Preface
1964, the famous film " Heroes Children " produced by Changchun Film Studio was officially released.
"Heroic Sons and Daughters" mainly tells the story of the brothers and sisters, Wang Cheng and Wang Fang and Dalian, who successively joined the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea.
The brother Wang Cheng fought with the enemy until the last moment. He held the blasting tube in his hand and shouted with a walkie-talkie: "For victory, fire at me." then died with the enemy, which infected countless viewers. However, Wang Cheng is a fictional character in film and television works after all.
In other words, when the main creator of "Heroes and Children" completed this role, he must have borrowed the real Volunteer Army hero as the prototype. On October 25, 1950, the 360th Regiment of the 120th Division of the 40th Army of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army broke out in fierce battle with the 15th Regiment of the 15th Division of the Korean Army, firing the first shot of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army entering North Korea.
Shi Baoshan, the squad leader of the third squad in the third company and row of the first battalion of the 360th Regiment, picked up two explosion tubes at the last moment of the battle and pulled the fuse. Like Wang Cheng in the movie, he died with the enemy. Shi Baoshan is also one of Wang Cheng's prototypes.
The 40th Army of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army entered North Korea for only 6 days, and severely damaged the South Korean puppet army, and Shi Baoshan completely defeated the enemy.
70 years later, the Central Committee broadcasted the "Art Party to Commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the Chinese People's War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea", and the deeds of Shi Baoshan's heroes were known to everyone.
What other unknown stories are there behind this "Wang Cheng style" combat hero Shi Baoshan?
Picture | Portrait of Shi Baoshan Martyrs
1. Crossing Yalu River , Shi Baoshan fought with the large army " United Nations Army "
1925, Shi Baoshan was born in a poor peasant family in Huinan County, Tonghua City, Jilin Province.
Huinan County is located in the northern part of Tonghua City and the western foot of Changbai Mountain. It happens to be located in the transition zone between the Changbai Mountains and the Songliao Plain , and the land is fertile.
Nowadays, Huinan County’s annual grain output is stable at around 1.1 billion jin.
In the 1920s, Japanese invaders occupied the three northeastern provinces of our country, and wanted to use this as the base camp to conquer the world, implement "slavery" education for Chinese compatriots, and a good Feng Shui treasure land was ruined by imperialists.
Shi Baoshan grew up in such an environment; his family was not in good condition, so he had never been to school since he was a child and followed his parents to dig food.
1937, the Japanese army attacked Beidaying in Shenyang and unilaterally provoked the " July 7 Incident ", making life even more difficult for Chinese compatriots in the three northeastern provinces. Shi Baoshan once witnessed the Japanese invaders beating many innocent people to death in order to steal food, and even burned their houses. A bad behavior like
can be described as "outrageous and unspeakable" .
Since then, Shi Baoshan has always wanted to join the army and serve the country and fight against the Japanese invaders.
is too young, and the revolutionary struggle environment in the Northeast during the War of Resistance Against Japan is relatively complicated.
It was not until the victory of the Anti-Japanese War that the Party Central Committee sent Lin Biao and others to the Northeast to form the Northeast Anti-Japanese Democratic Alliance (the prototype of the Fourth Field Army).
What's more, Shi Baoshan was not as straight as the rifle at that time, so his dream of joining the army was shattered.
Time came in 1946. At that time, Chiang Kai-shek provoked the civil war. Millions of troops launched fierce attacks on central bases such as East China, Central China, and Northwest China, hoping to "sweep away" the people's army led by the Communist Party in one fell swoop.
At this time, Shi Baoshan was already 21 years old, which was the time to be passionate. Through personal experience, Shi Baoshan felt that the Kuomintang army was even more hateful than the Japanese invading China. They completely ignored the lives and death of the people and went to the village to "catch strong men".
Most of the people arrested by the Kuomintang army lost contact with their families and were completely unaware of whether they were dead or alive.
In contrast, The People's Army led by the Communist Party has no conflict with the people, and even helps the compatriots rebuild their homes to the best of their ability. Compare
twice, and the difference is immediately judged.
Shi Baoshan decided to join the People's Army led by the Communist Party of China, fight against the Kuomintang army, and protect this hard-won fruit of victory.
After that, Shi Baoshan and several fellow villagers joined the Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Forces , and joined the Liaoshen Campaign with the large army, annihilated the main force of the Kuomintang army.
Because of his bravery on the battlefield, Shi Baoshan was promoted to the 3rd squad leader of the Third Company of the 1st Battalion, 360th Regiment, 120th Division of the 40th Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army in August 1949.
