There is an accurate summary of the Battle of Shangganling, that is"There is a big battle on a hill".。Because this battlefield is only 3 in areaTwo small hills of 7 square kilometers, but both sides are trying to find the key to victory here.
For example, the U.S. military, in the process of armistice negotiations, has always emphasized that "the superiority of the joint ** in sea, air and firepower needs to be compensated in the territorial division".In the stage of sports warfare, you are interspersed everywhere, and my firepower advantage cannot be brought into play;Now it's a positional war, the operation technique is not important, who can krypton gold is more critical, wait for me to pull the cannon up, and send you all to the sky!
And what about our army?Frankly speaking, many commanders and fighters are unsure of whether they can defeat the powerful US troops in positional warfare. It is generally believed that as long as there is a tunnel that can be hidden, no matter how strong the enemy's artillery fire is, it is useless, so the victory in the battle of Shangganling was carried out by our army by relying on the tunnel.
However, in the history of human warfare, there is no fortress that cannot be impregnated, and there is no fortification that cannot be broken. Before the offensive officially began, the US troops and the puppet army of Li had already carried out sabotage shooting at our position for two days. On October 14, the Battle of Shangganling officially broke out, and on the same day the enemy carried out another eight hours of artillery preparation, to 5979 and 537More than 300,000 shells were fired from the 7 heights, while the artillery of our army fired only 4,231 rounds in total, which is very small in comparison.
The positions of our troops were rather cramped.
Due to the disparity in firepower, all the surface positions of our army were destroyedThe hill was also completely shattered, the ground was nearly a meter of floating soil, and the light machine guns on the position were unstable。At one o'clock in the afternoon, all the surface positions were lost, and the defenders retreated into the tunnel, beginning a 16-day repeated struggle and tunnel struggle, and the key to the tunnel battle was:The artillery covering the rear must protect the mouth of the tunnel with accurate and sustained artillery fire, making it difficult for the enemy to approach and destroy.
For example, the Belgian fortress "Eben-Emer" that fell in 1940 was a huge fortress of reinforced concrete, with a telescopic armored turret, and even a hospital and generator inside, with as many as 1,200 defenders, but it was blocked in the fortifications by 82 German airborne troops, and saw the turtle shells being blown up one by one, and surrendered after only holding on for half a day. The same is true of the old devils of Iwo Jima, who even hollowed out a mountain, but had no outer cover, and ended up in a cave with all the water in the mountains.
The topography of Iwo Jima was extremely favorable to the Japanese army.
The defense conditions of our army are far inferior to the above two, the tunnel in Shangganling is a reinforced version of the field fortification supported by manpower excavation and timber, although it can dodge the artillery, but after the surface position is occupied, the firepower cannot be exerted, but the enemy can slowly use explosives, poison gas, flamethrowers to enter from the mouth of the tunnel, or simply directly block the mouth of the tunnel, and the troops in the tunnel can not last long.
At that time, the firing direction, observation and sighting equipment and command focus of the main force of our artillery were all in Zhuzidong Nanshan, and only 6 75 mountain guns, 6 Japanese-made 38 field guns, and 3 Soviet-made 122 howitzers could immediately support the Shangganling operationIn contrast, the U.S. Army and the Li Puppet Army invested 324 mountain, field, and howitzer guns, and 1,226 light artillery, not only 3-5 times more than our army, but also 4 times the density of artillery per kilometer prescribed by the tactical principles of the US army, and a large amount of ammunition was hoarded.
Moreover, in 1952, our army was not equipped with many Soviet-style artillery, and the main pillars in the artillery unit were still Japanese-style artillery and American-style artillery sent by Jiang Gong. In particular, all kinds of Japanese-style artillery, from the 1930s to the 1950s, were worn out, the firing range was reduced, and the quantity and quality were far behind.
