The Thirteenth Chapter: The Annihilation of the Eighth Cavalry Regiment 3

  Votes, why are there still so few?

  Colonel Palmer, who received the order to retreat at night, did not hesitate and led the already prepared regimental headquarters and battalion vehicles to withdraw south, and sent a telegram to Johnson, the original commander of the 3rd Battalion who had just been promoted to commander of the 5th Cavalry Regiment, asking him to respond.

  While the 1st and 2nd Battalions inside Yunshan City retreated slowly under the cover of a tank regiment, Major General Milikin was ordered to lead Companies A and B to wait on the highway southeast of Yunshan City for scattered soldiers from within the city. From time to time, some stragglers from Company C, which belonged to the 1st Battalion, as well as some from the 2nd Battalion's Companies A and B, and some routed puppet troops joined them.

  As Colonel Palmer passed by the mouth of the Se Yu tunnel, he looked at the key point on this withdrawal road, the curved highway and the hills beside it, thinking of the two battalions behind him, so he left Major Edison, the chief of staff of the regiment, a detachment of the reconnaissance platoon, a company of the 3rd Battalion's 1st Company with more than 80 men, to guard this hill and wait for the troops to withdraw. Then the baggage vehicles of the US 8th Cavalry Regiment, part of the 2nd and 1st Battalions, a tank company and the 99th Field Artillery Battalion withdrew towards Pochon.

  When the scouting squad of Zhao Zilong's 2nd Regiment, which had been inserted in a flanking maneuver, discovered the enemy guarding on the hilltop, perhaps because they were located in the rear or perhaps because they had not experienced our army's flanking tactics before, the fortifications constructed by the enemy were extremely weak. Moreover, more than eighty enemies were completely off guard, with several of them surrounding a bonfire to warm up and occasionally visible flames indicated that the enemy was smoking. Upon learning of the enemy's situation, Zhao Zilong decided to engage in a swift battle, as the enemy on Yunshan might retreat at any moment.

  The affiliated assault company, the regimental reconnaissance company, and the guard company were mixed into a temporary assault battalion, led by Regimental Chief of Staff Shen Zhuo, who lay in ambush in front of the enemy's position. Behind them, about 800 people from the first battalion followed, holding rifles with mud on the bayonets, carrying light machine guns, waiting 600 meters away. "Don't shoot" like a ghost entering the village.

  A company of over 160 men, quickly lay in ambush about 70 meters from the enemy's position. The night sky easily concealed our troops' figures. However, the enemy seemed to be wide awake, either gazing at the moon quietly, humming a country tune while wiping their gun muzzles, or roasting by the crackling fire and chatting about something.

  Seeing that a surprise attack was impossible, the deputy commander of the 2nd Regiment, Shen Zhuo, decided to launch an immediate attack after repeated deliberation. At the sound of the order, our army, almost all armed with automatic weapons, spewed out tongues of fire and bit into those enemy troops. The enemy, who had not yet reacted, was immediately knocked down by more than 30 people, with casualties nearing half, and then the American troops scrambled into the fortifications, exchanging shots with our army.

  From time to time, our soldiers fell down with a muffled hum. However, the enemy fired at full force for less than 3 minutes, and their firepower weakened, only occasionally firing a burst or a single shot, proving that they still existed and were still resisting. It seemed that the US military had run out of ammunition.

  The enemy was suppressed by Mark's intense firepower and couldn't lift their heads, the sound of the Type 38 rifle firing continuously, the accurate shooting reminded the US veteran soldiers of the Japanese army during World War II. At this time, the sniper team released by the battalion headquarters also arrived.

  Snipers are hard to train and are used for offense, especially against enemies with strong automatic firepower, it's simply a waste of life. So the precise and powerful bullets from Water Droplet were fired one by one from the sniper rifle, American soldiers wearing steel helmets were shot through their helmets and exploded heads.

  As our troops rushed onto the battlefield, Lieutenant Colonel Edison, who had been hit by seven bullets, looked at the photos of his family in his hand and died with a smile as his blood slowly flowed out on a small hill that was not marked on the map on a cold winter evening in North Korea.

