Old readers know that I have a very high opinion of the 38th Army, calling it the first ace unit of the Volunteer Army. This was because the 38th Army had reached the pinnacle of offensive and defensive battles of the Volunteer Army. In fact, in terms of overall performance, the 38th Army still has many flaws. The 38th Army, the 39th Army, and the 40th Army were the three best performed armies of the Volunteer Army, and the performance of the 38th Army could be described as "god", and the battle of Fengmingli and the defense battle on the south bank of the Han River were too super gods, and their status was difficult for other units to shake. The performance of the 40th Army can be described as "fierce", which is the most fierce unit of the Volunteer Army, and the momentum of ten thousand enemies is taken out, that is, sweeping through thousands of troops, and no one can stop it. The performance of the 39th Army is "stable", the stability is unmatched, and it is difficult to defeat the 39th Army. Studying examples, tactics, and how to fight wars, the 39th Army is a model. If it were not for the battle of Fengmingli of the 38th Army and the blockade battle on the south bank of the Han River, the 39th Army would be the first trump card of the Volunteer Army.
There is some controversy about who is the first ace of the army-level troops, but there is no controversy about the division-level troops.
This article will talk about the undisputed first ace unit at the level of the Volunteer Army Division, the 116th Division of the 39th Army.
On July 3, 1952, the 116th Division of the 39th Army was ordered by Zhisi to take over the 118th Division of the 40th Army and the 357th Regiment of the 119th Division at a defensive position 12 kilometers on the west bank of the Linjin River and returned to the first line. Ma liang mountain was the core of the 116th Division's defensive positions, and the terrain on the eastern side was complex, which was the main direction of the enemy's attack. Mount Ma Liang was on the west bank of the Linjin River, and this section of the River turned in an "S" shape, and the enemy took up a position on the west bank, posing a great threat to Ma Liangshan, the core position of the 116th Division. This position was captured by the Commonwealth Division in the autumn offensive of the United States army in 1951, and although the 191st Division of the 64th Army recaptured Maliangshan in the subsequent counterattack, other positions could not be restored, and the subsequent 40th Army also failed to make progress, so that the core position of Maliangshan was directly exposed to the enemy.
After the 116th Division took over the defensive position, it was deployed from west to east in an echelon of the 346th Regiment, the 348th Regiment, and the 347th Regiment, and the enemies in front of them were the Commonwealth Division and the US 3rd Division.
In the autumn of 1952, negotiations at Panmunjom were once again deadlocked. In the past, the negotiations were deadlocked, and the reaction of the US military was to fight a big hand and use military offensives in exchange for chips on the negotiating table. But by the fall of 1952, things were different. The negotiations reached an impasse, turning into the decision of the volunteers to teach the Americans a lesson, and Chairman Mao instructed a major tactical counterattack that would definitely hurt the Americans.
(Let's look at the location of Gao Yangdai, the big map and the small map together, it is more clear about the specific location)
The target of the 39th Army was first selected at gaoyangdai, an enemy bridgehead on the west bank of the Linjin River, to destroy Gaoyangdai and remove the threat to Mount Maliang.
The first target was Gaoyang Daixishan, and the enemy in front of him was C Company of the 65th Regiment of the US 3rd Division. The U.S. Army had two colored regiments in the Korean War, one was the 24th Regiment of the U.S. 25th Division, the Black Regiment, and the other was the 65th Regiment of the U.S. 3rd Division, the Puerto Rican Regiment. However, the 65th Regiment far outperformed the 24th Regiment, and the 3rd Division of the U.S. Army performed relatively well in the Korean War, and the 65th Regiment was often used as the main force in the offensive. The 116th Division itself admitted that the US 3rd Division was very annoying, especially good at small unit night attacks, sneaking into the volunteer army at every turn, and taking the initiative to fight night battles with the volunteers.
However, the morale of the 65th Regiment of the US Army was completely destroyed in the Battle of Goyangdai Xishan, and the US Korean War War History "The U.S. Army in the Korean War" recorded this battle in detail as a humiliating battle example, using a full 5 pages. Soldiers of the US 65th Regiment were beaten by the 348th Regiment of the 116th Division and suffered serious behaviors such as refusing to carry out orders and abandoning positions as deserters during the battle. When Colonel Cordillo, the commander of the U.S. 65th Regiment, was preparing to press the entire regiment to fight for this small height like a gambler who had lost a bet, Division Commander Durrani urgently called a halt to the fighting.
