On the evening of February 10, 1951, Wen Yucheng, commander of the 40th Army of the Chinese People's Volunteers, and Yuan Shengping, political commissar of the 40th Army of the Chinese People's Volunteers, hurried to the army command post at Shangguohu and convened an emergency meeting of the heads of the divisions.
They had just received an important task from Deng Hua, deputy commander of the Volunteer Army: to launch an attack on the Gwangtian area northwest of Hengcheng, targeting the 8th Division of the ROK Army.
Although the Volunteer Army achieved major victories in the first three battles, destroying 70,000 enemies, it also paid for itselfA significant cost of 60,000 people. In addition, the first batch of six armies to enter the Korean War have already fought three major battles without stopping, and they urgently need to rest and recuperate.
However, the commander of the US Eighth Army, Li Qiwei, seized this opportunity and launched a large-scale counterattack from the eastern and western fronts on 25 January.
The U.S. military had established a full-fledged mechanized marching system, which took their counterattacks by surprise to the top of the Volunteer Army. However, this battle could not be avoided, because in the civil war,"If you can't win, leave"The strategy does not work in fighting abroad.
Taking into account the overall situation, the chairman demanded that the Volunteer Army must fight another battle to break the offensive of the American army. Mr. Peng decided to implement it"The west is the top and the east is reversed"The strategy, that is, the 38th Army, the 50th Army, and the 1st Army Corps of the People's Army under the command of Deputy Commander Han Xianchu, to resolutely resist on the Western Front;At the same time, Deputy Commander Deng Hua commanded the 39th, 40th, 42nd, and 66th armies to launch a counterattack against the enemy on the Eastern Front.
New Copy: War is unpredictable, and you must prepare for the worst. General Peng ordered the 19th Corps to quickly assemble in Dandong, ready to support the Western Front at any time, and at the same time let the 26th Corps enter the Tieyuan area.
His plan was that if the counterattack on the Eastern Front was successful, he would make a detour to the flank of the Western Front and completely destroy the enemy forces. If the counterattack is unsuccessful, it will switch to mobile defense, buy time, and wait for the second group of troops to enter the DPRK before launching a counterattack.
At present, the 8th Division of the ROK Army of the US 10th Army is in a prominent position on the central line and is heading towards Hoengseong. Their left neighbor, the US 2nd Division, was far away, and the ROK 5th Division on the right flank was blocked by the KPA and made slow progress.
In this way, the position of the 8th Division of the ROK Army appeared isolated and became the target of key strikes. Therefore, we must always be vigilant and prepare for the worst in case we need it.
Among the four armies on the Eastern Front commanded by Deng Hua, the 40th Army played the leading role in the Hengcheng counterattack. The 42nd Army and the 66th Army fought in tandem, and the 39th Army served as a reserve. In the first three battles, the 40th Army demonstrated the strength of our army's first-class ace unit and successfully completed various tasks.
Although it is not as eye-catching as the 38th and 39th armies, it also shows the strength of the South Korean army. In the past, the 40th Army held a meeting, and the old army commander Han Xianchu was present, but this Shangguohu meeting was the first time that the army chief presided over the meeting alone after Han Xianchu left the 40th Army.
Wen Yucheng assigned the task, and the 118th Division and the 120th Division launched an assault side by side, with the 118th Division as the main force, and attacked in the direction of Guangtian with all their might, disrupting the deployment of the 8th Korean Division.
The 120th Division was responsible for ensuring the security of the flanks of the 118th Division, and the 119th Division served as a reserve.
When the 40th Army was still the 3rd Column of Dongye, there was a saying in the troops: "The 7th Division fights, the 8th Division watches, and the 9th Division circles around." The 118th Division (7th Division), known as the "Storm Force", was one of the strongest divisions in the former Higashino.
In the Liaoshen Campaign, they conquered the water distribution pool, destroyed the Hu family's shack, and successfully eliminated Liao Yaoxiang's headquarters, demonstrating their outstanding military talent.
