At 3 a.m. on 25 May, Division Commander Zheng commanded the 538th Regiment to move to the west of Xishanli, the 539th Regiment and the division's direct subordinate units to Mingyueli and Jiulipdai Mountain, and the 540th Regiment to the line of Jiguanshan and Beipeishan.

Not long after crossing the river, a fatal message came back from the 540th Regiment.

The Hall of the Gods is lost.

It was lost relatively late, probably at about ten o'clock in the evening.

Master Zheng smoked a cigarette.

He knew it in his heart.

Xia Yuan's plan succeeded, but failed again, and the enemy still occupied Jiguan Mountain, but later than expected.

The 540th Regiment also sent news that after the loss of Chenghuangtang, the enemy organized two divisions to frantically attack Jiguan Mountain, and the position of Jiguan Mountain fell for a time and was lost, and the 20th Regiment and the 20th Army fought for it repeatedly, falling into a bitter battle.

Division Commander Zheng immediately sent a staff officer to the 539th Regiment and ordered Commander Wang of the 539th Regiment to send a battalion to assist the 540th Regiment in controlling Jiguan Mountain.

But it was too late.

The US military has completed its deployment in the rear.

The 1st Marine Division, the 7th US Division, the 24th US Division, and the 6th Puppet Division, a large number of US troops and puppet troops were mixed in Jiguan Mountain, and Almond had obviously figured out the strategic intentions of the 180th Division, and the US 24th Division was blocked by the enemy on the way to the City God's Hall, and fought for several hours, breaking through the blockade of the Volunteer Army and successfully occupying the City God's Hall.

They gave up the idea of continuing to rest in the past, and under the command of Almond, one took advantage of the heavy rain to move to Zhiyanli with mechanized troops to control the high ground along the way, and the other cooperated with the 6th Han Division to attack Jiguan Mountain.

In fact, the battle at Jiguan Mountain had been going on for several days, and the opponent of the 540th Regiment was the 6th Korean Division, and the addition of the 24th US Division reversed the stalemate, and the position of the 540th Regiment shrank sharply to the rear.

Division Commander Zheng is now sending reinforcements, and it is too late.

As soon as the division headquarters arrived at the Scorpion Ke Cave, Division Commander Zheng took the binoculars and said to the two comrades-in-arms: "Lao Duan, Lao Wu, you all come up the mountain with me. ”

It is rare to have such an opportunity to observe the enemy's situation, Division Commander Zheng obviously will not let go, he adjusted the multiple of the telescope to the maximum value for observation, through the lens, Division Commander Zheng clearly saw that the American military car in the City God's Hall was moving north, he counted how many vehicles there could be, with many years of battlefield experience, he was able to judge the enemy's strength, as well as their combat intentions.

The City God's Hall was lost, everyone in the division headquarters guessed Xia Yuan's current situation, the 540th Regiment had already sent a telegram, sending the battle situation of the 7th Company blocking the US 24th Division, according to the scout's description, the soil on the position was turned over, there were enemy corpses and the corpses of their own people everywhere, blood and water flowed down the high slope to the low place, and the wreckage of tanks and armored vehicles was everywhere.

The 7th Company, the 1st Company, and the position coexisted and died.

When I saw the news, everyone's hearts were heavy.

Master Zheng smoked a cigarette.

At this moment, the sound of gunfire came from the southwest corner of Jiguan Mountain, and Director Wu observed the area with a telescope, he put down the telescope and said, "Division commander, something happened to the 540 Regiment. ”

The trio quickly descended the mountain.

It turned out that the 540th Regiment had just occupied Jiguan Mountain, and its foothold was not stable, but it encountered a fierce attack by the US army, and the battle was very fierce, and all the cadres of the company and platoon of the three companies stationed in the position west of Jiguan Mountain were sacrificed, and in the end, only a dozen or so soldiers were left to consciously organize themselves and still stubbornly hold their positions.

Division Commander Zheng immediately sent a chief of staff to ask Regiment Commander Wang of the 539th Regiment to transfer out a battalion to assist the 540th Regiment, and the staff officers sent out had just walked for less than two minutes when the gunfire from the direction of Jiguan Mountain suddenly became extremely intense.

Deputy Division Commander Duan said: "Division Commander, I don't think there is any need for the 539th Regiment to reinforce Jiguan Mountain, what do you think? ”

They were all very experienced commanders, and they knew that it was definitely too late to send reinforcements at this time.

Master Zheng knew that Jiguan Mountain must not be lost, according to Xia Yuan, Jiguan Mountain is a necessary way for them to pass through and reach Eagle Peak, Chenghuang Hall is a road, and Jiguan Mountain is also a road, but the distance between Chenghuang Hall is close, and Jiguan Mountain is farther, but it is also a road.

