In the conference room, several people smoked cigarettes silently and were too lazy to talk.
Almond's career on the Eastern Front has been going smoothly.
On November 21, the US 7th Division invaded Huishan on the banks of the Yalu River. He led the division commander Barr to go to congratulate him. He saw the long green water of the Yalu River, the white snow on the shore, and saw that the river bridge had been blown up by them.
, the wreckage stayed on the river surface.
He stood by the Yalu River, looking at the Chinese border, and reported victory to MacArthur. MacArthur was overjoyed and sent a congratulatory message: "Edward, congratulations to you, my sincere congratulations, and please tell Major General Barr that the US Seventh Division has won the largest victory."
success."
However, just a few days later, the troops on the east and west fronts were divided and surrounded.
MacArthur had to formulate a retreat plan. The United Nations troops would set up defenses along the Pyongyang and Wonsan lines. They would first reorganize the troops and then formulate a counterattack plan.
As a result, a large number of U.S. troops on the western front fled from the north of the Chongchon River to Junyu-ri and Geichon. On the eastern front, the U.S. and Lee puppet troops retreated to the distant mountains in an attempt to block the distant mountains and Pyongyang's defense line.
MacArthur exclaimed to Washington at this time that the Chinese had dispatched a large number of elite troops, and at the same time issued a statement to foreign countries regarding the sudden change in the war situation.
On the morning of the 29th, MacArthur declared that the "Christmas Return Offensive" was bankrupt.
"Due to the large-scale march of the Chinese army southward, it is difficult to expect an early end to the Korean War."
On the afternoon of the 29th, the 114th Division captured Yangzhan, broke through the Turkish brigade defense line, and prepared to continue the attack in the direction of Junyu-ri. Just at this time, a call came from the military headquarters.
"In order to reduce the pressure on the 113th Division in Sansuoli and Longyuanli, you should temporarily abandon the enemy in Junyuli and quickly move closer to the 113rd Division."
The phone was hung up. The head of the military headquarters, together with the deputy divisions and cadres of the 14th Division, arranged the march of each regiment, and ordered each regiment to quickly abandon the original plan, and now immediately change direction and march towards Longyuanli and Xinglongli.
, occupying a position on the west side of the railway, and working side by side with the 113th Division to block the enemies fleeing south.
At the same time, Commander Yang Dayi of the 112th Division was informed that in addition to using part of the force to contain the current enemy, the main force of the division would move southward along the railway and highway, and work side by side with the 114th Division at Longxingli to intercept the enemies fleeing south.
He also told the two divisions that if they encounter the enemy on the way, they should take advantage of the enemy's entire line to not move, and to use regiments, battalions, and companies to fight independently. Wherever the enemy runs, block it and annihilate it.
At that time, the commander of the 114th Division was commanding the battle of the 340th Regiment, and the military headquarters ordered him to come back immediately.
After the division commander came back, he held a meeting and discussed, and immediately decided to lead the troops to penetrate into the Xinglongli area. In order to avoid encountering the enemy and delaying the support of the 113th Division, the troops took a small road and penetrated directly into Xinglongli after setting off.
At this time, Sun Hongdao, the commander of the 342nd Regiment, suffered from excessive sleepiness and dizziness due to continuous fighting, which caused hearing impairment and could not even hear the sound of artillery. However, he had to execute the division commander's order and lead the troops to march towards Xinglongli, but he
His body was really unsupportable and he fell down on the roadside while walking. He had to be supported by two guards and kept moving forward on the rugged mountain road.
When the road passing through Bichuan passed through a steep mountain on the right side, there was a river bed on the left. In order to prevent the advance of the 114th Division, the enemy tightly blocked it with volleys of artillery.
Sun Hongdao made a prompt decision and ordered the troops to advance lightly, quickly ford the river bed, pass through the enemy's artillery blockade, and advance along the east side path.
In order to speed up the advance of the troops and save them the trouble of finding roads, he ordered the regiment's staff officer to lead two correspondents to clear the way first.
Sun Hongdao explained: "In order to carry out covert operations, you must do three things correctly. You are not allowed to find a guide, you are not allowed to take the main road, and you are not allowed to alarm the barking dogs. Only by surprise can you win!"
Whenever there is a war, no country lacks traitors. Some guides who seem to be taking the initiative to show the way to the volunteers may also be traitors.
In order not to disturb the barking dogs, the regiment staff bypassed the village and walked into the wilderness.
Without a guide, he had no choice but to grasp the direction according to the azimuth angle, check the map after walking for a while, and guide the team to move forward quickly.
It was dark at night and he couldn't see the map, so he needed to use the light of a flashlight. In order to avoid exposing the target, he asked the two guards to put on raincoats. When necessary, they would form a circle and cover themselves with raincoats.
Because the 342nd Regiment moved in a concealed manner, the enemy did not notice that the 114th Division of the Volunteer Army had passed south of the Yangtze River, and still used artillery fire to tightly block the road. The artillery fire did not stop all night.
The soldiers said humorously: "The Turkish Brigade is such a good friend. They kept sending us a 'gun salute' to our destination."
