In September 1951, the 5th Company of the 29th Regiment of the 2nd Artillery Division, which had been resting in the rear for two months, was ordered to leave Zhixiali and advance to the eastern front to support the infantry units on the defensive front.
The 5th Gun Company had four howitzers, all towed by captured trucks. They marched through the darkness and rain, and finally reached Qingyun Cave, where they established artillery positions.
Just after the National Day, Van Vleet's so-called "Autumn Offensive" began, and the 5 companies were engaged in 18 days and nights of arduous fighting.
From 2 October, on the position of the 5th Company, 4 men per gun firing group, unable to leave for a moment, ready to enter the battle, the others participated in the repair of the ammunition room and the hole where the people lived.
On the position, each gun was 20 to 30 meters apart and lined up in one line; between the two guns was a platoon command post with telephones; and each gunner sent a gunner to receive the password outside the position.
On the morning of the 3rd, just after breakfast, the shooting password came down.
The enemy gathered two battalions of troops at the village of Tifeng, under the cover of more than 70 tanks, and prepared to attack the 272 heights defended by our army.
The 5th Company and the 6th Company immediately organized a wall of fire to beat the enemy into a mess and could not charge our high ground. The artillery unit gained considerable results, and the next day the enemy used 12 sanitary vehicles to pull the dead bodies twice.
The four guns of the 5th Company were fired in the morning, and in the afternoon, the enemy retaliated with artillery fire, and the camouflage tree on the cannon was blown away.
At night, the warriors hurried up the mountain to cut down trees and change their disguises. Enemy reconnaissance planes hover overhead every day, and positions, if not well camouflaged, are vulnerable to retaliation from enemy aircraft bombing and ground artillery fire.
In the first half of the night, it was difficult to disguise; in the second half of the night, the car carrying the shells came, and everyone quickly unloaded the car and collected the ammunition.
When the time was done, it was almost dawn. The meal was also delivered, and after the soldiers had finished eating, they rested for an hour or two, got up and went on drying. During these 18 days, it was done day by day.
On the 4th, the enemy and our artillery battles were fierce, the enemy's shells exploded, and our shells exited, and we couldn't hear whether it was our guns or the enemy's guns.
"This is called artillery!" Everyone said happily.
The artillery positions were surrounded by craters, "10 rounds in unison", "5 rounds each"... The platoon leader answered the phone in the hidden department while busy giving orders, one order was not finished, and the next order came again.
The deputy platoon commander stood on the ground of a fortification and shouted the password, braving the artillery fire, and he was to quickly convey the password received by the platoon leader to the gunner.
By the afternoon, the fierce fighting had finally stopped for a while. Only then did everyone realize that the deputy platoon leader had fallen down in the soil and that the man had been sacrificed.
The warriors had just carried the body of the deputy platoon leader into the cave and changed him into new clothes. At this time, the password for shooting came down again.
"Revenge!" "Revenge!" Everyone shouted angrily as they fought.
It was almost dark, and Lian Li's Wen Jiao and others buried the deputy platoon leader in a nearby ravine! At night, it was time to repair the fortifications, cut down the camouflage trees, and was busy all night.
On the 5th, the enemy and our artillery battle lasted all day. A shell fell near the fortifications, and the shrapnel beat the clothes in the bag into a sieve, and everyone thought that it was an airplane bomb. Fortunately, there were no casualties.
On the 6th, 4 enemy planes came to bomb the positions of the 5 companies, and the enemy's large-caliber guns also participated in the bombardment. Fortunately, a large shell of 22 centimeters dropped by the enemy plane did not explode, and the position was not damaged.
In the evening, the shooting team returned to the cave to rest and use a few minutes to sum up the experience. The others, on the other hand, continued to cut down camouflage trees, repair fortifications, and unload artillery shells.
Until the 10th, the enemy and we had been fighting all day, and there were basically no losses on the positions of the 5 companies, that is, more and more dense craters. The gunners fought day and night, very nervous.
At dawn on the 12th, except for the firing group, the rest of the five companies gathered in the small rear to carry the shells. Because last night, they gave all the shells to the 9th Company.
By the time the first shells were returned, all four guns had opened fire.
Two-thirds of the men of the whole company went to transport the shells, 7 miles back and forth, carrying 2 to 4 rounds at a time. Everyone carried it for a day, and they played for a day. Even the cooks were transporting shells, and after a busy day, no one bothered to eat.
Whoever has good physical strength and runs fast will carry more and more luck.
"Hurry up, you want to provide for our cannon strikes!" Whether familiar or unfamiliar, when we meet, everyone always says this to encourage each other.
The road to carrying the shells was not calm, and the soldiers braved the enemy's shells to run forward, and at the end of the day, no one was beaten.
In the evening, Tong Yuanxun, the squad leader of the Three Artillery Corps, was injured in the leg by a shell while giving orders outside the fortifications. The instructor ordered him to go down and rest, but he was determined not to go down, "I can still command here with one leg left!" ”
In the end, it was under the forcible orders of the company commander and the instructor that Tong Yuanxun was carried down, and his leg injury was actually very serious.
