the world is at stake

As soon as the Chinese's new routine was launched, it was quite like Guderian's "blitzkrieg" posture in the past-the British and French allied forces ran away with their heads in their arms and were directly defeated.

But the truth is in sight.

The U.S. military is used to fighting with the wind, or used to winning.Once beaten, their combat toughness is far inferior to that of the volunteers who have been shelled and bombed for half a year.

The 'Polar Bear Group' was surrounded in Xinxingli, and sporadic frontline troops surrendered at one or two o'clock at noon.In the beginning, there were several squads and platoons, and then there was no hope of air support, and there were battered infantry companies holding white flags and wanting to be prisoners.

It was getting dark, and the U.S. Air Force stopped making trouble.Seeing that night is coming, the U.S. troops in the encirclement are even less confident that they can continue to hold on.

The U.S. troops who surrendered before persuaded other U.S. troops, saying that artillery preparations will start in 10 minutes, and those who surrender now without destroying their weapons and equipment can get preferential treatment.

As a result, the number of surrenders increased.

In the circular position of the "Polar Bear Regiment" in Xinxingli, frustrated American soldiers were walking out of the fortifications with their heads bowed, and placed their weapons in designated positions under the supervision of volunteer soldiers.

A staff officer of the Volunteer Army stood on a stone and advertised in broken English the treatment of prisoners-weapons must be handed over, officers are listed alone, and personal belongings can be kept.

Among the prisoners, Lieutenant Smith of Company A of the 32st Battalion of the 1nd Regiment limped and staggered ahead of dozens of soldiers.

He surrendered his weapon and was waiting to be identified.It would at least write a letter to my family in America instead of dying a charred corpse in some unknown foreign wilderness.

A charred corpse, really a charred corpse.

Lieutenant Smith looked back with dull eyes, and the circular position of the regiment headquarters was arranged in the village of Xinxingli.

During the daytime attack, four 'cloud bombs' hit Xinxingli, instantly killing the regiment headquarters, and the regiment leader, Colonel McLean, died instantly.

At least 200 people died in the horrific bursting fireball.Except for a very few people who survived, the rest were burnt to black charcoal at high temperature, crisp and crisp.

Thinking about it afterwards, the colonel was really careless, or extremely underestimated the enemy.Put the regiment headquarters in such a conspicuous position, who will you bomb if the opponent doesn't bomb it?

Once the head of the regiment died, the whole regiment had no leader.Lieutenant Colonel Faith, the commander of the first battalion, came out to command, but the fighting got worse and worse, and he was unable to recover.The lieutenant colonel wanted to hold on, but his subordinates didn't cooperate.

The artillery of two companies of the 57th Field Artillery Battalion assigned to the 'Polar Bear Regiment' was inside the ring fortifications, and were damaged to some extent in the cloud bomb attack.

In Lieutenant Smith's eyes, Chinese soldiers were very interested in the twelve 105mm M2A1 guns.They are looking around for cars to tow the guns and the remaining shells.

It can still be used after repairing it.

There are many more things that can be dragged away.

In the past, even if the Volunteer Army won a battle, U.S. military planes would quickly come to destroy the spoils.But now after the daytime air defense operations, the U.S. military pilots have completely lost their temper.

During the day, the Far East Air Force dispatched more than 30 fighter sorties, resulting in a loss of more than [-]%.Among them, more than [-] bombers were lost, and nearly two regiments were directly wiped out.

The loss rate was so scary that the pilot quit.They said that the enemy's anti-aircraft firepower was too fierce, and a rash attack was no different from suicide.

Unless the infantry solves the opponent's anti-aircraft firepower, the air force will not come - the American infantry in the encirclement is almost not pissed off, and you birdmen are needed to solve the anti-aircraft firepower?

Since the U.S. military planes did not come, the volunteers were overjoyed by the huge spoils.

Right in front of Lieutenant Smith, an M25 super-heavy trailer drove over, using its own high-power winch to pull the forty-ton 'Dumbo' onto the semi-trailer.

Due to its huge size and fuel consumption, the U.S. military nicknamed this trailer 'Dinosaur'.But there is no doubt that its carrying capacity is extremely strong, which is very suitable for use in poor battlefield environments.

The unlucky 'Dumbo' fell crookedly in the position.It belongs to the tank company of the regiment headquarters, and it is intact inside and out, but it was overturned by the 'cloud bomb' when the battle started.

