Chapter 37 Remains buried under heavy snow

On the morning of February 13, Paul, the commander of the 23rd Regiment of the 2nd Division of the US Army, looked tired. Colonel L. Freeman was standing on a soil slope in the topping-ri ring position, waiting for the arrival of General Almond, the commander of the U.S. Tenth Army.The sky is still foggy, and the vast snow field is very quiet. It seems that the commander's helicopter will have to wait for a while before it can fly. For two consecutive days and nights, the sound of guns and guns rang out all around Toping-ri, keeping the American colonel in a state of high nervousness.I heard that after the Chinese army attacked Hengcheng on a large scale, the US Second Division and the South Korean Eighth Division were retreating rapidly.Now, in this small circular position in Topingli, all the people are running back and forth amidst the continuous sound of gunfire, and the command post is full of an atmosphere of imminent disaster.Under Freeman's order of "high alert, ready to meet the Chinese attack", the soldiers held their automatic rifles tightly all night, waiting nervously for the sound of Chinese soldiers' rubber soles rubbing against the frozen ground around the position, and the stabbing shots. A small trumpet sounded like a heart.

Two days passed and the Chinese did not come. This morning, the cannon was no longer heard. Maybe the Chinese pushed south?However, the reconnaissance teams sent by Freeman in four directions returned almost at the same time to report that they found Chinese troops gathering troops in the east, west and north.Pilots of reconnaissance planes routinely flying over this area also reported seeing a large Chinese force approaching Dapingli from the north and east.In addition, a reconnaissance team sent by the division headquarters in the morning to try to get in touch with Topingli was attacked by Chinese troops of unknown origin about six kilometers south of Dapingli.Everything could not be more clear: the toppingli position was embedded in the Chinese attack line alone, and the 23rd regiment was surrounded.The Chinese must be planning an attack here, only idiots would wait here for a wave of Chinese attacks.

The 23rd regiment must retreat immediately. Freeman is determined to take the troops away today.The entire front line has moved backwards, and there is no reason for the 23rd Regiment to stand alone here. I hope that guy who always has two grenades hanging around his neck will not forget these brothers of the 23rd Regiment. Freeman couldn't forget the troubles he had encountered while heading north to Topei-ri.In a place called Shuanglian Tunnel, the reconnaissance team of the 23rd Regiment consisting of 60 people was ambushed by the Chinese army. Lieutenant Mitchell led the soldiers to abandon all the heavy equipment and ran to the mountain. Six recruits fell behind because of fear, and they were all killed by Chinese soldiers.The Chinese attacked the mountain again and again, and Freeman sent company F to the rescue. As a result, company F was also caught in the attack of the Chinese army and was on the verge of surrender.It was not until dawn that the survivors were rescued under the cover of aircraft bombing, and the number of dead bodies pulled out by helicopters from that position was twice as many as the living people.

Once the Chinese start attacking, they will never stop easily. They are famous for their tenacity and ferocity. Better not to fight the Chinese. Around noon, Almond's helicopter arrived. The U.S. Second Division is under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Tenth Army.After the Chinese army's counterattack to Hengcheng began, the deteriorating battle situation made Almond lose his temper.He complained on the phone to Li Qiwei that it was the weak and incompetent South Korean army that killed the Tenth Army.He said: "My 2nd Division bore the brunt of the Chinese offensive and suffered heavy losses, especially artillery losses, all due to the hasty retreat of the South Korean 8th Division. The division faced the enemy's night attack The complete collapse exposed the flanks of the Second Division. The South Korean army was very afraid of the CCP soldiers, and almost regarded them as heavenly soldiers and generals. When the Chinese army appeared on the South Korean army positions, many South Korean soldiers The soldiers ran for their lives as fast as they could without looking back!"

As soon as Almond got off the plane, he immediately had a serious study with Freeman on Topira's issue.He listened to Freeman's suggestion of immediate retreat and its reasons. Almond agreed to Freeman's request. At least he felt that there was no need to put this regiment in the jaws of the Chinese army. The confidence to keep going. Almond flew away after saying "agree to retreat". Freeman immediately ordered his staff to draw up an evacuation plan. When Freeman started to pack his luggage, he received an order that he never thought of: don't retreat, stick to Topei-ri!

The order was given by Ji Qiwei himself. Li Qiwei said to Almond: "If you withdraw from Toping, I will withdraw you first!" The decision to stick to Topping Lane is due to Li Qiwei's unique judgment on the entire battle situation, so he has become a real opponent on the battlefield that Peng Dehuai finds difficult. First of all, Li Qiwei believes that the "Thunderbolt Operation" did not suffer serious setbacks due to the counterattack of the Chinese army in the Hengcheng area. The losses of the US Second Division and the South Korean Eighth Division were only the result of the Chinese army's unimportant blocking battle. A kind of all-or-nothing.The local progress of the Chinese army does not mean that their overall plight has been alleviated. The offensive launched reluctantly under extremely difficult circumstances has made the current Chinese army even more difficult.After the United Nations army counterattacked the Chinese army's Hengcheng, the shape of the battle line did not change significantly in quality. If we take advantage of the situation to attack again, it is very likely that the entire front will be cracked, and the "Thunderbolt Operation" will not receive the expected effect.Ridgway believes that Peng Dehuai, whom he once 'grew up' to during his retreat in Seoul, will also see this.Therefore, his conclusion was: "The enemy army believes that it is absolutely necessary to capture Topping-ri, so our army must secure Toping-ri anyway, no matter how much sacrifice is made."

