Chapter 53 5. The promotion of talks through fighting, the launch of the Jincheng Campaign

On April 26, 1953, the armistice negotiations, which had been interrupted for six months, resumed. The possibility of stopping the Korean War was greater than in the past, but the possibility of delay still existed. Mao Zedong proposed clear guidelines for the Volunteers based on the conditions of the two warring parties.That is, the armistice negotiations "strive for a halt and prepare to procrastinate, while the army should plan to procrastinate, just fight, don't talk, don't relax, and everything will continue as originally planned." On April 20, Deng Hua proposed to the Central Military Commission to launch a summer counterattack campaign.He pointed out that the Volunteer Army should strengthen all kinds of preparations, not be paralyzed and slack, continue to complete the fortifications on the east and west coasts, and smash any enemy landings and attacks at any time.At the same time, we will adopt a tit-for-tat policy and take positive actions to cooperate with the negotiations.If the enemy delays blackmail during negotiations and does not land in May, it is recommended that the Volunteer Army conduct a campaign-like counterattack in early June, as in the autumn of 1952, to facilitate the realization of the armistice.Deng Hua put forward specific plans for the implementation of the campaign.

The Central Military Commission approved the Volunteer Army's decision.At the same time, he pointed out: "As for the early truce, or not to fight to facilitate negotiations, a decision can be made at an appropriate time in May." On April 30, Peng Dehuai and Yang Dezhi talked on the phone, instructing the Volunteer Army to "increase the number of tactical sorties, expand the results of the battle under favorable circumstances, wipe out one or two enemy companies at a time, and let the newcomers take turns to gain experience." And to promote negotiations, prepare for a campaign attack according to Deng Hua's recent telegram. If the negotiations in May fail to reach results, June will be held as planned."

From April 30th to May 4th, the Volunteer Army Committee of the Communist Party of China held a meeting, and formulated campaign guidelines and specific deployments based on Deng Hua's telegram study on April 20th.After the meeting, the head of the Volunteer Army issued supplementary instructions on the campaign to the corps, the east and west coast headquarters, and the 47th Army on May 5. The entire counterattack operation adopts a method of combining unity and decentralization.The campaign was carried out in three phases, with ten days of combat in each phase and five days of rest and preparation.In the initial stage, the whole line will act in a unified manner, and the second and third stages will be determined according to the situation.The implementation time is scheduled to start in early June and end in early July, and all preparations will be completed by the end of May.Before the start of the campaign, each army must still maintain active combat operations in order to learn from experience, create conditions for the campaign, and cover the campaign attempt.

After the meeting, the front-line corps of the Volunteer Army studied and formulated detailed combat plans.The six armies (46th, 1st, 23rd, 24th, 67th, and 60th armies) participating in the counterattack campaign on the front line selected a total of 56 targets.Among them, there are seven targets for the battalion, seventeen targets for the company, and thirty-two targets for the platoon. By the first ten days of May, except for the preparations for attacks on key targets, the preparations for attacks on smaller targets were basically completed.