The Battle of Changjin Lake was a counterattack operation conducted by the Chinese People's Volunteers on the Eastern Front in the Second Battle to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. In the entire Battle of Changjin Lake, about 150,000 people from the three armies of the 9th Corps of the Volunteer Army fought a desperate battle with 100,000 American troops armed to the teeth in the extremely cold weather of more than minus 20 degrees Celsius. Under the condition of logistical difficulties and a lot of frostbite, our army killed and wounded a large number of enemy troops, completely annihilated an entire regiment of the US army, and forced the US 10th Army, the ace unit of World War II, to experience the "longest retreat" in history. Taking advantage of the victory, the Volunteers regained a vast area north of the 38th parallel, turning the tide of the Korean War in one fell swoop. Let's review this period of history, it is not easy to create, and I bother you to pay attention to the comments.
1. Background of the war
On August 15, 1945, Japan surrendered unconditionally, ending World War II. In order to demarcate the scope of surrender to the Japanese-occupied areas, after consultations between the Soviet Union and the United States, the 38th parallel of the north parallel of Korea was taken as the boundary, with the northern part being the Soviet army surrender area and the southern part being the US military surrender area. On August 15, 1948, the southern part controlled by the U.S. military established Korea**, and on September 9, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was established in the northern part controlled by the Soviet army. In October 1948, the Soviet Union officially handed over the northern part to North Korea**, and on December 25, all Soviet troops withdrew from North Korea. Half a year later, the U.S. military also began to withdraw from the south, leaving only a military advisory group. The departure of the United States and the Soviet Union has led to the delicate balance on the Korean Peninsula being broken, and the North and the South have been clashing along the border, and war is already on the verge of breaking out. On June 25, 1950, the Korean People's Army launched an offensive against South Korea, and the Korean War broke out. The South Korean army collapsed at the touch of a button, and the capital Seoul was conquered in just three days, so it had to turn to the United States for help. In order to safeguard its interests in Asia, the United States decided to send troops to intervene. On June 26, the U.S. Far East Air Force began assisting South Korea in the war, and on June 27, the U.S. Seventh Fleet sailed into the Taiwan Strait to prevent the Chinese People's Liberation Army from liberating Taiwan. On July 5, the United States officially entered the Korean War with the authorization of the United Nations. In the early days of the war, the Korean People's Army (KPA) won successive victories, occupying 90 percent of South Korea, liberating 92 percent of the population, and squeezing the US-ROK forces into a small area between Daegu and Busan, and victory seemed to be within reach. However, on 15 September, when US Commander MacArthur organized the landing at Incheon, the Korean People's Army was instantly cut off from its logistical supply lines, suffered heavy losses from both sides, and the situation of the war took a sharp turn for the worse.
On 30 September 1950, Japan issued a solemn statement warning the United States against wanton aggression against the territory of the DPRK. However, MacArthur believed that New China had just been established, and that he had no ability or courage to go to war with the powerful US military, so he ignored China's warning. On October 1, the U.S. military brazenly crossed the 38th parallel and attacked the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. On the 19th, the U.S. military occupied Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, and at this time, more than 90 percent of North Korea's territory fell into the hands of the enemy. At the same time, US planes have repeatedly intruded into China's airspace and bombed the Dandong area, and the flames of war have already reached the Yalu River. On October 8, 1950, Kim Il Sung requested Chinese military assistance. At that time, there was a huge controversy over whether to send troops to Korea, and in the end, he took a far-sighted view, made a wise decision to "resist US aggression and aid Korea, protect the family and defend the country", and quickly formed a Chinese people's volunteer army to enter the war in Korea. On the evening of October 19, he led the 38th, 39th, 40th, and 42nd armies of the Volunteer Army, the 1st, 2nd, and 8th artillery divisions, an anti-aircraft artillery regiment, and two engineer regiments, totaling about 280,000 people, into northern Korea and began the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. From October 25 to November 5, the Volunteers, with the cooperation of the Korean People's Army, took advantage of the paralysis of the US military to launch the first campaign, driving the so-called "United **" from the Yalu River to the south of the Cheongchon River, crushing MacArthur's plan to occupy the entire territory of Korea before Thanksgiving. After the first battle, the U.S. army still did not understand the true strength of our army, and after a slight adjustment, it continued to attack north in two directions. In order to contain the offensive of the US army, the Volunteer Army prepared to launch a second campaign, and urgently transferred three corps of Song Shilun's 9th Corps to the front line to undertake the combat mission on the eastern front.