Li Qiwei's combat orders to the Tenth Army are: 1. The 23rd Regiment of the 2nd US Division in Topingli, defend the position in Toppingli; The 18th Regiment immediately reinforced the 23rd Regiment in Topping-ri; 3. The U.S. Ninth Army, the British 27th Brigade and the South Korean Sixth Division moved between Daping-ri and Moonmul-ri to seal off the U.S. The gap in front of the Tenth Army. Toppingli, this small North Korean village is destined to become a place of unprecedented bloody battles. Toppingli is located in a small basin with a diameter of about 5 kilometers and surrounded by small hills: the highest Wangmei Mountain in the south is 297 meters above sea level, 248 highlands in the southwest, 345 highlands in the northwest, and 345 highlands in the north. 207 highlands, 212 highlands in the northeast.

Freeman, who received the order to defend his position, began to redo the defensive deployment.Forming a circular position is of course the best, but its circumference is at least 18 kilometers. Freeman's troops are not enough. Although the strength of the 23rd regiment includes four infantry battalions including the French battalion, as well as an artillery battalion and a tank The squadron has a total number of about 6,000 people, but it is not enough to deploy a non-slit blocking line on such a long circular range.Freeman suffered from the Chinese army getting behind him because of gaps in the defensive position on the Qingchuan River.Finally, Freeman delineated a circular area with a diameter of 1.6 kilometers and began to build positions.

The defense system finally completed by the 23rd Regiment of the 2nd Division of the U.S. Army in Toping-ri is as follows: the first battalion is at the southern end of the 207 highland in the north, the second battalion is at Wangmei Mountain in the south, the third battalion is at the 202 highland in the east, and the French battalion's position The terrain is the worst, it is located on the west side of Topira, surrounded by a flat rice field and the railway line.There were no gaps between the battalions.Even so, Freeman felt the strength was too small and had to reduce reserves to dangerous proportions: the regiment remained to one company, and each company to one platoon.In order to make the 16-kilometer deep area behind the main regiment far away from the division safe, the steel defense can only be strengthened in the middle of the position: Freeman is equipped with six 155mm howitzers, 18 105mm howitzers, one Company of anti-aircraft weapons, 20 tanks and 51 mortars.At the front of the circular position, trenches were dug around the tanks, and anti-personnel mines and lighting petrol bombs were densely arranged.The joints between the positions were all tightly blocked with M-16 anti-aircraft machine guns and tanks as mobile firepower. Even where Chinese soldiers might approach, 23 regiments splashed water to create a steep ice area.

Before sunset on February 13, the 23rd Regiment completed the test firing of the artillery, and tested the communication system between infantry, tanks and artillery, and prepared sufficient ammunition and food for ten days. It was dark, and the silence was eerie.American and French soldiers stood in the trenches of their respective positions, awaiting their unpredictable fate. The Chinese army is indeed going to attack Toping-ri. As far as the Chinese army is concerned, the Hengcheng counterattack has achieved gratifying results. In particular, the troops of the US Second Division in Hengcheng have begun to retreat, and the combat effectiveness of the South Korean Eighth Division has also suffered heavy losses. In order not to be isolated and helpless, the U.S. troops here will definitely retreat to the south, and if they take advantage of their retreat to attack during the movement, it is indeed a good opportunity to expand the results of the war.In addition, the Chinese army's understanding of the enemy's situation in Topingli at that time was: the enemy's forces in less than four battalions had almost escaped, and the enemy was relying on ordinary field fortifications-this was definitely sent to the mouth of the Chinese army. Fat.

