Volume 2 The Second Battle Chapter 2 Retreat
“Boom boom…”
At dawn that morning, less than two days before the end of the first battle, the United Nations forces, who were forced to retreat south of the Cheongcheon River, launched another attack, unwilling to accept defeat.
In front of us was the Eighth Army led by Walker. The so-called Eighth Army was a mixed army of the South Korean 1st Division, the British 27th Brigade, the US 24th Division, the US 2nd Division, the South Korean 7th and 8th Divisions, etc. Of course, as usual, the host South Korean army took the lead this time.
Bombs exploded around me one after another, planes made shrill screams overhead, large trees creaked and fell down, snow, wood chips, and broken soil came towards me from all directions like waves, and the shaking ground made me feel like I was in the ocean, and the surrounding sand and rocks were like sea water that could drown me at any time.
I finally got a taste of the American heavy artillery. If the South Korean army's artillery bombardment could be described as deafening, then the American heavy artillery could be described as silent, because we were deafened by this artillery.
When the artillery fire started, I didn't pay much attention to it, and I didn't think to cover my ears with my hands. I was suddenly hit by a barrage of artillery fire, and my ears were buzzing, and I couldn't hear anything.
I couldn't help but think of the time when I was a child and set off firecrackers during the Chinese New Year, a firecracker suddenly exploded next to my ear, and my ears were buzzing for more than ten minutes. I'm afraid I won't be so relieved this time.
The Americans' artillery was indeed powerful, but fortunately they did not find where the target was. They just used those heavy artillery to fire randomly at places with trees and where people could hide, so the losses of the volunteers were not great.
"Bang bang..." The sound of artillery fire had not yet stopped when hundreds of troop transport ships on the Cheongcheon River could be seen heading towards this side from afar. The originally calm surface of the Cheongcheon River suddenly became lively.
Farther away, on the Cheongcheon River Bridge, one could vaguely see a long line of enemy cars, tanks, and armored vehicles heading this way.
This is MacArthur's Christmas Offensive, and I couldn't help but smile to myself.
During the first battle, MacArthur, the UN commander-in-chief, announced that the war would be ended before Thanksgiving, but China's entry into the war made this impossible because Thanksgiving was only fifteen days away.
So MacArthur announced that he would end the war before Christmas and launched the Christmas Offensive.
In a sense, I still hope that MacArthur will be the commander-in-chief of the United Nations, because his blind optimism and arrogance are one of the reasons why the Volunteer Army achieved great results in the previous battles, so his removal from office is undoubtedly a loss to the Volunteer Army!
"The Chinese have at most 30,000 regular troops and 30,000 volunteers. They are not an invincible force."
This is what MacArthur said after the first battle, but what he could not have expected was that at this time there were nine armies of volunteer troops totaling four or five hundred thousand people lurking in North Korea waiting for him.
With the sound of the motor rumbling, the troop transport ship brought teams of South Korean soldiers ashore.
Obviously, the South Korean soldiers were not as optimistic as MacArthur. Perhaps they were scared by the beating, or perhaps they were naturally afraid of the Chinese army. After none of them dared to take a step forward. It was not until one troop ship after another brought teams of soldiers ashore that they mustered up the courage to move towards where we were hiding.
Their mission was to ensure that there were no ambushes in the woods on both sides of the road so that their large force could pass safely along the road at the foot of the mountain.
The strange noises of the planes gradually became less frequent, and the sound of artillery fire also disappeared without a trace as the South Korean troops advanced. I crawled out of the muddy pile, and couldn't help rubbing my painful ears with my hands. I turned my head to see that my comrades around me were also in the same situation, with obviously dull expressions.
The damn Americans, how can they be so fierce when firing cannons! Not to mention being killed or injured by these huge cannons, the sound alone is unbearable. No wonder many injured volunteers who returned home were deaf. At this time, I really hoped that the one coming up was an American, so that I could shoot a few shots to vent my anger.
At this moment, I suddenly felt someone stabbed me a few times. I turned around and saw that it was the old squad leader. He pointed the gun at me and signaled me to get ready for battle. Only then did I realize that the company commander had just given the order to prepare for battle.
I silently raised my rifle. Without any sound, the whole world seemed different. Everything in front of me was like watching a silent movie, weird and helpless.
With a few slight noises, a large number of enemies fell down in front of me, which made me realize that I missed the "fire" order again. At the same time, my heart was finally at ease - I could still hear the sound, I was not deaf!
With joy in his heart, he picked up the rifle and fired a few shots. Sure enough, he could hear the sound, and it seemed to be getting louder and louder.
Hey! I was only paying attention to the sound, where did the bullet go?
But it didn't matter, the South Korean soldiers retreated before they could even fire two shots, so it didn't matter if I fired two more or two less shots. Look! Before I could fire again, they all ran away in a swarm.
"retreat!"
Ha... Now I finally heard the company commander's order. I grabbed my gun and equipment and ran behind him.
"What? Why are we retreating?" Although Hu Zi, who was following beside him, had to follow the troops due to military orders, his face was full of reluctance.
"That's right!" Liu Mingquan was also very depressed: "The soldiers fought for this position with their blood and lives, and we just lost it with two shots? How can we go back and face other comrades!"
"Go, go, go!" the old squad leader whispered, "Stop talking nonsense and obey orders!"
"Captain, commander!" Zhao Yongxin hurried a few steps and caught up with Zhang Shuguo who was running in front and said, "What do you mean by retreat? With the character of the reactionaries, the superiors don't believe that our regiment can hold on. What's wrong? Do they think our regiment is inferior?"
"You ask me, who should I ask?" Zhang Shuguo was also angry: "It was the commander who gave the order. If you have the guts, go find the commander!"
"This..." Zhao Yongxin was speechless for a moment.
What's going on? Looking at this group of people who were so indignant because of an order to retreat, I really don't know how to describe them.
To be honest, I'm a little tired of fighting these past few days. I was just happy when I heard the order to retreat. That might be the order I'm most willing to obey! But they...
And looking at their looks, the sincerity on their faces, the firmness and anger in their voices, they can't be fake. They are a group of real soldiers who would rather shed blood and sacrifice than be looked down upon and despised by others!
"I, I know the reason!" Thinking of this, I couldn't help but want to tell them the truth. This attracted everyone, including Captain Zhang, to look in my direction.