On the far right is Cordillo
The demoralized 65th Regiment was later withdrawn and reorganized, and the regimental commander Cordillo was dismissed, and then participated in the battle with the 44th Volunteer Division on the 391st Heights, and once again disobeyed orders and abandoned positions, forcing the U.S. War Department to make up its mind and reorganize the 65th Regiment, and the 65th Regiment was no longer a Puerto Rican regiment. During the Korean War, the reorganization of the two colored regiments of the US Army was related to the 39th Army, the 24th Regiment surrendered to the 39th Army because of a company formation, and the 65th Regiment was demoralized because it was beaten. Although the deepest reason is because of racial discrimination within the US military, being beaten by the 39th Army is also an important catalyst, and the 39th Army has made immortal contributions to the reform of the US military's organizational system and the elimination of racial discrimination. See also: The volunteer army has a tactical quality, which is unique in the world's armies
(North Mountain and Northeast Mountain two schematic diagrams I will not draw, steal a lazy, in this map to mark the North Mountain and Northeast Mountain)
On September 30, 1952, the ROK 1st Division took over the positions of the US 3rd Division and was once again reunited with its old rival, the 116th Volunteer Division.
During the trench warfare, the Panmunjom, Rinjinjiang, and Yigu river lines were the key areas for the enemy and us to compete, and the main forces sent by the enemy and us on this line were their own main forces. Therefore, the battles in this area are extremely fierce and difficult, and each hill has to go through dozens of repeated battles. In these real knives and guns, the gap in combat effectiveness of the various units was revealed, and the US Marine Corps, which was vigorously praised by some American writers and some Chinese, was the worst performing unit, and was completely compared to the US Army. The opponents faced by the US 1st Marine Division in Panmunjom were the 63rd Army, one of the top three, the 40th Army, and the newly entered 46th Army. On the front line of the Ekitani River, the U.S. Army faced the Volunteer Army's 38th, 39th, 47th, 23rd, and 1st Armies, all of which were strong enemies. In the end, I can proudly say that in the end, the volunteer army won, and the famous hills in the history of the Sino-AMERICAN armies were finally the volunteers. See also: U.S. Military Commander: My order yesterday was wrong, they are not opponents of Chinese at all and American movies say: it is not the US military that is incompetent, it is the politicians who are dragging their feet! The real history swollen the face of the U.S. army and the commander of the U.S. army angrily denounced the incompetence of the Rok army, and a month later the South Koreans were happy: you were beaten so badly by Chinese
Only the 1st Division, one of the "three most elite divisions" in the Rok army, had fought on this front, as strong as the 6th Division had not been able to obtain this qualification. Although the ROK 1st Division suffered a small loss after the trench battle, there was only one major loss in the entire war before this, that is, the Battle of Imjin river in the third battle, and it was the 39th Army that taught it.
After capturing Goyangdaixi Mountain, the 39th Army immediately targeted The North and Northeast Mountains of Goyangdai, which the U.S. and ROK armies called "Tesi" and "Nick" Highlands. At this time, the Rok army was already on the verge of a great enemy, and a defected former Kuomintang soldier told the South Koreans: "The unit in front of you is well-trained, experienced in combat, and good at offensive operations." "The result was ridiculed by the Koreans, which is not nonsense, we have been beaten by them, we don't know yet."
Wang Yang, chief of staff of the 39th Army, and Zhang Feng, commander of the 116th Division (both of whom had just been promoted, were not in place, and waited until they had taught the British army at the western mountain of Gaowangshan, and Wang Yang went to the military headquarters to take up his post) and decided that Gaoyang Daibei Mountain and Northeast Mountain would fight together, the 347th Regiment would fight one, and the 348th Regiment would fight the other. To fight the US army, you have to come from the top of the hill one by one; to fight the ROK army, then don't be so polite.
