Chapter 110 The Battle of Topingli: The U.S. Army Has Confidence Since then

Toppingli, a small basin with a diameter of only 1500 meters.Li Qiwei deployed a regiment of the 2nd Division of the United States and a French battalion here, with a total of 6,000 people. As the commander-in-chief, Li Qiwei naturally understands the pivotal value of Toping Lane, and attaches great importance to the defense of Toping Lane. He requires the defenders in Toping Lane to take precautions seriously. Facts have proved that Li Qiwei made the right bet this time. In order to capture Toppingli, the hub, the Volunteer Army concentrated 8 regiments of the 39th, 40th, and 42nd armies.

On the evening of February 13, the battle started.The 357th and 359th regiments of the 119th Division of the 40th Army were the main attackers, and the commander was Commander Xu Guofu of the 119th Division. As soon as the battle started, the volunteers braved the enemy's intensive artillery fire and launched a fierce attack.Upon receiving the news of the volunteer army's attack, Li Qiwei issued a death order: no one is allowed to take half a step back, and those who violate it will be killed without mercy. As a result, the United Nations Army quickly shrank its troops, surrounded the tanks and artillery in a circle, and formed layers of protective firepower nets, making it impossible for volunteers with weak attack capabilities to get close.

After fighting all night, the Volunteer Army did not occupy a main position of the United Nations Army, but the casualties were much greater than expected. What's even more frightening is that at dawn, hundreds of US military planes flew over the sky.The overwhelming planes, like dragonflies all over the sky, searched for signs of volunteers everywhere, and dropped bombs when they saw volunteers. The U.S. planes dropped bombs, fired artillery, and fired machine guns around the circular defensive position for a whole morning.In the afternoon of the battle, the U.S. troops in Topingli were divided into five groups. Under the cover of tanks, they launched a counterattack, causing huge casualties to the volunteers.

By the evening of the 14th, all the attacking troops of the Volunteer Army had arrived.Volunteers launched successive attacks on the circular position of this small basin from all directions.The soldiers of the Volunteer Army braved the layers of intercepting firepower deployed by the US military and charged bravely.The front fell, and the soldiers behind stepped on the corpse and continued to charge. Wave after wave, one after another, seems to never stop. Outside the narrow U.S. positions, the corpses of volunteer soldiers piled up into mountains. Blood flowed like a river. The United Nations army used all the tanks and artillery. They used the densest shells to pour flames around, forming obstacles on the way the Chinese soldiers came.

In order to facilitate the shooting by the U.S. military, the U.S. military's night flight planes dropped patches of dazzling flares suspended by parachutes.Flares, like huge lanterns, illuminate Topei-ri as if it were daytime. In a night of bloody battles, the Volunteers relied on crowd tactics to capture some of the fringe areas of the US positions, tearing a big gap in the ring position. At this time, it was dawn.Now, the overwhelming number of U.S. planes rushed over again, throwing bombs at the attacking volunteers... Until the afternoon of the 15th, the Volunteers suffered heavy losses and were still unable to capture Topingli. As a last resort, they tragically withdrew from the battlefield.

Stopping the attack on Toping-ri was a decision made at the request of the grassroots officers of the Volunteer Army.In the combat history of the PLA, it is rare for a lower-level commander to ask a higher-level commander to "not fight" during a battle. In the Battle of Topingli, the Volunteer Army suffered more than 5,000 casualties. Among them, the 3rd Battalion of the 359th Regiment of the 40th Army was almost wiped out. The United Nations Army only suffered a few hundred casualties. The losses of both sides are really disproportionate. The Volunteer Army's attack on Toping-ri failed.

It was a big failure. After the war, Deng Hua, deputy commander of the Volunteer Army, made a special review. There are too many people to fight crowd tactics, especially when facing the modern U.S. military. The Battle of Topingli made the generals of the U.S. military discover that in addition to great advantages, the Volunteer Army also has great disadvantages; in addition to great strengths, it also has very short weaknesses.Finally, I saw clearly the weaknesses of the Volunteer Army's very weak firepower, very weak ability to attack fortified areas, very difficult logistical supplies, and lack of ability to fight for a long time.

After this battle, the U.S. military is no longer what it used to be. Whenever it encounters a volunteer attack or interlude, it panics, knows to run, and begins to calmly hold its position and fight the Chinese army. The battle of Dipingli made Li Qiwei very excited. The US and South Korean military also spoke highly of the performance of the United Nations Army in Dipingli, believing that "this is a turning point in blocking the Communist Party's attack." The South Korean "History of the Korean War" believes: "The Battle of Topping-ri was the first tactically successful battle between the U.S. Army and the Chinese Communist Army. He even said: "The significance of this victory can be compared with the victory won by the British 8th Army Alamein, and it can also be said to be the second battle of Incheon."