Volume 1: The First Battle Chapter 29 Recommendations
"Platoon leader! How do you know that the 38th Army cannot stop the enemy?" When they arrived at the Cheongcheon River, the old squad leader asked in confusion.
Although there was no order from the regiment, the troops had to stop the pursuit when they reached the Cheongcheon River. It was obvious that the 38th Army had not penetrated here on time. With the help of the US troop transport ship, the puppet 8th Division had successfully crossed the river and escaped the encirclement, and built a new line of defense on the south bank of the Cheongcheon River.
Under such circumstances, the volunteers had to stop the pursuit and hide in a forest not far from the Cheongcheon River.
"This kid is good at fortune-telling!" Hu Zi laughed and said, "Old squad leader, buy this kid a folding fan tomorrow, and make him look like Zhuge Kongming. I will be Zhang Fei, and you will be Guan Yu, and the three of us brothers will kill the reactionaries all the way..."
"Go, go, go..." The old squad leader grinned with his wrinkled mouth and said, "Even though I'm not educated, I know that those three brothers are not Liu Bei. When did they become Zhuge Kongming?"
"I, I..." Hu Zi's old face turned red, and he replied with a red face and thick neck: "I don't like that old man Liu Bei, stand aside!"
The soldiers around were amused by Hu Zi's embarrassing look and all laughed.
At this time, our company also came up to us. When the company commander saw us, he joked: "You guys run really fast. You ran to the front of the troops."
"No way!" I glanced at Hu Zi and said jokingly, "It's to grab the cans, how can I not be quick?"
As soon as these words were spoken, they immediately caused laughter from the soldiers.
"I've heard about it all." The company commander took a few dead branches and sat next to me and said, "You fought well, Platoon Leader Cui. You captured more than 50 prisoners in one go and also replenished our food and ammunition!"
"I refuse to accept it!" Zhao Yongxin stepped forward, put his rifle aside, pulled up his hat and sat down. "Platoon Leader Cui has captured all the prisoners, and he didn't even leave a few for me. I say, Platoon Leader Cui, you should show some spirit of unity and mutual assistance among revolutionary soldiers! If it weren't for that can, I wouldn't let you off easily!"
"Platoon Leader Cui, tell me...what happened?" Liu Mingquan leaned close to his dirty face and stared at me with a pair of admiring eyes.
"Platoon Leader Liu!" Company Commander Zhang pointed at Liu Mingquan and said, "Platoon Leader Liu heard that the eight of you went to attack two companies of puppet troops and captured more than 50 prisoners, but he didn't believe it until he saw the large number of prisoners and guns and ammunition. He kept asking me, 'Company Commander, how did you do that?'"
"That's nothing!" Hu Zi came forward, waving his fists: "Would you believe it? Platoon Leader Cui even let the American planes clear the way for us!"
"What? You're just bragging..." Zhao Yongxin curled his lips in disbelief.
"If you don't believe me, go ask!" Hu Zi pointed around with a smug look on his face: "Ask those comrades, and those others, they are all following us, the American planes are whizzing around our ears, and they haven't landed a single drop!"
Seeing those comrades nodding their heads continuously, even Company Commander Zhang looked at me in confusion.
"How...how did it happen?" Liu Mingquan asked stutteringly, his face full of anticipation.
"Are you from the Second Company of the Third Battalion?" A signalman ran up and asked, "Which one is Platoon Leader Cui Wei?"
"It's me." I stood up and answered.
"The commander wants you to come with me to the headquarters."
"Yes! I'll be there right away!" I responded straightforwardly, and I felt relieved to be freed from the crowd. It was not pleasant to face the looks from my comrades. Even if I had to be scolded by Captain Chu again, I was willing to do it.
After following the signalman for more than twenty minutes, we arrived at a cave with the entrance covered with black cloth. Several guards were standing guard at the door.
"Report, Cui Wei, the platoon leader of the third platoon of the second company of the third battalion, is here!"
"Come in!"
After lifting the black cloth, the view in front of me was bright. The cave was spacious and ventilated. There was a fire in the corner. Two wooden forks were propped up on a kettle, and the flames licked the bottom of the kettle, making a hissing sound. On the side, a simple table was made of shell boxes, and a map was spread out on it. Division Commander Deng and Regiment Commander Chu were chatting with a few people on the map.
"This is the comrade!" As soon as Captain Chu saw me, he introduced me to the others: "Cui Wei, the platoon leader of our regiment."
"Young comrade, you fought well!" Commander Deng shook my hand cordially and introduced me: "This is Political Commissar Zhang, and this is Chief of Staff Tang."
I was a little surprised to see this was the division headquarters. I thought it was the regiment headquarters! I didn't expect the division headquarters to be so close to the front line. The black cloth covering the hole was probably to prevent light from leaking out and attracting bombing from enemy planes!
“Come on…” Commander Deng continued to introduce: “This is Platoon Leader Cui Weicui, who captured more than 50 prisoners with just eight soldiers and led his troops to avoid American planes!”
"The division commander was talking about you just now!" Political Commissar Zhang shook my hand enthusiastically and said, "He said you are good at fighting and have brains. We need soldiers like you in our revolutionary team!"
"Keep working harder!" Chief of Staff Tang joked, "One day, sit in my position and give advice to our troops!"
"Well, I dare not, I dare not!" I was so embarrassed that I didn't know what to say. I touched my head and I don't know when I learned the Kuomintang's way of saying I dare not.
"Why don't you dare?" Seeing this, everyone couldn't help but laugh: "A soldier who doesn't want to be a general is not a good soldier..."
"Report!" At this time, a telegram was handed in from outside the door. When everyone saw it, their expressions immediately became solemn.
"It turns out that the Americans are stationed in Yunshan, and they are an ace division." Chief of Staff Tang frowned and said, "No wonder the 39th Army couldn't take it down after two days of fighting. It's a tough nut to crack!"
"Yes!" Commander Deng nodded and said, "The equipment of the US Army is not comparable to those of the puppet army, and the opponent is the powerful US Cavalry First Division. Fighting with such a force, especially in the daytime, casualties are inevitable. Our division is closest to Yunshan, and the commander asked us to go to support it. Let's see how to fight!"
It turned out that they were fighting the Yunshan Battle. I couldn't help but feel a little nervous when I heard this. The Yunshan Battle was the first battle between the Volunteer Army and the US Army. The opponent was the ace division of the US Cavalry Division. To fight against these American troops with modern equipment, we should try to launch attacks at night.
But as the saying goes, there is no coincidence in the world. The puppet army was originally stationed in Yunshan City. When they heard the news that China had sent troops, they retreated desperately. The US 1st Cavalry Division behind them hastily rushed forward, and the Volunteer Army mistook the enemy's change of defense as an enemy escape, so they advanced the attack time and launched the attack during the day.
It is conceivable that the Volunteer Army would inevitably suffer considerable casualties if they launched an attack during the day under the powerful firepower of the US military.
But didn't the Volunteer Army also win this battle in history? How did they win? I racked my brains to think about the information I had read before.
Yes...it seems that the 39th Army sent a company and marched into Yunshan City. The Americans thought they were defeated Korean soldiers, so they kept them in the headquarters, and then they did a central explosion...
"Report to the commander!" Thinking of this, I saluted everyone and said, "Can I...can I make a suggestion?"
