He was a great general, and his bravery and fearlessness were admirable. However, in front of *** and ***, he always maintained humility and respect. Even in 1951, even though he knew that *** was sleeping, he resolutely broke into ***'s bedroom, despite the guards' obstruction.
This reflects the deep admiration and fearless spirit of ***.
After the preparations for the third campaign launched by the Chinese and North Korean teams against the enemy were completed, the time had come to New Year's Day in 1951. The combined army was immersed in the joyful atmosphere of celebrating the New Year, and had no mind and energy to fight.
However, ** slapped the table angrily at this time and decided to attack around 5 p.m. on December 31, 1950.
On the evening of December 31, 1950, the world was immersed in the New Year's festivities, preparing supplies for the New Year. However, the Korean battlefield was a different scene, there was no laughter or red lantern costumes, only the eyes were covered in silver, and the biting cold wind swept the mountains, rivers, and fields, and there was silence.
Suddenly, bursts of heavy artillery fire, mixed with fire and smoke, launched an attack on the enemy's position. After a short artillery attack, hundreds of thousands of soldiers launched an attack from the left and right directions according to the established plan, taking the enemy by surprise and breaking through their frontline positions.
The coalition army did not expect that the Chinese and North Korean coalition forces would launch a large-scale attack on the eve of New Year's Day, and they were instantly beaten to the point that they could only pick up their guns in a hurry to deal with it.
In order to avoid being completely annihilated by the joint **, the Sino-Korean coalition army can only launch ** on the north bank of the Han River. The enemy fled to the south, and the ** commander had already predicted this, and ordered the left and right teams to take advantage of the victory to pursue.
Those soldiers who were slow to flee and did not have time to retreat were wiped out by the soldiers of the Chinese and North Korean armies, and many South Korean troops who did not have time to take a car were also wiped out on the road, about 20,000 people.
In this battle, the 29th Army of the Chinese Volunteers and the Korean people took Seoul in one fell swoop. In order to prevent the enemy from going to Seoul**, it was discovered that the enemy was deliberately luring our army to attack south, and the battle line could no longer be stretched too far.
Otherwise, once the enemy counterattacks, the damage inflicted on our troops will be very serious. Therefore, on January 8, *** ordered the troops to stop the offensive on all fronts, occupy favorable terrain, and focus on defense.
Despite the incomparable heroism of our volunteers, they launched three fierce battles in a row, and all of them inflicted heavy losses on the enemy. However, the weather in North Korea poses a huge challenge for us.
At this time, North Korea is experiencing a severe cold rarely seen in a century, and the temperature can be as low as minus thirty or forty degrees. Our volunteers came to Korea from the motherland thousands of miles away to fight, and their winter clothing preparation was not sufficient, and most of the volunteers had no experience in fighting in such a cold weather.
In order to hide their whereabouts, they could not make a fire in the icy snow, and when they were hungry, they could only mix fried noodles and snow to satisfy their hunger. Despite the heroic and fearless spirit of our volunteers, they still did not have the main forces that were able to completely destroy the enemy.
** With many years of combat experience, we are convinced that the enemy is trying to lure us deeper, and if we go too deep into the south, the front is too long, and it will do more harm than good to our army.
First of all, the elongation of the front line will lead to an increase in the number of rear transportation lines and increase the difficulty of transportation; Second, the increase in the number of transportation routes will also increase the risk of our army's transportation, and once the enemy forces use air power to bomb our army's transportation lines, our logistics support will be threatened. In the end, our volunteer army has been fighting continuously and is exhausted, and if we continue to pursue, the gains outweigh the losses.
In order to avoid a repeat of the tragedy of the Inchon landing, ** decisively ordered all units to rest in place and stop the pursuit. And Li Qiwei of the United Army also saw the advantages and disadvantages of the two sides through many battles with the Volunteer Army.
He was well aware of the bravery and fearlessness of the volunteers, however, the heroic and fearless volunteers were not invulnerable. Their biggest weakness lies in the backward equipment, the weak air force, and the difficulty in guaranteeing the rear.
Li Qiwei noticed that the food reserves of the volunteer soldiers were limited, which could only last for a week, and could not fight for a long time. He assembled a joint ** team and launched a fierce attack on the Volunteer Army along the Han River, opening the prelude to the Fourth Campaign.
Although *** had a premonition that the enemy army would abandon the city, **it was only a matter of time, but he did not expect the enemy's **speed to be so fast. Before our volunteers were ready to respond, the enemy launched heavy artillery fire.
On the battlefield of the Western Front, the front-line troops of the Volunteer Army held their positions, and in the face of the fierce bombardment of the enemy's artillery fire, they stood up and fought to the end. However, due to backward equipment, our army's ability to return fire was very limited and was crushed by the enemy.
Despite this, the commander still decided not to let the volunteers come into a head-to-head confrontation with the enemy, but to adopt a mobile defensive strategy and do everything possible to protect the combat effectiveness of our army.
** There is a lot of pressure, not only to withstand the pressure from all sides, but also to stick to their own combat strategy. He understood that it was a long-standing tradition in China to pursue victory, but he was not satisfied with this, and he wanted to win the war in a more stable way.
