The heavens start from Changjin Lake

Chapter 900 Surprise
Comrade Liu strongly agreed with their opinions.

"We must not only be prepared militarily and materially, but also fully mobilize our minds. We must not only make the troops deeply understand the great significance of this battle, but also make everyone mentally prepared to overcome all difficulties. When it comes to breakthroughs, we must not fall behind our brother armies."

At the meeting, it was decided that the 114th Division would break through from Yongping. Its right wing was the 113th Division, which planned to open a breakthrough at Junzidong. The right side of the 38th Army was the breakthrough point for the brother army, the Imjin River section. The Hantan River is a direct flow of the Yesong River. It is located on the east side of the Imjin River and merges into the Imjin River. It stretches across the north side of the 38th parallel, with shallow flowing water and winding twists and turns.

The 112th Division serves as the reserve force.

The person who led the advance group to arrive at the 38th parallel was Song Hongwen, deputy commander of the 114th Division. Together with Comrade Shibachuan Ruo, he reported to Comrade Liang on all aspects of the situation learned after the advance group arrived. He also took the commanders of the three regiments of the 114th Division to check the current terrain one after another.

Sun Hongdao was very happy because his regiment had received the assault mission. In order to choose a breakthrough point, he led the battalion commanders to survey the terrain three times and made all the cadres above the squad leader of the first echelon familiar with the terrain.

He was determined to divide his troops and squeeze into the enemy's front line, launch a surprise attack, and break through the enemy's iron defense line.

Contrary to convention, he did not choose the enemy's junction or a road that was easier to break through, but instead chose a steep rocky mountain on the north bank of the Hantan River as a breakthrough point.

Some people think that the mountains here are steep, and Sun Hongdao said: "Because of this, we should do the opposite, and the enemy will definitely not be well prepared!"

During the Three Kingdoms period, Deng Ai attacked Shu because he was able to climb over natural barriers and use cavalry to attack behind enemy lines, and finally destroyed Shu.

Therefore, when looking at things, we cannot just look at one side, but should consider all aspects. If the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, we will be one step ahead of our enemies.

The breakthrough point of the 342nd Regiment was decided after he discussed it with Political Commissar Deng.

Sun Hongdao led a squad to cover them in observing the enemy's position. Due to their poor camouflage, they were discovered by enemy planes hovering overhead. A burst of machine gun fire fell on their position. The second battalion commander was shot in the leg and left the position wounded. Considering the strong combat effectiveness of the first battalion, Sun Hongdao decided to give the assault mission to the first battalion commander.

The 112th Division, as the reserve force, was currently behind the two divisions. Xia Yuan led the third company to capture some spies and provided a lot of intelligence, but he also learned that they had no mission for the time being, and he became a little discouraged.

During the second battle, the 335th Regiment was responsible for luring the enemy deep into our territory. It only fought at the beginning of the Tokugawa Campaign and the tail end of the second battle. The entire 3rd Company was destroyed in one battle. Unexpectedly, in the third battle, it was actually a reserve force.

That night.

The battlefield was covered in wind and snow, which ravaged the mountains and forests. The temperature dropped to around minus 20 degrees Celsius, and the weather was extremely cold.

Fan Tianen stood in front of the command center and stared at the wilderness: "The sky has changed."

The 335th Regiment headquarters gathered the company commanders of various battalions. Although they were waiting in the rear as a reserve force, they also had to be prepared at all times.

When everyone heard the leader's words, they looked up at the wilderness.

Snowflakes were falling.

A cold wind howled across Montenegro.

"Where's the time?"

"It's almost seventeen."

"and many more."

"Has the Third Company reached the front line by now?"

"Almost. They are the only ones from our division going on the mission. I hope they can fight this battle well."

Time passed by bit by bit, and everyone was waiting quietly.

The Third Company was also originally intended to serve as a reserve force and remain in the rear, but because the Third Company performed very well in the second battle, especially Xia Yuan, who had made great achievements in the war, his superiors gave him the privilege of participating in the assault mission.

After receiving the order, Xia Yuan led his team towards the assault position on the 38th parallel under the eager gaze of the division commander, regiment commander, and battalion commander.

Just then, someone said, "Here we are, it's seventeen!"

They all raised their heads and vaguely heard bursts of whistling coming from the dark sky. In an instant, the rumbling of artillery fire lit up the distant sky, and strings of fiery red chains and bright bullet lights flashed in the dark sky.

In just a moment, the sky in the distance seemed as bright as day.

17:.

In a 250-kilometer-long section, the Korean People's Army and the Chinese People's Volunteer Army fought side by side and attacked the enemy's th parallel defense positions. The more difficult task was for the th Army on the right to break through the Imjin River breakthrough.

The river was wide and the enemy had set up defenses along the river, making it a dangerous area. Fortunately, the Imjin River was already heavily guarded by soldiers, providing convenient conditions for the assault troops.

