<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="2" > preface: The War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, if the Battle of Shangganling was the "Sadness Ridge" of the US military, then the Battle of Chosin Lake must be the "Nightmare Lake" of the US Army. In the Chosin Lake area, the 150,000 people of the Ninth Corps of the Volunteer Army and more than 100,000 elite units of the US Army, including the 1st Marine Division, the 3rd infantry division and the 7th Infantry Division, engaged in a deadly struggle. </h1>
Battle of Shangganling
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="41" > the collapse of the elite "Polar Bear Regiment" of the US army</h1>
Compared with the US military armed to the teeth, the volunteer army has rudimentary weapons and equipment, so why can it completely annihilate the elite "polar bear regiment" of the US army?
After the defeat in the first battle, the unwilling United States made a comeback again, in order to find out the strength and intention of the volunteer army to participate in the battle, from November 6, the United Nations army with part of the troops to carry out a tentative attack on Korea, the Eastern Front, mainly the 1st Marine Division and the 7th Infantry Division, as well as the 3rd Division, as well as a British, Turkish elite brigade, advancing along the Yellow Grass Ridge.
It is precisely because of this weakness of the US army that the Ninth Corps of our army has demarcated the theater of operations in the Chosin Lake area, and under the circumstance that the enemy does not understand the strength of our army, the 3 corps of the Ninth Corps have deployed in the Chosin Lake area, about 150,000 people, in an attempt to annihilate the advancing US troops, and the First Marine Division is the primary target of our army. Because the First Marine Division is the ace unit of the US army, and the purpose of our army is: to play ace exclusively.
At this time, the soldiers of the Ninth Corps had been lying dormant in the Chosin Lake area for 6 days and 6 nights, because they were afraid of the US reconnaissance planes, so the soldiers were motionless in the snow, and when they were hungry, they were just a cold and hard black potato, and they could only eat it after they were warm in their arms. The cold weather has long become the "invisible killer" on the battlefield, in fact, as early as the first day of the march, more than 700 people have been frostbitten.
When night fell, it was the most torturous time for the volunteer army, because there was no sufficient logistical supply, so that many soldiers of the Ninth Corps wore only a thin cotton coat when they entered the DPRK, and in the cold weather close to minus 40 degrees, freezing situations occurred from time to time, until the battle began, these troops had not eaten a hot meal for as little as two days, as much as 9 days, but these volunteer soldiers still had no regrets and resolutely threw themselves into the battle, because they had only one belief in their hearts. That is "defending the family and defending the country.".
Finally, on the evening of November 27, it was time for the U.S. troops to enter the ambush circle. These volunteer soldiers, who had long been waiting to be fed, were like seeing small sheep waiting to be slaughtered, and when the charge horn sounded, they rushed out of the snow and launched a surprise attack on the American army. Looking at these volunteer soldiers who seemed to emerge from underground, the US troops were caught off guard, and using the cover of night, the volunteer soldiers approached the US position step by step. In fact, from the very beginning of the battle, the biggest enemy of the volunteer army was no longer the American army, but the cold.
The troops have no experience in cold areas, frostbite and attrition are very serious, when the charge horn sounds, even many volunteer soldiers lie on the position forever and do not come out, and in terms of weapons and ammunition, because of the long period of freezing, the mortar tube of the volunteer army can not be used normally, which has caused the "grenade" to become the biggest "lethal" weapon of the volunteer soldiers, and the tragic degree can be imagined.
But even under such circumstances, the volunteer soldiers still repeatedly successfully broke into the US positions, but because of insufficient firepower, frostbite, could not solve the battle on the night of November 27, the result was that when dawn came, the US ground troops had the support of the Air Force, plus the fire support of tanks and armored vehicles with heavy weapons and equipment, the US army launched a counter-offensive, facing the strong firepower of the US army, the battlefield was once in a state of stalemate.
The U.S. First Marine Division is indeed the fiercest unit in the U.S. army, and the dignity and honor of westerners have prompted American soldiers to be extremely fierce and tenacious in battle. In particular, the United States is still a big industrial country, and the logistical supply advantage is even more obvious, which is even more vividly reflected in the Battle of Chosin Lake. Their weapons are not known how many times more powerful than ours, not to mention the support of air force units, and there are the most advanced tank units on the ground.
