The Sixth Section: The First Battle of Liangshui Cave

  The 42nd Army of the Eastern Front has entered Korea from Changjin and will unfold the famous Huangcaoling, ambush battle in Zhanling. The 66th and 50th Armies on the Western Front will clash head-on with the British 27th Brigade and the US 24th Division in Guiting and Namshidong.

  The 38th Army is advancing to Xichuan, while the 39th Army is heading towards Yunshan's pseudo-first division, preparing for a unique encirclement and relief operation. The 118th Division of the 40th Army and the Independent First Division are rushing to Beizhen Liangshuidong.

  For the enemy's Sixth Division, Seventh Regiment, which has already arrived at Guchang and Chushan, in order to avoid startling the snake by hitting the grass, we did not move our troops. We plan to eliminate the main force of the Sixth Division at Wenjing first, and then surround and annihilate the enemy with the 50th Army's 148th Regiment.

  The five-day and night forced march made the officers and men of the 1st Independent Division extremely tired, even though they had undergone good training and were lightly equipped. On the evening of the 23rd, when the artillery regiment's mountain guns were still on their way to Liangshui Cave in Qingyuan City.

  The US Air Force, which lost two planes, searched repeatedly in Qingyuan City. What was missing was not only a World War II ace but also Little Schirak of the Schirak family.

  Even at night, B-29 Superfortress and B-26 Marauder bombers dropped flares to search for them. But due to the urgency of military situation, they had to arrive at Ershuidong before 25th, so the Independent 1st Division continued to rush towards Ershuidong.

  However, an unexpected situation suddenly occurred. The artillery battalion's four-horse-drawn gun carriage was under the illumination bombs suddenly dropped by the US military. The horses were frightened, and a mountain gun suddenly fell into the valley, which in turn drew the attention of the US military, more illumination bombs were dropped, and the artillery battalion was exposed under the eyes of the US military.

  Burst bombs, napalm bombs, rocket bombs, or being shot down or thrown down, the sound of continuous explosions, flying shrapnel and flames. When the American planes flew away, Han Tian was so grief-stricken that he couldn't cry. Originally, there were only twelve mountain cannons like precious babies, but ten of them were destroyed by the American devils at once.

  Only one German-made Krupp 75mm field gun and an American-made 75mm mountain gun were left. Fortunately, the howitzers and mortars had been transferred quickly and were all preserved, so Han Tian had to take only two mountain guns with him on the road.

  What hurt Han Tian the most was that more than 20 artillerymen were killed or injured in yesterday's bombing, and over 30 ammunition handlers were also affected. The ammunition was also destroyed by more than half, making Han Tian want to kill himself, feeling ashamed to face me.

  Looking at Han Tian's silent and speechless appearance, his bloodshot eyes, disheveled hair, and swollen eyelids. There was some pain in my heart.

  "Superior, I'm ashamed to face you. You entrusted me with the care of the artillery battalion, but we lost 10 mountain guns and suffered huge losses in ammunition. I should be shot dead for this." Han Tian saw me kneel down, speaking and crying at the same time.

  "A real man doesn't cry. As long as we're alive, we'll have guns and ammunition. This time the loss is great, but you must help me take good care of the troops. Not one more person can die."

  Didn't we also not have good guns and cannons before? Didn't we take them away from the devils and the Nationalist Party either? Moreover, I think our artillery battalion's cannons should be replaced too. Prepare the personnel for me and get ready to receive new cannons at any time.

  At the same time, we must summarize why the horse was frightened this time and other questions. Only by understanding them can we avoid making the same mistake next time," said Gaoquan seriously.

  "Yes, sir." Han Tian stood up and gave me a salute.

  Those miscellaneous guns and cannons captured during the War of Resistance against Japan are far inferior to those of the American devils, it's time to change them, otherwise even the North Koreans will look down on our weapons. I still remember the People's Army, when they saw our old-fashioned guns and cannons, they looked at us with disdain, and when they saw the howitzer, they were shocked and amazed, a sly smile in my heart. But the firing rate of two rounds per minute makes me feel a little worried.

