Chapter 57 subdue the enemy

On April 7, 1952, Mr. Peng returned to China for medical treatment.The Military Commission decided that Chen Geng, the second deputy commander of the Volunteer Army, would act as his deputy in all positions in the Volunteer Army. On June 11, Chen Geng was transferred back to China, and Deng Hua, the deputy commander and political commissar of the Volunteer Army, succeeded him as the acting commander and political commissar of the Volunteer Army. .On July 11, Yang Dezhi, the commander of the 19th Corps, was transferred to be the second deputy commander of the Volunteer Army to assist Deng Hua in combat work, and Han Xianchu, the deputy commander of the Volunteer Army, was transferred to be the commander of the 19th Corps.

Because Commander Han Xianchu was busy with work on the Western Front and was unable to take up his post for a while, Commander Yang Dezhi postponed his departure from the Corps until August 18 to take up his post.Commander Yang Dezhi was transferred from the second column of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Field Army as the commander of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Field Army in the autumn of 1947. When the field army was changed to a corps, he worked in this army for more than five years. The victories in previous battles have made great contributions and established many military exploits; in the common battles, he has established a deep fighting friendship with all commanders and fighters.The comrades were reluctant to let him go.According to research by the Party Committee of the Corps, the Corps will hold a meeting to see Commander Yang off.He was very modest and declined repeatedly, but according to the party committee's opinion, the farewell meeting was still held as scheduled.In addition to the cadres above the platoon of the Corps and the directly affiliated teams, this conference also invited responsible comrades from several armies to participate.

At the meeting, I spoke with the comrades in charge of several armies, reviewing the achievements of Commander Yang over the past five years, and hoped that when he parted, he would leave valuable opinions and instructions for the Corps, and return to the Corps often after arriving at the Volunteer Army headquarters Come to inspect and give a lot of instructions.Everyone spoke with sincerity, expressing everyone's reluctance to say goodbye.Finally, I would like to ask Commander Yang for his farewell words.After expressing his nostalgia for the Corps, he put forward six pertinent opinions and hopes based on the situation and tasks at that time. His words were sincere and sincere, which deeply moved and encouraged everyone.After the speeches at the meeting, we specially invited the art troupes of the 39th Army and the 40th Army, which had just been placed under the command of the 19th Corps, to give wonderful performances, which made the farewell meeting even more enthusiastic.

Since Comrade Dezhi and I were transferred to the second column of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region in the winter of 1946, especially in the more than three years since I was transferred to the 19th Corps in June 1949, we have worked together Leading troops thousands of miles into the Great Northwest, decisively fighting Lanzhou to liberate Ningxia; leading troops to the front line of the anti-US war, participating in the fifth battle, smashing the enemy's summer and autumn offensives, building the underground Great Wall, guarding the steel defense line, and frowning together to plan a good strategy to defeat the enemy , Raise a glass and drink the wine of congratulations.This kind of comrade-in-arms friendship tempered in the flames of war has become stronger and stronger with the growth of the fighting years. Not brothers, but better than brothers, the feeling of farewell is even more difficult to express.Therefore, the day before Comrade Dezhi’s departure—August 17th, which was a Sunday, I took advantage of Comrade Liu Ping’s holiday to have a “farewell party” for Comrade Dezhi and his lover, Comrade Shen Gejun, at home.The so-called "farewell party" does not have any rich food, but in my dormitory - a small earth cave with a few logs, some branches, and thatch for a canopy, four people sit around in a wooden structure nailed up with tree stumps and planks. Beside a small rough table, drink a little wine that the people of the motherland condolences to, and there are no other dishes to accompany the wine.Everyone sipped wine and talked about their hearts. Although it was very simple, the affection was more mellow and full-bodied than fine wine.Because not only Comrade Dezhi and I are brothers and sisters, Liu Ping and Shen Gejun have rarely been separated in the past few years since the Second Column, and they are both fellows from Hebei, so they are even closer.