U.S. 1st Marine Division
Our army generally launched an attack on the US army at night, but the US army did not panic at all, directly fired flares, illuminated the battlefield as if it were daylight, and then the US army took out their advanced weapons, such as the Garand rifle and the Browning automatic rifle, machine gun, and M3 submachine gun, under the cover of tanks and heavy artillery, formed a dense circle of close fire, desperately firing to block the volunteer army's wave-like assault attack, and large-caliber machine guns and mortars cooperated with tanks to intercept the volunteer scattered lines that were constantly moving and approaching not far away. American soldiers later called this uninterrupted desperate salvo a "crazy moment", guns and ammunition as if they did not want money poured on the volunteer positions, as an industrial power, the world's only superpower, the United States has this strength, shells fired casually, which is also in stark contrast to the volunteers' material supply, because there is no heavy fire support, our army has not taken the enemy position for a long time, and often will be repelled by the enemy during the day.
However, due to the tenacious struggle of the volunteer soldiers, the soldiers of the Ninth Corps surrounded the American troops in the Chosin Lake area and divided them into four parts. This is the usual tactic of the volunteer army, dividing the encirclement and annihilating them one by one, and it is also under this circumstance that our army has completely annihilated an elite regiment of the US army, the "Polar Bear Regiment", in this battle.
The regiment is also very famous, because the regiment first invaded Russia's Siberia during the First World War, known as the "Polar Bear Regiment", then the US President Wilson personally awarded the "Polar Bear Regiment Flag", which is a well-known meritorious unit in the US army.
The Polar Bear Regiment is known for daring to fight hard battles and vicious battles, and participated in the Battle of the Aleutian Islands, the Marshall Islands Campaign, the Okinawa Battle, etc. in World War II, and fought vicious battles with the Japanese army that held on to the deep ditch, repeatedly fighting for every inch of land, in these battles, the Polar Bear Regiment maintained a record of total victory, did not taste defeat, became an ace army of the US Army, and was also the main force of the US 7th Infantry Division.
However, it was such a victorious regiment that was divided and encircled in the Xinxingli area by the 27th Army of the 99th Corps of the Volunteer Army through deep and roundabout and bold interspersed methods. Although there was a huge difference between the weapons and equipment of the volunteer army and its equipment, our army still launched a fierce charge against it, and after a night of fighting, the 27th Army finally conquered the last commanding height of the "Polar Bear Regiment" at 1250 Heights and captured the command post of the Polar Bear Regiment. During the battle, the commander of the Polar Bear Regiment, Colonel McLean, was killed, and the regimental flag of the regiment was captured by our army, which is still stored in our military museum, and this battle also set a record for our army, becoming a model for the first time in the Korean battlefield to completely annihilate a formed regiment of the US army.
Korean
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="44" > ice sculpture company</h1>
What was the cost of blocking the retreat of american troops? What is ice sculpture?
Compared with the destruction of the Polar Bear Regiment, the US First Marine Division, this ace elite division also began to gradually lose under the surprise attack of our volunteers, and the once invincible Marine Division also understood that there was no possibility of further advancement, and the rest of the matter was how to break through the siege.
On December 1, under strong firepower, the U.S. army used tanks and armored vehicles as the vanguard force, and forcefully tore a hole under the offensive of the volunteer army, retreating from The Cheongjin, Hyesan Formation and other places to the Hamhung area, and the Fifth and Seventh Regiments of the Marine War in Liutanli rushed out of the encirclement circle with the support of a large number of aircraft and tanks, and approached Xiayuli. At this time, the volunteer army's freezing and starvation had reached an alarming point, and the battle was fierce and tragic.
A temporary patchwork of the 117th Regiment of the 59th Division of the Volunteer Army, which was holding on to the main peak of 1519, was still fighting bravely, and grenades from mobile phones were overwhelmingly thrown at the onslaught American troops, crushing the enemy's 8 charges. Under the fierce fire of the enemy, this land had long been a ruin, and the snow had been baked by the enemy's artillery fire, and when the cold wind blew, it froze the remaining 60 or so volunteer soldiers in the snow. When the U.S. military broke through, most of them had frozen legs and were frozen on the ground and could not move, and could only watch the U.S. troops discard the frozen heavy equipment and flee in all directions.
