Today, if someone asks which campaign of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea is the most famous? I believe most people will answer: the Battle of Chosin Lake. The release of the movie "Chosin Lake" has attracted more attention from everyone against the US aid to Korea and the Battle of Chosin Lake, and in addition to Chosin Lake, it is not forgotten that there is also the Battle of Shangganling.
Sixty-nine years ago today, on October 14, 1952, the Battle of Shangganling began. This battle, which lasted for 43 days, played a national prestige!
In fact, the five battles before the Battle of Shangganling and the Battle of Jincheng after the Battle of Shangganling were all larger than the Battle of Shangganling, so why was the Battle of Shangganling so famous? There's probably a lot you don't know about the Battle of Shangganling.
01
The area is less than 4 square kilometers, and the two armies must compete
Shangganling was the forward position of the Five Holy Mountains, the gateway to the central line of the Volunteer Army.
In order to turn the tide of the war, james van Vleet, commander of the US 8th Army, decided that the US 7th Division and the 2nd Division of the South Korean Army would take on the task of the Kim Hoa Offensive and take Shangganling. In the plan, the operation will be carried out for 5 days, and thanks to the support of more than 200 aircraft and more than 280 artillery, the infantry will not encounter great obstacles, as long as they pay the cost of 200 casualties.
Van Vleet's "Showdown" program targeted highlands 597.9 and 537.7 highlands defended by the Volunteers in the Upper Ganling area.
Highland 597.9 and Highland 537.7 North Mountain are located south of Shangganling, and these two highlands are at opposite angles, which are the natural barrier of the Five Holy Mountains, with a total area of 3.7 square kilometers. If shangganling is lost, the Five Holy Mountains will be directly threatened; if the Five Holy Mountains are lost, the volunteer army will retreat 200 miles, and there is no danger to defend. Therefore, the volunteer army must hold Shangganling, and Shangganling has become a place where the two armies must fight.
02
An average of 6 shells per second were fired
At 3:00 a.m. on October 14, 1952, the U.S. army concentrated 40 aircraft, more than 320 large-caliber artillery pieces, and 27 tanks, with a rare density of firepower, poured on the defensive positions of two companies of the 135th Regiment of the 45th Division of the 15th Army of the Volunteer Army on the front of the Five Holy Mountains.
Hu Fusheng, a volunteer soldier, recalled, "On average, 6 shells were fired every second, and the shells were one after another, and all the surface fortifications were gone." ”
The Battle of Shangganling lasted 43 days, and the entire battle was divided into three stages.
Phase I
14 October to 20 October
The volunteer army stubbornly resisted the attack of the "United Nations Army" and constantly counterattacked, and the surface positions were lost day and night, and they were repeatedly competed for. The focus of the competition between the two sides is on 597.9 Heights.
Phase II
21 October to 29 October
The units of the 15th Volunteer Army, which had been transferred to the tunnel, continued to fight the "United Nations Army" in extremely difficult circumstances, and the Volunteers outside the tunnel prepared for a decisive counterattack.
Phase III
30 October to 25 November
Decisive counterattack and consolidation phase
In Shangganling, a position of less than 4 square kilometers, the "United Nations Army" successively invested more than 60,000 people, more than 300 artillery pieces, nearly 200 tanks, and more than 3,000 aircraft from three divisions, fired more than 1.9 million shells, and dropped more than 5,000 bombs, cutting the mountain down by two meters.
Pictured: Shell casings fired by the United Nations Army
The "United Nations Army" called the battle "in the ratio of man to artillery, and the artillery firepower we are using on this front is equal to that used in the Battle of the Huttlingen Forest in Germany, which was the fiercest artillery battle fought by our army in the Second World War." ”
However, the enemy finally paid the price of more than 25,000 casualties, and did not gain any land.
The volunteer army successively invested more than 40,000 people in three divisions, and participated in the battle, including 133 mountain artillery, field artillery and howitzers, 24 rocket artillery, 47 anti-aircraft guns, and 292 mortars, firing a total of more than 350,000 shells.
The intensity of this battle is rare in the history of war.
03
Those the loveliest people
On the frontline of the Shangganling Campaign, a number of volunteer combat heroes emerged, and everyone's deeds can be sung and wept, and their courageous actions showed the heroic and fearless will of the Chinese soldiers and the iron will to regard death as a homecoming.
Huang Jiguang
He used his chest
Block the enemy's machine gun holes
Heroic sacrifice
Sun Zhanyuan
The first night of the Battle of Shangganling
He led 1 squad to open the way to counterattack
With captured U.S. troops two machine guns
Repelled two us attacks and annihilated more than 80 enemy troops
He dragged his injured legs
The last grenade was fired on the position
Die with the enemy
Niu Baocai
The walkie-talkie antenna exploded
He was injured all over his body and his leg was blown off
Pinch the end of the phone line with your pierced right hand
The other end bites with its mouth
I connected the telephone line that had been blown up with my body
In exchange for valuable talk time
Until the heroic sacrifice
Hu Xiudao
In the case of casualties in the whole class of comrades
He single-handedly held out his position to fight
Heroically and tactfully repelled more than 40 enemy charges
More than 280 enemy were killed or wounded
Held the position
In addition to them, there are many heroic deeds and heroes who can be sung and wept, and the 15th Army alone has produced more than 50 combat heroes in the battle.
In 43 days, 38 of the martyrs who fired grenades, grenades, and explosive canisters died with the enemy, and who sacrificed their lives to bomb bunkers and block gun holes, left their names.
Pictured: 38 battle heroes who died with the enemy in the Battle of Shangganling
04
Shangganling Spirit
In the Battle of Shangganling, the volunteer defensive units, relying on the tunnels as the backbone of the fortified defensive positions, with the support of artillery firepower, carried forward the spirit of revolutionary heroism, flexibly applied strategy and tactics, and at the cost of more than 11,000 casualties, successfully repelled the attack of the "United Nations Army", repelled 25 attacks above the "United Nations Army" battalion, and 653 times below the battalion, and defended the position. A total of more than 25,000 enemy casualties were killed or wounded, 274 aircraft were shot down and damaged, 61 large-caliber artillery pieces and 14 tanks were destroyed and wounded.
In the world-famous Battle of Shangganling, the volunteer army fought to the death, turning Shangganling into an impenetrable defensive line and creating a brilliant example of the victory of the weak over the strong and the victory of the inferior over the superior.
The Battle of Shangganling has produced the spirit of Shangganling that shocked the people of the world, namely: the spirit of dedication for the sake of the motherland, the people, and victory; the fighting spirit of indomitable, united fighting, and overcoming difficulties; and the spirit of victory in being brave and tenacious, fighting resolutely, and fighting to the end in blood.
To this day, the spirit of Shangganling still shines brightly.
Source CCTV National Memory
Edited by Meng Ziwei
Process Editor Guo Dan