After the founding of New China, the 40th Army of the People's Liberation Army, led by commander Han Xianchu, fought all the way from Baishan and Hei River to the ends of the world.
pic | Forty Army soldiers swam across the Qingchuan River
The Forty Army, which had outstanding military achievements, was called the "Tornado Force". After entering North Korea, the 40th Army of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army fought from the "Fourth Line" Chushan area of North Korea on the Yalu River to Hengseong County, South Korea on the "Third-Seventh Line".
The Forty Army and the brothers' 38th and 39th Armies are called the "Three Tiger Army", leaving behind the beautiful talk of " The Forty Army gallops through the country for three thousand miles, and is invincible invincible in the ever-victory army."
This is a later story, so I won’t mention it for the time being.
2. Entering Korea to fight, the 40th Army flag was successfully opened and the 360th Regiment of the 120th Division of the 40th Army, where Shi Baoshan is located, was the predecessor of the Special Service Battalion of the Second Division of the Luzhong Military Region, the Yizhong Independent Battalion, and the 6th Regiment jointly organized by the squadrons of each district of the county.
In January 1946, the 6th Regiment was incorporated into the 27th Regiment of the 9th Brigade of the Liaodong Third Column of the Northeast Democratic Alliance; in 1947, it was renamed as the 27th Regiment of the 9th Division of the Liaodong Third Column; in early 1948, it was renamed as the 27th Regiment of the 9th Division of the Northeast Field Army 3rd Column.
In November 1948, it was officially built into the 360th Regiment of the 120th Division of the 40th Army.
Before entering North Korea, the leader of the 360th Regiment Ding Xiande and political commissar Zhan Ming. After entering the court, the leader of the 360th Regiment was changed to Xu Rui, a native of Xifeng County, Liaoning Province, and the political commissar of the Regiment was still Zhan Ming.
After the outbreak of the Korean War , the Central Military Commission organized the 40th Army of the People's Liberation Army into the Northeast Frontier Defense Army in July 1950; on October 8, the entire army was reorganized into the 40th Army of the People's Volunteer Army; on October 19, it entered North Korea and officially participated in the war.
360 Regiment is the main regiment of the 120th Division and has strong combat effectiveness. As the first batch of troops entering North Korea in the 40th Army, it rushed to the Northeast region for pre-war training in advance. When the 40th Army entered the North Korea, the 40th Army changed its military leadership, General Han Xianchu was transferred to the deputy commander of the Volunteer Army, and the new commander of the 40th Army was General Wen Yucheng.
Under the leadership of Wen Yucheng, all the soldiers rushed to the Northeast.
In October 1950, the "United Nations Army" ground troops on the Korean Peninsula reached more than 230,000. After capturing Pyongyang , crossing north of the " 38th Line ", burning the war to the banks of the Yalu River and the northern border of our country.
According to the deployment of the commander-in-chief of the "United Nations Army" MacArthur , he will divide 130,000 "United Nations Army" troops and divide them into east and west lines to continue to advance towards the Yalu River. Lieutenant General Walker on the eastern line of
led the Eighth Army of the US and the First US Army of the US from Pyongyang to Shinyiju and Shuozhou .
The three divisions of the Second South Korean Army attacked from the Seungcheon and Yangde areas toward Chushan; the 1st Cavalry Division and the 187th Airborne Regiment were stationed on the battlefield on the eastern front of the Pyongyang area as reserve forces.
Major General Almond led two divisions of the 10th US Army from Ham Hing Port to continue to advance towards Huishan Town; two divisions of the 1st Korean Army of South Korea were advancing along the coastline towards Tumenjiang .
The United Nations Army has advanced particularly fast in the east and west, which made MacArthur very happy. He even made bold statements in front of reporters: "We must occupy all North Korea before Thanksgiving Day in 1950. The Korean People's Army has laid down its weapons and don't make unnecessary resistance."
The United States is even more jubilant. " New York Times " pointed out that the victory of this war is a foregone conclusion, and the US Department of the United States has considered distributing a large number of supplies to other allies.
The U.S. military logistics commander stationed in Japan decided to cancel all paid weapons and equipment, and many "United Nations Army" soldiers were filled with optimism.
The soldiers of the 10th Army of the United States were wandering around in northern Korea, not like fighting on the front-line battlefield, but came to the Korean Peninsula for tourism.
pic | General Wen Yucheng
At that time, General Peng Dehuai, commander-in-chief of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army, was very angry. He ordered the participating troops of the Volunteer Army to teach the "United Nations Army" a severe lesson.
