"Mysterious Eastern Spirit"-the fighting spirit of the volunteers will never go out of style

  Reference News Network reported on October 9 (Text / Liu Zijun Wang Lei)

  Seventy years ago, the Chinese People's Volunteers rushed to the battlefield to resist US aggression and aid Korea, and fought a desperate battle with the world's strongest army.

Volunteers are not afraid of powerful enemies, overcome the great difficulties caused by the disparity between the superior and the inferior of weapons and equipment, and maximize the "fear of hardship and death in fighting spirit" to the extreme, return the enemy to the negotiating table, and make the opponent Best The inexplicable "mysterious Eastern spirit".

  In the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the Volunteers faced powerful combat targets, unfamiliar combat environments and harsh combat conditions, and tempered the revolutionary spirit of fighting bravely, not afraid of sacrifice, not afraid of fatigue, and continuous combat; the upper and lower sides are united, stand firm, and never retreat. The spirit of Shangganling; never bow his head in the face of any hardships, dare to fight and sacrifice, the spirit of "unbreakable, blasting continuous steel transportation line"; the spirit of "air bayonet" with the courage to shine the sword, the courage to win, and the fearless life and death .

  Rushing up like logs

  When the Chinese People's Volunteers entered North Korea, it was at a time when the "United Nations Army" headed by the United States was aggressively attacking North Korea in an attempt to capture North Korea before Thanksgiving.

The arrogant enemy splits its forces and advances, as if entering a man's land, the battlefield situation is at stake.

Walton Walker, commander of the US Eighth Army, was extremely optimistic about the situation in the Korean War, and told reporters: "Everything is going well, very good."

  Facing the "United Nations Army" armed to the teeth and possessing absolute air supremacy, the volunteers and soldiers with backward equipment and difficulties in supply were not afraid, and they took the initiative to launch continuous offensive operations, racing against wheels with "iron feet", relying on flesh and blood and aircraft and tanks. See-saw.

  During the Yunshan battle, the 3 regiments of the 116th Division of the 39th Corps attacked Yunshan City from the east, west, and north directions, and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the US army.

The first confrontation between the Volunteers and the U.S. Army ended with the "tank crew and infantry fleeing in panic" of the 1st Division of the U.S. Cavalry.

  MacArthur, who asserted that "the Chinese did not participate in the war," put all the second-line forces on top, and launched the "general offensive to end the war before Christmas" on November 24.

Peng Dehuai was determined to use offensive against offensive, concentrate his forces, implement a double-layered campaign, and launch a powerful offensive against the enemy.

  On the Eastern Front, the 9th Corps surrounded and wiped out the 2 regiments of the 1st Division of the US Marines.

In order to fight for time with the enemy, the soldiers didn’t even have time to change their cold-proof clothing, so they wore thin cotton-padded clothes and liberation shoes and hurriedly rushed from the country to the Changjin Lake area in northern North Korea, where the natural conditions were extremely harsh, and lay in ambush at the preset position in the ice and snow. The stoic perseverance waited for the fighter to turn on.

  On the night of November 27, 1950, the eight divisions of the 20th and 27th Corps of the 9th Corps, which had been in ambush in the ice and snow for 6 days, suddenly launched a fierce attack on the US troops in the Changjin Lake area.

In the temperature of minus 30 degrees below zero, volunteer soldiers rushed out of the woods wearing white cloth. Because their trouser legs were frozen and unable to bend, they ran very slowly, which looked like "logs moving" in the eyes of the US military.

U.S. tanks, artillery, and machine guns fired at them all at once. They fell in rows like logs, while those behind them came up like logs.

American military historian Montrose later wrote: “The Marine Corps’ tanks, artillery, mortars, and machine guns showed their talents, but the Chinese still came from there. Their spirit of seeing death as home made the Marines awe-inspiring.”

  In his memoirs, Colonel Bowser, Chief of Operations of the 1st US Marine Division, wrote: "The ice and snow of Changjin Lake and the brutal blows of the Chinese army are the nightmare that will never go away in the hearts of every Marine."

  On the western battlefield, all officers and men of the 113th Division of the 38th Army of the Volunteer Army endured extreme fatigue. They advanced 14 hours of continuous attacks in the high mountains, advancing an average of 5 kilometers per hour, and successively defeated the 7th Division of South Korea, the Turkish Brigade, the US 25th Division, and the US The Cavalry Division and the British 28th Brigade each had one, and the first enemy seized the three in 5 minutes, cutting off the enemy's retreat.

In front of Songgu Peak, the enemy who broke out to the south and reinforced them to the north was less than 1 km apart, but they were still unable to move forward.

This battle of the 38th Army of the Chinese People's Volunteers created the limit for the speed and tenacity of infantry offensive operations, and was praised by the "Long Live Army".