The 242nd Regiment of the 81st Division of the Volunteer Army covered their faces and was ordered to set up an ambush during the retreat of the American troops, but when the battle began, none of them stood up and charged, and the cadres and fighters of a whole company that had begun the battle formation all froze to death in the improvised bunker. In a company of more than a hundred men, the survivors were merely a fallen soldier and a correspondent who delivered orders. In the Battle of Chosin Lake, there were three companies of soldiers, so long buried in this snow. The 2nd Company of the 180th Regiment of the 60th Division also froze to death while defending the 1081 heights of Huangcaoling.
These tenacious soldiers in the severe cold of minus 40 degrees Celsius for several consecutive days and nights, without a little hot food import, still quietly ambushed in the cold snow, the American army has never experienced such a strong and continuous attack in such bad weather, only the first marine division still maintains high morale and is struggling to open the route.
On December 5, the U.S. army finally reached Hagaru-ri after a fierce battle. The soldiers were fast, the time was already urgent, and Smith, commander of the First Marine Division, who was already at a disadvantage on the battlefield, immediately began to arrange for the full load operation of the proposed airport, and on the same day, he transported all the more than 5,000 wounded people by plane to the rear Hamhung area. Smith is a veteran of the battlefield, in the operation to rescue the wounded, he also let the Far East to airdrop more than 300 tons of food, medicine and ammunition to the First Marine Division, excellent logistical supplies soon allowed the American troops gathered in the corner of the U.S. army to be stable, and during the period of food and drink, Smith ordered the Far East Air Force to send a large number of fighters and bombers to desperately strafe and bomb the 26th and 27th Armies of the Volunteer Army, which were arriving.
All actions have only one purpose, that is, to "retreat", to retreat safely at all costs!
In the early morning of December 6, the repaired American troops did not dare to stop for a moment, and urgently withdrew to Gutuli. In order to minimize the casualties of the troops, Smith ordered the U.S. army to take dozens of tanks as the vanguard, with infantry and trucks in the middle, and fully armed armored troops at the end, and ordered the air forces to support at any time. Moreover, the four US warships parked in Xingnan Port, as well as the carrier-based aircraft and bombers above, began to bomb the volunteers uninterruptedly, forming a terrifying cover fire network in the airspace where the First Marine Division retreated!
It was also on that day that the volunteers, who were not afraid of heaven, suffered from an anxiety disorder for the first time, its scientific name was called "fear of insufficient firepower", and those veterans who had experienced the War of Resistance Against Japan and the War of Liberation really saw for the first time what was called the tactical cooperation of the modern mechanical corps, but this did not make them take half a step back.
Ambushed on both sides of the hill of the us army's inevitable road, the volunteer army first let go of the US tank troops, and then launched a charge against the infantry in the middle, under the round after round of charge, the battlefield quickly became a "hell on earth", floating corpses everywhere, everywhere there were wailing and explosions, the fully mechanized first marine division had to pay a blood price for every step forward, from Hagaru-ri to Gutuli only 18 kilometers, the U.S. army walked for 38 hours, killing 662 people and wounding more than 3,000 people. The rate of losses was higher than the probability of U.S. troops dying at the Battle of Iwo Jima.
Smith, who had retreated to the ancient soil, was obsessed with watching the numbers on the casualty reports for a long time, and although he was in the midst of the ice and snow, he could not help but leave a drop of cold sweat. At this moment, Smith understood that gu tu li could not be taken for a moment, and the first marine division must immediately withdraw to the port of Xingnan, and then escape from the sea.
Between Gutuli and Xingnan Port, there is a highland with an altitude of 730 meters, named No. 1081, which is the only way to Xingnan Port, Smith and Song Shilun know that whoever occupies Highland 1081 can block the last passage to Xingnan Port, so Song Shilun attaches great importance to this highland and orders volunteer soldiers to fight an ambush here.