On the 13th, Zhang Ying, the aimer of the three cannons, was seriously injured. At this point, the soldiers in the squad were anxious, and without the squad leader and the aimer, how could this cannon still be hit!
That night, the party members in the class held a meeting and decided to study and fight now. Before dawn, the party members found Wu Fukui and asked Wu Fukui to teach them for an hour in the morning. Just after learning about a bit, the shooting order in the company came, and everyone went straight to work.
On this day, Wu Fukui, Zhu Mingsheng (aiming hand), Deng Xuekuan (second gunner, loading shells), and Zhao Chunfu (interface order, acting squad leader) 4 people, on the three cannons, while learning to fight, played very well, did not make a mistake at all.
On the 14th, the second cannon broke down.
Deputy squad leader Wei Shishan was the aimer, he did not want to go up the mountain to rest, afraid that the new aimer would not be able to complete the task, so he casually found a hole near the fortification to rest.
In the morning, just after a break, an enemy shell came and blew up the barrel of the second gun, and a bag bulged inside the barrel, which could not be hit.
Immediately after, another shell of the enemy exploded into the hole, and the deputy squad leader Wei Shishan was crushed inside and unfortunately died.
The two cannons were bad, and everyone asked for a replacement cannon, but the above said no, let the 5 companies use three guns to complete the task of four guns, and change shifts.
The company commander and instructor explained to the gunners of the Second Artillery, and at night, the car dragged the Second Artillery out of the position and pulled it to the rear for repairs.
Seven men of the Second Artillery followed the guns to the rear for repairs, while 4 men remained in their positions to participate in the battle of the Three Guns.
In those days, the gun bore was red, and people did not dare to touch it. According to the accuracy of the gun, 2 to 4 rounds per minute were fired, but for the needs of the infantry, they had to fire 7 to 8 rounds per minute. Each cannon must be fired at least a hundred rounds a day.
The enemy's artillery also hit hard, the craters on the position were covered with craters, there was no flat place on the ground, the trees on the hill had no heads, and the light was left with stumps.
At 11:00 p.m. on the 15th, a cannon was also broken!
That night, the 5th Company and the brother Company were ordered to cover the entry of "Katyusha" into the position until they withdrew from the position, and they did not stop fighting.
Unexpectedly, an enemy shell hit the plug of a cannon, and the barrel was broken out of 4 pits, and the rifling was bulging and could no longer be hit. Two soldiers on the position were also wounded.
Lianli hurriedly organized a party branch meeting, but the two guns were already broken and could not be replenished in time, and everyone must overcome all difficulties and use the remaining two guns to complete the combat task of the four guns.
At the same time, the company sorted out the organization, and 8 people from the first and second squads took over the guns of the third squad, and the people of the third squad went to the four guns. In this way, it is just possible to achieve one cannon and one telephone, and one row and one cannon.
On the morning of the 17th, Company Li issued a password to release 3 rounds in unison, and the three cannons had been fired, but the four guns only fired one shot and there was no sound. The fourth squad leader, who was resting in the cave, heard that the movement was not right, and hurried down the hill to the fortifications.
It turned out to be a jammed shell, and the shell shell was stuck inside and couldn't get out. Everyone worked all day, smashing them with large stones and wooden heads, and using all the methods they could think of, but they didn't get the shell casings out.
In this way, the 5th Company has only one three cannons left!
The three guns had to fire more than a hundred rounds a day, and the four gunners worked very hard in the fortifications, "4 of our first squad are now in charge of the whole company." ”
"I promise the direction is not a meter short." Aimer Li Xingchun said.
"I promise the filling number is not bad at all." The cannonballer said.
"I promise that the password will not be passed on, and some of the ammunition will be hit." The deputy squad leader said.
For the next three days, the three guns were alone in the position, firing one shell after another with precision, supporting the infantry in battle.
On the evening of the 20th, the 5th Company was ordered to withdraw from the position and enter the second line, and the position was replaced by 1.
The three guns sent to the division headquarters for repair were also repaired, and the 5th Company was quickly transferred to a large ditch on the Linjin River to rest.
Seventeen or eight days and nights of hard fighting, the soldiers of the 5th Company were all yellow,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,0
At this time, the logistics of the volunteer army were sufficient, and there was no shortage of clothes and food; but in those ten days, all the minds were on the battle, forgetting hunger.
Usually, a class can't eat a bucket of rice, but during that time, a class can't even eat half a bucket.
Everyone was working together to think about how to fight a good battle, how to make the artillery more accurate, and provide better fire support for the infantry.
If nothing else, let's just say that the soldiers of the 5th Company Cooking Squad, when the battle was fierce, they left one person to cook, and the rest of the people all went to transport the shells.
"Be careful, hide!" The gunners were constantly reminding them.
