Political Commissar Han tightly covered his right ear with his right hand, listened to the microphone with his left ear, and said: "Division commander, I am Han Qiming, the regiment commander went to the second battalion to supervise the battle, the enemy's attack was fierce, and at first it was still harassment, as soon as the morning dawned, they launched a group charge against our Tumudong position, the whole battalion, and even the whole regiment!" Right! Right! Our situation is very bad, the casualties are too great! Many of the wounded could not be evacuated at all! ”

"Yes! Be! Please rest assured, the division commander, we will desperately defend the position of the civil engineering cave! Fight to the last man! ”

The phone hung up, and a wave of air swept in from the gap in watching the battle, and the political commissar Han spat out the foam with dirt and dust, and said scoldingly: "Grandma, the foreign devil really doesn't give us any time to breathe, and the head of the regiment hasn't come back yet." ”

"No, I'm still supervising the battle on the second battalion's side. How's the situation on the second battalion's side? ”

"The situation is okay, although the attack of the US army is fierce, it is blocked by us."

"That's fine!"

Thursday, May 24, 1951.

Yesterday, the US troops strafed, threw bombs, and incendiary bombs at the Jiuluan Mountain position and bombarded it with artillery for most of the day.

At 6 o'clock, the strength of about one regiment of the US army, with the strong men of three long-range artillery groups, and the cooperation of aircraft, tanks, and armored vehicles, launched eight consecutive attacks on the positions of the fifth company. Hu Shuangjin, the platoon commander of the second platoon, was seriously wounded, but he still used cluster grenades to repel more than 20 enemies.

The machine gunners of the second platoon held grenades together to deal with the swarming enemy, and continued to kill and wound the enemy with machine gun fire while the enemy retreated and was in confusion.

The platoon fought tenaciously, was not afraid of sacrifice, organized each other while fighting, encouraged and cheered on the battlefield, and was able to fight separately when the platoon commander was seriously wounded and no one commanded, and finally repelled the enemy's last attack, until the end of the battle, 21 people were wounded, 6 people were killed, and more than 150 enemies were annihilated.

The enemy transported the wounded in dozens of cars, a large number of guns and ammunition were abandoned at the front of the position, and the ammunition of the second platoon was replenished in time. At the end of the battle, the surviving fighters of the second platoon, under the cover of the fighters in the rear, touched the forward position, looked for and buried the sacrificed comrades, and brought back a large number of guns, one heavy machine gun, one light machine gun, twelve semi-automatic rifles, a large number of bullets and some grenades, and also captured a walkie-talkie.

The battle on the front line was particularly fierce, the sky above the position was filled with billowing black smoke, the US B29 bombers dropped napalm, followed by the fighters swooped over, throwing conventional bombs, coupled with the continuous shelling of howitzers of various calibers, the front line of the volunteers turned into a surging sea of fire, the air waves of the shells rolled up the soil and flew more than 10 meters high, and the living soldiers could not open their choked eyes, let alone check the situation.

The billowing smoke filled the position and drifted into the sky, a few meters away, only the coughing of his comrades beside him could be heard, but not even a single figure could be seen.

From time to time there was a terrible scream, which was the warrior who was caught in flames rolling all over the ground, the flames burned every inch of their flesh, skin, melted clothes against the flesh, the temperature was billowing, scorching, stinging, the ground became extremely hot.

After the war, the US Far East intelligence agency openly admitted that the battle of Tumudong alone had caused more than 600 casualties to the US troops, and they did not announce the specific number.

The headquarters of the 180th Division was far more tense than the battle on the front line, and the battle situation of each regiment and battalion was being transmitted to the division headquarters all the time, and they had lost contact with the corps, and the military headquarters did not give the order to retreat north.

"Okay, okay, I got it!"

Deputy Division Commander Duan hung up the phone, his face was very ugly.

Chief of Staff Wang asked, "Whose phone number?" ”

Deputy Division Commander Duan slapped his right hand on the table and said: "The 538th Regiment reported that more than half of the casualties of the first battalion in Junzili were killed, and after the instructor Zhou Zhenhua ran out of bullets, he used a grenade to die with the enemy!" The company commander who was the first to retreat was killed with the enemy, and even a squad was not enough to fight in a row. ”

Everyone in the division headquarters was silent, and Deputy Division Commander Duan took off his hat and held it in his hand, clutching it vigorously, clutching it vigorously, and the hat was already held into a small ball.

