Chapter 41 Steady and Hard

Chapter 41 Steady and Hard

In the tunnel of the division headquarters, shoulder to shoulder, foot to foot, a large group of people sat crowded. They were the commanders and political commissars of the regiments of the 180th Division, including me and Li Pinghe, of course. Stalin's death was not a trivial matter, so Master Pang immediately called an emergency meeting.

Before the meeting began, the cadres in the tunnel were talking, and Master Pang was also frowning, looking at the map silently, and looking through the documents from time to time to find something......

The atmosphere in the tunnel was tense and gloomy for a while, because everyone knew that the situation on the Korean battlefield was already very good for our army. The US military, which is the main force of the United Nations, has already retreated at this time, and because Eisenhower made a promise during the election campaign to end the Korean War with dignity and as soon as possible, the more time drags on, the more detrimental it will be to the credibility of the US military and Eisenhower.

Of course, although the Syngman Rhee clique has constantly interfered with and sabotaged the negotiations for the sake of its own interests, everyone knows that they will not be able to set off a storm without the support of the US military.

This is indeed the case, according to the information I know in modern times, when Syngman Rhee wanted to break away from the United Nations forces and go it alone, he expressed dissatisfaction with the US military at every turn, and even went against the Yankees. The U.S. politician even considered whether to assassinate Syngman Rhee, or to take control of the Syngman Rhee clique and replace it with a new puppet.

So in this situation, it seems that we just need to keep this situation and wait for it.

But the world is impermanent, and at this time there were major problems within the Soviet Union. If this problem had appeared before the volunteers changed their uniforms, perhaps it would not have had much impact. But now that the volunteer army has been reequipped, and most of the equipment comes from the Soviet Union, it is undoubtedly a matter of moving the whole body

What's more, it will also make the negotiations more confusing.

The US politicians, who have always been cunning, will naturally not let go of such a good opportunity, and they who originally wanted to continue to make concessions at the negotiating table will of course become tougher at this time; The U.S. military, which originally intended to replace the Syngman Rhee regime, will continue to support South Korea at this time.

The Yankees do not still want to fight the Korean War, but hope to end the Korean War more decently and give American citizens a better 'account'.

"Comrades" Master Pang finally spoke, he stood up, took a long breath, 'straightened' his 'chest' as if he was brave in front of something, and said firmly: "I believe that comrades have received the telegram and know what is happening, yes, Comrade Stalin has died of illness." The meaning of the Soviet side was to solve their internal problems first and have the will to end the war as soon as possible."

With a coax, the cadres in the tunnel were 'chaotic'.

Although the soldiers were prepared, they were a little unwilling when they really heard the results. Another meaning of ending the war as soon as possible is to 'hand' the initiative into the hands of the enemy, and it is also necessary to make concessions at the negotiating table......

"Comrades," Commander Pang raised his hand to signal his comrades to be quiet, and then said: "What the superiors mean is that it is obvious that the US military has no intention of fighting and is eager to rely on negotiations to end the war, but the puppet army has insisted on using various methods to try to sabotage the negotiations, and has not hesitated to forcibly detain prisoners of war in disguise at the risk of the world's condemnation, and has even repeatedly threatened to rely on the puppet army's own strength to unify Korea. In view of the bad behavior of the puppet army and the fact that they did not have the slightest sincerity in negotiating, the higher authorities decided to teach them a lesson, so that they could understand that it is impossible to reunify Korea by relying on the puppet army alone, that it is not self-sufficient, and that they will understand that the pace of peace cannot be stopped, that this is the cry of the Korean people, and even the people of the whole world, and that it is the wish of the people of the whole world, and that everything that goes against this voice and wish must be resolutely defeated."

"It's good to beat the"

"Whoever disobeys will be beaten"

"Just because they also want to unify North Korea, they don't call themselves a few pounds and a few taels"

……

As soon as Commander Pang's words fell, the cadres expressed their approval one after another, and expressed their shame against the puppet army's behavior of wanting to go it alone.