In times of war in the past, ** has always been known for its courage to fight tough battles and vicious battles. Today, however, his approach has left them confused and dissatisfied, especially by the North Korean leadership and Soviet advisers.
These pressures were like a mountain pressing on him. At the same time, ** is also worried about the plight of the volunteers, who may be wiped out if measures are not taken.
While it is their highest honor for the soldiers to die on the battlefield, it should be their sacrifice in the way of charging the enemy, not because of insufficient logistical supplies. As the commander-in-chief of the Chinese and North Korean armies, ** must fully consider the well-being of the soldiers of the two countries, and the difficult situation encountered by the volunteers in Korea cannot be described in detail in the telegram, and can only be reported to *** in person.
On February 16, 1951, Commander-in-Chief Peng sent a telegram to ***, expressing his eagerness to return to ***, report the war situation to the leaders, and hope to have the opportunity to present himself in person.
In order to seize the time, he also proposed to let Mr. Nie prepare the plane in Anton, because the military plane could not be delayed. At the same time, **'s schedule is full, and he may not be able to return to the Korean battlefield in a short time without making an appointment in advance.
**Replied to ***'s request the next day, so that he could come back with peace of mind. At this time, the Korean battlefield was filled with gunsmoke, and artillery fire continued to bombard the camp of the volunteers, and none of them were safe.
On the evening of the 20th, after handing over the command to Deng Hua, he took the staff officers and guards to the north in a jeep. In war-torn North Korea, a small jeep suddenly appeared, and the combined army, of course, did not ignore it.
No sooner had than passed the bomb-bombed devastated road when the little jeep was hit by shells. The driver carefully drove the jeep, dodging left and right, and finally arrived at Anton in the early morning of the 21st.
The special plane sent by the acting chief was already waiting at Andong Airport, and when the commander boarded the plane, the driver finally breathed a sigh of relief. **After the commander hurriedly ate two bites of food, he took a special plane to Shenyang and waited for maintenance and refueling.
He was greeted by Zhang He Jinnian, deputy commander of the Northeast Military Region, and Guo Ruile. Years later, Guo Ruile wrote in his memoirs: "The first time the commander returned from the Korean battlefield, the weather was extremely cold, his face was full of exhaustion, and it was obvious that he had not had a good rest for several days.
Although we invited him to the lounge to rest and eat, he refused and waited by the plane. As soon as the plane was refueled and overhauled, he boarded the plane and flew to Beijing.
His anxiety and concern were palpable. ”
**The tenacity of the commander made the people of the military region feel distressed, and although his face was full of fatigue, he refused to waste a mouthful of water or a grain of rice, and insisted on fighting. His plane landed at the airport in Beijing at about 1 p.m., and without a moment's rest, he immediately rushed to the office of Zhongnanhai ***.
However, when he arrived at Zhongnanhai, he was told that he was in Jingmingyuan in Yuquan Mountain in the western suburbs. ** The commander immediately rushed to Jingmingyuan, he was in a race against time, and every minute of delay could cause a major change in the situation on the Korean battlefield.
In the end, the ** commander rushed to Jingmingyuan, just in time for the *** lunch break. Now *** is not in good health, and his sleep time is also very short, and most of his time is devoted to dealing with national affairs.
In order for him to get rest, the lunch break of ** is generally not allowed to be disturbed. The guards and the secretary saw the appearance of *** dusty and suggested that he go to dinner first and then report to work.
However, ** was worried about the soldiers of the two armies, and he had long lost the idea of eating, and just wanted to complete his work as soon as possible and return to North Korea. In the face of the guards' repeated dissuasion, ** temper came up, his eyes were like copper bells, and he shouted loudly: "I'm looking for *** urgent!" ”
** resolute no one dares to stop, let alone the guards around ***. They all know that *** has dark circles under his eyes, and if it wasn't for something urgent, he wouldn't have ventured in.
After being woken up by ***, not only did he not get angry, but he was very happy, and immediately said humorously in his pajamas: "Only you, Mr. Peng, will break into the bedroom to give advice when I am sleeping." ”
When the general reported to *** on the situation on the Korean battlefield, ** knew his temper and insisted that he eat first, otherwise he would not listen to the report. ** hurriedly picked up two mouthfuls of food, returned to the *** bedroom again, explained the situation on the Korean battlefield in detail, and pointed out that this war is different from previous wars, and it cannot be rushed and quickly resolved.
In order to prove his point, ** put forward several arguments: in previous wars, when our army encountered a shortage of soldiers, it would mobilize people of appropriate age to participate in the war.
But on the Korean battlefield, all North Korean youths who have reached the age of 16 have taken up guns and become soldiers. In addition, in previous wars, our army was able to gather prisoners for ideological education and make them become members of our army, but on the Korean battlefield, language communication was the biggest obstacle between the two armies, and the people of the combined army would not obediently obey the command of our army.