Let’s look back at the 40th Army of the Volunteer Army. After entering North Korea, the forty army was divided into two lines east and west. The military headquarters and the 118th Division were on the East Road, along the Wenjing direction, and directly entered the highway transportation hub, blocking the New Xichuan hub area, making it impossible for the US troops on the east and west lines to meet.
120th Division and 119th Division advanced along Yunshan to Ningbian, rushed to the coast of Qingchuan River as quickly as possible, and built fortifications to ensure that the large forces of the Volunteer Army gathered and unfolded rapidly north of the Qingchuan River. After three days and three nights of marching, the 118th Division arrived at the Liangshuidong area and stood on standby.
On October 25, 1950, the 354th Regiment of the 118th Division's Forewart Regiment set up an ambush circle on a road four kilometers north of the Wenjing area, causing heavy losses to the Second Regiment of the 6th Division of the South Korean Division and a reinforcement battalion.
In this battle, the 354th Regiment killed, wounded and captured more than 500 enemies, seized a large number of military supplies, and officially fired the first shot of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army entering North Korea. (Battle of Liangshuidong)
At almost the same time, the 360th Regiment of the 120th Division of the 40th Army's right wing advance regiment entered the Shangsidong and Xiasidong areas north of Yunshan City through Taichuan.
During the march, the 360th Regiment encountered some South Korean troops retreating north. The regiment commander Xu Rui asked Shi Baoshan to catch a few "tongues" and come back for interrogation.
Shi Baoshan led three soldiers and captured two Korean defenders without any effort.
Listen to these two "tongues" that the Korean People's Army, which was previously stationed in the Xiasaidong area, had retreated northward. The main force of the "United Nations Army" occupied the ancient city Ningbian and blocked the road to Yunshan. The message
is very important, because if the 360th Regiment does not grasp the enemy's movements in advance and continues to Yunshan rashly, it is very likely that the "United Nations Army" will be made into dumplings.
Thinking of this, Commander Xu Rui immediately sent a reconnaissance platoon and the 9th Company of the Third Battalion to be ordered to investigate and search in the direction of Ningbian to provide support for the advance of the large army. When searching for
reconnaissance platoon and the 9th Company of the Third Battalion, they met with the South Korean First Division.
Interestingly, the South Korean army regarded the volunteer army as the retreating North Korean People's Army. They did not take it seriously and seized the time to camp and rest. The reconnaissance platoon of the
360th regiment judges based on vehicles parked on the roadside, and there is at least one enemy regiment nearby with even more troops.
reconnaissance platoon carefully returned along the original route and reported the situation to Commander Xu Rui.
Picture | Wen Yucheng and Han Xianchu
Xu Rui was a little troubled now because the task he received was to quickly go to the Yunu Peak north of Yunshan City to build a position and block the progress of the 1st Division of the Korean Army, known as the most elite, from Yunshan City.
covers the main force of the 40th Army to fully unfold, ensuring that the 39th Army of the brothers arrives at Yunshan safely.
Since the area has been occupied by the 1st Korean Division of Bai Shanye , the original plan will be changed accordingly.
In the early days of the entry of the Korean Republic, the communication facilities of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army were very backward, and regiment-level combat units did not have any radio stations to contact the division headquarters and the military headquarters.
plus the 360th Regiment were all lightly installed in battle, and at this time they could not contact their superiors at all.
is not a difficult situation for the Volunteer Army. Whether in the War of Resistance Against Japan or the War of Liberation, our army can reasonably carry out offensive and defensive tasks according to the battlefield situation.
In the classic anti-Japanese war drama " Bright Sword ", Li Yunlong did not notify his superiors and brothers to attack Ping'an County .
His two old comrades Ding Wei and Kong Jie were confused, but they keenly grasped the situation on the battlefield and decisively blocked the enemy's reinforcements.
What's more, the 360th Regiment belongs to the Northeast War Army, Fourth Field has long been adapting to independently adjusting the combat plan when the enemy situation suddenly changes.
Xu Rui feels that the 360th Regiment is an advance regiment, covering the main force. Since the planned area is occupied by the enemy, the 360th Regiment should seize the time to build fortifications on the spot, and move forward if it can be promoted.
If the enemy's firepower is too strong, then block the enemy on the spot and win valuable buffer time for our large troops.
At 9 pm on October 24, 1950, the 360th Regiment quietly entered the northern highland of Yunshan City, quickly built fortifications, and prepared to fight the enemy.
Facts have proved that Captain Xu Rui's decision was very correct.
3. Sacrifice to his country, Shi Baoshan completely defeated the Korean army at 6:30 am on the 225th. The 1st Division of the South Korean Division took a group of vanguards as the pioneer, drove 14 tanks and dozens of self-propelled artillery , and launched a massive move along Yunshan.
