Who is the "marksman" in the volunteer army?
Most people's answer is definitely- Zhang Taofang !
During the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, Zhang Taofang killed 214 enemies with 436 rounds in 32 days, setting a record for the volunteers to kill the enemy coldly on the Korean battlefield.
And because of this, there are many more tags on his body, such as: "Volunteer sharpshooter", "Cold Gun Hero", "Shangganling Sniper" , etc.;
Volunteer Army headquarters in 1953 Zhang Taofang was also awarded the honorary title of "second-level sniper hero", and was awarded the "first-class national flag medal" by the North Korean government.
It can be said that the brilliant achievements of Zhang Taofang's heroes are obvious to all, and they deserve these honors.
Picture | Zhang Taofang, known as the "Shangganling Sniper God"
But there is one other person besides Zhang Taofang. His sniper performance is also amazing. It is a pity that he has been unknown for decades, until the recent popularity His name was mentioned in the broadcast " across the Yalu River".
In the battle of Shangganling, he killed 203 enemy troops with 206 bullets, almost without any bullets, and eliminated an enemy with one bullet. He is a cold gun hero- Zou Xixiang !
This article will take you to the classic deeds of the volunteer hero Zou Xixiang. If you are also interested in history, you might as well settle down and read it, maybe you will have a different harvest!
Picture | TV series "Across the Yalu River"
Zou Xixiang,A Gelao peasant family was born on April 24, 1922 in Hejiaquan, Liyuan, , Wuchuan, Guizhou Province.
Like many heroes, Zou Xixiang had a hard life in his childhood, but his bones flowed with the spirit of self-improvement and tenacious progress of the Gelao tribe . And it was with this spirit and tenacity that made him grow into an excellent sniper.
The Liyuan Pasture in Zou Xixiang's hometown has an average elevation of 1340 meters. Due to its special geographical environment, it is shrouded in fog and rain for more than 200 days a year. At that time, it was more than 40 kilometers away from the nearest county seat, and it was basically only possible on foot. Strong1strong walked twice in the dark-go out before dawn, and reach it when it's dark.
Of course, this situation is very common in Guizhou where "the ground is not flat, the sky is not clear for three days, and the mountains are running to death" .
The author was born in a small mountain village in Guizhou and has a deep understanding of this kind of life. I remember that when I was young, I went to the market with my parents to sell vegetables. I had to set off before dawn and walked more than ten kilometers to get there. When I got home, it was basically after 11 o'clock in the evening. If the market was not good, I would return home early in the morning. One or two points are also common.
Before and after the liberation, the villagers in Liyuan Pasture basically relied on planting corn, fern roots, sweet potatoes and other miscellaneous grains. Since there were not many livestock and poultry, they could only go hunting in the mountains if they wanted to eat meat. Almost every family is an Orion, and so is Zou Xixiang's family.
Figure | Zou Xixiang’s hometown Liyuan Caochang
When Zou Xixiang was 7 years old, he followed his parents to practice the powder gun, loading, lurking, aiming, shooting, etc. Every step has to be practiced countless times. Until fully grasped. As the saying goes, "Practice makes perfect." Years and months of practice have made Zou Xixiang perfect.
Especially those eyes that are as sharp as eagles, as long as the prey appears in front of him, even at night, with only a hint of wind and grass.He can also accurately determine the location of the prey and capture it.
In addition, his marksmanship is extremely accurate; although he uses an earthen musket, which is troublesome to load and difficult to aim, but despite this, every time he hunts, he has almost no shots.
Not only that, when hunting prey, he is extremely agile, and he can move freely between rugged mountains and plains. When waiting for the prey, he can hibernate for a long time without moving, even the very alert prey is hard to feel. To his existence.
At this time, Zou Xixiang already possesses the basic qualities to be a "sniper", and this has laid a solid foundation for him to bravely achieve success in the Korean battlefield in the future.
Figure | Zou Xixiang (stills)
In early 1949, the Kuomintang, which was already at the end of the war, began to conscript in the southwest in order to restore the situation. Unfortunately, Zou Xixiang was forced into the army. On November 15 of the same year, the 51st Division of the Seventeenth Army of the Fifth Corps of the Second Field Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army liberated Dushan. Zou Xixiang's troops resolutely rose up and took refuge in the PLA.
After the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, the central government decided to organize the Chinese People's Volunteers to join the war in North Korea. Zou Xixiang was then incorporated into the 1st Battalion and 1st Company of the 135th Regiment of the 45th Division of the 15th Army of the Volunteer Army and joined the army to join the war.
On the Korean battlefield, my volunteer soldiers showed excellent style of bravery and fearlessness, tenacious hard work, and fear of sacrifice, which dealt a heavy blow to the enemy's arrogance.