1.The second point, the bottleneck of **ammunition**. All the materials and equipment needed by our volunteers to go to North Korea need to be transported by China, and the United Forces also knows the weakness of our army in the air force, and frequently and violently bombards our army's transportation lines, resulting in serious damage to our army's transport vehicles and difficulties in replenishing equipment.
Despite our best efforts to capture ** ammunition from the enemy, since our army is not familiar with these equipment, let alone use them against the United **. 2.Thirdly, there is an acute shortage of equipment in winter.
Although it was the order of the state and the voluntary choice of the soldiers to go to fight in Korea, hundreds of thousands of troops fought bravely, and it was difficult for the country to gather enough winter supplies in a short period of time.
This year, in particular, North Korea has been hit by severe cold not seen in decades, and many volunteers have frozen to death or starved to death on the battlefields in North Korea.
The fighters were in a cold environment, suffering from severe frostbite and could not continue the fight. Despite this, they still insisted that it was their mission to defend their homeland and country. They died with a smile and no regrets.
However, their lives are not easy. Transport lines were bombed by the enemy, roads were destroyed, winter clothing was poorly equipped, and even basic vegetable grain could not be guaranteed.
They can only catch snow to satisfy their hunger, gnaw hard dried potatoes, and even fried noodles mixed with snow have become their daily routine. Despite this, they still stuck to their posts, and they were willing to endure all difficulties and hardships for the sake of the peace of the country.
** The commander told about the hard life and firm belief of the volunteers, and touched the staff. Despite their lack of nutrition, they persisted in their march and were unwilling to slow down their troops, even if they dragged their sick bodies.
** Talking about these things excitedly, tears rolling in his eyes, but he was seriously injured and did not shed tears. He paused for a moment to control his emotions before continuing: "The Volunteer Army achieved great victories in three campaigns, eliminating a large number of soldiers of the combined army.
The leaders of both the Soviet Union and North Korea believed that we should take advantage of the victory, and as long as we continued to attack south, the combined army would soon collapse. ”
However, they did not take into account the current state of exhaustion of the Volunteer Army, which has been fighting continuously and is exhausted, and if it attacks blindly, our Volunteer Army may suffer serious losses, which is difficult to predict.
The North Korean leadership objected to the volunteers' strategy of resting and regrouping, and the issue sparked several heated quarrels. Attacking or defending is a major issue that has a bearing on the life and death of hundreds of thousands of volunteers, and is also the key to whether or not we can achieve victory in this war to resist US aggression and aid Korea.
** Having reported these circumstances in detail, the chairman also fell into deep thought and habitually lit a cigarette. While smoking a cigarette, he thought about the situation that *** said, and after a while, he spoke: "* is also very concerned about the plight of the volunteers on the Korean front, and is actively looking for a solution. ”
**attaches great importance to solving the problem of necessities such as **, ammunition, cotton clothing, vegetables, etc., and has discussed with *** and promised to solve it as soon as possible. He said that if you can't rush things, if you can't win quickly, then take your time, don't rush for a while.
In order to solve these difficult problems as soon as possible, a meeting was also held to elaborate on the current plight of the Volunteer Army. The meeting was chaired by ***, and after listening to ***'s narration, he was deeply distressed and promised that these problems would be solved no matter what, and the soldiers would not be allowed to go hungry to war.
The support of ** and *** gave the *** commander great encouragement, but when these tasks were assigned to the specific responsible persons, they all said that it was too difficult to solve immediately.
Seeing that everyone was blaming each other, **'s anger exploded instantly, and he slapped the table heavily.
The commander's sudden anger surprised the leaders present, they didn't expect that this person who dared to get angry in front of the gentle *** was actually him.
Despite this, the dilemmas raised by *** have not been resolved, and no specific process has been negotiated. ** Can't stay in China for a long time, the North Korean side sent an urgent war report, hoping that he can return to China as soon as possible.
On one side is the warriors on the bloody battlefield, and on the other hand, the logistical supply of the soldiers, both sides need him, and both sides need to solve it urgently. Looking at the battle report, ** comforted him: "You go back, I am here, and I will solve these problems as soon as possible." ”
Looking at the appearance of *** swearing, the ** commander was relieved to return to North Korea. There are not many people in the commander's life who admire, ** and *** are counted among them.
**Rather than being perfunctory about ***'s questions, it's about taking immediate action. Soon after he returned to China, he issued an order to the country: no matter what, the equipment and ammunition of the volunteer army must be guaranteed**.
Under the dual promotion of *** and ***, the people of the whole country responded positively, and finally solved the worries of the volunteers. And the volunteers did not live up to their expectations, winning victory after victory on the Korean battlefield.
This puzzled the Americans, who did not understand why the Volunteer Army, despite the lack of food, winter clothing and advanced **, could achieve such a significant victory and even push the enemy to the negotiating table.
Perhaps they will never be able to understand what the real Chinese spirit is! If there is no such outstanding and wise leader, how can there be today's China and the current beautiful country!
The Chinese people are not afraid of war because we have firm conviction, and this conviction and confidence are the key to our victory. I would like to pay high tribute to the leaders! I would like to pay the highest respect to the best people!