Changjin Lake: From Xinxingli to Seoul

Chapter 21, the prototype of the previous chapter: the story of hero Guan Chonggui.
(The following is a tribute to heroes, a free chapter that can be skipped)

In 1950, the United States, as an imperialist power, brazenly launched the Korean War, openly crossed the 38th parallel, and threatened my country's border.

After careful consideration, the Central Committee decided to call on the people of the whole country to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea, and defend our homeland!

At this time, Guan Chonggui was already a proud member of the Communist Party. He actively responded to the call and resolutely joined the Chinese People's Volunteer Army.

In June of the same year, he went to the Korean battlefield.

In June, the sun scorched the earth in Beiping, and it also scorched Guan Chonggui's heart.

He felt an unprecedented anxiety, mixed with excitement and his burning passion.

As time went on and he traveled further north, he became increasingly calm.

The long journey calmed his emotions until he finally crossed the Yalu River.

Throughout the journey, his mind was filled with fragments of his life over the past twenty years.

The image of the Japanese on the North Manchurian mountain road lingered in his mind, and he desperately wanted to achieve great things.

The moment his troops stepped onto the Korean battlefield, he looked back towards his homeland, where people were waiting for him to come home, and naturally he was going to return.

Immediately afterwards, he entrusted his fate to the Party and the millions of people behind him!

Guan Chonggui, who had struggled to make a living since childhood, was very brave on the battlefield, charging into battle without ever backing down, and he gradually grew up.

Because he got along well with his comrades, Guan Chonggui was well-liked in the army.

As time went on, the situation on the battlefield was changing rapidly.

In February 1951, before the harsh winter in North Korea had passed, Guan Chonggui received a very important mission.

At the time, his team was stationed near the 614 hill in Longtouli.

To prevent the enemy from launching a sweeping attack from their high ground, the small hill in front of Hill 614 must be firmly controlled by the Chinese People's Volunteer Army.

This hill is easy to defend but difficult to attack, and there are currently no solid fortifications, so holding it will not be an easy task.

The company commander told Guan Chonggui that he had to lead the machine gun team to hold the main position until the attack was completely repelled, until the battlefield of Hill 614 was completely captured.

Upon receiving the order, Guan Chonggui did not hesitate at all. He saluted the company commander and said, "Please rest assured, political instructor, as long as I am here, the position will stand!"

He then led the machine gun team to crouch down and cautiously make their way towards the small hill.

What seemed like a short distance turned out to be a long one, as the enemy's firepower was too intense. By the time they actually reached the hilltop, it was already close to nine o'clock at night.

On a late winter night in North Korea, withered grass still covered in frost, and the cold air dissipates into mist when exhaled.

Guan Chonggui and his comrades squatted down beside the mound of earth on the small hill and began to build defensive fortifications.

Since entering the Korean War, the military shovel, which was originally larger than a palm-leaf fan, has been moved around several times and is now smaller than the palm of a hand.

With one stroke of his shovel, Guan Chonggui carved only a deep, frost-covered mark into the frozen earth of the small hill.

No one spoke; they just kept digging into the trenches and bunkers with shovels and picks.

The cold air was biting, and soon everyone's hands were covered in blisters, their frozen hands mechanically repeating the action of digging.

As dawn broke, they finally completed the construction of their combat bunkers and trenches.

While taking turns observing the surroundings, the group quickly ate some dry rations to fill their stomachs. Before long, the enemy began attacking the main position again.

The U.S. military at the time adopted the "Butcher Operation" operational plan.

The main combat method is to use fighter jets for low-altitude suppression, artillery support, and troops for front-line assault.

In the course of the ongoing conflict, the Chinese and North Korean armies were given no respite whatsoever.

As Guan Chonggui watched the enemy advance their firepower towards the main position, he knew that the US military had not yet anticipated that they had already captured the small hill next to 614.

But this position was hard-won, and he couldn't expose himself without orders from his superiors.

Suddenly, four enemy warplanes appeared one after another from the nearby hilltops, launched low-altitude attacks, and circled continuously above the main position, displaying a highly provocative intent.

Guan Chonggui was furious. He thought to himself, "When I have an anti-aircraft gun in my hand, I'll shoot down this damn American plane and smash it to pieces!"

Round after round of dive bombing, strafing, and bombing resulted in heavy casualties on the main position, but everyone gritted their teeth and held on.

Nearly half an hour later, the enemy's air force was running out of firepower, and the ground troops began their assault.

Guan Chonggui was furious, but he waited, waiting for the enemy's main force to enter the machine gun's firing range.

Three seconds, two seconds, one second—Guan Chonggui jumped up, set up his machine gun, and unleashed a barrage of fire. Clearly, the enemy was bewildered by this sudden high-altitude barrage, and coupled with the overwhelming firepower, they quickly crumbled.

