Changjin Lake: From Xinxingli to Seoul

Chapter 104: Winning Over the Americans Through Psychological Warfare! The Decisive Battle is About to Begin!
Christmas Eve, frontline at Burial Miri

In the center of what should have been a battlefield engulfed in flames of war, a fantastical scene unfolded.

Several flares were fired into the sky, their warm light instantly turning the night into day.

Large numbers of American soldiers, facing the light, carrying wine, food and Christmas gifts, cheered and sang Christmas carols, joining the American and British prisoners of war and the Chinese People's Volunteer Army in the center of the battlefield.

"Hey! Englishman, you play the harmonica really well!"

"It attracted all the American soldiers on the other side."

Mei Sheng looked at a British prisoner, gave him a thumbs-up, and praised him in English.

Thank you!

"But I'm not English, I'm Scottish!"

The British soldier raised his harmonica and said with a smile.

"Hahahahahaha..."

Those nearby who understood couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Eat...eat!"

Captain James took out a chocolate and handed it to Yu Congrong in front of him, saying in his limited Chinese vocabulary.

“I eat this stuff every day, so I’m not interested in it anymore.”

Yu Congrong looked at the chocolate, his heart fluttering, and swallowed hard.

"Come on, Lao Yu, we've seized quite a lot, but we can't possibly eat it every day like you're saying!"

"I think you're afraid it's poisonous, aren't you?"

Pinghe smiled and gently nudged Yu Congrong with his elbow, saying...

"If you're not afraid, then eat."

"We were fighting to the death not long ago, it just feels a bit strange."

Yu Congrong scratched his head and muttered to himself.

Seeing this, Captain James seemed to understand Yu Congrong's worries. He broke off a piece, chewed it, and then handed it to Yu Congrong.

"Okay, okay... I'll eat it, I'll eat it!"

Upon seeing this, Pinghe quickly smiled and went to take it.

"What's so great about it? Someone gave it to me."

Upon seeing this, Yu Congrong quickly snatched it away and began to chew it heartily.

"Hahaha... I was just teasing you, look how anxious you are."

Pinghe laughed.

"This is China's Satanic sniper, the Chinese man I admired most on the Korean battlefield."

Puller pulled several of his old subordinates to Wu Wanli's side and introduced them with great admiration.

"The Chinese Caesar sniper, that God's Gun, my God..."

Captain Curry looked at Wu Wanli's young face with some disbelief.

"Pule, you've brought a crowd here to watch, are you treating me like a monkey?"

Wu Wanli laughed and scolded.

"They insisted that I bring you here to see this; otherwise, I wouldn't want to be with a devil like you."

Puller shook his head and gave a self-deprecating laugh.

Not far away, many American soldiers took out photos of their families and vividly recounted their family matters.

Bilingual individuals like Mei Sheng and Lü Chaoran serve as bridges for communication.

When the conversation got lively, Mei Sheng talked about his time in the army.

"My wife chased me for over a hundred miles on her bicycle, and I almost didn't make it to the Korean War."

"..."

Mei Sheng gave a bitter smile and addressed the American soldiers around him.

"Oh my god!"

"You actually came to this damned place on your own initiative? Even your wife couldn't stop you?"

"Don't you miss your wife?"

"Aren't you afraid of dying on this damn peninsula?"

Captain James said in disbelief upon hearing this.

"Of course we're reluctant, but your bombers have already bombed our doorstep, so we have no choice but to fight this battle."

Mei Sheng sighed and said.

"I'm sorry, sir, we are just soldiers following orders."

“After World War II ended, we had long wanted to end the war, but the higher-ups told us to fight for peace and democracy for the people of the peninsula.”

"Of course, we know that's all nonsense..."

Captain James shrugged helplessly.

"Compared to me, the warrior of the Spear of God that you speak of craves war far more."

"He risked his life to stop his superior's car just to get to the battlefield... to become a hero of China."

"Hahaha……"

Mei Sheng glanced at Wu Wanli beside him and said.

"You Chinese people are amazing."

"No wonder we have so many armored vehicles, artillery, air force, and heavy firepower, yet we still can't defeat you."

Upon hearing this, Commander Pule's expression shifted to one of complexity, and he expressed his admiration.

"Commander, you haven't experienced the ambushes along the way yet."

"They attacked us frantically, charging towards our tanks with explosive charges and demolition charges, their eyes showing no fear of death..."

Captain Curry recalled painful memories and said.

"Yes, what impressed me most were those Chinese companies frozen into ice sculptures."

"The Chinese soldiers who were frozen to death were still in the posture of being ready to charge at any time."

"At that time, I was thinking, 'My God, what kind of enemy are we fighting?'"

Upon hearing this, the young U.S. Army lieutenant couldn't help but add.

"It seems we only managed to save one ice sculpture... we still couldn't save them all."

Upon hearing this, Wu Wanli felt a pang of pain in his heart.

“Mr. Gun of God, you seem a little unhappy. What’s on your mind?”

Captain James looked at Wu Wanli and asked.

"fine."

"May I ask you, did you salute those ice sculptures?"

Wu Wanli suddenly recalled the scenes from the movie "The Battle at Lake Changjin" from his previous life and asked.

"salute……"

Captain James was slightly taken aback, then looked at Captain Curry beside him with some confusion.

"The act of saluting...I have never seen it before."

Captain Curry said cautiously.

"Okay, it's okay."

Wu Wanli smiled and said.

"Hey kids, I have a suggestion!"

"How about we all pray together on Christmas Eve?"

A British believer shouted.

"Yes, yes!"

"Let's pray together on Christmas Eve!"

Upon hearing this, Ple immediately rallied the crowd.

