Chapter 9: Three Victories in Keju Field

  "Boss, good news!" Deng Hua excitedly ran into Zhi Si's office

  "What's going on?" the old general asked, puzzled. "The independent 1st Division and a part of the 118th Division launched a surprise attack on Wenjing in disguise, annihilating the 6th Division of the puppet army, the entire 19th Regiment, and one battalion of the 10th Regiment of the 8th Division, totaling over 3,700 people. They also killed the commander of the 6th Division, Jin Zhongwu, his deputy, and a large number of high-ranking officers," Deng Hua said excitedly.

  "Alright, hmm..." The old general paced back and forth a few steps. "Record the order: 40th Army's 118th Division, Independent First Division, and one regiment from each of them, totaling four regiments, will move from south to north, coordinating with 50th Army's 148th Division to annihilate the enemy pseudo-6th Division's 7th Regiment that has reached the China-Korea border and the Guchang area. The main force of Independent First Division will immediately head south and be assigned to 39th Army to annihilate the enemy in Yunshan."

  "Yes", and then the operations staff rushed to send a telegram

  When the order was received, the drivers of the independent division and the officers and men of the assault regiment were busy hiding the tanks and captured vehicles that had arrived, because enemy planes would be coming soon. Especially for Tian, who still had a lingering fear of air raids, he hid the big guns. The flag trick was discovered by enemy aircraft during the artillery attack on the enemy's Sixth Division, but fortunately, the anti-aircraft machine gun drove away the enemy aircraft, so the loss was small.

  After the air raid, the 40th Army's 118th Division and the Independent 1st Regiment set out on their journey northwards, with the Independent 1st Regiment and the 353rd Regiment of the 118th Division leading the way. Four tanks were attached to them, with Li Yi, deputy commander of the Independent 1st Division, in command, riding in cars, advancing towards Guchang.

  In fact, the battles since the 25th were not what Peng Dehuai had hoped for. He originally wanted to use the volunteer army's sudden and covert entry into Korea to annihilate 2-3 enemy divisions at once, but the enemy's attack was too fast, and before the volunteer army could enter their designated positions and form up, they encountered the enemy in a series of skirmishes, and this plan was naturally foiled.

  Just received a telegram from Jin Zhongwu before his death, Lin Fuzeng, the commander of the 7th Regiment of the 6th Division, was shocked. The road behind him was cut off, and the entire army might face the consequence of being wiped out at any time, which made him shudder. He hastily sent a telegram to Major Fleming, who was still in Chushan, asking him to come back and discuss countermeasures.

  Fleming, who had hurried from Chuschan, was shocked when he saw the telegram sent by the commander-in-chief. Although they had advanced quickly and received widespread praise in the newspapers, their rapid progress had left them without supplies, and they were now lacking in materials.

  Gasoline, food and ammunition were all in short supply for the 7th Regiment. After being surrounded by the enemy, what good outcome could there be? Thinking of this made cold sweat continuously break out. So after careful discussion with Lin Fuzeng, it was decided to request air-dropped supplies from the Air Force. After receiving the supplies, they would retreat from Longgudong and Erjiangdong to Xikou, in order to avoid as much as possible the attacks of the unidentified troops. Then depending on the situation, they could either withdraw from Qiuchang or head towards Wenjing from Lishi Cave.

  But can our army give them this opportunity?

  Two regiments of the vanguard division, fully supplied from Wenjing, were led by Li Yi, deputy commander of the Independent First Division. The tanks took the lead, with the first regiment of the Independent First Division advancing north along the highway from Beitun, and the 353rd Regiment of the 118th Division advancing north along the highway from Baidong Cave. The two regiments launched a pincer attack on two routes to prevent the enemy from escaping, and converged at Longgudong to Banpingdong line.

  Speeding cars, rolling dust, formed two long dragons on the two highways, straight into Guchang.

  Walker, who received the aerial reconnaissance report, naturally thought that Kim Jong-oh was exaggerating and at most was being attacked by North Korean guerrillas, otherwise why would he rush to Kusong.

  He was furious at Kim Jong-oh's behavior, using the phrase "son of a bitch" that he had learned from his former superior General Patton. Although reports of clashes with unidentified troops had been coming in continuously since the 25th, the elite Korean Army's 1st Division was pinned down by snipers on An-dong Mountain for three days and couldn't move forward at all.

  The scattered enemy troops that were captured also revealed that the Communist Party of China had sent a volunteer army of 5,000 to 15,000 people to participate in the war. It is said that it was to protect the Yalu River's Fengman Hydroelectric Power Station, and these troops are estimated to be dispatched as vanguard troops. However, for someone like Kim Jong-il who exaggerates the enemy situation but is enthusiastic about showing off, ignoring the consistency of the front line is extremely infuriating.

  But he was unaware of the telegram sent by Fleming to the US Air Force requesting resupply, and the US Air Force also believed that their Sixth Division had defeated the Chinese snipers based on reconnaissance reports. The Seventh Regiment was preparing to advance towards the Sino-Korean border after receiving sufficient supplies.

  The difference between the army and air force, Fleming would naturally not let the air force know that his request for supplies was to retreat, which would make the air force laugh at the army.

  On the 28th, in the morning, the two regiments converged at Longgudong and reconnaissance platoons from both regiments were dispatched for reconnaissance. Meanwhile, vanguards from both regiments advanced along the highway towards Guchang.

  An independent scout platoon in Ryanggang Cave discovered the vanguard of the enemy's Seventh Division, and reported to the division headquarters. After leaving a small surveillance team behind, they advanced towards Kusang, while the 353rd Regiment's scout platoon lay in ambush on the south slope of Kusang, discovering that the enemy was receiving aerial resupply. In the afternoon, the Seventh Division began to withdraw from Kusang and head towards Ryonggok Cave.

  After receiving the report, Li Yi, Zhang Dabiao and Huang Dewang discussed it and thought that the enemy would rest at Liu Liang Cave at night and estimated that they would come to Longgu Cave the next afternoon. Zhang Dabiao suggested a night raid on Liu Liang Cave, saying that the enemy's air force firepower could not be played out at night, while our tanks can sweep across the enemy. Huang Dewang believed that it was best to set up an ambush in Longgu Cave, which would have sufficient preparation and could catch the enemy off guard.

  While a night raid was not easy to succeed, it was also likely to turn the enemy into scattered sheep and could not be completely annihilated. Zhang Dabiao believed that during the day, the air force threat was greater, and the enemy's retreat and escape were easier. Finally, Li Yi decided to launch a night raid on Liu Liangdong, with the tank troops and the 1st Battalion of the 1st Regiment of the Independent Division quickly inserting themselves between Guchang and Liu Liangdong, while the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 1st Regiment infiltrated to the north side of Liu Liangdong. The 353rd Regiment advanced along the highway to the north. At midnight, they launched a general attack and reported back to the headquarters of the 118th Division.

  At night, the campsite filled with cars was very quiet, and from time to time, there were snores. Only Fleming tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep, thinking of his wife and children back home. As a soldier for eight years, Fleming hated this damn war, and as a lieutenant colonel, he knew that this war made no sense.

  The distant rumble of tanks could be heard, but it disappeared after a while, making him feel very strange, and he mocked himself for having tinnitus and war syndrome. At this time, in the camp, black shadows flashed from time to time, followed by one soldier after another falling down, like the god of death in the night, using his scythe to reap life.

  When the fierce explosion broke the night's tranquility, intense and varied gunfire wove together, suddenly waking Fleming from bed, grabbing his M1911 pistol, and hastily walking out of the tent without even putting on clothes.