A brief summary, the background of the battle in the previous chapter
In April 1951, after the 561st Regiment of the 187th Division of the 63rd Army of the Volunteer Army broke through the Imjin River, it completed the encirclement of the enemy's ace unit "Gloucester Battalion" in the Xuemali area with lightning speed, and started a special battle.
Xuemali, located 4 kilometers south bank of the Imjin River, has 235 and 314 heights as a barrier in the north, and 414 and 675 highlands in the south as the backing. The defending enemy was the "Gloucester Battalion" with the 7th Company of the 45th British Artillery Regiment, the 8th Company of the Hasaas Cavalry, and the Heavy Tank Company, with a total of 42 battalion and auxiliary guns, and two 105th howitzer battalions in depth to support its fighting.
At dawn on the 24th, the battle to encircle and annihilate the defending enemy in Xuemali began. The 2nd Battalion and the 9th Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 560th Regiment of the 187th Division of the Volunteer Army, which were responsible for the main attack, braved the bombardment of enemy aircraft and intensive artillery fire to launch a surprise attack and capture the 314 heights northeast of Xuemali. At the same time, the 1st Battalion of the 560th Regiment of the Volunteer Army launched an attack from the flank of Xuemali, and the 1st Battalion of the 561st Regiment slammed into the sand curtain and suddenly appeared behind the enemy's flank in Xuemali, like a sharp knife, cutting off the retreat of the "Gloucester Battalion" in Xuemali in one fell swoop, and achieved the results of defeating a battalion of the enemy, capturing 130 enemies, and killing more than 50 enemies.
The Snow Mali area has a radius of 100 miles and complex terrain. Liu Guangzi, a volunteer soldier of the 2nd Company, who was the leader of the combat team at that time, led two recruits to rush to a small high ground when he suddenly found an artillery company of the "Gloucester Battalion" under the mountain beam preparing to escape. Liu Guangzi asked two soldiers who lacked combat experience to lie down behind a big rock to shoot for cover, while he himself rushed down the hill with a PPS-43 submachine gun.
He quietly approached several enemies, and suddenly shouted loudly, and dozens of enemies suddenly stood up behind a large rock. Several guns were held against his chest at the same time, and a pistol was aimed at his forehead. Liu Guangzi took advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness, decisively pulled the safety of the grenade, the enemy in front of him was stupid, and at the moment when the grenade was about to explode, Liu Guangzi shrank back, threw the grenade at the enemy group, and rolled down the hill. This "anti-tank grenade" with explosives strapped to a grenade is so powerful that it can knock down a bunch of enemies in one fell swoop. Through the thick smoke of the explosion, he shouted as he strafed: "1st Battalion to the left, 2nd Battalion to the right, rush me!"
When Liu Guangzi shouted "Surrender your guns and don't kill" in the English he had learned before the war, the enemy officers and men who had been beaten were at a loss and all raised their hands and surrendered. In 1801, during the colonial war against Egypt, the regiment was rewarded by the British king for breaking through the siege and turning defeat into victory. From then on, the regiment's soldiers' caps were decorated with "Royal Army" cockades on the front and back. After 150 years, they have lost their prestige on the Korean battlefield.
When the captives crowded and stood in line, they suddenly reacted: it turned out that the other party was alone! Then someone tried to pick up the gun and fight back, saying that it was too late and that it was fast, Liu Guangzi put down several people with a shuttle bullet, and the rest did not dare to resist anymore. He single-handedly led this long procession up the mountain, but he didn't expect that just after walking a distance, some people wanted to escape, and he threw a grenade and blew up a piece at that time. In this way, these captives were completely shocked by him.
Before the war, the 187th Division of the Volunteer Army once put forward a slogan: "Capture a prisoner and make a meritorious service." Although Liu Guangzi captured 63 prisoners at once, he was honest and shy, and did not publicize the matter at that time, and it was not until the troops counted the prisoners that his feat was discovered.
In 1953, when Liu Guangzi went to the Soviet Union to participate in the World Youth Festival, Stalin met with the legendary hero and asked Liu Guangzi with great interest: "How can you capture so many British soldiers at once?" Liu Guangzi was a little embarrassed and said, "At that time, I was out anyway!"