  "Report!" "Come in!" "Reporting to the superior, our vanguard reconnaissance platoon has made contact with the 354th Regiment of the 118th Division of the 40th Army 2 kilometers west of Beitun," Zhang Dabiao said excitedly.

  "Ah" a surge of joy welled up in his heart. "Xiao Shan, order the 1st Battalion to be the vanguard, the 3rd Battalion and artillery battalion to be in the middle, and the 2nd Battalion to be the rear guard, quickly move north towards the 118th Division's garrison." "Yes"

  When I saw young Deng Yue, I hastened to walk up and shook hands with him tightly. As a fellow Red Guard who climbed snowy mountains and traversed grasslands together, as comrades-in-arms who fought against the enemy in Shandong, as comrades-in-arms who battled in Liaodong, after more than a decade of sharing life and death, we had long been like close brothers. After a long separation, we were speechless for a long time. "Brother Deng, what's the situation with the enemy?"

  "There are enemy bandits in Wenjing, and it seems they are still exchanging fire with the People's Army. I have met with Old Peng at Dayu Cave, and he ordered our division to set up an ambush in the area of Liangshui Cave and Fengzhong Cave, then take advantage of the situation to attack Wenjing. Since Old Peng doesn't have any troops around him, I specifically left a regiment as his guard, and was worried that we wouldn't have enough strength to deal with the bandits. Now that you're here, it's good."

  At the front-line command post, after consulting with Deng Yue and reporting to Zhi Si, it was decided that the 118th Division's 354th Regiment and the Independent First Division's 1st Regiment, along with a battalion of artillery, would build fortifications at Fengxia Cave and Fuxing Cave respectively, preparing to ambush the enemy. The Independent First Division's 2nd Regiment, led by the commander of the People's Army's 1st Regiment, would infiltrate between Fengzhong Cave and Baidong Cave towards the rear of Wenjing, cutting off the retreat route of the enemy's Sixth Division. The Independent First Division's 3rd Regiment would serve as the vanguard for reconnaissance, while the Independent First Division's assault battalion would be the combat reserve force.

  On the 25th, at around 9:00 am, the pseudo-6th Division's 2nd Regiment left Wenjing. Wenjing is the gateway to the northern mountainous region of Korea, with a winding highway leading north through the heavy mountains. The eastern side of the highway is lined with pine trees, while the western side has rivers and high mountain canyons that stretch all the way to the riverbank. It's particularly suitable for an ambush.

  At around 11 o'clock, the fake Sixth Division Second Regiment appeared in front of the 118th Division's 354th Regiment and the solitary First Division's First Regiment, as well as the shock troops who had been ambushing all night. The soldiers, who had slept in the freezing grass all night and were frozen to the point of having blue noses and swollen faces, poked their heads out one after another. The excitement and tension of the impending battle made them forget the cold and their fevers.

  Enemy 2nd Regiment, with infantry columns on both sides advancing along the highway, followed by dozens of cars under the guidance of 12 M24 Chaffee tanks. In particular, 12 vehicles towing 105mm howitzers caught Zhang Dabiao's attention. Although Zhang Dabiao was usually a bit dim-witted, he also knew that he had lost his cannons to Han Tian.

  Although Han Tian didn't say anything, he always thought it was his fault that harmed Han Tian, so he had been thinking of getting a better ten-door cannon to give back to Han Tian. This time, not only did he exceed the ten doors, but also got twelve doors, and even got trucks for transporting cannons, which made him feel a thrill in his heart. The artillery camp has already started adjusting its coordinates, and the electric detonator of the electric mine laid by the assault camp was tightly grasped in his hand.

