Inside the United Nations Command.

Li Qiwei stared at the sand table in front of him, frowned and said, "It seems that we still underestimate our opponent." ”

"The will of these Chinese troops to resist is so tenacious that they can still block our counteroffensive when they are running out of ammunition and food, which is really incredible."

Van Vliet frowned and said, "I also admit that these people are really difficult to deal with, and it can even be said that they are not ordinary people. ”

"But with such inferior weapons and logistical support, I still can't believe that they can completely withstand our attack."

Although the enemy achieved some results during the counteroffensive this time, it was far from what they expected.

They originally thought that they could take advantage of this counterattack opportunity to completely defeat the volunteer army in one fell swoop.

But in fact this is not the case, and it is far from their goal.

Although they successfully pushed the battle line back to the vicinity of the 38th parallel, they did not defeat the volunteers.

And they suffered no small losses in the early and late counteroffensives.

Such an outcome was unexpected, unacceptable, for Ridgway and Van Vliet.

But that's the way it is, and they have to accept it if they don't accept it.

Li Qi frowned slightly and asked, "Then what do you mean?" ”

Van Vliet said with a serious face: "Continue to attack, we have to give full play to our advantages." ”

"If you smash them all with a cannonball, you'll kill them all!"

"I firmly believe that no matter how tenacious the will is, it will not be able to stop the bombardment of artillery shells."

Li Qiwei nodded slightly and said, "Since this is the case, then do as you say and continue to attack." ”

"I'd love to see how long these guys can last."

"But...... If, in a few days, we are unable to make substantial progress, then we will have to temporarily stop the offensive, and the troops will need to rest. ”

Van Vliet said: "You can rest assured that in the last few days of the offensive, we will definitely achieve as much results as possible." ”

Li Qiwei picked up the coffee on the table, smiled and said, "Okay, I'll wait for your good news." ”

……

"Jingle bell~!"

The phone rang suddenly.

Wu Qianli took a cigarette in his mouth and picked up the phone.

"Hey, I'm Wu Qianli! Excuse me, chief, are there any instructions? ”

"The offensive of the US army is very fierce, and your seventh regiment immediately went to the 435 heights to replace the defenders and defend the 435 heights."

"Yes! Guaranteed completion of the task. ”

Wu Qianli hung up the phone, and then shouted loudly: "The whole group is assembled!" ”

"Yes!"

Wu Wanli hurriedly answered, and then ran to convey the order.

After a while, Mei Sheng and Yu Congrong rushed over.

Mei Sheng asked, "Commander, what's going on?" ”

Yu Congrong said excitedly: "Do you still need to ask?" There must be a combat mission? ””

"Where are we going this time?"

Wu Qianli said with a serious face: "I just received instructions from my superiors, let us take over the 435 Heights." ”

"435 Heights!"

Mei Sheng muttered, lowered his head and glanced at the map, and said, "I heard that the fight over there is fierce." ”

Yu Congrong was extremely excited, and said: "The fight is not intense, and we don't need to go on!" ”

Wu Qianli said with a serious face: "I heard that the American devils have been attacking fiercely in the past few days. ”

"We've been resting and waiting for us since we withdrew, and after so many days, we've rested enough, it's time to go to the battlefield and move our muscles."

"Let's go~!"

Wu Qianli said and picked up his gun and walked out quickly.

Mei Sheng and Yu Congrong also hurriedly followed.

At this moment, the soldiers of the Seventh Regiment have been assembled, and when they heard that they were going to the front line again, the soldiers were still very excited.

Because in the past few days, they have been resting in the vicinity, and seeing that the fight in front of them is so lively, they can only watch dryly, and everyone is a little itchy in their hearts.

Wu Qianli walked to the front of the team and shouted loudly: "Comrades, the superiors instructed to quickly support the 435 heights and set off immediately!" ”

"Yes!"

"Turn right!"

"Aim for 435 heights, run forward!"

At that time, it was already dark, and Wu Qianli led the soldiers all the way to the vicinity of the 435 heights.

After observing the situation, he got in touch with the local scouts, and after confirming that it was safe, Wu Qianli dared to take the soldiers and quietly went up to the 435 heights under the cover of night.

Changing guards is usually done at night, because if it is during the day, it is easy to be detected by enemy troops.

The enemy's extended artillery fire will form a fire blockade network to prevent our army from reinforcing the front-line troops, so it is difficult for the troops to go up during the day.