"We are also old artillerymen, and shells can't hit us." The soldier of the cooking class said confidently.
They delivered a meal to the position once a day in the morning and evening, and the two meals were never delayed, and they had to carry a day's artillery shells.
In order to make the soldiers eat better, the cooking class used shell boxes to make bean sprouts; every day they would grind small mills and make tofu for everyone. The battle is fierce, the bean sprouts are still alive, and the tofu is still done as usual.
This period of fierce fighting was only a period of combat experience of the 5 companies in the battlefield of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
The 2nd Artillery Division was one of the first troops to enter Korea, and when they first entered Korea, they were attached to Wu Xinquan's 39th Army, and the first battle was Unsan.
At the time of the Battle of Yunshan, 5 companies were deployed south of Yunshan, and they were ready for battle. However, the infantry of the 39th Army fought too fast, and before they could fire, the battle was over.
After playing Yunshan, 5 consecutive rests for half a month. At that time, there was no air superiority, and the troops were fighting mobile warfare, so the 5th Company's howitzer company did not have many opportunities to shoot due to the difficulty of transfer.
In the second campaign, the 5th Company was ordered to the designated position and blocked the road to the south. But after waiting for two days, it still hasn't been typed.
The order from above came, and the 5th Company went to the front to assist the infantry in attacking an enemy defensive hill.
The 5th Company hurriedly set out in full gear and came to the predetermined position, the fortifications were not dug, and the cannons were set up and dried. As a result, the whole company had just made a call, and the battalion called and said that the enemy had run away.
The next night, they rushed to Gakukawa, and as a result, Gakugawa's enemies had been annihilated. No way, in the second battle, the 5th Company still did not have the opportunity to shoot, only released a salvo.
After the end of the second battle, the 5th Company moved to the Mandarin Duck Cave near Sandaeng.
Before the third battle, after three days of night marching, the 5th Company completed the 500-mile journey and assembled at Diyinli near the Linjin River to prepare for the battle to break through the Linjin River.
The gun truck was parked in the mountain roots and small ditches in the flute, covered with white cloth camouflage. Most of the company went to dig artillery positions along the Linjin River.
But on this very day, even on this day, when the enemy's planes came to the ravine to fly low for reconnaissance, the wind brought up the camouflage cloth and exposed the gun car.
In this way, 6 enemy planes took turns, 6 in one shift, and another 6 in the end. The three and four guns of the 5th Company were damaged, and 10 of the 11 vehicles of the whole company were damaged, leaving only one good one.
Without the car, the artillery could not be pulled at all, and the 5th Company was absent from the battle to break through the Linjin River.
The warriors were depressed and sad that they could not even eat. Because this 10-wheeled truck is a captured trophy, there is no place to replenish such a vehicle.
Veterans who had rushed back from the Imjin River saw the destroyed guns and vehicles and stood there wiping away tears.
The 5th Company hurried to repair the car, pulling the remaining two guns, and wanted to rush to participate in the battle behind. However, the third battle was only fought for 8 days, and when they went up, they were basically finished, and the company commander had to bring the cannon back.
A few days after New Year's Day, the above replenishment came down, and 4 trucks pulled 4 brand new guns to the 5th Company's station, XiaoguDong.
At this moment, everyone was excited.
In the fourth battle, the 5 companies did not participate in the battle, but studied and practiced artillery in the back. Company sent 4 vehicles to deliver gasoline and food to the fraternal troops at the front.
Perhaps, many people can't help but ask, why were the first four battles used so little against heavy artillery units like the 5th Company?
The conditions for the use of howitzers were already very restrictive, and the entire Korean Peninsula was under enemy air strikes. Heavy artillery units could only be transported by road, and their dependence on roads was too strong, which made their conditions for participation in the war very harsh.
In the fifth campaign, 5 companies in the Chuncheon area on the south bank of the Zhaoyang River for several days, suppressing the enemy's artillery fire with artillery fire, providing strong fire support for the infantry.
After the battle, the infantry sent a letter to the headquarters of the Second Artillery Division, asking for credit for the 5th Company.
Whether their own artillery fire was accurate or not, and whether the support was timely, only the infantry who rushed to the front knew best.
Although the artillery seemed to be sitting in a car, it was actually much harder than the infantry. The northern part of the Korean Peninsula is icy and snowy, the roads are bombarded by the enemy everywhere with potholes, and large cars can easily break down.
In addition to the difficulties on the way, whenever they reached a position, they had to immediately dig fortifications and build artillery formations. There are strict standards for this, and it is not enough to build some trenches or scattered military pits.
For example, the position of the 5th Company in Qingyundong took more than twenty days, day and night, to build up the position and camouflage.
It's still autumn, and if it's winter and the soil freezes, it's even more time-consuming and laborious to build!
On the Korean battlefield, the volunteers overcame many unexpected difficulties and won this battle for the founding of the country. Hero's Cannon 5 Company, Heroic Volunteer Soldier, Immortal!