Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

After the Soviet Air Force entered the war, the Sino-Korean People's Air Force Command was established to coordinate relations between the Chinese and Soviet Air Forces and unify their command. The commander was Chinese, while the Soviets served as advisors. The absence of "Soviet Union" in the name was primarily due to the Soviets' desire to avoid any evidence of their involvement in the war. In reality, the real caller of this command lay with the Soviet Air Force.

China had no complaints about this. On the contrary, it was Chairman Mao and his colleagues who suggested giving the Soviet Air Force command. After all, when it came to wielding air power, China was still a newborn infant, while the Soviet Union was already battle-hardened. Therefore, the Chinese Air Force was very willing to let the Soviet Air Force take command and learn from them.

This kind of unity in command has obvious benefits in combat.

There is no need to solve problems one by one.

It can be done directly between the headquarters of both sides.

After Wei Hongjun finished speaking, Deng Guodao said, "In addition, we captured a lot of American anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns in this battle. If we gather them together, it shouldn't be a problem to form several anti-aircraft artillery regiments."

美军部队都是配备数量不菲的高射炮和高射机枪。美军一个师光是师属直属部队就配备64辆四联装12.7毫米防空装甲车，641 ]双联装40毫米自行高射炮。包括下面每个步兵团也配备16辆四联装12.7毫米防空装甲车，16[ ]双联装40毫米自行高射炮。除了这些有些部队还有专门的高射机枪营，高射炮营。可以想象美军在防空上配备武器有多么豪华。

Of course, after the US military entered North Korea, there was no air defense pressure, so these air defense weapons were used as ground attack weapons.

This time, the volunteer army really seized a lot of good things.

Although much was destroyed by the US bombing, many were still intact. With the weapons captured, it was possible to form an air defense force of several regiments.

"Let the General Staff take care of this. We need more air defense forces now."

The more luxurious the weapons and equipment, the fewer pure infantry will be. The PLA must adapt to this change if it wants to become a modern army.

"Secondly, we should expand the number of engineering troops responsible for maintaining railways and roads. We need to have enough troops to carry out emergency repairs on railways and roads after they are bombed. We must absolutely not allow important railways and roads to be interrupted."

Wei Hongjun did not respond immediately to this question.

Instead, he thought about it.

Deng Guo replied, "With the relocation of troops, the logistical burden is becoming increasingly heavy. We should increase the number of logistical personnel. Furthermore, many of the roads in North Korea are too narrow, and many are carved out of the mountains, directly exposed to US Air Force aircraft and vulnerable to bombing. We should renovate these roads, and some narrow roads need to be widened to avoid affecting motor transport."

"Ah."

Wei Hongjun nodded.

Deng Guo was right. North Korea's railways alone were insufficient to meet the needs of the front lines. For the Volunteer Army, a large number of vehicles transporting supplies by road was essential. Historically, tens of thousands of trucks were involved in supply transportation. However, many of North Korea's roads were too exposed and narrow.

There are many problems with car transportation.

It is necessary to upgrade these roads. The North Korean government is now focusing all its energy on the military, and it will take a long time to expect them to upgrade the road system.

The volunteer army cannot wait that long.

So Wei Hongjun said, "I'll send a telegram to the Central Committee. The logistics department and the engineering corps headquarters should contact each other and discuss the approximate number of engineering troops needed to enter North Korea. Comrade Li Xinxi and Comrade Xia Houwen, you two will be responsible for this matter. After returning to China, it would be best if you meet with Comrade Chen Shiqu, the commander of the engineering corps. Once the Central Committee agrees, the engineering corps must dispatch its most experienced troops to North Korea."

No matter how many troops are fighting on the front line, there must be even more staff responsible for logistics in the back.

Maintaining North Korea's railways and roads, upgrading them, and even building more roads is no easy task. Hundreds of thousands of engineering troops would be needed.

The support of the central government is necessary.

Li Xinxi and Xiahou Wen nodded.

Hong Xuezhi continued, "Thirdly, protecting the railways and roads cannot rely solely on our army; we need a people's war. We only have a few troops protecting the railways and roads, but if we mobilize the Korean people, we will have our men everywhere. As long as all the Korean people participate, we will be able to quickly warn the transport troops on the railways and roads. Our transport troops can then take shelter in advance, greatly reducing our casualties."

People's war is what the People's Liberation Army attaches the most importance to.

Even in North Korea, people's war is still emphasized.

Currently, radar is the most important method for detecting aircraft. To support the Korean War, the Soviet Union established a radar station along the Yalu River, enabling it to detect the movements of American aircraft in advance. However, with current communication conditions, notifying motorized troops traveling on the highway was extremely difficult.

Even if a communication system were established, the units that could be notified were limited. It would take considerable time for the units that received the intelligence to notify the moving convoys. If we relied solely on the military system, we wouldn't have enough time to intercept the convoys.

At this time, the support of the North Korean people is extremely needed.