However, in August 52, the Volunteer Army adopted the strategy of "artillery going up the mountain", transporting the old ground artillery and anti-aircraft artillery up the mountain, and using the method of increasing the altitude to increase the firing range and expand the firing range, especially the Japanese-made 38 field artillery, with a straight trajectory and accurate shooting - "Hit far, have a scope, and be a sniper!.""After being transported up the mountain, the mouth of the tunnel on the anti-slope of the position can be closely protected, which is equivalent to standing guard for the tunnel. As soon as the enemy tries to approach the mouth of the tunnel, he will have to eat artillery snipers;If you want to build a bunker to surround the mouth of the tunnel, you will also be named by direct artillery fire, so it is difficult to make any big moves;
In addition, light mortars were also arranged to be on duty day and night, and the holding troops could directly contact the mortar group through walkie-talkies and disperse the scattered enemy with dense mortar shells.
Keeping the tunnel only left the hope of a counterattack, and to regain the position, it was necessary to destroy the enemy's fortifications. Although the U.S. forces also encountered the problem that the floating soil was too thick to build strong fortifications after occupying the surface positions, they were well prepared, carrying a large number of sacks to build complete fortifications, and also brought specially customized steel bunker shells, and the positions were also very strong. Our army has few artillery and shells, and we must not "ask Hanako to compare treasures with the dragon king", and we will also shoot sabotage for two or three days. But at this time, the US military made a mistake:They thought they would get the first hit, so they consumed too much ammunition at the beginning of the attack
Even Kryptonite players can't have unlimited Krypton at any time - do you want other defenses?Therefore, although the enemy's artillery is numerous, its firepower is getting weaker and weaker;Although the total number of artillery of our army was small, after the rapid concentration, the firepower became stronger and stronger. Every night, the four howitzer batteries and rocket artillery regiments of the Second Artillery Division travel between the two mountains to provide fire support under the unified commandOn October, with the support of artillery, our infantry recaptured 537 in one fell swoop7 highland North Hill position, can be rotated and replenished for tunnel troops.
On October 30, our army counterattacked, and first concentrated firepower to only hit 597On the 9 heights, although there were not many artillery pieces participating in the battle, 48 guns were suddenly concentrated and 5 hours of fire preparation were carried out, and the enemy was taken by surprise;An hour and a half later, our army suddenly **, carried out a five-minute artillery attack, and then began to extend the artillery fire, the enemy thought that the attack was imminent, and hurriedly entered the position, who knew that the shells came back, so several times repeatedly pulled, so that the enemy ** more than half.
At 22 o'clock, 24 Katyusha rocket launchers of our army covered the enemy's artillery positions and the second-echelon assembly area, completely suppressing the enemy's artillery fire in depth. A total of 4,651 shells were consumed throughout the day, destroying all the enemy's fortifications, and the infantry basically regained the surface positions without encountering major resistance。The effectiveness of sabotage shots is more than ten times higher than that of the opposing side. The enemy's communications network was destroyed, the second echelon was crushed, and they were completely stunned and stayed for three hours, giving our troops precious time to rush to repair the fortifications, thus firmly controlling the surface positions. The next day, the enemy army reacted, and from the 31st onwards, 3 to 70,000 shells were fired every day, and several battalions of troops continued to attack, and finally even the Ethiopian battalion with the correct skin color was dispatched.
Of course, the U.S. military has always been very concerned about suppressing our artillery, and it still has black technology such as 203 mm guns in hand, which has an advantage in equipment, but their artillery battles are poorly organized, and they seem to be fighting on their own, and each time they are only satisfied with temporary suppression. It was not until November 3 that he could not stand the beating by our artillery, so he made up his mind to concentrate three 155 howitzer battalions and two 203 howitzer battalions to find our artillery for a duel. The result?After a week of fighting and spending more than 20,000 rounds of artillery shells, the US military's own war history believes that "the success rate is limited" and "the artillery is not silent."
On the contrary, our army adheres to the principle that "it is better to cut off one finger than to hurt 10 fingers," and does not engage in piecemeal counterattacks, but only engages in concentrated and organized artillery battles. If you don't fight, you will be ruthless, fierce, and you will fight a war of annihilation. For example, on 7 November, at the same time, our army concentrated its firepower on the enemy's artillery positions in three areas, destroying more than 10 enemy artillery pieces and igniting a large number of material and ammunition hoarding points. The enemy artillery was terrified, and since then it has rarely set up fixed positions, and most of the artillery has changed from fixed guns to mobile guns, and sometimes even put columns on the highway and run away after hitting, and the accuracy of geodesy and aiming has seriously declined, and in many cases it is empty ammunition.