360th Regiment has built fortifications while the night is dark, and the soldiers are waiting for their efforts to wait for the 1st Division of the Korean Army to enter the ambush circle.
Because of the narrow terrain, the Korean army's mechanical forces could not be deployed at all. They could only let an infantry platoon walk in front and explore the way for the large troops behind.
Perhaps I didn't expect that there was an ambush in the Chinese People's Volunteer Army around me. The 3rd Infantry Platoon of the 1st Division of the South Korean Army, which was responsible for the investigation and search, did not unfold the formation, but instead lined up in four columns and advanced in unison.
immediately confused Xu Rui, the commander of the 360th Regiment. According to his previous combat experience, if small units at the company and platoon level are used as the subsequent main forces to carry out search and cover tasks, then all the soldiers responsible for the early reconnaissance must be dispersed and searched forward along the road and railway.
At the same time, each combat unit must maintain close contact and quickly feed the information to the rear troops.
But this Korean infantry platoon actually lined up in a column, as if it was a living target.
For the time being, the regiment commander Xu Rui waited patiently for the 1st Division of the Korean Army to enter the effective range of the 360th Regiment Infantry Weapon , and decisively ordered the first and third companies to fire at the same time. The regiment artillery concentrated its superior firepower and launched a round of volleys.
The 1st Division of the Korean Army, which was suddenly attacked by the firepower of the volunteer army, saw that the situation was not good, and the formation was completely disrupted, and the tank even turned around and ran away, regardless of its comrades beside them.
The enemy soldiers who lost the protection of the tanks were immediately injured and suffered heavy casualties. The Korean army, who had luckily not died, fled everywhere.
's first round of attack ended within 15 minutes. The remaining 1st Division of the South Korean Army did not reorganize the forces of the two battalions until 8:20 am on the 25th, and launched an attack on the Nanshan area of Jiandong, which was held by the Third Company of the 360th Regiment, and at the same time called for US air support.
The 6th Tank Battalion, the 9th Field Artillery Group, the 6th Mortar Battalion, and the 10th Anti-Atlancing Group received a request for help from friendly forces and rushed to this area. Dozens of US fighter jets also flew in the sky. This is the first time that the Chinese People's Volunteer Army faced the joint land-air strike of the modern army.
Picture | Yunshan Blocking Battle
Because the third company's position was a mountain less than 500 meters, the napalm bomb dropped by the US military aircraft immediately ignited the entire mountain. After the
aircraft bombed, the US military's heavy artillery aimed at the volunteer positions and launched a overwhelming and intensive firepower strike.
More than a year later, Xu Rui, the then commander of the 360th Regiment, recalled this way: "Our regiment fought for 8 years of War of Resistance and three years of Liberation War, faced with fierce bombing from the Japanese army, and also faced the bombing of the Kuomintang army equipped with American weapons.
When the 360th Regiment was bombed by the US military's artillery on the Korean battlefield for the first time, he was still shocked."
With the support of fierce artillery fire, the South Korean First Division recovered and began to launch a strong attack on the position of the 360th Regiment. The enemy's target was the frontier position of the Southeast Mountain defended by the Third Company of the First Battalion where Shi Baoshan was located.
The geographical location of the Southeast Mountain area is particularly important. It is located at the intersection of Yunshan and Heechuan. This is a hill with a height of about 150 meters, guarding the only way for the Korean army from north to south.
Faced with the US military's unreasonable bombing, the regiment commander Xu Rui had no good idea for a moment. He ordered the soldiers to put the enemy in front of the position before firing.
Because the volunteer army mainly relies on machine guns and grenades to kill and injure the enemy. The combat range is limited, so they can only fight closer to injure as many enemies as possible.
As mentioned earlier, the front position of the southeast mountain that the Third Company of the 360th Regiment defended was a small hill, with a width of less than 500 meters. The US military threw dozens of napalm bombs on the top of the mountain. In a short period of time, more than half of the officers and soldiers of the Third Company were killed or killed, and the ammunition was exhausted and the position was in danger.
The Korean army seized this good opportunity and quickly organized superior forces to advance towards the top of the mountain.
They believe that most of the main forces of the volunteer army have been burned to death by the US napalm bombs, and the remaining soldiers must have no combat effectiveness. Now they can occupy the position and change the battlefield situation by rushing up.
However, they did not expect that although more than half of the officers and soldiers of the third company were injured or killed, the remaining dozens of soldiers quickly moved to the halfway mountain area, and the remaining weapons and ammunition poured towards the enemy.
