This was a brilliant general who led his troops to create the "four firsts" in the Korean battlefield in a row: The first battle was fiercely fought in Yunshan, the first record of the Chinese army engaging the US army, and the US "ace" riding division was severely damaged; in the second campaign, the division was retaken Pyongyang; in the third campaign, the vanguard troops occupied the "presidential palace" in South Korea; in the fourth campaign of Hengcheng counterattack, a division captured more than 800 US troops, creating a record for a division to capture the most AMERICAN troops in a single battle.
He was Wu Xinquan, then the commander of the 39th Army and a general of the first generation.
First Military Intelligence Author: Kobayashi
Wu Xinquan (middle)
[1] Americans are not three heads and six arms. It is to beat it up on the horse and show it to the people of the world...
On October 25, 1950, the Volunteer Army fought its first battle. On the same day, the 40th Army annihilated 1 battalion and 1 artillery squadron of the South Korean Army at Leongsui-dong. When the news came, Lieutenant General Walton Walker, commander of the US Eighth Army, urgently ordered the most powerful US Cavalry Division to move rapidly north from Pyongyang to take over the Deployment of Unsan by the South Korean First Division.
UnsanSeong, the capital of Unsan-gun, Pyongan Province, North Korea, is a transportation hub in the north. Outside the city are mountains and valleys and rivers. This is also the midpoint of the "United Nations Army" front, which is advancing northward. The capture of Unsan would not only be able to control the entrance to the mountainous areas of northern Korea, but would also be able to split the enemy of the northern invaders in half.
Peng Dehuai, commander and political commissar of the Volunteer Army, entrusted the heavy task of conquering Yunshan to his old subordinate Wu Xinquan, who was then the 38-year-old commander of the 39th Army.
Wu Xinquan, at the age of 15, joined the Red Guards in his hometown of Pingjiang, Hunan Province, and followed Peng Dehuai from one to five anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaigns in the Central Soviet Region to the 25,000-mile Long March. The 39th Army was the main force of the Four Wilds from the northeast to Guangxi. The predecessor was the Red 25th Army, which first arrived in northern Shaanxi. The commanders of the three divisions are: Wang Liangtai, the 33-year-old commander of the 115th Division, Wang Yang, the 30-year-old commander of the 116th Division, and Zhang Duxin, the 33-year-old commander of the 117th Division. They are all young commanders who are good at fighting hard battles.
The name of the First Riding Division is even more prominent. Its history can be traced back to the Second Cavalry Regiment personally created by Washington during the American Revolutionary War, which has been undefeated in two world wars, so it is known as the "Founding Father Division" of the United States. So that after becoming a mechanized unit, it still maintains the name of "First Cavalry Division", and the horse head logo is particularly eye-catching. The division was equipped with 149 tanks and more than 300 artillery pieces — one division had far more firepower than one army of the 39th Army. The division commander at this time was the chief of staff of the famous American general Patton during World War II, 54-year-old Major General Hobart Guy.
Walker's change of defense was not known to the volunteers, and the forward reconnaissance of the 39th Army, which was preparing for a big battle, mistakenly regarded the U.S. army's change of defense as a sign of escape—Wu Xinquan immediately decided to launch an early attack.
On the Korean battlefield, the first contest between the two trump cards of China and the United States opened the curtain without knowing each other's identities.
In the evening of snowflakes, the 39th Army attack began. There was an earth-shattering shout of killing around Yunshan City, and the volunteers, under the cover of night, pounced on the US military defense line like a vigilant leopard - this was also the first time that the US army fought with the Chinese army, and the rapid and brave attack speed and accuracy of the volunteer army had never been seen before by the American soldiers. Only then did the Americans realize that the Chinese army was coming!
In the face of the fierce attack of the volunteers, the American soldiers shouted in horror: "God, this is a Chinese funeral!" ”
Like the surprise of the Us army, the fierce battle was not until midnight, when the volunteer army conquered all the highlands outside Yunshan Mountain, and it was confirmed that this opponent was actually the veteran strength of the US army!
"I wanted to eat meat, but I gnawed on the bones first." The battle report ahead made Wu Xinquan both excited and nervous. Peng Dehuai ordered: "Whether it is an old car or an ace division, resolutely eliminate it!" Wu Xinquan was furious: "Americans are not three heads and six arms." We are going to beat it up and show it to the people of the world..."
Before the war, Palmo, commander of the Eighth Regiment of the U.S. First Cavalry Division, heard that the volunteers were participating in the battle, and he had a disapproving expression: "Chinese?" They also fight wars? At this moment, Palmo's Eighth Regiment had been compressed by the volunteers in a narrow area south of the Cloud Mountains—not even the aircraft cannons were of use. In two days of fierce fighting, the Eighth Regiment of the US First Cavalry Division was severely damaged, and the subordinate third battalion was completely annihilated. Six days later, the U.S. Army permanently canceled the battalion's designation.
