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Chapter 55: The Pre-War Conference

At nine o'clock in winter, it was already dark.

There has been no snow for several days, but the weather is getting colder and colder, and the whole world seems to be frozen without a sound, only the cold wind roars in the air, as if it is raging wildly towards us.

Li Pinghe and I shrugged our necks, and when we arrived at the division headquarters accompanied by Xu Yongwei and Zhang Mingxue, the division headquarters was already crowded with people. Although the air in the tunnel is 'mixed', it is much warmer than outside.

I rubbed my hands together and glanced at the volunteer soldiers sitting in the tunnel, and found that none of them would be recognized. But it's not surprising that I don't know many people in the division, and those who are qualified to hold meetings here now must be the heads and political commissars of the nephew group and the worm group. Since the 4th Division suffered heavy losses under the encirclement of the American army, the commanders of the regiments have either died or been replaced, so now I see new faces, which is also a normal thing.

But to my surprise, as soon as the cadres in the tunnel saw me walking in, they all 'revealed' their kind smiles, some gave me a go, and some waved to me. I had to pretend I still knew them, and nodded to them with a smile on my face. I only thought in my heart, fortunately, this was a meeting at the division headquarters, and everyone didn't dare to say hello loudly, otherwise as long as a few cadres came up to me and were polite, I would have to 'show' my feet.

"Comrades!" When Li Pinghe and I sat down on a bench, Master Pang stood up and pointed at me and said, "I don't think I need to introduce this person!" He is Cui Wei, the head of the nephew group. The nephew group went to fight in the People's Army, so I think Commander Cui is not familiar with our new leadership team, so comrades might as well introduce themselves! "Captain Cui!" Soon a tall soldier stood up and stretched out his hand to me: "I am Wang Weicheng, the leader of the Butterfly Regiment."

"I am Zhang Xincai, the head of the buying group!"

"I am Wu Min, the political commissar of the Hu League."

The cadres in the tunnel stood up one by one and shook hands with me in amazement, and I responded very passively one by one, constantly saying "Hello, hello,"

As usual, I shook hands and shook them around, but I still didn't remember anyone's names, let alone their numbers.

"Captain Cui!" After seeing that we were polite, Master Pang happily distributed a flue for us, and then pointed to the other cadres and said, "Maybe you don't know them yet, but they all know you!" For example, Zhang Xincai, who was originally the deputy head of the nephew group, is now the same head as you! ”

Hehe, there was a kind laugh in the tunnel.

Hearing Master Pang's words, I understood why all the cadres in the tunnel recognized me. It turned out that they were all cadres of the original division, and some of them were even my immediate bosses, but after the old 0 division was freed, their positions changed greatly.

"Comrades!" After a while, Division Commander Pang turned to the topic: "Comrades, the time for our army to enter the Korean war is not short, and it will soon be time for us to change our guards. In order to gain the initiative, effectively strike at the enemy, and gain more experience from the newly replaced units, our army plans to take advantage of the fact that before the change of defense, all front-line units will select three targets each with a division as a unit to carry out a continuous tactical counterattack, so as to annihilate one of the enemy's units and kill and wound the enemy in large numbers in the repeated struggle between the enemy and us. It is estimated that if we counterattack everywhere, the enemy will definitely fight, and even retaliate locally, which will be conducive to our army killing and wounding the enemy. Counter-attack battles are scheduled to take place during the month of the Knife to the Moon Power Day. At the end of the month, the guard will be changed! ”

"Good! There is another battle! ”

"Hiding in the pit all day long, I'm almost out of breath!"

Master Pang's voice fell, and the cadres let out a cheer. But what I thought in my heart was this battle, and I don't know how many fighters will never return to their homeland.

"Comrades!" Political Commissar Cai followed the words of Master Pang and said: "This battle is the last battle before we return to China, and some comrades will have an ideological burden at this time, and they are about to return to China!" Some fighters who are not strong enough and do not stand firm enough will have a lot of negative emotions, such as wanting to save their 'lives' and go home. This requires us to do a good job in the ideological work of the soldiers, unload the ideological burden of the soldiers, and encourage them to carry forward the 'spirit' of not fearing death and sacrifice on the battlefield, and bravely and tenaciously strike at US imperialism. Our slogan is: Fight this battle well, report to the people of the motherland with excellent results, and report to Chairman Mao! ”

"Fight this battle well, report to the people of the motherland with excellent results, and report to Chairman 'Mao'!"

The cadres raised their fists one after another and shouted several times with Commissar Cai. The situation was 'forced', and I also raised my fist in the same way. Just kidding, Li Ping and this guy are sitting next to me, if I don't do this, maybe he will be said to be *** unconscious or something"

"Comrades". Then Commander Pang took a small 'stick' and pointed to the map on the wall and said: "Our army's 612; In general, our army spread out a total of two corps on the frontal line. The deployment from the west is as follows: the Usu Army and the Wang Army of the 19th Corps are responsible for the defense of the Licheng River Estuary, Maliangshan, and Shangpu Defense areas, and the concave army is placed in the Baichuan and Kou"li areas as the reserve of the corps; The 3rd Corps commanded the Dinu Army, the Old Army, and the 1st Corps to undertake the defense of the Guhwa-ri, General 'Dong', Hyosungsan, Seosungsan, and Chunghyeongsan areas, and the 1st Corps was placed in the area near Gusan as the reserve of the Corps; The 20th Corps commanded the 1st Kou Army and the 1st Zhao Army to undertake the defense of Yashen-ri, Geumseong, Mundeung-ri, and the eastern and western areas of the North Han River, and the 1st Army was deployed in the Sepur-ri and Huaiyang areas as the reserve of the corps.

