How tragic was the battle of Changjin Lake? China's founding war.

How tragic was the battle of Changjin Lake? China's founding war.

The us military plans to end the war before Christmas, and the people's volunteers break the illusion.

This is the place where Song led the Ninth Corps of the People's Volunteers to fight before leaving Korea: Changjin Lake. Here, the People's Volunteers paid the price of nearly 19202 soldiers' casualties, and 4000 soldiers died in foreign countries because of the extremely cold weather of MINUS 40 degrees Celsius. The battle of Changjin Lake has always been regarded as the hardest battle on the Korean battlefield like the battle of Shangganling.

If we pay attention to it before the battle of Changjin Lake begins, we will also find that it is not easy to make up our minds to start the battle of Changjin Lake. 1950 On September 5, after the US 10 troops landed in Incheon successfully, the United Nations forces led by the US troops intercepted the Korean People's Army, which had previously occupied the Korean capital. Since then, the US military has been in full swing, annihilating the main force of the Korean People's Army on 10/20/0. International people, including MacArthur and other front-line commanders of the US military, agreed that "this war to intervene in the situation on the Korean Peninsula will end before Christmas. 1950." To this end, MacArthur not only preached to his subordinates: "As soon as the war is over, we will go home for the holidays."

MacArthur and other American frontline commanders were "delighted" with their achievements, but they also received a warning from the newly established People's Republic of China (PRC), a neighboring country of North Korea. Zhou Enlai, who presided over foreign affairs, warned the US side more than once: "If the United States invades northward across the 38th parallel between the DPRK and the ROK, then the South Korean army will not sit idly by." However, after the US military captured Pyongyang, the main force of the North Korean army was running low, and MacArthur and other US military officers believed that the best time for the South Korean army to choose military intervention had passed. If the army of South China enters the Korean peninsula at this time, it will face the army of 16 countries alone.

However, the party leaders headed by Chairman Mao not only have the confidence and determination to win the Korean War, but also have the wisdom to lead the army to win the war to defend the country. When the U.S. military was numb and slack,1June 950+1September1October, Chinese people's Volunteer Army "crossed the Yalu River" and the campaign to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea officially started. Among them, the 42nd Army of South Chinese people's Volunteer Army crossed the Yalu River from Ji 'an City, entered North, and reached the front line of Changjin Lake to prevent the United Nations troops on the eastern front of the battlefield from advancing further. On the sixth day after entering the DPRK, the South Korean 1 army, which was fighting on the eastern front, met our army, and the two sides confronted each other in Huangcaoling area south of Changjin Lake. Subsequently, the American First Marine Division joined the battle and launched a fierce battle with our army 124 Division. Both sides win and lose.

(Forty-second Army of Chinese people's Volunteer Army)

MacArthur, who had already promised the US military to "go home for Christmas", was the most difficult person to hold his breath at that time: in order to break the deadlock in the war, he landed at 1 Marine Division in Yuanshan, which formed a short-term advantage over our army. After learning of the enemy reinforcements, Chairman Mao telephoned Song, commander of the Ninth Corps who was still on duty in East China, on June+10/October 3 1 May 5438, to immediately lead the Ninth Corps to secretly fight in Korea, and planned to annihilate the Korean Capital Division, the Korean Third Infantry Division, the US Army 1 Marine Corps Division and the US Army's Seventh Infantry Division.

After receiving Chairman Mao's orders, Song immediately led the Ninth Corps into the DPRK at195010, and arrived at the front line of Changjin Lake a week later to replace the 42nd Army which had been confronted with the US for a long time. A large-scale battle between China and the United States around Changjin Lake is about to start.

China and the United States fought fiercely in the winter night, and the United Nations army was losing ground.

The predecessor of the Ninth Corps of the People's Volunteers is the Ninth Corps of the People's Liberation Army, which is mainly composed of the Shandong Corps of the East China Field Army and the Subei Corps. During the War of Liberation, it experienced several fierce battles with the Kuomintang, but the US troops entrenched in Changjin Lake were also quite difficult opponents-the US 10 troops stationed at the front line of Changjin Lake were mainly composed of the main force of the US 1 Marine Division, some troops of the US 7th Infantry Division and 4 1 independent commandos of the Royal Marine Corps.

The battle started from Liutan near Changjin Lake. On June 27th, 165438+ The 5th Marine Corps of the U.S. Army took the lead in attacking our army from Wupingli, but was successfully intercepted by our 89th Division. The failed American troops had to dig trenches on the ridge of Liutanli on the way to defend themselves. The fierce fighting between the two sides lasted for nearly a day. At night, three regiments of the 89th Division of the Volunteers launched a charge, but failed to capture the enemy positions successfully, and China and the United States were deadlocked. Later, after learning that the main force of the US Army 1 Marine Division was defending the ridge trench in Liutanli, Song ordered to abandon Liutanli and attack the weak defensive areas of the US Army, such as Lower Bound Valley, thus putting pressure on the main force of the US Army. As Song expected, MacArthur ordered 10 after the volunteers started fighting with the Lower Bound Valley.

