"Brave and fearless, aiming for thousands of miles, crossing the Yalu River; To protect peace and to defend one's homeland is to defend one's country. "As soon as this familiar song sounds, it will always evoke memories for countless people and take them back to that war-torn era.
When it comes to the battle for the founding of New China, it is none other than the Korean War. One year after the founding of the People's Republic of China, when everything was in ruins, in the face of the brutal aggression of US imperialism against the Korean people, the flames of war had spread to our borders, and we were forced to launch this war to defend the country and protect our homeland.
This war is a righteous battle that is extremely heroic and heart-wrenching. Although the squadron was backward in terms of equipment, did not receive support from artillery, tanks, and aircraft, and did not even have enough basic food, clothing, and bedding, they succeeded in forcing the 17-nation coalition led by the United States, which had sophisticated logistics and large-scale army, navy, and air force support, to the vicinity of the 38th parallel with firm conviction and fearless courage.
This is undoubtedly a great miracle in the history of warfare.
It is sad that our country has suffered a huge number of personnel in this war due to the lack of equipment and logistical capabilities. According to records, the Sino-Korean coalition army has a total of about 1 million people, of which about 520,000 are in our army, including nearly 190,000 killed in battle, and more than 50,000 of them are logistics personnel.
In contrast, the United is even more disastrous, with a total of about 1.5 million people, including nearly 200,000 in the United States, and nearly 60,000 dead and missing.
It can be said that the severity of the Korean War is unprecedented in the history of warfare, and even surpasses the Second World War to some extent. After more than three years of repeated tug-of-war between the two sides, the Korean Peninsula was almost completely destroyed.
When it comes to the most tragic battle of the Korean War, everyone must be familiar with it - that is, the Battle of Shangganling, which broke out in 1953. Van Vliet, the commander of the Eighth Army of the U.S. Army at that time, in order to gain an advantage at the negotiating table and avenge his son who died in battle, decided to use Wusheng Mountain as a breakthrough point to capture Shangganling, which was controlled by the Volunteers.
The battle was named "Operation Showdown" by him. Interestingly, however, before the war began, people on both sides surrendered to each other and revealed their secrets to them.
Our mutineer, Gu Zhongjiao, was an ordinary commando cadre, and he leaked to the US army the 44th Division of the 15th Army that had just been equipped with Soviet equipment to defend Shangganling. Li Jieqiu, a mutinee on the other side, was a captain and staff officer of the 2nd Korean Division, and he revealed to our side the plan that the US military would launch a large-scale attack on Shangganling.
But surprisingly, neither side paid enough attention to the words of the two mutineers, and as a result, at the beginning of the war, both sides suffered a huge blow.
At Van Vliet's order, hundreds of artillery, tanks, and bombers of the US army began to launch a large-scale bombardment of the two heights in Shangganling. Next, the U.S. military, with the cooperation of tanks, repeatedly attacked the positions of the volunteers.
Under the brutal blow of the US army, the defensive position of the volunteer army instantly fell into a raging fire, and the whole sky was filled with the smoke of war, and even the land was burned hot, and the soldiers were miserable.
However, they did not retreat because of this, but picked up the ** and fought back stubbornly. The terrain in the Shangganling area is dangerous, with an area of only a few square kilometers and a few hills, which cannot accommodate large-scale troops for fighting, resulting in only one or two battalions of the US offensive force, while the defending force of the Volunteer Army is a company, and the two sides have fought repeated fierce battles for several hills.
A fierce battle was about to break out, and both sides had no time to think at all, so they could only attack and defend with all their might. After two days of fierce fighting, both China and the United States suffered huge losses, and the rate of several battalions attacked by the United States exceeded 70 percent.
The Volunteer Army also suffered heavy losses, almost all the soldiers of several companies defending the front line were killed, and the remaining soldiers could only transfer to the tunnel to persist in the battle. Faced with this situation, Qin Jiwei, the commander of the 15th Army, continued to send reinforcements to the front line and changed defenses, and organized troops to launch counterattacks on the occupied hills, hoping to turn the tide of the war.
The volunteers who insisted on fighting the US troops in the tunnels were like a small boat sailing on the sea, constantly being hit by the stormy waves, and their actions were almost unable to move independently.
Some fighters were even sacrificed alive in the tunnels.
In the baptism of artillery fire, the biggest challenge faced by the volunteers was not the enemy's attack, but the serious impact of the lack of water and food on the body's functions. In order to prevent the volunteers from breaking through the tunnel, the US military used napalm in an attempt to burn the volunteers alive in the tunnel.
In this harsh environment, the living conditions of the volunteers in the tunnel are extremely severe, so that the word bad cannot be described. Due to the extreme lack of water, the warriors had chapped lips and even had to use bowls to catch water from the holes and even drink their own urine to quench their thirst.
Qin Jiwei was so anxious that in order to prevent the soldiers in the tunnel from being wiped out, he organized many transport teams to transport water and food for the volunteer soldiers. However, the U.S. Air Force bombing took a heavy toll on the convoy, and few supplies were delivered to the tunnels.
Watching the soldiers in the tunnel continue to sacrifice in the lack of water and food, Qin Jiwei came up with a solution. He bought 20,000 apples from a nearby village, and he told the soldiers who supplied them that whoever could deliver an apple to the tunnel would be given a second-class credit.
This decision inspired the soldiers of the transport team, who gave their lives to the hope of life to the fighters in the tunnel, regardless of life and death.
In this 43-day battle, our heroic volunteer soldiers were left with only one apple left in the line of fire, and they guarded their positions with great difficulty, and countless heroes and martyrs emerged, including Niu Baocai, who used his body as a conductor, and Huang Jiguang, who blocked the machine gun hole.
Despite the sacrifice of most of the soldiers transporting supplies along the blockade line, the apple was eaten by everyone in turn, symbolizing their strength and perseverance.
In the Battle of Shangganling, the US army poured 1.9 million artillery shells and threw more than 5,000 aerial bombs on an area of only a few square kilometers, so that the entire hill was flattened by two meters.
In this tragic battle, there were more than 30,000 people on both sides, of which 11,500 were lost by the volunteer soldiers, and 2 by the United States and North KoreaAbout 50,000 people. However, it was this battle that demonstrated China's strength internationally and made the U.S. military completely abandon its attempt to defeat the volunteers on the battlefield.
Since then, the U.S. military has never launched a large-scale offensive, and this battle laid the foundation for the armistice of the Korean War.
Remembering history, the alarm bell rings for a long time. We miss those who were brave and tenacious"The loveliest people"Their desperate struggle successfully blocked the enemy's aggression and allowed us to enjoy today's peace and happiness.
Hats off to these heroes!