In addition, our army has been picking up rags for many years, and the artillerymen have trained a very strong ability to rush repairs. After the war, the artillery hero recommended by the 7th Artillery Division to participate in the Volunteer Army's Combat Hero Regiment was a repair technician. During the battle of Shangganling, this old man took four people, drove a well-camouflaged truck around to repair artillery, every time the US military plane was in the air, four soldiers squatted in the four corners of the truck with a small tree, playing a small forest, hiding from the sky and crossing the sea for more than 20 days, dismantling and moving west, carrying people on their backs, and repairing more than a dozen battle-damaged artillery pieces on the line of fire, maintaining the combat effectiveness of the whole regiment, and the ** rate far exceeded that of the 4th steel repair company. And after the entire 43-day campaign, only 12 howitzers and 4 field guns were completely scrapped according to the final statistics of our army, the rest of the battle damage can be repaired or has already been repaired.
In addition, if the artillery wants to hit accurately, it must first be visible. It stands to reason that our army occupies the high ground and should have an unobstructed view of the depth of the US army, but I did not expect the other side to send a kryptonite tactic: put a smoke screen all day during the day, and use searchlights and flares at night to turn the day into night and the night into day. It's all so krypton, of course, it's also somewhat useful - from November 1 to November 5, our artillery observation posts were covered by smoke screens, all blinded, and nothing could be seen. Some friends may want to ask, so isn't the U.S. military invisible?No, no, no, the lives of rich people are boring and boring, and they have a large number of artillery observation planes, which can be condescendingly enough. However, although our army does not have air supremacy, the antiaircraft artillery has always taken good care of the enemy's artillery observation planes, and although the antiaircraft artillery is old, it has gone up the hill and its firing range has increased, and it has a good effect on the slow observation planes, making it difficult for the enemy planes to get close. Strangely, although these observers do not see the situation of our troops' positions, they like to discuss the situation of their own positions in the air.
The 45th Division and the US military have been facing each other for more than half a year, and they are very familiar with these "fine traditions" of the other side, and they have somewhat mastered the laws of communication on the other sideTherefore, an eavesdropping station was set up at the division headquarters to eavesdrop on enemy radio conversations。To tell the truth, the desire of these observation planes to express themselves is so strong that they do not keep the door open at all, and once the artillery observation post of our army is obscured by a smoke screen, the artillery will rely entirely on the command of the infantry eavesdropping on the station, and the effect is unexpectedly good. Moreover, every time our army opened fire, the radio on the opposite side was in chaos, shouting and shouting, and after a while this company was beaten, that platoon was annihilated, and communications here were cut off, and there was no way to return fire ......The service is really in place, not only opening the map, giving coordinates, but also helping to confirm the results. Since you're so polite, of course we'll have a happier fight, and we'll be able to do some extreme maneuvers. For example, after the artillery of the US and puppet armies was attacked, they would immediately cease firing and conceal themselves, and our army seized on this point, and after our positions were shelled, they did not stop firing, but insisted on firing in place several times.
And the enemy thinks that "how can there be artillery that does not move its position after being shelled?"Definitely not!"Generally, they will change the target or stop firing, and then our troops will change their positions and fire from another direction, which will make the American artillery suspicious. After these sets of combined punches, not only were the losses of ordinary artillery far less than expected, but even a unit like the rocket artillery regiment, which had a lot of movement and a long preparation time, did not lose anything in the entire battleOnly one of the slides of a Katyusha was hit by a piece of shrapnel
What's even more bizarre is that in the later stages of the campaign, the enemy began to engage in punch-card attacks. From October 30, every day from 4 to 5 p.m., with two to five battalions to 5979 heights attacked, and the route was basically fixed. After our army mastered the law, it was able to seize the time to carry out a rapid fire attack, and each time the effect was good, and sometimes they even beat them to cancel the attack. Compared with the enemy's clumsy coordination, our army's various artillery divisions have a clear division of labor, and the arms are well coordinated, and the coordinates were accurately calibrated in August, the target number was carried out, and the artillery firing targets were accurate to the positions at the squad level, such as 537The position of No. 7 on the 101st high ground is the company headquarters, the target of No. 102 is the small artillery squad, and the No. 103 is the machine gun squad.