In the successive battles, Zou Xixiang relied on his excellent marksmanship and was quickly promoted to the platoon leader of machine guns. In October 1952, he was ordered to garrison with the troops to Beishan, Shangganling 537.7 Highland.
If you are familiar with this period of history, then you must know that there is another title for Beishan in Shangganling 537.7 Highland- "sniper ridge".
Picture | Shangganling Hero Position
October 14, 1952The famous Shangganling battle has started!
The "United Nations Army" headed by the United States has successively mobilized more than 60,000 troops, with more than 300 artillery pieces, more than 170 tanks and more than 3,000 sorties of aircraft, to defend the 3.7 square kilometers of Shangganling position, which is defended by two companies of our volunteers. A fierce attack was launched.
On the 537.7 highland of Shangganling, there are two mountains that are relatively hump-like between the north and the south. At that time, Nanshan was occupied by the US army, and Beishan was still in our hands.
There are a total of 9 positions on the North Mountain, forming an irregular cross. From west to east, they are No. 9, No. 3, No. 4, No. 5, and No. 6; from south to north, No. 1, 2 No. 7, No. 7 and No. 8 positions, of which the No. 8 position is the most forward protrusion.
The entire Beishan highland was defended by the 135th Regiment of the 15th Army where Zou Xixiang was located. Zou Xixiang was in the 7th defensive pit.
The enemy’s firepower was very fierce. The artillery shells fell on the ground, and the scorched earth flew across and the flames soared. Zou Xixiang and his comrades sat quietly in the tunnel, waiting for the end of the enemy’s bombing. During this period, the eardrums of many soldiers were shaken out of blood. A 17-year-old Sichuan health worker with Zou Xixiang was unfortunately shaken to death in the chaotic artillery fire...
After more than an hour, the enemy's intensive bombing finally ended. But this does not mean that the battle is over, on the contrary, more cruel battles are still to come! The 32nd Regiment of the Second Division, the main South Korean field force, began a fierce attack on the Beishan position.
Figure | Zou Xixiang (middle) is explaining guns to the soldiers
Faced with the enemy army coming to face, Zou Xixiang did not panic at all. He was lying on the bunker and aimed his gun at the coming enemy. When the enemy came to the shooting range, gently pull the trigger and the enemy fell down. At the same time, the machine guns and grenades of the comrades greeted them together...
After the enemy was beaten back, Zou Xixiang had no time to rest, and continued to search for shelter with his gun.Silently monitoring the activities of the U.S. military from the forward position, and when the U.S. military walked around or went to the toilet, Zou Xixiang raised his gun from a hidden place and shot. With a "bang", a U.S. military officer fell down...
, Zou Xixiang shot the enemy by "call by name", so that the U.S. military never dared to show up on the high ground in the south, let alone go to the toilet!
Suddenly, the Beishan position was boiling, and Zou Xixiang used his " sniper rifle " in his hand to give all his comrades a bad breath. He shot accurately, causing huge losses to the enemy. According to records: in the battle of Shangganling, Zou Xixiang killed 203 enemy troops with 206 bullets, almost without any bullets.
And such sniper achievements are ranked high in the history of modern warfare in the world!
You must know that what Zou Xixiang uses is not a high-precision "sniper rifle", but a rifle commonly equipped by volunteer soldiers. Although many documents do not clearly record the model of the gun he uses, the author estimates that it should be a famous sniper The rifle used by Zhang Taofang is the same, that is, at the end of World War II, the former "M1944 Mosin Nagan" rifle produced by the Soviet Union.
Figure | Zou Xixiang in the TV series "Crossing the Yalu River"
This rifle has a caliber of 7.62 mm, a warhead velocity of 820 meters per second, and a range of about 1,000 meters. It is supplied by 5 simultaneous magazines. The bullet has a total length of about 1 meter, a barrel length of 520 mm, and a gun weight of 3.9 kg.
It is neither a sniper rifle nor an automatic rifle, but a non-automatic rifle. Every time a shot is fired, the bolt must be pulled again before shooting. And if you can't get killed by a single shot, there is basically no possibility of a replacement shot.
What's more, at that time, our army did not have auxiliary equipment such as scopes and observation instruments. The aiming relied on the front sight of the gun. As for factors such as wind speed and humidity, on the fierce battlefield like Shangganling,It is impossible to take them all into consideration.
So the requirements for snipers are very high! Even if Zou Xixiang is not using this type of gun, its performance is not much different.
However, although Zou Xixiang killed many enemies and his comrades worked hard, the battle in Shangganling was still fierce and the losses were still great. In addition to sacrificing and decimating personnel, the tunnel where Zou Xixiang is located has run out of ammunition and food, and there is no dripping water.
At this time, the saliva secretion in the soldiers' mouths has completely stopped, and dry chewing is like sand in their mouths. In order to replenish water, the soldiers tried every means, such as squeezing toothpaste on their lips, licking slightly moist rocks with their tongues, and even drinking urine. However, due to severe water shortage, no one could urinate at all.
