Changjin Lake: From Xinxingli to Seoul

Chapter 136 Great Victory! Fighting alongside the US Army!

North bank of the Imjin River, 27th Army forward command post
"That was awesome! So awesome!"

"Old Li, look at this! This is an unprecedented victory!"

Kong Jie, holding a battle report, laughed loudly as he spoke.

"What the hell is this great victory report? Look at you, you blockhead, you've never seen anything like it before. Back in my day, I..."

Just as Li Yunlong was about to boast about his past achievements, he received the battle report and was instantly stunned, his eyes widening in disbelief.

"What's wrong, Commander Li? Back in the day, could you have led a company to achieve such results?"

"Don't even mention a company, even if you brought your entire new regiment, you probably couldn't do it!"

Kong Jie smiled and said.

"Old Li, you don't even put the Heavenly King in your eyes, why are you reacting so strongly? What results did you achieve?"

Seeing Li Yunlong's reaction, Zhao Gang couldn't help but laugh and tease him.

"Is the Heavenly King himself Wu Wanli's father?!"

"One bullet killed a regimental commander and a division commander? Just one bullet!"

"Old Zhao, we've seen plenty of sharpshooters, but have you ever seen a sharpshooter like this?"

Li Yunlong asked.

"What?! A division commander and a regimental commander!?"

"Old Li, the Sakata regimental commander you killed back then was only equivalent to a colonel."

"That's a division commander and a regimental commander. That's two South Korean soldiers, a colonel and a major general, who could be shot dead with a single shot!"

"It's a real waste that Comrade Wu Wanli was killed. If we had caught him, he might have been even more valuable."

Zhao Gang was stunned for a moment, then said with a wry smile.

"The Korean War hasn't been going on for very long, and the other side has already lost three generals, two of whom were killed thanks to Wu Wanli. This is truly unheard of..."

"If he can take down Ridgway, then we can go back home and rest sooner. Sister-in-law Tian Yu is still waiting for you, Old Ridgway."

Kong Jie laughed heartily.

"Old Kong, what surprised me most wasn't this divine shot that decapitated him, but our air force's achievements..."

"We know everything about the Seven Iron Soldiers of our Air Force. It was Wu Wanli who led the Seventh Iron Company to forcibly seize it in Hagaru."

"Even with the addition of Soviet fighter jets, the number of aircraft is still far less than that of the American air force."

"But the Steel Seventh Company, that sharp blade, fought its way through Han's divisional lines and broke through Han's artillery positions."

"They used a large number of anti-aircraft guns to destroy an entire American squadron, which secured the victory!"

"Our Chinese Air Force has defeated the US Air Force. This is unprecedented!"

Li Yunlong said with a touch of emotion.

"That's right!"

"Back then, we were called a bunch of guerrillas. We didn't even have enough guns or enough food."

"But what about now? We, a bunch of local guerrillas, are driving the American devils back again and again."

"That American general who sold a fruit tree and then called us a bunch of farmers? Bah!"

Kong Jie raised his head, put his hands in his pockets, and said.

"That's MacArthur, not someone who sells fruit trees. The course of the Korean War really surprised him."

Zhao Gang smiled and shook his head, correcting him.

"I don't care what kind of trees we sell, we Chinese soldiers just don't believe there's an enemy we can't defeat!"

"Even when facing an army that is said to be the best in the world, we must be brave enough to draw our swords!"

"Look at the victories achieved by Wu Wanli and the Steel Seventh Company; they all prove that the brave will prevail when paths cross!"

"Now that the Han army's reserve force has been completely wiped out, all the heavy artillery has been taken over by the Steel Seventh Company, and even air superiority is ours, it's time to end this once and for all!"

Li Yunlong slammed his hand on the table, ready to issue orders.

"Old Li, wait a minute!"

"If I'm not mistaken, you want the air force and the artillery controlled by the Steel Seventh Company to bombard the South Korean positions on the front line and completely destroy the defensive line, right?"

Zhao Gang thought for a moment and then asked.

"That's the plan."

"This was my first time fighting in Korea, but I had studied the previous battles of Sinheung-ri and Hagaru-ri, and this tactic had yielded good results."

"Old Zhao, do you have other ideas in mind?"

Li Yunlong looked at his old partner and asked.

"I'm in charge of political work, so consider this a suggestion."

"Right now, this strategist Han is like a ripe fruit; he can certainly be picked and eaten, but..."

"Old Li, have you forgotten that in addition to sending air support, the American devils will definitely also send mechanized army support?"

"Although the Battle of Imjin River was a great success, it did not cause much damage to the main force of the U.S. Army."

