On May 14, 1951, in response to the changes in the situation between the enemy and ourselves, the 242nd Regiment of the 81st Division of the 27th Army of the Volunteer Army decided to send a force to seize the Jiming Mountain position garrisoned by the " United Nations Army ".
In order to narrow the target of the operation and achieve an unexpected effect, the regiment leader decided to send only one company of troops to carry out this combat mission. The person who accepted this task was the Eighth Company of the Third Battalion, which was known for being good at fighting tough battles. The company commander was a brave and resourceful grassroots commander named Yu Xitian.
According to the intelligence sent by the battalion headquarters reconnaissance platoon, it is not easy to capture Jiming Mountain because the terrain of this mountain is extremely dangerous and it is a typical place that is difficult to attack and easy to defend. After in-depth analysis and repeated discussions, company commander Yu Xitian and other cadres discovered the flaw in the enemy's defense line and decided to launch a surprise attack in the dark.
On this day, it started to rain. Under the cover of night and rain, all the cadres and soldiers of the company quietly reached the foot of Jiming Mountain under the leadership of Yu Xitian.
At this time, the rain was getting heavier and heavier, and there was a vast expanse between heaven and earth. Although the mountain road was extremely slippery, which made the volunteers move very slowly when climbing up the mountain. Fortunately, the enemy lost their vigilance and just huddled in the bunker to hide from the rain and sleep soundly.
The eighth company commander seized this perfect opportunity, climbed up the first hill on the front without anyone noticing, and neatly eliminated the sentry. When they rushed into the bunker and fired at the enemy, many enemy soldiers were still sleeping soundly.
All in all, Eighth Company's victory over this mountain was unusually smooth. But there is a more difficult task next, which is to capture the main peak of Jiming Mountain.
Yu Xitian left only one squad to guard the first hilltop, and then personally led the rest of the cadres and soldiers to reach the main peak of Jiming Mountain.
However, during this step of action, Yu Xitian discovered a completely unexpected situation, that is, the previously obtained information was wrong. The terrain of Jiming Mountain was far more complicated than what had been previously detected. In front of its main peak, there were three large and small hills, and many enemies were stationed on each hill.
In fact, on the Korean battlefield at that time, it was not uncommon for intelligence errors to occur, because it was difficult for the Volunteer Army to obtain detailed military maps, and some places had been controlled by the enemy for a long time, which created great problems for the Volunteer Army's reconnaissance work. In addition, the time given by the superiors to the Eighth Company was extremely tight and it was impossible to conduct in-depth reconnaissance of Jiming Mountain.
In other words, the Eighth Company was halfway through the battle before it was discovered that there was an error in the intelligence. Normally speaking, this is undoubtedly a very serious problem and sometimes even cancels operations.
However, Yu Xitian believes that if the operation is canceled now, it will be exponentially more difficult to attack again, and once the opportunity is missed, the consequences will be disastrous. Therefore, he decided to make mistakes and adapt to circumstances. No matter what the cost, he was determined to conquer the main peak of Jiming Mountain!
Having made up their minds, the commanders and soldiers of the whole company unified their thinking and continued to advance towards the main peak of Jiming Mountain without hesitation.
They all understand that there is only one way in front of them now, and that is to fight on unswervingly without any retreat or wavering. Otherwise, the whole company will sacrifice in vain, and it will even have an incalculable negative impact on the entire army's combat plan.
At this time, the enemy was stepping up its deployment of forces to the front, trying to stop the Eighth Company's advance. However, the commanders and fighters of the Eighth Company, who had been forced into a desperate situation, had long shared the same enemy. With unstoppable momentum, they rushed bravely and resolutely to one hilltop after another, and launched a life-and-death battle with the enemy. It can be said that this is an out-and-out last-ditch battle!
The eight-company commander's fighting style of going forward without leaving any way for himself to fall back, and his murderous intention of daring to destroy his opponent despite being in an unfavorable situation, completely exceeded the enemy's imagination. They never expected that the volunteers would launch an attack so desperately when they were completely at a disadvantage in terms of strength, weapons, terrain, etc., so they hesitated, panicked, and retreated...
This psychological change on both sides changed the direction of the battle to a great extent.The officers and men of the Eighth Company were full of momentum and became more and more courageous as they fought, but the enemy became more and more chaotic. The volunteers captured three hills in a row!
It was already past three o'clock in the morning. Although the Eighth Company originally had more than 100 people, but now only more than 70 people remained, they showed great combat effectiveness. Under the leadership of Yu Xitian, they launched a fierce attack towards the main peak of Jiming Mountain.
Perhaps the fierceness of the Eighth Company's offensive gave the enemy the illusion that the main force of the Volunteer Army was coming. The defenders on the main peak of Jiming Mountain did not last long before they scattered and fled.
This was really a breathtaking battle - despite getting the intelligence wrong, he took huge risks, persisted in the combat mission, and miraculously achieved the final victory.
It was precisely because the Eighth Company overcame all difficulties to seize the main peak of Zijiming Mountain, which created favorable conditions for the main force of the 81st Division to penetrate deep into the enemy's army, thus enabling the Volunteer Army to win the entire battle.
After the war, the Eighth Company was commended by orders from the corps and division headquarters. Commander Yu Xitian, who led the entire company to create this miracle, was awarded first-class merit and the honorable title of "First-Class Combat Hero."
