In the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, there was a battle that neither China nor the United States wanted to mention.
The reason why the U.S. military is reluctant to mention it is very simple: in this battle, the ace unit of the U.S. army, which was world-class and has outstanding combat achievements, lost face, and an entire regiment was annihilated, and this ace unit experienced the "longest retreat" in history.
The reasons why China is reluctant to mention it are complex, one of which is that the battle was extremely brutal and as tragic as any other battle in the history of human warfare.
This battle that changed the pattern of history was the Battle of Changjin Lake.
How tragic was the Battle of Changjin Lake?
Stills from the TV series "38th Parallel" Ice Sculpture Company.
**The general summed up four words - unforgettable!
The general was an instructor of the 3rd Battalion of the 235th Regiment of the 79th Division of the 27th Army of the Ninth Corps of the Volunteer Army.
Song Shilun, commander of the 9th Corps of the Chinese People's Volunteers, reported to the chairman on the battle situation as follows: After the battle began, no one from the three companies stood up to participate in the battle, and later it was discovered that the officers and men of the three companies were in battle formation, and all of them froze to death on the ...... positions”
This is the tragic "Ice Sculpture Company" of the Volunteer Army, their numbers are: 20th Army, 59th Division, 177th Regiment, 2nd Battalion, 6th Company, 20th Army, 60th Division, 180th Regiment, 1st Battalion, 2nd Company, and 27th Army, 80th Division, 242nd Regiment, 2nd Battalion, 5th Company.
The 9th Corps of the Chinese Volunteers was originally stationed in East China, and most of its soldiers came from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Anhui and other places in the water towns south of the Yangtze River, and they had no experience of living in alpine areas at all.
Stills from the TV series "38th Line".
Because the troops urgently went to Korea to participate in the war, the war materials could not keep up for a while, so the officers and men of the 9th Corps had to deal with two types of enemies on the Korean battlefield: the extremely cold and harsh environment of the "United **" led by the United States.
In contrast, the material conditions of the US military can be described as "luxury", not to mention anything else, under the ice and snow, US soldiers can still drink fragrant coffee.
In the winter of 1950, the shores of Changjin Lake on the Korean Peninsula were covered with snow and the temperature was as low as minus 40 degrees.
An American contingent marched on the "retreat" road.
Suddenly, the commander of the American army shouted: "Stop! ”
The American officers and men immediately dispersed on the spot and prepared for battle.
U.S. officers and soldiers on the way to defeat.
The US commander took out his binoculars and was shocked by what he saw, and he saw in the telescope that a contingent of Chinese volunteers was ambushed on the hillside of the road, and the muzzle of the gun was pointed directly at the US military convoy on the road.
However, what puzzled him was that these volunteer soldiers did not move at all, did not shoot, and did not hear the charge horn that made the scalps of the US officers and soldiers tingle.
The two sides confronted each other for a while, and several brave American soldiers climbed onto the position of the volunteers, only to find that an entire company and 129 volunteer officers and soldiers were frozen into ice sculptures, but they were holding steel guns tightly one by one, still maintaining a fighting posture ......
The American soldiers tried to take the rifle from the volunteer soldiers, but they couldn't get it down, so they had to break three fingers.
Facing the soldiers of the "Ice Sculpture Company", the American soldiers were stunned and shocked ......
Stills from the TV series "38th Line".
Years later, an American commander said: I can't imagine what kind of opponent you are fighting!
This U.S. military is the 1st Division of the Marine Corps of the "Ace Army", and in the Pacific Theater, this unit is known for its cruelty and cruelty, and has no defeats, and is known as a "devilish ghost".
The "Ice Sculpture Company" surprised this proud ace force, but the thrilling things that made them happen continued.
On the way to continue the "retreat", the American army was again ambushed by the volunteers.
This time, they no longer encountered the "Ice Sculpture Company", but the "Iceman".
As soon as the trumpet sounded, a group of volunteer officers and soldiers suddenly appeared in the snow, and they were like divine soldiers descending from the sky, shouting and killing.
Escort the hero home.
The charging warriors were covered with ice cubes, and some of them froze one leg and rushed forward with jumping and jumping; If you can't move on either leg, you have to rush forward even if you crawl and roll.
The sudden offensive of the "Iceman" of the Volunteer Army caught the US troops by surprise and fled in confusion.
In order to stop this group of enemies, the volunteer officers and soldiers lay in ambush here for 6 days and 6 nights, wearing thin cotton clothes, gnawing on potatoes as hard as stones, and lying motionless in the snow.
No one dared to sleep among the warriors, because once they fell asleep, they could never wake up.
A veteran soldier of the Volunteer Army recalled: "My ears hurt from the cold, and then I didn't know that it hurt, but I couldn't touch it, and when I touched it, my ears fell off." ”
In this campaign, the Chinese People's Volunteers recovered the vast eastern area north of the 38th parallel, and the volunteers won great victories on both the eastern and western fronts, turning the battlefield situation in one fell swoop, becoming a turning point in the Korean War and laying a victorious foundation for the eventual armistice negotiations.
Decades have passed, and the US officers and soldiers who saw the wonders of the "Ice Sculpture Company" of the Chinese Volunteers are still apprehensive, and they have no way to understand: What do these Chinese think?
Not only is the US military incomprehensible, but I believe that many Chinese will also feel incredible: What kind of idea did the volunteer soldiers rely on to overcome extreme physical pain, stay still until death, and hold their positions?
Escort the hero home.
In that year, the officers and soldiers of the follow-up unit of the Volunteer Army rushed to the position held by the "Ice Sculpture Company", and in the pocket of an "ice sculpture" soldier, the soldiers found the "desperate poem" he left.
The warrior's "desperate poem" is plain in language, but it gives us a convincing answer:
I love my relatives and my country, and I love my honor even more.
I am a glorious volunteer soldier!
Ice and snow, I will not yield to you, even if I freeze to death, I will stand proudly on my position!