Recently, the movie "Chosin Lake" is being screened, and everyone has a very intuitive understanding of the heroic fighting spirit of the volunteers in the movie. In fact, before the official release of the movie, the trailer of "Chosin Lake" had focused on the battle of Shuimen Bridge, but how did this good battle not come to be when it was officially released. In the Battle of Chosin Lake, many military fans were defeated by the volunteer army's three bombings of the Watergate Bridge (referring to the three explosions of the Watergate Bridge in the south of Chosin Lake in order to block the retreat of the US army, of which the third blast even blew up the base of the bridge, but in the end it was repaired by the US army, which made the volunteer army extremely shock the industrial strength of the United States) so that the US military escaped. In fact, the importance of the Watergate Bridge is grossly overestimated. Regardless of whether the Pratunam Bridge can be repaired, the United Nations forces led by the 1st Marine Division can retreat to the port of Xingnan.
■ When the movie "Chosin Lake" held the launch ceremony, it had realistically produced the scene of the Watergate Bridge, and the later trailer also had a focus on the Battle of the Watergate Bridge, but it was not available when it was released.
1. Background of the campaign
After the second campaign to resist US aggression and aid Korea began, the 9th Corps of the Volunteer Army on the Eastern Front surrounded and annihilated the US 10th Army, which was advancing alone. After discovering our army's intentions, the United Nations troops in the Chosin Lake area, mainly the 1st Marine Division of the United States, quickly withdrew to the port of Hwangnam on the east coast of Korea. Due to the mountainous terrain and inconvenient transportation in the northern part of North Korea, there is only one road from Heungnam Port to the Chosin Lake area, and the Pratunam Bridge is located on this only road. U.S. troops in the Chosin Lake area had to cross the Pratunam Bridge if they wanted to withdraw to Hingnam Port. Therefore, the Watergate Bridge has become a throat road that must be contested between the Chinese and American armies.
■ There is only one road from Xingnan Port to the Chosin Lake area
The Pratunam Bridge is located near Gutu-ri in South Hamgyong Province, North Korea, about 64 kilometers from HingnamGang, the rear supply base of the U.S. Military. The Pratunam Bridge is a convenient bridge built to allow the road to pass through the four thick diversion pipes in the upper part of the hydroelectric power station. The length of the bridge is only 8.8 meters, and the width of the bridge can only accommodate one car in one direction.
■ The Watergate Bridge is located just above the four water pipes
2. Campaign attempts and troop deployments between the enemy and us
(1) The US military
The main forces of the U.S. Army in the Chosin Lake area are the 1st Marine Division and the 7th Army Division, with a total strength of about 30,000 troops. The U.S. army's campaign attempt was: the division headquarters and the 1st Marine Regiment held on to Hagaru-ri and Kotouri, received the retreat of the 5th Marine Regiment, the 7th Marine Regiment and the 31st Regiment of the 7th Army Division, and then collectively retreated to Xingnan Port. The U.S. forces spread along the road, with the main force located along the highway north of Guturi.
In the first phase of the battle, the U.S. Marine 5th Regiment and the 7th Marine Regiment in Liutanli successfully retreated to Hagaru-ri, which increased the strength of the U.S. Army in Hagaru-ri. The focus of the second stage was to break through the heavy encirclement between the volunteer army and Xingnan Port in XiaYuli and retreat to Xingnan Port before the follow-up troops of the Volunteer Army arrived. The scramble around the Watergate Bridge is to ensure that the U.S. troops in Hagaru-ri can successfully pass through the Watergate Bridge to Xingnan Port.
(2) The volunteer army
The 9th Corps of the Volunteer Army has jurisdiction over the 20th, 26th and 27th Armies, with a total strength of 160,000 people. The volunteers' campaign attempt was to encircle and annihilate the 20th And 27th Army against the American troops who had advanced to Liutanli and Xinxingli, and then concentrate their forces on annihilating the main force of the 1st Marine Division in Hagaru-ri. The 26th Army served as a reserve for the corps and would join the battle as appropriate.
In the first phase of the battle, the 27th Army successfully inflicted heavy damage on the 31st Regiment of the U.S. Army stationed in Xinxingli (nicknamed the Polar Bear Regiment), but the U.S. Marine 5th Regiment and the 7th Marine Regiment in Liutanli broke through the encirclement of the Volunteer 20th And 27th Army and retreated to Hagaru-ri to join the 1st Marine Division and the 1st Marine Regiment.
