Zhu Tian: Beginning to Cross the Changjin Lake

When Li Moyin returned from the 50th Army Headquarters, he was obviously a little depressed.

Li Guotao smiled and asked, "What's wrong? Who pissed you off?"

Li Moyin sighed helplessly and said, "I just met with the leaders of the 50th Army at the military headquarters and held a meeting with them to study the current situation."

"They also said they would give full consideration to some of our suggestions, and the troops are also stepping up the construction of positions according to the original plan."

Li Guotao smiled and said, "That's good. Why are you still unhappy?"

Li Moyin said helplessly: "I originally wanted to apply for a combat mission, at least you can assign us a position."

"But the army commander never agreed and asked us to deploy near the military headquarters. This way, we basically have no battles to fight."

Li Guotao frowned slightly, but he was not too surprised by this, because this blocking battle was basically about using lives to delay time.

After all, the task force led by Li Moyin only came to the front line to investigate and summarize experience. This kind of battle is indeed not suitable for them.

The military leaders naturally did not deploy their task force at the front line for Li Moyin's safety, but there was nothing they could do about it.

Li Moyin continued, "No matter how hard I tried to persuade them, they just wouldn't agree. In the end, they even said that if we didn't obey their command, we would have to leave their 50th Army's defense zone."

Li Guotao said helplessly: "I think the same result will happen when we reach the defense zone of the 38th Army."

Li Moyin actually understood this truth, but he was somewhat unwilling to accept it.

"so be it!"

"Let's stay here and see what happens first. During this time, we can help our brother troops build some fortifications before the enemy arrives."

"Yes!"

Li Guotao quickly responded: "I guarantee that the task will be completed."

……

Under the command of General Ridgway, the enemy launched a full-scale offensive on the Western Front on January 25 as originally planned.

In the area south of the Han River to the 38th parallel, the Volunteer Army did not leave too many troops for defense, but the roads and bridges along the way were destroyed, and mines were laid on the roads where the enemy passed to delay the enemy's offensive.

But this did not delay the enemy for too long. It took only two days for the enemy to reach the south bank of the Han River.

This time, Li Moyin managed to secure an opportunity for the task force to conduct reconnaissance.

Li Guotao led the task force to conduct reconnaissance in the area south of Xiuzhi Mountain, but according to orders, they did not stubbornly resist the enemy. They only attacked the enemy's vanguard and then withdrew to the Xiuzhi Mountain position.

After Li Guotao came back, he found Li Moyin.

"how is the situation?"

Li Guotao said: "The enemy's main force will arrive soon. The ones attacking Xiushi Mountain are the US 25th Division and the Turkish Brigade."

Li Moyin said: "These guys came quite quickly. The main forces of the enemy in other positions have also arrived one after another."

"Based on this trend, they should soon launch a fierce attack on the entire defense line on the south bank of the Han River."

"We only have two armies, with a total of more than 70,000 people, and we need to face an enemy force of more than 200,000."

"Besides, the enemy has strong firepower and air superiority, so this battle will be difficult to fight."

After saying this, Li Moyin picked up the phone on the table and called the 50th Army Headquarters directly to report the situation to the army chief.

After hanging up the phone, Li Moyin said to Li Guotao helplessly: "Thank you for your hard work. The military has instructed our task force to rest in hiding on the spot. Be careful of being bombed by enemy aircraft and wait for orders."

Li Moyin and Li Guotao smiled at each other. They both knew that if nothing unexpected happened, there would probably be no new combat missions.

The leaders of the 50th Army will not let the task force take risks again, especially Li Moyin.

Li Guotao smiled and said, "Let's wait and see, maybe there is still a chance, who can say for sure."

"Besides, you are the key protected person. If you don't participate, maybe we can still assign you some combat missions."

"Haha~!"

Li Moyin smiled and said, "You mean, I'm a burden to you."

Li Guotao smiled and said, "That's the truth. Why don't you take the non-combat personnel to the military headquarters, so that our combat team can go to the front line to kill the enemy."

Li Moyin was silent.

Li Guotao asked with a smile: "Commander, why are you silent?"

Li Moyin said: "I'll give it a try, but... if there really is a combat mission, you must be careful and come back alive."

