Zhu Tian: Beginning to Cross the Changjin Lake

The 114th Division dispatched the division guard company to take over the defense of Hill 350.3, and the st Battalion and Li Guotao's task force then withdrew from their positions.

Although the blocking mission was successfully completed this time, our army also paid an extremely heavy price in casualties.

The first battalion had been almost wiped out, with only about one platoon of soldiers left.

Li Guotao's task force also lost dozens of people, which was a heavy casualty.

Li Moyin and Li Guotao led the soldiers to bury all the fallen comrades on the spot.

Looking at the rows of graves and the simple tombstones, Li Guotao couldn't help feeling sad. He could only secretly hope that in a few decades, the remains of these martyrs would be transported back to the country for burial.

At the same time, the enemy continued to launch a fierce attack on the 38th Army's defense line.

Commander Fan of the 335th Regiment had already returned to China for treatment due to severe frostbite.

However, before his frostbite had healed, he received an order to return to the front line immediately.

Captain Fan's hands were frozen and ulcerated, and he was in excruciating pain, but even so, he still insisted on rushing to the front line.

He refused to take a jeep, but instead got into the cab of a truck bound for the front line and prepared some biscuit cans in advance.

The rare warmth from the engine in the cab made Captain Fan feel better.

But good times are always short-lived. As soon as the truck entered North Korea, it was bombed by enemy planes and overturned into a ditch on the side of the road.

Fortunately, Captain Fan was not killed in the explosion, but his leg was injured and the truck was destroyed.

In desperation, Captain Fan could only stop a car on the road and travel day and night to rush to the front line.

His hands were frozen and his legs were injured. In this cold weather, Captain Fan suffered a lot.

But they finally arrived at the front line. When the division commander saw Commander Fan's condition, he insisted on not letting him go to the front line.

But Commander Fan insisted, "Even if you have to use a stretcher, you have to carry me to the front line."

The commander had no choice but to agree to his request.

Subsequently, the 335th Regiment was ordered to go to the front line to take over the defense line of the 334th Regiment, which had been holding the front line for several days.

Captain Fan was not carried to the battlefield. Instead, he rode a big black mule to the front line, walked with the help of a stick, checked the terrain and adjusted his deployment.

Commander Fan said to the company commanders of each battalion: "Go back and tell the soldiers that each battalion must be prepared to defend to the death this time."

"No matter what happens, all battalions and companies must hold their positions. My regimental command will never retreat even a single step."

"Even if we die, we must die on this battlefield to stop the enemy's attack."

The morale of the soldiers of the entire regiment was also high. Under the enemy's crazy "sea of ​​fire tactics", the soldiers of the 335th Regiment stood firm in their positions despite the enemy's artillery fire. For eight days and eight nights, their positions remained unmoved.

On the 15th and 16th the enemy's offensive reached a high level.

Hill 580, which was held by the st Battalion, became the focus of the enemy's attack.

The First Battalion suffered heavy casualties and the troops had run out of food. The soldiers could only eat snow to fill their stomachs while tenaciously resisting the enemy's fierce offensive.

If the position was lost during the day, a counterattack would be launched at night to take it back.

The position was lost again. More than a hundred wounded soldiers spontaneously organized themselves and launched a counterattack, and managed to take the position back.

The 335th Regiment on the right wing of the 336th Regiment retreated, and the enemy's howitzers directly hit the regimental headquarters of Commander Fan.

A shell landed nearby, and the entire regiment headquarters collapsed, burying Commander Fan and the regiment commanders inside.

As soon as the soldiers dug Captain Fan out of the soil, Captain Fan once again took command, directing the troops to continue to tenaciously resist the enemy, and even organized all the combat-able people in the regiment to go to the front line to plug the gap.

This battle was more brutal than the one fought at Flying Tiger Mountain, but the 335th Regiment was worthy of being the ace and finally successfully completed the blocking mission.

While the 38th Army on the western front was stubbornly resisting the enemy's fierce attack, the main force of the Volunteer Army launched a large-scale counterattack on the eastern front and achieved the glorious victory of the Hengcheng Victory.

However, due to insufficient troops on the front line and the fact that the fighting had lasted for so long, with serious material losses and insufficient logistical support, the Zhisi had to order the troops on the east and west fronts to retreat on February 2.

