most legendary commanders in the history of the Volunteer Army. Originally the commander of the Kuomintang Miscellaneous Army, he led an uprising of 30,000 people and joined the Platon Army.
During the Period of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, Zeng Zesheng led the 50th Army and created five firsts on the Korean Peninsula.
1. Be the first to enter Seoul.
2. The first tank battalion to completely annihilate the "top elite" of the British Army.
3. First push the US army, push it to the south of Suwon, and push it all the way to Osan (located in the hinterland of South Korea).
4. First south of the Han River, resist the crazy counterattack of the US army.
5. Be the first to recover many bays and islands on the Korean Peninsula.
Each of the above five firsts is a rain of bullets, coming out of one blood pit and rushing into the next.
However, it is such a person who has never joined the Communist Party of China.
The legendary life of Zeng Zesheng begins in 1902, when he was born in Yongshan County, Yunnan.
When Zeng Zesheng was young, he studied at the two military academies of Theory Martial Arts Hall and Huangpu, and he himself showed excellent command talent at a young age.
However, Zeng Zesheng's military experience in his youth was not smooth sailing, but intermittent, and even went to Shanghai as a worker at the age of 25.
During this period, the reason why Zeng Zesheng had a rough and difficult career was because he hated the officialdom at that time, hated the darkness and decay, and the military academy clearly taught to serve the motherland, and the military style should be upright, but in reality, corrupt officials were everywhere, and the army was smoky and miasma.
Zeng Zesheng was an upright man, and naturally could not stand the bad atmosphere, until the age of 27, there was a change in his hometown in Yunnan, and Long Yun rose to become a local power faction and served as the chairman of the provincial government.
Long Yun took the initiative to invite young yunnan officers from all over the country, so Zeng Zesheng returned to Yunnan and returned to his hometown to take up his post.
According to the author's understanding of the Dian Army, the Dian Army can be roughly divided into three and a half periods, namely the Cai Yi period, the Tang Jiyao period, the Longyun period, and the remaining half, which belongs to the Luhan period.
After Zeng Zesheng joined the Dian Army, he quickly became famous.
Zeng Zesheng
After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Long Yun himself defended Yunnan and asked his cousin Lu Han to lead an army out of Dian and go to the front line of the War of Resistance. Zeng Zesheng led a regiment to Taierzhuang.
Over the years, the Dian Army and the Gui Army fought one after another, and there was a backlog of hatred between them.
When they arrived at Taierzhuang, it was Li Zongren of the Gui Army who was under the command.
At this time, there was also a shocking scene, Li Zongren had selfish intentions when commanding, always let the Dian army to gnaw the elite troops of the Japanese army, so the Dian army suffered heavy casualties.
Some officers of the Dian Army told Lu Han that they wanted to return to Yunnan with their troops, but they would not fight, but they would not fight, so let's go back.
Luhan was furious and asked where to go? It's a national war!
From this incident, it can be seen that there is a serious factional struggle within the Nationalist army, while the Dian army has been fighting on the battlefield until the end of World War II.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Zeng Zesheng showed his command talent, so after the victory of the War of Resistance, he was promoted to the commander of the 60th Army of the Nationalist Army.
According to the situation at that time, Yunnan was the rear of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and the Yunnan Army was a meritorious hero of the War of Resistance, so it was famous all over the world, education, agriculture, soldiers, transportation, arsenals... and so on, all ranked among the best in the country.
Longyun has turned the remote provinces into a rich and meritorious place among the best... Chiang Kai-shek's needle could not be spilled into the water.
According to the division at that time, the Dian army belonged to the miscellaneous army, while Chiang Kai-shek excluded dissidents and always wanted to eliminate the miscellaneous army.
Chiang Kai-shek regarded the Dian army as a thorn in the flesh of the eye, and used two conspiracies and tricks to do so.
Article 1: The Dian army won many victories in Southeast Asia, so let them go to Southeast Asia and accept the surrender of the Japanese army.
Du Yuming suffered a crushing defeat in Southeast Asia, returning home full of sores, and according to military orders, ten shots were enough. But he was a descendant of the Jiang family, and instead of being shot, he went to Yunnan to arrest Long Yun.
The elite under Long Yun's command all went to Southeast Asia, and in the face of Du Yuming's capture, the fate could be imagined.
Article 2: The Dian army was sent to the battlefield as cannon fodder, so a large number of Dian troops set off from the sunny south and rushed to the ice-and-snow northeast, including Zeng Zesheng of the 60th Army.
Under such circumstances, the combat effectiveness of the Dian army in the northeast can also be imagined, and the army is scattered and does not say anything, thinking that it will be killed by Chiang Kai-shek.
Take the 60 Army, for example, which got a nickname called 60 Bear, which naturally means pejorative.
