Sword of Light: Humanoid Self-Propelled Artillery

Chapter 338 Arrangements for the Third Campaign
Of course, although Li Qiwei's magnetic warfare tactics were very powerful, they were only used during the fourth campaign. Although Li Qiwei was already the commander of the Eighth Army during the third campaign, this was a case of being appointed to a critical mission.

On December 26, 1950, Ridgway rushed to Chaozhou to officially assume the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Eighth Army. Ridgway's appointment was a timely and critical undertaking.

Because the United Army had suffered a major defeat in the Second Phase Offensive, especially on the western front, its Eighth Army Group was relentlessly pursued by the 13th Army Corps of our aid-to-Chaozhou Army and fled south. At this time, it had retreated to the vicinity of the Imjin River on the 38th parallel, and the 13th Army Corps also stopped the pursuit.

Just when the Combined Forces could finally catch their breath, Lieutenant General Walker, Commander-in-Chief of the Eighth Army, died unexpectedly, and the morale of the Combined Forces was at rock bottom. It was against this backdrop that Ridgway was ordered to take over as Commander-in-Chief of the Eighth Army.

Li Qiwei was caught off guard by this situation and was appointed as Si Ling of the Eighth Army to replace Walker.

At this time, the third battle had not yet begun, and the troop strength of the Allied Forces and the Flower Tide Allied Forces was as follows:
On the United Nations side, at this time, the United Nations forces in Chaozhou had a total strength of approximately 365,000 men, with about 250,000 in frontline combat. The specific organization was the First Army, which consisted of the First Lion Army of Nanchao, the Twenty-Four Lion Army of Mi, the Twenty-Nineth Brigade of Ying, the Twenty-Seventh Brigade of Ying, and the Turkish Brigade.

The Ninth Army, under its command, consists of six lions from Nanchao, twenty-five lions from Mi, and one lion from Miqi.

The Southern First Army Corps, under its command are the Southern Tide Nine Lions and the Capital Lions;

The Second Army Corps of the South, under which are the Third and Seventh Lions of Nanchao;
The Third Army Corps of Nanchao comprised the Second, Fifth, and Eighth Nanchao Lions. The reserve force consisted of the 187th Airborne Regiment and the severely depleted Mi 2 Lions, all of which had participated in the western front battles during the Second Phase Offensive.

The 10th Army, which participated in the Battle of Chosin Reservoir on the eastern front, consisted of the 3rd and 7th Infantry Corps and the 1st Marine Corps. However, due to the devastating blow suffered by the 9th Army Corps in the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, especially the heavy losses of its main force, the 1st Marine Corps, the 10th Army remained in the rear in the Busan and Daejeon areas for rest and reorganization and did not participate in the Third Campaign.

On the other hand, the Huachao Allied Forces concentrated six armies on the western front to aid Chaozhou: the 38th, 39th, 40th, 42nd, 50th and 66th Armies, with a total strength of over 200,000 on the western front.

However, as the saying goes, killing a thousand enemies will result in eight hundred casualties on your own. The guns in the hands of the American army are not just sticks. Therefore, the Ninth Army Corps on the Eastern Front also suffered heavy casualties in the previous Battle of Chosin Reservoir, especially due to additional frostbite. So it stayed in the rear to rest and did not participate in the Third Campaign.

The reinforcements to Chaozhou were on the offensive in this third campaign, so in order to ensure sufficient firepower, the front-line command mobilized six artillery regiments from within the country before the start of the third campaign to strengthen the heavy firepower of the reinforcements to Chaozhou.

It's important to understand that even in the era of cold weapons, the casualties on the attacking side were always greater than those on the defending side, since the era of cold weapons had city walls and bows and arrows to defend against attacks.

This was even more true in the era of firearms. With trenches and bunkers, leaving only a small firing port, they could inflict many times more casualties on charging enemies.

However, with the advent of artillery, especially large-caliber guns, those seemingly impregnable bunkers became useless.

Some of these artillery pieces were captured during the war of relief, while others were provided by the Soviet Union.

This played a very important role in the subsequent battle to break through the Imjin River, since many bunker complexes had been built along the Imjin River for defense.