Even at night, it is not absolutely safe, because the US military is now very skilled, and from time to time it will launch artillery bombardments at night to block certain areas.

Moreover, they constantly dispatched night planes, and once they discovered the situation, they would bomb ground targets.

So at night, the soldiers did not dare to smoke at all, and the transporters did not dare to turn on the lights, so they could only drive in the dark, which was very dangerous.

Fortunately, Wu Qianli and they were relatively lucky, and they all rushed to the 435 Heights smoothly.

In a tunnel, Yu Congrong went up the mountain first, took the lead in getting in touch with the defenders on the mountain, and after understanding the situation, he hurriedly ran to Wu Qianli to report the situation.

"Regiment commander, less than a tenth of the friendly troops on the mountain are left, and they are basically wounded."

"Their instructor, as well as several junior officers, were killed and are now commanded by a deputy platoon commander, who was also wounded."

Wu Qianli frowned slightly, he also knew that the fight here was very tragic before, but he didn't expect it to be so tragic.

Wu Qianli sighed helplessly and said, "Send them down the mountain." ”

"Yes!"

Wu Qianli led a group of soldiers to the position on the top of the mountain, which had been bombed into a mess at this moment, and many trenches had been filled.

Wu Qianli ordered: "Immediately restore the position and dig the trenches again." ”

"Yes!"

"In addition, inform Yu Congrong and ask him to lead someone to dig the tunnel deeper."

"Yes!"

Wu Wanli hurriedly answered, turned around and ran to convey the order.

Wu Qianli clenched the gun in his hand, and his expression became more solemn.

He already had a hunch that this mission was not so easy to complete.

The offensive of the US army will definitely be fierce, and it is not so simple to resist the enemy's attack and ensure the safety of the position.

At this moment, standing on the top of the mountain, looking at the devastated position, Wu Qianli could also feel how fierce the battle was during the day.

And now Wu Qianli has no good way, so he can only restore the position as much as possible, dig the tunnel deeper, and make it more practical, so as to reduce the casualties of the troops.

At present, the US military still has a great advantage, they are launching an offensive, and our army can only be forced to defend for the time being.

However, as long as you can avoid the enemy's powerful artillery fire, you can still use defensive battles to consume a large amount of the enemy's living forces.

Due to the gap between the two sides, if our army wants to destroy more with less, then it can only rely on this kind of defensive warfare.

If it is in an offensive battle, except for dealing with the puppet army with sticks and some other waste troops, it is difficult to make a battle example of annihilating the enemy with a small number of casualties.

Because the enemy still has a certain advantage in weapons and equipment, and it can be regarded as well-trained and has a certain combat effectiveness.

Therefore, in the course of the offensive, our army suffered a great loss in the face of the US army and the Y army.

In defense, it is different, we can make full use of the terrain advantage, but also offset the enemy's advantage in firepower.

With the advantage of terrain, it can inflict great damage on the enemy.

Therefore, for our army, such an enemy offensive is both a test and an opportunity.

Under the command of Wu Qianli, the soldiers quietly repaired the position on the top of the mountain, and continued to dig and improve the tunnel.

The fighters took turns resting, basically did not sit idle all night, and the hilltop position was repaired.

Wu Qianli also deliberately let people arrange some fake weapons to confuse the enemy.

However, the enemy's attack was also very simple and crude.

Early the next morning, US planes flew over the 435 Heights, and bombs fell from the sky one after another, and they continued to fall on our troops' hilltop positions.

"Boom~! Rumble~! ”

Violent explosions rang out one after another, and patches of fire rose up, and soon the entire hilltop position was engulfed in artillery fire.

At the same time, on the position of the American troops, Colonel Will said with a serious face: "Order the artillery units to concentrate all their efforts on the artillery bombardment, and the artillery fire will cover the hilltop position." ”

"And carry out extended firing, bombard the enemy's rear lines, form a fire blockade, block the enemy's reinforcements, support for the 435 heights."

"The infantry is ready to attack, and it is imperative to seize the 435 heights as soon as possible."

“yes sir!”

An American officer next to him hurriedly answered, turned around and went to deliver the order.

Soon, the artillery positions of the American army also sounded the rumbling of artillery.

Tons and tons of shells continued to slope to the 435 heights, and the entire top of the mountain was plunged into a sea of fire.

The whole mountain was trembling, as if it could collapse at any moment.

