Chapter 59 The Law of Fighters: On the battlefield, speed is opportunity

In northern Korea, there is a north-south Langlin mountain range, which divides the battlefield in northern Korea into east and west halves from the middle. In the early days of the war, the Volunteers called them the Eastern Front and the Western Front. According to Peng Dehuai's combat concept, the volunteer army is weak and cannot punch out with two fists at the same time. Instead, it has to punch on the western front, adopt an attacking posture, and stun the opponent; This is called tactics. On the western front, the Volunteer Army deployed heavy troops and fought bloody battles with the U.S. Army in Yunshan and other places; on the eastern front, the 124th and 126th Divisions of the 42nd Army used the dangerous terrain to block the attack of the United Nations Army at Huangcaoling.

At that time, the situation on the Eastern Front was that the United Nations Army had the 10th Army of the U.S. Army and the 1st Army of the Korean Army, which were strong; while the Volunteer Army had only the 42nd Army, which was weak. Regardless of equipment or numbers, the United Nations Army has an absolute advantage. Commander Almond of the U.S. 10th Army was the commander-in-chief of the United Nations Army on the Eastern Front. Like MacArthur, Commander Almond also believed at this time that North Korea had no more major battles to fight, and the war would soon end. What needs to be done now is to advance quickly and end the war as soon as possible.In this way, the United Nations Army advanced at a very fast speed, and the 1st Army Corps of the Korean Army had already approached Huangcaoling and Quzhanling, the gateways to Changjin Lake.

At this time, the 42nd Army of the Volunteer Army is still 180 kilometers away from the scheduled battlefield. Can the Volunteer Army catch up with this ship? Once they can't catch up or can't block it, and the opening on the eastern front is torn open, the U.S. troops on the eastern front will quickly rescue the western front, and the main force of the volunteer army will be caught in a double attack. If so, the counterattack on the western front will fall short, and the entire battle situation may change. Peng Dehuai was very anxious about this.A telegram to block the opening of the Eastern Front as quickly as possible was sent to Wu Ruilin, commander of the 42nd Army.

Military orders are like mountains. what to do?How do the legs cross the four wheels? The Orientals have their own wisdom, and the Volunteers have come up with their own specialties.Without a troop carrier, the Volunteer Army quickly gathered the only few broken cars in the entire army to transport ammunition, and collected more than 20 motor vehicles from the Korean People's Army to form a vanguard force, desperately rushing towards Huangcaoling and Quzhanling And go... Their mission is to block the enemy first, buy time, and wait for the large troops to arrive. The big troops followed behind, running to follow up.

This method of transporting troops is equivalent to semi-mechanized walking volunteers. In Deng Xiaoping's words, socialism has the advantage of concentrating forces to accomplish great things. The Volunteers don't have any advantage, but they are desperately trying to seize the opportunity.Look at the US military again, what did they do?When the U.S. military was still one step away from their destination, they thought that victory had already been achieved, so they crossed their legs and took square steps, slowing down their advance. In this tight and sparse, fast and slow period, the temporary "automobile unit" of the 370th Regiment of the 124th Division of the Volunteer Army arrived at the destination one step ahead of schedule, and seized Huangcaoling and Quzhanling.

When the United Nations army arrived, they saw helplessly that the position was occupied by the volunteers first. On the battlefield, as long as there is still one step away from the goal, it cannot be said that victory has been achieved, and one cannot be negligent. The first opportunity was "snatched" from the hands of the volunteers who had no speed advantage, no distance advantage, or any advantage; The first opportunity just slipped away from the hands of the United Nations Army, which has speed advantages, distance advantages, and almost all advantages. People often say to seize opportunities, how to seize opportunities?To seize opportunities is to seize speed, as you can see from the volunteer army;

People often say don't lose opportunities, how to lose opportunities?Just look at the U.S. military who got up early in the morning and caught up in the evening. The 124th Division and 126th Division of the 42nd Army who followed up behind also threw off their arms and took a step forward. Before the enemy broke through the volunteer army's opening, they all reached the designated defense area. A fierce battle began.