Inaccurate judgments of the enemy's situation and blind optimism brought about the idea of ​​underestimating the enemy. As a result, the Chinese army's attack on Toping-ri looked like a hodge-podge organized temporarily: eight regiments were invested in the attack, and eight regiments The regiments come from the 39th, 40th, and 42nd armies, and the 119th division of the 40th army is responsible for the unified command on the battlefield. Xu Guofu, the commander of the 119th Division, couldn't figure it out when he accepted the task.Not to mention that I haven't seen the terrain and have a deep understanding of the enemy's situation, so I disrupted the organizational system to form an attacking force, and let the 119th Division form a "front finger", and Xu Guofu didn't know anything about the situation of other troops. means, it is difficult to coordinate once they fight.Xu Guofu requested that the start of the battle be postponed for a while, so as to understand the enemy's situation and the terrain of the battlefield, and negotiate with the various units participating in the battle. Only when you wake up can you have a little bottom in your heart.But the Eastern Front Command firmly disagreed: "The enemy's situation is only one or two battalions, and some of them may have escaped. The enemy must be caught quickly without delay!" The scheduled attack time for the Topping-ri counterattack is the morning of the door.But at this time, the Chinese army in Toping-ri was unable to attack. Commander Xu Guofu hurriedly convened a meeting of commanders who participated in the attacking force.To Xu Guofu's annoyance, the head of the 359th Regiment of the 40th Army did not come, and the political commissar was sent instead.The 375th Regiment of the 42nd Army only sent a deputy head.However, the deputy commander brought the real situation in Toping-ri: there were not only one or two battalions of enemies there, but the enemies showed no sign of fleeing at all, and they assumed a steadfast posture.Xu Guofu immediately reported the situation to his superiors, but received no response. Just after the meeting was over, news came that surprised Xu Guofu: The 42nd Artillery Regiment, which cooperated in the attack on Topingli, had been attacked by the air because the horses were frightened and exposed the target, and could not participate in the battle on time.This means that the Chinese troops, which are already weak in firepower, have no artillery support and can only fight with light weapons in their hands. At this time, the 375th Regiment of the 125th Division of the 42nd Army was blocked by the enemy on the way to Toppingli. The 356th Regiment of the 119th Division of the 40th Army also failed to arrive on time due to slow action As a result, there were only two regiments, the 357th Regiment and the 359th Regiment, in the direction commanded by Xu Guofu. The attack in which the balance of troops and firepower between the two warring parties in Topingli was seriously out of balance began on the evening of the 13th. Xu Guofu didn't know at the time that there were actually several Chinese troops that also participated in the attack on Toping-ri, but they couldn't contact each other due to backward communication methods. In the chaotic attack, only the fearless dedication of the Chinese soldiers shone brightly in the night of Topping-ri, which was illuminated by fire. The 3rd Battalion and 7th Company of the 357th Regiment, under the leadership of company commander Yin Kaiwen and instructor Wang Yuxun, rushed towards the fiery firepower of the enemy.When the assault platoon passed the ice slope, they suffered heavy losses from the fierce gunfire from the enemy, but they made a tenacious assault fearlessly and occupied the enemy's forward position, but immediately, the position was attacked by extremely violent artillery fire from the US military.The company commander Yin Kaiwen died.The positions began to change hands back and forth between Chinese and American soldiers, and the instructors were sacrificed.With its huge casualties, the Seventh Company competed with it at the front of the U.S. military's position, and they failed to approach the main U.S. position.Guan Degui, the instructor of the 9th Company of the 359th Regiment, is a well-known "demolition hero". In the first battle, he led the soldiers to hold their positions tenaciously, and his hands and feet were severely burned by napalm bombs.In this attack, he led the assault team to the forefront.When he attacked the first hill, his arm was injured, and when he hit the second hill, he was shot in the leg again, and his cotton pants and cotton shoes were soaked in blood. Xu Guofu commanded the two regiments to fight until dawn, but failed to occupy a piece of the enemy's main position, and the casualties of the troops were much greater than expected. When the 115th Division of the 39th Army was ordered to participate in the battle of Dapingli, the whole division was very happy.Because I heard that there were not many enemy troops in Topping, I felt that this time I could make a great contribution.Therefore, when studying the combat plan