And behind the mountain, on the road to the rear, artillery shells and even incendiary bombs dropped by planes kept falling.

The roads in the rear were blown into flames, so that the reinforcements of our army could not support the 435 heights, and the 7th Regiment could only hold its position on their own.

Fortunately, the soldiers of the Seventh Regiment have perfected the tunnel and are relatively safe.

Even though the conditions in the tunnels are very difficult, they can still ensure basic safety in the face of indiscriminate bombardment by the enemy.

In the company headquarters, Wu Qianli and Mei Sheng, Yu Congrong and Lei Gong sat on the ammunition box, and a simple map was placed on the ammunition box in the middle.

This is a sketch of the area around the 435 Heights.

Wu Qianli pointed to the map and said: "Our high ground is the focus of the enemy's attack. ”

"But fortunately, we are also easy to defend and difficult to attack, as long as we hold our positions and resist their attacks, there is no problem at all."

"And as long as these dogs dare to really come up, we can use the terrain to beat these dogs hard."

Mei Sheng said: "Our current weapons and ammunition are relatively sufficient, as long as these main firepower points are set up on the high ground, we can completely block the enemy's offensive line, and no matter how many people they come, they can't rush up." ”

Yu Congrong said with a smile: "To be exact, how many of them came and how many died!" ”

"Our weapons and equipment are still quite good now, as long as they dare to get close to the mountain, it will be certain death."

Lei Gong held his small cigarette pouch in his mouth, frowned and said, "We are still too optimistic, haven't we heard the movement outside?" ”

Due to the poor air circulation in the tunnel, smoking is usually not allowed, so Lei Gong is just holding it and having a good time.

Lei Gong continued: "With such fierce firepower from the enemy, it is estimated that many of the positions we have built have been blown up. ”

"It's not certain whether we will be able to build a firepower point at that time."

"And when the enemy attacks, their firepower is also very strong, which we also have to take into account in advance."

"So! This battle is not easy to fight. ”

"But then again, the battle we just encountered in the seventh regiment is not good to fight."

"Everyone cheers up and fights this battle well."

Wu Qianli nodded slightly and said, "Lei Gong is right, and if there is really a fight, everyone should pay more attention to their own safety." ”

"We have to kill the enemy, but at the same time, we have to keep ourselves as safe as possible."

"We won't do a loss-making business."

Yu Congrong said excitedly: "Don't worry, it's definitely no problem." ”

"Boom~!"

There was a violent explosion outside, and the whole tunnel trembled, and the earth on the roof of the cave rustled down.

Wu Qianli dusted off the dirt on his head.

Yu Congrong frowned and said, "Another round, this is not endless, are their shells all blowing in the wind?" ”

Wu Qianli smiled slightly, he knew that the ammunition of these guys was indeed not blown by the wind, but they had a strong industrial base and were not short of ammunition.

The US officers and soldiers also do not care about wasting ammunition, because ammunition belongs to the state and their lives are their own.

Especially their new commander of the 8th Army, Van Vliet, was originally a firepower winner.

Van Vliet strongly advocated the destruction of the enemy's living forces with heavy fire and the reduction of his own losses, and on one occasion Van Vliet asked his staff officers how much ammunition was needed to win that battle. At that time, the staff officer told him a number, and Van Vliet said, then shoot out 5 times as much ammunition.

This is where the 'Van Vliet ammunition volume' comes from.

As the commander, Van Vliet's instructions were naturally well followed by those below.

After all, they don't want to die in vain, waste more shells, and don't need them to pay for it.

So after Van Vliet became commander, the enemy's attack, each bombardment, the time and scale of each bombardment became larger and larger than before.

It's like a small hill like Heights 435, where tons and tons of shells and bombs are constantly tilting down, round after round.

Lei Gong said: "When I took over the defense last night, I asked the friendly troops who held their positions yesterday, and they said that the shelling and bombardment of the American devils carried out at least 40 rounds a day. ”

"These guys are crazy and keep pouring bombs on the position."

Yu Congrong scolded angrily: "How can this fucking Yankee be so arrogant, if we could be so arrogant, we would have driven these dogs into the sea to feed the fish." ”

Wu Qianli said with a serious face: "What's the use of saying this, find a way to defeat the enemy with the existing conditions and subdue the enemy, that's the right reason." ”

Mei Sheng frowned and said, "If this trend continues, I'm afraid this battle will have to take a long time." ”

"This winter won't be as cold as last year."