The tank was dragged back for a little repair, and the white five-pointed star was replaced with a red one, so that it could join the armored force of the Volunteer Army and turn around and beat up the U.S. military.

The intact tank must be towed, and the incomplete one must also be towed.

Two M19 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, four M16 machine gun vehicles, and a dozen 'Dodge WC-57' trucks were to be transported away.Even if they were damaged to varying degrees in battle, they would not be left behind.

Even the wrecked Shermans were cleaned up, and the dead and wounded tank crews were removed from the turrets and packed into body bags.The car body is pulled onto a trailer—it can be repaired if it can be repaired.

Lieutenant Smith didn't understand where the Volunteer Army got so many battlefield trailers, but the other party obviously had an irresistible habit and joy in obtaining trophies.

There are hundreds of trucks in the regiment headquarters, some of them are good.

But the 58th Division occupying this place did not have enough drivers.A translator ran to the captives to mobilize to find the driver—on the condition that they could register first, eat first, and communicate with family members first.

Most American soldiers can drive.

There were really hundreds of prisoners who ran to help the volunteers drive in order to have dinner immediately.In their view, if they can be useful, at least the treatment will be better.

Hundreds of drivers were added out of thin air, and the political commissar who came to mobilize was so happy that he immediately reported this experience to his superiors.It is very important for the volunteers to assign a soldier to escort each vehicle and immediately form a logistics convoy.

For a moment, Lieutenant Smith wanted to be a driver.He just thought that he was an officer anyway, and for the sake of America's face, he held back anyway.

Staggering to the desk in charge of registration, Lieutenant Smith couldn't help but shed tears—that desk belonged to their company A, and there was a company oath engraved by him on it.

"Sir, don't be sad." The staff officer of the Volunteer Army who was in charge of the registration also said a few words of comfort, "We treat the prisoners preferentially. If you need anything, you can just tell me."

"This table... is mine."

"Ah...the booty, it's ours now."

"Okay, I wish you a happy time."

Smith shook his head, received a 'prisoner of war card', ready to line up on the truck to the rear.He glanced around, watching his opponent up close.

"MP44, there should be two in a squad, assigned to the principal and deputy squad leader. The rest are 98K rifles. I really don't know if this configuration is good or bad.

Damn the Germans, they must have hated us so much that they backed us up.These Chinese are almost fully armed with German weapons. "

"There are also German-made assault guns and self-propelled artillery. They are heading towards Xiajieyu. The Chinese have decisively joined the reserve team. It is estimated that the [-]st Marine Division and the [-]th Marine Division will either retreat or be surrounded tonight."

"If the Far East Air Force cannot coordinate ground support tomorrow, I am afraid that the two American divisions will also be finished.

There is only one way to retreat, and casually planting landmines is enough to cause headaches.Not to mention that there are likely to be Chinese fighter planes that drop flares for bombing at night. "

"There is also a small cannon mounted on the 'Willis' jeep. Almost every platoon of the Chinese army has one. This thing runs fast, and the target is small. If you don't pay attention, you will hide in a hidden point and fire.

It must be that our previous aid materials were thrown by the corrupt Chinese to the non-corrupt Chinese, but they hit our fortifications in turn.What a nuisance. "

Smith was thinking about it, and he heard someone nearby shouting and making noise.Volunteer soldiers nearby fired into the sky to give a warning before separating the two fighting men.

It was an American officer calling another South Korean officer an idiot.

This was another shitty thing on the battlefield, and Smith sighed as he watched.

I don't know who came up with the idea of ​​stuffing about one-fifth of South Korean soldiers into the US troops in the Korean War-the euphemistic name is 'intensive training'.

Smith's Company A has a platoon of South Korean soldiers, who are usually very obedient, and can work hard without complaint if they eat a little bit of leftovers from the United States.

As a result, when the war broke out, these Korean soldiers did nothing but make trouble.They will even flee the entire company without saying hello, leaving a gap in the US military front.

The consequences were disastrous.

The one who fought was Captain Bigger, the commander of Company D, the heavy weapons company. His company was originally the backbone of the defense, and at least it could resist the attack of the Chinese.

As a result, the Chinese came in from the Korean front-four 60 mortar squads, two 82 mortar platoons, plus 120 heavy mortars and 150 self-propelled artillery summoned by radio.

More than a dozen guns smashed into D Company.