on the 13th, the division commander Wang Liangtai advocated using the 344th Regiment as the first echelon, the 343rd Regiment as the second echelon, and the 345th Regiment as the reserve team to attack.Wang Fuzhi, the head of the 343rd Regiment, had objections to this proposition. Head Wang was a good fighter who dared to fight hard. He felt that he was unwilling to be included in the second echelon, and he was somewhat "selfish": there were only a few enemies in Topping. , Followed the three, four and four regiments to go in, didn't they lose any merit.Therefore, Wang Fuzhi proposed that the 343rd Regiment and the 344th Regiment should fight side by side. The division commander and the political commissar exchanged views and agreed to Wang Fuzhi's suggestion. At dusk, the three, four and three regiments began to attack.When they captured the first hill, they reported to the division headquarters: "We have hit Topping-ri!" The answer from division headquarters was: attack and capture! When Wang Fuzhi opened the map again to check it, he realized that what they had captured was not at all Dapingli, but a hill called Mashan on the outskirts of Dapingli.What surprised Wang Fuzhi even more was that it was only through the interrogation of the captives that Toppingli did not "have many enemies" at all. Not to mention tanks and artillery, there were more than 6,000 troops alone! Wang Fuzhi quickly reported to the division headquarters, and immediately ordered the troops to prepare for the enemy's counterattack to the periphery of Mashan before dawn. The 376th Regiment of the 126th Division of the 42nd Army that participated in the attack on Toping-ri also made the same mistake as the 343rd Regiment.This regiment was assigned to the 39th Army. After receiving the order to attack Pipingli, the regiment leader Zhang Zhichao immediately led the troops into action.They quickly took down a hill blocking their attack route, and followed the route indicated on the map, rushing towards Toping-ri.When they should reach Pipingli according to the judged direction and the calculated travel time, they found a small village in the valley. In the night, there were open land, houses, roads, and railways, all of which were consistent with the Dapingli sign on the map, so the 376th Regiment started the storm without hesitation.The second battalion took the lead, the regiment's artillery suppressed the enemy's firepower, and the third battalion cooperated from the flanks. The soldiers of the sharp knife squad rushed into the village with more than a dozen grenades and threw them together.The U.S. troops guarding here couldn't stand it anymore, and retreated into the dark night.Zhang Zhizhao excitedly reported to the division headquarters: "We have occupied Topingli!" The headquarters was very happy when they heard it. They didn't expect Topping to be so easy to fight, and there are still a few regiments that haven't been used yet!So he ordered the 377th Regiment, which was moving forward at the same time to attack Toping Li, to stop advancing, because the battle in Toping Li was over. After all, Huang Jingyao, the commander of the 126th Division, was an experienced commander. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that things might not be so easy, so he called Zhang Zhichao and asked, "Please take a closer look, is the road turning to the southwest? Is the railway Didn't it turn to the southeast?" Zhang Zhichao said: "The roads and railways here run parallel to the south!" Huang Jingyao's head buzzed loudly: "Zhang Zhichao! You missed a big deal for me! The place you conquered is called Tiangu, and Topingli is still southeast of Tiangu! Attack on Topingli immediately!" The 376th Regiment hurriedly concentrated its troops, with the first battalion as the main attack, and attacked the real Dipingli.With the support of 7 mountain guns and 23 mortars, the first battalion attacked Topping-ri three times in a row. The shells were quickly exhausted, and the loss of troops could not be replenished. At dawn, there was no result. On the 14th, daytime arrived. The U.S. military planes came overwhelmingly and took turns shooting and bombing all the positions of the Chinese army like never before.The officers and soldiers of the Chinese army have never seen so many planes concentrated in such a palm-sized sky since they entered North Korea to fight.U.S. aircraft bombed for a whole morning, and then the U.S. and French troops in Topingli began to dispatch tanks and infantry to launch an extremely fierce counterattack against the Chinese army's position.In the Mashan position of the 2nd Battalion of the 343rd Regiment, there were as many as five American and French troops attacking from Topingli. The firepower was so strong that the Chinese soldiers on the position could not hold their heads up.The Second Battalion suffered heavy casualties, and the organizational system of squads and platoons had been disrupted. However, the U.S. troops coming from different directions launched charges again and again. The second battalion commander Wang Shaobo changed his voice on the phone to the regiment commander Wang