And the 116th Division's thoughts, brigadier General Park Lin Heng, commander of the 1st Division of the ROK Army, knew that after the capture of The Western Mountain of Goyang Daixi by the 116th Division, it posed a serious threat to the flanks of the North And northeast mountain. In turn, the North Mountain poses a serious threat to the flanks of the West Mountain, as does the Northeast Mountain. This kind of bridgehead that infiltrated the formation of the volunteer army would not be tolerated Chinese. But let Park Linheng strike first, and he didn't have the guts, so he had to strengthen his defense first. Goyangdai Beishan and Dongbeishan were the 1st platoon and 3rd platoon (reinforced platoon) of the 15th Wing of the 1st Division of the ROK Army, respectively, behind which was the main position of the 3rd Battalion of the 15th Roon Company, which could receive direct fire support from the ROK 17th Artillery Regiment and the 1st Heavy Mortar Company, the priority fire support of the 9th and 58th Artillery Battalions of the US Army, the air support of the US 5th Air Force and the direct support of the A Company of the 72nd Tank Battalion of the US Army.
On the side of the Volunteer Army, the 348th Regiment was responsible for attacking Gaoyang Daibei Mountain, and sent 6 companies under the command of Deputy Regiment Commander Xu Youren. The 347th Regiment was responsible for attacking the mountains northeast of Gaoyangdai, dispatching 5 companies under the command of Fu Xuejun, commander of the 2nd Battalion.
Why did the 39th Army fight in war and I call it "stability"? Reconnaissance was comprehensive, well planned, meticulously prepared, and well coordinated, and the battles they fought were textbook battles. Under the pressure of the fire of the 9th and 58th Artillery Battalions of the US Army, the artillery of the 116th Division relied on its flexible position to destroy the barriers and mine arrays set up by the Korean army in GoyangdaiBeishan and Dongbeishan through destructive shooting. This also made the South Koreans extremely resentful of the US artillery. The bravery of the volunteer artillery naturally had the merit of the personnel responsible for reconnaissance instructions, and sent people to infiltrate the flanks and flanks of the enemy position to conduct reconnaissance and instruct targets, which was the normal state of the 116th Division's fighting.
Therefore, on October 6, 1952, when the battle officially began, the 116th Division did not carry out a rapid fire attack, but still only carried out sabotage surveillance shooting, and the Roksar search company could only hide in the tunnel to defend the artillery, which not only achieved the purpose of opening up a passage for the infantry, but also played a role in concealing the attack. When the American and Roksar artillery began to block the shooting, and the Rokse search company came out of the tunnel to prepare to enter the position, the South Koreans found a terrible scene, and the volunteer infantry was already in front of the position. In this campaign, the infantry of the 116th Division followed 40 meters after the artillery barrage (I told you before that the Volunteer infantry could follow up 50 to 100 meters behind the artillery barrage. This scene impressed the Rok army and wrote in the second lesson of this battle. The army of any country will learn war in war, and follow up this skill behind the bullet curtain, the US military and the ROK army have also learned, and will often use it in the future. However, the volunteer army also learned that the US military was good at using the vigilance position and giving full play to the function of the vigilance position. Therefore, although the US army and the ROK army learned the ability of the volunteer army to follow behind the artillery shells, they were often blocked by our warning positions. Everyone is learning war, everyone is improving, it is better than whose details are used), the Rok search company was caught off guard, and after a short resistance, the platoon leader knew that it was all over. The platoon leader, surnamed Li, aimed a signal bomb at the sky, and then led his troops to "rush through the enemy group into the tunnel with a fierce battle to the death, and immediately blocked the mouth of the tunnel with sandbags." ”
I think the Kuomintang army should learn the rhetorical techniques of the Koreans well, the Kuomintang army will only say "turn in", look at the Koreans, and say that the escape is so fresh and vulgar, "rushing through the enemy group into the tunnel with a fierce battle of death", and has not forgotten to "immediately block the mouth of the tunnel with sandbags".
The attack on Gaoyangdai North Mountain and Northeast Mountain was carried out simultaneously. Originally, the 6th Company of the 348th Regiment took the lead and occupied the surface position in only three minutes, but in the end, the 5th Company of the 347th Regiment came to the fore and ended the battle in only 5 minutes. What's going on?