Our two families lived in the same row of bungalows in Xi'an. When they entered the court, both of them were pregnant and had to stay in the rear of Anton. The children handed over to the nursery and went to the front line of North Korea side by side.Shen Gejun works in the Corps Headquarters, and Liu Ping works in the Political Department of the Corps. The two departments are separated by a hill, but they can sometimes reunite on holidays.Because of the deep friendship between adults, the children of the two families are as close as a family.They lined themselves up according to age. Yang Ronghua, Li Xinxing, Yang Baihua, Li Xinxing, Yang Qiuhua, and Yang Jinghua and Li Jingsheng, who were just a few months old, all called each other like brothers and sisters. After we arrived at the front line, they were all in Taiyuan. In the kindergarten behind, Yang Ronghua and Li Xinsheng who are a few years older, and Yan Ran are big sisters and big brothers who love and protect the younger siblings.They wrote to us in front of us, collectively referred to as "mom and dad"; if one of the four of us went back to China for a meeting or business and went to visit them in the kindergarten, they would all jump around happily and call "Dad" affectionately. ’ or ‘Mom’, you’re overwhelmed.

To this day, although the two children have become fathers and mothers, this kind of affectionate title remains unchanged, and the relationship between the two families is still very close.By coincidence, Commander Yang Dezhi had just left for four months. In December 1952, Comrade Du Ping, director of the Political Department of the Volunteer Army, was transferred to work in the Joint Command of the West Coast Army. Work with Dezhi comrades. In the spring of 1953, after more than two years of fierce fighting between the enemy and ourselves, a confrontation was formed along the 38th parallel.Relying on the support-point defense system with tunnels as the backbone, our army smashed the enemy's attacks again and again, causing the enemy to consume more and more, internal conflicts deepened, and the situation became more and more passive; It is getting stronger and stronger, the fighting spirit is getting higher and higher, and the situation is becoming more and more active.Under such circumstances, Yang Dezhi and Commander Wang Jian'an of the Ninth Corps proposed to the Central Military Commission a counterattack operation.The Military Commission agreed with their opinions, and on April 3, 1953, it stated in a telegram to the head of the Volunteer Army: "According to the current situation, if I am fully prepared, we will hold a small-scale annihilation battle. Each time we annihilate the enemy, one Two platoons to one or two companies, such as 'Tingzi Mountain', 'Laobal Mountain', and 'Vega Mountain', will benefit our Ninth Corps and other corps in gaining new combat experience and promoting armistice negotiations."

After receiving the telegram from the Military Commission, Acting Commander Deng Hua rushed back to the headquarters of the Volunteer Army from the joint headquarters of the West Coast Forces to begin preparations for the summer offensive.On April 30, the Party Committee of the Volunteer Army held a plenary meeting.At the meeting, Deng Hua gave a report on the summer counterattack plan, and I gave a report on the political work of the counterattack and the fight against bureaucracy (at that time, the "Three Antis" and "Five Antis" campaigns were being carried out in China).In my report, I first analyzed the current situation and asked the troops to strengthen education on the situation, explain the significance of counterattack operations, the conditions for victory and difficulties, educate commanders and fighters to improve their will to fight, overcome the paralysis and laxity that has occurred and may continue to grow, and continue to complete Prepare for war, do a good job in military training, and launch campaign counterattacks on this solid foundation.Then, I asked all the troops to fully explain the policy of "fighting steadily and vigorously, but also fighting freely" in this battle, and explained: "Steady means that full preparations must be made before the battle to ensure that the attack must be overcome." , The battle must be victorious. Because the enemy has also built a solid line of defense, so when we attack, we should not be greedy for too much, and we should not open our mouth too much. Create more favorable conditions for annihilating the enemy in the victory. Throughout the campaign, we must prevent underestimating the enemy, being impatient, and fighting recklessly. This is the most important thing to pay attention to." You must hold on to the enemy, fight repeatedly, fight continuously, and kill the enemy in large numbers until the enemy is convinced and does not come back to fight back." "And among soldiers, the emphasis should be on establishing bravery and tenacity, fighting continuously, The spirit of beating the enemy hard and beating hard, subduing the enemy, and beating fear." In my report, I especially emphasized that political work must not be limited to mobilization and agitation, but must "drill into tactics, techniques, and various preparations. You must understand Combat plans, understanding and learning tactics and techniques, ensuring a full understanding of the enemy’s positions (strength, terrain, fortifications, activity patterns, etc.) Solve the difficult situations encountered one by one, so that the commanders and combatants have confidence and solutions.” At the same time, I also request that the troops be strengthened in the education of organizational discipline and overall concepts; The experience of successful counterattack operations, accepting the lessons of those counterattack operations that failed or were not completely successful; requires agencies to go deep, help battalion and company cadres to carry out work and conduct in-depth inspections, and implement the spirit of opposing bureaucracy in preparations for war to go.In addition, I have also made arrangements to strengthen the political work of the enemy army and the work of anti-special security.