He was so sad and angry.

In the past few days, whenever he picked up the phone, he heard the number of casualties of each regiment and the news of the heroic sacrifices of the cadres one after another, and his heart was extremely depressed, this emotion was too difficult to restrain himself, and his hatred for the enemy and his anxiety about the current situation of the whole division made him restless. He believes that being a commander is responsible, but if Master Zheng doesn't let him say it, he can't say it, and he is worried that Master Zheng can't stand it in his heart.

Deputy Division Commander Duan and Division Commander Zheng have been cooperating together for a long time, from the Liberation War all the way, he knows Division Commander Zheng very well, don't look at Division Commander Zheng's mouth, he will always comfort other people in the division, but they all know in their hearts that Master Zheng is more uncomfortable than anyone else.

Apart from the sound of gunfire outside, there was no movement in the division headquarters. Division Commander Zheng sat on a stool on the side, smoking a cigarette heavily, as if thinking about something, Director Wu and Chief of Staff Wang looked at the interspersed lines on the map, every minute and every second, the state of the front line was changing, and every change was huge.

"The only fortunate thing is that there is no news of the attack by the enemy, as long as the City God's Hall has not been lost, no matter what the state of the battle on the front line is, our retreat path is safe."

Chief of Staff Wang participated in last night's meeting and knew that the only way for the 180th Division at the moment was the City God's Hall.

"Old Duan, don't be too anxious, we must not only have confidence in Comrade Xia Yuan, but also have confidence in the soldiers fighting on the front line, I believe that they will be able to withstand the pressure and complete the task of blocking the enemy!" Director Wu said.

"That's what I said, but it's not a way to fight like this, the U.S. military is normal today, more active than fighting chicken blood, as soon as the day dawns, the attack is more fierce than before, and if we continue to fight like this, the troops will be exhausted, and our 180th Division will be gone."

Deputy Division Commander Duan was anxious that with the passage of time, the enemy's attack became more fierce, and their casualties were constantly increasing, "The enemy's current attack momentum is getting bigger and stronger, listening to this artillery fire, it has been ringing before dawn, not only has it not weakened, but it is getting stronger and stronger, we are not afraid of death, but we can't die in vain." ”

"It's just dawn, and there are still many hours before it gets dark, so let's not talk about tonight, whether the soldiers on the front line can hold out until tonight."

Division Commander Zheng is particularly embarrassed, he is more concerned about the current situation of the army than anyone else, every soldier who died in battle is extremely distressing for the commander of the first division, these are all good soldiers, good soldiers. Some people have been following him since the Anti-Japanese War, fighting until the War of Liberation and now in North Korea, they have experienced various life and death tests, but this time they have been sleeping forever in a foreign land.

Division Commander Zheng has commanded battles in China for a long time, and he has fought all kinds of vicious battles, but this time, the situation faced by the 180th Division is too dangerous. In the past military command, Division Commander Zheng has always continued the good tradition of our army's commanders and fighters, that is, the conventional style of fighting with less to win more, but this time, the number of opponents is really too large, reaching as many as 10 times that of the 180th Division, and the people have advanced weapons and equipment, the national strength is strong, and the soldiers are strong and strong.

In this regard, not only Master Zheng, but for everyone, it was the first time, and everyone was very uncomfortable. Of course, it is the duty of a soldier to obey orders, and it is precisely because the People's Volunteers have always strictly obeyed orders from top to bottom that they have iron-clad discipline and outstanding performance.

However, it will definitely not work if you continue to fight like this.

Master Zheng is really embarrassed.

However, one thing is certain, the City God's Hall is still in the hands of our army, and the pressure they are facing is from the front, and they can retreat smoothly only after withstanding the pressure and completing the task of blocking the enemy. The most critical point is that Division Commander Zheng thought of what Xia Yuan said when he left, the real purpose of their 180th Division is to face the enemy head-on, such a huge force of American troops, let it go all the way north, I don't know what kind of consequences will happen.

