The battle between the general Qin Jiwei and Shangganling
(iii)
First Military Intelligence Author Wu Dongfeng
Summary: What Van Vliet, commander of the US Eighth Army, did not expect was that a battle that was originally small in scale would eventually become a battle of unprecedented scale. After firing more than 1.9 million shells and more than 5,000 bombs, losing 274 fighters and paying the price of 25,000 casualties, Shangganling remained in the hands of the volunteers.
Due to the large number of casualties, both cadres and soldiers will change psychologically, the courage to attack will be much worse than at the beginning, and the commanders and fighters in the garrison tunnels will also change, and these changes have one thing in common, that is, confidence and determination will be inferior to the first few days. This brings us a new problem, is it to continue to fight with the enemy? Or is it time to stop? ...... My determination is to continue to fight, but how to play is worth considering and studying before deciding.
--Qin Jiwei's diary on October 23, 1952
01
The darkest hour of the Battle of Shangganling: a company killed 140 people at a time
On the night of October 23, 1952, the 45th Division of the 15th Army organized a counterattack on the 597.9 heights, because the artillery failed to suppress the enemy's fire, the 8th Company of the 34th Regiment launched a charge, which was covered by the enemy's powerful artillery attack, and 140 officers and men were killed. According to records, there were only 3 survivors of the eight-company formation after the Shangganling War.
The Eighth Company was the company that sacrificed the most reconstructions in the Battle of Shangganling.
This day is the darkest moment of the Battle of Shangganling. The battle progressed unfavorably, which greatly shocked the military commander Qin Jiwei. He lamented the cruelty of war, and even more deplored the lives of soldiers.
When Qin Jiwei reported the report of the defeat of the counterattack to the corps headquarters, Qin Jiwei's old superior, Wang Jinshan, deputy commander of the Third Corps, immediately called and proposed two options: withdrawal and attack for him to choose.
Wang Near the Mountain
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Qin Jiwei recalled: "Comrade Wang Jinshan was a general who was known for his brave fighting style and for daring to fight hard battles and vicious battles, but in the face of the harsh situation in Shangganling, this hard general also hesitated a little, and he gave me two plans to let me choose, which actually forced me to make up my mind. ”
This was the most difficult choice in Qin Jiwei's life. Because this not only means winning or losing, but also meaning life and death, and even greater casualties.
Late at night on the 24th, Qin Jiwei immediately held an emergency meeting and decided to send people down to understand the situation and consider the change of tactical command. He said bitterly: "How brave and tenacious our soldiers are, but the 140 officers and men are gone in an instant, and if we do not change our tactics, the enemy will be more crazy and the number of casualties will increase." ”
Due to heavy casualties, the stretcher company also went into battle
On October 25, 1952, the second anniversary of the volunteer army's first battle abroad, Qin Jiwei held a combat meeting at the command post, in view of the huge casualties of the troops, many people at the meeting advocated retreating from the two highlands, they believed that there was Juting Da behind Shangganling, and behind Juting Ridge there was the main peak Wusheng Mountain, which was higher than Shangganling, and from the perspective of the 15th Army's own defense system, the loss of these two small highlands would not affect the defense of the whole army.
However, Qin Jiwei did not agree with the above views.
He said: "If we insist on fighting the Battle of Shangganling, we must be more fierce and fierce than the Americans, which is the need of the overall situation in the Korean battlefield." We must fight resolutely until we win the final victory! ”
He added: "At present, the entire Korean war is concentrated in the Fight of Shangganling, which is the glory of the 15th Army. We have played a very hard style, gritting our teeth and standing up again, the enemy can not compare to this hard. The victory of Shangganling was able to beat the morale of the US army by a large margin. ”
So, how should this battle be fought? Is it to continue the day and night reversal? Or by some other means?