At this time, the battle of Shangganling is no longer a battle of bullets, but a competition of will.
Unknowingly, Zou Xixiang and his comrades have been fighting with the enemy in Beishan for 6 days. At this time, if they have run out of ammunition and food, they may not be able to defend their position. Up. Finally, everyone decided that the agile Zou Xixiang found the tunnel to request reinforcements and the delivery of food, ammunition, and fresh water.
After night fell, Zou Xixiang took the opportunity to touch it out! But not far from the tunnel, he was discovered by the enemy, and immediately attracted a burst of fire from the enemy. Zou Xixiang dodged from left to right and successfully escaped from the enemy's firepower net and ran down the mountain.
On the edge of the cliff, full of corpses of comrades-in-arms. In order to avoid the enemy's bayonet, Zou Xixiang had to press five or six corpses of his comrades on him.
He was lying on the ground quietly, waiting for the enemy to clear the troops. He heard the sound of the enemy passing through the corpse with a bayonet and the enemy's arrogant and presumptuous laughter. His heart was filled with infinite anger. He clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. Had it not been for the task on his body, he would have jumped up and fight the enemy to death and death.
After the enemy's clean-up unit left, Zou Xixiang slowly crawled out of the dead pile. At this time, he was also stabbed by the enemy's bayonet. But he can't take care of so much, he must rush to the battalion command post for help now, his comrades are still waiting for news from him!
finally,Before dawn the next day, the dying Zou Xixiang finally rushed to the battalion command post. He used his last strength to report to the battalion commander the situation on the Beishan position and the urgent need to replenish food and ammunition. Past.
Later, the battalion not only sent reinforcements, but the division also organized a powerful firepower to attack the enemy’s position...
Figure | Zou Xixiang old hero
in the 43-day battle of Shangganling , Our army wiped out more than 25,000 enemies at the cost of more than 10,000 casualties.
The victory of the Battle of Shangganling completely shattered the enemy's "golden offensive" and dealt a heavy blow to the enemy. After this battle, the U.S. military never launched an offensive on the scale of a battalion above our volunteers again, and the Korean war has since stabilized on the "38th line".
The significance of the Battle of Shangganling is significant. It not only established the division of the North and South of Korea, but also brought about decades of peace in East Asia. In addition, our Volunteer Army has demonstrated national prestige and military prestige in this battle, allowing people from all over the world to realize the true strength of our Chinese soldiers. So many people say: "The Americans really knew the Chinese from Shangganling."
And in this battle, many heroic stories were born, such as Zou Xixiang cold spear and annihilation of the 200 Yu Ren is a typical one.
After the war, Zou Xixiang won the glorious title of "Cold Gun Hero" with 206 bullets and annihilated 203 people. He also won the second-class merit and was received by Kim Il Sung.
In March 1956, Zou Xixiang put down his fame and resolutely demobilized and returned to his hometown to become a farmer. After returning to his hometown, he wanted to let the villagers eat rice, so he brought back rice seeds from the northeast.
But as we said above, the Liyuan pasture in Zou Xixiang's hometown has a high altitude. The people here have always eaten corn, fern roots and other miscellaneous grains. They have never planted rice, so there is no acre of paddy field.
But after Zou Xixiang carefully observed and studied,I think rice can be grown here in my hometown. Just do it! In order for the villagers to be able to grow rice, he went to the villages every day to promote the cultivation of rice.
Sure enough, his efforts were not in vain. With his cultivation and promotion, the villagers in Liyuan Pasture ate rice for the first time.
After Zou Xixiang returned to his hometown, he devoted himself to the construction of his hometown. He said nothing about the feats he made on the Korean battlefield. Therefore, the people in the village only knew that he was a soldier and fought in North Korea. That's it.
After several years of battle, especially in the battle of Shangganling, Zou Xixiang suffered a lot of injuries. When the season changed, he asked the children to cut loose oil for him to wipe the whole body. Although war wounds cannot be cured, the moisture of pine oil can temporarily relieve his pain.
"The whole body is wounded, the arm is hidden under the body of a comrade-in-arms and it was stabbed with a bayonet, the ear was missing a piece, and the chest, legs, stomach, there are scars everywhere..." Zou Xixiang's family Recalled!
In 1993, the old hero Zou Xixiang officially finished his life at the age of 71!
And now more than 20 years have passed. If it weren't for the recent hit drama "Across the Yalu River", I think many of us would still know nothing about this unknown hero!
Look, this is the hero of our Republic! On the battlefield, they are brave and fearless, making the enemy frightened; in work, they work hard and never care about personal gains or losses; in life, they are diligent and simple, silently serving the people!
There is no good time, but someone is carrying the weight for us! Finally, let us pay high tribute to the hero Zou Xixiang!
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