In the first battle of the overseas battle, they also won a victory in Wenjing, earning the reputation of the "Whirlwind Column" for the 40th Army. During the period of recuperation, the 118th Division has basically achieved the goal of being fully equipped by transferring personnel from organs to supplement the grassroots companies, and by adding a small number of new recruits.
Each regiment has 3 infantry battalions and 1 120mm mortar company, each battalion has 3 infantry companies and 1 machine gun company (6 counterweight machine guns and 3 81mm mortars), and each company has 6 light machine guns and 3 rocket launchers.
The proportion of automatic ** in the whole division is relatively high, of which the US machinery accounts for about 1 3. In order to further strengthen the strength of the 118th Division, Wen Yucheng specially transferred the 355th Regiment, the main regiment of the 119th Division of the reserve, to them, and strengthened the artillery regiment and the 29th Regiment of the reserve artillery.
Wen Yucheng told Deng Yue, the commander of the 118th Division, that he bets all his bets on you, and whether you can succeed depends on your performance. Deng Yue has been fighting for 20 years and has long been a veteran general, but this time he will command 4 divisions and sufficient equipment, and this is the first time he has undertaken such a task.
Although it is easy to fight with many soldiers, if the four regiments go into battle at the same time, the personnel are too dense, and they will suffer heavy losses under the air and ground fire of the US army. In addition, a direct flat push will only crush the enemy, not form a war of annihilation.
Therefore, the best tactic is still the army's transmission technique - interspersed with roundabouts. At the meeting of the division headquarters, Deng Yue made it clear that he intended to send a regiment to insert from behind the enemy and cut off the enemy's retreat.
Why use a regiment?Deng Yue believed that the strength of a company was not dispersed enough, the strength of a battalion was too small, and only the strength of an entire regiment could give full play to the greatest effect.
Major General Deng Yue deliberated and decided to adopt a bold strategy. He planned to insert a regiment deep into a "Y" junction to block the retreat of the 21st Regiment of the 8th Division of the ROK Army to Hoengseong.
This is undoubtedly a plan that is both ingenious and dangerous. The distance from the starting point to Hirota is 50 miles, and this interspersed distance can neither be considered far nor close. Moreover, the terrain in this area is very complex, and it is undoubtedly full of risks for a single regiment to penetrate deeply.
However, Deng Yue's heart was full of confidence. He believed that with the courageous interspersing of one regiment and the continuous follow-up and mutual cooperation of the other two regiments, the three regiments would strike at the 21st Regiment of the ROK Army together, and victory was assured.
Of course, individual battalions and companies may suffer some losses, but this is all inevitable and worth it.
The 118th Division has always had a tradition of fighting dangerous battles, and strong winds and waves have never made it timid. Zhang Yuhua, political commissar of the division, and Tang Jingzhong, chief of staff, unanimously supported Deng Yue's decision. So, which regiment can take on the role of a sharp knife interspersed with tasks?
The answer is undoubtedly the 352nd Regiment, they are the most powerful regiment in the whole division and even the entire 40th Army. Their mission was to penetrate to Hirota before dawn and block the enemy's retreat.
The predecessor of the 352nd Regiment was the old 1st Regiment of Shandong Luzhong Military Region established in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, which was a well-known main force in the Shandong Eighth Route Army.
The regiment commander, Luo Shaofu, is a veteran Red Army with 21 years of military experience, who once served as Deng Yue's squad leader. Roshofo fought bravely, but lacked culture and had difficulty reading maps.
Therefore, Deng Yue specially arranged for Zou Pingguang, the political commissar of the regiment, to be responsible for the operation on the organizational chart to ensure that he would not go in the wrong direction. At the same time, he also asked Chief of Staff Tang Zhongjing to accompany the 352nd Regiment in order to strengthen the command.