The main force of the 38th Army then took turns to cover each other and retreated to the north bank of the Han River.

Some dangers also occurred during the retreat.

Deputy Commander Liu of the 113th Division and Deputy Commander Song of the 114th Division each led a battalion to cover the rear.

But by this time, the Han River had already shown signs of thawing.

If these two battalions cannot retreat to Jiangbei, they may have no choice but to fight guerrilla warfare in the mountains.

Because there are no volunteer troops south of the Han River, this area will soon be occupied by the enemy.

So the two division commanders ordered all confidential documents to be burned and even prepared for the worst.

However, the enemy did not launch an attack that day, probably because of the heavy losses they had suffered previously.

The soldiers of the two battalions successfully held out until dark, and then successfully retreated to the north bank under the cover of night.

It was a close call.

At this time, the Han River had begun to thaw completely.

Major General Moore, the US Army commander who was commanding the attack on the front line, was very excited when he learned that the Volunteer Army had retreated across the board, and he immediately called Lieutenant General Ridgway.

Major General Moore said excitedly: "Commander, the enemy has now retreated across the board. There is no trace of the enemy on the south bank of the Han River."

Lieutenant General Ridgway said: "This battle has been going on for so long, the enemy is already exhausted, and their supplies have run out. Now is a good opportunity to destroy them."

Major General Moore nodded and said, "The commander is right. Our army will cross the Han River as soon as possible and take the opportunity to hunt down the defeated enemy."

"According to what we learned previously, and consistent with the commander's judgment, their troops on the front line have even run out of food."

"No matter how strong the willpower of these enemies is, they will starve to death if they don't eat for a few days."

"If we pursue them across the board at this time, we will surely achieve a great victory."

Lieutenant General Ridgway said: "The enemy on the eastern front has also begun to retreat. This time we must pursue them on all fronts and strive to annihilate the enemy's main force."

"Major General Moore, please command your troops to launch a new round of offensive as soon as possible."

"Yes sir!"

Major General Moore responded quickly, and then said: "But now the Han River has thawed, the enemy has blown up the bridge, and we need to rebuild a pontoon bridge to cross the river. I have to say that the enemy is lucky, or they have grasped the timing of retreat very well."

"But don't worry, Commander. We can build a pontoon bridge very quickly, and they can't outrun our car wheels if they just run away on their legs."

"very good!"

Lieutenant General Ridgway said excitedly: "You must speed up. I am waiting for your good news."

Li Guotao's task force received a rear-end reconnaissance mission, responsible for monitoring the enemy's movements from behind.

Li Guotao was lying on a hilltop in Jiangbei, holding a telescope and observing the situation in the distance.

Li Guotao said casually: "The enemy is building a pontoon bridge. At this rate, their pontoon bridge will be completed soon, and the enemy troops will be able to cross the river soon."

Li Moyin said: "The main force is now retreating to the 38th parallel with all its might. Judging from the current situation, the enemy may not be able to catch up with us."

Li Guotao nodded and said, "I hope so." At this moment, a helicopter appeared in the sky in the distance, flying all the way from the south.

Li Guotao frowned and said, "There is an enemy helicopter. It is probably here to scout the enemy. Be careful to hide."

After hearing the reminder, the soldiers all lay on the ground and did not move.

The helicopter circled over the Han River for a week. Major General Moore looked at the thawing Han River below and said with a smile, "This is really a spectacular scene."

An officer next to him smiled and said, "I think the enemy now will collapse in an instant like the ice on the Han River. They are no longer able to stop us. As long as we successfully cross the river, we will be able to destroy them."

Major General Moore smiled and nodded, saying, "You are absolutely right."

Major General Moore raised the telescope and looked into the distance again.

At this time, they could no longer see any trace of the main force of the Volunteer Army.

Major General Moore frowned and said, "It seems that these enemies are running away very quickly."

The officer next to him said, "They are running for their lives now, so their speed will not be too slow."

"But I believe we can catch up with them."

Major General Moore said: "I think we need to continue to check the situation to the north. I can't see anything here."

The officer next to him warned: "Commander, this might be a little dangerous!"