Fuzhi: " Commander! Give the order to retreat! Otherwise, the Second Battalion will be wiped out!" Wang Fuzhi's answer was: "If you lose your position, I will kill your head!" After finishing speaking, Wang Fuzhi regretted that he shouldn't have said such words to his subordinates at such a moment.However, isn't it necessary to resolutely attack Toppingli? If Mashan, the superior terrain of the attack, is lost, how can we continue to fight? Wang Shaobo insisted on commanding the soldiers to persist in the Mashan position for a whole day. Although the casualties were huge, the position was not lost. In the other direction, the positions of the 359th regiment had no fortifications to cover. U.S. planes dived and bombed and strafed back and forth. Some of these planes came from aircraft carriers of the U.S. Navy, some came from the airport in Pusan, South Korea, and heavy bombers came from Banzui Airport in Japan.They passed at a very low altitude, and the howling sound was deafening. The high ground adjacent to the position of the 359th Regiment is still under the control of the U.S. military. The U.S. military uses tank direct-firing artillery and M-1 anti-aircraft machine guns on the high ground to shoot at the Chinese position at close range from a condescending position. Being suppressed, he was helpless and passively beaten.As soon as the head of the regiment, Li Linyi, conveyed the order of "holding the ground" to the battalions on the telephone, the line was cut off.I wanted to get in touch with the third battalion in the front, but the third battalion couldn't hear it at all during the continuous bombing.Li Linyi gave the communication company a death order: the telephone line must be connected!As a result, seven telephone operators rushed up in a row, all of them fell on the way, and none of them survived. It was finally getting dark, and it was time for the Chinese soldiers who had survived the day to attack the main position in Toping-ri. On the night of the 14th, all the regiments of the Chinese army participating in the fortified battle of Pipingli had arrived, and they began to attack this small circular position of less than two square kilometers from all directions. In the flash of continuous explosions of shells and grenades, the front positions of the battalions of the US 23rd Regiment were in a state of fierce fighting at the same time.The Chinese soldiers braved the layer after layer of intercepting firepower arranged by the US military and charged fearlessly. The soldiers in front fell down, and the soldiers behind stepped forward on the corpses.The shadows of jumping Chinese soldiers are everywhere in the circular position, these figures are because of the cotton clothes.Looks bloated, but they're fleeting as they roll forward.All the tanks and artillery of the U.S. military sprayed flames around at the most intensive firing speed, forming a wall of bullets raining on every road that the Chinese soldiers came to attack.Near midnight, the fierce battle reached its climax. Echoing the blood flowing on the ground, it was a dense group of flares that rose above the battlefield about every five minutes. Continuously passing through the white light of the flares in parallel or crosswise.The night flight aircraft supported by the U.S. military dropped even more dazzling flares suspended by parachutes, which swayed over the heads of the soldiers on both sides in Topingli like huge lanterns for a long time. The U.S. position in the direction of Wangmeishan fell at midnight. Only Sergeant Schmidt was left alive in one platoon of Company G of the Second Battalion, and only six soldiers were left in the third platoon.Under the strict order of the battalion commander Edward, the company commander Heath was supplemented by a special platoon and several tanks drawn by the regiment commander Freeman from the regiment reserve, and began to counterattack the Chinese army.However, the mortars that the U.S. military was responsible for covering were suppressed by the artillery fire of the Chinese army, and six casualties occurred before the counterattack soldiers rushed far.While continuing to charge forward, Chinese bullets shot from the side, and the position next to it was also occupied by the Chinese army.The assault platoon soon suffered all casualties. Hiss personally led the soldiers to attack, but was knocked down by bullets on an upper ridge.A soldier dragged him back, and Captain Ramsbag who came up saw this scene under the light of the flare: the soldier's arm was smashed, and a piece of skin hung on the broken wound.With one hand he was pulling a man, Heath, who had been shot in the chest and was unconscious.At this time, the Chinese soldiers started another round of assault, and only a few of the remaining soldiers of Company G fled back to the ring position alive. There was also a French battalion fighting the Chinese soldiers all night in the toppingli ring position.French Battalion by Ralph.Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Moncla.Ralph is a legendary French soldier whose military uniform is covered with various military medals. He has been wounded 16 times in the battles he has experienced, and now one leg still hurts badly.When the Korean War began, he was the Inspector General of the French Foreign Legion with the rank of lieutenant general. He considered it an honor to lead the French army to participate in the Korean War and voluntarily demoted his rank to lieutenant colonel.When the Chinese army began to charge, the old lieutenant colonel ordered the hand-cranked siren to be sounded, and the sharp and shrill sound of the siren resounded through the night sky.The French soldiers did not wear helmets, wore red turbans on their heads, and shouted the slogan "Camoloni". "Camoloni" is the name of a Mexican village. In this village 90 years ago, 65 soldiers of the French Foreign Legion died in battle with Mexican soldiers, and none of them surrendered.Most of the soldiers in this French battalion are veterans of the original French Foreign Legion.While fighting with the Chinese soldiers with bayonets, they also said to the American soldiers who ran down from the front: "Damn it, go back to the mountain over there! Anyway, you have to die, you might as well die on the mountain!" However, the French The counterattack also failed in succession. Commander Freeman had to use the reserve team to block the swarming Chinese soldiers. However, due to the loss of the position of G Company, the Chinese army had opened a big gap in the ring position, and the ring changed. became concave. Just when there was a crisis in the topping-ri ring position, Colonel Freeman, the head of the 23rd regiment, was shot in the arm. It was also at this critical moment that the scenario that the Chinese army was least willing to see appeared: the sky dawned again. Simultaneously with the bloody battle at Toping-ri, and equally brutal, there was also a battle against reinforcements by the Chinese army in the direction of U.S. reinforcements to Toping-ri.There, the flesh and blood of Chinese soldiers had to face the rolling in of American tanks. On the 13th, when Topingli began to be attacked by the Chinese army, Li Qiwei ordered the 38th Regiment of the Second US Division to immediately go north for reinforcements.The thirty-eighth regiment did not go far, and was blocked by the Chinese army. The two sides fought fiercely and formed a stalemate. On the 14th, Colonel Freeman in Toppingli made Li Qiwei upset by calling again and again for immediate reinforcements. He had to send reinforcements to rescue the 23rd Regiment under siege.However, the U.S. Tenth Army has no troops that can be mobilized in front of it. If it sends more troops, it has to use the reserve force.If the defensive side in the war reaches the point of using the reserve force, it at least shows that the deployment of troops on the entire defense line is stretched. Almond later said that at that time, the frontal defense line of the Tenth Army had a large gap between Wonju and Yangpyeong-ri due to the prominence of Topyeong-ri. If the Chinese army did not concentrate on attacking Topyeong-ri, but While besieging Topping-ri, if a violent attack on the scale of Hengcheng's counterattack is carried out in the direction of Wonju, then the eastern front of the United Nations army will definitely collapse. Almond's words are reasonable; however, he has not had a deeper insight into the laws of the Chinese army's "Saturday Offensive" than his boss, Ridgway.It was the battle of Hengcheng that caused the 2nd Division of the United States and the 8th Division of South Korea to be hit and retreated, which created a dangerous gap in the Wonju defense line. However, it has been more than ten days since the Chinese army launched the Hengcheng counterattack. The time for the Chinese army to continue a large-scale offensive can only be eight days, and it takes at least one to two months to prepare for a new campaign after the large-scale offensive is over. There is no possibility.If the Chinese army has the ability to continue to carry out large-scale offensives, it will not wait until now. All the United Nations troops, including Almond himself, have already entered and left North Korea by boat. Li Qiwei ordered the Fifth Regiment of the First Division of the U.S. Cavalry to go north immediately to reinforce Topingli. He asked the Fifth Regiment to break through Topingli no matter what scale of resistance they encountered, even if only one tank entered. Li Qiwei is determined to stick to Topingli at all costs. The commander of the Fifth Regiment of the First Division of the U.S. Cavalry was Colonel Colomber. On the afternoon of the 14th, the Fifth Regiment gathered troops six kilometers south of Topingli.It was a large and mixed force; the entire strength of the Fifth Regiment plus two field artillery battalions, a tank company equipped with M-1 heavy tanks, two tank platoons equipped with MA-76G tanks, an engineer company, A large convoy loaded with various supplies to support Dapingli, and a health company specially prepared to go to Topingli to deal with casualties of US troops. In view of the crisis in Topira, the reinforcements set off at noon on the 14th, regardless of the U.S. military's practice