Due to time constraints, the First Company did not have much time to hold a meeting. Captain Lei just called Xia Yuan, Ma Daguo and Chen Lie to the front and simply said: "Our First Company is tasked with being the vanguard. I believe you all should be aware of this task." , we must be prepared to meet the enemy face to face at any time, and even if necessary, find a safe road for the comrades behind us."
To put it simply, the vanguard is the one who tests whether the road they have chosen is safe in the front. Once they encounter an enemy ambush, they will become the rear-guard unit and cover the retreat of the follow-up units.
Xia Yuan immediately said: "Company commander, let me serve as the sharp swords of the first platoon!"
Chen Lie interrupted him and said: "Company Commander, let our third platoon go! The last time we carried out the annihilation mission, our third platoon did not go, this time we should be our third platoon!"
Ma Daguo shouted: "That won't work. It should be our second platoon. Our second platoon's combat effectiveness is no worse than that of the first and third platoons, and is even much better. Company commander, our second platoon is the most suitable."
The role of the vanguard in the company is almost the same as that of the vanguard in the battalion. Their functions are the same. This is also the most dangerous task. If you are not careful and encounter an enemy ambush, you may be hit head-on and suffer heavy casualties, or even When the U.S. military retreats, there may be a large number of landmines buried on the ground.
In short, the task of being a vanguard is dangerous.
Xia Yuan said in a calm voice: "Don't fight anymore, company commander, our platoon must be the vanguard. All platoons have experienced the baptism of dozens of wars, including the Anti-Japanese War, the War of Liberation, and even the Suppression War." Bandits, our first platoon all serve as sharp knives and have rich combat experience. Our ability to identify the enemy must be better than that of the second and third platoons."
Captain Lei pondered: "The platoon leader is right. The first platoon is the sharp knife platoon of our company. There is no doubt that the soldiers in the first platoon are experienced veterans. They are more suitable for the task of leading the vanguard."
Chen Lie seemed to want to say something else, but in the end his lips wriggled for a while and he remained silent.
The order has been issued, and it is useless what they say.
Only Ma Daguo muttered: "The platoon has also received a lot of new recruits."
Xia Yuan squinted his eyes and said: "Recruits, we all came from recruits and grew up step by step. Who didn't come from recruits? Lao Ma, did you come from recruits? The sword is sharpened from sharpening. , the fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the bitter cold. Only after experiencing the baptism of war can they become veterans with actual combat experience."
He said in a calm voice: "Hiding behind the veterans will not only not help them, but will harm them. If a bird wants to learn to fly, it must get out of its nest and risk being thrown to death and eaten by predators. They take the risk to learn to fly, just like their new recruits. If they don't go to the battlefield to fight with the enemy, they won't learn a skill."
Xia Yuan's words silenced everyone present. Even the big man opened his mouth and looked at Xia Yuan in disbelief, as if he had gotten to know him again.
Xia Yuan turned to look at the astonished Captain Lei and said, "Company Commander, the task of leading the vanguard will be given to our first platoon."
Captain Lei woke up from his shock, turned around and looked at instructor Shao, and said: "Since the platoon leader said so, then the platoon will be the sharp knife platoon of the first company and take the lead in carrying out the task of crossing the river!"
"yes!"
At this time, the first company had gathered at the mouth of the river, the second company and the third company were on the left and right wings, and the second and third battalions on the left and right wings of the first battalion were the first part of the 538th Regiment, and the 538th Regiment was the right wing of the 539th Regiment.
The 540th Regiment was the left wing of the 539th Regiment, and the 180th Division formed a "pin" position and headed towards the front line.
The river is rolling and rushing.
Xia Yuan turned on his night vision, but it was difficult to see clearly the three slender wires under the river. A row of soldiers stood by the river, looking at the rolling river, unwavering and still determined.
Company Commander Lei led people over from the right side and said: "We didn't find any iron wire on the right side. It stands to reason that the iron wire crossing the river should be in this area."
Xia Yuan stared at the rolling river and thought: "If the enemy comes looking for the iron wire floating on the river, it will definitely be discovered by the enemy. This iron wire must be in the river. Company commander, can you take people to see if there are any frontline troops staying on the shore?"
If you can't find the mark that came down, jump into the river and search for it."
Captain Lei said: "Good idea, Lao Shao, let's look for it again."
Xia Yuan said: "I took a platoon and went to the left to search."
Search around and hear a sound coming from the right.
"Found it!"
