Cui Jiangong (right) is interviewed by the author
Qin Jiwei in front of the command post of the 15th Army in Dokdo-dong, North Korea
The author interviews Zhang Yunyu (right) and takes a group photo
Qin Jiwei (second from left) studies the battle plan at the command post of the 15th Army in Daodedong
In 1986, Qin Jiwei (second from left) returned to Shangganling, where he had fought
◎ Wu Dongfeng
About the Author
Famous biographer of the general. He once served as a military reporter of Xinhua News Agency, vice president of the "Warrior Daily" of the Guangzhou Military Region, vice president of the Guangzhou Publishing House, and inspector of the Guangzhou Municipal Federation of Literature and Literature. His representative works include "The General Star Under Mao Zedong" and "Anecdotes of the Founding General", and he has won the first Chinese reportage "Zhengtai Cup" award and the first China Excellent Short and Medium Biographical Literature Award. After several years of arduous interviews, historical facts and details have been verified, and the first draft of "A Big River - Talking about Qin Jiwei" has been completed.
In memory of the Chinese Volunteer Army
The 70th anniversary of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea
"Whoever loses the Five Holy Mountains is responsible for the history of North Korea"
Shangganling is a small village with only a dozen families located under the Five Holy Mountains in North Korea. If viewed from the air, this small village is between two mountain legs jutting out of the Five Holy Mountains, which militarily are known as the "597.9 Highlands" and the "537.7 North Mountain Highlands". Further ahead are the U.S.-controlled areas of Pingkang, Jinhua, and Huaiyang (known to the U.S. military as the "Iron Triangle"). In October 1952, a major war that shocked the world broke out here. Since then, the name of the village of "Shangganling" has been upgraded to the name of the battle.
In the early spring of 1952, the 38-year-old commander Qin Jiwei led the 15th Army of the Volunteer Army to take over the defense of the 26th Army, and served as a defensive operation in the "Iron Triangle" area of the Central Korean Line, about 30 kilometers wide. When deploying combat missions, Commander Peng Dehuai clearly instructed: "The Five Holy Mountains are the gateway to the central line of the DPRK, and if the Five Holy Mountains are lost, there will be no danger in retreating 200 kilometers." Whoever loses the Five Holy Mountains is responsible for the history of Korea. ”
After the troops completed the task of deploying defenses, Qin Jiwei immediately went headlong into his small grass hut and drafted a report entitled "Guiding Ideology on Future Defensive Operations" and put forward an operational plan for establishing an impenetrable defensive position.
At 4:30 a.m. Beijing time on October 14, 1952, Qin Jiwei was suddenly awakened by a fierce bombardment. The US military concentrated more than 300 artillery pieces, 40 aircraft, and 120 tanks from 16 artillery battalions, and at the same time violently bombarded the Five Holy Mountains.
On November 27, 2012, Sang Chuanbao, then a combat staff officer, recalled in an interview with this writer that Qin Jiwei asked him after entering the war room: "Tonight the artillery is particularly fierce, is the enemy pretending to attack or the main attack?" He replied: "The direction of the Five Holy Mountains is densely loaded, Commander, I don't see a feint, the Americans want to sneak up on our cold door." ”
Shangganling is a small village under the Five Holy Mountains, which is located exactly in the middle of the 597.9 Highland and the 537.7 Beishan Highland. Sang Chuanbao recalled that the enemy suddenly attacked Shangganling, and The Qin commander was indeed a little surprised, but he did not panic, but calmly and calmly responded.
Sang Chuanbao said that after Qin Jiwei entered the war room in the middle of the night, he never left, guarding the telephone and paying close attention to the situation of the Five Holy Mountains. The shelter of the command post of the Fifteenth Army was narrow and short, and the tall Qin Jiwei liked to stride back and forth when planning, and could only sit in front of the military map and sand table to meditate.
Half a century later, on November 1, 2003, Zhang Yunyu, chief of staff of the Fifteenth Army, said in an interview with this writer in Beijing that the total number of artillery fired by the US military at that time was calculated by throwing beans in the bowl. There are also ring points to be recorded as a supplementary judgment. Although this statistical method is not 100% accurate, it basically does not make a big mistake. The division's reconnaissance station and two central observation posts responded that the rocks on the surface of the position had been crushed into powder, more than a foot thick, the mountain landmarks had been cut two meters high and low, and part of the tunnels had been blown up.