of not fighting at night. Tanks cover the front and back, and the infantry, artillery, engineers, and convoys are in the middle. The reinforcement team extends for a full three kilometers on the narrow dirt road. The troops advanced about a kilometer, and a bridge on the dirt road was blown up by Chinese troops.The whole march was stopped, waiting for the engineers to repair the bridge.At this time, when the Chinese army was attacking Topping-ri five kilometers away, Colonel Freeman, who was already injured, called Colonel Colombetz on the phone and shouted: "Come to me quickly!" It took one night for the bridge to be repaired. On the morning of the 15th, the fifth regiment continued to set off.As soon as they crossed the bridge, they were immediately blocked by the Chinese army.The blocking fire came from the high ground on both sides, and the march stopped again.Since it was daytime, the Fifth Regiment, with the support of U.S. aircraft, launched to the high ground on both sides of the road. The 36 artillery pieces of the 1st and 2nd Battalions and the 2 Artillery Battalions covered the 3rd Battalion and the convoy moving forward along the road. The 116th Division of the 39th Army of China and the 126th Division of the 42nd Army of the Chinese Army blocked the Fifth Regiment of the First Division of the US Cavalry. This is probably the most tenacious resistance encountered by the five regiments of the first division of the US cavalry since they fought in North Korea.The Chinese army occupied all the favorable terrain on the side of the road, and they fired from a high position. Although the firepower was not as fierce as that of the U.S. military, the mortars of the Chinese army landed very accurately, and the targets of the convoy and tanks stopped on the road were very obvious, so Casualties were high.The first battalion and the second battalion of the fifth regiment attacked the high grounds on both sides respectively. With the support of air firepower, they began to take down the high grounds one by one, but the high grounds were often counterattacked immediately after they were occupied. "The Chinese army with huge casualties seems to be fighting more and more. The endurance of Chinese soldiers and their ability to withstand death are amazing." Colonel Kolomber said after the war. The evaluation of the Chinese army's Qushuili blockade by the US military history is: "very resolute and extremely tenacious." The battle between the Fifth Regiment and the Chinese blocking force continued until noon, without moving. The 23rd U.S. Army Regiment in Toping-ri was still under attack from the Chinese army. This time, the Chinese army continued to attack during the day. It seemed that the situation in Toping-ri was really bad.The reinforcement of the Fifth Regiment was slow due to being stopped by the Chinese army, and Colonel Colombetz was caught in the scolding of Li Qihui and Freeman.At noon, he realized that he would either be dealt with by the military law, or create a miracle, and there was no third choice. It is only five kilometers away from Toping-ri, such a short distance is so far away. Finally, Colonel Colombetz finally made up his mind: Regardless of the trucks full of supplies, the soldiers wrestling with the Chinese soldiers, or even the artillery, he wanted to lead a tank unit himself. Wearing thick armor, he rushed to Topping. Colombe was determined to die. At 15:00 p.m., the formation of the tank detachment was completed: 23 tanks together, four engineers who were specialized in demining took the second tank, the commander of the tank company took the fourth to command the advance of the tank, and the colonel himself took the fifth tank Commanding the overall situation, the commander of the third battalion and the commander of company L took the sixth vehicle to command the infantry, and the 160 soldiers of company L of the third battalion squatted on the tanks behind to follow the impact.At the same time, the 1st Battalion and 2nd Battalion were ordered to advance and cover both sides of the road. The artillerymen had to suppress the blocking firepower of the Chinese army even if they fired all the shells. Possible artillery and bombing. At the end of the tank unit, there is a truck for the wounded. As for whether this truck can rush into Topping, it depends on its luck. Colombetz called Freeman: "I'm afraid the transport company and infantry can't get in. I want to use armored units to rush in. How about it?" Freeman said, "I don't give a fuck if anyone else comes, you're coming!" Forty-five minutes later, the desperate tank detachment moved forward. The U.S. bombers began to bombard all the high ground along the road ahead of the tank unit, and the two battalions of U.S. troops on both sides of the road launched a pincer fire attack on the Chinese blocking position with all their strength. The liaison plane circled back and forth overhead to guide the artillery to shoot And the task of reporting the enemy situation ahead.The interval between each tank in the tank unit is 50 meters, and the length of the entire assault unit is 1.5 kilometers. Near Topingli, there is