Qin Jiwei faced the dense coils on the map and the small red and blue flags, thinking about how to take the next move. At this time, Qin Jiwei suddenly realized: "After fighting for a while, calm down and think about it, I found that it was not right, the enemy pulled a very big posture, it is not something that can be ended at once, we must stabilize our position and fight a protracted war with the enemy!" ”
At noon that day, the switchboard operator called the telephone in the duty room: "Zhisi Deng Hua, acting commander, asks Commander Qin for a call." ”
Qin Jiwei quickly took the phone, and Deng Hua asked, "Comrade Jiwei!" Qin Jiwei replied, "Yes, I am Qin Jiwei!" Deng Hua said, "You play well!" You've worked hard! ”
Qin Jiwei replied very emotionally, "Thank you for the concern of the party committee and chief of the volunteer army!" ”
Deng Hua asked, "How do you think about the development of this battle?" ”
Qin Jiwei briefly reported on the situation of the battle in Shangganling, and then put forward his own analysis: "This kind of tug-of-war repeated scrambling has been going on for many days and nights, and the surface positions have been lost and regained, and they have changed hands many times. To buy time and create conditions for a decisive counterattack, our opinion is: to suspend the counterattack, to turn the forward troops into the tunnels, to maneuver with the enemy in small detachments, to catch the enemy and hold his bull's nose. At the same time, we should readjust the deployment, reorganize the troops, study tactics, and pay close attention to preparing for a decisive counterattack. ”
"You're right, and I agree." Deng Hua analyzed the situation on the battlefield and said to Qin Jiwei, "At present, the enemy is charging at our position in battalions and regiments, and this is a mistake in the enemy's use of troops. Our army has a good opportunity to annihilate the enemy, and we should seize this opportunity to destroy the enemy in large numbers and continue the struggle, so that we can put the enemy to death. ”
Deng Hua
Qin Jiwei did not know that just before this, after eating, Deng Hua asked the guards to remove the dishes and chopsticks and convened a "Volunteer Army Party Committee" at the table. Together with Deputy Commander Yang Dezhi, who was in charge of the operations, Hong Xuezhi, deputy commander in charge of logistics, Gan Siqi, deputy political commissar and director of the Political Department, and Xie Fang, chief of staff, he analyzed the situation of the Battle of Shangganling at the dinner table and made the following decision:
First, the 45th Division, which held the Five Sacred Mountains, was rewarded; second, it was to add 1,000 new recruits to the 45th Division; third, the "tactical counterattack" originally scheduled to end on October 22 was extended to October 31 to meet all the needs of the Shangganling operation.
Qin Jiwei listened to the instructions of Acting Commander Deng Hua and was heartened. He put down the telephone headset, conveyed it to deputy commander Zhou Fatian and chief of staff Zhang Yunyu, and immediately made a decision: "The garrison detachments of 597.9 Highland and 537.7 Beishan Highland have all retreated to the tunnel. ”
Qin Jiwei called on the 45th Division: "Learn from it as Sun Wukong, and burrow into the belly of the enemy to make it upside down." At the same time, he very calmly foresaw that the troops who insisted on the tunnels would fight under extremely difficult conditions, to prepare 10 difficulties, and countless more difficulties...
02
The commander of the main division confirmed: In the tunnel war, the officers and men were thirsty and drank urine...
On August 13, 2000, Cui Jiangong, commander of the 45th Division of the 15th Army, recalled to this writer that there were two company tunnels in the Shangganling position, that is, the main tunnel, and there were 3 row tunnels and 18 team tunnels, and these more than 20 tunnels were in serious shortage of grain and water, and many tunnels could only eat half a biscuit per person every day, and many people could not drink a drop of water, so they had to add emergency water to the urine, detoxify and eliminate the smell, and use the method of drinking urine from each other to relieve the unbearable thirst. Cui Jiangong said that it is difficult for us ordinary people to understand this kind of combat life of "drinking water like drinking blood". Who would have thought that the warriors in the tunnel would cut their tongues when they put the biscuits in their mouths, and renDan would not melt when they put them in their mouths?
Both Cui Jiangong and other witnesses of the Battle of Shangganling believe that an important reason why the Battle of Shangganling was able to persist in the final victory was that the 15th Army built an underground "tunnel city" on the garrison position. This was the result of Commander Qin Jiwei resisting the interference of different opinions, insisting on his own views, and obstinately "going his own way."
