Author: Lan Yan Ye Qingcheng
During the Anti-Japanese War and the War of Liberation, due to the lack of heavy weapons , our army faced attacks from enemy tanks . Commanders and soldiers often used two methods, that is, cluster grenades and explosives Blast tanks.
Whether it is a cluster grenade or an explosive pack, they all face the same problem, that is, they cannot be thrown too far. They can only blow up the weak spot of the tank - the track part, and force the tank to lie down.
Both of these methods mean that soldiers have to risk their lives to fight tanks, often paying the price in blood. This situation did not change greatly until our army went to fight in North Korea. When many troops entered North Korea and changed their equipment, they were equipped with recoilless anti-tank guns.
On March 21, 1951, the 180th Division of the 60th Army of the 3rd Corps, which had just finished suppressing bandits in western Sichuan, crossed the Yalu River from Andong, Liaoning (now Dandong).
After crossing the river, the troops marched at night for 14 consecutive days, passing through 8 counties, and finally arrived at the front line Yichuan County. Some soldiers were so tired that they vomited blood due to the continuous forced march, but no one reported their difficulties to their superiors for fear of causing them to withdraw from the upcoming battle.
At this time, the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea had lasted for half a year. The Volunteer Army had conducted four consecutive battles, dealing a heavy blow to the U.S. Allied Forces, and the Volunteer Army also paid the price.
The chairman, who has been paying close attention to the situation on the battlefield, proposed to General Peng the policy of "preparing for a long-term war and trying to strive for a short-term". Mr. Peng quickly understood the Chairman's intention, which was to annihilate more of the enemy's effective forces, regain the initiative on the battlefield, and avoid long-term entanglement with the enemy into a war of attrition. Against this background, the Volunteer Army launched the fifth campaign.
The fifth battle was carried out in two stages. The main area for counterattack in the first stage was between North Korea's graveyard and Chuncheon. Shiji's main task for the 3rd Corps was to destroy the U.S. 3rd Division and the Turkish Brigade in the Yeoncheon area.
As soon as the battle began, the 181st Division of the 60th Army of the 3rd Corps took the lead in breaking through the Turkish brigade's defense line. The battle was fierce and smooth. The 180th Division, as a reserve force, has been moving with the military headquarters. It only heard the sound of gunfire but did not enter the battle.
180 Division Commander Zheng Qigui
html The officers and men of the 1180 Division could not sit still, and letters of challenge from regiments, battalions, and companies flew to the division headquarters like snow flakes. The always steady division commander Zheng Qigui was so excited that he pricked his finger with a needle and wrote a letter in blood, asking Commander Wei Jie for a fight on behalf of the entire division, requesting that the first echelon attack task be handed over to the 180th Division next time. After receiving the blood letter from the 180th Division asking for battle, Commander Wei smiled and said to political commissar Yuan Ziqin: "Old Zheng is impatient. Next time there is a mission, let them go!"
html On May 16, the second phase of the fifth battle began. , the 180th Division, which had been serving as a reserve force, finally took over the main offensive task. Division Commander Zheng Qigui ordered the 538th Regiment and the 539th Regiment to attack quickly as the first echelon, and the 540th Regiment as the second echelon to follow up.
html On the evening of May 17, the 3rd and 2nd Battalions of the 538th Regiment had already occupied several highlands in Xindian. Du Gang, the deputy chief of staff of the regiment, was urging the machine gun company behind to speed up. At this time, He Yongguo, the instructor of the 7th Company, ran over and reported that an enemy tank was found ahead.
Du Gang climbed to the top of the mountain and saw, oh my god, a full 10 tanks were parked in a row on the road. It turned out that this tank column came out from Seoul to fight for the first time. It ran so fast along the way that it actually left the infantry far behind. After discovering something was wrong, he stopped on the road and waited for the follow-up troops.
is parked on the road, which is a good opportunity! Du Gang decided to destroy these 10 tanks. Du Gang ordered He Yongguo to immediately lead the 7th company to control the hills on both sides of the road and prepare for an ambush. An impatient veteran grabbed an explosive pack from his comrade and said, "This is the first time I see an American tank. I'll blow it up. If it fails, you can think of other ways."
Du Gang grabbed him and said: " You don't need to try it. Our newly equipped recoilless anti-tank guns haven't been put to use yet. Today is the day to operate on these tanks."
recoilless rifle
After a while, Di Anbang, deputy company commander of the recoilless rifle company, led a team of people up carrying the recoilless rifle. Du Gang went up to him and told deputy company commander Di that the enemy's tank was on the road at the foot of the mountain. I'll go with you.
Du Gang quickly went down to the ravine and approached the road. Suddenly, Di Anbang shouted softly: "Wait, don't move! "Everyone stopped quickly and discovered that a soldier carrying artillery shells had a trip rope on his feet. It turned out that the cunning American tank crew had set up trip mines on the roadside to prevent sneak attacks. Di Anbang carefully cut the rope and removed the roadblock. Fortunately, it was discovered in time, otherwise the enemy's tanks would have escaped as soon as the grenade fired.
Now, the 10 tanks are still parked quietly, completely unaware that the danger has quietly arrived.
After setting up the guns. , Di Anbang ordered: Hit the two vehicles at the front and the back first, making them unable to advance or retreat, and then deal with them one by one.
"Boom!" boom! "The two shells drew two arcs in mid-air and accurately hit the front and rear targets. With two violent explosions, the two tanks that were hit burst into flames.
followed by three more The gunfire sounded, and three more tanks were hit in the middle. At this time, a tank that had not yet been hit turned a little from the right. After determining the direction of our artillery shells, it started to use the on the tank. The machine gun aimed and fired desperately.
For a moment, the hillside was filled with dust, and several gunners were pressed against the road, unable to raise their heads. Seeing this scene, He Yongguo, who was on the top of the mountain on the left, immediately picked up a light machine gun and fired at them. The tank carried out fire suppression.
The machine gun bullet hit the tank's armor, and sparks flew everywhere. The tank turret immediately turned to the 7th company's position. Before it could fire, the recoilless gun seized the opportunity to hit the tank again. Did it hit the fuel tank? The tank burst into flames instantly.
Di Anbang said excitedly, "Hurry up, reload quickly, there are 4 vehicles left." , and then another shell was fired, hitting again.
Another tank was in a hurry to escape, bumping forward and backward. After a lot of tossing, the damaged tank tilted and fell into the water on the side of the road. The pit turned upside down.
At this moment, the last two tanks were also hit one after another. Seeing that all the tanks were destroyed, He Yongguo immediately rushed down from the top of the mountain with his soldiers. The American soldiers who crawled out of the tanks were preparing to go up the mountain to escape. When they saw the Chinese soldiers descending like tigers, they were so frightened that they immediately squatted on the roadside with their hands raised, and their surrender was unambiguous.
The second is. In the evening of the same day, the 180th Division's "Soldier Life Newspaper" published the headline "Recoilless Rifle Gun Destroyed 10 Enemy Tanks with 9 Shells." The newspaper was mimeographed, and the quantity was limited and could only be distributed to company-level commanders. They rushed to circulate it, and many soldiers said excitedly after reading it: "American soldiers are nothing special!" ”
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