The popular movie "Chosin Lake" in the recent month has earned more than 5 billion box office and has become a phenomenon-level movie. The film truly recreates the tragic process of the Chinese Volunteer Army participating in the offensive and defensive battles in the Chosin Lake area on the eastern front of the Second Campaign to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea (known to the United States as the Battle of Qingchang). The lack of logistics of the officers and men of the volunteer army in the film, climbing ice and lying in snow, loyalty to the mission, and heroic spirit of resolute combat have touched countless audiences. Yang Gensi, the company commander of the 58th Division played by Ou Hao, rushed into the enemy group with an explosive package, and the earth-shattering feat of dying with more than a dozen AMERICAN troops fulfilled the hero's oath with his life: there is no task that cannot be completed, there is no difficulty that cannot be overcome, and there is no enemy that cannot be defeated!
Let's go back to the historical scene of the Battle of Chosin Lake on November 27, 1950. The Ninth Corps of the Volunteer Army was composed of the 20th Army, the 26th Army, and the 27th Army from Sanye, which was originally the first echelon of the attack on Taiwan, and each army was reinforced by a division, and the total number of corps reached 150,000 people. Because of the urgent military situation in the Korean battlefield, the corps was relieved of its original mission and reorganized into the Ninth Corps of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army, which also traveled north to the eastern front. However, the rush to enter, the supplementary cold zone cotton clothing along the way is insufficient, coupled with the tight blockade of the US Air Force, logistical transportation difficulties, the winter shipments that have been hoarded on the border cannot be transported, can only meet the basic ammunition needs, and the food supply is very difficult. At this time, the Chosin Lake area on the eastern front of North Korea was already ice and snow at minus 20 to 30 degrees, and the Ninth Corps of the Volunteer Army marched out in this extreme environment to meet the US 10th Army, which was armed to the teeth.
At that time, the United Nations army was divided into two routes north, the western front was the US 8th Army, commanded by the commander Lieutenant General Walker, a total of 130,000 people, and the eastern front was the US 10th Army, commanded by the commander Major General Almond, a total of 100,000 people. Among them, the most elite of the US 10th Army is the 1st Marine Division, with a total of more than 18,000 people, with a large number of modern equipment, as a pioneer to the Chosin Lake area. The 31st and 32nd Regiments of the 7th Division and the British Marine Corps also cooperated with the 1st Marine Division. By November 27, the 1st Marine Division and the 7th U.S. Division had advanced to neidongzhi, Xinxingli, Houpu, Liutan-ri, Hagaru-ri, and Guturi on the east, west, and south sides of Chosin Lake, preparing to continue their advance towards the Yalu River.
According to the enemy's situation, Song Shilun, commander and political commissar of the Ninth Corps of the Volunteer Army, Tao Yong, deputy commander, Qin Jian, chief of staff, and others made operational arrangements, concentrated the 8 divisions of the 20th Army and the 27th Army as the first echelon, and respectively surrounded and annihilated the US 1st Division and the 7th US Division in the areas of Neidongzhi, Xinxingli, Houpu, Liutanli, Xiajieyuli, and Gutuli, and at the same time alerted the US 3rd Division in Shecangli, and the battle was launched on the night of November 27. In addition, the 26th Army was used as a reserve, deployed in the Houchang Jiangkou area, ready to move forward at any time to support the main battle.
In the 3 corps of the Ninth Corps, the 27th Army took on the main task of frontal attack, and Peng Deqing, commander of the 27th Army, assigned tasks to the troops; the 79th Division attacked Liutanli on the west bank of Chosin Lake; the 80th Division and the 242nd Regiment of the 81st Division attacked Neidongzhi and Xinxingli on the east bank of Chosin Lake; the 241st and 243rd Regiments of the 81st Division guarded the first part of the US 7th Division in the area of Zhanhu Lake to cover the flank of the main force of the army; the 94th Division, as a reserve, was marching towards the Chosin Lake area, intended to be used to attack the direction of Liutanli. Before the war, it was estimated that there were 2 battalions of the US army in Liutan and 1 battalion of the US army in Xinxing, which could be annihilated within one to two days and nights.
Only after the fighting broke out did they know that the US troops in the Liutanli area were not 2 battalions but 2 regiments with more than 6,000 people, and the US troops in the Xinxingli, Neidongzhi, and Houpu areas were not 1 battalion but 1 regimental combat detachment of more than 3,000 people, all of whom had very powerful firepower and could be supported by the air force. However, due to inaccurate intelligence, poor deployment, and dispersed troops, coupled with the cold weather, lack of food, and weak firepower, the Volunteer Army encountered an unprecedented and arduous battle situation.
