Section 24: Direct Insertion into San So Li 3
General Kayser, sitting in Willy's jeep, looked at the faint smoke rising above the three villages and the flags of the United Nations, the United States, and South Korea on the roof flagpole. Then ordered the troops to speed up their advance. Prepare for the whole division to have lunch in Sansori. At the same time, he also gave orders to the 5th Cavalry Regiment at the rear, telling them to speed up their withdrawal, break contact with the enemy in front of them, and meet with the division headquarters in Sansori.
More than 30 tanks of the US Second Division's tank regiment accelerated towards Samri after emitting black smoke, with a dozen M3 half-track armored vehicles following closely behind. Machine gunner Mike Sis stood on top of the vehicle, stretching out his hands to breathe in the safe and free air, without the smell of gunpowder on the battlefield, without the cries of wounded soldiers, without blood all over the ground, and no longer seeing close comrades die one by one. It was as if the shadows of many days had been swept away.
"Boom" "Boom", the two tanks in front disappeared into the ground, falling into a deep anti-tank ditch. The tankers who crawled out of the tank were cursing the treacherous North Korean guerrillas. However, a dense rumbling sound started, and a circle of round objects filled the sky. The original howitzer. And more than 150 temporary howitzers modified with gasoline barrels, threw thousands of kilograms of explosives into the US military convoy like rain.
The specially-made explosive packs of the Thunder Cannon exploded one after another, and the tremendous force overturned many tanks. The explosive packs bounced several times on the ground before exploding, and nearly a thousand rusty triangular iron pieces in the explosive packs were blown into various parts of the convoy under the boost of the explosion. Tankers who had not yet entered the tank were knocked down one after another. The open-top M3 armored car was like entering a human hell.
Mike Sis's pale face was pierced all over by triangular iron pieces, and his body was also filled with them, with blood gushing out of his body. The tank was blown open more than half a meter by the shockwave of 30-40 kilograms of explosives exploding at close range. The American soldiers inside the tank without helmets were either killed by their heads smashing against the tank wall or died from severe head injuries, and some were knocked unconscious (in the 1960s, our army conducted experiments using Type 59 tanks, which are better than M26, and found that 400 grams of explosives exploding on top of the tank could knock soldiers wearing helmets inside the tank unconscious for half an hour).
A portion of the enemy's rear column was subjected to a withering barrage from 82mm, 107mm and 120mm mortars. One 120mm mortar shell weighing up to 16 kilograms blasted an automobile loaded with soldiers into smithereens, scattering parts everywhere, leaving only one smoldering tire rolling on the ground. The US Second Division, which had already suffered nearly half casualties in combat units, lost thousands more troops, while many logistics units that were thrown into combat, such as bridge and engineering units, became empty shells.
Kaiser stared blankly at the exploding smoke, scattered cars and human limbs flying into the sky. The four-kilometer-long US military convoy retreated in disorder under the cover of losing its leading tanks, with vehicles crowded together on the road. Soldiers were hastily ordered off their vehicles to form a defensive circle around them. Wang Jue from the anti-aircraft artillery company and Yu Lei from the tank battalion nervously watched as enemy infantry approached.
The machine gun on the tank had already loaded the cartridge and was waiting to fire, but the US military's defensive circle stopped 100 meters in front of the tank. The US military began digging trenches and clearing the shooting area. Meanwhile, Gu Dabing from the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Regiment, and Jiang Xuefeng from the 2nd Assault Company led their soldiers to charge into the US convoy that was trapped in a hell of blood and fire.
The enemy's tanks had only seven intact, the others were either blown up or their turrets were blown off, gun barrels were twisted, tracks were broken, and sighting devices were completely destroyed. Those thin-skinned armored vehicles were even more severely damaged, reduced to scattered parts that not even the master craftsmen who built them could recognize as their handiwork.
Soldiers from the assault company crawled up to the tank, either dragging out the bodies of the enemy, driving the tank away, or collecting the tank's cannon shells and machine gun bullets. Then a bundle of explosives was thrown in, "Boom!" The inside was completely destroyed, even the hatch cover was blown open, spewing out thick smoke.
