In the volunteer army sequence, the 50th Army is a relatively special unit, its predecessor is the 60th Army of the Nationalist Army that revolted in Changchun in 1948, and further back to the local faction of the Dian Army, the commander of which Zeng Zesheng is a native of Yunnan. After joining the people's army, he successively absorbed Chen Kefei's 20 corps and Fan Shaozeng's Sichuan army, and the troops were mainly Dianchuan soldiers. After the end of the Liberation War, the ministry carried out production tasks in Henan, Hubei, and other places, and after the outbreak of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, it was hastily re-equipped and rushed to the Korean battlefield.
When they went abroad to fight, the morale of the soldiers was high, not only because of the slogan of defending the country, but also because they wanted to prove their value to this new country. However, the first two battles of the 50th Army did not fight well.
In the first battle, the 50th Army served as a reserve force and crossed the Yalu River only after the battle began. According to the orders of the Volunteer Army Command (hereinafter referred to as Zhiji), the department should cooperate with the 118th Division of the 40th Army to surround and annihilate the South Korean 6th Division near Guchangdong with the strength of 2 divisions, but because of the slow movement, by the time it reached the predetermined position, the 118th Division had already annihilated a battalion of the South Korean 6th Division, and most of the rest had fled south. At 20:00 on November 2, Shiji ordered the 146th Division of the army to deploy at Yongshan City and annihilate the British 29th Brigade. However, in the early morning of the 3rd, after the 1st Cavalry Division suffered heavy losses at Yunshan, the commander of the US Eighth Army, Walker, ordered a complete retreat, and the 50th Army lost the opportunity to annihilate the 29th Brigade.
In the second campaign, the 50th Army was initially arranged to rest in the rear and take on coastal defense tasks, and the soldiers were naturally unconvinced, and a well-equipped team could not go to the battlefield, indicating that it was overwhelmed.
On 25 November, the Volunteers launched a full-front counteroffensive. In accordance with The order of Zhiji, the 50th Army used the 148th Division to cut off the road from Qinchuan to Bochuan to block the enemy's reinforcements and cut off the enemy's retreat. The 450th Regiment, reinforced by the 149th Division, attacked a regiment of the U.S. 24th Division. However, due to the enemy's obstruction, it was thrown into the air for 3 consecutive days, and the Ying 27th Brigade, which entered Dingzhou, also quickly fled south. When the commander Zeng Zesheng learned of the news, he ordered the 149th Division to insert itself southeast of Bochuan before dawn to stop and annihilate the enemy army. On the 30th, when the troops rushed out to the west bank of the Daning River, they found that the bridge on the river was damaged and their advance was blocked, and the enemy once again fled under the eyes of the 50th Army.
In the first battle, the 38th Army delayed the attack due to receiving incorrect information, causing the South Korean army to escape, and the commander of the army, Liang Xingchu, was scolded by General Peng and bloodied. Later, the 38th Army was ashamed and brave, and won the title of "Long Live the Army". After the second battle, Zeng Zesheng went to Shiji for a meeting and was ready to be scolded. Although the mistakes of the 38th Army were repeated, there was no mention of the 50th Army releasing the enemy one after another at the meeting. Not being blamed made Zeng Zesheng feel even more uncomfortable in his heart, this is taking himself as an outsider, and his special identity makes him very sensitive.
In fact, as early as when he went to fight in Korea, Zeng Zesheng, who was nearly 50 years old, was not in good health, and the political commissar Xu Wenlie asked him if he was staying in China. But Zeng Zesheng refused, but after a few days he did not know where he heard the news, Xu Wenlie knew about this matter half a month ago, and his heart was very angry: Did he not believe that I Zeng Zesheng did not tell me, and only then persuaded me to stay? Although he has been leading soldiers to fight for many years, Zeng Zesheng is not a rough person, he did not break this matter, but just wanted to perform well on the battlefield to prove himself.
Although Shiji did not criticize the 50th Army, how he fought, the psychology of the soldiers below was very clear. There were quite a few commanders and fighters drawn from other units in the unit, and the discussion was very intense at the summary meeting within the army. Many people feel that the war is too much, and they have never fought like this. Some pointed the spearhead directly at the army, and the action had to wait for the orders of Shiji, without any initiative. Other fighters said more directly: "What kind of troops are we?" Even if you can't get scolded, it's better to go back to the old troops. "What was supposed to be a meeting to sum up experience has turned into a complaint from everyone together.
Zeng Zesheng's face turned red and white, and he finally couldn't help it: "I don't want to be the commander of the 50th Army, I would rather go to the 38th Army as a cooker." After a long silence, Deputy Chief of Staff Li Zuo smiled bitterly and said, "You all have a place to go, where can I go back?" "That's how the awkward scene is resolved."
The first two battles of the 50Th Army did not fight well because of some problems. Objectively speaking, it is indeed difficult for the soldiers to catch up with the enemy's four wheels on the bare feet; second, the Nationalist army first paid attention to preserving strength in the war, and some commanders' thinking had not yet been completely changed and did not dare to touch the hard; in addition, the combat effectiveness of the 50 army was indeed slightly worse than that of other units; and finally, the 50 army practiced collective leadership, and Zeng Zesheng's orders were not necessarily counted, and they had to be discussed before they could be issued, which to a certain extent affected efficiency.