"My idea is that if we can eliminate this American reinforcement force near the Imjin River battlefield, it will definitely be much easier for us to launch a strong attack and fight to the death later."

Zhao Gang stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and then said.

"Old Li, Director Zhao is right."

"Look, after we cross the Imjin River, we're going to launch a fierce attack on the US military front from Goyang to Uijeongbu."

"Several main American divisions are stationed here, forming a continuous defensive line. Even the weak British 29th Brigade is known as the so-called royal elite of the British Empire."

"If we can fight now, it will definitely be better than fighting to the death at each stronghold later."

Kong Jie nodded in agreement.

"More importantly, the 50th and 39th Armies nearby have made great progress and can cooperate with us when the American reinforcements arrive!"

"I understand what you mean. This is a siege and reinforcement attack on the Huting stronghold from back then!"

"But the US Air Force has been defeated, so I wonder if the American devils will come."

Li Yunlong frowned slightly and said.

"Report to the chief!"

"The Air Force has completed its latest independent reconnaissance and discovered that U.S. support forces are approaching the south bank of the Imjin River."

At this moment, a staff officer from the Chinese People's Volunteer Army handed over the intelligence and said.

"Old Li, you've already forgotten that we won the air battle, and air superiority is temporarily ours, hahaha..."

Zhao Gang took the intelligence, handed it to Li Yunlong, and said with a smile.

"Hey! Look at me, I'm used to being a local guerrilla, this is my first time fighting such a well-funded battle, I'm still a little unaccustomed to it."

"Great! It's like a pillow being delivered to someone who's just fallen asleep!"

"Order the 79th and 81st Divisions to break through the junction of the South Korean division and other enemy forces, then bypass them and encircle them."

"Tell Zhang Dabiao not to attack too fiercely at once and drive away all the South Korean troops. The cage isn't closed yet!"

"Also, tell Wanli that the fighting was excellent. Turn the artillery fire to support the 79th and 81st Divisions, bombard the junction of the South Korean division and other friendly forces, and completely isolate them!"

Li Yunlong said.

“This way of playing is fine, but I think we can make a slight change.”

At this moment, the chief of staff, who had been silent for a long time, thought for a moment and then spoke.

"Stop beating around the bush, just say it."

Li Yunlong said.

"The Seventh Steel Company wasted its time guarding those artillery pieces. We only noticed them, but we didn't see that the Third Battalion of the First Assault Regiment also broke in."

"Judging from the timeline, we should be reuniting with the Seventh Steel Company soon."

"We can have the Third Battalion control this artillery fire, and then give the Seventh Steel Company more authority to cause trouble for the American support forces." "After all... the American army really hates Wu Wanli and the Seventh Steel Company, and can't wait to annihilate them!"

The chief of staff thought for a moment and then said.

"Are you going to use Wanli and the Steel Seventh Company as bait?"

"If we lose this, it wouldn't be worth ten times the number of American troops!"

Kong Jie frowned slightly and said somewhat reluctantly.

"You can't catch a wolf without risking your cub. What's wrong with the Seventh Steel Company making some sacrifices for the greater good?"

"Everyone in the military knows that our 27th Army has a precious company that gets the best of everything. We can't back down during wartime."

"They are the elite, the first-line strikers, and they should take on the most dangerous missions."

"The Seventh Steel Company has always done it this way; it's just that this time we're the ones giving the order."

The chief of staff hesitated for two seconds, then sighed and said.

"But they have just gone through a bloody battle, fighting their way through from the north bank of the Imjin River. They are already an exhausted force. Are you going to send them to lure a fresh American army?"

"Old Li, this kind of treasure unit is hard to come by, you should think it over carefully."

Kong Jie shook his head, somewhat disagreeing.

"You're right. The Steel Seventh Company is a precious unit that didn't come easily. It's the top-notch elite company that was forged in blood."

"But I fought my way from Shanxi and lost far too many of my precious troops."

“Sun Desheng, my beloved general whom I traded a machine gun for, and the cavalry company, the horses I risked my life to build up in Wanjia Town.”

"Damn those Japanese devils, they've surrounded the entire cavalry company."

"In the end, the entire cavalry company fought to the bitter end, with not a single survivor. My heart was bleeding with pain!"

Looking at Kong Jie, who seemed somewhat reluctant, Li Yunlong said with a hint of pain in his eyes.

"Old Li, I understand what you mean. Give the order to let the Steel Seventh Company give it a try."

"But can the Seventh Steel Company really lure the American devils here?"

Kong Jie nodded with some difficulty and said.

"There is no doubt about the appeal of the Seventh Steel Company to the US military. To put it dramatically, it is about as significant to us as taking Seoul."