Li Guotao pondered for a moment and said, "I will try my best."

Casualties in war are inevitable. Once you step onto the battlefield, your life is actually out of your control. In such a cruel battlefield, who can guarantee that they will survive?
The main force of the enemy quickly advanced to the Xiushi Mountain line. After discovering that the Volunteer Army had built a large number of defensive fortifications on Xiushi Mountain, the enemy determined that this was the Volunteer Army's real line of resistance.

So the US 25th Division and the Turkish Brigade and other troops began to deploy on the spot, preparing to attack Xiushi Mountain.

At the same time, a large number of troops in the south continued to rush to the front line. The troops on both wings of the US 25th Division also arrived in the area south of the Han River one after another and engaged in a battle with the main force of the Volunteer Army.

Lieutenant General Ridgway was sitting in a jeep with two grenades hanging on his chest, shaking constantly.

The old guy had a gloomy face and no one knew what he was thinking about.

At this moment the jeep suddenly stopped.

An officer ran over and said respectfully, "Report to the commander, we just received a report from the 25th Division that they have advanced to the area near Xiushi Mountain and encountered the main force of the enemy."

Li Qiwei raised his eyebrows and shouted, "Map."

The staff officer next to him immediately took out a map and spread it out in front of Lieutenant General Ridgway.

Lieutenant General Ridgway stared at the map and sneered, "The situation is now very clear. The enemy wants to rely on the Han River to resist our attack."

"Then let these guys see our strength!"

"Order all divisions on the front line to launch an immediate attack and try to break through the enemy's blocking positions as quickly as possible, and drive all these hateful enemies into the Han River to feed the fish."

"Yes sir!"

"Keep going. I need to go further forward to command my troops. I believe this will definitely be a battle that will go down in history."

"Yes sir!"

At the beginning, the enemy did not launch a large-scale offensive on the Xiushi Mountain line, but only continued to bombard and send aircraft to bomb.

At most, they would send a small number of troops to launch a small-scale attack.

After two days of preparation, the enemy finally launched a general attack on the Xiushi Mountain position.

On the morning of January 1, the enemy's artillery began to bombard the Repair Mountain position fiercely.

At the same time, the enemy sent dozens of planes to launch a series of bombings on the volunteer army positions in the nearby area.

Violent explosions sounded one after another, and the front-line positions were destroyed one after another by enemy artillery fire. Some built positions were also reduced to ruins under the enemy's heavy bombardment.

At a forward observation post, Chief of Staff Shu of the 50th Army held up a telescope and observed the situation on the battlefield. "The enemy's bombing this time was obviously more intense and lasted longer."

"Moreover, the enemy couldn't wait to start bombing at daybreak. This can only mean one thing, that is, they are about to launch a general offensive."

Li Moyin beside him nodded and said, "The enemy has been preparing for two days, and it's time to launch an attack."

Chief of Staff Shu went on to say: "The enemy's artillery fire was very fierce! In this battle, they used their powerful artillery fire to the extreme."

"Fortunately, we moved our main force to the reverse slope position in time, so that we can avoid the enemy's artillery fire as much as possible and reduce our casualties."

Li Moyin said: "Judging from the current situation, as long as we stick to Xiushi Mountain, we can delay the enemy's offensive."

Chief of Staff Shu nodded and said, "Of course. Our 50th Army has enough confidence to hold the Han River defense line. Even if it costs a lot of sacrifice, we must stop the enemy's offensive."

Li Moyin said: "We can definitely defend the Han River defense line."

After more than an hour of artillery preparation, the enemy finally launched a full-scale general offensive.

Under the cover of tanks, a large number of enemies quickly rushed to the front line of the Volunteer Army.

Due to the steepness of the mountain, the tanks could not climb up and could only stop at the back to provide fire cover.

A large number of infantrymen, holding guns, rushed towards the mountain with great momentum.

These enemy troops were newly mobilized troops and had never seen the effectiveness of the Volunteer Army.

Although some small-scale battles were experienced during this period, these small-scale battles could not demonstrate the true strength at all.

This time, a real contest broke out between the two sides at Xiuxing Mountain.

After the enemy's artillery preparation was completed, the volunteer soldiers hiding in the tunnels returned to their positions one after another, looking for advantageous blocking positions.