Qin Jiwei said to Deputy Commander Zhou Fatian, Chief of Staff Zhang Yunyu, and Political Department Director Che Min: "The enemy has started a big fight, and we must be ready for a long fight. ”
After study, everyone unanimously held that this was a military operation launched by the enemy after long-term preparations. The target of the enemy's attack is the front line of the Five Holy Mountains, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack, in an attempt to catch us by surprise, take down the Five Holy Mountains, and then break through in the middle, in a vain attempt to get what they cannot get at the negotiating table...
After dawn on October 14, the strength of two battalions of the US army and four battalions of the ROK army launched a fierce attack, and the officers and men guarding the two highlands of the Five Holy Mountains fought more than 30 times with the enemy who was 10 times larger than themselves, and had to retreat into the tunnel to hold out because the casualties were too large.
On August 11, 2000, in Jigongshan, Henan Province, Cui Jiangong, the teacher commander of the Forty-fifth Division of the Fifteenth Army, recalled that he reported to the commander of the Qin Army that the surface position was lost. Lose it, and find a way to get it back! ”
Qin Jiwei said to Cui Jiangong: "The enemy's offensive is unusual, it is estimated that 2 to 3 divisions of troops will be dispatched, it seems that it will take more than a few weeks to fight, we must be prepared to fight a big war and fight a vicious war." ”
When the counterattack was launched, commander Qin Jiwei, deputy commander Zhou Fatian, and chief of staff Zhang Yunyu were nervously paying attention to the battle situation on the front line at the headquarters. The officers and men of our army fought bloodily and regained their positions. Sang Chuanbao, a staff officer for operations, recalled that he had inserted the two small red flags that had been pulled out and inserted back into the two highlands in front of the Five Holy Mountains on the map.
Cui Jiangong said in an interview that since October 14, Qin Jiwei has been talking to himself on the phone almost continuously, understanding the situation, deploying tasks, and making suggestions. He also pointedly raised the problems that we have had in the war for several days. Commander Qin believes that now it seems that we have to repeatedly compete with the enemy for positions, not only to talk about tactics, but also to use artillery, you use more force, the enemy is more powerful, and our strength and ammunition can not keep up. There is a problem of insufficient troops in the rear, and there is also a problem of excessive use of the front troops.
Sang Chuanbao remembered such a scene, after the two highlands of Shangganling were recaptured, Qin Jiwei returned to his residence, which was already 5 o'clock in the morning. Qin Jiwei's hidden department was not far from the war room, a rectangular two bunkers, the outer room was also full of maps, the inner room was bedless, it was a kang, a simple camp bed on the kang, and a bedside table made of two bullet boxes. The most memorable of all the officers and men who have entered Qin Jiwei's hidden department is the propaganda poster "We Love Peace" posted on the wall above the nightstand: a man and a woman, two teenagers and children, full of childishness, innocent and lively, affectionately holding the "peace dove" that is about to take off.
"When the troops win the battle, they rely on one breath"
"During the day the positions were occupied by the enemy, and at night we launched a counterattack to retake the positions, repeatedly, and the battles were fought extremely fiercely and tragically." In his later years, Commander Cui Jiangong recalled with this writer the battle of the first seven days of Shangganling.
General Cui Jiangong told this writer that after the outbreak of the Battle of Shangganling, Qin Jiwei spoke to him on the phone every day, and at this time, the qin army commander's tone was extremely calm, and the weight was heavy. Cui Jiangong recalled that they immediately called a combat meeting and made up their minds. After the meeting, he expressed his position to Qin Jiwei on the phone: "No. 1, you can rest assured, there is one company left, I will be the company commander, I will be the squad leader." As long as I Cui Jiangong is there, Shangganling is Chinese People's Volunteer Army! ”
In accordance with Qin Jiwei's deployment, the Forty-fifth Division made full use of the advantages of the tunnels that could be attacked and retreated and defended, and fought very tenaciously. Once, the 597.9 heights were lost again, and Zhang Zhanhua, the commander of the 134th Regiment, had no mobile troops to call on, so he organized all the miscellaneous personnel of the regimental headquarters, including hygienists, trumpeters, messengers, and propaganda officers, and he personally took them to the position. He said: "The people are in the position, the comrades of the company have died, and we are still there!" ”
Commander Cui Jiangong could not stop him and hurriedly called to report to Commander Qin. Qin Jiwei first called the staff officer to call and order Zhang Zhanhua to take a position, but Zhang Zhanhua was on fire and did not listen at all. The staff officer also reported to Qin Jiwei.