During the battle, the 39th Army killed and wounded more than 1,840 American prisoners, shot down 1 enemy plane, captured 4 enemy planes, destroyed 28 tanks, more than 170 cars, and more than 190 artillery pieces of various kinds. Destroyed and captured cannons, just as the number of equipment of the 39th Army.
This was the worst defeat of the First Mounted Division since its formation, shocking the US government and opposition - US congressmen accused MacArthur of taking the enemy lightly, and even demanded that President Truman replace MacArthur.
Lieutenant General Ridgway, who later took over MacArthur's post as "Commander-in-Chief of the United Nations Forces," wrote after the war: "The defeat of Unsan, if the ancestors of the American army knew about it, would be angry in the grave!" ”
[2] Kappa Pyongyang, OccupyIngham, MacArthur: He is a terrible man!
After the first campaign, the U.S. military intelligence agencies misjudged that the Chinese troops fighting in North Korea were only about 34,000. At this time, the total strength of the "United Nations Army" had reached 553,000 people, and the ground troops were 423,300 people. MacArthur ordered a full-scale northward advance in an attempt to seize all of North Korea before the Yalu River was frozen. He also arrogantly declared that the Yalu River was not an insurmountable obstacle, and that Chinese was not an "indisputable force."
It was precisely by taking advantage of MacArthur's arrogance and light enemy that the volunteer army withdrew north to lure the enemy and laid a large "pocket" for the pursuing "United Nations Army"--Wu Xinquan and his 39th Army were ordered to encircle and annihilate the US Twenty-fifth Division west of the Cheongcheon River.
In the Pacific War, the US Twenty-fifth Division fought from Australia to Tokyo, Japan; when the Korean War broke out, the Twenty-fifth Division was the first to land in Korea, with the three nicknames of "Electric Strawberry", "Tropical Lightning" and "Cu Chi Guard". The division commander at this time was Major General William B. Keane. Like all U.S. main Forces, the U.S. Twenty-fifth Division was known for its fierce firepower.
The enemy is strong and we are weak. Wu Xinquan immediately made a decision, concentrated superior forces to fight the annihilation war, and used the main forces of the three divisions to encircle and annihilate the 25th and 24th Regiments of the United States.
In the evening of November 1950, fighting began. The 39th Army quickly interspersed, roundabout, and gave full play to the hard kung fu of the night combat melee, and by 5 a.m. the next day, the U.S. Twentieth Regiment was cut into three sections, annihilating more than half of the enemy - Captain Anthony Pecurero, commander of the C Company of the Sixty-fifth Engineer Combat Battalion of the United States, saw that the breakthrough was hopeless, and surrendered with a black company of 115 people.
Capturing a complete company of U.S. troops in one battle is rare on the Korean battlefield. Shocked again, the Pentagon decided to adjust the organizational structure, no longer set up separate combat units such as black companies, platoons, and squads, and mixed and organized regardless of racial color —this principle has been maintained to this day.
In the second battle, the "United Nations Army" collapsed 300 kilometers in one fell swoop. Wu Xinquan ordered his troops to pursue the enemy with full horsepower. The 116th Division of the 39th Army took the lead in attacking Pyongyang – the 43-day fall of the Korean capital was recaptured.
On the last day of 1950, on another snowy dusk, the Volunteers launched a third campaign. The 116th Division of the 39th Army broke through the Yeongjin River Defense Line, which was touted by the South Korean Army as an iron wall, for 13 hours; the 117th Division of the 39th Army swept through the South Korean Army five times in succession. However, in one day and one night, the South Korean First and Second Divisions collapsed completely, and the US First and Second Armies north of the Han River fell into a dangerous situation of backwater combat.
It was the coldest season in North Korea. "Chinese soldiers are covered in ice and are still stubbornly charging", the United States published "The Long Battle: The Korean War in the Eyes of the Americans" records, "The only antifreeze measure for Chinese soldiers is to use lard and cow and sheep plate oil to paste their feet to prevent frostbite, but they show the most incredible courage and willpower in the history of human warfare, in the freezing cold of minus 20 degrees Celsius, trekking through the snowy ice and crossing the sea of bullet screen fire." ”
On the third day after New Year's Day in 1951, Ridgway ordered the abandonment of Seoul. On this day, it was less than 10 days before he succeeded Walker, who had died in a car accident in the second battle, as commander of the Eighth Army. Ridgway later wrote helplessly in his memoirs: "When I inspected the Wounded of the American Army, I found that they were as deflated as a leather ball. We are soberly aware that there is still a long process to build the fighting spirit needed. ”
A day later, the 39th and 50th Armies and a section of the Korean People's Army entered Seoul.