Just like during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, every village had a militia. North Korean villages set up observation posts. If radar detected American aircraft, they would use modern communications to notify the troops, but then they would rely on primitive methods. Don't underestimate these primitive warning methods; once activated, they were incredibly effective. Along the highways, there were North Korean villages everywhere, and mobilizing them could intercept vehicles. Even a few minutes of advance warning could make a huge difference in avoiding bombing.

Wei Hongjun said, "We will negotiate with the North Korean government on this matter. As for the specific cooperation and arrangements, Comrade Hong Xuezhi, you will handle this matter together with Comrades Ni Zhiliang and Chai Junwu."

To mobilize the masses and launch a people's war, it is necessary to cooperate with the local government of North Korea.

Therefore, cooperation at the diplomatic level is needed.

Ni Zhiliang is China's ambassador to North Korea, and Chai Junwu is the political counselor of the Chinese Embassy in North Korea. Ni Zhiliang was previously in poor health, so Chai Junwu exercised the power of ambassador to North Korea on his behalf.

"Yes."

After Hong Xuezhi finished speaking, Wei Hongjun said, "Comrade Hong Xuezhi, these points hit the nail on the head."

Hong Xuezhi is indeed an outstanding logistics cadre.

These few comments hit the point.

But Wei Hongjun knew that this alone was not enough. So he continued: "But even if we knew in advance that the US Air Force was coming to bomb, how would we hide? How would we hide our personnel and supplies?

There are no obstacles on North Korea's roads.

If you can't hide, then what's the point of knowing it in advance?

They're just waiting to be bombed on the highway.

Knowing about the air raid in advance is only the first step. The next step is to solve the second step, how to avoid it in advance.

"Commander, can we learn from the air-raid shelter model? North Korea is mountainous, and most of the railways and roads are built on the mountains. The railways and roads are surrounded by mountains. We can dig air-raid shelters along the mountains along the railways and roads at intervals. That way, if the US Air Force comes to bomb, our personnel and supplies can quickly hide in the air-raid shelters."

Lei Jiabin spoke.

During the war against the Japanese, air-raid shelters were dug almost everywhere. Many caves were even dug into the mountains, serving as air-raid shelters. To avoid Japanese raids, some villages in the base areas also dug caves into the mountains. This provided a place to hide in the mountains, and these caves could also be used to store food to prevent the Japanese from raiding. Therefore, the military and civilians in the base areas were very experienced in digging caves in the mountains.

This experience can be fully applied to the mountains in North Korea.

Wei Hongjun smiled and said, "I have an idea."

Lei Jiabin was a military political officer. He was not only skilled in military political work but also in developing and building bases, including the military. This is why Wei Hongjun recommended Lei Jiabin when the Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Military Region was selecting a commander.

This time his idea was also very good.

It's fair to say the idea is sound. However, it's just one idea, not a complete plan. Wei Hongjun added, "The idea of ​​air-raid shelters is sound, but they can't just be used as air-raid shelters. While we should build some large military depots, we should also establish small military depots along various railways and highways. These aren't just for air defense, but also for temporary storage in the event of emergencies that prevent supplies from being delivered. Of course, these are just theoretical plans. We need to actually investigate and come up with a plan for where to set up the small military depots, how large they should be, and how personnel and vehicles should be sheltered." Comrade Hong Xuezhi, what do you think?

“It’s actionable.”

Hong Xuezhi nodded.

He said: "Our logistics troops have observed the situation along the railways and highways in North Korea. When the Japanese entered North Korea, they built many warehouses in these places. Many of these warehouses were set up in caves. Some of them are natural caves, and some are caves dug by the Japanese. Some caves are very large, even able to accommodate more than 1000 railway cars. After counting these places, it should not be a problem to turn them into small military depots.

The Japanese particularly like to dig caves everywhere.

There are many caves in North Korea.

Of course, there are also many natural caves that can be utilized.

Li Xinxi said, "Let's put these small military stations aside. We can build some car shelters along the highway. Whenever US military planes come over, our cars can hide in the shelters. We can build a car shelter every few miles, and set up one or two thousand car shelters along the entire highway. Then we won't have to worry about being discovered by the US Air Force."

"Yes, this is also a good idea."

Wei Hongjun nodded.

The Three Stooges are better than Zhuge Liang.

Not to mention that all those present were veterans of many years of battle, many of whom were also officers in charge of logistics for many years and were very familiar with logistics work. Everyone sat down and discussed it one by one, and soon found many ways to avoid US Air Force bombing and successfully transport supplies.

As long as the logistics channels are smooth, the volunteer army will not be afraid of the US military.

We have summarized a bunch of methods.

Wei Hongjun was very satisfied with the outcome of this meeting. If the decisions made at this meeting could be implemented, the Volunteer Army's logistics would definitely not encounter any major problems. At the very least, the situation of 1951 would not occur again.