The Dian army was in the northeast, and soon created a precedent for the establishment of an uprising of miscellaneous armies.
When Jiang Jiajun withdrew from the northeast, he also wanted to blow up the country's largest hydropower station, the Fengman Hydropower Station, while the 60th Army protected the Fengman Hydropower Station.
Zeng Zesheng also fought with the People's Liberation Army many times, but he was defeated every time, and he watched the old comrades of the Dian Army next door revolt one after another, so he made a major decision, the battlefield uprising!
On October 17, 1948, Zeng Zesheng was in Changchun and led the 60th Army to join the ranks of the people, changing its name to the 50th Army.
In the following liberation war, Zeng Zesheng fought all the way to Chengdu, Sichuan, and then returned to the south where the sun was shining brightly, and attacked Jiang Bandit's army.
To put it simply: you scolded me 60 bears, and I beat you to the Great Southwest.
In 1950, after the outbreak of the Korean War, China decided to resist the United States and aid Korea, and among the first six armies to enter Korea, including the 50th Army!
Zeng Zesheng commanded the 50th Army of the Volunteer Army, and won one victory after another in the first and second battles.
On January 2, 1951, the latter part of the Third Campaign, the 50th Army braved the bitter cold and crossed the Imjin River in Korea and pursued the U.S. army.
At this time, there was a classic scene of modern history, the enemy was composed of many countries, and they also had many factions within them, and as a result, after encountering the volunteer army, they began to tear each other apart.
At that time, a large number of AMERICAN troops fled into the wilderness, but they were tightly bitten by the 50th Army, and a large number of elite troops of the enemy were about to be buried in the hands of Zeng Zesheng.
Major General John Coulter, commander of the US 9th Army, in order to get rid of the 50th Army behind him, sent his elite troops, the 25th Infantry Division and the 4th Regiment of the US Infantry, to block the 149th Division of the 50th Army of the Volunteer Army in the Gaoyang area.
The US 4 regiment is very smart, knowing that it will become cannon fodder, where to care for what cover the main force, refuse to block, and go for the best!
In a word, the US 4 group thinks: Are you stupid?
Zeng Zesheng's plan was to swing his long knife and take Seoul directly, he already knew that the front line would encounter resistance, and the result had not really started, and the US troops responsible for the blockade had already fled.
Because the Americans ran so fast that our army only took twenty-eight prisoners, and they were prisoners with poor combat effectiveness and were already frightened.
It is even rumored that when the Central Television went to shoot the documentary, the captives were captured by the female comrades of the film crew. However, these are all rumors, and true or false have yet to be verified.
However, the withdrawal of the US 4th Regiment tragically destroyed the retreating British Royal Elite 29th Brigade, so that it encountered the volunteers and met a face.
The British army was arrogant and proud, thinking that it was once the first in the world, so it set up a ring fortification during World War II, hoping to teach the Americans how to fight.
In just 30 minutes, the vanguard of the 149th Division of the 50th Army completely annihilated a battalion of the 29th Brigade, frightening the British into retreating in a hurry.
In terms of evacuation, the British created Dunkirk, so they could be the grandfathers of the Americans. The retreat speed of the Royal Elite 29th Brigade was indeed far greater than that of the US 9th Army.
However, the British retreated too quickly, and completely lost their tacit understanding with the Americans, and in the case of chaotic battlefields, the direct consequence was that an elite tank squadron of the British army fell into the encirclement of our 50th Army.
Zeng Zesheng was ecstatic on the spot, and even he did not expect that when the enemy retreated, it would be so bad, the Americans would expose the British, and the British would mess up on their own, so that a large number of "centurion" tanks fell into the encirclement.
For the enemy, at first glance, it sounds like a squadron, but from the whole of Britain, the squadron equipped with centurion tanks, counting on one hand, belongs to the top elite among the elite.
The brigade commander of the 29th Brigade dispatched heavy troops to the rescue, but a gourd baby came to save his grandfather, and was surrounded by Zeng Zesheng to help.
At that time, Western experts were still discussing whether the quality of weapons and equipment would exceed the number of opponents after entering the industrial age.
Surrounded by the 50th Army, the 1st Battalion of the 29th Brigade Osterrae Rifle Regiment and the 8th Cavalry Regiment of the 29th Brigade were directly subordinate to the heavy tank squadron, and they would tell the world with their own corpses that it was not quality and quantity that decided victory or defeat.
On the other hand, zeng Zesheng hated the British army very much, because when he was fighting against the Japanese in Southeast Asia, he was ally with the British army and was fiercely pit by the British army, and he knew that this gang of big-nosed bragging was very flamboyant, but abandoned the friendly army when retreating.