In the second phase of the battle, the 9th Corps of the Volunteer Army adjusted its deployment and required its units to quickly turn to the battle of pursuing and annihilating the American troops fleeing south of Hagaru-ri. The troops located south of Hagaru-ri should occupy the strong terrain along the highway nearby to block the retreat of the American army. The Volunteers bombed the Watergate Bridge three times to prevent the retreat of the American army.
Third, it is assumed that the Watergate Bridge cannot be repaired in time, which will affect both the enemy and us
■ The Watergate Bridge, which was blown up by the Volunteers
As you can see from the photos, the Pratunam Bridge is not an insurmountable barrier. Its value lies mainly in the ability to pass heavy equipment such as cars, tanks, and artillery. Once the U.S. military is forced to abandon these heavy equipment because the Watergate Bridge is impassable, its marching speed and fire cover will be greatly reduced. However, a careful analysis will find that even if the heavy equipment is lost, the US military can still withdraw to Xingnan Port.
■ U.S. military cars through the repair of the Watergate Bridge
1. The speed of the U.S. army's march
The advantage of the U.S. military march is that the whole army has been motorized and can retreat by car. If the Watergate Bridge cannot be repaired in time, although it can force the retreating US troops to abandon their vehicles, the US military still has a large number of cars in Xingnan Port to pick up the retreating US troops. According to U.S. military statistics, more than 1,400 vehicles of all kinds were north of the Watergate Bridge, and more than 17,500 vehicles of various types were eventually withdrawn from Xingnan Port. Apparently, south of the Watergate Bridge there are plenty of cars that can transport U.S. troops who abandoned their vehicles at the Watergate Bridge. The US troops who abandoned their cars and crossed the Watergate Bridge on foot could completely transfer to the cars that came to pick them up from Xingnan Port, which was only equivalent to a transfer at the Watergate Bridge.
■ The bridge deck of the Watergate Bridge that was blown off is not long
Therefore, the speed of the US military's march will not be affected by the impassability of the Watergate Bridge. With the help of cars and roads, the withdrawal of American troops would obviously be much faster than the speed of pursuit by volunteers on foot.
2. Cover of U.S. fire
After losing heavy equipment such as artillery and tanks, the fire cover capability of the US army will plummet. This is also the reason why the US military tried every means to repair the Watergate Bridge, because the US military did not know the deployment of the volunteer army's troops, and was worried that the volunteer army still had a large number of troops south of the Watergate Bridge to block the attack. But in fact, the volunteer army did not have a large number of resistance troops south of the Watergate Bridge, and many volunteers had been seriously frostbitten and their combat effectiveness had plummeted. Even if the Americans lost the cover of artillery and tanks, the limited strength and damaged combat effectiveness of the volunteers could not prevent the Americans from retreating. This is evidenced by the fact that after the U.S. military passed through the Watergate Bridge, it was only attacked by a small force of volunteer troops. Moreover, the US military also has a strong air force, as long as the weather conditions allow, it can provide fire support to the US military on the ground at any time.
3. Organization and command of the withdrawal of American troops
The U.S. army retreating from The Watergate Bridge was dominated by the 1st Marine Division, commanded by Major General Smith. Major General Smith's command ability was very good, as early as the lone army deep into Chosin Lake, he ignored the orders of his superior, Almond, the commander of the 10th Army, to advance, but steadily controlled the speed of the march, and at the same time had the foresight to build field airfields in Hagaru-ri and Gutuli to leave a sufficient retreat for himself. After discovering the encirclement attempt of the Volunteer 9th Corps, Major General Smith quickly organized the 1st Marine Division to alternately cover the retreat, and successfully took the troops who had come out of Liutanli back to Hagaru-ri. To boost morale, Maj. Gen. Smith declared: "We are not retreating, but just changing the direction of the attack."
■ Smith (left) talks to Almont (right).