Wu Qianli shook his head and said: "Changjin Lake is a plateau area, the temperature is low, it won't be so cold here, so it won't be so cold this winter." ”

"I think at the beginning, it was so hard in Changjin Lake, and we all survived it so hard, let alone now."

Lei Gong said with a smile: "What the regiment commander said is reasonable, no matter how strong the enemy is, as long as we persist in fighting, we will definitely win." ”

"We have all come over with so many winds and waves, how can we capsize in this little gutter?"

……

on the positions of the American troops.

Colonel Will held up his binoculars and looked again in the direction of Heights 435.

"Although we have a lot of ammunition, and His Excellency the Commander is doing his best to help us transport ammunition to the front line, but relying on artillery shells alone can destroy the enemy at most, but to occupy the position, we still need infantry."

"I think it's almost time to send infantry to take over the position."

“yes sir!”

An American officer next to him responded respectfully and turned to deliver the order.

At this time, an American major said: "Sir, these enemies are very difficult to deal with. ”

"Yesterday we fought for a day, but we couldn't capture Heights 435, and every time we thought that they must all be killed, but when our soldiers went up, there would be an enemy who would come out of nowhere and drive us back."

"We've taken a heavy toll for this, so I hope we'd be careful."

Colonel Will said: "Major, you should know very well that as long as there is war, casualties are inevitable, and although we must try to avoid casualties, we cannot stop attacking because we are afraid of casualties. ”

The U.S. major hurriedly said, "Sir, that's not what I meant. ”

Colonel Will waved his hand and said, "It's not important, the most important thing now is that we have to seize the 435 heights as soon as possible, we have wasted too much time here, and it is a shame for us to be held back by such a group of enemies for so long." ”

"We should wash away our shame with practical actions, you know?"

“yes sir!”

The major hurriedly replied, "It's just ......."

Colonel Will said impatiently: "Nothing, we must seize the 435 heights as soon as possible, and I also believe that we will succeed this time." ”

The major general shrugged his shoulders helplessly and muttered in a low voice, "I hope so." ”

Yesterday's battle, this guy participated in the whole process, he witnessed and felt the horror of the volunteer army.

So he didn't think that they could succeed today and be able to occupy Heights 435, at least not so easily.

However, Colonel Will did not think so, and he thought that he would definitely be able to easily occupy Heights 435 this time.

Soon the indiscriminate bombardment of the US army finally ended, and a large number of infantry, under the cover of tanks, rushed to the bottom of the 435 heights.

However, the tank could not go up the mountain, and could only provide fire cover for the infantry from a suitable position at the bottom of the mountain.

And the infantry, led by an American lieutenant, slaughtered towards the top of the hill with great momentum.

Colonel Will raised his binoculars, observed the situation on the battlefield, and said to himself: 'This time we will definitely occupy 435 heights, and I have a hunch that we will definitely be victorious.' ’

……

"Report to the head of the regiment, the American devils have attacked!"

Wu Qianli picked up the submachine gun, carried a Garand rifle on his back, and shouted loudly: "Yu Congrong, take the firepower battalion, follow me to the battlefield." ”

"Lei Gong, send me some mortar artillery!"

"Other troops are ready to pick up."

"Yes!"

Wu Qianli said as he walked quickly outside, and the order was quickly passed on.

The soldiers of the fire battalion were actually ready to attack before, and with Wu Qianli's order, the soldiers of the fire battalion took the lead in rushing out of the mouth of the tunnel and rushing towards the top of the mountain.

Wu Qianli quickly rushed out of the tunnel, clenched his gun and quickly rushed towards the top of the mountain.

After going up the mountain, I found that the top of the mountain had been blown up in a mess, the heat wave roasted people's faces hurt, the soil on the ground was hot, and even the feet were burned in many places.

Wu Qianli didn't have time to care about this, and shouted loudly: "Quickly recover your position and prepare for battle." ”

Then Wu Qianli rushed to a place with a wide field of vision, lay down in the trench that had been basically blown up, and glanced down.

I saw that the U.S. troops below were rushing towards the mountain one after another, and they were only a few dozen meters away from the top of the mountain.

Seeing this scene, Wu Qianli couldn't help frowning, and hurriedly made a few gestures, asking everyone to be ready for battle and ready to fire at any time.

(End of chapter)