Chapter 34 5. An example of beating up the US military tanks

The autumn offensive of the "United Nations Army" was first launched on the Western Front. On October 3, October 5, and October 13, the U.S. 1st Army on the Western Front, the U.S. 10th Army on the Eastern Front, and the U.S. Ninth Army on the Central Front began their offensives one after another. On the eastern front (east of the North Han River), the goal is to capture the positions defended by the People's Army, namely the east and west positions of Wendengli and the 1211 highland-851 highland line to the east.Its offensive operations have two major characteristics: one is to use clusters of tanks to concentrate on assaulting the Wendengli Valley, which is the so-called "tank split into battle"; the other is to pour artillery shells at the target of the attack. All ammunition is available as required by the position".

Previously, in order to stabilize the defense on the eastern front, Peng Dehuai decided on September 27 that the 68th Army of the Volunteer Army would take over the defense of the 5th Army Corps of the People's Army, which was exhausted from fighting.The 68th Army decided to use the 204th Division and the 202nd Division, a total of four regiments, to replace the entire defense of the 5th Army Corps of the People's Army, starting from the North Han River in the west to the 635.8 highland line east of Wendengli, 20 kilometers in front. On October 7, the above-mentioned troops entered the second-line position of the 5th Army Corps of the People's Army to rush to repair the fortifications. As a basis, they planned to take over the defense on the 10th.However, at this time, the attack of the US 10th Army had occupied the 930.6 and 665.5 highlands on both sides of the road, 4 kilometers to the east and 4 kilometers to the south of Wendengli.The 68th Army then went into battle ahead of schedule on October 7, fighting against the enemy together with the People's Army, and receiving defense while fighting.

After 3 days of fierce fighting, the U.S. Army and the South Korean Army have penetrated 6 kilometers west of the Wendeng Highway.By 20:00 on the 10th, the 68th Army had completed all defenses. From west to east, the frontier was Aimudong on the east bank of the North Han River—891.5 Heights, 620.8 Heights—742.8 Heights—1050 Heights—905.2 Heights—Wendeng Li - 635.8 highland line.Under the difficult circumstances of no fortification support, insufficient artillery support, communication and supply organizations not in place, and the enemy's situation and terrain unknown, they continued to resist the fierce attacks of the U.S. Army and the South Korean Army.At this time, strengthening the defense in the direction of Wendeng and smashing the enemy's so-called "tank splitting battle" is the key to stabilizing the entire front.

In the Wendengli area, there are Yijia Qifeng in the east and Yuyin Mountain in the west. The valley is more than 600 meters wide.However, there are many high mountains on both sides of the valley, which limits the enemy's lateral maneuvering.And because the valley runs through the center of our defensive position, it is also convenient for me to use the favorable terrain of continuous mountains on both sides to maneuver troops and weapons, deploy anti-tank firearms concealedly, organize layers of anti-tank fire nets, and fight against tanks. .Therefore, after the 68th Army took over the defense, in view of the fact that the enemy tanks posed a great threat to us, in order to prevent the attack of the enemy tank clusters and enhance the stability of the defensive position, it immediately used natural terrain such as mountain ridges and ditch beams on both sides of the road. Construct trenches, traffic trenches and firearm launching points.Afterwards, several oblique anti-tank trenches and pits were built in the valley, and they were closely integrated with the positions on the two wings to make them vertical and horizontal, so as to facilitate the maneuvering of our troops and weapons.At the same time, according to the terrain and the activity rules of enemy tanks, a large number of anti-tank mine barriers are deployed on roads, river beds, rice fields, and slopes that are convenient for enemy tanks to pass.In terms of deployment of troops and weapons, the 610th Regiment strengthened the defense of the Wendeng area, and deployed personnel within the division to concentrate 12 field guns, 49 (tools) recoilless guns and rocket launchers , and an engineering company to form an anti-tank brigade (two squadrons under it) with Yao Xi, the deputy commander of the 610th regiment, as the captain, specializing in tank fighting.

On October 11, the U.S. 2nd Division launched an attack when I hastily occupied the defensive position and the fortifications were not yet organized.First, more than ten tanks, supported by twelve aircraft and artillery firepower, formed a column along the road to cover the infantry to attack the defensive positions of the 610th Regiment's 635.8 Heights and 642 Heights.Due to the lack of actual anti-tank combat experience of our forward anti-tank unit, the enemy tanks broke into the Shenpu area in the depth of our defense and carried out destructive shooting on the highland fortifications on both sides of us.The anti-tank brigade immediately organized the firepower of the 76.2 cannon and the mountain artillery to directly aim and shoot to prevent the enemy tanks from continuing to advance, and ordered the 1st and 2nd squadrons to occupy the firing position with deep anti-tank firearms for close-in shooting and anti-tank destruction The team unites and resolutely destroys the enemy's tanks that penetrate the depth of our defense.The anti-tank destroyer team of the 2nd Squadron, under the leadership of platoon leader Yan Xiangzi, quickly and covertly approached the enemy tank along the Shuiqingligou. In the same way, the enemy's second tank was wounded. At the same time, our recoilless gun and bazooka units wounded three enemy tanks within a distance of 50 to 150 meters, and the rest fled in embarrassment.After the coordinated operations of the troops, the enemy's attack was repelled.