The Korean soldiers retreated in a hurry, and the two sides began to compete for positions back and forth.
After several battles with the enemy, the third company's position was completely flattened and all the bullets were shot. The soldiers could only carry stones to hit the enemy.
At this time, the Korean First Division began attacking again and again, and a platoon of enemies finally rushed to the position and rushed towards the 3rd squad where Shi Baoshan was located.
Picture | Volunteer Army Defensive Position
The enemy found that the Volunteer Army had exhausted ammunition, and the more crazier pressing was pressing, and soon occupied most of the surface positions of the third squad.
At the critical moment, Shi Baoshan, as the squad leader, picked up two blasting tubes from the ground, endured the pain on his body, and shouted loudly: "Comrades, bring glory to the country and avenge the people of friendly countries!"
After saying that, he pulled the fuse and rushed towards the enemy group. More than 20 Korean soldiers were frightened in the face of Shi Baoshan's smoke-filled explosion tube, and they shouted and hugged each other.
With a loud "boom", Shi Baoshan died with more than 20 enemies. His feat aroused the courage of other comrades in the third company. The soldiers picked up bayonets and picked up stones to rush towards the enemy.
Although the enemy has a strong firepower advantage and the number of people is also superior, it still has not penetrated the front line of the third company.
The US Army's Sixth Tank Battalion dispatched 7 tanks to detour to the position behind the Third Company, preparing to cooperate with the South Korean army to capture the Southeast Mountain in one fell swoop.
360th Regiment organized an anti-tank commando. Qin Yongfa, deputy squad leader of the 9th squad of the 2nd Company, pulled the blasting tube of the fuse and inserted it into the gap of the crawler wheel of a US tank.
Just as the blasting tube was about to explode, it was thrown out by the track.
Qin Yongfa regardless of his life danger, picked up a blasting tube and stuffed it into the gap in the wheels of the Patton tank.
"bang" loudly, and Martyr Qin Yongfa, along with the tank and several drivers, died together.
Shi Baoshan is the first combat hero of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army to die with the enemy; Qin Yongfa is the hero of the Volunteer Army to go abroad to fight and blow up the first US tank.
After the Yunshan Blocking Battle ended, Qin Yongfa was named "Anti-tank Hero" by the division headquarters.
Due to other reasons such as incomplete archives, the teacher did not ask for me for Shi Baoshan, let alone named it.
He could have become a great volunteer army hero in textbooks like Huang Jiguang, Qiu Shaoyun and Yang Gensi, but was obscured by the vast war history.
Until 2020, the Central Committee broadcasted the "Commemorative Party of the 70th Anniversary of the Battle of Resisting U.S. Aggression and Aiding Korea", and the host briefly mentioned Shi Baoshan's heroic deeds.
Picture | Another Shi Baoshan Martyr Certificate of the 12th Army of the Volunteer Army
Conclusion
So, after Shi Baoshan's death did the 360th Regiment complete the tasks assigned by the division?
In the early morning of October 26, 1950, Commander Xu Rui took advantage of the enemy's fatigue and paralysis to launch a counterattack. After 30 minutes of fierce fighting, he captured four hills in a row, including the Southeast Mountain position that was lost during the day.
The battle lasted until 4:00 pm on October 27. The 360th Regiment completed the blocking mission, handed over the defense of the position to the 39th Army, and successfully withdrew from the position.
During the Yunshan Blocking Battle for three days and two nights, the 360th Regiment wiped out more than 280 enemies and blew up three tanks.
Yunshan Blocking Battle was a battle started on the 6th day after the 40th Army of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army entered North Korea.
claims to be the most elite 1st Division in South Korea and suffered more than 500 casualties and was completely defeated by the Chinese People's Volunteer Army.Because the Yunshan Blocking Battle and the Two Water Cave Encountering Battle started on the same day and each won victory, with the approval of Chairman Mao, October 25, 1950 was officially confirmed as the "Volunteer Army's Commemorative Day for Operations abroad", This is a special honor for the soldiers of the 40th Army.
Later, the Forty Army participated in the second to fifth phases of the Battle of Resisting U.S. Aggression and Aiding Korea, and each time it was an attack mission.
On July 28, 1953, the day after the signing of the Korean War Armistice Agreement, the Forty-fifth Army of the Volunteer Army returned to China. This unit was the only unit that fought all the battles in all stages of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea.
References:
[1] Yunshan Battle Memories, Author Wu Xinquan, Military History, Issue 02, 1986,
[2] General Han Xianchu and his "Tornado Force", author Yan Meisheng, Party History Wenhui 2016, 2016,