In April 1952, the 15th Army was ordered to go to the "Ping (Kang), Jin (Hua), huai (Yang)" areas to take over the defense operations of other units. This defensive area stretched from Jinhua Tonbei Wusheng Mountain in the east to Douliu Peak and Xishan mountain in the west, with a frontage of 27 kilometers and a depth of 21 kilometers. Wusheng Mountain is a continuous mountainous area with prominent peaks, like a natural barrier, overlooking and controlling cities and transportation such as Jinhua, Pingkang, and Tieyuan.
Before the troops moved to defense, Qin Jiwei led Zhang Yunyu, chief of staff, and commanders of various divisions and regiments to inspect the 26th Army's defense areas that were preparing to move. Qin Jiwei saw that the troops had previously used excavation-style fortifications, and most of the traffic trenches were dug on the mountain beams, and he said: "This kind of fortification is shallow and small, there are few hidden soldiers, the pressure resistance is not anti-explosion, and the traffic trenches are too exposed." It is okay to fight enemy infantry, but it cannot withstand enemy artillery attacks. ”
On November 1, 2003, 86-year-old Zhang Yunyu recalled to this writer that Qin Jiwei's evaluation after completing the inspection was: "Basically, the defense system has not been completed. He demanded that the fortifications of the 15th Army "must withstand the bombardment of enemy shells." After returning from the Korean battlefield, Zhang Yunyu became the first nuclear commander of the republic and led the construction of the nuclear test base.
Qin Jiwei clearly pointed out: "Such a tunnel is not feasible to resist the enemy's powerful and concentrated artillery fire, let alone gather more troops. To this end, Qin Jiwei demanded that the original excavation-type fortifications be abandoned, and that the tunnel-type fortifications be used instead, and that the soldiers be hidden in the belly of the mountain, and that there be exits at both ends of the tunnels. He said: "Tunnel operation is not only to save yourself, but more importantly, to be able to fight the enemy." Our tunnels must be both hidden and beaten. The tunnels must be combined with field fortifications, adapted to the defensive forces, and equipped with living facilities. ”
Volunteer soldiers in the tunnel
Qin Jiwei also decided that after the troops took over the defense, they would spend 2 months to raid and dig tunnel-style fortifications. In some places, this is equivalent to opening up the mountain and building a city in the mountain. At that time, the reaction from top to bottom of the grass-roots troops was great! Some said, "Other units used their original fortifications to ward off the enemy, and didn't they also win the battle?" Some company cadres said directly to Qin Jiwei: "The enemy is nothing remarkable, and as far as the fortifications and terrain are concerned, you can rest assured, Commander, that we will guarantee to beat the enemy to the point of losing his armor and not losing his position." Another staff officer even said: "The commander of the army regards the enemy's situation as too serious, and today we have strong troops, as long as we make a slight transformation of the original fortifications, why should we make a big fuss and work hard to hurt the people and money!" ”
When someone said that digging a tunnel was "digging one's own grave", he was scolded by Qin Ji. Cui Jiangong recalled that Qin Jiwei still insisted on doing work and finally convinced everyone. He said: "From digging trenches to digging caves, how much work will it take!" ”
On April 11, 1952, the first rains of spring rains began. After Qin Jiwei inspected the 45th Division, he held a meeting of cadres to see the terrain in a pine forest. The meeting was extended to all battalion commanders, company commanders and a small number of platoon commanders of the 45th Division. Most of them became the backbone of the later battle of Shangganling. At the meeting, Qin Jiwei made a combat mobilization and especially put forward the idea of building a tunnel-type dungeon. The field propaganda team of the 15th Army also came to perform a wonderful cultural program.
Qin Jiwei said: "Commanders leading troops should think of the most difficult situation in everything. 'Be prepared for no trouble, be prepared for no trouble, be prepared for big and small, and be prepared for small and big problems' is a principle that must be clearly defined in guiding ideology. Although the combat effectiveness of the 'United Nations Army' we faced was not too strong, we had to be prepared because both sides of the Western Mountains were flat and convenient for the modernly equipped U.S. troops, especially the tank troops, to reinforce the attack. ”
At the meeting, Qin Jiwei called for the construction of fortification competition activities, turning the Five Holy Mountains into destroying the enemy and preserving their favorable positions, and the Five Holy Mountains will become a Mount Tai under the defense of countless heroes!
