The heavens start from Changjin Lake

Chapter 853 The power of belief

998 Highland is located to the east of the courtyard on the east bank of the Chongchuan River. It is the commanding height of the triangle area of ​​the stadium, Delhi, and Qichuan. It is adjacent to Feihu Mountain and Kowloon Station to the southwest, and is closely connected to Yuefeng Mountain to the east. There are links to Qichuan, the stadium, and Junyu at the foot of the mountain. The highway here is the commanding height to control the enemy's northern invasion.

The enemy is defended by a company of Li Puppet Army. In order to cover the actions of the main force, the volunteers must capture Highland 998.

In this way, we can cover the transfer of our troops in a planned way without exposing our intention to retreat.

At dusk on November 11th.

The Eighth Company of the 998th Regiment accepted the task of capturing Highland . Because the mountains were high and the slopes were steep, it was difficult for the team to move. They decided to operate at night to surprise the enemy and seize the position.

That night, the wind was blowing coldly, the sky was filled with stars, and Highland 998 was shrouded in darkness, like a huge screen, standing in front of the eyes of the Eighth Company comrades.

Three platoons of soldiers, led by the platoon leader, quietly pulled at the bushes and thorns, and headed towards the top of the mountain in the camouflage of night.

The enemy seemed to have received corresponding information and learned that the volunteers had been restless recently and might launch an attack on Highland 998 in these days. As for when, their commander told them that it would most likely be at night.

Therefore, at night, the enemies on Highland 998 did not have a good sleep, and their whole bodies were tense.

As if to embolden themselves, their machine guns on duty would click from time to time, and tracer bullets would be thrown into colorful chains in the night sky.

Suddenly, Yang Xuewen, deputy squad leader of Class 8, felt his hands go numb and sticky to the touch, and suddenly realized that he had been injured by a stray bullet.

In order not to affect the mood of his comrades, and at the same time not affect this critical battle, he gritted his teeth and said nothing, simply bandaged it and continued climbing.

During the climb, the thorns and branches on the road made it difficult for the soldiers to move. Many people had their hands and cheeks scratched, but no one said anything. They gritted their teeth and remained silent.

The advancing troops remained silent, with only the dry grass rustling in the wind.

At this moment, they were getting closer and closer to the enemy. They could even hear the enemy's voice clearly. They were probably no more than twenty meters away from the enemy.

The cold wind was howling, and the enemy did not notice that the volunteers had reached them. A machine gun on duty fired into the dark ravine as usual. Under the tracer bullets, he could vaguely see something next to him. He rubbed his eyes and took a closer look. .

Oops.

Knowing that he was exposed, the third platoon leader shouted: "Hit!"

Suddenly grenades flew everywhere, and the enemy was caught off guard. They did not even need machine guns and fled in panic. Three rows of soldiers stood up bravely and rushed to the enemy position with guns in hand. A soldier who followed from behind saw the machine gun in the machine gun point and was happy. Unfortunately, seeing other soldiers chasing the enemy, I temporarily gave up the idea of ​​getting a machine gun and cleared the position first.

At this moment, the enemies on other hills of Highland 998 were also attacked by the platoons of the th Company of the th Regiment.

The warriors of the third platoon were the first platoon to take down the enemy's hilltop. When they noticed that the battle was starting on other hilltops, the leader of the third platoon immediately ordered the soldiers not to stop and continue to climb!

Along the steep ridge, they withstood the enemy's artillery blockade and machine gun fire, and cooperated with the first and second platoons to seize 6 hilltops in succession and approach the main position.

The three platoons were surrounded on three sides, and their offensive was quite fierce. The soldiers risked their lives and charged the enemy. The soldiers of the demolition team rushed forward wave after wave, and captured Position 998 that night. The entire company quickly Arrange to be stationed on the hilltop and enter the garrison.

The Eighth Company is also the company of the 334th Regiment responsible for containing and luring the enemy. It is the same as the 3rd Company, but their tasks are more difficult and their conditions are more difficult.

A platoon of comrades who stick to the front line not only have to face the enemy's aircraft and artillery, but also have to deal with cold and hunger.

The position was covered with snow, and three out of ten soldiers had their hands and feet frozen. Coupled with artillery fire and enemy plane blockades, sometimes the cooking squad could not deliver meals to the position in time.

Each person can only eat one bowl of rice for three days.

However, such hunger and cold could not overwhelm them at all.

When the Eighth Company Commander mobilized the soldiers to hold on, he said: "These difficulties are caused by the enemy. As long as these difficulties are overcome, the enemy can be defeated!"