Soon, the people in the center of the battlefield lined up and looked at the temporary priest.

"Company commander, political instructor, what about us?"

Upon seeing this, Yu Congrong was somewhat stunned.

"Just wait and see, let them worship as they please."

Wu Qianli thought for a moment and then said.

"They have their Bible and their Jesus." "We...we have our faith too!"

Wu Wanli smiled slightly, took out the book that Mei Sheng had given him from his pocket, and said.

"Yes!"

"We don't believe in any God, we only believe that human will can overcome nature!"

Mei Sheng was slightly taken aback, then agreed.

"Comrades, come closer, let's perform our own ceremony!"

Upon seeing this, Wu Qianli immediately gave the order.

"Yes!"

Upon hearing this, the volunteer soldiers gathered around.

After a moment's hesitation, Lu Chaoran and the other American members of the Han-affiliated army also gathered around the location centered on Wu Wanli.

Thus, on this snowy land, two completely different religious sermons took place.

Prayer

Lord, as I rejoice in Christmas...

"At that time, the city was filled with extravagant and decadent indulgence..."

"I only wish you could change my heart!"

"..."

Amen!

"Amen!"

Countless Americans gathered around the makeshift priest, reciting prayers with him—it was their faith.

But when a US soldier familiar with Chinese took a few steps closer to listen, he was suddenly stunned.

He managed to glean fragments of words that were ten times more powerful and a hundred times more imposing than their prayers.

The American soldier was deeply moved by the powerful words and spontaneously translated and recited them.

Upon hearing the name of the American translator, many American soldiers were surprised and shocked, and they all followed in Wu Wanli's direction.

"What?!"

What are they all attracted to?

"Could those backward religions in China be more deeply rooted in people's hearts than our God and Jesus?"

The temporary priest complained somewhat unhappily.

"Let's go and have a look too."

"However, in my opinion, even the most powerful religion is nothing more than establishing a god and having everyone follow his guidance."

In conclusion, we are all believers in God.

Commander Pule, with his keen insight, smiled and said.

"You're right. I'd like to see how much higher their religion's heaven can be than our God and Jesus!"

The temporary priest said unwillingly.

Soon, they arrived not far from Wu Wanli and listened with puzzled expressions.

"..."

The perfectly timed words struck the heart of the temporary priest like sharp swords.

At this moment, Commander Pule also looked at Wu Wanli on the stage with some shock.

We were wrong.

"The Chinese people do not worship gods, but rather humanity itself..."

The temporary priest was stunned for a long time before looking at Puller and sighing.

"Yes!"

"I suddenly remembered some Chinese myths I had heard before."

"That seems to explain it."

Puller thought for a moment and then said.

"Mythology, stories of gods?"

"Actually, they used to have an extreme belief in gods, not humans, right?"

The temporary priest, as if he had found a way to achieve a kind of spiritual victory, asked.

"Not really."

"The Chinese are not willing to grant gods authority that is above human beings."

"Just like how myths from various countries almost always attribute the great flood disaster to divine punishment of mankind."

"But there is no such element in Chinese mythology."

"Faced with floods, we hope for a Noah's Ark to rescue and help us escape."

"But the Chinese insisted on using manpower to turn the flood into a beneficial force, irrigating their farmland..."

Puller looked at Wu Wanli, who was still giving a loud speech, and sighed.

"China is truly a...great country."

Upon hearing this, the temporary priest couldn't help but sigh in complete admiration.

However, at that moment, Smith arrived with a new squad of soldiers and blocked the back of these American troops.

"Soldiers, I'll say it again!"

"Return to your positions immediately!"

General Smith looked at Wu Wanli in the distance and said with a dark face.

Upon hearing this, the American soldiers who had just finished their social gathering fell silent.

Go back and continue to pick up a gun and fight those terrifying Chinese?

"go back!!"

Smith drew his pistol and roared.

At this point, some American soldiers finally gave in, took one last reluctant look at Wu Wanli and the others, and walked back.

However, a small number of American soldiers took advantage of the crowd and secretly hid among the Han Chinese and American prisoners of war.

"Sir, something's not right about the number of people."

"It is likely that some soldiers took the opportunity to defect to the Chinese army."

"What do we do now? Should we force the Chinese army to hand over those soldiers?"

The US military chief of staff, who was standing nearby, roughly estimated the number of people and realized that something was wrong, so he said.

"No need."

“Those soldiers have all deserted; bringing them back to the front lines would only cause them greater trouble.”

"Let's go."

Smith clenched his fists and walked toward the position, feeling both angry and frustrated.

Seeing this, the dejected American soldiers followed Smith back.

At this moment, several British prisoners of war picked up their melodicas again and played "Auld Lang Syne" towards the retreating American soldiers.

Amidst the soaring songs, the Chinese and American troops gradually separated and marched back to their original units.

....................................

The next day, at the command post

"Have all the other reinforcements arrived?"

Kong Jie asked.

"Everyone's here! Our forces are now united as one, and we'll be able to launch the final battle soon!"

"By the way, Wu Wanli's psychological warfare tactics have also brought in a large number of new prisoners."

"Through these American troops who voluntarily surrendered, we obtained the approximate deployment and firepower of the American troops in Zangmi-ri."

A hint of surprise flashed across the chief of staff's eyes as he spoke.

"What? Wu Wanli's psychological warfare tactics actually had this effect?"

"Great! Then we definitely can't afford to waste any more time!"

"Pass down the order: let the comrades rest well during the day, and launch a general offensive immediately after nightfall to annihilate them in one fell swoop!"

Kong Jie slammed his hand on the table excitedly and gave the order.

(End of this chapter)