  Create a miracle of world defense war

  The Battle of Shangganling was a milestone in the defensive battle of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, marking that the Volunteers fully grasped the initiative of the front line.

This battle was once commented by the American media as "the'Verdun' in the Korean War".

  On October 14, 1952, in order to reverse the passive situation on the battlefield and seek a favorable position in the negotiations, the United States, under the personal command of the 8th Army Commander, Van Fleet, defended the 597.9 Heights and 537.7 Heights Beishan of the 45th Division of the 15th Army of the Volunteers. A fierce attack was launched, and the famous battle of Shangganling began.

  The enemy and ours have invested more than 100,000 troops on two high grounds of 3.7 square kilometers and conducted repeated competitions for 43 days and nights, and the fighting was unprecedentedly fierce.

General Qin Jiwei once recalled: “The surface fortifications were destroyed, the vegetation was polished, the tunnels were cut short, and the rocks on the top of the mountain were beaten into powder more than half a meter deep. The sky above Shangganling was dark and dark almost every day. Surrounded by such a density of artillery fire, it is rare in ancient and modern times.” Under such harsh conditions, the volunteers commanders and fighters of the Volunteer Army, based on the belief that “people are in the position, vowed to coexist and die with the position”, stubbornly persevered and stood tall on the ground to create China. The spiritual height of the army.

  The 7th Company of the 135th Regiment was responsible for the counterattack task of the No. 2 position at 597.9 Heights.

During the battle, the second platoon leader Sun Zhanyuan was seriously injured in both legs. The comrades wanted to lift him down but was severely rejected. He endured the severe pain and set up a machine gun to continue the fight, repelling the enemy twice, killing and wounding the enemy. More than 80 people.

The enemy launched the third attack. After his comrades were killed and wounded, the ammunition was exhausted, and the enemy was swarming on the ground, Sun Zhanyuan removed the grenade from the enemy's corpse, rolled into the enemy group, and slammed the grenade to die with the enemy.

  Under the indiscriminate bombing of the "United Nations Army", the Volunteers were forced to turn into tunnels to fight. This is a more difficult and difficult battle than positional warfare: strong shock waves hit the tunnels and shook the human body. Many people were broken. Tongues, lips; ammunition, food, medicines and other materials in the tunnels are increasingly scarce, and sunlight, water and even air are scarce to the point that it is difficult for people to survive.

When there was no drop of alcohol or a roll of bandages, the wounded had no choice but to let their wounds become inflamed and rotting. In order not to affect the mood of their comrades, they endured the pain without saying a word. Many of the wounded clenched the sheets with their mouths, and some even died. The sheets inside can't be taken off.

  The 8th Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 134th Regiment of the Volunteers, which adhered to the main peak of Shangganling, held the tunnels for 14 days and nights in the desperate situation of lack of food and water, lighting up 3 times and rebuilding them, and finally wiped out more than 1,700 enemies at the cost of 254 casualties. A bullet-hole battle flag has always been flying on the main peak of Shangganling, creating a miracle in the history of world defense warfare.

  Crater filling speed is compared to bombing speed

  On July 10, 1951, the Korean armistice negotiations began.

In order to force North Korea and China to submit, the commander-in-chief of the "United Nations Army" Li Qiwei ordered: "During this period of negotiations, actions should be taken to give full play to the full capabilities of the air power and achieve the greatest effect to punish the enemy anywhere in North Korea."

  Subsequently, the "United Nations" air force formulated an "air strangulation" plan, in an attempt to destroy the railway system in northern North Korea in 90 days, vainly destroying the front-to-back links between the volunteers and "suffocating" the front-line troops of the volunteers.

  According to US military statistics, as of the signing of the armistice agreement in North Korea, 1,153 bridges were destroyed, 3,049 bridges were destroyed, 28,621 sections of the railway were cut off, 963 locomotives were destroyed, and 82,920 vehicles were destroyed.

Under such severe circumstances, breaking the U.S. military blockade and ensuring material supplies have become a major strategic issue for the volunteers' ability to persist in successful operations.

  Under the conditions of weak anti-aircraft firepower and extreme lack of technical equipment and materials, the volunteers, with fearless courage and tenacious fighting spirit, under the most severe air threat, fought an arduous struggle against "strangulation". A "steel transportation line that cannot be broken and exploded continuously" has been established.

  The U.S. Army bombed them day by day, and the Volunteer Railway Corps rushed to repair it every night.

The 25,000 railway corps shouted "people are on the railway, people are on the bridge" and "to the death to live and die with the railway and the bridge."

With the slogan "Ensure the unimpeded railways at all costs", we will fight for "317" and get through "29".

A company of the 1st Division of the Railways fought for 76 days and nights, and fought 26 US bombings. The company suffered 99 casualties and only 40 people were left. It still persisted in completing the task.