The puppet Sixth Division, the puppet Second Division, the US 24th Division, and the First Cavalry Division may go to Jingoli, Yongpyeong, Dongducheon, Pocheon, and Uijeongbu in front of Hantan River. The 38th Army plans to use the 113th and 114th Divisions to break through side by side.

The 113th Division, with the 337th and 339th Regiments as the first echelon, broke through the enemy's defense in the area south of Junzidong and Cangyuping, captured Cheondeok Mountain, and then moved towards Pocheon and Uijeongbu, joining forces with friendly forces on the right to attack the puppet Sixth Division.

The 114th Division, with the 340th and 342nd Regiments as the first echelon, crossed the Yongping River at Jinshuitingli, broke through the enemy south of Xindai, and then launched an attack in the direction of Chudongli and Geulyueli.

The 112th Division serves as the reserve force.

The assault troops quietly moved to the front of Hantan River in advance and approached the enemy's iron defense line. The soldiers either wore their cotton coats inside out or covered themselves with white sheets, quietly hiding in the wind and snow, waiting for the moment of attack to come.

The enemy was more alert than ever this night.

They did not dare to go out after dusk, but were afraid that the Chinese and North Korean troops would suddenly launch an attack, so they lit more flares on the 38th parallel than usual.

In order to destroy the enemy's front-line obstacles, clear mines, suppress enemy artillery, and clear the way for the infantry, the Volunteer Army's artillery fire was concentrated for the first time since entering North Korea.

In addition to the artillery of each division, the 46th Artillery Regiment and the 25th Artillery Regiment also participated in the battle. Due to the short range of the artillery, they needed to push the artillery positions forward as much as possible to increase the distance for firing deep into the enemy.

In order to prevent enemy retaliation, the method of dispersing artillery positions and concentrating firepower was adopted.

31:17 on the th.

Our army's artillery roared.

The flames from the exploding shells on both sides of the Hantan River splashed and crackled, just like the lights of thousands of homes in the city welcoming the arrival of New Year's Day.

The soldiers in charge of the assault looked at this scene and became happy:

"Look, this is our cannon, this is our cannon!"

"Our cannons have finally fired!" "Hahahaha! Now, let the enemy have a taste of our shells."

The extreme cold on the 38th parallel had long since invaded the US and puppet troops, and they were all shivering with cold.

As night fell, the sky was so gloomy and the air was frozen and solidified by the cold. They had a premonition that New Year's Day 1951 would be another unlucky day.

And now, the sudden artillery fire of the Volunteer Army made them feel a chill to the bone. Thinking of the attacks suffered by the Volunteer Army on the banks of the Cheongcheon River and the Changjin Lake, they shuddered with fear, feeling that a disaster was about to happen, and hurriedly "packed their backpacks" and prepared to escape.

The front of the 555th Division's attack was Tiande Mountain, a very high and steep mountain. Division Commander Jiang led the cadres to the 555 highland to observe the terrain and found that Tiande Mountain was much higher than the 80 highland, and the slope was about degrees. The path up the mountain was a zigzag road, and it was frozen after the snow, making it slippery to walk on.

He once suggested to Comrade Liang not to attack from the front, but to attack from the left side of the mountain.

Comrade Liang considered this place to be the enemy's commanding heights. If we don't occupy it, it will be difficult for the enemy to counterattack. He said seriously on the phone:

"If you don't defeat Xiantian Deshan, you won't complete the mission!"

From the perspective of breaking through the enemy's positions entrenched in the 38th Parallel, the army commander's determination was correct.

The command post of the 113th Division was in a trench dug in front of the Hantan River. Division Commander Jiang stayed here for a day. At night, he ordered the 1st Battalion of the 337th Regiment to attack Tiande Mountain, one battalion to attack from the front, and two battalions to attack from the side.

We fought all night but failed to take it down.

It was the 6th Regiment that penetrated into the enemy's position from the flank. At dawn the next day, the 14th Regiment successively captured six enemy hills. Braving the enemy's fierce artillery fire, the entire regiment walked on the snow, climbed the icy slopes, and successively captured hills of varying sizes, defeating the Second Battalion of the Nineteenth Regiment of the Puppet Sixth Division.

The 135th Regiment successfully broke through the three lines of defense of Hill 1 east of Junzidong. At 8 a.m. on New Year's Day, it occupied Hill 554 in Shetingli and continued to attack towards Baocheon and Lingzhidong.

Seeing that the attack axis of the 339th Regiment was biased to the left, the 113th Division Command Post asked Deputy Division Commander Liu Haiqing to take command and ordered the 338th Regiment to enter the battle from Tiande Mountain.

The 4th Regiment of the th Division was tasked with breaking through the Yongpingli section. Since Regiment Commander Guan had sent reconnaissance teams to survey the terrain and roads four times and was familiar with the assault route, the assault team built a temporary bridge under the cover of artillery fire.

It took only a dozen minutes to break through the enemy's front line.

At 19:, they occupied the position north of Chudong-ri.