On the same day, the headquarters of the Volunteer Army generated electricity to encourage the 68th Army: Your army took over the position of the Fifth Army Corps, and when you first launched your horse, you blocked the invading enemy, which is very good.It is hoped that we will carefully strengthen the fortifications, organize firepower, set up telephones, destroy and block the enemy's roads and avenues, and the cadres of the divisions and regiments will help the company, boost morale, carry forward the tenacious fighting spirit, kill and injure the enemy, and continue to strive for victory.

The victory of the first day of combat and the encouragement from the headquarters of the Volunteer Army greatly encouraged the officers and soldiers of the 68th Army who had just entered the Korean battlefield and were newly defended. On the 12th, in the face of 48 enemy tanks attempting to lead the US 23rd Regiment to break through the larger offensive of our 610th Regiment's defense depth in one fell swoop, our deep artillery fire immediately blocked and fired powerfully. At 10:25, the enemy's leading tank arrived in the Xiashenpu area, and our No. 2 Squadron entered the firing position covertly. When the enemy tank was about 150 meters away from us, it destroyed two enemy tanks and injured one with six shells.The recoilless guns and bazookas of the No. 1 Squadron were at the foot of the northwest mountain of the 635.8 highland, taking advantage of the slow speed of the enemy tanks and the dense formation, concentrated fire with crossfire, destroying and injuring one enemy tank each.At the same time, our 76.2 cannons carried out blocking fire in the north side of Wendengli and damaged two more vehicles.

After the enemy tanks were continuously attacked by us, they used part of the tank fire to suppress the firing position of our anti-tank firearms and covered the repair of the damaged tanks. The remaining more than 30 tanks continued to attack our defensive positions.At this time, our positions on both sides used tight infantry firepower to block the enemy's destroyed tanks, preventing them from repairing, and covering our anti-tank weapons for maneuvering.At the same time, the 76.2 cannons and mountain artillery occupied the forward firing position, preventing the enemy tanks from continuing to advance.When the enemy's leading tanks advanced to about 700 meters north of Xiashenpu, they destroyed two tanks with direct aiming and shooting; the recoilless guns and rocket launchers used swimming shooting, and one shot did not exceed three rounds, and destroyed three enemy tanks, Damaged two vehicles. At 16:00, the enemy tanks were unable to attack again, and they fled under the cover of a large number of smoke screens.I deployed the anti-tank weapons on the protrusions of the 635.8 and 642 highlands, took the opportunity to extend forward to occupy the valley, intercepted the head within more than 100 meters, and destroyed the two enemy tanks that fled first, and then the anti-tank destroyer team was 8 meters away from the enemy tanks. Within that time, two more vehicles were injured with grenades and blasting tubes. At 17:00, the enemy abandoned eighteen tanks (ten destroyed, eight injured) and fled in a hurry.

From the 13th to the 14th, the enemy still concentrated more than 30 tanks to continue the attack. At 7:50 on the 14th, when the eight enemy tanks were about 200 meters away from our launch position at the foot of the 642 Highland, the 3rd Battalion of the 612th Regiment of the Anti-Tank Brigade Hu Lian, a soldier in the recoilless artillery platoon of the artillery company, first destroyed one of them with four shells, then braved the enemy's artillery fire and shifted his position wittily, and boldly approached the enemy tanks. I shot three shots and destroyed three vehicles, and the remaining four vehicles were destroyed by me on the way back.The other tank was blown up by a mine in our minefield. Hu Lian created a record of destroying four enemy tanks in one day, won the special merit and was awarded the title of second-level combat hero.During the four-day battle, the entire anti-tank brigade destroyed 19 enemy tanks and injured 12, thereby preventing the attack of the enemy tank group.

The 68th Army of the Volunteer Army began to resist the enemy's attack after taking over the defense on October 8. By the 20th, it fought fiercely for 13 consecutive days, killing and wounding more than 7,690 enemies, including more than 3,390 American soldiers, and shot down and injured 12 American aircraft. shelf.As of October 31, a total of 38 US tanks were destroyed or injured.The U.S. Army and the South Korean Army occupied more than 50 square kilometers of positions.The 68th Army suffered more than 2,400 casualties.