The 38th Army was once known as the backbone of the People's Liberation Army. After the fierce battle of Songgu Peak, the 38th Army of the Volunteer Army won the honor of almost invincible in the Korean battlefield by virtue of this baptism of blood and fire.
However, such a heroic and combative unit suffered a defeat in a positional offensive and defensive battle. In this battle, the 38th Army paid more than 6,700 people, but still failed to occupy the position as planned.
This became a regret in the history of the 38th Army. The reason for this defeat was not a mistake in military command, but a traitor's informant, which made the 38th Army's offensive plan known to the enemy.
Who is Jiao in the valley? Why did he betray? This betrayal led to the collapse of the 38th Army in the Battle of White Horse Mountain. What we know about him is that in June 1949, he joined the People's Liberation Army, after which he entered the ** Military and Political Training School in the South, where he received political and cultural training.
After the outbreak of the war, he was assigned to a division of the 38th Division of the 114th Army as a cultural instructor. As a cultural worker, Gu Zhongjiao rarely participated in military training, and his main responsibility was to read aloud the documents of his superiors to those illiterate soldiers, explain the spirit of the party's policies to them, and recite to them the articles of the leaders or books that propagated the party's ideology, so as to enrich the soldiers' spare time.
Yamanaka Jiao is a good writer, he helps the soldiers write letters in the company, so he has a very wide range of interpersonal relationships and a very good relationship with the soldiers.
Although he was not involved in military operations and decision-making, he was able to learn a lot about the military deployment of our army through communication with the soldiers. However, his motive for joining the army was not purely to defend his family and country, but to be promoted and make a fortune.
His joining the PLA was actually a life speculation. Although he had a deep cultural foundation and was a very scarce talent in our army at that time, his motivation for joining the army made people wary of his later defection.
Under normal circumstances, they would not be sent into battle, which also allowed Tanaka Jiao to remain unharmed after the first five battles. In the Han River blockade battle, there were only more than ten people left in Gu Zhongjiao's company, and he was one of them.
Although Tanaka Jiao has always relied on the protection of his comrades-in-arms to survive, he is not satisfied with this situation. In order to get a chance to be promoted, he always performed positively and submitted a petition to his superiors before each war.
He also participates in military training and exercises to make a good impression on his superiors and comrades. Because he was naturally intelligent and able to quickly master tactical skills, he was highly praised by his superiors every time.
Maybe it's because Tanaka Jiao's usual performance is too realistic, his"Sincerely"moved the superiors, so that after asking for war again, they really agreed to his request.
Tanaka's outstanding performance in daily military drills also made his superiors think that he might be able to work wonders in the commando team, so he was incorporated into a commando team. However, this decision laid the groundwork for Gu Zhongjiao's later defection.
The fuse that led to his defection was actually a trivial thing that made people laugh. It turned out that the 38th Army was in the process of changing its outfit at that time, but due to its weak logistics support capabilities, it was unable to complete all the refitting work at one time.
As a result, some units have changed into new uniforms, but Tanaka's company cannot change their uniforms for the time being, and must wait until the end of the military operation.
Under the impetus of such a situation, Gu Zhongjiao, who has always been selfish, decided to defect, firstly to protect himself, and secondly, to use the military intelligence in his hand to exchange glory and wealth for the enemy.
In the second half of 1952, the armistice negotiations in Kaesong reached an impasse because of the arrogant attitude of the United States. In order to thwart the arrogance of the enemy, **Under the instructions of ***, an autumn counterattack was carefully planned.
** Turned its attention to the strategically important "Cheorwon-Jinhua-Pyongkang" iron triangle, which was once the center of repeated see-saw and contention between China and the United States. In this Iron Triangle, there is a "Three Mountains Front" that runs through it, including the Wusheng Mountain and the West Mountain in the northeast of the Iron Triangle, and the White Horse Mountain in the southwest of the Iron Triangle.
Controlling the Five Holy Mountains and the Western Mountains and taking the White Horse Mountain is the key to mastering the Three Mountains Front. This will help to gradually take control of the Iron Triangle, threatening the flanks and logistical supply lines of the US coalition positions, forcing its lines to retreat.
The 38th Army, as the trump card, undertook this difficult task. They have just been equipped with Soviet equipment, and their firepower has been greatly improved. At the same time, they also strengthened individual soldiers and supplies, and formed a sharp knife unit that was good at covert raid operations, in order to prepare to knock through the positional defenses of the US coalition forces.
When the 38th Army was ready, Tanaka Jiao decided to betray. He tried to sneak out of the camp in the middle of the night while his comrades were asleep, but the army set up a tight guard to prevent the enemy's night attack, and the heavy checkpoints made it impossible for the valley Jiao to escape.
When he was in a hurry, Tanaka Jiao seized the opportunity on the eve of the start of the battle. On October 2, 1952, Tanaka Jiao waited for his opportunity. At that time, the army was preparing for the subsequent offensive and defensive positions, and began to have cadres go back and forth with each other in the mountain roads near Mt. Hakuba to familiarize themselves with the terrain.
Tanaka Jiao seized this opportunity, took advantage of the gap between being separated from his comrades, and immediately hid in the nearby mountains and forests, and ran wildly in the direction of the enemy's position.
Don't shoot! I'm here to surrender! I want to see your chief! Although the soldiers of the South Korean army couldn't understand Gu Zhongjiao's words, they didn't shoot when they saw Gu Zhongjiao's sincerity in throwing away ** raising his hand to surrender.