On September 27, 2013, Li Mingming, chief of the Propaganda Section of the 45th Division, told this writer that Qin Jiwei was afraid that Zhang Zhanhua would lose his mistake and personally hung up Zhang Zhanhua's phone: "Zhang Zhanhua, don't rush." I command you down! As soon as Zhang Zhanhua said "Commander," he suddenly burst into tears and shouted, "Commander, I must take back the position!" Soon, Qin Jiwei received the news that Zhang Zhanhua had commanded the "miscellaneous card army" to rush towards the enemy and forcibly recaptured the lost 597.9 heights.
Cui Jiangong believes that at critical moments, the determination and will of commanders have an important impact on the morale of the troops. He recalled that at this time, Qin Jiwei called him and said a passage that had spread throughout the Shangganling position. The commander said: "Now the entire Korean battlefield is fighting in Shangganling, which is the glory of the Fifteenth Army!" "Tell the comrades of the organ that the officers and men of the Fifteenth Army shed blood and do not shed tears, and no one is allowed to cry!" Raise troops for a thousand days, use troops for a while, and no matter how big the casualties, they must continue to fight. ”
According to the author's interview, many people in the Fifteenth Army have heard qin jiwei's words.
At the most tense moment in the battle of Shangganling, Qin Jiwei instructed Chief of Staff Zhang Yunyu to go to the position to understand the situation. Zhang Yunyu recalled to this writer that Song Xin'an, chief of the operations section of the Forty-fifth Division, reported on the battle situation and talked about the tragic and magnificent scene in the battle.
"Now is not the time to cry," Zhang Yunyu said at the division headquarters, both comforting and reminding, "we must not only see the casualties, but also see the significance of casualties; we must not only see our casualties, but also see that the enemy has paid a greater price than us." ”
Li Mingming was deeply impressed by Qin Jiwei's words: "Now is the crucial time for us to compete against the enemy and overcome difficulties. The enemy is soft, I want to be hard; the enemy is hard, I want to make him soft. This is the spiritual principle that we have important guiding for winning battles in the face of a strong enemy. ”
Qin Jiwei also said: "When the troops win the battle, they rely on one breath and courage. This is the spirit of laying down one's life for the country. ”
The heroic spirit of "the officers and men of the Fifteenth Army shed blood and not shed tears" always ran through the whole process of their adherence to Shangganling, fierce battle in Shangganling, and finally winning the Battle of Shangganling.
At the most intense and tense moment of the Battle of Shangganling, Qin Jiwei was always touched by the heroic feats of the warriors, and he recorded many heroic deeds in the first half of the month in his diary. When he wrote that some of the wounded soldiers also asked the nurses to relay to the commander, "Quickly send the team to fight the enemy down, and the position cannot be occupied by American robbers", the old soldier who put forward the slogan of "the officers and men of the Fifteenth Army shed blood and no tears" could not help but shed tears.
According to statistics, in the Battle of Shangganling, a large number of heroes who shocked the world and wept ghosts emerged. During the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, 12 members of the Chinese Volunteer Army were awarded the title of "Heroes of the Republic" by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and of the 12 winners headed by Peng Dehuai, 4 of them participated in the Shangganling Operation: Huang Jiguang, Sun Zhanyuan, Qiu Shaoyun, and Hu Xiudao, of whom 3 were from the 15th Army and 1 from the 12th Army.
It was built on the garrison position
An underground "tunnel city"
Cui Jiangong recalled that there were two tunnels in the Shangganling position, that is, the main pit, and there were 3 drainage tunnels and 18 team tunnels (including some of the cat holes originally dug), these more than 20 tunnels were in serious food shortage and water shortage, many tunnels could only eat half a biscuit per person every day, many people could not drink a drop of water, had to add emergency water in the urine, detoxification and elimination of smell, to relieve unbearable thirst.
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 Fifteenth Army built an underground "tunnel city" on the garrison position.
Zhang Yunyu recalled that Qin Jiwei demanded that the fortifications of the Fifteenth Army "must withstand the bombardment of enemy shells."
By the eve of the Battle of Shangganling, only the Forty-fifth Division had built 306 tunnels with a length of 8,800 meters; dug 160 trenches and communication ditches with a length of 53,000 meters; dug 4 anti-tank trenches with a length of 2,100 meters; built 2,400 shelters; set up 2,600 meters of deer blocks; 2,300 meters of barbed wire; 61 grain depot holes; 65 ammunition depot holes; 140 positions; 204 command posts and observation posts at all levels, with a total of 250,000 workers.