The Third Company was cooperating with the 342nd Regiment, but due to the intensive enemy fire, the 342nd Regiment was unable to build a pontoon bridge and the troops were evacuated and lay on the snowy ground.

The assault company commander Fu Changshan looked at his watch anxiously. The attack time had come, the artillery fire had been extended, and not a minute could be wasted.

"Captain Xia, time waits for no one, let's just cross the river!"

Xia Yuan realized this, and he ordered the soldiers to wade across the river. Without even bothering to take off their clothes, they jumped into the water and waved their hands violently.

Fu Changshan's voice came from the other side: "Heroes, hurry up and cross the river! Don't waste time!"

None of the soldiers in charge of the assault were willing to be left behind, and they jumped into the water one after another, splashing water everywhere.

The river water flooded over their thighs and everyone's cotton trousers were wet. The biting cold was like nails that pierced deeply into their thighs. Their legs were numb with cold. The soldiers' hearts were burning and they only thought about breaking through the 38th parallel and using the victory in the battle as a New Year's Day gift to their loved ones in the motherland.

The troops waded across the Hantan River, climbed the cliffs, and launched a fierce attack on the enemy's positions.

Xia Yuan ordered the first platoon to attack the first hill with him. Zhang Zhen, the squad leader of the first platoon, was the second one to rush up with Xia Yuan. The enemy's bullets flew at him like raindrops, but he was hit by a bullet and fell to the ground wounded.

He still endured the pain and rushed towards the enemy, but fell on the road of attack due to excessive bleeding. He encouraged the soldiers in his class, "Victory is ours, comrades, keep going!"

In the light of the flares, Xia Yuan saw the wounded squad leader, who was destroying the enemy's machine gun fire point while being taken down by a platoon leader under the explosion of an enemy grenade.

"You go down, let's take down the enemy position resolutely!"

Without waiting for the squad leader to answer, he led two soldiers of the assault group and, under the cover of the company commander, attacked fiercely, rushed to the top of the hill, defeated the defending enemy, and seized the first hill.

Xia Yuan did not stop and did not even have time to clean up the battlefield.

"Keep going, keep going!"

He led a row of soldiers to continue expanding the results of the battle. A dozen people, like a dozen tigers coming down the mountain, successively captured three hilltops. It took less than 10 minutes to capture each hilltop.

A soldier discovered with the help of the flare that the enemy corpses were all tall and strong, and shouted excitedly: "Hahahaha, we are fighting the Americans. It's so satisfying. Beat them hard!"

But soon, the first row was suppressed by the enemy's firepower. Artillery shells exploded one after another around them, and the enemy's machine guns swept fiercely, and the attack of the first row was blocked.

Xia Yuan clearly felt the enemy's firepower increasing, and quickly ordered the third platoon, which was the reserve platoon, to take over. He took two soldiers and began to detour from the enemy's right wing.

They were soon discovered by the enemy, and seven or eight enemy figures were swaying on the mountain.

A machine gun fired down upon them.

Xia Yuan remained calm in the face of danger and lay down behind a cold stone. With the help of Ye Shi, he could clearly see the movements of the enemy on the top of the mountain.

After shooting and killing several enemy soldiers, the enemy seemed to sense the danger and hid.

The second row was right behind them, pressing up the mountain. Xia Yuan immediately led two soldiers to attack the top of the mountain. The two soldiers took turns leaping forward, and he was responsible for covering them from behind.

The enemy's firepower suppressed the first row, which brought great convenience to the three men. They quickly reached the enemy's front line. Xia Yuan put on his bayonet and rushed into the trench. The second row of soldiers in the rear followed closely and rushed up. The fifth squad occupied the enemy's battalion command post, and the sixth squad occupied the hill on the right wing.

The enemy's heavy machine gun was still roaring in the fortifications. The third squad leader climbed up from the side, eliminated the enemy's heavy machine gunner, seized the heavy machine gun, and fired fiercely at the fleeing enemy.

Once the enemy battalion command post was destroyed, the enemies on the position fell into chaos.

Xia Yuan decided to pursue the victory and take advantage of the situation to advance deeper into the enemy territory. He said to the soldiers: "Strike while the iron is hot. The enemy is now in disarray. Let's continue the attack and try to capture more hilltops."

Restock your ammunition from enemy corpses and continue your attack.

They suffered heavy casualties, but they were still full of confidence and fighting spirit. One row of soldiers took advantage of the enemy's panic and bravely infiltrated the enemy, cooperating with Fu Changshan's company. They chased them across 17 hills and captured the first big mountain. They were exhausted and out of breath.

The second platoon leader suggested that they take a break. They were too tired after chasing for such a long distance and the enemy was still fleeing.

Xia Yuan stared at the mountains and fields, and saw the enemy figures swaying at the foot of the mountain. He said decisively: "We can't rest. The enemy is gathering on the road. Third Platoon Leader, quickly take your people to that high point and block the enemy. Don't let them escape!"