Poor Company D suffered more than half of its casualties within 5 minutes, and the morale of the remaining soldiers quickly dropped to zero.Only one officer in the company, Captain Big, survived, and the other officers did not play any role, and all died.

After Captain Big learned the reason, he wished he could fight the escaped Koreans desperately.The skinny Korean didn't know where he got the courage to resist.The two wrestled for a long time, neither winning nor losing.

But that didn't do the Koreans any favors.When he was roaring and cursing the U.S. military, a soldier of the Korean People's Army appeared and asked the volunteer soldiers in custody to take away the South Korean prisoners.

Then Lieutenant Smith saw the funniest scene in the world.

Koreans who dared to fight with Americans just now, seeing their compatriots are like rats meeting snakes.He declared loudly that he had surrendered to the Chinese and would never go to the prisoner-of-war camp of the Korean People's Army.

The Volunteer Army seems to be hesitating, should they hand over the prisoners of war?

Sigh...Looking at the many events that happened on the battlefield, Lieutenant Smith felt that he could consider writing a memoir.The stories that have to be told on the battlefield are so exciting, maybe they can make a fortune by publishing books after returning to China.

Chapter 65

It was dark, and the sky was lit up with dazzling flares from time to time.

In the past, the U.S. military hated the dark night and liked to endlessly fire flares around the position.Now it was their turn to dig a few holes in the ground, the deeper the better, and hide in them.

Whenever a flare appears, a bomb will drop with it.The bombs were dropped inaccurately, and the number was not large, causing few American casualties.

But as long as there is an air strike, it becomes very difficult to assemble a large-scale retreat at night.Not to mention organizing division-level troops to leave the front line, even battalion-level activities are very difficult.

In Shangtongli, the headquarters of the [-]st and [-]th Marine Divisions of the U.S. Army retreated here and joined the [-]rd Division of the U.S. Army.But Major General David Barr bitterly looked up at the dark sky outside the air-raid shelter, tasting the bitter taste of failure.

At the end of June last year, when Fatty Jin went south to fight, the Eighth Army of the U.S. Army suffered a crushing defeat and captured a major general and division commander.

But at that time, the U.S. military was still able to withdraw at any rate, and now it is difficult to withdraw more than half of the Tenth Army's troops-retreating is more difficult than attacking.Whoever breaks the back, who defends the air, who runs away, every choice is painful.

In the past, the Volunteer Air Force was basically only responsible for defending the logistics lines around Dandong, and rarely traveled two or three hundred kilometers away from the airport for outside activities.

The U.S. military is paralyzed, and its air defense depends entirely on Air Force fighters.Even the army's anti-aircraft guns only have small calibers, and they are mainly used for flat fire.Waiting for the Air Force fighter planes to be unable to dispatch, they will catch them blind.

"Order the troops to lay mines in the position, throw away the heavy equipment, and retreat quickly." Major General Barr ordered.His division headquarters was withdrawn, but the main force of the army was still unable to move in Xiajieyu.

The [-]th Regiment of the [-]st Marine Division in Liutanli and the McLean Task Force of the [-]th Division in Xinxingli have been wiped out.

Commander Almond approved the surrender request of the remnants of the two regiments, and only asked them to destroy as much as possible their heavy equipment and armaments, and not leave them to the Chinese.

But whether this can be done or not only God knows - the Chinese surrendered personnel made it clear that they must hand over their positions and armaments in full, and any act of sabotage means that the confrontation is not over.

Although it was dark, the battle continued.

The Ninth Corps of the Volunteer Army of the three armies has an advantage in strength.

After gaining the advantage on the battlefield during the day, the four divisions of the 26th Army as a reserve team rushed out, using night vision equipment and flares to continue their attacks.

But how can you enjoy picking up the loot left by the enemy in battle?

The 88th Division was responsible for cleaning up the 1th Regiment of the [-]st Marine Division in Liutanli, and made some repairs after the battle.There are more than [-] people in the whole division. In addition to eating to fill their stomachs, they are happy to capture prisoners and collect weapons all over the mountains and plains.

The Seventh Regiment of the U.S. Army built a very simple field airfield in Liutanli, and piled up tens of thousands of tons of weapons, equipment and logistics supplies.Fuel alone is enough to keep this reinforced regiment fighting for a week.

In the dark night, when the officers and soldiers of the 'accepting officers' walked into the airport, they were as happy as walking into the Grand View Garden.The surrounding area of ​​the airport is like a warehouse with everything.