Beginning on October 25, officers and men of the Shangganling Garrison of the 45th Division were transferred to arduous tunnel operations.
Li Mingming, who was on duty at the forty-fifth Division's forward command post at the time, recalled that Qin Jiwei kept in touch with the division headquarters every day, at least a few times, and more than ten times, and talked about how Chairman Mao handled the relationship between saving himself and annihilating the enemy. He bitterly stressed to the division leaders that although the war was fought so fiercely, we must even more love and protect the soldiers and minimize unnecessary sacrifices. Li Mingming said: "For such a fierce battle in Shangganling, the old commander's feeling of loving and caring for the soldiers is even more urgent. ”
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.
Put the guard company of the military headquarters
All pulled up to "add oil"
On October 20, 1952, Qin Jiwei convened an emergency meeting attended by military leaders. The theme of this conference was devoted to the study of "How to solve the current difficulties and ensure that the Forty-fifth Division fights a good battle?" After study, Qin Jiwei finally made a decision: the army directly drew personnel to supplement the front-line combat troops; readjusted the deployment of the whole army, and specialized the troops in charge of defense and the troops in counterattack.
In an interview with this writer, Zhang Yunyu held that this meeting was crucial 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, the organs of the Fifteenth Army and the direct subordinate units of the army drew more than 1,200 soldiers and supplemented 13 companies for the Forty-fifth Division. Zhang Yunyu said that pulling up the guards of the military department to "add oil" would require a lot of determination and boldness!
On 14 August 2004, Che Minyan, director of the Political Department of the Fifteenth Army, told this writer in Changchun that after the battle of Shangganling broke out, Qin Jiwei promptly instructed the Political Department of the Army to send three batches of cadres at the grass-roots level: one group on the position, one group on standby in the division and regiment, one group staying in the army for intensive training, retaining a group of combat backbones, training a group of combat backbones, and preparing to "add oil" at any time to cope with the protracted war in the future.
Qin Jiwei also instructed the Political Department to vigorously carry out the campaign of killing the enemy and making meritorious contributions, and the Political Department's "Battlefield Newspaper" should publicize the heroic deeds in a timely manner. He said to Che Min, "The "Reference Message" you printed can be sent to the division, and some can also be sent to the regimental commanders and political commissars. Let's see what the Associated Press is advocating, know thyself and know thyself, and never lose a battle!"
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.
Once, cadres descending from Shangganling reported to Qin Jiwei on the situation of cadres and fighters who were holding on to the tunnels: They could not eat water or food for several days, and they held their positions independently. He immediately pulled out the basket of apples that had been placed under the camp bed and asked the comrades of the headquarters to send them to Shangganling.
Sang Chuanbao recalled in an interview with this author that in those days, Qin Jiwei dictated that he had written several hanging notes and put them in the basket for sending apples, the content of which was as follows:
I had nothing else to offer but to give all the fruit, sugar, canned food, and pears I had bought privately to the cutest people who were at the forefront of the tunnels and who fought 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 said that from now on, everything sent by the condolence group and the things that the military commander himself bought with his own allowances would be accumulated and packed in baskets, and all of them would solemnly sign the written hanging notes one by one and send them to the front. Other military leaders have done the same.
In an interview with this author, Li Mingming said that the story of "an apple" in the movie "Shangganling" is not fiction, but he has always insisted that the apple that the officers and soldiers who insisted on sticking to the tunnel picked up on the road were leaked out of the basket of apples sent by Commander Qin Jiwei. He said: "Because most of the fruits sent to the front at that time were turnips, it was rare to see apples. It wasn't Captain Qin's basket of apples, so where did the apples come from? ”
At the call of Commander Qin Jiwei, the troops 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 unit studied how to pass through the enemy's artillery blockade area; the holding detachment studied how to use the "small group" and "oil" tactics to deal with the enemy's large swarm impact; the troops temporarily transferred to the tunnel studied how to cooperate with the commando counterattack...
Qin Jiwei even sent his own guard company to Shangganling to "add oil." "This is big news at a critical moment in the battle of Shangganling!" In January 2013, at the Xiaogan Dry Rest Center in Hubei Province, I interviewed Li Tianen, a reporter from the Battlefield Newspaper of the 15th Army, who recalled: "We really did not expect that Commander Qin would make such a big determination to pull 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!"