The work of raising and borrowing food was also very difficult. Sometimes the cooking team could only send a few kilograms of corn to each person, and one person could only eat dozens of grains. No one of the soldiers ate more, and they were humble to each other. The comrade gave his share to the injured comrade and tightened the belt around his waist, and that was it.

Eat snow when you are thirsty. Highland 998 is not low. The mountains are covered with snow. When it is cold, three or five comrades huddle together to keep warm.

At night, the enemy stopped attacking and there was no fighting. Everyone huddled together and looked at the sky full of stars. Some soldiers said that that was the closest they had ever been to the stars.

The instructor will lead the soldiers to sing the "March of the Steel Troops", which is regarded as the military song of the 38th Army.

"Steel troops, steel heroes, steel will, steel heart."

Their voices were low, but they echoed in the night sky, bringing their hearts to the past fighting years and the vast wilderness of the motherland. On this cold land of Korea, facing the torrent of steel and iron from the United Nations troops, they had no choice but to Not the slightest bit afraid.

In such low singing, their hearts were filled with unprecedented pride and glory.

The next day.

The locust-like enemies once again attacked Highland 998 crazily.

After repelling sixteen enemy attacks, only seven soldiers were left in a row.

They knew that if they called for help immediately to the main position, they could get reinforcements, but the main position was also suffering from the enemy's crazy attack. Deploying any soldier here would weaken the combat effectiveness on the main position.

They are determined to complete this extremely difficult task themselves.

Comrade Gao Rong, the squad leader, said to the surviving comrades: "Even if we only have seven people, even one person can hold the position! Holding the position means victory in the war. We can't be careless. The enemy will come up later and we will be fierce." Hit hard!"

At this time, there were only four grenades left in the entire platoon, and the bullets had long been used up. However, they always believed in their own strength, cheered each other up, and held a solemn oath on the position: "I swear to live and die with the position!!"

When the enemy rushed up again, the machine gunner Wang Guoan, who was wounded in the head, hugged the machine gun and fired violently at the enemy who rushed into the position.

A large number of enemies fell, and behind them, six soldiers shouted loud slogans, holding rifles with empty bullets, and rushed forward to fight the enemies, once again repelling the enemy's attack.

In this way, with the belief that they would live and die together with the position, the soldiers of the Eighth Company repelled 998 crazy attacks by the enemy who were ten times higher than their own, and firmly took Position into their own hands.

After the Eighth Company completed its defense mission, it moved with the regiment to Miaoxiang Mountain. Unexpectedly, the enemy came up quietly and no one noticed it.

The troops walked all night, and the regiment headquarters stayed in Niuyandong. Behind the village was a mountain. The regiment ordered the second company to go to the commanding heights behind the village occupied by a platoon.

The next day, it was time for the troops to go up the mountain for air defense. The director of the regiment's political office and the head of the combat unit, Qian, were walking together when they suddenly noticed someone on the mountain who didn't look like one of their own. The director said in surprise:

"Old Qian, are they from us on the mountain? Why is the backpack round?"

Lao Qian quickly picked up the telescope and looked at it, and said in surprise: "Oops, why are you the enemy!"

It turned out that a platoon of the Second Company failed to occupy the commanding heights and settled halfway up the mountain. However, the enemy who followed up secretly occupied the commanding heights, and the regiment headquarters was in the village below the commanding heights.

The situation was extremely critical. If the enemy reacted, the regiment would be in great danger. As he spoke, the enemy opened fire on the village.

After the regiment commander learned of the situation, he immediately mobilized the third battalion to fight. After the deputy regiment commander received the order, he immediately called the third battalion to command the third battalion from the east and the second battalion from the west to attack the enemy at the commanding heights.

Since the enemy was right on top of the regiment, there was no time to delay. The two battalions who received the order quickly went into battle lightly. Less than an hour after the battle started, the enemy was exhausted and fled in panic. More than 30 enemies were captured by the 2nd, 6th and 8th companies.

North side of Kowloon.

With the 335th regiment in the car and the 3rd company stationed, a fierce blocking battle began.

The person responsible for pioneering the path was an enemy regiment with two to three thousand men, enough to crush three companies.

Facing an enemy whose strength is ten times greater than their own, the previous combat plan is no longer feasible. If the enemy comes in force, they will be completely unable to withstand it.

To do this, they need new battle plans.

Company Commander Sun discussed with instructor Hu for a long time and called the four platoon leaders over for a meeting.

Everyone discussed a battle plan.

They relied on the rolling mountains to set up defense lines on the highlands. Four platoons occupied three high slopes as positions, and controlled important transportation roads below their positions.

The high ground on both sides of the road was fortified, so that once the enemy launched an attack, they could look after each other.