(Battle of Liutanli)

At the same time, another large-scale battle is being launched around the eastern route of Changjin Lake. The two sides involved in the confrontation were our 80th Division and 3 regiments of 8 1 Division, and the enemy's 3 1 regimental combat team, which the US military called the "feast detachment". In this battle, the volunteers put pressure on the US military several times because of the advantages of the size of the troops, so the 3 1 regiment of the US military had to prepare for the retreat. However, during the retreat of the US 3 1 regiment, heavy artillery and napalm were used against our army many times. Even in the process of troops fleeing, the U.S. military bombarded the Chinese and American troops in the game, causing serious casualties among our soldiers in the pursuit process. After the breakthrough, the U.S. military also suffered heavy losses: the 3 1 regiment combat team, which was originally regarded as a special combat force, had 2,500 troops. Colonel McClane, the commander of the American army, was also successfully captured by our army in the battle and died of his injuries four days later.

The last battle was around Xiajie, which was an important supply station for American troops to enter the DPRK. At the same time, only the US military has two battalions, 1 and the 7th Marine Corps, to defend themselves. Therefore, after the stalemate between the two sides near Liutanli, the following streets of the Ninth Corps of the Song Dynasty were the focus of attack. Unfortunately, because the 58th Division, the main force fighting in the lower corner, used the outdated map of Korea made in Japan, and the 58th Division got lost in the wild, so the time to reach the lower corner was different from the planned combat time, which also aroused the vigilance of the US military. After learning about the plan of the volunteers to surround the American army, the American army in the lower corner began to break through, but it was stubbornly stopped by our army. One of the most famous is the 58th Division of the 20th Army/the 3rd Company of the KLOC-0/72nd Regiment. When the company fought to the last member, Yang Gensi, the company commander, took gunpowder and died with the American army, composing the most tragic scene on the Korean battlefield.

(Yang Gensi Martyr)

Although in a series of battles in Changjin Lake, our army and the American army won and lost each other, in three battles around Changjin Lake, our army surrounded the American army. Under the pressure of the war situation, the United Nations troops led by the US army had to retreat slowly. Since then, MacArthur's promise to plan to "end the war before Christmas" has actually gone bankrupt-but what is more important than fulfilling the promise is how to preserve the effective strength of the US military under the powerful offensive of the volunteers. Finally, the US troops retreated to Nanxing Port.

Why did the Battle of Changjin Lake become the most tragic battle on the Korean battlefield?

After the US 10 main force withdrew to Nanxing Port, the 9th Corps followed closely and surrounded the US troops stationed in Nanxing Port. If the volunteers eat this main force, the situation on the Korean battlefield will change dramatically. Unfortunately, in order to keep the main force of the 10 Army intact, MacArthur successively asked South Korea 1 Army, South Korea 1 Marine Corps, the 3rd Infantry Division of the United States, the 7th Infantry Division of the United States and other units to build strong fortifications here, and at the same time sent the 90th Special Task Force of the United States Navy to support shore artillery, which added a lot of difficulties to the 9th Corps, which lacked naval and air power at that time.

Finally, with the support of the U.S navy and air force, 1950 105000 soldiers of the U.S army and other United Nations troops left Nanxing port at the end of 1950, carrying 350000 tons of materials and 14000 North Korean residents. On February 24th, 1950, 1950, the last UN troops left the port in the west on Christmas Eve. In order to prevent the Chinese and Korean people from developing and utilizing this port, the US military bombed Nanxing Port on the occasion of evacuation.

(United Nations troops evacuated from Nanxing Port)

For this battle, the western media thought it was the "biggest retreat" in American history, because the American army was surrounded by volunteers and avoided the fate of being wiped out by our army. But at the same time, many military circles and politicians ridiculed the United Nations troops led by the United States: "When they first came to the Korean battlefield, they were sure to win, but as soon as they left the Korean battlefield, they were like pigs and sheep driven into the sea." However, there is no doubt that this war has reversed the situation in which the United Nations forces were dominant in the Korean battlefield before, brought our military strength into play in the Korean battlefield, and laid the foundation for the subsequent tripartite armistice between China, the DPRK and the United States.

However, it is worth noting that the battle of Changjin Lake was also rated as the "worst battle" on the Korean battlefield. The reason is not only that Chinese and American soldiers fought to the death in the battle, but also that the battle of Changjin Lake broke out in the cold season of the Korean battlefield. At that time, the temperature was as low as MINUS 40 degrees Celsius, which was undoubtedly very unfavorable for the 9 th Army, which was transferred from East China to the Korean battlefield. Coupled with the logistical problems that our army often faced in the Korean battlefield, 28,954 soldiers of our army died in this battle due to non-combat factors-and the main reason was the cold weather at that time. A considerable number of people's volunteers were frozen to death in the snow during the ambush and buried in the battlefield. The same situation happened in the US military barracks, where 7338 soldiers were reduced due to non-combat factors, but in contrast, the logistics conditions of the US military were much better than ours. But it is precisely because of this that our hard-won victory can be highlighted.

(People's Volunteers in the Battle of Changjin Lake)

Shortly after the battle of Changjin Lake, Chairman Mao listened to the report of casualties on the battlefield and then said, "The Central Committee deeply misses the loss of so many workers." Another thing that was deeply touched by the battle of Changjin Lake was the Chiang Kai-shek regime in Taiwan Province Province. Taiwan Province local monthly "Struggle" reported the battle of Changjin Lake in the form of cartoons after hearing about the deadly battle between volunteers and American troops in Changjin Lake after World War I, in order to show which is more important: spirit or material.

On September 30th, 2002/KLOC-0, The Battle of Changjin Lake, co-produced and directed by Chen Kaige, Tsui Hark and Lin Chaoxian, will also be released soon. Maybe this is another way for people to remember this battle.