Li Mingming also recalled that Wang Liu, the instructor of the military guard company at that time, was an old guard officer of Qin Jiwei when he was fighting in the Taihang Mountains, and he had rescued Qin Jiwei under the bombardment of aircraft, and they had a deep feeling. When Qin Jiwei learned that Wang Liu was also going to go to the front line, he did not stop him. After Wang Liu signed up, Qin Jiwei gave Wang Liu a Pike pen that he had treasured for six years, encouraging him to strengthen his learning and make continuous progress in battle. Li Mingming said: "The casualties of the guard company are relatively large, and Wang Liu also died heroically. ”
"Adding oil" has become "refueling," and the troops are getting more and more refined in their fighting, and the more they fight, the more they have methods. Qin Jiwei quickly transported several companies full of personnel into the tunnels of the front line. The main tunnel of the 597.9 highland was originally a reinforced platoon garrison, and before the big counterattack, the first 3 companies of the counterattack had been stationed in the tunnel, and the soldiers were all sitting well next to each other, row by row, ready to obey the orders and rush out of the tunnel.
Think of "Katyusha" as a "baby egg"
In the Battle of Shangganling, the telephone lines of the military divisions and regiments were often blown up, and the telephone operators had to brave the artillery fire to pick up, and often they were connected and then blown up, so they had to rush to pick them up again, and many telephonemen died. Li Mingming recalled that sometimes Qin Jiwei talked to the commanders and regimental commanders of the forward divisions and regiments, and wanted to comfort and comfort them first, before saying a sentence of "Comrades, it has been hard," and he was interrupted by the telephone operator to interject: "Chief, don't be long-winded, quickly give orders!" ”
Li Mingming said that after being robbed by the telephone operator, Qin Junchang was not angry, he understood the telephone operator's kind criticism, he said: "The soldiers have done the right thing!" The enemy's shells are so dense, it is really difficult to ensure the smooth flow of the telephone line, you can only grab a sentence to count, it is impossible to talk calmly as usual. ”
Jin Zhong, director of the artillery room of the Fifteenth Army, recalled that after the "Katyusha" rocket was transported, Qin Jiwei was so happy that he jumped up, and he regarded "Katyusha" as a "baby egg." The leaders of the Fifteenth Army all remembered that Qin Jiwei hid it in a secret cave, and no one was allowed to see it. It was very squeamish before the fight, and this could not be seen, and it could not be moved. After the fight, it is more squeamish, and no one can move, and no one can look.
Every time he used "Katyusha," Qin Jiwei repeatedly instructed him to choose a good launch position, grasp the timing of launch, and ensure safety. Jin Zhong recalled that the false positions we had set up before each counterattack were bombarded by the enemy; after firing, all the real positions were also destroyed by the enemy, but our "Katyusha" had already moved to safety according to the secret instructions of the Qin army commander.
Jin Zhong also said that in the Battle of Shangganling, the Use of Soviet-backed Katyusha rockets by the Volunteers was kept secret, so few people knew about it. In fact, on the 5th day of the battle, the Fifteenth Army used the Katyusha rocket launcher.
Talking about the launch of "Katyusha", Jin Zhong was particularly excited, he said: "It's like a group of red crows that suddenly fly in the sky." The rocket dragged the beautiful red tail, group after group, piece by piece, chasing and flying to Shangganling! ”
What made the witnesses of the Battle of Shangganling even more unforgettable was that the surface positions of Shangganling were suddenly blazing with fire and smoke. The officers and men of the volunteer army scrambled to climb the hill, cheering and jumping like fireworks at the festival, completely forgetting that they were in the battlefield of guns and bullets...
Sang Chuanbao recalled that from the night and half of November 24, it snowed heavily on the Korean Peninsula. The mountains and rivers are covered with a thick layer of snow, and the snowflakes flutter in the air, and the distance is white. The tunnel crossings on Shangganling were hidden by heavy snow.
On the 25th, before dawn, Qin Jiwei stepped on the snow to the war room of the military headquarters, and Sang Chuanbao, who was on duty, sent a telegram to Qin Jiwei. The telegram was sent from the forward command post, and the telegram said: After 00:01 in the morning of the 25th, the enemy did not fire a single shot, did not fire a single shot, and did not see the enemy plane activity or the enemy's figure.
Qin Jiwei seemed to have anticipated this ending, and he calmly said a meaningful sentence: "They don't fight, we don't fight either." ”
Photo courtesy of Wu Dongfeng