After the meeting, I led the cadres of the government to go deep into the army to investigate and study, to sum up the experience; and to promote the experience through texts, instructions, and newspapers.Based on the new problems that may be encountered in the summer offensive, I asked the troops participating in the war to promote military democracy, mobilize the masses to "raise difficulties and find solutions", and under the principle of not leaking secrets, fully explain the enemy's situation, tasks, Terrain, style of play, favorable conditions and difficulties; guide the masses to face tasks and reality, boldly find difficulties, and actively think of ways to find loopholes early and work together to solve them, so that the pre-war preparations are more thorough and perfect, and the battle plan more comprehensive Comprehensive and realistic.Focus on solving such issues as how to reduce your own casualties and try to avoid the blocking of enemy artillery fire; how to eliminate the enemy defending the tunnel; how to intersperse and infiltrate the enemy's defense system in the tactical depth of the enemy's defense system to ensure the victory of the battle. .

All participating troops conscientiously conveyed and implemented the spirit of the Volunteer Army Party Committee, and on the basis of carefully surveying the terrain and repeatedly studying the enemy's situation, held various symposiums, seminars, and "Zhuge Liang meetings" to extensively mobilize the masses to "raise difficulties and find solutions" and brainstorm , to formulate a practical and feasible combat plan. On May 13, 1953, the Summer Offensive began.In many battles in this campaign, our attacking troops and the enemy attacked from our opposing positions to capture the enemy's forward positions.In order to shorten the impact distance, reduce casualties during the contact movement, maintain the physical strength of the assault troops, and strive for the suddenness of the start of the battle, sometimes it is necessary to adopt latent means. The night before the start of the battle, dozens or even more than 3,000 people Assault troops secretly marched to the pre-selected shock starting point hundreds of meters or even tens of meters away from the front of the enemy's position. The enemy broke through the enemy's position unexpectedly.With so many people lurking in front of the enemy's position for more than ten hours in broad daylight, as long as one person exposes the target, not only will it be difficult to realize the combat plan, but also suffer heavy casualties. The difficulty is imaginable.The troops responsible for the latent mission fully carried forward military democracy, chose terrain and landforms similar to the attack target, and conducted repeated exercises.After each exercise, the masses are encouraged to boldly raise the difficulties they encounter and the problems they find. For example, how to avoid all the noises such as kicking off stones, coughing, snoring, tools and weapons colliding with each other, and breaking branches for camouflage during driving. ; how to eat, drink, dehydrate, and communicate while lurking; The wisdom of the masses, various methods have come out.In this way, after many repetitions of "exercise-raise difficulties, find a way-re-drill" so many times, difficulties are constantly discovered, loopholes are found, difficulties are constantly eliminated, loopholes are plugged, and the combat plan is more perfect.

In the mobilization education, the overall concept and discipline education are also strengthened, calling on everyone to learn from the great warrior Qiu Shaoyun, consciously abide by the latent discipline, consciously endure all hardships and hardships, and sacrifice everything for the sake of overall safety and victory in battle.On June 10, the 60th Army, with three regiments, attacked the 27th Regiment of the Pseudo-5th Division on the 883.7 Highlands, 902.8 Highlands and the unnamed highlands to the east and south of the North Han River ( Owing to two companies) positions.In order to strive for the suddenness of the battle and reduce casualties, the army secretly moved more than 3,000 assault troops into the front of the enemy's position and the attack starting point less than 2.5 kilometers away from the flank on the night of the 9th, hiding and lurking all day and night, without the enemy noticing. .On the evening of the 10th, with the support of 259 artillery pieces above mortars, a multi-channel and multi-echelon approach was adopted to suddenly attack from the north and east directions. After 50 minutes of fighting, the enemy was wiped out and defended, the first Since positional warfare, it has been an example of attacking and annihilating one regiment at a time.The victory of this battle is inseparable from their good political mobilization and military democracy.During the lurking, none of the more than 3,000 of them spoke, coughed, slept, or smoked. They all consciously endured hunger, thirst, mosquitoes, snakes, and rats.Soldier Zhang Baocai, whose legs were broken by shells, still endured severe pain and did not grunt until the last drop of blood flowed out; soldier Zhang Zhifu, after being strafed by enemy planes, endured the pain and persisted until he launched the attack.There are more than 30 people like this case, and their heroic spirit is very touching.After the battle, I immediately sent someone to help the 60th Army sum up experience, sort out heroic deeds, and publicize them throughout the army.