At dawn, the 342nd Regiment of the 114th Division entered the Xinglongli area. As soon as they arrived, they encountered the enemies fleeing south and were marching on the road in a mighty manner. They all immediately engaged in fierce battles with the enemies and beat them.
Caught off guard, destroy a large number of enemy soldiers and cars.
The 114th Division was close to Longyuanli, and together with the 113th Division, they strengthened their ability to block the enemy's escape south and seek reinforcements from the north, and forcibly controlled the distance between the enemy trying to escape south and the enemy trying to go north to support.
One kilometer.
The two sides can almost see each other, but at this distance of one kilometer, they are being violently penetrated by the frontal troops of the 38th Army, and are in a chaotic state of division and fragmentation.
At this time, the 112th Division was advancing rapidly towards Fengmingli.
At 16:00 on the 29th, the 25th Division of the US Army guarding Fengmingli fled in two directions to the west and southwest. The enemy tanks frantically blocked the path forward of the 112th Division.
In order to open the blockade formed by enemy tanks, the 334th Regiment launched a fierce attack on the tank group.
The Sixth Company of the 334th Regiment did not have anti-tank weapons, but the soldiers had long had experience in dealing with tanks in China. They made cluster grenades into cluster grenades, stuffed them into the tank tracks, and blew up the enemy's leading tank in one fell swoop. The second company's demolition teams followed one after another.
Destroy the tanks in the rear.
After two hours of fierce fighting, Fengmingli was successfully captured.
At 20:00 on the 29th, the 3rd Battalion of the 334th Regiment occupied Zhengtong Mountain and started a fierce battle with the first section of the US 2nd Division that fled south. The 9th Company successively occupied the unnamed high ground to block the attack. Both US attacks were repulsed.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! At 3 o'clock, the main force of the battalion arrived, and the troops turned from defense to offense. The battalion commander ordered the sixth and ninth companies to attack from the front, and the seventh company to flank, determined to eat the enemy.
The cunning enemy used tanks and cars to form a fortress and fired fiercely at the troops of the third battalion.
The commander of the 3rd Battalion, in a hurry, decided to organize firepower to blow up the cars in front and behind, forcing the enemy infantry to lose the barrier of cars and tanks and expose themselves to the firepower of the 3rd Battalion.
Therefore, comrades from the Sixth Company and the Ninth Company concentrated their firepower on cars first. Cars were easier to fight than tanks and easier to ignite.
Under the concentrated firepower, the enemy's cars were set alight one after another. The enemy's cars and tanks were very close to each other. The raging fire immediately endangered the tanks. There were deep ditches and cliffs on the left and right sides, and the road was narrow.
, the tanks panicked. The first tank rushed towards the burning car, and the second tank hit the first tank due to its excessive speed and also burned.
The tank driver behind saw that something was wrong, and the infantrymen on the car abandoned the vehicle and fled. The soldiers of the third battalion took advantage of the enemy's confusion to launch a fierce attack, annihilating more than 200 enemy people, intercepting more than 400 cars, and more than 30 artillery pieces.
Without the harassment of peripheral enemies, Bichuan was exposed to the guns of the 112th Division.
Then, Yang Dayi commanded the troops to attack Bichuan. They stood on the mountain and had a commanding view of the enemies in Bichuan. He found that the enemies were heading west from the city, and there were more and more tanks and artillery vehicles.
The cadres were eager to attack and hoped that Yang Dayi would give the order quickly and not let the enemies of Qichuan escape.
Yang Dayi pressed his hand and said: "Don't worry, let's let him run out of the city!"
Suddenly, they saw flames in the city. Something was set alight, accompanied by an explosion. Those were supplies left by the enemy. They could not take them away and had to destroy them.
Yang Dayi concluded that all the enemies had left the city, and ordered the 334th Regiment and the 336th Regiment to outflank this group of enemies from the left and right sides. It only took an hour to annihilate this group of enemies.
Among them were the U.S. Second Division, the 25th Division, and puppet troops. More than 200 cars, more than 20 cannons, and countless supplies of various types were seized.
As soon as the battle ended, Comrade Han and Comrade Liang of the 38th Army arrived. Bichuan was captured by the volunteers, and most of the enemies in Bichuan were annihilated by them. The soldiers who had been fighting continuously were already exhausted.
Comrade Liang said: "Now is not the time to rest, you must quickly advance to Songgu Peak."
Yang Dayi received the order and promised: "Please rest assured, chief, I have been looking at the map here for a day, and I promise to arrive at Songgu Peak on time!"
At this point, the 38th Army cut off the connection between the U.S. military between Junyu-ri and Bichuan. The three divisions of U.S. troops were divided and surrounded by Fengmingli, Bichuan, Sansuoli, and Longyuanli.
vast area.
The armies of the Thin Line launched fierce battles to encircle and annihilate the U.S. forces on the banks of the Cheongcheon River, starting from Xin'anju in the west, to Gunyu-ri and Jicheon in the east, to Yongwon-ri in the south, and in the Sanso-ri area.