The enemy army also uses tunnel fortifications, and the volunteer army will learn from it immediately
After the Roks in the two highlands hid in the tunnels, the volunteers began to shout for the Koreans to surrender, but the Roks refused to surrender. If the South Koreans surrender, it is still very troublesome to distinguish whether it is a real surrender or a fake surrender. If you don't surrender, it will be easy to do. The 5th Company of the 347th Regiment and the 6th Company of the 348th Regiment directly blew up the tunnel entrance, and all the Rok troops in the tunnel were buried alive, and there were 4 living mouths in GaoyangDaibei Mountain and 13 living mouths in Northeast Mountain. Among them, the 6th company of the 348th regiment had better patience and talked with the Koreans for more days; the 5th company of the 347th regiment had a little temper, and the words were not speculative for more than half a sentence, and the temper directly exploded as soon as it came up. So in the end, the 5th Company of the 347th Regiment took the lead.
The history of the South Korean army is devastated by the fact that two platoons of South Korean troops were buried alive, but the South Koreans have one thing the same as the Indians. If you talk to them about benevolence and righteousness, they will think that you are a bully; if you directly move your fists, he will feel that it is right to be beaten by you, and he will not be beaten.
At this time, a magical scene appeared on the battlefield, because the volunteer attack attempt was well concealed, plus the Koreans did not see the signal bomb. After both mountains were lost, the Korean army did not know. After the ROK army only noticed a burst of gunfire, the communication between it and The North and Northeast Mountains of Gaoyangdai was cut off. The search company commander did not take it seriously, and sent 3 signal soldiers to repair the line. As a result, communications could not be restored, and 3 signal soldiers were missing, and the company commander realized that things were not good, so he sent a reinforcement squad from the 2nd platoon of the reserve to restore contact. As a result, after the squad was beaten by the volunteers, they actually thought it was their own people, and shouted desperately, until they found that there were troops covering their back roads, they realized that the position was occupied by the volunteers, and quickly fled back. Don't look at it as a trivial matter, but it is very crucial; both the enemy and us pay attention to the fact that there is a mistake that must be reversed; the ROK army failed to find that the position was lost at the first time, and gave the volunteer army time to reform the fortifications, which played a great role in the later volunteer army's counterattack against the enemy.
The Korean artillery in the Korean War, on the far right, was an adviser to the U.S. army
After dawn on October 7, the Roks called in two formations of U.S. F-51 fighter-bombers, and the artillery directly used the close-in fuze. It is difficult to verify when the US military used this thing in the Korean War. According to the history of the U.S. Marine Corps, after the 1st Marine Division was transferred from the Eastern Front to the Western Front, it began to conduct a fire test of a close-blown fuze, and the U.S. Military believed that the effect was very good.
After an hour and a half of indiscriminate bombardment, the ROK 1st Division Search Company and the 15th Wing searched for the remaining two platoons of the company and began to launch a counterattack at 8:20. On the night of the 6th, if the Rok army lost its position and immediately counterattacked, the effect would certainly be much better; now that the volunteer army is fully prepared, the Koreans will come again, that is, to find death.
The roon's 1st Division searched for the company to counterattack GoyangdaiBeishan, and the 2nd Platoon of the 15th Wing counterattacked on Goyangdai Northeast Mountain, and the situation was the same, and the heavy artillery fire of the 116th Division hit the South Koreans and could not lift their heads. The war history of the ROK army said: "Chinese shelling gradually became fierce, and our casualties continued to increase. By the afternoon of the battle, the ROK 15th Wing had invested 3 battalions and 10 companies, but it was still unable to advance.
The South Koreans could not help, and began to call the American father to help, the US F-80 fighters were dispatched, the 9th and 58th artillery battalions were also put into battle, the target was directly aimed at the deep artillery of the volunteer army, under the suppression of the US air and ground fire, the Rok army said that the volunteer army was deep in a sea of fire, and the volunteer artillery was hidden. Seeing that the volunteer artillery stopped shooting, the rok scouts (the ROK search company, that is, the reconnaissance company) and the infantry were greatly boosted, and once again attacked the north and northeast mountains of Goyangdai, but the five consecutive attacks were all defeated by the volunteers.