a village called Qushuili. As soon as the tank unit saw the houses in the village, they were violently intercepted by mortars from the Chinese army, and the long tank team was forced to stop.No matter how suppressed the firepower of the planes in the sky and the tanks on the ground, the bullets of the Chinese soldiers still rained down.The task of the infantry on the tank was to cover the advance of the tank, but these infantry quickly jumped off the tank and ran into the snow pit on the side of the road to hide.Colombetz yelled over the intercom: "We killed hundreds of Chinese!" But he couldn't stop the infantry on the tank from escaping.Dozens of infantrymen, including two officers, were thrown down as the tanks moved on. Qushuili is a small village, and the road passes through the center of the village.Chinese soldiers shot at the tank units entering the village from the high ground on both sides of the village. The grenades exploded on the tanks. Although the thickly armored tanks could not be blown up, the infantry on the tanks had nowhere to hide.Some Chinese soldiers jumped directly from the roofs on both sides of the road to tanks to fight with American soldiers, and placed explosives on the tanks to detonate.The commander of the tank company asked to stop and fight back because some tanks were already burning, but Colonel Kolomber refused. He shouted: "Rush forward! Stop and it will be over!" After passing through the village of Qushuili, several tanks of the tank unit were destroyed, leaving only 60 of the 160 soldiers of L Company who took the tanks. About two kilometers away from Toping, the road passed through a dangerous pass: this is an extremely narrow gap cut on the mountainside on the right side of Wangmei Mountain, with a total length of 140 meters. The wall is as high as 15 meters, and the road width can barely pass a tank. When Korombets' first tank entered the pass, an anti-tank rocket from the Chinese army hit the tank's turret.After the second tank with four engineers entered the pass, rockets and blasters exploded on both sides of the tank at the same time, knocking out all the engineers on the tank.The hardest hit was the fourth tank that the commander of the tank company was riding in. After being hit by a rocket, except for the driver who was still alive, the rest, including the commander of the tank company Shiaz, all died.The surviving driver cranked up the gas pedal of the burning tank to the maximum and slammed into the remaining wrecked tanks, finally keeping the narrow pass road unblocked. 在悬崖上面的中国士兵把成束的手榴弹和数个捆在一起的炸药包扔了下来。坦克连连长死了，没人指挥坦克的前进。冲过了隘口的坦克调回头压制中国士兵对隘口的攻击，没有通过的坦克也在后面向中国士兵开火。一直跟随坦克搭乘到这里的步兵成了中国士兵射击的靶子。至于队伍最后面的那辆收容伤员的卡车，虽在中国军队的夹击下一直跟随到这里，但它只是到了这里，卡车被打坏了，车上的伤员全部下落不明。 冲过隘口，柯罗姆贝茨在坦克中立即看见了在砥平里外围射击的美军坦克以及与中国士兵混战在一起的美军士兵。他立即命令与砥平里的美军坦克会合，然后向中国军队围攻砥平里的阵地开炮。 砥平里的美军二十三团听说骑兵一师五团到达的消息，如同得到百万援军一般欢呼起来。 实际上，美骑兵一师五团的增援部队到达砥平里的只有十几辆坦克和23名步兵，23名步兵中包括13名伤员。增援的坦克一路冲杀过来基本上已经没有弹药了。因此柯罗姆贝茨上校九死一生地到达了砥平里，除了给了二十三团以心理上的支援外，没有军事上的实际意义。 所幸的是，15日下午，中国军队停止了攻击。 对砥平里攻击的停止是在中国基层军官的坚决要求下决定的。 在中国军队的战史中，下级指挥员在战斗中向上级指挥员提出“不打”的要求，砥平里属罕见一例。 对砥平里之战意见最大的是第三十九军军长吴信泉将军。 2月6日，上级的指示是：第四十二军集中力量打砥平里。 但后来因为第四十二军距离砥平里太远，这个命令没有执行。 后来，命令第四十军和第四十二军各派一个师包围砥平里，但最后对砥平里实施的包围仅仅是在北面和西面。在东、南方向没有中国部队，还叫什么包围呢？原来的指示是：第三十九军的一一五师和一一六师沿汉江北岸东进，一一七师到龙头里集各结，但实际上还没等到集结，一一七师又奉命南进。横城反击战结束，一一五师受命西进，从东面打砥平里，部队前后绕了一个大圈子，这样的调度别说打仗，急行军也把部队拖垮了。一一五师由于距离砥平里的路程远，直到12日下午15时才攻击到马山，而在一一五师打马山的时候，砥平里的西、北两面都没有枪声，后来才知道第四十军和第四十二军是上半夜攻击的，后半夜攻击停止了。 15日上午，吴信泉军长接到关于对砥平里攻击的三个师一律归第四十军指挥的命令时，他已感到仗打到这个份上已经显示出诸多不利的迹象。邓华指挥部完全可以直接指挥三个师作战，怎么打到困难重重的时候反而突然变更指挥权呢？而“邓指”又打来电话，命令16日务必拿下砥平里。在砥平里坚守的美军并非原来估计的兵力数字，不但有6000人之多，而且防御工事十分坚固，我军以野战方式攻击根本攻不动，况且敌人的飞机、大炮、坦克的火力十分猛烈，我军参加攻击的三个师所有的火炮加起来才3O多门。兵力和火力的对比如此悬殊，16日拿下砥平里的依据是什么呢？ 战士的伤亡实在是太大了，已经不能再这样伤亡下去了。 当邓华指挥部给第四十军打来电话，责成第四十军军长温玉成统一指挥对砥平里的攻击，并要求“十六日务必拿下砥平里”时，温玉成几天以来积存的不满爆发了。这位富有战斗经验的军长明确地表示，这场对砥平里的战斗，是没有协同的一场乱仗，是以我之短对敌人所长的一场打不胜的战斗，必须立即退出攻击。 温玉成军长直接给邓华打了电话，明确建议撤出战斗。 邓华让温玉成“不要放下电话”，立即向彭德怀报告了温玉成的建议。 彭德怀表示同意。 15日下午18时30分，志愿军总部收到“邓指”的电报：彭洪解并金韩：各路敌均已北援砥平里之敌，骑五团已到曲水里。 今上午已有五辆坦克到砥平里，如我再歼砥平里之敌将处于完全被动无法机动，乃决心停止攻击砥平里之敌。已令四十军转移至石阳、高松里、月山里及其以北地区。三十九军转移至新仓里、金旺里、上下桂林地区。四十二军转移至蟾江北岸院垡里、将山岘以北地区。六十六军转移至原州以北地区。一二六师转移至多文里、大兴里及川北地区，并以一部控制注邑山。各军集结后。再寻消灭运动之敌。因时机紧迫未等你回电即行处理毕。 砥平里战斗结束。 砥平里战斗，中国军队的伤亡人数是惊人的。参加攻击的中国军队八个团中，仅第四十军参加攻击的三个团就伤亡1830余人。三五九团三营的官兵几乎全部伤亡，三营营长牛振厚在撤退时说什么也不离开遍布着他的士兵尸体的阵地，最后硬被拖下来。三五七团团长孟灼华在向上级汇报士兵伤亡的情况时，因痛苦万分而泣不成声。 中国军队对砥平里的攻击是失败的。 战后，志愿军邓华副司令员为此做了专门的检讨。 15日夜，天降大雪。 当晚，砥平里环形阵地中的美军士兵和法军士兵紧张地等待着中国军队的再次攻击。大雪中，阵地的周围先是漆黑一片，然后突然出现了密集的火把，但是中国军队没有攻击。火把在低平里环形阵地的四周晃动了整整一夜，天亮的时候，阵地的周围白雪茫茫，天地间一片寂静。 15日夜，中国士兵们在火把的照明下，寻找并且抬走了阵亡官兵的遗体，没有寻找到的，便很快被纷飞的大雪掩埋了。 中国士兵抬着伤员和阵亡战友的遗体，押解着俘虏开始向北转移。 第三十九军指挥部撤退时，经过了一个星期前横城反击战中一一七师歼灭美二师九团一部的鹤谷里战场。战场的公路上依旧布满了残破的坦克和汽车，横七竖八的美军士兵的尸体僵硬地躺在雪地上，很多尸体已经被美军自己投下的凝固汽油弹烧成一团焦炭。不远的地方，由第三十九军军保卫部押解着的300多名美军俘虏正在一个小村庄里碾米，为他们自己准备行军的干粮、他们似乎已很内行地在大雪中围着牛拉的石碾子转圈。 40多年后，一位美国历史学家在南朝鲜收集关于朝鲜战争的资料时，特别访问了砥平里。一位南朝鲜老人说，他当年曾经在这里掩埋过中国人民志愿军士兵的尸体。根据老人提供的线索，美国历史学家在北纬37℃线附近挖出了19具中国士兵的遗骸，遗骸四周的冻土里还散埋着中国士兵用过的遗物，包括军装、子弹、水壶、牙刷、胶鞋等等。 1989年5月12日，中国新华社电告：新近在南朝鲜境内发现的中国人民志愿军烈士遗骸安葬仪式，今天下午在朝鲜军事分界线边境城市开城的中国人民志愿军烈士陵园举行。我十九具烈士遗骨，是今天上午在板门店召开的朝鲜军事停战委员会第四百九十五次秘书长会议上，由军事停战委员会“联合国军”方面移交给朝中方面的。这是自朝鲜战争停战以后，在南朝鲜境内发现志愿军烈士遗骨最多的一次。同时发现的还有数百件志愿军烈士用过的各种遗物，也已交给朝中方面。