The KPA Front Command commanded the main forces of the 3rd Army Corps and the 1st Army Corps to defend the areas from Nong-ri, Yingbong, and Shaqidian to Puwaijin-ri on the east coast, and the 2nd Army Corps was located in the Pengjing-ri and Hwacheon-ri areas as reserves!

The West Coast Joint Command commanded the Volunteer Army's No. 1 Army, No. 1 Chin Army, No. 1 Cong Army, and the People's Army's Fourth Army Corps

Pang Zhenchang continued to speak, and I couldn't help but be stunned when I heard it. I didn't calculate it seriously, but after listening to Master Pang's words for so long, how can I say that there are more than 20 troops! Two or a few armies are 600,000 or 700,000 people! This scale compares to the previous battles. "It's huge!" After a pause, Division Commander Pang continued: "If you count the reserves, there are a total of twenty-two corps. But comrades must realize one thing, our campaign. It is not a large-scale 'interspersed' encirclement and annihilation battle as in the past, and the target of attack is limited to the front-line and easy-to-hit positions. Therefore, it is necessary to put an end to rushing and attacking all the way, and it is required to deploy defenses on the spot after laying down the designated targets, and quickly build fortifications to eliminate the enemy who counterattacks! ”

"Yes!" The warriors nodded in response.

"Something about the situation of the enemy, I will mention it here!" Division Commander Pang then pointed to the map and said: "Recently, it has been determined that the 1st US Cavalry Division is still in Japan, and the 1st Army Division is still defending the original defense, but in such weather, the possibility of the enemy landing on our flank is not great, but the possibility of the enemy launching a local attack on us still exists." Our army is also fully prepared for this, and at present our frontal front-line fortifications have been completed, the first unit of the Usutar Army has been launched, and the Yan'an, Baichuan, and Haizhou areas are actively constructing fortifications, and at the same time, our east and west coasts are starting to build some permanent fortifications, even if the enemy lands on this side, we do not have to worry! small

I understand the purpose of Division Commander Pang's remarks: As soon as the Korean War began, the KPA was defeated by the landing of US troops behind the flank and the whole army retreated. Since then, after the Chinese Volunteers entered the Korean War, they have always been faced with the embarrassing situation that the US military will use the navy to carry out landing operations on our flanks and rear flanks, and our army will be caught in several fronts. Even the fifth campaign was launched ahead of schedule because of the fear that the US army would sneak up on the flank of our army.

But now, after such a long period of hard work, our army has finally built strong fortifications on the east and west coasts, and is fully capable of resisting the landing operations of the US troops.

Saying this is tantamount to telling us that the Yankees will not make any moves behind us, and even if they do, they will not be able to get in, so that we can fight at ease on the front line!

Facts have proved that what Division Commander Pang said is also correct, because I know from modern sources that since the five battles, the US army has never mentioned the plan of using the navy to carry out landing operations because the volunteers have deployed heavy troops on the east and west coasts and made full preparations.

"Comrades". After finishing the overall troop arrangement, Division Commander Pang then assigned specific tasks, he looked at the map and said: "Since the target of this attack is of our own choice, we have room to choose, and there are a total of five high ground in front of our army's position, from west to east are the Huwa Heights" Sheng 6 Heights, 4 Kou Heights, Hurry Heights, and Jiang 7 Heights. Our initial choice is to connect the four highlands, the Hui highland, and the fierce 'woman' highland.

"No comments". The cadres whispered for a while and replied one after another.

Division Commander Pang's choice is reasonable, the 4th high ground is the highest, and if this high ground is not taken, attacking other high ground is bound to pay great casualties, and even if we take other high ground at a great price with the 'firing' range of the US army's high-altitude machine guns, we will soon be recaptured by the US army on the Huakou Heights with firepower. Therefore, the highest 4 mouths, the highlands have become a must-take. The reason for taking the connected high ground is to strengthen the connection between the troops, so that they will not be broken by the enemy in several pieces.

So there was almost no opposition to this choice, and it was unanimously agreed by the fighters.

It's just that the troops attacking the high ground are in danger! I stared at the map for a while, 4, next to the highlands, crocodile 6 highlands Although the altitude is not high, it is like a protruding nail that is dozens of meters ahead of the position of other highlands. Don't underestimate these tens of meters, just these tens of meters can allow the US troops stationed on it to see the positive slope of the four high grounds."

Thinking of Yunli, I couldn't help but stand up and say, "Commander, this, this battle can't be fought."