It is said that for some time now, the soldiers have long heard of the actions of the puppet army, such as the forcible detention of prisoners, the shooting of prisoners, and the incident of agents...... The soldiers were all indignant at the puppet army's blatant acts of violating peace and negotiating agreements. But in order not to destroy the overall situation of the negotiation, so they have been holding it in their hearts, and at this time, when they heard Master Pang say that they wanted to fight, how could they hold back the anger in their hearts, and everyone rolled up their sleeves and raised their hands to scold. Regardless of whether he fights or not, he will take a bad breath first.

I didn't speak, because I had expected it all a long time ago.

At this time, there were two people looking at me, one was Master Pang, and the other was Li Pinghe.

I know why they are looking at me, and Division Commander Pang is looking at me, because this plan to fight the puppet army was originally set by me, and I have said before that the advantages can deepen the contradictions between the puppet army and the US army, and can also speed up the process of ending the war. But I don't think my superiors would have agreed to my plan if it hadn't been for Stalin's death.

The reason is very simple, if everything is normal, the volunteers do not need to attack, they just need to guard and wait like this, let the Yankees go in a hurry, we can't fight for the lives of tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of volunteer soldiers to risk this, just to let the war end quickly. If so many lives had been piled up, it would not have been worth it even if the war had ended a few days earlier.

But now the situation is different, and the problems on the part of the Soviet Union dictate that we must speed up the process and delay the change. So my plan was a matter of course and there was value again.

The reason why Li Pinghe looked at me was even simpler, he had argued with me before about whether it was necessary to secretly dig a tunnel on the enemy's 902.8 height, and now it turns out that all these preparations are completely necessary. This gives us an extra killer weapon that allows us to quickly take down the enemy in front of us and open up gaps in the enemy's defenses

"Comrades" waited for the soldiers to be quieter, and Master Pang continued: "Don't think that there is nothing to make in fighting the puppet army, you must know that these guys in the puppet army are more stubborn than the Yankees, and if they don't beat them to the ground, they will not honestly admit defeat, and with the help of the Americans, the puppet army has 'sophisticated' weapons, and the level of equipment and firepower is no different from that of the US army." The number of troops has also increased substantially, reaching 16 infantry divisions, and one division is being expanded, with a total of more than 640,000 troops together with its navy and air force. There has also been a general increase in position fortifications, perhaps because we were scared by our tunnel fortifications on Shangganling, and we found that the puppet army positions also built a large number of tunnels or tunnel-style shelters to steal divisions from us."

There was a loud cry of laughter from the soldiers, and many of them turned their eyes to me. Because they know that I am part of Shangganling.

"I would like to specially remind the comrades to pay attention to ......" After the soldiers laughed for a while, Division Commander Pang then said seriously: "Comrades must not underestimate our opponents, because the puppet army has a wealth of lessons from being beaten."

Now the warriors laughed even louder.

"This is the arrangement of our army," Commander Pang beckoned, and one of the guards brought a kerosene lamp and held it up to the map, so that the soldiers could see it clearly.

"There are a total of six armies participating in the battle on the front line of our army," Commander Pang said, pointing to the map: "From west to east, they are the 46th, 1st, 23rd, 24th, 67th, and 60th armies. In terms of the United Nations Army, from west to east, there are the 1st Marine Division, the 2nd South Division, the 9th South Division, the Capital Division, the 6th, 8th, 5th, 20th, 12th, 11th, and 15th Divisions in the South, and the 45th Division of the United States, with a total strength of more than 700,000 troops on the front line.