"After all, when the American devils withdrew from Seoul, they certainly didn't leave us anything; it was basically just an empty city."

“But we still have to fight, because this is the capital of the puppet state of South Korea, and its political and diplomatic significance is completely different.”

"The Steel Seventh Company was the key unit that captured the Polar Bear Regiment and the commander of the 1st Marine Regiment, captured Major General Smith, killed a South Korean Major General, and directly led to the final annihilation of the US 1st Marine Division."

"If we can completely annihilate the Steel Seventh Company, do you believe Ridgway would be willing to give us half of the South Korean divisions on the front lines in exchange?"

Zhao Gang smiled and analyzed.

"However, I still have some concerns..."

"The closest troops to us now are from the 50th Army, and they are positioned on a salient in the river."

"The final step of this decoy tactic is for the 50th Army to launch a fierce attack on the flank of the US forces at a critical moment."

"But as far as I know, this unit was originally a Nationalist army unit..."

The chief of staff coughed twice, then hesitated before speaking.

The predecessor of the 50th Army was indeed the 60th Army of the National Revolutionary Army. At the time of the Changchun Uprising, the army commander was Zeng Zesheng, and his troops numbered more than 2.

Back then, due to infighting within the Nationalist army in Northeast China, the 60th Army, which originated from Yunnan, was repeatedly bullied by the New 7th Army, a direct descendant of the Central Army, and its soldiers went without food supplies for several months.

Finally, in a fit of anger, Commander Zeng led his 2 men to propose an uprising to the Northeast Field Army outside the city.

This directly led to the collapse of the Nationalist army's defenses in Changchun, allowing the Northeast Field Army to capture the major city of Changchun without bloodshed.

After reorganization and replenishment, this 60th Army became the 50th Army of the Fourth Field Army.

"One of the reasons why the 74th Army was defeated at Menglianggu was that Li Tianxia and his men deliberately did not come to the rescue."

"The same goes for Huang Wei's army group during the Huaihai Campaign; they never received any support from so-called friendly forces."

The chief of staff sighed, hinting.

"Will not."

"Believe me, this will absolutely not happen."

Zhao Gang shook his head and said decisively.

"I believe Lao Zhao, there's no need to bring this up again."

"Pass down the order to prepare. Tell the Seventh Steel Company that they must carry out the mission while ensuring their own safety."

Li Yunlong thought for a moment and then said.

"Yes!"

Upon hearing this, everyone quickly agreed.

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

The occupied South Korean artillery positions

"Brother, you're injured!"

Wu Wanli looked at the gunshot wound on Wu Qianli's arm and said.

"It's nothing, just like getting bitten by a mosquito."

"The soldiers of the Steel Seventh Company are really fierce. They fought their way here, seizing artillery and bombing fighter jets. They're amazing."

Wu Qianli smiled and said nonchalantly.

"Battalion Commander, you have no idea, we just took down that so-called South Korean guard battalion like it was nothing.

"After the artillery bombarded them and the planes strafed them, Wanli shot them and their division commander and regimental commander, and they surrendered immediately. It was really boring."

Yu Congrong said, slightly unsatisfied.

"This is a good thing. If we can use firepower to resolve the situation, we can reduce the number of comrades who are injured or killed, and we can also end the battle quickly."

"If we had fought like this before, the Ninth Legion probably wouldn't have suffered such heavy losses."

Liu Hanqing sighed and said.

"These are only temporary. We probably won't even need these tanks for a while."

Wu Wanli said.

"Can't we use tanks? Our armored vehicle units are doing quite well against the South Korean army."

Gao Daxing said.

"It was only under the cover of the main force that such great results could be achieved."

"But if we want to make a covert infiltration later, these tanks and armored vehicles are too conspicuous."

"It depends on what task you're performing; you just have to use it according to the situation."

Wu Wanli said with a very clear mind.

"Reporting to the battalion commander, reporting to the company commander, the higher command has sent the latest orders."

At this moment, Pinghe, holding a battle report, said...

"It seems we'll be reaping the rewards in the final stages of this battle."

"Speak, what are your orders?"

Wu Qianli smiled slightly and asked.

"Battalion Commander Wu Qianli led the main force of the 3rd Battalion to control the artillery positions and bombard the junction between the South Korean division and friendly forces, covering the 79th and 81st Divisions to infiltrate and bypass them."

"The Steel Seventh Company, led by Company Commander Wu Wanli, will advance towards the direction of the American reinforcements to carry out decoy tactics and coordinate with the subsequent encirclement and suppression of reinforcements!"

Pinghe said.

(End of this chapter)