"Don't talk nonsense!" Listening to my words, Political Commissar Cai couldn't help but put on his head! "There's no such thing as a battle that can't be fought. The question is whether we have just, sink... Beat! ”

Political Commissar Cai made me realize that I had just said casually, and perhaps I had committed the taboo of disturbing the morale of the army.

"I mean," so I hurriedly corrected: "I mean it's very difficult to capture these 4 heights, and the 6 heights next to it protrude dozens of meters, and the US troops stationed on it can directly aim their guns at the back of our attacking troops

"I've thought about that, too!" Master Pang nodded and replied: "But the problem is that the terrain of the Trade 6 Heights is too low, and we are not fighting this highland, and we are not fighting this highland, and we are not fighting it!" Hit down, the two high ground next to it The US troops can condescendingly control the fire on this high ground and not shoot down. It will also pose a threat to the troops attacking the 4th Heights. So I plan to use artillery fire to suppress and strengthen the US troops on the 6 heights, and send an additional tank battalion to cover the flanks of our army, as long as the high ground is taken, then the Sheng 6 heights will be no problem! ”

"Hmm!" Hearing what Division Commander Pang said, I won't say more, but I always feel a little 'hairy' and 'hairy' in my heart, because it is not a pleasant thing to show my back in front of the enemy after all, even if this high ground is covered by our artillery and tank battalions.

But then again, the task of attacking the 4 Hearts Heights may not be 'handed over' to our regiment! What am I anxious about,,

But when this thought came to my mind, Master Pang changed his words. He nodded at me and said, "Let your nephew come to this mission of attacking the 4 highlands!" ”

"What?" I was stunned when I heard this, but when I saw Commissar Cai's slightly dissatisfied eyes, I hurriedly stood up and said, "Yes!" ”

"There's a reinforced battalion of the U.S. military up there, it's not very easy to deal with!" Master Pang patted me on the shoulder, his eyes were full of smiles and said, "But I believe in you, and I believe that your group will definitely be able to do it!" You must know that whether or not the Huaqiao Heights can be successfully captured has a direct bearing on the question of whether or not other highlands can be in the hands of our army. So the burden on your shoulders is heavy! Is there any determination? ”

"Yes! Mission completion guaranteed! I didn't want to answer without thinking about it, but in fact, I was secretly complaining in my heart, I should have thought of it a long time ago, didn't I? The Ma regiment is the main regiment of the division, and if such a task is not assigned to me, who else can be assigned to it......

"Comrades!" After Division Commander Pang assigned the combat task, Political Commissar Cai began to do ideological work.

I still admire the division of labor and cooperation system between division commanders and political commissars in the volunteer army, and one is responsible for the deployment of troops and directs the battle. The other was responsible for pre-war mobilization and ideological work.

I saw Political Commissar Cai raise his fist high and said: "There are still a few days before the launch of the counterattack battle, we must make full use of this time to prepare, we must be accurate and do a good job, and launch an attack in a hurry, not only will it not succeed, but it will also cause excessive casualties." Therefore, infantry artillery commanders at all levels who serve as counterattack units must conduct repeated reconnaissance of the pre-attack targets, enemy conditions, and terrain, and even send 'lean' and capable teams to infiltrate the enemy's flanks and observe them in order to gain a solid understanding of the enemy's fortifications, troop deployment, various artillery positions, and secondary defense settings, and then make up their minds to formulate operational arrangements, determine the direction of the main attack, the use of troops, organize firepower, select and construct artillery positions, and construct the cantonment of troops at the starting point of the charge. Carry out various communication and liaison tools and methods of preparation and training to ensure smooth communication and liaison in battle, adjust personnel weapons and prepare various materials. Fight a prepared battle, fight a battle with certainty, and minimize the casualties of our fighters! ”

"Huh!" When I heard this, I couldn't help but glance at Political Commissar Cai in some surprise, not to mention that what Political Commissar Cai said seemed to be 'very' wordy, but it covered almost all the preparations that should be done before the war, such as reconnaissance, understanding the enemy's situation, formulating operational plans, drills, communications, logistics, etc.

In other words, I have been the head of the regiment for so long, and I know a little bit about these pre-war preparations, but since these tasks are usually organized by Liu Shunyi, the deputy head of the regiment, I don't know so much about Political Commissar Cai! "Captain Cui!" Political Commissar Cai's next words made me even more dumbfounded, only to see him solemnly pat me on the shoulder and say: "The success of our division's attack this time depends to a large extent on whether your troops can successfully take the 4 Gu Heights, and I hope you can treat it carefully." Like Commander Pang, I have great confidence in you, because I know that you have had a very successful experience in the coordination of infantry, artillery, and tank in the battle of Maleangshan. And whether we can take the 4th and high ground, the most important thing is whether we can give full play to the role of artillery and the role of our army's tank crew. In particular, our tank units are still very young and basically have no experience in coordinated operations, so you have to 'communicate' with the artillery and tank troops, and jointly negotiate a practical battle plan according to the terrain conditions! ”

"Yes!" **It took a while to react, and he saluted and saluted Commissar Cai in a dignified manner.

All along, I thought that the commissar did not know how to fight. But now after listening to Political Commissar Cai's words, I realized how wrong I was.