If the Cockscomb Mountain is lost, they really have no way.

Master Zheng said eagerly: "Let's go to the 540 regiment!" ”

After arriving at the headquarters of the 540th Regiment, he learned from the head of the 540th Regiment, Commander Liu, that they had just sent out a company to capture the mountain, and Master Zheng thought for a while and immediately dispelled his thoughts:

"Don't attack the mountain with this line, fight west along the mountain beam, otherwise, if the enemy comes down from the mountain, the wounded in the Scorpion Kedong and the big luggage of the division headquarters, including the command post, will be easily knocked out by the enemy."

Regiment Commander Liu immediately changed the attack plan in accordance with the division commander's order, and this reconnaissance company began to intercept the American troops in the west.

At the same time, the 539th Regiment was plugging the gap in the north and relying on the favorable terrain to resist.

Deputy Division Commander Duan muttered and said: "Jiguan Mountain must not be able to fight, a division of the US Army and a division of the South Korean Army are concentrated in the direction of Chenghuangtang, which is too difficult to gnaw." ”

Xia Yuan's plan was flawed after all, he miscalculated, according to Xia Yuan's plan, even if the Seventh Company was all sacrificed, as long as the US 24th Division was dragged, even if the US 24th Division entered the City God Hall at night, it would give up going north because it was inconvenient for them to move at night.

The whole night was reserved for the 180th Division to arm and rest.

However, instead of resting, the enemy took advantage of the night to attack Zhiyanli and Jiguan Mountain, and the position of Jiguan Mountain was precarious.

The sound of gunfire from the northwest and northwest directions gradually became scarce, and no sound of shelling was heard, probably because the heavy artillery of the US army had not yet crossed the river, so the US army relied solely on infantry to attack, and the effect was very unsatisfactory.

Attacking the gap in the north was the 8th Infantry Battalion of the 1st Marine Regiment of the 10th Army, whose commander was Captain Carlos.

In the early days of the Pacific War, in the battle for the island of Wake Island, Carlos was still a private, growing up in the grinding of artillery fire and blood, and today's rank of captain is the result of his bravery and good fighting, Carlos did not go to the military academy to learn any command skills, but his actual combat experience in the US Tenth Army, not much inferior to officers of the same level, he is a typical professional soldier, not a brave man.

Captain Carlos was very popular with the soldiers in the 8th Infantry Battalion, which was inseparable from his fighting style, from private to captain on the battlefield, Carlos paid a heavy price, and at the same time knew what ordinary soldiers faced in the war, so he tried not to take the lives of soldiers as a child's play, and in order to complete the task, a large number of soldiers were sent to death.

In the previous day's fighting, the Rohr Infantry Battalion, which was confronting the 1st Battalion of the 538th Regiment, was attacked by our troops at night, and Major Rohr was punished for being negligent in guarding. From then on, the daytime offensive was handled by Carlos's 8th Infantry Battalion.

In the face of the desperate resistance of the 1st Battalion of the 538th Regiment, Carlos's 8th Infantry Battalion suffered huge casualties, and without the help of aviation and artillery, the 8th Infantry Battalion would have been crippled long ago.

Carlos was now very depressed, and the 8th Infantry Battalion was unable to advance or retreat. At this time, three mortar gunners reported to Captain Carlos about the consumption of ammunition, and there was no optimism, and the shells had already run out.

When attacking just now, the mortar shells were not carrying much at all, and the gunners shot all in one go during the first round of the infantry's charge.

"Where's the reinforcements?"

"Still on the way."

"What about aviation and artillery, where are they now?"

"The 155 howitzers are too heavy, I think they have been left behind a long time ago, and the devil knows when they arrived."

It was the commander of Company B who spoke.

After the communication infantry on the side finished shouting with the main station with a walkie-talkie, he said to Carlos: "Captain, the plane is still refueling at the airport, and the aviation team said that it will take two hours to arrive, even if it can be rushed, such bad weather."

Carlos waved his hand, up and down from the ground of the roundabout road in the north gap, the ambush was all the soldiers of the 538th Regiment, to be honest, Captain Carlos was very timid about such a difficult opponent as the Volunteer Army, because, during this time, he was scared by the 538th Regiment, without air support, and rushing forward was tantamount to throwing his life in vain, and he could not achieve a meaningful victory.

Carlos could only reluctantly give the order, stop the attack, and stand by in place.

Standby, this is the best explanation to Shangfeng, before leaving, he already knew that this Chinese army, the 180th Division has been surrounded by the Tenth Army, no matter what, it can't run away, so he is on standby, and will not delay the fighter.