Major General Moore sneered and said, "What kind of danger can there be? As long as we are careful, we won't encounter any danger."

"Not to mention that the enemy has already started to flee, even if they haven't, what can we do about it?"

"They don't have many anti-aircraft weapons, so our safety is guaranteed. Besides, I won't be stupid enough to go too far to the north. I just need to check the approximate location of their main force."

"Of course, provided that you can see them."

"Pilot, cross the river immediately."

"Yes sir!"

In this way, Major General Moore ignored the dissuasion and ordered the plane to fly towards the north bank.

"Oh my god! He's coming over here!"

Li Guotao's eyes lit up with excitement.

Li Moyin asked quickly: "What do you want to do?"

"Of course we have to take him down. The enemy has come to our doorstep, so there is no reason not to fight."

As Li Guotao spoke, he slid down quickly from the north slope. The slope was covered with snow, so it was very fast to ski down.

Li Guotao slid down the mountain, stood up and ran to the woods nearby, and got into the weapons room of an M19.

The helicopter turned its gun and aimed at the distant sky. Soon it flew over the Han River and continued to fly north.

Li Guotao estimated the distance, which was only about 1,200 meters, and the plane was about 700 meters high.

Li Guotao quickly locked onto the helicopter and said excitedly, "You brought this upon yourself, so you can't blame me."

Seeing the right opportunity, Li Guotao decisively opened fire.

"Dong dong dong~!"

A series of dull artillery fire rang out, and one shell after another flew quickly towards the helicopter.

Major General Moore was looking into the distance through a telescope, completely unaware of the approaching danger.

At this moment, a shell hit the helicopter.

"Boom~!"

A violent explosion sounded, and before Major General Moore could even react to what was happening, he was blown away by the shock wave of the explosion and fell from a height of several hundred meters.

However, the old guy was hit by shrapnel and died before he hit the ground.

The helicopter was shot down, emitting black smoke and spinning as it fell from the sky. It landed in a forest and exploded with a loud bang.

"Haha~! I hit it."

[Ding Dong~! Congratulations on killing a US Army major general. You get a bonus of +10000 points.]

[Ding Dong~! Congratulations on killing a US Army colonel. You will receive a bonus of +3000 points.]

……

Several crisp system prompt sounds rang out.

Li Guotao made a lot of money from these shots and earned more than 10,000 points.

Li Guotao also widened his eyes in surprise.

Major general?

He actually killed a US major general.

In the US military, major generals are generally high-ranking officers at the rank of division commander or above.

I didn't expect that a random helicopter could kill a US major general.

This is definitely a pleasant surprise.

Li Guotao was naturally very excited. After all, he killed an enemy major general, which was a heavy blow to the enemy.

However, once the artillery fires, the position will be exposed. In order to avoid danger, Li Guotao can only quickly order the soldiers of the task force to move to a safe place.

Following Li Guotao's order, the soldiers quickly began to retreat.

Since we didn't go to the scene to check, the results of this battle naturally cannot be confirmed.

Of course, Li Guotao didn't care about these at all. He just knew that killing a US major general and gaining a large amount of points was enough.

But he doesn't know who the American major general who was killed is.

It was not until a few days later that an incident was reported in the enemy's newspaper that Li Guotao confirmed the identity of the killed American major general.

However, the enemy did not report that their helicopter was shot down, but claimed that their new 9th Army commander, Major General Moore, was on his way to the front line to inspect the enemy situation when his helicopter encountered a malfunction and crashed near the Han River.

In other words, in order to stabilize the morale of the troops, the enemy did not say that the plane was shot down by the volunteers, but that it crashed due to mechanical failure.

Because helicopter technology was not very mature at the time, the probability of mechanical failure was still relatively high, especially in winter, so this was not a rare occurrence and it was natural to get away with it.

But no matter what, another major general of the enemy died. In the last battle, the Ninth Army was almost wiped out, and the army commander and several division commanders who escaped were all dismissed.

As a result, Major General Moore died just one month after taking office, and his death was quite miserable.

When the American soldiers who were searching for and rescuing Major General Moore found his body, they discovered that the old man had been smashed into a pool of rotten flesh. (End of this chapter)