The first phase of the summer offensive campaign (May 13th to 26th) was our army's tactical attack on the enemy's forward support points. A total of 29 battles were conducted, and each battle wiped out no more than one battalion of enemy targets. A total of more than 4,130 enemies were wiped out.In the second stage (May 27 to June 23), 65 battles were fought, creating an example of annihilating one regiment of the enemy at a time, breaking through the enemy's frontal position for 12 kilometers, advancing 6 kilometers, More than 41,000 enemies were wiped out, almost ten times the number of enemies wiped out in the first stage, and the expected goal of "from small to large" was achieved. Successive victories in the first and second phases of the summer offensive forced the enemy to return to the negotiating table, and an agreement was reached on all agenda items in mid-June.However, the South Korean Syngman Rhee Group, in disregard of the condemnation of world public opinion, unreasonably detained our prisoners of war, prevented the signing of the armistice agreement, and frantically clamored to "go it alone" and "go northward."On June 20th, Commander Peng Dehuai went from Beijing to Kaesong to prepare for the signing of the armistice agreement. He learned of this situation on the way, he assessed the situation, made a decisive decision, and immediately sent a telegram to Chairman Mao to suggest that the second phase of the summer offensive campaign be over. Afterwards, a third stage was organized, "planning to deal another blow to Syngman Rhee's puppet army and eliminate another 15,000 puppet troops."On the 21st, Chairman Mao replied to Boss Peng: "It is extremely necessary to wipe out more than 10,000 puppet troops."Based on this, President Peng and Comrade Kim Il Sung decided after research that the third phase of the summer offensive would center on the Battle of Kinseong, and the other armies on the front line and the Korean People's Army would attack the enemy in front of them to coordinate with the Battle of Kinseong.At the combat meeting held by the Volunteer Army Headquarters, I arranged issues related to political work. The Battle of Jincheng was a large-scale attack by our army against an enemy with modern equipment and solid fortifications.The south of Jincheng, from Shangsuoli to the confluence of Jinchengchuan and Beihan River, is the salient part of the enemy's front to the north.The mountains in this area are undulating and the rivers are turbulent. The front of the enemy's first defensive zone is Hengduan Mountain, which is steep and condescending. The entire terrain is favorable to the enemy.The main four divisions of the Li puppet army guarding the frontal positions in this area have built solid fortifications with tunnels and bunkers as the backbone, connected by trenches and traffic trenches; There are a large number of anti-personnel mines and lighting mines, and a criss-cross road network has been built to facilitate the mobility of troops. It is indeed easy to defend and difficult to attack. Our army commanded five armies with the 20th Corps, and at the same time, the Ninth Corps coordinated with the 20th Corps with one army to undertake the combat mission of the Battle of Jincheng; Overwhelmed the enemy in numbers and took advantage. During the preparation stage, the troops participating in the war carried out in-depth combat mobilization, promoted military democracy, and focused on solving tactical problems in infantry coordination, penetration and penetration, and attacking enemy tunnels, which improved the troops' confidence in daring to fight and win.At 21:00 on July 13, the Battle of Jincheng was launched. With the support of powerful artillery fire, all armies broke through the 21-kilometer frontal positions of the four divisions of the puppet army within one hour.By the evening of the 14th, after 21 hours of fighting, they broke into the enemy's position at a depth of 9.5 kilometers and captured Lin Yichun, the deputy commander of the pseudo "Capital Division".On the 15th, our army took advantage of the victory and continued to develop southward. On the 16th, the enemy hurriedly gathered all five divisions and the remnants of three divisions. With the cooperation of the air force, artillery and tanks, they counterattacked me. Our army immediately turned to defense, and until the ceasefire on July 27, we repelled the enemy's 1,371 counterattacks, killed and wounded the enemy in large numbers, and held our position.A total of more than 52,000 enemies were wiped out in this campaign. Together with the victory