Zeng Zesheng recalled that in those years, the suffering he suffered in the British army is still vividly remembered.
On January 3, Zeng Zesheng dispatched his troops and sent three companies of elites to strike the British Royal Tank Squadron with heavy hammers, and fought fiercely for a day.
In order to deal with the centurion's tank, the volunteer soldiers made great sacrifices and explored many experiences.
There were also volunteer soldiers, wearing British helmets and carrying British signal flags, commanding the U.S. Air Force to blow up British centurion tanks. According to the memories of the veterans of the volunteer army, the scene was very spectacular.
The 29th Brigade had no choice but to abandon the tank squadron, by which time they were already in Korea, abandoning several elite units, and the unit suffered heavy losses.
The People's Daily published an article praising the three companies of the total annihilation of the British tank battalion, which achieved an exciting victory without anti-tank weapons.
By night, the 50th Army had reached Fomidi, only 60 miles from Seoul in South Korea.
There are no bodhisattvas here, only corpse mountains and seas of blood, and we are speaking poor English to persuade surrender, and the enemy is shouting surrender in broken Chinese.
The captured British troops probably had never seen hell, but for them, the battlefield of The Buddha's Land was like the most terrifying nightmare in the world.
After this battle, the British tank soldiers groped out two lessons, one is that the tank roof should be locked, because someone will climb on the top cover and throw grenades; the other is to be careful of the firewood stack, because once the tank hits it, it will soon lie down.
Thirty-one centurion tanks, claimed to be the invincible king of the modern army, were also called by some people the most advanced tanks in the world at that time, and folded in the hands of the volunteers.
The volunteer army also groped out an experience, heroism can frighten the enemy, never seen a tank can spit fire before, never seen a centurion so advanced tank, we are still thinking about how to fight, the enemy tanker does not even dare to turn on the headlights, just want to escape.
Back to the topic just now, it is not the quality and quantity that determine the victory or defeat, but the courage to dare to show the sword, and the flexible use of tactics, and the tacit understanding of close cooperation.
Three companies of the 50th Army, and most of them were the Dian army of the battlefield uprising, the infantry used light weapons and explosive packs, and achieved a great victory.
Since the uprising, Zeng Zesheng has always had baggage in his heart, wanting to show his face on the battlefield, he looked at the British tank battalion that was completely annihilated, and finally raised his eyebrows.
Then again, Zeng Zesheng's psychological baggage was carried by himself. Because strictly speaking, everyone is an uprising army, and the generals are all rebel generals, but they only distinguish between morning and evening.
In the Korean battlefield, Zeng Zesheng also saw the huge difference between the Communists and the Kuomintang, for example, the American tanks rushed to the mouth of the division, if the Nationalist army was elite, it would soon be chaotic; but Kim Zhen-jong, the political commissar and acting division commander of the 149th Division of the Volunteer Army, calmly counterattacked and fought the enemy back.
The author would like to explain two sentences here: After the 60th Army was changed to the 50th Army, the personnel were not dispersed, the original establishment was retained, and the political commissars and instructors were added. In other words, the vast majority of the political commissars of the 50 army were Communists.
Most of the 50th Army were insurgents, such as Dai Ruji, deputy battalion commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 447th Regiment, on February 1.
The enemy roared like a tsunami, and Dai Ruji did not retreat from the battle, he said to the people behind him: "I will not retreat, I have sacrificed, as long as the party recognizes me as a communist, it is enough!" ”
The two sides fought fiercely to the end, Dai Ruji only had three bullets left, he wanted to keep the last bullet for himself, the other two to the enemy, he was ready to die together, fortunately, thanks to the help of comrades-in-arms, this held the position.
When Dai Ruji recalled this period of history, he said: I kept the party's instructions firmly in mind and fought with the young master of the United States.
And the 50th Army in Korea, the most glorious battle, took place on the south bank of the Han River.
The background of this battle is as follows:
The strategy and tactics adopted by the volunteer army are to launch large-scale attacks and give the enemy one heavy blow after another, which is what we often call the first, second, and third battles...
Peng Dehuai commanded the volunteer army, and MacArthur was dismissed, the five-star general left the battlefield in disgrace, and the American army replaced the four-star general Ridgway.
Ridgway seized on the weak points of the volunteers, so he adopted magnetic tactics, and the volunteer offensive generally lasted for seven days, after which the supplies would be exhausted and retreated.
Ridgway commanded the troops, like magnets to absorb the volunteers, and when the volunteers withdrew, they launched a fierce counterattack, taking advantage of the rapid movement of mechanization to fight the tired volunteers.
Looking at the entire history of world wars, it is difficult for the vast majority of troops to achieve an orderly retreat. For example, the French army, such as the Nationalist army, once retreated, often turned into a rout, and was chased and divided and annihilated.