Volunteer soldiers lurking in the tunnels
Beginning on October 25, 1952, the officers and men of the 45th Division moved to the arduous tunnel operations in Shangganling.
Volunteer soldiers who hold the tunnel
Qin Jiwei dared to use soldiers, and at the same time he was good at using soldiers, and he loved soldiers very much. This is li mingming's affectionate recollection of the veteran commander, then chief of the propaganda section of the 45th Division, and it is also an evaluation of his personal experience. He said: "In such a brutal battle as Shangganling, the commander's feeling of caring for and caring for the soldiers is even more urgent. ”
Li will be on duty at the division's forward command post tomorrow. He said: Qin Jiwei kept contact with the headquarters of the 45th Division every day, at least a few times, and more than ten times, and sometimes talked about how Chairman Mao handled how to deal with the relationship between preserving himself and annihilating the enemy. He stressed bitterly to the division leaders that although the war was fought so badly, we should love the soldiers even more and minimize unnecessary sacrifices, that is, when we must pay the price, we must also let our soldiers sacrifice in the most worthwhile place.
Turning into a tunnel to fight was not only a test of will for Qin Jiwei, but also a soul torture. Qin Jiwei recalled the tunnel operation in his diary on November 10, 1952-
The further the battle was pushed back, the more difficult the commanders and fighters stationed in the tunnels became, and their situation was unimaginable to those who sat in the house, and in addition to being unable to move freely in the enemy's encirclement, what was more serious was that they could not eat well, drink well, have no rest, and did not even sit in a position. The blood of the wounded comrades and the martyrs who died in the tunnel was mixed with the poop and urine of the comrades-in-arms. This kind of life is not to say that it has been eight days, it is an hour of uncomfortable.
Volunteer soldiers receiving water in the tunnel
At the command post, Qin Jiwei often asked himself: "The warriors will criticize and complain about their commanders in the tunnel, why don't you care about the comrades who are guarding the tunnel?" Why don't we fight back and annihilate the enemy to liberate us? I fully accept these criticisms and doubts, because I fully understand the mood and hardship of the Warriors. They spend a day in the tunnel a hundred times longer than the people we sit in the house..."
After the troops were transferred to the tunnel for combat, Qin Jiwei, while organizing the rear troops to "refuel," at the same time commanded the artillery to strike at the living forces that had occupied the surface positions, and commanded the officers and men of the tunnel to attack at night, inflicting a large amount of casualties on the enemy.
03
Qin Jiwei was proud: The best way to dig the tunnels is our 15th Army!
Many years later, Qin Jiwei recalled the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and his pride was still overflowing with words, he said: "The best way to dig the tunnels is our 15th Army; otherwise, in the Battle of Shangganling, it would have been impossible to resist the bombardment of more than 60,000 enemies, 3,000 aircraft, more than 170 tanks, and more than 300 cannons of more than 105 mm caliber, and it would have been even more impossible to effectively preserve the effective strength and give the enemy a timely response when the enemy was at its maddest!" ”
Qin Jiwei said————
"The pit road battle is when the enemy climbs on our bodies, but we are like Sun Wukong in "Journey to the West", drilling into the heart of the enemy and fighting."
"The tunnel is to destroy the enemy and preserve their thick shield armor. The enemy sees it as a thorn in the eye and tries in every possible way to pull it out. Now, the troops who turn into the tunnel will become Sun Wukong who has burrowed into the belly of the 'Iron Fan Princess', stirring him up. ”
The headquarters of the Volunteer Army pointed out: "When we turned into defensive operations in the summer and autumn of 1951, because we did not have tunnel fortifications, the bombardment of enemy aircraft and ground artillery caused casualties to our army was that every 40 shells could kill or injure 1 person for 40 shells. ”
The tenacious perseverance of the tunnel troops won 10 days of valuable time for a decisive counterattack. After careful preparation, the conditions for counterattack gradually matured. On October 27, 1952, the 15th Army held a combat meeting of infantry commanders and determined the operational policy of "concentrating forces, first from the west and then to the east, first counterattacking the 597.9 heights, consolidating and then counterattacking the 537.7 North Mountain highlands".
On Ganling, the great counterattack of the volunteer army began! (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 Part 3]