During the daytime fighting, the airfield was shelled and a C119 transport plane was destroyed on the runway.The wreckage was burned to ashes, leaving only a skeleton.

Some companies of the Volunteer Army felt that they should not be wasted, and wanted to dismantle the broken skeletons.

The superior immediately ran over and scolded: "Leave this pile of junk first, go to the mountains to catch prisoners, and find the American pilots. Especially the helicopter pilots."

The war was unfavorable. Hundreds of U.S. troops fled into the mountains near the airport before they had time to bomb the airport.When the volunteers rushed in, they caught many prisoners and asked them why they didn't bomb...

"Blowing up the airport is the task of the engineers. What does it have to do with my airport guards? Besides, the airport is full of fuel and ammunition. Without professional ability, who dares to bomb casually? Escape is the most important thing."

According to the prisoners' guide, the first rare equipment the volunteers found were two Sikorsky S-55 helicopters.This is the earliest practical piston engine helicopter, which is widely used by the US military for battlefield rescue and VIP transportation.

Most Chinese soldiers have never seen this kind of thing with a three-blade rotor, and they don't even know what it is for.The translator asked the American prisoners, only to find out that this stupid thing only needs a small flat ground to fly.

No matter, the booty must be a good thing.The question is how to move home?Towing is unrealistic, the pilot must be retrieved.

After further inquiry, the two S-55s were originally here to transport the wounded, but one was shot down by the volunteers halfway, and the remaining two dared not fly.The pilot fled into the nearby mountains with a group of routs.

escape?

A good thing that is being targeted by the Tu CCP, can this escape?

Several companies immediately went to search the mountains near Liutanli.

The 88th Division even issued an order from the division headquarters, requiring all troops to carefully screen the captured prisoners and find out high-value personnel such as officers, drivers, technicians, confidential officers, pilots, and tank drivers.

Half an hour later, the U.S. troops who had fled into the mountains near the airport ran out to surrender—the moon was dark and the wind was high, and their stomachs were starving. Hundreds of U.S. troops were getting more and more afraid as they walked in the mountains.

The pilot of the S-55 was found out and offered to provide service as a civilian. Two helicopters could carry [-] people or [-] stretchers, just to transport the wounded to the Volunteers.

It hit it off really well, communism needs such 'enthusiastic' foreign democrats.

The 88th Division fought for a day, and the casualties were not small.Thousands of lightly and seriously wounded need to be sent back, but the road is rugged and bumpy, and there is nothing more convenient than a helicopter.

As soon as the two helicopters left, the 88th Division found another intact C119 transport plane at the field airport.The pilot of this light tactical transport aircraft, nicknamed the 'Flying Carriage', was also found among the captives.

Not to mention, the wreckage on the runway of the airport was quickly cleared, and the crater on the runway was also slightly repaired. 35 stretchers were sent into the cabin of C119.Five crew members were taken out to serve as battlefield ambulance transport.

This is both a helicopter and a transport plane, which greatly increases the efficiency of evacuation of the wounded.Even Zhisi organized a batch of Soviet-made 'Li-2' and American-made C-46 as air transport.

Flying towards Liutanli is to transport supplies, and flying to the northeast and rear is to transport the wounded.

The Volunteer Army allowed the wounded U.S. troops to be treated properly, so a large number of U.S. medical staff, ground support and navigation personnel were also willing to help.

The field airport in Liutanli took off and landed more than 50 sorties at night, evacuating nearly a thousand wounded.This not only reduced the burden on the frontline field hospitals, but some of the commanders and fighters who would have died survived.

The "Yangluo" picked up by the 88th Division in Liutan was not just a few aircrafts, there were two battalions of artillery alone, including eighteen 155mm heavy artillery.

There are more than 70 tanks, including the latest M26 'Pershing'.

This is just an armored battalion under a regiment, most of which are intact.In addition, more than 300 vehicles of various types were scattered on the battlefield, including all the equipment and spare parts of the maintenance company.

There is also a medical company, a transportation company, and a communication company. All personnel and equipment are in Liutan.Because this place is the headquarters of the Seventh Marine Regiment.

The field rations piled up in the warehouse can feed more than 3000 people in the regiment for half a month.All "Spam" luncheon meat is weak, and the U.S. military field rations are divided into A, B, C, K, and D different types.

A is fresh ingredients; B is canned semi-finished products; C is canned finished products; K is emergency rations; D is concentrated chocolate.