Chapter 21 Chapter 6 The Fourth Battle

This battle actually started when the enemy launched an attack on our army across the board on January 25, but our army was able to delay the start of operations until February 6 because of training on the second line.It was now 58 years later when I wrote this article that I found out that February 6 was the first day of the first month of the Chinese New Year in 1951.However, at that time, it seemed that everyone had forgotten this day from top to bottom, and no one mentioned it.At this time, the people of the motherland should be happily spending the Spring Festival!It was on this night that the various units of our 40th Army began to move, moving from the west coast of North Korea in Uijeongbu near Seoul, Dongducheon and other places where the training was stationed, to the central and eastern Hengcheng area.We marched hard in the ice and snow, and the weather was extremely cold.However, after training, we have become stronger in our will to overcome hardships and hardships. No one takes this icy and snowy place seriously.

After four consecutive nights of arduous marching, we crossed countless snow-capped mountains, crossed the two Han Rivers in the north and the south, traveled more than 300 miles, and arrived at Hongcheon and Hengcheng in the central and eastern part of the Korean Peninsula at dawn on February 10 (the fifth day of the first lunar month). area. According to the deployment of the superior, our 40th Army will cooperate with the 39th, 42nd, and 66th Army in the Hengcheng area to jointly annihilate the battle of the Eighth Division of Rhee Syngman in South Korea.The army ordered the 118th and 120th divisions to be the attacking forces, and assigned the 355th regiment of the 119th division to the 118th division to strengthen it. The remaining two regiments (356th and 357th regiments) of our 119th division and the team directly under the division were the army reserve. The 118th Division and the 355th Regiment of the 119th Division marched to the upper and lower Gaofa, Sanmazhili, Sidong, and Xinfali at 24:00 on the night of February 10 to assemble, and began to go to Shangyugou and Dili at 17:00 on February 11. Attack at Wugu and Caoliyuan, and continue to attack Hengcheng after succeeding; the 120th Division entered Dongxiyin Bridge, Taoyuanli, Shiyan, and Xinlunli at 24:00 on February 10, and started at 17:00 on February 11 Attack Shengzhi Peak, Jingshui Pavilion, Xiahuafang, and Shizigou, and attack Hengcheng after winning; our 119th Division (less than 355 regiments) entered Huatianli, Xiaogeji, and Baiyang Temple at dusk on February 10 The Sanshengli area is on standby to perform tasks at any time.

On the afternoon of February 11, the vanguard of Syngman Rhee's 8th Division was blocked by our 120th Division at Shuifengwon, Shengzhi Peak, and Hakdong Nanshan.At 5 o'clock that night, with the cooperation of our friends and neighbors, our 118th Division and 120th Division broke through the enemy's battle formation side by side, and quickly developed an attack deep into the enemy. The 358th Regiment of the 120th Division avoided the enemy's defensive front and seized the Shengzhi Peak from the side; the 360th Regiment, with the cooperation of the army and division artillery, captured the 800 Heights.Then the division compressed the enemy from the front, and advanced to the Limuting area at 6 o'clock on the 12th.The division's attack on the enemy's main defensive zone restrained the enemy's main force and directly supported the 118th Division to develop in depth.At the same time, the 118th Division drove straight into Hirota with a force, completely cutting off the enemy's retreat and confusing the enemy's lineup.After 16 hours of fierce fighting, our army cooperated with friendly forces to annihilate the 8th Division of Syngman Rhee in one fell swoop (our army wiped out nearly 4,000 enemies) and captured Hengcheng.

In this battle, the 352nd Regiment of the 118th Division played an important role. When the 354th Regiment captured the Southeast Mountain of Hedong and the 353rd Regiment captured the Gaofa Dongshan and Southeast Mountains, the 352nd Regiment penetrated deeply from the two regiments to the enemy.The third battalion of the regiment was the sharp knife battalion. Under the leadership of the battalion commander Li Yucai, they moved quickly and covertly, marched lightly, walked along the path, stepped on the snow, climbed a 700-meter mountain, broke through the enemy's four times of blocking, and bravely interspersed.The seventh company of the battalion encountered the enemy's search brigade during the interlude. Under the command of the company commander Zhang Honglin, it killed the enemy a lot, broke through the enemy's block and continued to advance.Taking advantage of the situation, the whole battalion rushed into Guangtian and Taifeng, and captured more than 100 enemy vehicles and some heavy artillery in one fell swoop.Yu Shuilin, a soldier of the fifth squadron of the eighth company, with the cooperation of the whole platoon, blew up 2 enemy tanks and 1 car. After the war, he was honored with special merit and was awarded the title of "anti-tank hero".Subsequently, the second and third battalions launched a strong attack on the enemies of Nanshan and Dongshan in Guangtian, and controlled Guangtian, Taifeng, Beishan and Xishan by 11:30 p.m.Then it launched an attack on the two highlands of Guangtian Dongshan and Nanshan controlled by the enemy.After the two highlands were occupied by me.It was discovered that the enemy on the road north of Xincun and on the west side of Bihe Mountain was in a mess. The Second Battalion and the Fifth Company immediately attacked. Several enemy cars and tanks were destroyed at the foot of Bihe Mountain. A large number of vehicles blocked the road and caused the enemy to escape. important obstacle.In order to cover the retreat of the defeated army, the enemy concentrated artillery fire to bombard the position of our second battalion and organized troops to counterattack.At this time, although the fifth and sixth companies of our second battalion were attacked on three sides, they still fought tenaciously, repelled the enemy's attack several times in a row, held the position, cut off the way for the enemy to flee south, and completed the task brilliantly. The 118th Division successfully completed the task of dividing the enemy and was praised by the Volunteer Army Headquarters.The second and third battalions of the 352 regiment of the division each recorded second-class merit. The second battalion won the banner of "brave and witty, intercept and flee the enemy" from the headquarters of the volunteer army, and the third battalion won the banner of "brave and interspersed, wipe out the enemy" from the headquarters of the volunteer army.The fifth company of the second battalion and the seventh company of the third battalion were awarded special merits, and awarded the honorable title of "secondary combat hero company".Comrade Leng Lihua, chief of staff of the 352 Regiment, an excellent commander who has repeatedly made military exploits, and Comrade Li Yucai, commander of the battalion hero battalion, died honorably in this battle.