Here we should also talk about the US 1st Marine Division, as the 1st division of the US Marine Corps with the strongest combat effectiveness, the 1st Marine Division is not only well-equipped and full of personnel, but also bravely championed the US Army in its fighting spirit. The grass-roots officers and men of the 1st Marine Division, who were responsible for the cover task, were able to bravely hold their positions and buy time for their comrades-in-arms, which was very valuable in the retreat operation. Under strict organization and command, the 1st Marine Division was defeated but not chaotic, withdrew but not chaotic, and was always carrying out an organized and covered retreat. Therefore, even if the Watergate Bridge could not be repaired, the U.S. military would not collapse in morale and fall into chaos.
■ The 1st Marine Division on the way to retreat still maintained basic order
4. The engineering repair capability of the US military
There are many engineering detachments of the US army in the Chosin Lake area, the main ones are the engineer battalion of the 1st Marine Division, the engineering battalion directly under the 10th Army, and the 185th engineer battalion of the Army. These three engineering battalions were tasked with building airfields and widening roads in the early stages, and had a large amount of engineering equipment and materials. The volunteers destroyed far more bridges than the Pratunam Bridge, but with the strong engineering support capabilities of the three engineering battalions, all the damaged bridges and roads were repaired in a timely manner.
5. Losses of U.S. troops
There is no doubt that if the Watergate Bridge could not be repaired, the US military would have to abandon and destroy all heavy equipment. The seriously wounded would have to surrender to the Volunteers due to their limited mobility and inability to climb over the thick water pipe. However, before retreating, the U.S. military in Hagaru-ri had already evacuated more than 4,000 seriously wounded and inactive seriously wounded people through the airport in Hagaru-ri by plane, and the number of seriously injured people who needed to cross the Pratunam Bridge would not be too large. There is no doubt that the main force of the US army in the direction of Chosin Lake will be able to escape under the support of reinforcements from Xingnan Port. For the U.S. military, which has a large amount of world war remnants, the loss of heavy equipment of a marine division is neither broken nor bone-moving.
From the perspective of the US military, whether the Watergate Bridge is repaired or not will not affect the speed of the US military's retreat, and the presence or absence of heavy equipment will not affect the US military's operations.
1. The volunteer army is insufficient
Due to the cold weather and terrain, the deployment of the 9 Corps before the Launch of the Chosin Lake Campaign was not fully in place, especially the number of troops detouring back to the area south of the Pratunam Bridge was not large. After many battle attritions in the early stages and the non-combat attrition brought about by cold weather, the number of troops who could enter the battle in the second phase was extremely limited. In the case of the 58th Division, after the division ended the battle in Hagaru-ri, it had less than 800 troops left.
2. The speed of the volunteers' pursuit
In order to avoid the fire of the American army, the volunteer army could only avoid the road and pursue the American army over the mountains. In this way, the two legs of the volunteer army not only had to compete with the american car wheels, but also had to take detours and mountain roads. Due to the rough roads, cold weather and american air blockade, the volunteers pursued more slowly than the Americans retreated. In the case of the 26th Army, which served as a reserve, the 9th Corps had planned to enter the battle on December 2, but it was not until December 5 that the vanguard of the army arrived in Shimogaru-ri.
If it were not for the blockade and delay of the troops who penetrated deep into the rear of the Us army before the war, the volunteer army would not have been able to catch up with the retreating American army in any case. But as mentioned earlier, the volunteer army south of the Watergate Bridge was not only small in number but also frostbitten and frostbitten, and could no longer carry out a strong blockade.
3. Supplies for the Volunteer Army
It is well known that the Volunteer Offensive was known as the Prayer Offensive, i.e., the Logistical Supply of the Volunteers could only last for about a week. The Battle of Chosin Lake began on November 27, 1950, and it was exactly 13 days since the third repair of the Watergate Bridge by the U.S. Military on December 9. In the second phase of the campaign, the logistics of the 9th Corps of the Volunteer Army were faced with great difficulties, and all the troops had been out of food for many days and had run out of ammunition. The lack of explosives was also an important reason for the limited damage done by the Volunteers to the Watergate Bridge.
From the above analysis, it can be seen that even if the US army fails to repair the Watergate Bridge, the volunteer army will not be able to eliminate the main force of the US army. In fact, under the condition of cold climate and difficult supply, the officers and men of the volunteer army have already exerted their combat effectiveness beyond the level. As a descendant, we really should not be too demanding.