Similar cases, in the history of war, appeared one after another.
The biggest difficulty in the reason why the British army has been propaganda in Dunkirk is that the troops can withdraw in an orderly manner.
Such difficulties were placed in front of the volunteers, and we did not expect that Ridgway would counterattack in all directions, and the enemy called it "Operation Thunderbolt."
Peng Dehuai naturally would not be foolish to retreat, that would make our side fall into passivity or even defeat, and the coping method he adopted was to resist the enemy on the western front and organize an attack on the eastern front, which was called the west top and the east.
Peng Dehuai issued an order asking the 38th and 50th Armies, as well as some units of the People's Army, to block the counterattack of the "United Nations Army" on both sides of the Han River and buy precious time for our side.
Although Peng Dehuai's amazing and brilliant command played a role in turning the tide, this was inseparable from the heroic battle of the 50th Army.
On both sides of the Han River, the 50th Army fought for more than fifty days, each day in the rain of bullets and bullets, and Ridgway used most conventional weapons except atomic bombs in order to cross the Han River defense line.
For example, the "Battle of Repairing the Mountain" personally commanded by Zeng Zesheng was one of the most heroic local battles in the history of the Volunteer Army.
Located south of the Han River, it controls the strategic passage between Suwon and Seoul and is known as the gateway to Seoul.
One regiment of infantry of our army is stationed here, and the enemy is a division of the US army and a division of the puppet army.
Beginning on January 27, 1951, heavy enemy fire, like hail, slammed into the volunteer positions on Repair Hill.
The volunteer soldiers on the position had only four mortars and a few heavy machine guns, and logistics were difficult.
Every day, the enemy will launch more than 10 large-scale attacks on the repair hill position, and our army will hold out for nine days and nine nights! Annihilated more than a thousand enemies.
Some veteran soldiers cried and recalled that when I saw the rows of comrades falling under the fire, my heart was broken, and I wanted to fight with the American devils to the end.
On 27 January, the enemy dispatched more than thirty tanks to storm our position of repairing the Mountain Dragon Tiger Cave and sending several infantry units to assist in the attack from two other directions.
After more than an hour of fierce fighting, the volunteer army of Dragon Tiger Cave repelled the enemy.
The enemy will use heavy fire to bombard in turn, and after the explosion, launch another charge... Such tactics are repeated over and over again.
After our company commander, platoon leader, and squad leader were killed one after another, the soldiers had no command, and everyone held the explosive package and took the initiative to die with the oncoming enemy.
On January 31, Peng Dehuai, in the name of the commander-in-chief of his volunteer army, commended the 50th Army to commend Zeng Zesheng.
When Marshal Peng shook hands with Zeng Zesheng, he said: "The 50th Army has fought well, you command it well, I will give you reinforcements, and give priority to changing the armor of your 50th Army." ”
Zeng Zesheng said that he had tried his best and could look up in the future.
This sentence caused Dissatisfaction in Peng Dehuai, who said that he was also from the old army, and I Peng Dehuai never treated you Zeng Zesheng as a harem, and there were many Communists in the 50Th Army.
Later, the 50th Army had a new nickname, called 50 Yong. From Xiong to Yong, from the Kuomintang to the Communist Party, the significance of the changes before and after is self-evident.
When Zeng Zesheng returned to China, Mao Zedong encouraged: "You are still fighting quite beautifully on the Korean battlefield. ”
Later, Zeng Zesheng applied to join the party, but Mao Zedong did not agree, and the chairman believed that non-party figures in the ranks of the People's Liberation Army to conquer the four sides of the party better reflected the tolerance of new China.
Chairman Mao explained: "From now on, you will not join the party more than you will join the party!" For the sake of the reunification of the motherland, can General Zeng wait any longer? ”
What are you waiting for? This is chairman Mao's cleverness, when Chairman Mao believed that Chiang Kai-shek and other Kuomintang figures still posed a threat to New China, and that soon after the founding of New China, it was necessary to publicize the appearance of New China to Taiwan and other countries.
If there are more generals like Zeng Zesheng, the more conducive they are to promoting the reunification of the motherland.
To put it bluntly, Chairman Mao did not allow him to join the party in order to show the tolerance of New China, and even more so for the Kuomintang people to see.
Mao Zedong wanted Zeng Zesheng to set an example for the generals on the Taiwan side, and he would not allow Zeng Zesheng to join the party until after Taiwan's return.
Although Zeng Zesheng did not join the party, he was awarded the rank of lieutenant general in 1955, and the honor was quite high.
Unfortunately, Zeng Zesheng's desire to join the party was not successful until 1973, when he died in Beijing at the age of 71.
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