  Because those two mountain cannons were the only remaining treasures, they were afraid that after the war, they would not be able to move them in time and would be bombed again. Since they were fighting an ambush battle in a valley, almost without any blind spots, mortars were the most useful. So Han Tian only brought the howitzer and 107mm, 82mm, 81mm, and 60mm mortars. Suddenly, for some unknown reason, the enemy tanks stopped moving.

  Everyone was shocked to see the enemy tank company commander crawling out of the tank, shouting a few sentences, and then the enemy tank soldiers crawled out of the tank one after another. Only Fēng Guì's assault battalion was secretly laughing. It turned out that they had started cooking dog meat on the side of the road.

  But it was cooked on an electric stove, and Feng Gui was worried that the yellow explosive would explode due to high temperatures, which would definitely disrupt the battle plan.

  The commander of the 2nd Regiment of the Puppet Army, Colonel Ham Byeong-seon, felt something was off as soon as he left Woen-je. He had originally planned to lead the charge with tanks, but the tank unit unexpectedly started eating dog meat they had caught in Woen-je yesterday. Although he also craved it, Commander Kim Jong-o of the 5th Regiment ordered him to arrive at Gochang by the afternoon of the 26th and follow the 7th Regiment closely.

  However, the tank company commander was the division commander's nephew and could not be ordered around. The enemy then became a strange convoy of over 40 trucks carrying infantry following behind 12 trucks towing large cannons.

  However, the two infantry regiments behind the enemy had not yet entered the ambush circle. So they hurriedly called the front command to report the situation. Zhang Dabiao suggested that the third battalion should be in the front and ambush one of the enemy's infantry regiments and artillery regiment who were riding on vehicles. Therefore, when the enemy's three regiments and artillery regiment continued to advance with arrogance, a U-shaped encirclement had been completed, waiting for them to fall into it.

  Perhaps the freshly dug trenches' new turned earth aroused the enemy's suspicion, so the enemy opened fire, and the third battalion also opened fire without knowing who did it first. Then, the sound of gunfire burst out like beans, and the mortar "Boom" "Boom" started to rapidly shoot out shells. Especially those two mountain cannons, one shell after another blew up the cars that even the soldiers hadn't had time to jump off, scattering car parts everywhere, flames from fuel explosions and human bodies flew into the sky.

  The heavy machine guns on both sides swept away the neat rows of enemy soldiers on the vehicle. The enemy's cars towing twelve 105mm howitzers, just wanted to turn around, but were directly hit by a shell from an 82mm cannon.

  A raging fire blocked the enemy's convoy retreat route, and the vanguard was also knocked to the ground by heavy machine guns and howitzers. Immediately after, the 3rd Regiment sounded the charge. Under the triangular attack formation led by light machine guns and assault rifles, the pseudo-6th Division's 2nd Regiment's 3rd Battalion and part of the divisional artillery regiment were annihilated in just 17 minutes.

  At this time, on the positions of the 354th Regiment and the Independent First Division's First Regiment, when the enemy infantry's first and second battalions entered the ambush circle, they suddenly heard a burst of gunfire like beans exploding behind them. After notifying the Independent First Division's First Regiment and the 354th Regiment, Feng Gui pressed down on the electrically fired thunderbolt.

  Hundreds of kilograms of yellow explosives exploded in strings, and the enemy tank troops who were eating dog meat instantly disappeared in the smoke of the explosion. Immediately afterwards, the "Boom" "Boom" sound of the artillery shook the sky, and then the pseudo-army stared blankly at the giant monsters falling from the sky one by one, with columns of smoke rising into the air.

  The dense explosion of mortar shells and the dense rain of machine guns instantly stunned the enemy's Sixth Division Second Regiment 2nd Battalion 3rd Battalion. Even forgetting to lie down and avoid the light and heavy machine guns sweeping over, row after row of soldiers were mowed down in neat rows.

  As Kuan Yü led the storming troops down, the remaining enemy soldiers, less than two hundred of them, in a state of terror, raised their hands.