On the one hand, Division Commander Zheng used the radio to report to the military headquarters on the current situation on the front line, and on the other hand, he said to Deputy Division Commander Duan, Chief of Staff Wang, and Director Wu: "The orders of the Corps must be strictly implemented, and you must not be sloppy. They have entangled so many troops and want to eat us, but until now, our 180th Division is not still standing here, as long as the enemy does not advance, then our sacrifice will not be in vain. ”

Chief of Staff Wang and Director Wu also comforted Deputy Division Commander Duan one after another, they knew that Deputy Division Commander Duan's temperament was like this, he was very concerned about the soldiers fighting on the front line, and they were also uncomfortable in their hearts, but Deputy Division Commander Duan would say the discomfort in his heart, they never said it, and everyone also liked Deputy Division Commander Duan's straightforward temperament.

Deputy Division Commander Duan calmed down, sat on a stool, lit a cigarette, and his chaotic thoughts drifted away with the smoke.

He said in a deep voice: "Okay, I hope that the higher-level leaders can understand the current situation of our division and make a decision as soon as possible." The sooner we can withdraw to the north of the Han River, we will have fewer casualties. ”

Division Commander Zheng, who has always been known for his sanity, puffed out the cigarette in his hand, gathered his complicated thoughts, and calmly issued an order to the combat troops on the front line to close the defensive line.

"Immediately close the first line of defense, close the position by alternately covering the retreat, and focus on defending and holding two points in Zhengping Mountain and Yin's hometown."

When Deputy Division Commander Duan heard the order, he began to observe the map again, and at two or three o'clock, they had already closed a circle of defense lines, and they continued to close this morning, mainly because the 180th Division could no longer continue to swing the two regiments horizontally, and the front-line soldiers were already quite tired, coupled with the abnormality of the enemy today, it can be seen how correct the choice was to close the defense line for the first time.

Deputy Division Commander Duan added: "Continue to close the defensive line and concentrate absolute forces to resist the US army, but the US army is chasing us closely, and the reaction is not slow."

Director Wu nodded: "Today's U.S. military is really abnormal, the enemy bites to death, and the worst thing is that it is dawn, we close the defense line to the rear, and the U.S. fighter jets will definitely not let go of this opportunity." ”

They have repeatedly deliberated on this deployment, and no one has a bottom in their hearts, and sticking to it is just a helpless move to postpone the time.

At this moment, a shuttle of machine gun bullets flew over, and they all hit the wooden stake beams of the division headquarters, and the sawdust flew up in the form of foam.

In the house, as soon as the members of the guard squad heard this voice, they immediately raised their guns and became alert, and moved closer to the position of the wooden stake in the middle, and three guards squad soldiers moved very quickly, rushed to the front of the four of Commander Zheng, and blocked the four of them behind them.

This must have been the enemy's attack, otherwise it would be impossible for the enemy's planes to strafe such a hidden command center, and from the point of view of strafing, the enemy's fighters probably did not expect that this would be their enemy's headquarters.

The guards were all battle-hardened warriors, and they thought to themselves, no one panicked, and kept their composure.

"Division Commander, you guys quickly transfer!"

Wang Xuebin, the leader of the guard squad, immediately shouted.

Overhead, the US fighter jets emitted a loud humming sound that echoed throughout the valley, alarming the division headquarters and the comrades in the field hospital.

The roar of the plane's engine was loud, but after a while, it was gone.

Deputy Division Commander Duan said, "I'll go out and see what's going on!" With that, he went out at once.

Master Zheng was surprisingly calm, and said to everyone: "It's nothing, let's go out." ”

One of the guards advised: "Division commander, let's change places, it's too dangerous here now, and enemy shells often come over." ”

Master Zheng said calmly: "Comrades, don't worry, we won't have anything, you go out first and get busy with your own affairs." ”

He ordered again: "Wang Xuebin, take them down." ”

"Yes!"

The soldiers of the guard squad instinctively obeyed the order of the division commander and walked out of the house, but they did not leave, standing at the door with guns and guarding around.

Twenty meters away is a mobile post, and within five meters there is a patrol, and everyone is observing the enemy's situation, maintaining vigilance, and responding to emergencies at any time.

"Ringing ringing!"

The phone rang again, and Chief of Staff Wang picked up the phone: "Hey? I'm Chief of Staff Wang, you say, um, well, okay, I know, if there is a situation, I must report it in time! ”

Chief of Staff Wang put down the phone and said quickly: "Division commander, the left flank of the 539th Regiment has been occupied by the enemy, and the American troops who rushed in have made a roundabout movement towards the flank and rear of our division headquarters. ”

(End of chapter)