Second, the course of the war
In November 1950, the 9th Corps decided to adopt the tactics of "cutting off in a roundabout way, encircling and destroying", and launched an offensive against the US army, with the 26th Army as the general reserve. In order not to alert the US troops, more than 100,000 volunteers crossed the mountains and mountains, and took small roads to approach the enemy. The thinly dressed volunteer soldiers marched day and night, enduring the bitter cold, hunger and fatigue, quietly arrived at the preset battlefield, and cut the 1st Marine Division and the 7th Infantry Division of the US Army into several sections through long-distance interspersed and roundabout. On the night of November 27, the 20th Army arrived on the west side of Changjin Lake, and the 27th Army deployed in the north and east of Changjin Lake. The temperature was extremely low that night, with heavy snow and a strong northwest wind. As the U.S. troops were moving on the highway, a reporter accompanying them always felt that someone was watching them in the dark, and he even thought it was a hallucination caused by bad weather in North Korea. Suddenly, there were earth-shattering military trumpets and gunfire in the mountains and forests on both sides, and the volunteers launched a fierce attack on the US army, and 100,000 soldiers rushed to the US army with the overwhelming momentum of Mount Tai. However, the 1st Marine Division and the 7th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army were also elite units that had been in battle for a long time, and after the initial panic, they quickly stabilized their positions. After dawn on 28 November, the US military tried every means to open up the positions of the various units that had been cut off. Under the resistance of the volunteers, the mechanized American troops could only advance slowly at a speed of 500 meters per hour, and the battle was extremely stalemate. On November 30, the 27th Army transferred 5 regiments of troops and concentrated all the artillery of the whole army to besiege the 31st Regiment of the 7th US Division in Xinxingli. The volunteer soldiers went forward one after another, launched several decisive charges, and the battle was extremely fierce. The "Polar Bear Regiment," which was formed in World War I, has won numerous brilliant feats by virtue of its combat bravery, but this time it has ushered in a catastrophe under the powerful offensive of our army. Under the fierce offensive of our army, the regiment was finally annihilated, and the blue regimental flag was captured by Zhang Jiqing, the squad leader of the Volunteer Army, as a wrapper, and later became an exhibit in the military museum. This was also the only classic example in the Korean War in which the Volunteer Army annihilated an entire regiment of the US Army in a structured manner, but the other units of the US 7th Division escaped from the encirclement in confusion under the cover of aircraft and tanks. On December 1, the 1st Marine Division, supported by powerful ground and air firepower, also gradually broke through the encirclement of the 20th Army of the Volunteer Army and began to retreat southward. The 9th Corps Headquarters ordered the 20th Army to pursue the American forces in order to slow down the enemy's retreat and buy time for the 26th Army, which was ordered to pursue. On December 4, the 5th and 7th regiments of the 1st Marine Division of the United States finally withdrew to Xiajieyuli, and the fully mechanized American troops were blocked by the volunteers along the way, and the first was heavy, only 22 kilometers of the journey for three full days, and the average hour could only march about 300 meters. The volunteers also paid great sacrifices, in addition to the battle **, due to the lack of warm clothing, a large number of soldiers starved and froze to death and frostbite.