After summing up the experience, the whole army held its breath of evil and vowed to fight well in the next battle.
On 31 December, the third battle began. The 149th Division of the 50th Army crossed the Linjin River and occupied the position after 7 minutes of fierce fighting, with little resistance. After crossing the river, the 50th Army was ordered to quickly penetrate southwards, and on the way, it destroyed 1 battalion of the 34th Regiment of the US 25th Division and captured 28 American troops; and defeated the 1st Battalion of the 57th Rifle Regiment of the British Rifle, taking 37 prisoners, but these could not satisfy their appetites.
At about 19:00 on the 3rd, after the vanguard 445 Regiment occupied the 127th Heights south of Xianyouli, it found that there were white lights in the northeast direction, and the enemy mechanized troops were rumbling towards the road below the position, and a long line was formed on the winding road, and it was the tank battalion under the British Royal Irish 8th Cavalry Regiment. After receiving the news, the military commander Zeng Zesheng thought that after more than 2 months of entering the DPRK, he finally caught the big fish, and he ordered that the enemy should be stopped no matter what. The commander of the 149th Division immediately ordered the 1st Battalion of the 446th Regiment to go forward to block the enemy, and the 2nd Battalion of the 446th Regiment and the 1st Battalion of the 445th Regiment were inserted into the valley west of Xianyouli to Wuqinli to ambush the enemy.
When the soldiers received the order, although they knew that they did not have anti-tank weapons in their hands, it was difficult to deal with enemy tanks. However, I have also received some knowledge of anti-tank combat before, believing that grenades and explosive canisters can be completely used against tanks. The 1st Battalion of the 446th Regiment took heavy casualties to hold the enemy back, buying time for the 2 battalions in the rear to ambush. The warriors chose a valley south of Seonyu-ri, with a narrow road about 1 meter above the ground and a straight wall on both sides, which could not be crossed by tanks.
After a while, the tanks rumbled over, and the soldiers who were ambushed on both sides fired fiercely. The British Cromwell tank weighed 28 tons and was equipped with a 75 mm main gun and 2 machine guns, but the armor was weak. The demolition team jumped up from the side of the road and threw explosive packages under the tanks, but due to the length of the fuse, several times the tanks drove past before they exploded. When the soldier Li Guanglu saw the situation, he cut the fuse short and waited for the tank to approach before pulling it. Sure enough, soon one tank was destroyed, and Li Guanglu then blew up 2 more, and he was also stunned by a piece of bouncing frozen soil.
Under the leadership of Li Guanglu, the soldiers jumped on the tank, opened the cover of the tank and threw grenades inside. Sichuan and Yunnan have similar languages, and for a time the shouts of "uncovering the lid" filled the valley. Veterans recall that a Spitfire tank in the British tank battalion caused great casualties to the troops, and it not only spewed fire, but also shot iron sand along with the flames. The martyrs who sacrificed them were engulfed in flames in an instant, burning only a little, and their bodies were beaten like honeycombs. It was this tank that inflicted enormous casualties on the volunteer soldiers. Li Guanglu, who had woken up with the help of the hygienist, once again picked up the explosive package and rushed to the tank, blowing it up, and he himself was burned.
After more than three hours of fighting, the fighters destroyed 27 enemy tanks and 3 cars, captured 4 tanks, 3 armored vehicles, 18 cars, and 2 howitzers, killed and wounded more than 200 enemy soldiers, and captured 227 people below the commander of the enemy major battalion. This battle created the miracle of infantry annihilating tank battalions with light weapons, and the captured British soldiers were still reluctant to believe that the volunteer soldiers did not use anti-tank weapons. Shiji was also skeptical after receiving the war report of the 50th Army, and asked for verification twice. Political commissar Xu Wenlie arranged for the photographer to go to the scene to take photos and send them to Zhisi, and Mr. Peng was very happy to see it, and Lian Lian said: "Well played." "The experience of the 50th Army in fighting tanks has been promoted in various departments since then. Zeng Zesheng also let out a vicious breath: "I said long ago that the 50th Army can still fight." ”
There is an interesting phenomenon in China's military history that the combat effectiveness of a unit often has a lot to do with the leader, and soldiers who follow different generals often show different appearances, which is what everyone often says: "A soldier bears a bear, and a nest will bear a nest." Before the reorganization of the uprising, the 50th Army was often divided and used, and could not be trusted, so the idea of passively responding to the battle and actively preserving strength appeared. After joining the people's army, he figured out why he wanted to be a soldier, changed his thinking rapidly, and proved with practical actions in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea that he could contribute to the country.
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and this battle not only brought out the military prestige of the Chinese army, but also won a precious opportunity for peaceful development. This is the founding battle of our country, a glorious history of our country, and a history that is very worthy of everyone's understanding. The famous writer Li Feng's "Decisive Battle of Korea" comprehensively unveils many historical truths in front of and behind the scenes of the Korean War with detailed historical materials: including the truth about China's dispatch of troops to Korea, the Soviet Union's assistance to China, and the real experience of volunteer prisoners of war. The story is by no means distorted and fabricated, the characters are plump and real, have a high degree of readability, and are a very good book for understanding the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
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