The Forty-second Chapter: Blood Stains the Han River 2
Not even in the top 10, what a failure!!!!!! One vote after another!!!!!
At this time, on other battlefields of the Western Front and the Eastern Front, more than 140,000 enemy troops also began to stir, conducting firepower reconnaissance and tank assaults. The other troops and People's Army were caught off guard, although under our army's attack, the enemy suffered heavy losses as well. However, our defensive line continued to retreat step by step.
On the battlefield, it was easy to see our soldiers with faces covered in smoke, tattered clothes, and exhaustion, withdrawing from one hill after another that had been bombed to smithereens, with all fortifications destroyed. They then retreated to the next predetermined defensive line to snipe at the enemy.
After dawn, the US-South Korean army again advanced under air cover, led by tanks, driving cars in pursuit of our army's positions, sticking to us and not giving us a chance to breathe. At one point, the front line was full of vulnerabilities that allowed the enemy to break through, with American assault teams riding on tanks and armored vehicles appearing behind our lines.
Li Qiwu excitedly watched as reports came in from the front line: "Our army has broken through XX high ground, pursuing the enemy, who are fleeing in disarray, leaving behind a trail of corpses. The defeated troops have completely lost their fighting strength." Li Seung-man was so excited that he didn't sleep all night, muttering to himself about "liberating Pyongyang and unifying Korea".
However, after learning from past lessons, Li Qiwu strictly ordered his troops to advance in a unified manner, without any outstanding units. This left our high-ranking military officers with no opportunity to concentrate their forces, encircle, and annihilate the enemy. It was like trying to eat a turtle - frustrating.
Meanwhile, the enemy was advancing northward, pushing forward step by step, like a road roller.
On the snow-covered Guangjiao Mountain and Xiuliang Mountain, the trenches and fortifications made of original wood had long been covered by heavy snow, hidden in the vast white land. There were no human shadows on the ground, no vehicle tracks, only the desolate mountain plain howling with the northwest wind. In the middle of the mountains, some soldiers were using fire to burn, water to pour, and iron tongs to hammer out a tunnel, their hands covered in blood blisters, their arms and knees worn out. Sergeant Xue was leading the engineering soldiers to dig forward inch by inch, sweat dripping from their arms and knees, so painful it made their bones ache. Meanwhile, Li Qimiao was flying an old-fashioned AT-6 trainer aircraft, circling around Guangjiao Mountain and Xiuliang Mountain, but still couldn't find any signs of the Volunteer Army. After flying for countless circles, the pilot reminded Li Qimiao that the plane's fuel was only enough to return. Helplessly, Li Qimiao shook his head and said, "Let's go back! But where did the powerful Volunteer Army go? Especially the independent First Regiment on the front line, with so many tanks, artillery, and vehicles, did they fly up to heaven?" He looked up at the clear blue sky with a bitter smile.
At this time, in the headquarters of the Volunteer Army, a high-level meeting of the Chinese and North Korean armies was being held. Gao Quan, who was present, was delighted to see the female soldiers of the Volunteer Army's cultural troupe wearing American-style woolen military uniforms while rehearsing the North Korean opera "Ah Ma Ni". Compared to the Soviet-style coarse woolen military uniforms worn by the North Korean Symphony Orchestra, they looked much more elegant. Next to him, Du Ping, the director of the Political Department of the Volunteer Army, was whispering to his former deputy director, who was now the political commissar of the First Independent Division: "Your division commander, Gao Hei Zi, is really capable. The female soldiers used to wear old and tattered cotton uniforms, but now they look completely different. If not, we would definitely lose face." "Yes, our division commander is not only good at fighting, but also excellent at acquiring supplies. By the way, he's 29 this year and still doesn't have a girlfriend. Why don't you introduce him to someone?" Qian Duo said, looking at Du Ping expectantly. "I'm telling you! Gao Hei Zi is such a generous person, but he wants to trick me into giving him a beautiful young girl! Recently, the headquarters has been lacking food, so I'll ask your division to provide some nutritional supplements!" Du Ping said with a smile. Qian Duo sneered and said: "You're also as cunning as Gao Quan! You've come to calculate me too! Tell me, which one of our female soldiers do you like?" Du Ping pretended to be angry and said: "How about the one in the middle?" Qian Duo finally confirmed after a moment's hesitation and said: "Okay, I'll introduce her to your division. Whether it succeeds or not depends on your division!" "Good!"
At the military meeting, Gao Quan said about the recent new tactics of the US military: "This is the enemy's newly invented magnetic tactics, which is to play the mobile firepower advantage of the US military, and use the four-character tactic of 'stick, harass, and fight' to learn from Chairman Mao's 16-character guerrilla warfare. It seems that the enemy has learned it well!" After a burst of laughter, everyone fell into deep thought again. At this time, the severe losses in the troops could not be ignored, and it was necessary to mention that they had not yet found a way to break through the enemy's tactics.
"Our army uses Chairman Mao's 16-character guerrilla warfare against the enemy's magnetic tactics, with tanks, anti-tank guns, artillery, and some infantry, concentrating three times or more of the enemy's troops and firepower to quickly solve the enemy's tank reconnaissance team. Therefore, Li Qiming's US 25th Division and US 3rd Division have already stopped their magnetic tactics against our army after losing dozens of tanks and over a thousand soldiers. However, our army has been using high-speed mobile mechanized units to harass the enemy, hiding during the day and attacking at night. As a result, the enemy has not advanced more than 7 kilometers in the past few days, only about 500 meters per day. Therefore, magnetic tactics are not to be feared, as long as we concentrate our anti-tank firepower and eliminate several of the enemy's small units, they will not dare to make any rash moves."
"There is also news from our reconnaissance unit that the enemy is indeed concentrating its forces to prepare for an attack on our army. On the western front, south of Hancheng, the US military and puppet troops are gathering over 60,000 people to attack our army. Although the enemy's frontline units have been temporarily pinned down by our army in the areas of Muye, Shuiguan, and Jinyang, the enemy is constantly increasing its forces and compressing our army's front-line activity space, step by step approaching our army's defensive positions on Wenheng Mountain, Xiushan Mountain, and Wenjiao Mountain. Moreover, the enemy's planes have recently been frequently bombing our army's rear highways. I believe that the enemy will soon launch a large-scale attack against our army!"
At this time, news also came from the front line that the enemy had begun to launch a large-scale attack, breaking through our army's defenses at multiple points. The high-ranking military officers present immediately became tense. Our army was preparing for the fourth battle and most of its troops were in a state of rest and reorganization. However, due to the enemy's bombing, supplies were not sufficient, except for ammunition, other necessities like food, medicine, clothing, and shoes were all in short supply, greatly affecting our combat effectiveness. The reinforcements had not yet arrived, and our army was still not in a defensive state. If the enemy's sudden attack broke through our army's defenses, our losses would be unimaginable, and it was possible that the Korean People's Army might suffer another disaster!
The headquarters of the volunteer army quickly determined to let the enemy deeply infiltrate the relatively weak eastern line, and then annihilate them. Because the independent first division had fewer troops, the 50th Army sent a division to replace the defense of Wenhengshan and the second-line positions of Bodari, Neifeishan, Yingfeng, Guozhu Peak, etc., while repairing fortifications and replenishing supplies.
On January 25, the enemy's attack broke through the defensive position of the Independent First Division within a day, and Yu Lei's tank regiment, which had just captured and replenished some tanks, lost another 40 vehicles, and the enemy's offensive had only just begun.
