Battle of Qin Jiwei and Shangganling (IV)
First Military Intelligence Author Wu Dongfeng
Summary: The "amount of ammunition" of Van Vleet, commander of the US Eighth Army, met the "refueling" tactics of Qin Jiwei, commander of the 15th Army of the Volunteer Army. Who fought well in the Battle of Shangganling?
At present, the battle at 537.7 heights on the front of the Five Holy Mountains has entered an extremely complicated and difficult situation: such casualties are large, the battle cannot be ended quickly, and the enemy's strength is not large, and our follow-up forces are about to have new problems. In this case, it must be clear what tactical means and guidelines we should adopt. The more difficult the time, the more commanders at all levels are required to think of ways, come up with ideas, and absorb the following opinions, but the problem is not exactly like this, but many question marks and doubts are raised, and there are differences in tactical thinking........
--Qin Jiwei's diary, October 14, 1952
The oiling tactic is to add oil to the furnace little by little, add a little, and burn a little, and the more you add, the more you burn.
The tactic of "adding oil" has always been a major taboo for soldiers, but Qin Jiwei, commander of the 15th Army, successfully applied this tactic in the Battle of Shangganling. Qin Jiwei believes that the key to fighting well in the Shangganling tunnel lies in maintaining the living forces in the tunnel. In this way, it is necessary to constantly use the tunnel to counter the enemy's attack on the ground, and when I suffer losses, I can continuously send and reinforce troops to the tunnel.
On October 20, 1952, Qin Jiwei convened an emergency meeting of military leaders, the theme of which was to study "how to solve the current difficulties and ensure that the 45th Division fights a good battle?" ”
After studying, Qin Jiwei finally made a decision: First, the army directly drew personnel to supplement the front-line combat troops; second, readjusted the deployment of the whole army, and specialized the troops acting as defensive units and those acting as counterattacks; second, concentrated energy, concentrated troops, and all efforts were made to fight this battle well.
Qin Jiwei analyzed: "The mobility of troops is an important step in war, especially in defensive operations. You have to look at the accuracy and then use the troops, which is a magic weapon for Shangganling to win. Fighting a war without stamina is not enough, and as a campaign, it is especially necessary to have stamina. ”
Eight companies of cooking squad soldiers who insisted on the mouth of the tunnel
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Zhang Yunyu, chief of staff of the 15th Army, held that this meeting was of vital importance to ensuring the victory of the Shangganling battle and was a turning point in the Shangganling battle from passive to active. According to the instructions of Commander Qin Jiwei, the 15th Army organs and direct subordinate units of the army drew more than 1,200 soldiers and supplemented 13 companies for the 45th Division. In his later years, Zhang Yunyu once told this writer that it would take a lot of determination and courage to pull up the guards of the military department to "add oil."
Che Min, then director of the Political Department of the 15th Army, recalled that Commander Qin Jiwei saw farther and remembered that he also said at the meeting: "The success or failure of this counterattack operation not only concerns the 15th Army and the entire corps, but also has a greater impact on the entire Korean war situation." In his report, Comrade Liu Shaoqi specifically mentioned that the volunteer army's active defensive operations in Korea for more than a year have broken the military thesis in history that 'there is no defense line that cannot be broken.' Today, the volunteer defenses are unbreakable. This estimation and encouragement of the responsible comrades of the Central Committee has increased our strength. We must fight with actual victory, consolidate our steely positions, and give Clark a head-on blow. ”
Che Min recalled that after the Battle of Shangganling broke out, Qin Jiwei promptly instructed the Political Department of the army to send three batches of grass-roots cadres: one group on the position; one group was on standby in the division and regiment; a group remained in the army for training, a group of combat backbones were retained, a number of combat backbones were trained, and they were ready to "add oil" at any time to cope with the protracted big war in the future.
Che Min looked
Qin Jiwei was very satisfied with Che Min's arrangement. He said, "To fight a war is to die." In particular, grassroots cadres suffered heavy casualties. When a war starts, the soldiers must rely on the cadres to bring them. In this sense, to fight a war is to fight a cadre. This battle will get bigger and bigger. To explain the next side, the company can not be exhausted, we must pay attention to keep the 'seed'. It is necessary to bring up those fighting backbones in time. Our weapons and equipment are not as good as the enemy. But our advantage is that morale is high, and our soldiers know who to fight for. ”
Qin Jiwei also instructed the Political Department to vigorously carry out a campaign to kill the enemy and make meritorious contributions. The Political Department's "Battlefield Newspaper" should publicize the heroic deeds in a timely manner. He said: "The 'reference messages' you printed can be sent to the division, and some can also be sent to the regimental commanders and regimental political commissars. Let's see what the Associated Press is advocating. Know yourself and know the other, and you will not lose a hundred battles!"
The "refueling" of weapons and equipment is also crucial. When Qin Jiwei ordered the military headquarters to strengthen the artillery support of the 45th Division, Chief of Staff Zhang Yunyu proposed: It is very difficult to transport shells! At the military combat meeting on the spot, Qin Jiwei ordered the 29th Division: "You will draw out 3 battalions, and the division's political commissar Wang Xin will lead the team to transport the shells, and the cadres and fighters of the military department and the actors and actresses of the cultural and labor corps will all participate." ”
The logistical supply problem of the tunnel was a new problem encountered at that time. In order to solve the situation of serious shortage of grain and water in the tunnel, the logistics department racked its brains and adopted such means as "relay transportation" and "creeping forward" to send the required materials to the tunnel.