A row of soldiers quickly approached. This was actually a dangerous terrain. The bank was steep and needed to be jumped off. The river bank was overgrown with weeds and muddy. The river water was so cold that it soaked through the shoes, invaded the skin, and penetrated into the bone marrow. The soldiers
Shivering slightly, they stared at the cold river water and touched the riverside. They saw three iron wires going deep into the river. Three thick wooden stakes were dug deep under the river. They were left behind by the frontline troops. There were no marks. It was just that this area was relatively dark.
Steep.
The discoverer was naturally Xia Yuan. With his powerful night vision and eagle eyes, he searched carefully in the rolling river, and finally found three slender wires, swinging left and right as the river rolled.
Xia Yuan looked around and confirmed that the platoon had arrived, and said: "Company commander, let's set off first, and we will use the whistle as a signal when we reach the river bank."
"Okay! You must be careful. The frontline troops have begun to withdraw one after another, and the enemy has begun to pursue them. There are vacancies in many areas. I am afraid that they will encounter enemies. If you cross the river, you will encounter a larger number of enemy troops. Do not act rashly.
!”
"yes!"
Xia Yuan nodded heavily, wrapped the food strips around his neck, slung the guns and ammunition on his shoulders, and shouted: "Listen to the order, get into the water and cross the river!"
After saying that, he took the lead and jumped into the river. He was suddenly shocked. The cold river water instantly soaked into his cotton pants. The clammy cotton pants stuck tightly to his skin. His body suddenly became heavier, his body temperature was rapidly lost, and his teeth began to
Shivering uncontrollably, I took a deep breath, stabilized my body, reached out to grab a piece of wire, and began to touch forward.
Lao Yang followed closely, and the first squad leader, the second squad leader, and the third squad leader led the soldiers to jump into the cold river water.
The bottom of the river was filled with rocks and was uneven. After a while, I encountered a piece of sand again. When I stepped down, the sand sank slightly. The water surged and the sand was washed away quickly. The water was already waist deep. The cold river water soaked through my cotton pants.
People's actions have become heavy.
Fortunately, it is not the rainy season. There was rain a few days ago. The weather has improved a lot in the past few days. Although there has been no rainfall, the weather has been gloomy and the Han River has become gentle. However, the river is still cold in early May. In addition, these days
The weather was gloomy and the temperature dropped a bit, but it was still very cold.
Xia Yuan observed the mountains opposite and ordered the soldiers to speed up.
Wang Xiaoliang's teeth chattered with the cold. After dark, the temperature in North Korea dropped a lot. The cold river water caused the body temperature to drain away quickly. They held on to the slender wire tightly, fighting against the river water and the weather.
On the other hand, we must always be vigilant about the enemy on the other side of the river.
With little risk, they crossed the surging Nu River and reached the other side of the river. Wang Xiaoliang was lying on the grass as if he was exhausted.
"Stand up and be alert!"
Liu Tiezhu squatted on the ground, wrung out the water stains on his pants, quickly stood up, grabbed his gun and looked around cautiously.
Wang Xiaoliang got up quickly, ignoring his heavy pants, holding his gun and staring ahead warily. The platoon leader was observing when he heard the platoon leader say: "Everything is safe, go blow the whistle."
Wang Xiaoliang saw their deputy platoon leader standing by the river and blowing the whistle in his hand.
The whistle sounded melodiously, and the troops behind should begin to cross the river.
Xia Yuan spoke again: "Let's move on and occupy these high ground first."
A row of three squads moved towards the top of the mountain in a three-by-three combat formation. They crossed the shore and found a large number of destroyed barbed wire and mines, broken trees lying in various directions, and bullet points and burned trees everywhere.
The bare ground was exposed, and most of the tree trunks were blown to pieces.
A fierce battle once took place here.
Xia Yuan led them to the top of the mountain quickly, observed the two hills in front, and quickly ordered: "Tan Zhanbiao, you take a platoon to the hill on the right to watch, Niu Fengyang, you go to the hill on the left,
Pay attention to the vigilance. Others, stay put and wait for the follow-up troops to catch up before setting off."
"yes!"
The first and second platoons went down the mountain in the dark and climbed to the two hills in front. They shouldered the task of guarding the front row on the two hills. On the top of the mountain, Xia Yuan had already observed the surroundings and confirmed that there were no US troops around.
Only then did he feel relieved and arranged for two platoons to go forward to guard.
He stood on the top of the mountain and looked into the distance. He could vaguely hear the rumble coming from the front line, like thunder, rippling continuously among the mountains.
