In the cold winter, people always want to curl up in the warm bed, stay in rooms with air conditioning and heating, and are reluctant to go out.
However, there was such a group of volunteer soldiers, dressed in thin cotton clothes, carrying two frozen potatoes harder than stones, in a foreign country at minus 40 degrees Celsius, ambushed in the ice and snow, and stayed up for several days and nights. Even if they are sleepy and hungry, they dare not close their eyes and sleep.
Because, once you fall asleep, you may never wake up again.
The case of being able to wake up after falling asleep appeared many times in the Battle of Chosin Lake in the Second Campaign to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, which was the Ice Sculpture Company. On the eve of the National Day, the film "Chosin Lake", which was released nationwide, truly reproduced the plot of the ice sculpture company. This plot touched the tears of countless audiences, "watching and crying" and "crying in the cinema into tears"... Such movie-watching feelings abound in the circle of friends.
In fact, there was not one ice sculpture in the Battle of Chosin Lake, but three.
Let us write down the numbers of the three ice sculpture companies: 6 companies of the 177th Regiment of the 59th Division of the 20th Army, 2 companies of the 180th Regiment of the 60th Division, and 5 companies of the 242nd Regiment of the 80th Division of the 27th Army.
On November 27, 1950, after the 9th Corps of the Volunteer Army fought the Battle of Chosin Lake, it quickly divided two regiments of the US 1st Marine Division and a reinforced regiment of the 7th Infantry Division into 5 parts and surrounded them heavily. The tactics of boldly interspersing the enemy in the course of the campaign and dividing and encircling the enemy are commonplace to our army, and they are all too familiar to be found, and they have been tried and tested many times.
However, this time, the US military occupied an absolute superiority in weapons and equipment, causing huge casualties to the volunteer soldiers. After several days and nights of bloody fighting, the volunteer officers and men only completely annihilated the reinforced regiment (polar bear regiment) of the US infantry division, and the two regiments of the US First Marine Division relied on the huge superiority in weapons and equipment, under the cover of aircraft and tanks, to kill the encirclement of the volunteer army, retreated south to the Xianxing area, and then fled by boat at xingnan port.
At that time, there was still a long way to go from the Chosin Lake area to the Hamhung area. The 9th Corps of the Volunteer Army took precautions and ambushed some troops along the way to intercept the retreating American troops. Blocked in front and chased behind, the 9th Corps of the Volunteer Army planned to rely on its tenacious combat strength to wipe out two regiments of the US 1st Marine Division in the Chosin Lake area.
On the night of December 8, the U.S. 1st Marine Division passed through the Watergate Bridge. Earlier, the 9th Corps of the Volunteer Army had ambushed a unit at Hill 1081 near the Watergate Bridge. According to normal circumstances, when the US First Marine Division passes through the narrow Watergate Bridge, it will face a surprise attack by this ambush force and will suffer serious casualties.
However, the U.S. 1st Marine Division passed the Watergate Bridge unharmed and continued its retreat south. Zhang Yixiang, commander of the 20th Army, felt very incredible and immediately sent someone to the 1081 heights to investigate. When investigators arrived at Height 1081, they were stunned by what they saw: 129 fighters were lying prone to a position at minus 40 degrees Celsius, holding steel guns and grenades, facing the road in a neat battle formation and combat posture. Motionless, they have all been frozen into ice sculptures.
It turned out that the warriors, lacking the necessary warm clothing, lacking high-calorie food, lying in ambush in the ice and snow for too long, sleeping in sleep and hunger, never waking up again, and not waiting for the moment to charge the enemy...
After the war, a thin note was found in the pocket of a soldier in the ice sculpture company. The warrior's name was Song Amao, and he was from Shanghai. He wrote on the note: "I am a glorious volunteer soldier, ice and snow! I will never submit to you, even if I freeze to death, I will stand proudly on my position! ”
In the Battle of Chosin Lake, an ice sculpture company also appeared.
On December 8, the commander of the 9th Corps of the Volunteer Army reported to the above that "after nearly half a month of fierce fighting, the troops of the 9th Corps have been extremely tired, especially the frostbite and attrition are very serious. Taking the 79th Division as an example, from the 3rd to the 7th, one division suffered 2297 casualties and 2157 frostbite losses, and the whole division was reduced to 5 infantry companies and 2 machine gun companies. The battalion commander and company cadres of the 94th Division were frozen to death, and the commander of the 280th regiment and the chief of staff were frozen and missing. When the 6th Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 239th Regiment of the 80th Division attacked the enemy in Xinxingli, it was suppressed by the enemy's fire and immediately lay down on the ice, and when it finally cleaned up the battlefield, it was found that all but one soldier who had fallen behind and a messenger were in a combat formation, and all of them froze to death on the position, carefully inspecting the corpses, without any wounds or blood..."
The 26th Army, the General Reserve, was put into the battlefield later in the campaign, and ice sculpture companies also appeared.
On October 21, 2020, the People's Daily client published an article titled "Report to the Motherland!" "This military salute, tears! It tells the touching story of Zhou Quandi, a survivor of the Ice Sculpture Company and a soldier of the 2nd Battalion, 231st Regiment, 231st Regiment, 77th Division of the 26th Army. At that time, Zhou Quandi, who was not yet 16 years old, lay in the snow for three days and three nights, and lost his limbs due to severe frostbite. He said that his biggest regret was that he was unable to go on the field to kill the enemy because of frostbite.
Facing the camera, Zhou Quandi saluted a military salute with a broken arm and reported to the motherland.