On October 8, Park Lin-heng, commander of the 1st Division of the ROK Army, assigned the 3rd Battalion of the 11th Wing to the 15th Wing, and the commander of the 15th Wing, Kim Jin-wei, was able to concentrate all the forces of the 3rd Battalion to counterattack again. However, for the South Koreans, this is still a depressed day, and after a morning, the South Korean army is still difficult to enter. Park Linheng once again asked the US military for help, demanding joint air, artillery, Tanzania, and infantry operations. For the ROK 1st Division, the Americans are still very face-saving, the US two artillery battalions once again into battle, the Air Force also dispatched F-80 fighters to assist in the battle, the 72nd Tank Battalion A Company quickly launched all tanks to cooperate with the ROK infantry to launch an attack (mainly attacking the northeast mountain of Goyangdai).
The U.S. military taught the RoK army to use the M-65 artillery observatory
When I saw the next description of the Korean military's war history, my stomach hurt with laughter. The US air, artillery, and Tanker fire concentrated on the northeast mountain of Gaoyangdai from all directions, and the explosion sounded like a world breaking apart, and the highlands were a sea of fire. The South Korean said, "After such a spectacular shooting, I think not even an ant can survive." "Wing Commander Kim Jin-wei smiled knowingly and ordered the 10th Company to launch a surprise attack."
You see how proud the Koreans are, "Presumably not even an ant can survive, Captain Kim Jin-wei issued a knowing smile." As a result, after a line, the Koreans said that the 10th company had been defeated again. So the ROK army began to learn from the volunteer army at the scene, and the commander of the 10th company organized a 12-person death squad, and also launched an attack with the artillery barrage, and actually rushed to the position of the 9th company of the 347th regiment of the volunteer army (after capturing the northeast mountain of Gaoyangdai, the 9th company was responsible for defense). The Roks rushed quickly, but the tactical quality of the 116th Division's troops was not covered, and the ROK death squads failed to block the volunteer infantry in the tunnels, and were rushed out of the tunnels by the 9 companies, and after a scuffle, the Koreans were driven down again.
The friendly forces in the northeast mountain were besieged by the ROK army, and the 348th regiment troops in the north mountain naturally could not sit idly by, so they took the initiative to attack, and the regimental guard company dispatched a platoon to drive the 2nd platoon of the ROK 15th Wing Search Company, which was guarding the 105th highland on the south side, down to the 105 height. After two days of fighting, the South Koreans did not advance at all, but instead lost another position. Moreover, this battle disrupted the ROK army's offensive plan, and the 3rd Battalion of the ROK 15th Wing was ready to counterattack the Northeast Mountain with full battalion strength, and the loss of The 105 Heights forced them to postpone the attack.
However, the resilience of the ROK army is indeed quite ok, and the volunteer army's evaluation of the ROK 1st Division also means that they are full of resilience. At 1 o'clock on October 9, the 3rd Battalion of the 15th Rok Army Regiment launched a large-scale night attack, and the ROK infantry desperately rushed to the northeast mountain of Goyangdai, attacking wave after wave, almost without intervals, from 1 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. This style of play is really like a madman. The 116th Division is worthy of being the first ace unit of our army, and in such a wheel war, the history of the 116th Division actually downplayed it, saying that it repelled the attack of the ROK army. Park Lin-heng and Kim Jin-hyun saw that the infantry had been defeated again and began to call the Americans again. So the previous plot came again, with planes, artillery, and tanks appearing. However, because the ROK army did not directly counterattack on the night of the 6th, the volunteer army transformed the fortifications, and the 9th company of the 348th Regiment hid in the tunnel, and the US army bombed it as long as it wanted, and it loved to blow up how it wanted.
After the air-ground fire of the US army, the 3rd Battalion of the 15th Wing of the ROK Army was attached to it, and I was unwilling to write it, and the ending was the same, and the ROK Army was defeated again, and I felt bored to write. This time, however, it was Kendall, commander of the U.S. 1st Army, who called for a halt to the fighting. He's had a little bit of enough, fighting back for three days, and every day is the same plot, and it's the Koreans who lose anyway.