To fill the vacancy of the Ninth Army Corps, the First, Second, and Fifth Army Corps of the Chaozhou People's Army were assigned to the task. Previously, the Chaozhou People's Army had been undergoing training in the rear, and their participation in this battle was a force to be reckoned with, totaling approximately 75,000 men. Although this was less than the 150,000 men of the Ninth Army Corps, it was better than nothing.

After Li Qiwei took over command of the army, he also realized that the reinforcements from Chaozhou would not just stand by and watch, and would definitely launch an attack to pursue their victory.

Therefore, Ridgway, who was then in command of the Eighth Army, adopted a tiered defense tactic in response to the weaknesses of the Chaozhou reinforcements, such as low mechanization and poor logistical support. He used six carefully constructed lines of defense to establish tiered depth, gradually weakening the Chaozhou reinforcements' offensive, and then waiting for an opportunity to counterattack.

Indeed, Li Qiwei was also a famous strategist in World War II, so he was able to quickly identify the weaknesses and shortcomings of light infantry. Therefore, although magnetic warfare tactics had not yet been implemented, he was already able to make targeted deployments to exploit the weaknesses of light infantry.

In order to counter the strengths of the reinforcements in night fighting and infiltration, Ridgway ordered all units to retreat and move closer together at night to avoid being infiltrated and encircled by the reinforcements. During the day, they would take advantage of the reinforcements' firepower, along with air cover and coordinated infantry and tank operations, to launch a strong counterattack on the positions lost at night.

On the western front, the First Army commanded two lions and three brigades. The first echelon, the First Lion of the South Chao Kingdom, defended the area around the mouth of the Imjin River, while the Turkish brigade defended the area from the mouth of the Yan River west of Khan City to Gimpo.

That's right, the Hanguo army was placed in the first echelon, that is, the front line. After all, in Li Qiwei's view, the Miguo was helping the Hanguo fight! Therefore, it should be taken for granted that the Hanguo army was placed on the front line to serve as a drain on resources!

As for Turkey, it naturally uses these underlings as cannon fodder to be worn down.

After the first echelon served as a buffer to slow down the advance of the reinforcements from Chaozhou, the second echelon became the main force of the U.S. Army. The U.S. 25th Lion Army, the UK 29th Brigade, and the UK 27th Brigade were located in Goyang, northwest of Seoul, and Suwon, south of the Han River, respectively.

Then the middle line was commanded by the 9th Army of the United States, with three lions in command.

Meanwhile, the first echelon of the central line remains unchanged, with the Sixth Lion of the South Tide Kingdom defending the Zhouyueli area, while the second echelon, the Twenty-Fourth Lion of the Mi Army and the First Lion of the Mi Cavalry, are located in the areas east of the Parliament Building, Pocheon, and Khan City, respectively.

The Third Army Corps of Nanchao Kingdom commanded three lions, deployed in an echelon. The Second Lion of Nanchao Kingdom defended the Liangwenli area, the Fifth Lion of Nanchao Kingdom defended the section from Xudouyu to Beihouling, and the Eighth Lion of Nanchao Kingdom defended the section from Qingyunshan to Jiunan.

On the eastern front, the Second Army Corps of the Southern Chao Kingdom commanded two lions. The Third Lion of the Southern Chao Kingdom defended the Jutianli area. The Seventh Lion of the Southern Chao Kingdom was located in the Chuncheon and Hengseong areas, serving as the reserve force for the Southern Chao Kingdom Army Headquarters. The First Army Corps of the Southern Chao Kingdom commanded two lions deployed in one echelon: the Ninth Lion of the Southern Chao Kingdom defended the Gatunli area, and the Capital Lion of the Southern Chao Kingdom defended the area from Dochaedong to the east coast.

In addition, the main force of the US Second Lion Army is located in the Jecheon area, and the US 187th Airborne Regiment is located in Gunpo, serving as the reserve force of the US Eighth Army.

Of course, this arrangement is only the historical arrangement that Wang Gensheng knows. It is hard to say whether it is still the same now. After all, with Wang Gensheng's arrival, there will definitely be some changes. For example, the 100,000 tons of supplies that Wang Gensheng obtained in Xingnan Port in the second battle will greatly enhance the combat effectiveness of the aid-to-Chaozhou army.

In addition, there were more than two thousand trucks and hundreds of howitzers, which would enhance the combat effectiveness of the reinforcements to Chaozhou.

(End of this chapter)