  During the critical moment of the fight against the "strangulation", many soldiers in the engineering regiment, the corps directly under the corps, the corps and the divisions who were in charge of road construction and emergency repairs suffered from night blindness due to lack of nutrition and excessive fatigue.

In order to avoid enemy aircraft, road repairs are mostly carried out at night, and lighting equipment cannot be used. In order to solve this problem, the soldiers formed a "mutual aid group" and cooperated in pairs to complete the task.

The American sighed: "The speed at which the Chinese army's emergency repairs can fill the crater can match the bombing speed of F-86 pilots."

  With the concerted efforts of all the Volunteer troops, during the anti-strangling war alone, the railways were repaired in 2,024 times, 878 kilometers extended, 2,086 bridges, 79.7 kilometers extended, and 151 tunnels; 31 highways were renovated and newly opened. There are 7 roads with a total length of 2,450 kilometers (including 290 kilometers of new roads), and 1,206 bridges and culverts have been built.

In the Kaesong Negotiation Conference room, the enemy generals were very surprised to see that the volunteers had put on new cotton clothes.

  Van Fleet, commander of the 8th Army, later exclaimed: “Although the air force and navy of the coalition army did everything in their power to block the supply of the Communist Party, the Communist Party with incredible perseverance sent supplies to the front lines and created amazing miracle."

  The desperate struggle of "air bayonet"

  On December 21, 1950, the young Chinese People's Air Force resolutely obeyed the party's orders and formed a volunteer air force to rush to the battlefield in North Korea.

  At that time, the Volunteer Air Force had fewer than 200 combat aircraft, and the pilots had very short flying time, and the average training time on jet aircraft was less than 20 hours.

From the commander to the pilot, no one has had the experience of air combat, but the opponent has 15 air force wing, more than 1,200 combat aircraft, more than half of the pilots participated in the Second World War, and the flight time was more than 1,000 hours. The world's number one air enemy.

  The difference in strength is so great. Facing the swarm of enemy planes covering the skies of North Korea, the Volunteer Air Force, with the spirit of "fighting bayonet in the air," with our invincible heroism, fought the enemy to the death.

  On January 21, 1951, the 26-year-old Li Han, the captain of the 28th Battalion of the 4th Air Division, was ordered to lead 6 aircraft into the air.

This combat group, code-named the 28th Battalion of Unit 81041, has only 10 pilots. The youngest deputy commander Li Xiangang is only 18 years old.

  This is a team that has just completed training courses such as high-altitude team formation and single- and dual-plane attack. Even with a large amount of air movement, the formation will disperse.

But Li Han said: "We pilots are mostly excellent soldiers from the Army, with the fearless spirit of the people's soldiers who fight bravely and are not afraid of sacrifice." For the first time in the confrontation, Li Han wounded one of the enemy's planes and won.

The head of the Air Force sent a congratulatory message. The air battle "proved that the young Chinese People's Air Force can fight and have combat effectiveness."

  After that, the 28th Group fought 3 times in 10 days, shot down and wounded 3 enemy planes, fulfilled their vow before the march, and broke the myth of the invincibility of the US Air Force with their heroic actions.

This has also become the beginning of the Volunteer Air Force's future victories.

  On February 10, 1952, with the cooperation of the wingman, Zhang Jihui, the captain of the 3rd Battalion of the Air Force 12th Regiment, killed Davis, who was hailed as "particularly brave and good at fighting", and the "Jet Ace Pilot" of the US Air Force.

Davis has more than 3,000 hours of flying experience, participated in 266 battles, and is known as the "professional killer in the air" and "the pride of the U.S. Air Force." Zhang Jihui, who shot him down, just passed his 25th birthday.

  Air Force Commander Liu Yalou once pointed out that in the first battle, although our technology was poor and we had no air combat experience, the army led by the Communist Party had the brave and fearless political qualities and the army’s combat experience. Therefore, after short-term assault training, it was able to fight imperialism. The first-class Air Force pilot confronted and was able to shoot it down, which is great!

  In the fight to resist US aggression and aid Korea, the People's Volunteers Air Force achieved an impressive record of shooting down 330 enemy aircraft and injuring 95 aircraft.

The commander of the U.S. Far East Air Force, General Stromelier, had to lament that the Chinese Air Force is rapidly gaining strength at an unimaginable speed and has become their powerful opponent over North Korea. The U.S. air superiority is irretrievably affected by the Chinese side. A powerful challenge.

  No matter how the times develop and how the form of war changes, people are always the decisive factor in winning the war, and the bloody nature of brave sword will never be out of date.

(The author is a researcher at the PLA Party History and Military History Center of the PLA Institute of Political Work, Academy of Military Sciences)