The South Korean army sentry searched Gu Zhongjiao, and after making sure that he was not carrying **, they escorted him to the camp. Tanaka Jiao was brought into the headquarters of the South Korean army, and looked at the South Korean soldiers who were on guard with guns on the left and right, and he was a little scared.
But he knew that if he repented at this time, he would definitely be executed as a spy by the Korean army, so he decided to face it bravely and move forward.
In the face of Han ** people and prisoners, Gu Zhongjiao showed calm wisdom and successfully won the trust of the Han army commander. Soon after, he was taken to the headquarters of the Allied Forces near White Horse Mountain.
There, Gu Zhongjiao saw several American generals, and he hurriedly shouted to the interpreter on the side: "I sincerely come to join your army, I am a cadre of the Volunteer Army, and I have mastered many military secrets, I hope your army will give me a chance!" ”
Seeing such a positive attitude of Tanaka Jiao, the US military officers were very happy. After inquiring about some basic details and confirming that Gu Zhongjiao was indeed sincere, they began to interrogate our army's military deployment.
During the identification process, the US military officer asked Gu Zhongjiao why he took refuge, and Gu Zhongjiao said helplessly: "I am a member of the commando team, and in order to avoid dying on the battlefield, I chose to join your army." ”
When asked about his wishes, he bluntly expressed his desire to receive a large sum of cash and be sent to live in the United States. Gu Zhongjiao's greed for money and forgetfulness were exposed. Through interrogation, the US military learned about the 38th Army's operational plan from the mouth of the valley Jiao, including the launch time, tactical design, troop configuration, and firepower deployment.
This had a significant impact on the subsequent operations of the 38th Army.
The ROK 9th Division held an all-army sports meeting at the Baima Mountain position, and was unprepared for the upcoming offensive of the 38th Army. If Tanaka Jiao had not defected and leaked secrets, the 38th Army could easily defeat the unsuspecting South Korean army and seize the position of Baima Mountain.
After receiving the information, the US Coalition Command immediately ordered the ROK 9th Division to enter combat readiness and instructed them to immediately reinforce the position at Baima Mountain. In order to strengthen the defensive line, the South Korean army dug a large number of interconnected trenches at Mt. Baekba and the nearby hills, and deployed a reinforced company on the hilltops, designing multiple crossfire positions to cover each other.
In addition, with the help of the U.S. military, the South Korean army increased the barbed wire system used to stop the attack of the volunteers in front of the position from three to seven layers in just two days.
The leak of Yamanaka not only greatly increased the level of preparedness of the South Korean army, but also caused the tactical deployment of the entire US coalition to be adjusted in a highly targeted manner.
According to the records of the US military war history, after learning of this news, the ROK 9th Division immediately mobilized two heavy artillery battalions to reinforce the Baima Mountain position and provide it with strong fire support. In order to secure the key positions of this confrontation front, the US military has also transferred at least six heavy artillery battalions from other directions to support them.
In addition, in order to ensure that nothing goes wrong, the US military has specially dispatched one antiaircraft artillery battalion and two tank battalions, as well as one tank battalion of the ROK army to form a reserve and be ready to provide fire support at any time.
Such reinforcements are equivalent to the firepower level of 2-3 US military divisions, which is enough to see how much attention the US military attaches to this place.
After learning of Tanaka Jiao's defection, the 38th Army quickly reported to the headquarters of the higher-level Volunteer Army, but Shiji did not change the original battle plan because of this. There are two reasons for our army to make such a decision: First, only part of the battle plan of the 38th Army was leaked, so it is not wise to postpone the long-prepared battle plan of the entire Volunteer Army, after all, temporary changes in the plan are the most taboo in military operations.
Second, Shiji is full of confidence in the 38th Army, a powerful force. The members of the 38th Army resolutely carried out the orders of the Shiji and said that they would go all out to complete the task.
However, when the battle began, Jiang Yonghui found that the original plan for the raid had not worked. The enemy had long been prepared for a sneak attack by the 38th Army, and when our assault team reached the position, it was immediately suppressed by enemy fire.
Although the artillery bombardment of the enemy's positions by our troops was fierce, there was almost no lethal effect because the South Korean troops were hiding in deep trenches. Then, with the support of more than one division of the South Korean Army, the enemy carried out a frenzied artillery bombardment of our reinforcement routes, causing our troops to pay a huge price for every step of their advance.
As a result of a traitor's informant, the planned surprise attack turned into a tug-of-war, with the enemy's forces and firepower deployed far beyond our expectations, making the battle extremely difficult for our troops.
Despite the fact that we paid 6,700 people, we had no choice but to retreat. The defeat in the Battle of White Horse Mountain has become an eternal pain in the history of our army's war.
Gu Zhongjiao, the culprit who once caused the setback of the 38th Army, was not forgiven after the war. After the end of the Korean War, the enemy did not fulfill his promise to send him to the United States, but repatriated him to Taiwan as a defector of the Volunteer Army.
Chiang Kai-shek did not trust those who defected to the enemy army, and subjected them to strict monitoring and strict labor reform. Gu Zhongjiao could only be arranged to work as coolies such as repairing railways and building buildings.
As for his ending, because he was incognito early, he failed to get definite information, one said that he died as early as the seventies of the last century, and the other said that he survived until 2008.
His life in Taiwan was full of difficulties, and he eventually died in a foreign land in loneliness, which seemed to be a punishment of fate. However, if you like my articles, you can click "Follow" so that you can receive my articles as soon as possible.
Please note that you will only be considered a fan if you interact with me more.