The first one to bear the brunt is Longyuanli.
A large number of the enemy's main forces were blocked in Longyuan by the 113th Division and one regiment and the 114th Division and one regiment.
On the 29th alone, the 1st Company and 3rd Company of the 337th Regiment fought against the enemy for a whole day, resulting in heavy casualties.
The first company mainly dealt with the enemies coming south, and the third company mainly dealt with the enemies coming from the north.
They managed to hold the position firmly with heavy casualties.
This day made the enemies on both sides extremely anxious and unable to move forward.
At dusk, the enemy retreated again.
The division cadres of the 113th Division estimate that tomorrow will be a fierce battle. Some advocate building fortifications and burying mortar shells on the road with the detonators upward, so that the enemy tanks can damage the road and blow it up with one press.
Enemy tank tracks.
Some people advocated attacking at night, and the enemy should not be allowed to escape in vain. After intense discussion, the opinion in favor of attacking prevailed, and Jiang Chao agreed to attack.
He decided that the second battalion of the 337th Regiment would not move, the first battalion would fight along the road, and the third battalion would go over the mountains to find the enemy and fight.
The First Battalion chased along the road for more than ten miles without encountering the enemy. The enemy did not catch up. The fortifications that were blown up by enemy shells during the day had not yet been built. The First Battalion turned back without stopping to build fortifications.
As soon as the troops returned to their positions, it was daybreak and the fortifications had not yet been repaired. A large number of enemies surged forward, with tanks in front and military vehicles behind them.
Everyone regretted that they should not have attacked last night, but destroyed the highway.
The enemy concentrated artillery fire from the beginning, and 24 aircraft cooperated to launch an even more frenzied attack on the Longyuanli Third Company position guarded by the 114th Division. Zhang Youxi called the battalion instructor to report the situation here, and a shell fell.
Next to Lian Zhi, a huge air wave destroyed Lian Zhi and broke the phone line.
Several company cadres in the company were also blown away by the huge shock wave.
Zhang Youxi felt that the situation was not good and immediately ran towards the third row position. Bang bang, two petrol bombs exploded in front of him again. The heat wave overturned him, and the burning flames ignited the cotton-padded clothes on his body. He had no time to extinguish them and tore the cotton-padded clothes directly.
Drive, shake off, run forward with your shirt on.
When he ran to the third row position, he found that the land here had been plowed by enemy artillery fire. The ground was full of blown-up tree trunks and rubble. There were bomb craters one after another, and most of the bunkers and fortifications were destroyed. He was guarding the front line.
Both the squad leader and deputy squad leader of Class 7 died.
A soldier cried and said that the bodies of the two men could not be found and they were afraid that they had been blown up by enemy shells.
Zhang Youxi's heart was heavy, but he ignored his sadness and immediately re-appointed an acting squad leader on the battlefield to organize the soldiers to resist the enemy's attack.
The enemy frantically attacked the positions of the 1st and 3rd companies several times in companies and battalions, but all ended in failure. In anger, they called in dozens of planes to bomb the hills one by one along the highway.
On this day, the soldiers who stood firm at the Longyuanli position could not see the sun in the sky.
Western Front.
Various units of the Volunteer Army formed a large siege of the US Army, with only the southwest gap not yet blocked.
On the night of the 29th, 8 regiments and 24 battalions of the 38th Army were like dozens of sharp swords thrust into the surrounded enemies. They fought fiercely all night and forced the enemies to retreat towards Junyu-ri.
Junyu-ri was occupied by the 40th Army at 3:00 on the 30th, forcing the enemy to flee in the direction of Longyuan-ri.
The three divisions of the 38th Army deployed in the Longyuanli, Xinglongli, Qinglongli and Fengmingli areas and fought fiercely with the blocked enemy.
If the enemy wants to break through, the first thing they need to do is to tear apart the defense line of the 38th Army. Only in this way can they have a chance to break through.
The battle on the 30th was unprecedentedly fierce. In order to make a final desperate struggle, MacArthur assembled more than 500 aircraft sorties, and with tanks as the guide, he adopted a "wave-like" group charge in an attempt to open a gap and escape from the encirclement.
When the Sanqi Regiment fought fiercely at the gate of Longyuanli, which was guarding the gate.
A more difficult battle began in the 335th Regiment.
This is Songgu Peak.
Songgu Peak is located in the northeast of Longyuanli, forming a tripod with Sansuoli and Longyuanli. It connects to Junyuli in the north and Kedajiangchuan in the northwest. Its geographical location is very important.
The main peak is 288.7 meters high and extends 120 meters east from the top of the mountain to the highway.
The road turns slowly here, forming a 'U'-shaped bend, which is a good terrain for guarding the enemy.
However, it is just a half-rock, half-earth, bare mountain with a relatively small slope and many rain cracks, so it is not that extraordinary of a position.
But such an inconspicuous hillock became the place where the 9th Regiment of the US Second Division was destroyed.
Guarding this hillock were the soldiers of the 335th Regiment, 1st Battalion and 3rd Company.