When they saw a large number of enemies climbing up the mountain, the soldiers raised their guns and aimed at the enemy.

When the enemy approached, the soldiers suddenly opened fire.

Bullets poured down from the mountain like raindrops, and a large number of enemy troops were wiped out in an instant. Some of those who were not hit also rolled down the hillside in panic.

At the same time, grenades continued to fly down from the mountain.

Violent explosions continued to sound, flames shot up into the sky, and the attacking enemy troops were immediately blown to pieces, with heavy casualties.

Under the tenacious resistance of the volunteers, the enemy's first offensive ended in a disastrous defeat.

However, the enemy did not give up and immediately mobilized more intense firepower to bombard the Repair Mountain position.

At the same time, the remaining enemy forces also launched fierce attacks on the positions of the 50th Army and the 38th Army.

The enemy launched a fierce attack under the cover of planes, artillery and tanks, and the fighting on every battlefield was extremely brutal.

The brave volunteer soldiers, relying on favorable terrain, tenaciously resisted the enemy's attack, and paid heavy casualties for it.

The attacking enemy also suffered heavy losses.

The brave volunteer soldiers, relying on their tenacious will, fought desperately against the fierce offensive of the enemy.

The enemy was inflicted with heavy casualties, and many soldiers died heroically on the battlefield, their blood spilling into the Han River.

However, no one was afraid and no one backed down.

The soldiers held on to the belief that they would win and vented all their anger on the evil enemy.

Inside the 50th Army headquarters, the commander looked at the map with a heavy expression.

A staff officer came over and said, "Commander, the front line reports that the enemy's attack is fierce, the fighting is very tragic, and the troops have suffered heavy casualties."

The commander said seriously, "This has just begun. Order all troops to defend their positions to the death."

"We must complete the task that Shisi has assigned to us."

"Troops, don't be afraid of casualties. Hold on tight!"

"Even if all our 50th Army soldiers have to fight to the death, we must defend the Han River."

"The troops have been wiped out, the regimental commander is on duty! If the regimental commander dies, the divisional commander will take over. If the divisional commander dies, I will take over!"

"In a word, as long as there is one man in my 50th Army, the enemy will never cross the Han River."

"Yes!"

……

The enemy's general offensive lasted a whole day. Despite consuming a large amount of ammunition and suffering heavy casualties, the enemy was unable to advance even a single step.

The news reached the enemy headquarters.

When Lieutenant General Ridgway received the news, he was furious.

"Fake~!"

"According to the intelligence we have now, the enemy should not have deployed many troops on the Han River defense line."

A staff officer said: "According to preliminary judgment, there should be only tens of thousands of troops."

Lieutenant General Ridgway said angrily: "But we have more than 200,000 troops, and our equipment is much better than theirs."

"With such a huge advantage, we fought for a whole day but made no progress at all."

"This is simply a shame. I really want to ask the officers and soldiers on the front line what they do for a living."

A staff officer said: "The enemy's resistance is very tenacious. They are not afraid of death at all. They are simply a group of lunatics."

"Moreover, they built a strong position, which prevented our artillery fire from exerting its maximum power."

"Although a lot of shells were used, it was not possible to clear them all."

Lieutenant General Ridgway gritted his teeth and said, "I want to see how long they can hold on."

"Immediately order all frontline troops to continue the attack. Attack the enemy's defense line with all your strength. No matter what, you must break through their blockade as soon as possible."

"Yes sir!"

At this time, a staff officer said: "Commander, in fact, their stubborn resistance is not necessarily a bad thing for us."

Lieutenant General Ridgway couldn't help but give the staff officer a cold look, thinking what nonsense are you talking about.

The staff officer quickly explained: "At least we can take advantage of this opportunity to kill a large number of enemies and eliminate their manpower."

"Since they won't retreat, let them all die on the south bank of the Han River."

"After we destroy the main force of the enemy, our army will be able to easily occupy Seoul and even the entire North Dynasty."

Lieutenant General Ridgway's expression eased a little, and he said, "That's true, but I suspect there may be a bigger conspiracy behind the enemy's stubborn resistance."

"Our enemy is as cunning as an old fox. We must never underestimate him." (End of this chapter)