At the headquarters of the 180th Division, scouts approached and reported: "The gaps in the west and north have been blocked, the enemy cannot enter, and now there is no threat." ”

The news was good news, but it did not dispel the gloom that hung over the headquarters of the 180th Division, and they all knew that all this was only short-lived, and judging from the experience accumulated in fighting wars in China for several decades, the opponent's current situation was completely aware that the 180th Division could not escape from its wings, so it simply postponed the pace of the attack, never entered through the gap, and completely tore the 180th Division apart, and that was only a matter of time.

The temporary small victory did not make everyone optimistic.

The rain stopped, and the air smelled of earth.

Master Zheng used a telescope to observe the surroundings again, the sky was gray and deadly silent, there were no signs of life such as birds, and the northwest wind was blowing.

The sky on the north bank of the Han River is getting more and more yellow, and if the sound of cannons is planted, it will feel unusually terrifying, and behind the deathly silence, death may be hidden.

Master Zheng put down the binoculars and said to everyone: "The situation is urgent, now is a rare free time, now is a temporary party meeting, everyone should speak enthusiastically"

In addition to Division Commander Zheng, Deputy Division Commander Duan, Chief of Staff Wang, and Director Wu, there were also Commander Pang of the 538th Regiment, Regiment Commander Wang of the 539th Regiment, Regiment Commander Liu of the 540th Regiment, and Section Chief Yan of the Division Security Section.

The conditions of the current division headquarters are completely different from those at the beginning of the war, and there is not even a decent table. Everyone sat next to each other on the ammunition, and Wen Qingyun, the head of the minutes section, stood and recorded, so that the high-power radio station was erected on several large rocks, and the antenna was held high by a soldier in order to maintain contact with his superiors.

For the safety of the meeting, Section Chief Yan of the Security Section transferred another 30 people from the 538th Regiment to be responsible for guarding within 20 meters.

It may also be that the current situation is not ideal for the 180th Division, and the mood of the big guys is a little pessimistic, and no one speaks.

Under such circumstances, Division Commander Zheng spoke first: "I said, why don't you speak, now the enemy has not much time left for us, as soon as the sound of shelling appears, you will immediately return to the team to fight, and in the future, I am afraid that there will be no chance to hold a meeting like today." ”

Deputy Division Commander Duan was smoking a cigarette on the side, but he didn't say anything, he and Senior Commander Zheng disagreed on some decisions, and he should have a little emotion.

In order to enliven the atmosphere, Senior Commander Zheng made a joke to Deputy Division Commander Duan: "Old Duan, you have been smoking my cigarettes, you used to pick the door, but this time you found an opportunity, picked it home, and took advantage of the war to smoke endlessly." ”

Deputy Division Commander Duan said in a rough voice: "Division Commander, I bought two packs of cigarettes in Andong before entering the court, and I smoked them out early, I am worried now, I borrow your good cigarettes to smoke, I thank you, and I promise to return you in the future." ”

The people at the scene listened and laughed lowly, which was like a conversation between a division commander and a deputy division commander.

Master Zheng was not annoyed, and said with a smile: "If you have emotions, you might as well talk about it now." ”

When Deputy Division Commander Duan heard this, he took a puff of cigarette, the fire burned to the corner of his mouth, he snorted, and threw the cigarette butt on the ground: "Division Commander, we have fought these days, and the precious time we have gained is that I think we have withdrawn the friendly troops on the Eastern Front far, far away, and the task of our superiors to let us stop the enemy from going north has basically been completed, so I suggest breaking through immediately." ”

After all, Director Wu of the Political Department is doing political work, and he was afraid that Deputy Division Commander Duan would be too extreme, so he immediately persuaded: "Old Duan, you can't be so impulsive, the superiors naturally have the consideration of the superiors, as a party member and a soldier, we must have the spirit of sacrifice at any time, even if we all fight our division, but in order to cover the transfer of large troops, from the overall point of view, it is worth it." ”

Deputy Division Commander Duan glared at Director Wu: "What? Spell light? Sell Ye Tian, you don't feel distressed! ”

Director Wu said, "Do you think you're distressed? Why did the division commander hold the meeting? Isn't this for everyone to exchange opinions and figure out a way? You are also an old party member, why are you so uncalm at the critical moment? ”

Deputy Division Commander Duan snorted angrily and said: "Old Wu, you have an opinion on me, after the battle, you go to the military party committee to reflect on me, and now I don't have time to discuss the party spirit for you." ”

Director Wu was helpless: "You are a person! I"

Master Zheng interrupted Director Wu in time and said, "Okay, okay, you two don't quarrel." ”

In fact, they quarreled to find a way out for the next step of the troops, and they were both anxious.

When fighting, because of disagreements, it is common for commanders to quarrel with each other for a few words, and after a while of quarrelling, it will naturally get better.

(End of chapter)