The hardest battle to fight is in Liutan. The U.S. Army consisted of 5 regiments and 7 regiments of the 1st Marine Division (owed 2 infantry companies), 2 battalions of artillery and 2 companies, with 18 155 mm howitzers, 30 105 mm howitzers, 24 107 mm heavy mortars, 1 Sherman tank and more than 40 trucks. The US military occupied the 1271, 1282, 1240, 1276 and other highlands outside Liutanli, equipped with powerful firepower, and laid obstacles such as anti-infantry mines, snake belly barbed wire, gasoline barrels, string grenades, and mixing cable flares at the front of the position to strictly prevent them from being attacked.
Due to the mistaken belief that there were only 2 battalions of the American Army, the 27th Army was somewhat light enemy, and the first echelon attacked only 3 regiments of the 79th Division in Liutanli, and the artillery firepower used for support was very weak. The volunteers rushed through the minefields that exploded one after another, relying only on rifles, machine guns, grenades, and explosives packages to attack the enemy's ring of defense in Liutanli, consisting of artillery, vehicles, and tanks, and at the same time, they were also bombarded by American aircraft, and the battle was extremely difficult. Against the backdrop of fire and flares, the officers and men of the Volunteer Army stubbornly launched a charge and repeatedly competed with the defending American troops on the outer positions of Liutanli, and both sides suffered heavy casualties. Some Marines later recalled that because the volunteers were frozen and hungry for a long time, their physical strength was greatly reduced, and the charging action was very slow and stiff, moving on the snow like a "log", facing the tongue of fire sprayed by the US automatic firearm, the spirit of seeing death as a homecoming was shocking!
After a night of fierce fighting, although the 79th Division captured the 1403rd Hill and the 1240 Heights, and controlled parts of the 1384 Heights and 1282 Heights, forcing the American troops in Liutanli to shrink the defensive range, they also paid a huge price, and 5 battalions suffered too many casualties and lost their combat effectiveness. By the day of the 28th, US aircraft came to support and bombed indiscriminately, and the 79th Division had to stop attacking and consolidate its vested positions. At the same time, the US military organized troops to launch a counterattack, and the two sides fought fiercely and fiercely, and most of the positions were confronted. Due to combat casualties and freezing hunger, the 79th Division was reduced by nearly half, which seriously depleted combat effectiveness. Commander Peng Deqing ordered the reserve 94th Division to reinforce Liutanli, but the division was bombed by American aircraft on the way in, suffering heavy losses and insufficient strength to annihilate the enemy.
At this time, it is no longer realistic to want to annihilate the besieged enemy in all battlefields. Song Shilun and Tao Yongsui adjusted their operational arrangements: They concentrated two regiments of the 80th Division and the 81st Division of the 27th Army to encircle and annihilate the enemy in Xinxingli, where the relatively small number of troops was annihilated; the 59th Division of the 20th Army and the 79th Division of the 27th Army carried out a restraining attack on the enemy in Liutanli and the 58th Division of the 20th Army on the enemy in Xiajieuli to ensure the smooth progress of the battle in Xinxingli; at the same time, the 26th Army of the reserve corps was also dispatched to the south to participate in the battle. In this way, in addition to continuing to compete with the Americans on several important positions, the 79th Division as a whole formed a confrontation with the enemy in Liutanli.
On the orders of MacArthur, commander-in-chief of the United Nations Forces in the Far East, the U.S. 8th Army and the 10th Army withdrew across the board. On December 1, with the support of the Air Force, two regiments of the 1st Marine Division in Liutanli began to withdraw south. Officers and men of the 79th and 59th Divisions, which had been severely weakened, blocked along the way, but the firepower gap between the two sides was so large that they could not stop the enemy. Even so, the continuous interception and harassment of the volunteer army also terrified the American army, and casualties continued to occur. At a distance of 22 kilometers from Liutanli to Hagaru-ri, the two regiments of the 1st Marine Division walked for 77 hours, advancing an average of more than 280 meters per hour. These Marines lost their armor and armor, had frostbite on their faces, and their eyes were blank and dazed, completely losing the prestige of the defeat of the Japanese army in the Pacific Theater of the past.
In this battle, the 79th Division of the 27th Army fought hard, reducing its strength by nearly 5,000 men, and later reduced to 5 infantry companies and 2 machine gun companies. Among them, the 235th Regiment, known as the "First Regiment of Jinan", could only fight more than 1 company, which was a fierce battle! To say more, the famous General Chi Haotian later came from the 235th Regiment of the 79th Division and was honored in the Bloody Battle of Chosin Lake.
Author WeChat public account: Shen Tingxue's historical anthology
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