The 352 regiment, in the absence of rear operations, was well prepared before departure, with 200 rounds of ammunition for rifles, 1500 rounds for light machine guns, 4000 rounds for heavy machine guns, 50 shells for each gun, and 6 grenades for each person.
On the afternoon of February 11, the 353rd and 354th regiments launched attacks on the left and right flanks respectively, and successfully broke through the positions of the South Korean army. Then, after the unfortunate death of the chief of staff of the Leng Lihua Regiment, the 352nd Regiment braved the severe cold of minus 20 degrees Celsius and knee-deep snow to step on the rugged mountain road.
The terrain is complex and covered with snow, and even the local guide got lost. However, Zhang Honglin, the commander of the 7th Company, used the compass to lead the troops to break through and successfully walked out of this high ground more than two hours later, much earlier than the time set by Deng Yue.
In the end, they interspersed at 22 o'clock that night to the predetermined location of Tanimura.
1.The whole regiment crossed the mountains, and the enemy did not notice. Luo Shaofu ordered the 2nd and 3rd Battalions to flank Guangtian from the north and south respectively, and the 1st Battalion to guard the mouth of the ditch to prevent the enemy from escaping.
However, just as the battle was about to begin, an accident happened. The 1st Battalion of the 8th Regiment of the 2nd Division of the US Army came to reinforce the 8th Division of the ROK, accompanied by a howitzer battalion and an anti-aircraft artillery battery, as well as more than 100 trucks with their headlights turned on.
2.The whole regiment successfully crossed the mountain, and the enemy did not notice. Luo Shaofu decided to have the 2nd and 3rd Battalions attack Guangtian from the north and south respectively, while the 1st Battalion held the ditch to prevent the enemy from escaping.
However, just as the battle was about to begin, the unexpected happened. The 1st Battalion of the 8th Regiment of the 2nd Division of the US Army came to reinforce the 8th Division of the ROK, accompanied by a howitzer battalion and an anti-aircraft artillery battery, as well as more than 100 trucks with headlights on.
3.The whole regiment managed to climb over the mountains, and the enemy did not notice it. Luo Shaofu ordered the 2nd and 3rd Battalions to flank Guangtian from the north and south, respectively, and the 1st Battalion to defend the mouth of the ditch to prevent the enemy from escaping.
However, just as the battle was about to begin, an accident happened. The 1st Battalion of the 8th Regiment of the 2nd Division of the US Army came to reinforce the 8th Division of the ROK, accompanied by a howitzer battalion and an antiaircraft artillery company, and a total of more than 100 trucks with headlights came along the road.
In a fierce encounter, the American army was crushed. The 3rd battalion of our army was in hot pursuit, capturing 136 vehicles and more than 20 guns. It is especially worth mentioning that Yu Shuilin single-handedly captured 8 American soldiers, and his heroic deeds were rewarded with first-class meritorious service after the war.
After this battle, the 3rd and 2nd Battalions occupied the North and South Mountains of Gwangjeon, respectively, and began to block the repeated attacks of the ROK 8th Division. It was not until the various units of the Volunteer Army arrived that the 8th Division of the ROK Army was forced to retreat.
Subsequently, the 42nd Army and the 66th Army met south of Hengcheng and successfully formed an encirclement posture against Hengcheng.
Unfortunately, just after the 352nd Regiment successfully completed the interspersed mission, the battalion commander Li Yulin was hit by a stray bullet in the battle and died heroically. After the war, Battalion Commander Li was posthumously awarded the first-class meritorious service, and the 3rd Battalion was awarded the title of "Sharp Knife Hero Battalion".
The 118th Division killed, wounded, and captured a total of 2,834 enemy troops in Guangtian, and captured a large amount of equipment and supplies, including howitzers and canned biscuits.
Like the battle in Sanshori of the 113th Division of the 38th Army, the 118th Division of the 40th Army also created a classic example of our army's light infantry penetrating in depth. Let us cherish the memory of Battalion Commander Li who died bravely, carry forward the positive energy of war history, and be proud of our army.