The US military who fainted in the anti-tank trench were pulled out, and everything that could be taken from the tank was taken away, leaving only a car body to be picked up next time. Gu Dabing was extremely distressed, after the dozens of remaining US troops who were bombed were eliminated, they found that the enemy's intact guns and ammunition were almost non-existent. Following the principle that even small meat is meat for flies, more than 200 collected guns and some small cannons, as well as ammunition, were taken away by two trucks. The US military who came to inspect were taught a good lesson by Gu Dabing.
Ding Yu was overjoyed and forgot his worries, and the arrival of more than 2,000 shells and a large batch of tanks made him even more ecstatic. Excitedly running around everywhere, he would hug anyone he met and say "We've got seven heavy tanks again!" before being kicked to the ground by Gao Quan. Under the artillery support of the grenade battalion, the second company of heavy tanks led by Liu Lei was re-established.
In less than two hours, the US military's 155 and 105 howitzers bombarded Zhao Zilong's position, causing smoke to rise everywhere. The 105 howitzer could only blast a crater more than one meter wide in the frozen soil, while the 155 howitzer barely managed to create a crater over three meters wide. Only the second battalion of the first regiment's position, which was guarded by more than one squad, suffered almost no damage. However, US B-26 and P-51 planes soon arrived on the scene. Incendiary bombs burned down the wooden structures in the trenches, while 1000-pound and 500-pound bombs blew the trenches into segments, flattening them. Even bunkers that were immune to artillery fire collapsed instantly when hit at close range, burying many soldiers inside who were killed by the blast.
While the three villages had only over a hundred houses, all of which were bombed to collapse, leaving only pillars on the broken walls still emitting smoke. Then the enemy launched an offensive against the US 2nd Division's 9th Regiment, which suffered relatively minor losses, and suddenly the advancing column of American troops was hit by one explosion after another, causing over 300 casualties among the unprepared American forces. However, strangely enough, there were no deafening sounds of artillery shells whizzing through the sky, and the American soldiers who had been lying on the ground looked up in confusion, only to be met with a violent explosion that not only disabled several tanks in the middle but also killed many of the American soldiers who were still lying on the ground.
Only the company commander of the third battalion, Zhong Wuying, was holding a detonator and secretly laughing. Then, for unknown reasons, an explosion caused the US military to retreat again with over 500 casualties. To secure their withdrawal route, the US military even called in dozens of B-29s to conduct carpet bombing. The positions on both sides of the road of the second battalion were turned into a sea of flames, and several hundred meters away, the headquarters of the second battalion could also feel the heat, leaving Zhao Zilong's forehead covered in cold sweat.
While Zhong Wuying buried the remaining electric detonators because they were sensitive yellow acidic explosives, they were detonated one after another. Kaiser, who was observing through binoculars, said to the people around him, "This time the air force did a good job, I didn't expect the enemy to bury explosives on the ground." Looking at the sea of fire on both sides of the mountain road, he muttered again, "This time the enemy should be wiped out!"
The inspired US military began the "Victory March" again. However, various mortars and special howitzers that had been moved into caves were brought out again. The shells pierced the air with a whistling sound, drilling into the advancing US troops, blowing them to pieces. The P-51 Mustangs, which had been circling for a long time, finally discovered our artillery positions on the mountain side (the reverse slope artillery position refers to an artillery position on the side of a mountain, generally requiring a steep mountain and usually only mortars can be placed there, this type of position is difficult to attack, flat-shooting cannons and howitzers can hardly hit it, mortars are also hard to hit accurately, and aircraft are not easy to maneuver either, until the development of laser-guided mortar shells and various precision ammunition made it a bit easier).
The plane dived down, coming out of the valley, wanting to attack or harass with rocket shells and heavy machine guns. However, 12 anti-aircraft guns fired out tongues of flame from behind the trees that had been pulled open, hitting four American planes, which either exploded or crashed into the mountain wall after being damaged. Then, huge flames appeared in the valley, and aluminum parts continued to fall to the ground.
Keizer, who was marveling at the tenacity of Chinese lives, received orders from MacArthur and Walker to quickly take down Samsoo-ri. The 5th Cavalry Regiment had moved south to coordinate, and the main force of the 1st Cavalry Division also moved north to support, and was asked to attack Yongwon-ri if they couldn't take it down
The Final Battle of Korea: The Whole Story Chapter 24 Direct Insertion into Samso-ri 3