  The 2nd Regiment, which had just occupied the Xishan Tunnel entrance, immediately began to build fortifications, and forward warning units were also dispatched. The 1st Battalion built fortifications along the mountain ridge on the left hillside, while the 2nd Battalion built fortifications on the flat ground on the right side. The never-lost engineer shovel played a huge role, with trenches 1.5 meters deep and communication trenches 0.75 meters deep.

  There were also anti-artillery caves, cat ear caves, and fortifications were built one after another. The third battalion, as a reserve team, began to dig trenches, build standard anti-tank trenches with a width of 4.5 meters and a depth of 3 meters, a total of three, each 25 meters long, connecting the hilltop and the second battalion's position.

  The company commander, Gu Dabing, thought for a moment and since the enemy couldn't see at night, he went with his soldiers to cut down another pine tree as thick as a fist and covered the anti-tank trench with it, also laying some branches on top. He also brought sappers to bury more than ten electrically detonated mines weighing 50 kilograms each on the highway ahead, covering them with many broken stones.

  A temporary assault company was formed with a 75mm and two 57mm recoilless guns, circling back to the north of Xiwu Cave Entrance about two kilometers away. As soon as the front line started fighting, they went to raid the enemy's rear or middle, constantly harassing the enemy, striving not to let the enemy launch an all-out attack.

  A little later, when the gunfire in Yunshan City had become sparse, Milikin led a team of over 800 people, driving more than 40 cars, with four tanks leading the way and two tanks following behind, slowly moving forward. Under the cover of night, a long dragon of vehicles, nearly 500 meters in length, wound its way along the mountain highway.

  At this time, the sound of cars and caterpillar treads came from behind, and after contacting, it was found that some of the 10th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment assisting the 15th Regiment of the Puppet First Division to consolidate their positions had retreated. The convoy then added 4 M16 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns with 20mm quadruple barrels and 16 90mm anti-aircraft guns, and the convoy, which had suddenly increased its firepower, was once again filled with a sense of security.

  Looking at the long line of cars with their headlights on under the night sky, Zhao Zilong felt both envious and excitedly nervous. When the enemy's lead tank, unaware of what was happening, suddenly fell into an anti-tank ditch and disappeared from view, the tanks behind it were momentarily stunned, then they saw two jeeps and a truck in front being wildly swept by the machine gun fire of the 2nd Battalion, and one 57mm shell directly blew a jeep over.

  In less than a minute, more than 30 of the enemy's vanguard were shot to pieces. Seeing the deep ditch exposed in front, the tanks behind tried to bypass it, but another tank fell down with a thud. The tanks stopped and turned their guns and heavy machine guns to sweep and bombard the position of the 2nd Battalion, and the vehicles behind also stopped one by one.

  Enemy soldiers jumped out of the car with guns, preparing to attack. A small group of enemy troops began running up the hill, while American troops who had fallen into an anti-tank ditch also opened the hatch and climbed out.

  At the right moment, Zhao Zilong gave an order and two 75mm recoilless cannon shells shot straight at the thinnest side and rear of the enemy tank armor. Two loud explosions were heard, the American tank turret was tilted, emitting thick black smoke, then the tank driver crawled out of the hatch, screaming, with his body on fire.

  Then various artillery, light and heavy machine guns began to fiercely fire at the convoy, the enemy fell to the ground or under the vehicles, firing back at our army. Gu Dabing saw the situation, pressed down the initiator of the electric detonator in his hand, a string of explosive clouds rose up in the long convoy.

  The enemy lying on the ground was killed by the shockwave, and the flying debris hit the standing enemies into sieves. The enemy convoy was filled with screams and wails. However, the firing of light and heavy machine guns and artillery did not stop, and the hail of bullets pierced the thin steel plates of the cars, shattered the glass, and sent splinters flying everywhere, then penetrating human bodies. That moment became a hell on earth, and the flames from the exploded cars illuminated the scene even more vividly. The US military's 900-strong force suffered over 500 casualties in an instant.