This plan also received support from the regiment and division headquarters.

Due to the powerful combat effectiveness of the fourth platoon and the presence of Xia Yuan, they will separately fortify two compact positions next to each other.

The remaining positions were fortified with first, second and third rows.

The enemy arrived in a menacing manner. They first tested it with a platoon. As a result, this platoon entered their ambush circle and never came back. More than 30 people in the platoon were all wiped out.

The angry enemy called in planes and heavy artillery and bombarded the hills on both sides of the road for half an hour. The dead grass on the entire hilltop was ignited, and the raging fire spread to other areas. The thick smoke that covered the sky made the day look like Dusk-like.

As the bombardment ended, waves of enemies surged towards the position.

Our army still carried out the old tradition. When the enemy got closer than 20 meters, they opened fire at the enemy. The enemy who was hit head-on wanted to fight back, but the firepower of the four rows was fierce, and Xia Yuan continued to shoot at the enemy. Every minute, every second, the enemy's casualties are increasing.

A company of enemies persisted for twenty minutes, and then fled crazily down the mountain due to heavy casualties.

The angry enemy once again bombarded the four rows of positions with fierce artillery fire.

At this time, the four rows of positions were empty, and they were all hiding in the bomb shelters dug in the rear. These bomb shelters were connected to the forward positions with communication trenches. When the enemy's shelling ended, the soldiers got out of the bomb shelters and went to the positions to set up defenses.

In this way, the casualties caused by enemy artillery fire to the fourth platoon were minimized.

Of course, other platoons also adopted such a plan. However, they did not have the powerful combat capabilities of the fourth platoon, and it was not easy to attack the enemy. However, they also repelled several enemy attacks and avoided three enemy shellings.

dusk.

The sun was obscured by the smoke and thick smoke that covered the sky, and no one could be seen. The thick smoke billowing in the sky was like a thick black cloud.

After repelling the last wave of enemy attacks, the soldiers' cheeks were darkened. Looking over, they could only see two eyes floating.

"How much sacrifice?"

At night.

Each squad leader brought the honor strip to the bomb shelter at the rear. Xia Yuan sat on the ground and looked at the three of them.

Gao Lin said: "Three soldiers of the first squad were killed and two were slightly injured."

Xia Yuan nodded: "The first squadron is holding on to the forward position. The casualties are already the lowest. What about the second squadron?"

Zhou Wendao: "One person from the second class died, two were slightly injured, and one was seriously injured."

Xia Yuandao: "Properly place the seriously injured."

Zhao Songzhu, the leader of the third squad, said: "Two members of the third squad died, one was slightly injured, and there were no serious injuries."

Xia Yuan nodded: "Six soldiers were sacrificed in the first battle today. The battles in the future will be more difficult. I tell the soldiers that if the position is lost, it will be lost. Our counterattack is to save our own lives."

At present, they have sufficient ammunition and combat effectiveness. If they give up the forward position, they will give up. There is no need to defend the forward position. Even if the rear position is lost, Xia Yuan can counterattack with one wave of people.

In order to cause huge casualties for the position, the gain outweighs the loss.

Of course, it is entirely possible to adopt this plan according to the enemy's attack by a company.

Once the enemy's strength increases to a battalion, the situation changes and they cannot give up.

Xia Yuan passed his ideas to the squad leaders.

If the enemy has few troops, let them occupy it.

When there are more troops, then defend to the death.

Don't risk your life unless absolutely necessary!
After hearing this, the three squad leaders nodded, handed over their honor strips, and hurried back to their positions.

Have a good rest tonight, tomorrow will be another tough battle.

Sun Tzu said: "Know yourself and your enemy, and you can fight a hundred battles without danger."

Knowing the enemy's situation in battle is a prerequisite for victory.

In the first battle, the volunteers suffered from a misunderstanding of the enemy's situation. It was not enough to rely solely on reports from superiors and enemy information provided by friendly forces. Only by personally understanding the enemy's situation face to face could they seize the initiative.

Therefore, after the first battle, Shiji held a summary meeting.

Learning war from war is an old tradition of our army.

In the summary meeting, we discussed the gap between the enemy and ourselves in the main positions, intelligence, the advantages our army had, etc., and detailed the shortcomings in the first battle, and then distributed them to each army to elaborate on what each army had done in the first stage. Mistakes made.

This included the misjudgment of the enemy situation by the Thirty-Eighth Army.

and so.

Before the second battle was about to begin, Shiji sent a message requesting all units to actively carry out comprehensive reconnaissance activities to detect the enemy's situation, understand the enemy's situation, and master the enemy's situation.

(End of this chapter)