You Jixian, director of the logistics department of the army, mentioned to Qin Jiwei that when the officers and men of the logistics department sometimes suffered higher casualties than the combat troops in order to "add oil" to Shangganling, Qin Jiwei said to You Jixian emotionally: "After striking down on Shangganling, we must give the logistics a head of credit!" ”
Officers and soldiers completed reinforcements and material supplies through rock climbing
Once, cadres from Shangganling reported to Qin Jiwei on the situation of the officers and men who were holding the tunnels: They could not eat water, could not eat for several days, could not get the support of the main force, and held their positions independently. Qin Jiwei was very moved, and immediately pulled out the basket of apples placed under the marching bed and asked the comrades of the headquarters to send them to the position. The guard said, "Chief, this apple is big and red, it must be sweet, take a few and keep it and eat it!" Qin Jiwei waved his hand: "Don't move a single one, when you get to the tunnel, it is a life-saving fruit!" ”
Sang Chuanbao, then a staff officer at the headquarters of the 15th Army, recalled that in those days, Qin Jiwei dictated and asked him to write several hanging notes and put them in the basket for sending apples, to the effect of the following:
The heroes who persevered on the Five Holy Mountains, I sincerely thank you for your heroic and tenacious will to fight. In the bitter battle of half a month won a brilliant victory of annihilating 1.2 million enemies. Avenge the martyrs for the glory of the whole army, continue to fight, and continue to work hard to annihilate all the attacking enemies on our steel positions, without restoring all positions, without stopping fighting!
I have nothing else to offer but to give all the fruit, sugar, canned food, and pears I personally bought to the cutest people who are at the forefront of the tunnels and fighting back against the enemy continuously. I hope that after receiving these gifts, you will fight more tenaciously and strive to restore all your positions as soon as possible.
Sang Chuanbao recalled that from then on, everything sent by the condolence group and the things that the military commander himself bought with his own allowance had to be accumulated and packed in the basket. The Commanders of the Qin Army solemnly signed the written hanging notes one by one and sent them to the front line. Other military leaders have done the same.
Li Mingming, then head of the propaganda section of the 45th Division, recalled that the story of "an apple" in the movie "Shangganling" was not fictional. However, he always insisted that the apple that the officers and soldiers who insisted on the tunnel picked up on the road were leaked out of the basket of apples sent by Commander Qin Jiwei. Li Mingming said: "Because most of the fruits sent by the front line at that time were turnips, and it was rare to see apples." It wasn't Captain Qin's basket of apples, so where did the apples come from? ”
Fight tenaciously and survive
At the call of Qin Jiwei, the 15th Army carried out activities to study tactics and tactics in the tense battle: the commando team studied how to move under the enemy's fire; the transport troops studied how to pass through the enemy's artillery blockade area; the holding detachment studied how to use the "small army group" and "oil" tactics to deal with the enemy's large cluster attack; the troops temporarily transferred to the tunnel studied how to cooperate with the commando counterattack...
In the Battle of Shangganling, the troops of the 29th Division fought together with brotherly troops with selfless character and fearless spirit. According to the requirements of troop deployment, the 29th Division was assigned to the 44th Division with one regiment and held on to the Western Mountains; with 2 regiments with the 45th Division, and later with the 31st Division, it fought at Shangganling. The battle was in the most arduous stage, the 29th Division sent tens of thousands of pounds of turnips and tomatoes to the 45th Division; before the great counterattack, the division's political commissar Wang Xin personally led 2 battalions and sent tens of thousands of shells and grenades to the Five Holy Mountains, he said: "In the battle, as long as the superior has an order, there is no saying, where it is needed, it will fight wherever it is needed!" ”
Qin Jiwei even sent his own guards to Shangganling to "add oil."
"This is big news at a critical moment in the battle of Shangganling!" Li Tianen, who was then a reporter for the Battlefield Newspaper of the 15th Army, recalled, "We really did not expect that the commander would make such a big determination and take out the 'old foundation' and 'personal soldiers' who commanded the battle. The chief sent the guard troops to the front line, which is the greatest encouragement to the front-line combat troops!"
The 15th Army Guard Company, not an ordinary guard unit, in addition to serving as the head and organ of the Defense Army on a daily basis, must also perform arduous and complex special tasks at any time in the Korean battlefield. This is the "old bottom" of Qin Jiwei who fought from north China to the Yangtze River and finally to Sichuan, and together with him he marched south and north to fight, living and dying together.
Before the Shangganling counterattack, Qin Jiwei thought twice and resolutely decided to organize and participate in the war activities from military organs and directly subordinate detachments. He stressed: "The four platoons of the guard company are without exception! The army guard company drew a total of 79 soldiers to "add oil" to Ganling.
The front-line command post of our army in Shangganling
Wang Liu, who was the instructor of the 15th Army Guard Company at the time, was an old guard officer of Qin Jiwei's bloody Taixing, and he had rescued Qin Jiwei under the bombardment of aircraft. The two have a deep affection. Wang Liu signed up for the front-line position, and Qin Jiwei gave him a Parker pen that he had treasured for 6 years, encouraging him to strengthen his study and make continuous progress in battle. Unexpectedly, this was a farewell- Wang Liu sacrificed himself on the front line.
"Adding oil" becomes "refueling". The more the troops fight, the more sophisticated they are, and the more they fight, the more they have the means. Qin Jiwei quickly transported several companies full of personnel into the tunnels of the front line. The main tunnel of 597 and 9 highlands was originally a reinforced platoon garrison, and before the big counterattack, the 3 companies of the first batch of counterattacks had been occupied, and the soldiers were sitting well next to each other, row by row, ready to obey the orders and rush out of the tunnel... (To be continued)
(The "Battle of Qin Jiwei and Shangganling" was jointly authorized by the First Military Intelligence and The First Post and was launched in 8 times.) The full text is more than 36,000 words. This is the fourth. ）