The instructions given to us by the higher authorities were that the main purpose was to destroy the enemy, to train the troops, to gain experience, to cooperate with the negotiations of the Ban 'Men' shop, and to pay due attention to improving the existing positions. On this basic 'spirit' mentality, the higher authorities demanded that all units select one or two targets of the enemy in front of them, and that the defending enemy should be limited to no less than two platoons and no more than one battalion, and that they should be able to 'strike steadily and relentlessly.' ”

After a pause, Division Commander Pang went on to explain: "Steady, first, we must be prepared for a protracted battle, and we can't rush it. Second, after the counterattack begins, it is necessary to be prepared to meet the enemy and carry out two or three large-scale retaliations on the whole front. To strike hard means to let go of the enemy and fight the enemy when we are ready and can cope with any counterattack by the enemy, and to strike hard at the enemy, and we must do the ...... that 'if we do not fight, we will be annihilated, if we attack, we will be defeated, and if we attack, we will be solid'."

Listening to Commander Pang's words, I couldn't help but wonder, this didn't seem to be like the battle plan I inadvertently drew on the battle map, in fact, that plan was the Battle of Jincheng in history. But what Commander Pang said now is a little different from the Battle of Jincheng......

Looking at the map in a daze, I quickly understood after thinking about it.

At first glance, the front of the puppet army near Jincheng looks like a protruding pocket, and at the top of this pocket is Jincheng. At the two ends of the mouth of the bag are Jinhua and Wendeng, where we are stationed.

On such a front, anyone knows that the best way to play is to break through the enemy's defense line and threaten the rear of Jinhua with the troops guarding both ends of the bag, once the two armies are allowed to catch the bag, then the enemy of Jincheng is the fate of being surrounded and annihilated. Even if they can't contain the bag, the puppet army in Jincheng has only one way to retreat.

But why didn't Master Pang's plan do so? I think this should be 'confusing' and 'confusing' the enemy's sight.

We will think of it, and of course the enemy will think of it, and if we attack Jinhua and Wendeng as soon as we go into battle, even if the enemy is a fool, he will be able to guess what we want to do. The most likely result of this is that the puppet army sent a large number of reinforcements in Jinhua and Wendeng to organize an impregnable defensive line. This is certainly not what we want.

Fighting will allow the enemy to see through the combat intentions of our army, but it will not work if you don't fightOver the past few months, the puppet army has built strong fortifications on the front, with a depth of several kilometers. That is to say, it is not only the 902.8, 973 and 883.7 heights in front of us, but also a few kilometers behind them, where there are high grounds, there are fortifications and troops of the puppet army. This may also be the importance of the puppet army considering the strategic location of Wendeng and Jinhua.

If you don't fight, once you launch a general attack on Jincheng, then the volunteer army will have no way to break through such a thick defensive depth of the puppet army in one fell swoop.

So for today's plan, the only way to do it is to grind slowly. The troops of the entire front chose one or two targets in retaliation, and only targeted the enemy below the battalion level, so that they would not attract the enemy's attention and let them see through our strategic intentions, and at the same time, we could slowly thin down the enemy's defenses in depth so as to prepare for the final battle of Jincheng.

"For different targets, we have to adopt different combat methods," Division Commander Pang continued: "The first type of target, the enemy's position has strong fortifications, tunnels, and favorable terrain. Second, the enemy's position is well fortified, but there are no good tunnels or the terrain is not very favorable, so after conquering, it is necessary to immediately renovate the fortifications, and use the first and second echelons to engage in a see-saw repeated struggle with the enemy, until the enemy no longer attacks. The third type of target, where the enemy's fortifications are not strong and the terrain is unfavorable, will adopt the method of 'taking a bite', and immediately evacuate after conquering, and choose another target to attack......"

When I heard this, I understood it, and I was even more firm in my conjecture about the strategic intentions of my superiors.

Another implication of whether to hold on or not depends on whether the enemy's fortifications are strong or not is to seize the main points. The reason is very simple, only on important high grounds, the puppet army will 'spend' time, 'fine' strength and money to build strong fortifications

"Do you still have any problems, comrades?" Finally, Master Pang asked.

"No problem"

"No problem"

……

The warriors replied, but their faces were a little disappointed.