In the sky, the roar of US military aircraft was heard again, and bombs made a sharp whistling sound as they fell freely, exploding among the mountains in the distance.
As a result of the U.S. military's harassment and bombing, they were not sure where the volunteer troops in the rear were. They could only carry out harassment and bombing in some places where volunteer troops might be present. Once they encountered resistance from the volunteers, this area would become a key bombing area for the U.S. Air Force.
.
While waiting, Xia Yuan began to think about what happened in the second phase of the fifth battle. The second phase was because the first phase had not been able to eliminate a large number of enemies and achieve the effect Shisi wanted. In addition, the frontline volunteer soldiers
Already running out of ammunition and food, the enemy may take advantage of the volunteers' fatigue to launch a sudden counterattack.
Xia Yuan knows this sentence well: "The best defense is offense!"
This is the strategy adopted by Shiji.
He looked at the continuous mountains and had a new understanding in his heart. After experiencing the first stage of the Fifth Battle, the entire Korean battlefield showed a trend of concave in the west and convex in the east. This was because the United Nations military focused its attention on
In the west, a dragnet was set up in Seoul, which resulted in empty defenses on the central and eastern fronts. The overall defense line tilted from southwest to northeast, exposing the flanks of the eastern front. In order to defend Seoul, the U.S. military transferred almost all its main forces to the surrounding areas of Seoul and defended it.
On the eastern front, there were only five divisions of the Korean Army and a small number of American troops.
This is the focus of the second phase of the Fifth Battle of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea. Shortly after the end of the first phase of the Fifth Battle, the 19th Corps continued to press Seoul from the front and contain the main force of the US military. The 3rd Corps and 9th Corps quickly moved eastward.
It is planned to open a breakthrough from the eastern front.
The Sixtieth Army is still responsible for guarding the center line and blocking the United Nations troops reinforcing the eastern front.
At this time, Li Qiwei misjudged the Volunteer Army's strategic offensive intentions. He believed that the Volunteer Army's next main attack direction was the center line. This also paved the way for the 180th Division to be surrounded by the US military.
Everything seemed normal at this time, the US military was planning, and so were the volunteers.
In order to cover the transfer of the main force to the east, on May 9, the 19th Corps began to launch a feint attack on Seoul.
The second phase is proceeding in an orderly manner.
At this time, the three infantry regiments of the 180th Division had just crossed the Bukhan River and were rushing towards the front line. The fighter jets of the US Air Force were harassing various areas where volunteer soldiers might be present. The roar echoed from the valleys far away.
It was like thunder coming from a very far away place, and the rumbling sound spread continuously.
A row of soldiers were walking quickly through the forest in a three-by-three combat formation. Xia Yuan turned on his night vision and observed his surroundings attentively. Lao Yang beside him just followed and stared in another direction. There was a message coming from the silent forest.
The soldiers ignored the rumbling sound and continued to advance cautiously.
After six hours of driving overnight, they were getting closer and closer to the front line. The sound of the bombs dropped by the US Air Force became much clearer. After the trees in the forest had experienced the baptism of artillery fire, they were lying on the ground in broken pieces, with scattered pieces of cloth.
The valleys and ridges were full, and a large number of mountains were charred and black. The valleys were in a mess after being bombed by US military aircraft.
Passing through valleys, climbing over mountains, rushing under the nose of the U.S. Air Force, marching forward amidst the roar.
There were no dangers along the way. In the first stage of the Fifth Battle, the entire U.S. military was retreating to the rear. Even the enemies who had not yet evacuated in time were surrounded by volunteers and completely lost contact with the enemy's large forces. 180
It took the division three days to arrive at the battle site. The construction division pointed out that the three infantry regiments on the left, center and right had already entered the designated locations.
Commander Zheng was smoking a cigarette, staring at the map spread out by the confidential secretary, and said, "How is the situation in each unit?"
The minutes secretary replied: "Division Commander, each unit has entered its designated combat position and is currently figuring out the enemy's troop deployment on the opposite side."
Commander Zheng reminded: "Inform all troops to hide themselves, remain silent and not say a word during the whole process. We will hide under the enemy's nose for eight days until the beginning of the second phase of the counterattack. During this period, the troops must not
Expose yourself."
The minutes secretary responded: "Yes!"
Before leaving, Commander Zheng stopped him again: "Inform the logistics and ensure the logistics supplies. This is a tough battle. We must completely tear apart the US military front and cut off the US military on the east and west fronts. Once the battle starts, it will end."
I don’t know what time it is, but we must make sure we have enough food and ammunition!”