Although Wu Xinquan had just been changed from military political commissar to military commander before entering the Korean War, he fought unequivocally, had a cool head, and was resolute and resolute. Even the invincible MacArthur believed that Wu Xinquan, the commander of the 39th Volunteer Army, was a terrible man.
[3] One division captured 800 American troops in one battle, and captured enough artillery and cars to equip two artillery regiments and one automobile regiment.
In three consecutive battles, the volunteer army drove the "United Nations Army" from the Yalu River to the "37th Line".
The Americans were clearly unwilling to accept the reality of defeat at the hands of New China. On January 6, 1951, U.S. President Harry S. Truman signed a bill to allocate an additional $20 billion for defense costs: the U.S. military budget in 1951 soared to $45 billion, an 80 percent increase. Two days later, Truman asked Congress to increase its active duty force to 3.5 million, produce 50,000 military aircraft and 3,500 tanks a year, and put forward 10 legislative proposals on war mobilization, such as "extending and amending the conscription law" and increasing taxes, so that American civilians can pay for the mistakes of the U.S. government in the Korean War.
The United States' super battlefield supply superiority was fully demonstrated at this time: a large number of World War II veterans drawn from the mainland and other regions were quickly replenished into the Korean battlefield, and various combat readiness materials were continuously transferred to the front line of the war. Each American soldier who participated in the war could also fly to Japan for a 5-day "indulgence + indulgence" type of rest in order to "restore morale" and return to the battlefield. At this time, the strength of the "United Nations Army" in the Korean battlefield had exceeded 600,000, with more than 1,170 jets and 19 aircraft carrier battle groups. At this time, the volunteer front-line defense force was only 220,000.
On 25 January, the United Nations Army suddenly launched a large-scale offensive with Seoul as the main assault direction, and the fourth campaign began. After entering Korea, the 39th Army, which had been the vanguard of the offensive on the western front, was urgently transferred to the eastern front to take on the heavy responsibility of defensive counterattack.
On February 11, the sixth day of the first lunar month, the Eastern Front Corps of the Volunteer Army seized on the fleeting fighter plane and took advantage of the early night darkness to launch an attack on the enemy who was prominent in the situation - this was the most famous battle of the fourth campaign, the Hengcheng Counterattack.
Frozen. The 117th Division of the 39th Army, which had been punctuated to the enemy's retreat, had just built a simple fortification, and the American troops and South Korean troops who had retreated from the front of Hengcheng were already flooding in. In the air, more than a dozen Us fighter planes that covered the retreat almost swooped down on their scalps, and groups of volunteers fell in pools of blood...
Wu Xinquan, who was full of fire, gave the order to die: "Even if you fight the last person, you must stick to the end!" ”
The 117th Division's blockade was like a steel battlefront. The enemy fleeing south cannot escape, and the enemy who has aided from the north cannot help -- the US army and the South Korean army are in a dilemma, and they fight back like trapped beasts again and again to fight for the last line of escape. For a time, smoke billowed from the position, and the position of the 351st Regiment was almost flattened.
Dusk, finally, came. Wu Xinquan resolutely ordered a counterattack, and the volunteer army charged rapidly from all directions, cutting the remnants of the enemy into several pieces and annihilating them in pieces. In the early morning of the next day, the follow-up troops of the Eighth Division of the South Korean Army, which had just fled from behind, saw that the enemy in the front was annihilated by the volunteers, turned around and ran, just in time to hit the logistics department of the 117th Division, and had to raise their hands and surrender.
In the Battle of Hoengseong, the 39th Army set a new record: the 117th Division annihilated more than 3,350 enemies and captured 2,500 enemies, including more than 800 U.S. troops, setting a record for the most U.S. troops captured by the Volunteer Army in one battle, and also created a classic example of a division on the Korean battlefield that annihilated the most enemies in one battle. 139 artillery pieces and 550 vehicles were captured, enough to equip two artillery regiments and a car regiment.
Against aid, the 39th Army and the 38th Army, together, played the prestige of the "Ace Army". Wu Xinquan is also worthy of the title of a generation of warriors.
In 1955, Wu Xinquan was awarded the rank of lieutenant general. Later, he became deputy commander of artillery. Although Wu Xinquan is not tall, he is a top basketball fan. It is said that the basketball team formed by him and several sons fought all over the artillery compound of the year.