Before the major counterattack, the infantry company commander was also transferred back to the rear, and the changes in terrain caused by long-term artillery fire and the physical strength of the tunnel personnel were introduced, and the coordination was carefully studied.
Moreover, due to the effective infiltration and reconnaissance before the battle and the large number of prisoners captured, our army is very familiar with the terrain of the positions on both sides, and the artillery observers can estimate the distance of the enemy artillery by counting the seconds of the enemy's artillery firing and the landing of the shells by relying on a pocket watchAs soon as the two points converge, the approximate position of the enemy's position can be obtained, and although the technical means are backward, the firepower response is more rapid;The enemy army does not know anything about the situation of our position, and can only rely on estimates, at most, to capture some of our army's logistics personnel for interrogation, the information is lagging behind, the coordinates are vague, and there is a technical advantage, but the firepower response is very slow, for example, the 203 howitzer group, which can only return fire 20 minutes after our army opens fire, and the action is surprisingly slow, and it does not play its due role.
Before the outbreak of the Shangganling Campaign, our army had stockpiled ammunition in advance and mobilized artillery in order to attack Li's puppet army on the west side of Shangganling and south of Zhuzidong, and was fully prepared. The U.S. forces have also been preparing for the attack on Shangganling for a month, and have been transporting supplies and demarcating positions since September. As the world's largest power at that time, the U.S. military was well-equipped and well-trainedEven after the Li puppet army was armed by the US army, the artillery was stronger than our army. As far as our army is concerned, whether or not Shangganling can be defended is a serious problem. If it is lost, it means that even after long-term preparation, it will not be able to withstand the opponent's attack;If even our army can't do it, wouldn't the people's army even worse?If the enemy wants to hit ** and can hit **, will they continue to attack?Will there be new and unfavorable variables in the whole battle situation?
However, the facts have proved that our artillery is few and strong, and the enemy artillery is many and weak. They fired a total of more than 1.9 million rounds of large-caliber artillery shells, but they could not suppress our artillery, but were repeatedly ridiculed. The huge amount of ammunition consumption failed to achieve the expected results, but it dragged down its own logistics -- since late October, the US military top brass has repeatedly asked the Shangganling battlefield to save ammunition, especially to reduce heavy artillery shells, and to ask front-line troops to "use mortars whenever possible";And for a long time after the end of the battle, both the US army and the puppet army of Li were plagued by the shortage of shells, for example, the firing volume of 155 howitzers was forced to be reduced from 15 rounds per day to 9 rounds per day4 rounds, the commander of the joint ** said that the lack of ammunition "has limited his command", and "the coalition forces lacking ammunition are difficult to parry" the offensive of the Chinese and North Korean troops. Therefore, the history of the U.S. military also believes that our army reversed the unfavorable situation after the Battle of Baima Mountain, forcing the United ** to stop the offensive, and the memoirs of South Korean General Baek Sun-yeol are more frank, admitting that after this battle, the U.S. and South Korean troops no longer dare to launch an attack above the battalion, and can only honestly return to the negotiating table.
In fact, after the end of World War II, there was a heavy question in the hearts of soldiers all over the world who pursued national liberationThe colonizers and invaders occupy the advantage of first-mover industrialization, and their firepower is greatly surpassing their own, so can the oppressed nation finally be swallowed up by the sea of fire?Or can you rely on your wit, bravery, and creativity to defeat the strong in the end?The rumbling sound of artillery on Shangganling gave the most sonorous answer, that is, even if the imperialists erected hundreds or thousands of cannons, they were not facing the decadent and declining Li Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty, and their firepower could not make up for their Achilles' heel of low morale and rigid command, and the people's army, which was flexible, well-organized, and skillfully commanded, could completely win in battle. Therefore, Shangganling is "a big battle on a small hill and a struggle between two world views," which fully shows that "the era when Western invaders could occupy a country for hundreds of years as long as they erected a few cannons on a coast in the east is gone forever!"”