Smith knew there would be a fierce battle ahead, but when the troops of the First Marine Division marched here, they were stunned by the scene in front of them. 6 6 companies of the 2nd Battalion, 117th Regiment of the 20th Army, a whole company of 129 soldiers, not a single one of them flinched, lying on the simple position in a combat posture, their eyes glaring ahead, their hands clutching the barrel of their guns and freezing to death on the position, turning into a permanent monument, this scene, we will never forget, Chinese people will never forget!
In the Course of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, there were three companies that could sometimes freeze to death on the ground: 5 companies of the 2nd Battalion, 242nd Regiment, 80th Division, 27th Army, 2nd Company, 180th Regiment, 180th Regiment, 2nd Company, 20th Army, and 2nd Battalion, 6th Company, 177th Regiment, 59th Division, 20th Army. For the peace of the motherland and in order to let future generations live a stable life, they sacrificed their lives and forgot their deaths, and paid for their young lives, and their spirit deserves the admiration of everyone.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="46" > Volunteer Army three bombs of the Watergate Bridge</h1>
How did the U.S. military escape the encirclement and interception of the volunteer army? Why did the Watergate Bridge continue to explode?
Crossing the 1081 Heights, the 1st Marine Division has one last ghost gate pass: the Watergate Bridge. This is the only last barrier to prevent the retreat of the US troops, the commander of the Ninth Corps Song Shilun is also very clear, once the US army crossed the Watergate Bridge, the front of the generals in the great plains of pingchuan, the volunteer army simply could not catch up with the fully mechanized US troops, so Song Shilun ordered that at all costs to blow up the Watergate Bridge, and this is the famous "three explosions of the Watergate Bridge".
Of course, Smith was also well aware of the importance of the Watergate Bridge, and the U.S. military naturally exerted its strong industrial capabilities, and within two days, the American sappers built a wooden bridge.
Of course, the volunteer army will not be as the US army wishes, the US army just finished repairing, the volunteer army sent 2 companies of soldiers, each carrying dozens of kilograms of explosives, the Watergate Bridge was blown up. On December 4, Smith saw that the watergate bridge had been blown up and was helpless, and immediately ordered the American sappers to repair it in a short period of time and restore it to traffic.
Pratunam Bridge
On December 6, in order to completely cut off the life of the US army, the volunteer army organized a death squad to blow up the entire base of the Watergate Bridge, but the level of modernization of the US army was too high, far beyond the cognitive limits of the Chinese army at that time.
Our army believes that after blowing up all the bases of the Watergate Bridge, the US Marine Division was already unable to escape with its wings, and as a result, the US Army taught the volunteer soldiers a vivid modern mechanized bridge lesson. Smith directly ordered the US military base in the Far East, sent 8 C-119 transport aircraft, airdropped eight sets of bridge steel and wood required, each set weighed about 1.1 tons, this is also the first time the volunteer army learned of the "standard bridge" this strategic equipment, they did their best, but the gap in technology is not manpower can make up, in a short period of time, the US military re-erected a 50 tons of steel Qiao Liao, can support all tanks and armored troops through the steel Qiao Liao, just like this, Relying on its powerful industrialization construction, the US First Marine Division passed through Zhenxingli, finally got rid of the encirclement and blockade of the volunteer army, and then boarded the warship in Xingnan Port and fled the Korean battlefield.
Battle of Pratunam Bridge
This arduous journey of collapse has also become the "nightmare" of many soldiers of the First Marine Division. Smith did not expect that the victorious First Marine Division would encounter the "Battle of Waterloo" in the Korean battlefield, defeated by the poorly equipped volunteer soldiers, this place in Chosin Lake, Smith said: "I don't want to come again in this life."
On December 25, 1950, the day when the volunteer army was fully stationed in Xingnan Port, the five-star red flag flying in the wind over Xingnan Port was always in MacArthur's face, and the volunteers' head-on attack on the American troops on the northern front not only destroyed the Ace troops of the US army, but also completely smashed MacArthur's so-called "Christmas Offensive", making it a joke completely.
In this battle, it is the victory of tens of millions of volunteer soldiers who have fought with their lives, let us once again pay tribute to the soldiers of the Ice Sculpture Company, salute to the great volunteer soldiers, and pay tribute to China!