In a short period of less than a month, the brave soldiers of the 9th Corps of our Chinese Volunteers marched forward bravely under difficult and difficult conditions and successfully completed the tasks assigned by the commander of the Chinese Volunteers.
Today, when we look back on this period of history again, the fragments of the past that have passed over time, although incomplete, can make us feel a strong shock.
And this shock will remain for a long time in the wider time and space. The 2021 movie "Changjin Lake" is like a dark horse, which deeply moved us by describing the harsh environment.
A frozen hard potato makes tears flow, we live in a peaceful and beautiful environment, enjoy the hard-won life, and we should cherish and be grateful.
On October 31, 1950, the first week of the first entry of the Volunteers into the Korean War, six armies had already been engaged in the battle. MacArthur, the commander-in-chief of the joint **, underestimated the enemy, believing that the volunteers were small and poorly equipped and could not have a big impact.
This made the entry of the 9th Corps into Korea earlier than originally planned. The military order was like a mountain, the front line was urgent, and the 9th Corps set off urgently. Under the leadership of Song Shilun, commander of the 9th Corps of the Volunteer Army, these soldiers from the south embarked on the journey to Korea before they had time to prepare.
He Jinnian, deputy commander of the Northeast Military Region, went to the Shenyang Railway Station to inspect the equipment of the volunteers entering the DPRK and found that they were wearing thin clothes and shivering from the cold. China's volunteers and the U.S. military are facing the challenge of severe cold, and although the U.S. military has better equipment, it is still unable to withstand the severe cold.
The Americans did not expect that there would be not only Chinese volunteers, but also this cruel ice. This is where their nightmare begins. To commemorate the battle, the United States carved an image of the U.S. military braving the snow and wind in front of the Korean War Memorial.
In this war, many Chinese volunteers and American soldiers were not killed in battle, but froze to death.
Although at the moment when the train stopped, many people threw away their cotton clothes and quilts, but there were still very few that could really be left, and in the end, more than 100,000 soldiers had to cross the Yalu River with their bare hands.
Compared with the U.S. military, although the equipment is advanced, in the event of a war emergency, many U.S. soldiers do not have enough warm clothing in a short period of time. For example, the Seventh Division of the US Army temporarily transferred US troops originally stationed in Japan because of the addition of the Chinese Volunteers to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, but the temperature in Japan was far less than that in Korea, and many US troops wore thin autumn clothes, and they were overconfident in MacArthur's promise to "end the war before Christmas." They did not have too many worries about their equipment and went directly "lightly armed."
There were even some soldiers who were so cold that they directly put on the clothes of volunteer martyrs to keep warm. However, when the U.S. troops were surrounded by volunteers on the snowy mountains and unable to advance, American fighters began to throw supplies at them, including cotton clothes, eiderdown sleeping bags and other important items to keep them warm.
With these supplies, the US military will not freeze to death in the snow. However, the extreme cold weather still brings a lot of troubles to the US military, for example, although their leather boots have the function of protecting their feet on rough ground, they have a mediocre warmth effect, especially in ice and snow weather, and are easy to slip on the ice.
As a result, quite a few American soldiers suffered from frostbite on their feet, resulting in tissue necrosis and disability.
Turkey, ham and apple pie. At this moment, everyone is immersed in the joy of the festival as it may be their last supper. Changjin Lake is located in the Gaima Plateau in the north of North Korea, which is the coldest place in North Korea, especially when the cold wave comes, the temperature can drop to more than minus 40 degrees.
The entire area is covered in snow, winds and snow, the terrain is rugged, and the roads are difficult, which makes the combat environment extremely terrifying. It is said that even Genghis Khan would not have wanted to conquer this place.
On November 27, 1950, on a snowstorm night, the 1st Marine Division and the 7th U.S. Infantry Division crossed the mountain trail and stretched for 50 miles.
Suddenly, a piercing horn sounded in the forest, and the Chinese volunteers rushed out of the forest. The 20th and 27th armies commanded by Song Shilun and Tao Yong immediately launched an attack on the US army.
The sudden arrival of the volunteers took the American troops by surprise, but soon they reacted and began to counterattack and retreat. The 1st Marine Division of the U.S. Army, known as the "Victorious Army", has made outstanding achievements in the Siberian Theater and the Pacific War.
They have advanced equipment and modern combat strategies, and even fortify the perimeter with tanks. However, the bitter cold made it impossible for American mortars to work, and the shells mostly became duds.
In this case, the American infantry could only charge with rifles. The Liutanli area is an important battlefield in the Battle of Changjin Lake, which is located in the high mountain cold area, and the heavy snow has not stopped for a long time.
Step on it and sink it straight into your knee. Even during the day, the temperature is only minus thirty-five degrees. In the midst of hunger and cold, the volunteers died during the charge, and some even collapsed suddenly during the charge and never woke up.
In this weather, the human body has reached its limits. On the battlefield of the American army, a large number of soldiers were frozen unconscious. The medicine brought by the field doctors has been frozen hard, and they must melt it in their mouths before using it.
The situation became dire, and the commander of the American army had to give the order to break out. Under the protection of American fighters, the army retreated with all its might.
In between grueling battles, American soldiers chewed on icy cans of fava beans. The reporter asked a young soldier: "If you could fulfill a wish, what would you want most?" ”
The soldier still bowed his head and ate the canned food, did not stop, he simply replied: "Tomorrow." "In this war, the American team has encountered unprecedented challenges, and they have never felt more fearful than they are now.
This is a place where death can strike at any time, and everyone has the potential to be trapped in this cold abyss forever. Even a lieutenant of the Polar Bear Regiment, because he could not resist the bitter cold, directly ordered the US army to look for warm clothing from the volunteer martyrs.
The American lieutenant even took off the cotton clothes of the fallen volunteer soldiers and put them on, feeling very warm, so he was reluctant to take them off. There were even a few times when he was targeted by the U.S. military because he was mistaken for a volunteer, but he was still reluctant to take off his cotton clothes, which is enough to reflect how cold the Changjin Lake area is.
In this way, China and the United States held out on a hellish battlefield for 14 days.
In the dark woods, the light of the flares illuminated a dense group of figures, they were the countless volunteers, in the face of the patrol and bombing of the US planes, they seemed to emerge from the ground, quietly appeared.
Their legs had stiffened, the water had frozen on them, and every step moved like a machine, but they still flowed resolutely across the river. When the defeated American troops retreated, the volunteers were ordered to pursue, and on the way they encountered the troops of the 20th Army, who were ambushed by the only road where the enemy had fled, and their guns were pointed at the road**.
When you get closer, every warrior is alive and well, but their appearance is forever frozen in this moment, like a sculpture, which is moving. At that moment, all the people present were deeply moved, and they will never forget this scene.
Although both sides praised their combat operations after the war, the battle brought a huge ** to both sides. Although the Chinese volunteers were victorious, many brave soldiers remained in that cold place forever.
Now, as the excavation work progresses, many volunteers have returned to their hometowns. We must not forget their contributions, nor can we abandon them. According to the data released by the United States, in this battle, the US army had more than 7,000 people, including more than 2,500 killed and missing soldiers, and 7,300 people were reduced due to frostbite.
Although the ** of the Chinese Volunteers did not officially announce the specific figures, it was the battle with the largest number of frostbite people in the history of China's war. It is said that more than 30,000 volunteers suffered frostbite and more than 4,000 died of frostbite.
Although in the contest with great disparity in equipment and strength, the Chinese volunteers won the war with extraordinary perseverance and hard work, but their efforts were painful.