of the various armies in counterattacking the enemy, a total of more than 78,000 enemies were wiped out in the third stage, more than five times the number of enemies planned to be wiped out. It advanced more than 160 square kilometers to the south and straightened the front line south of Jincheng, creating a favorable situation for our army. In the Battle of Jincheng, after our Sixty-eighth Army broke through the enemy's position around 22:00 on July 13, its right-wing 203rd Division preliminarily formed an infiltration and detour detachment composed of a reinforced battalion from the 609th Regiment, that is, Boldly implement a detour to the enemy's depth.The first reconnaissance squad of this detachment, disguised as South Korean troops, bravely interspersed, and at 2 o'clock on the 14th, it went straight to the vicinity of Erqing Cave, and wiped out the first regiment (White Tiger Regiment) of the pseudo-"Capital Division" at a very small cost. department.The enemy was in chaos due to the loss of command. The detachment immediately took advantage of the darkness to quickly intercept the fleeing enemy, and wiped out most of the 555th Howitzer Battalion of the US Army near the enemy regiment headquarters and the pseudo "Capital Division" aircraft that came to aid by car. Most of the Second Battalion of Regiment A achieved great victories.The commander of the reconnaissance squad, Yang Yucai, the deputy platoon leader, won the special merit, was awarded the title of "First-Class Hero" of the Volunteer Army, and was awarded the title of "Hero of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea"; stage and screen.The success of this reconnaissance team is inseparable from the promotion of military democracy and careful preparations before the war.Before the war, the reconnaissance team used small teams to ambush the enemy's reconnaissance team, captured five prisoners, and found out the enemy's troop deployment and fortification construction. According to the situation, various countermeasures and tactics have been studied, and a clever method of using phosphorous fire as an identification mark to keep secret without revealing the target and to prevent losing contact at night.Everyone in the class has a plan in mind, so everyone can handle it freely when they sneak into the tiger's den.This seemed to be a very dangerous thing, but due to the wisdom of the crowd, a miracle was finally created. The summer offensive campaign began on May 13 and ended successfully when the two sides ceased fire on July 27. After three stages and 76 days, more than 123,000 enemies were wiped out, and they dealt a heavy blow to the enemy. The attack forced the United States and South Korea's Syngman Rhee Group to sign the armistice agreement. After the Korean armistice, the Volunteer Army held a party representative meeting, and I was entrusted by the party committee to make a report at the meeting.The report pointed out that on the one hand, we must see that the Chinese and North Korean people have achieved great victories by driving the enemy back to the vicinity of the 38th parallel, wiping out a large number of the enemy's vital forces, and forcing the U.S. imperialists to sign the armistice agreement; On the one hand, we must also see that U.S. imperialism is still powerful. The Korean Armistice Agreement was signed when the two warring parties were evenly matched. Fighting again, therefore, the truce is very precarious.Any slack and paralysis of our army may create a gap for the enemy to break the truce and re-launch the war.This report effectively resolved the peaceful paralysis that had grown up in the troops after the armistice, and played a vital role in establishing the idea of ​​protracted struggle, strengthening combat readiness, crushing repeated armed provocations by the U.S. Army and Syngman Rhee's puppet army, and defending and consolidating the achievements of the armistice agreement. worked well. In February 1954, I was transferred to be the deputy political commissar of the Volunteer Army. In March 1955, I became a political commissar. Together with Yang Dezhi, Yang Yong and other comrades, in order to strengthen combat readiness and army building, and to support the Korean people in rebuilding their homes, carry out Socialist construction continued to work.I fought and worked on the front to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea for seven years. I did not return to China until October 1957, where I served as a deputy political commissar and director of the Political Department of the PLA Higher Military Academy.