On December 5, Almond, commander of the U.S. 10th Army, ordered a retreat, and all the U.S. artillery in the lower corner began to bombard the hills on both sides, and the mountains were scorched. In the early morning of the 6th, the US troops began a major retreat under the cover of aircraft. The U.S. military first blew up the camp with explosives, then ran it over with bulldozers, and finally poured gasoline on the mountains of strategic materials and burned them. The raging fire burned for a long time, and the volunteer soldiers hidden in the mountains on both sides seemed to feel the heat wave. After destroying the baggage, the U.S. troops quickly withdrew to the port of Hungnam in military vehicles, preparing to flee by water, and at this time the Watergate Bridge became their only way. The Shuimen Bridge in the ancient soil is a suspended single-lane bridge erected on the water diversion pipeline of Changjin Lake, with a span of 8At 8 meters, the width of the bridge can only accommodate one car in one direction, which is also the only avenue for the retreat of American troops. Once the Watergate Bridge is destroyed, the US military will be completely blocked from retreating, and they will have to flee over the mountains and mountains to the south, which will undoubtedly be a disaster for the US military, which is extremely dependent on logistical support. Therefore, the 20th Army sent two surprise troops to blow up the bridge on December 1 and 4, but the industrial level of the US army far exceeded our army's imagination, and it took skilled US military engineers less than a day to repair the bridge. In order to encircle and annihilate the 1st Division of the US Army, on December 6, the volunteers once again blasted the Watergate Bridge regardless of life and death, this time not only blowing up an eight-meter-wide gap in the bridge deck, but also blowing up the bridge foundation, and the American sappers could no longer repair the bridge in a short time. After observing the destruction of the Watergate Bridge, the scouts of the Volunteer Army reported to the military headquarters, and the top brass of our army also believed that it was impossible for the US army to repair the bridge again, and the end of the US 1st Division was approaching. However, the Volunteer Army underestimated the powerful industrial capacity of the United States. In order to save the fate of the 1st Army Division, the US military hastily ordered eight sets of M2-shaped steel bridge components from Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and the C-119 transport planes of the 314 Airlift Wing organized an airdrop to the US military position in Gutuli. On December 7, the steel frame was airdropped to the battlefield, and 6 of them were successfully ** by the US military. At noon on December 9, the steel components were transported to the Watergate Bridge, and quickly assembled and erected, and the repair was completed at 6 o'clock that night, and heavy vehicles, including tanks, were able to pass, and the US army finally escaped before the 26th Army closed up. On December 24, that is, Christmas Eve of the United States, the US 10th Army was loaded and evacuated from Xingnan Port, and the Battle of Changjin Lake, which lasted nearly a month, came to an end.
III. The Impact of the War
The Battle of Changjin Lake was an important battle in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and it was also a tragic war. According to the records of our war history, a total of 3 enemies were annihilated in this battle60,000 people, including 2 U.S. troops40,000 people, all annihilated the U.S. Polar Bear Regiment, which was the only classic example of annihilating an entire regiment of enemy troops in the entire Korean War. Lieutenant General Walker, a famous World War II general of the U.S. Army and commander of the highly decorated Eighth Army, also turned over and died in this battle, becoming the highest-ranking general of the U.S. Army to die in the Korean War. In this battle, the Ninth Corps of our army fought bravely without fear of sacrifice, defeated the powerful American army, recovered most of the area north of the 38th parallel, and reversed the strategic situation on the Korean Peninsula. However, due to the emergency entry from the southeast coast, the 9th Corps was not equipped with sufficient winter clothing, and the 9th Corps also suffered heavy losses. According to post-war statistics, the number of battles in our army was 190,000 people, but more than 30,000 people died of frostbite and frostbite. The 1st Marine Division of the US Army lived in sheltered tents, drank hot coffee and milk, and had a fire to keep warm, and under such conditions, more than 7,000 people suffered frostbite and hundreds froze to death. Our army climbed the ice and snow, slept in the open air, and the hardships were simply indescribable. Although the Second Campaign of the Volunteer Army drove the United ** out of the northeastern region of North Korea, it also exposed the weaknesses of the Volunteer Army such as lack of logistics, poor communication, and insufficient firepower. In the daytime battle, the US planes, heavy artillery, and tanks bombed indiscriminately, and it was extremely difficult for the volunteers to attack the fortified positions, and as long as the US troops established a position to hold on, it was almost difficult to capture it. Therefore, the Volunteer Army launched an offensive at night for a lot of time, and turned to defense during the day, which was called the "Full Moon Offensive" by the US military. Once the offensive at night could not take the US position, the US army would have a chance to breathe during the day, and could restrengthen the position and organize the defense. This added great trouble to the Volunteer Army's fortification, and also greatly increased the confidence of the US military, and finally the Korean War also entered the stalemate stage.
In September 1952, the 9th Corps was ordered to return from North Korea, and when it reached the Yalu River, the commander Song Shilun asked the driver to stop, and after getting out of the car, he stood silently for a long time in the direction of Changjin Lake, and then took off his hat and bent down and bowed deeply. When he looked up, the guards saw the general in tears and unable to control himself. This rather tragic scene is the best interpretation of the tragedy of this battle. If you want to know more about the Korean War, I recommend you ** "Bloody Battle of Changjin Lake + Decisive Battle of Korea" and "Korean War", which are definitely worth reading.