Of course, they were going to be disappointed, they thought they could fight a big battle, but they didn't expect it to be such a small fight, but what they didn't know was that these were just preparations for a big battle in the near future.

"Since there is no problem, all units will go back and make preparations," said Division Commander Pang: "Go back and study the combat plan, and report the selected targets and combat plans to the division headquarters before 9 o'clock in the evening."

"Yes," the soldiers answered, and got up in turn, and walked out of the pit one after another.

"Commander Cui, wait a minute" I was about to leave when I was stopped by Master Pang again.

Master Pang was silent in front of the map for a while, and after the others had left, he raised his head and said to me, "How is it?" I know the true intentions of my superiors."

"Know" I was busy 'straightening' up, but after thinking about it, I said with some hesitation: "Teacher, do you say it's better to know or not to know......

Master Pang laughed and said, "You kid, you don't think I'm going to kill someone."

I couldn't help but smile embarrassedly, the matter of this battlefield is really uncertain, this is related to the life and death of hundreds of thousands of volunteers, if I, an insider, leak the secret and let the puppet army agents know, the consequences will be unimaginable.

The volunteer army has always paid attention to sacrificing the ego to preserve the 'spirit' of the big self, and they will not talk to me about human rights at this point.

"Don't worry" Master Pang laughed a few times: "Even if no one believes it, I won't disbelieve your kid...... If you have any ideas, you just keep them in your heart, don't say anything up or down, understand? ”

"Understood," I said, "I bowed.

I'm not a fool, of course I understand what Master Pang meant. To say to the subordinates is to leak the news out, and to say to the superiors is to tell the superiors that I know the entire strategic intention, and maybe the superiors will really ...... me

I didn't think much about it, in short, I have tasted the power of the Political Adjudication Department, and I know that although there is no shortage of heroes in the volunteer army, there are also many talents like Li Pinghe

"How? Have you chosen your target? ”

"The choice is that it is the 902.8 high ground on the front, and it is ready. But ......"

"But what?" Master Pang smiled, as if my reaction had been expected by him.

"However, the higher authorities instructed us to only hit targets below the battalion level." I hesitated and replied, "But there are at least two battalions of puppet soldiers stationed on the 902.8 heights."

"Does the puppet army have two battalions on the positive slope and on the hilltop?" Master Pang asked inscrutablely.

"Not really...... Oh" I patted my head, and in an instant I understood what Master Pang meant.

That's right, we only fought a battalion on the front slope of the puppet army, and after beating it as quickly as possible, according to the instructions of the superiors, we must stick to the target with strong fortifications, so of course we have to hold on, and it is their business how many troops the enemy counterattacks

There is a saying that "ginger is still old and spicy", which is really true.

"But ......" I then asked with some hesitation, "If we make such a big move, will it attract the attention of the puppet army, thus 'disrupting' the overall plan of the superiors?" ”

"I have also reported this to my superiors," Commander Pang replied: "I mean, the puppet army also knows that there is a unit in the direction of Wendengli, which can withstand the all-round attacks of the US ace troops by sea, land, air, and Tan, and even helicopter planes to fight special forces, and can wipe out the puppet army's special forces within a few days, and also capture the captain of the special forces alive." If such a unit exists, if we fight harder, it will be of course, and if we don't fight hard, it will easily arouse the suspicion of the enemy. ”

"Understood"

"Have all the tunnels on the enemy's 902.8 heights been dug?"

"It could have been done tonight," I replied.

I thought that this was really a coincidence, and it was just right to catch up with the progress, and I could use it tomorrow night.

"That's good" Division Commander Pang nodded and encouraged: "Fight hard, play the prestige of our 180th Division, and give the brother troops a good start"

"Yes," I saluted Master Pang again.

Coming out of the division headquarters, surrounded by cold and fresh air again, I straightened the brim of my hat and sighed in my heart: there is another war, and I really hope that the time can jump to the day when the truce will be realized in more than two months.