Seeing that the issue of logistics and transportation had been discussed for a long time, Deng Guodao said: "In addition to the problem of logistics and transportation, there is another problem that needs to be solved urgently. In the first battle, we were close to the country, so the wounded of the troops were returned to the country for treatment. But when we really cross the Imjin River, it will not be so easy for our wounded to return to the country. Such a long distance, and with the bombing of the US Air Force, our wounded will not be able to hold on until they return to the country. Sending our wounded all the way back from the front line will not save them, but will harm them. Therefore, we must set up a military hospital in North Korea and let our wounded receive treatment in North Korea. After the situation stabilizes, we will send them back to the country. Our military hospital cannot be too far from the front line, so that timely treatment can be provided. Moreover, the hospital must be hidden and must not be bombed by American planes.

"I just heard from Comrade Hong Xuezhi that some of the caves in North Korea are very large. I'm considering whether we can use the air-raid shelter model to build a large underground hospital. Of course, this also requires comrades from the logistics department to investigate, discuss, and make the final decision. I'm just sharing some of my thoughts."

Before this meeting, Wei Hongjun and Deng Guo exchanged views.

It is not easy to hold such a meeting.

Because the logistics department is currently divided between the domestic and North Korean divisions, it's not easy for them to gather together. Furthermore, Wei Hongjun and Deng Guo will need to move their headquarters forward, and there's a growing amount of things to deal with. This means that holding such a meeting in the future will be even more difficult.

Therefore, we must take advantage of this rare opportunity and solve all the problems at once.

"Deputy Commander Deng, I can't guarantee that."

Hong Xuezhi did not brag.

This is Hong Xuezhi's character. He won't agree to anything without being sure of it.

After thinking for a moment, he said: "We should build a large military hospital. But whether we can build an underground hospital, I still need to discuss with our military medical department. If the military medical department thinks that an underground hospital can be built, then I will immediately start to deploy work in this regard. However, compared to us, the North Korean comrades should know more about the terrain of North Korea. Many of our comrades have just entered North Korea and have been in the area north of the Chongchon River. If we want to build a military hospital in other places, we are completely in the dark. If we want to build a hospital as soon as possible, shouldn’t we communicate with the North Korean comrades and listen to their opinions?"

When fighting on someone else's territory, you need the other party's cooperation to do anything.

Although helpless, there is nothing I can do.

That's why Chairman Mao repeatedly emphasized cooperation and asked Wei Hongjun and others to respect their North Korean comrades. This wasn't just because North Korea was a sovereign state and all of us were members of the socialist camp. It was also because the Chinese People's Volunteer Army fighting in Korea required the cooperation of all North Koreans, from top to bottom.

"Old Deng, this matter is quite important and urgent. I think the Americans can only give us three or four months, so we must build a hospital before then. How about we contact Comrade Park Il-yu? Let him help us find a suitable place to set up an underground hospital."

Wei Hongjun thought of Park Yiyu.

Park Il-yu was a longtime subordinate of Wei Hongjun and Deng Guo, and they had known each other for over a decade. General Peng once described Park Il-yu as honest and loyal, yet brave in battle. In reality, Park Il-yu had a somewhat soft personality and was not considered a strong leader.

For things like this, you should look for Park Yi-yu.

After all, he was not only the deputy political commissar of the joint command, but also the deputy commander and deputy political commissar of the Volunteer Army Command. Finding a good position for the Volunteer Army was Park Il-yu's job.

"I'll talk to Comrade Park Il-woo. Comrade Hong Seol-ji, when the time comes, you'll work with Comrade Park Il-woo to complete this task."

"Yes."

We talked for a whole day.

We ate while having meetings.

Everyone was exhausted. Wei Hongjun finally said, "Comrades, today's meeting was a great success. Remember, while killing the enemy on the front lines is meritorious service, ensuring the logistical support of the frontline troops is also meritorious service. We must let all officers and soldiers know that everything they do is of extraordinary significance." After the meeting, all departments must implement the plan outlined at the meeting.

"Yes."

After the meeting, Wei Hongjun stretched his arms.

Then he told someone to send a telegram to the Central Committee: First, in order to ensure the logistics of the troops, the Volunteer Army Logistics Conference decided to strengthen the maintenance of the current railways and roads in North Korea, and to widen and renovate some roads. This requires more engineering troops to enter North Korea. Second, all troops suffered casualties in the first battle, and some troops suffered heavy casualties. The Volunteer Army Command believes that the troops should be replenished quickly. And a system should be established so that in the future, as long as there are casualties in the troops fighting against the United States and aiding Korea, they will be replenished immediately by the country. Volunteer Army Command: Wei Hongjun, Deng Guo.

"Yes."

Just as the staff left, Chen Zhonghe walked in and said, "Commander, a telegram from the Central Committee."

"What's up?"

"The Central Committee asked us about crossing the 38th parallel."

853 th Parallel Dispute