Sure enough, the plot changed dramatically. On October 10 and 11, the ROK army stopped, only firing artillery and small attacks. Two days after meticulous preparations, the 3rd Battalion of the 15th Roktan Company attacked Gaoyangdai North Mountain and 105 Heights with 11 companies at 0:40 on the 12th, and the main force of the battalion quietly advanced to the northeast mountain of Gaoyangdai in an attempt to launch a sneak attack. I said before when I introduced the night battle between the US army and the volunteer army that the US army often fought with the volunteer army at night, but the plot is very interesting, often the US night raiding force is directly found by the volunteer army's vigilance position, and then the vigilance position sends a combat team from the flank to counterattack and run away the US army.
The ROK army's sneak attack was discovered by the vigilance position of the 9th Company of the 347th Regiment. However, the ROK infantry is stronger than the US infantry, and the sneak attack is not directly turned into a strong attack. At this time, I did not have the strength to write, because the plot was the same as the previous few days, the Rok army was beaten, the US army supported, and the ROK army was still beaten. But this time there is a different place, the Rok army is desperate this time, regardless of casualties is desperate to rush upwards. Seeing that the exposed ground was full of denseLy Packed Korean infantry, the volunteers couldn't close their mouths with a smile. The artillery hurried to fight, they were all live targets. The artillery is also clever, we have few guns, we can't shoot cover, but the ROK army is all in the open, if you don't maximize the killing and injury of the enemy, it is simply sorry for the conscience of heaven and earth. But there are few cannons, so what to do? In the past, when we dealt with the follow-up echelon of the Rok army, we set up a fixed blocking firing line. The artillery moved at a stroke of genius, there were fewer guns, and the blocking line was still one, but with the movement to block the shooting, sweeping from front to back, from tail to head, like ploughing the ground, ploughing back and forth repeatedly. When the 9th Company saw the artillery fighting like this, it naturally caught up closely, and the light and heavy machine guns also learned to plow the ground back and forth with the artillery.
Because the Rok infantry was under the muzzle of the overseers' guns and rushed in the open at all costs, this ploughing tactic suddenly magnified the killing effect to the maximum. My stomach hurt with laughter, this is a war, purely a one-sided slaughter. Although the 1st echelon of the ROK army rushed into the communication trenches, the follow-up troops were killed in a river of blood under the fire of the volunteer army. The American artillery desperately covered and finally withdrew the follow-up troops, but the 1st echelon could not escape and was completely annihilated by the 9th Company. The company commander of the Captured Rok Army burst out and scolded: "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Where is there such a war! ”
The captured company commander of the Rok army was cursing, and Kendall, the commander of the U.S. 1st Army, was also cursing, but when he met with Park Linheng, Kendall regained his gentlemanly demeanor and gently told the Koreans: Don't fight, you are not Chinese opponent at all. Thus the Korean war history wrote: "At the suggestion of the commander of the 1st Army, the division commander decided to stop the counterattack that made no progress and suffered heavy losses. ”
As one of the three most elite divisions of the ROK Army, the ROK 1st Division is second only to the 6th Division in combat effectiveness, and it is actually quite capable of fighting. The main reason for losing this battle was naturally because it was the 116th Division. Just like the 6th Division of the ROK Army, fighting with other units of the Volunteer Army, it is very cattle, and when it encounters the 40th Army, it is not only beaten, it is beaten to the point of not being human. The ROK 1st Division was in the Maliangshan area for 110 days, fighting 122 offensive battles and winning 116 victories. It is the standard, and whoever disobeys will be beaten.
The secondary reason is still the commander's problem, replaced by Bai Shanye, will not fight such a stupid battle, this Park Linheng, no.
The battle was lost, but the mouth could not lose, the Koreans claimed to take revenge, the 116th Division waited for 5 days, the Koreans did not come, until the armistice was signed, the Koreans did not come. So the 348th Regiment took the initiative to attack on October 17, and then beat the Rok army in Gaoyang Daidongshan, and after the beating, the 348th Regiment deliberately abandoned its position to try to lure the ROK army to retaliate, but the ROK army did not retaliate. Koreans have old mouths, but their bodies are still very honest.
About the author: Wang Zhengxing, a former officer of a field unit of the People's Liberation Army, has served in infantry detachments, headquarters, logistics departments and other units, devoted himself to the study of war history and tactics, and has a unique understanding of army tactics and non-war operations. His book "This is War" was recommended in two issues in May and June 2014 by Phoenix TV's "Eight Minutes of Open Volume" column. His public account name is also "This is war", welcome to pay attention