The enemy retreated, and the location of the hilltop was exposed. However, an even fiercer life-or-death struggle was yet to come.

After a long time, enemy fighter planes roared in again, two of them heading straight for the vicinity of the small hill.

The fighter jet that suddenly swooped down from behind kept strafing and bombing. Guan Chonggui held the machine gun firmly under his body. The frozen soil in the trenches exploded and became a mess. The small hill was almost turned upside down.

The fighter jets flew close to the high ground, circling around it. It was clear that the defensive fortifications were almost unable to hold out. Their comrades were still by their side, and the main position had to be defended.

With life hanging in the balance, Guan Chonggui couldn't care less about anything else. Rather than waiting to die, he decided to fight to the death.

Taking advantage of the enemy planes' upward flight, he picked up the machine gun, stood up, set it up on the edge of the ditch, and fired a burst at the planes!

Eight bullets were fired, but none hit their target. However, the enemy, clearly not expecting machine gun fire on the aircraft, was startled and changed direction.

Guan Chonggui was clearly exposed, and his comrades pulled him hard to find cover.

Guan Chonggui, however, was determined to use himself as a target to lure enemy aircraft away from the main position.

Soon, a second fighter jet roared in, and Guan Chonggui strafed it once more! A burst of bullets!

This time, he specifically used the knowledge of "lead time" that he had learned in the army to hit fast-moving targets.

Eight bullets were fired, and the fighter jet moved away from the hilltop, flying towards the mountains behind it.

Guan Chonggui's mind was in a whirl, but he heard cheers coming from the main position: "Hit!" Soon after, the sound of explosions from the mountains behind him became particularly clear.

Everyone was overjoyed, but his comrades still tried to dissuade Guan Chonggui, saying that shooting down planes with a machine gun was against discipline. What should they do?
Guan Chonggui dismissed this, since the enemy aircraft had already fled and the main position was bound to be saved.

This great victory spread throughout the entire Volunteer Army with the story of Guan Chonggui shooting down airplanes with a machine gun.

Everyone was hoping that this victory would lessen the punishment the superiors would give to this comrade.

The battalion reported to the regiment, the regiment reported to the army, and so on up the chain of command until it finally reached the commander.

Upon hearing the news, the commander not only did not blame the commander, but also laughed and said, "Rules are rigid, but people are flexible."

“The Americans’ planes aren’t invincible. This soldier should be awarded a special merit.”

Thus, Guan Chonggui was awarded a special merit for his title of "the first person to shoot down an airplane with a machine gun".

Later, Guan Chonggui single-handedly suppressed over a hundred American soldiers outside the position.

All the soldiers around him were killed in action, and he held his ground for two days and two nights without eating, drinking or sleeping!

When the commander of the 42nd Army of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army saw that the enemy had sent hundreds of warplanes to bomb a hill in turn.

So he sent two battalions to search.

Only then did they see Guan Chonggui, who was too hungry to stand and slumped among the corpses, with more than thirty enemy guns he had picked up beside him.

In this battle, Guan Chonggui was promoted three ranks and awarded the title of combat hero, hailed as the "greatest soldier" of the Korean War!
In 1953, the U.S. military withdrew to the 38th parallel and signed an armistice agreement.

The Korean War ended in victory for the Chinese People's Volunteer Army! Guan Chonggui has finally returned home!
The war tempered a young man's awareness of life, death, fame, and gain.

For many years afterward, Guan Chonggui lived a secluded life, keeping his achievements and fame hidden, leading a simple and ordinary existence.

When people recounted his resume in detail...

Only then did they discover that the war hero's family had never relied on his military achievements, nor had they used them to gain merit or fame.

According to reporters, Guan Chonggui's eldest daughter works in a factory, his second daughter works at a supply and marketing cooperative, and his eldest son has been driving a car since his demobilization.

Furthermore, they earned all these jobs through their own labor, and there was never any abuse of their father's power.

Before his youngest son had a job, someone tried to use their power to arrange one for him, hoping to do Guan Lao a favor in the process.

Old Guan refused outright, saying, "There's no need to trouble the organization. If he doesn't have a job, he'll go work as a boiler operator!"
Unexpectedly, just because of this one sentence, the youngest son, Guan Youzhong, actually found a job as a boiler operator.

Despite her loving concern for her son, Mr. Guan remained unmoved and told her to stop worrying about him, citing the need to exercise.

Looking back on his life, his mindset remains that of a young man determined to serve his country!

He remembered the Japanese in the mountains of northern Manchuria, the biting cold of the Korean winter, the roar of exploding planes, and the battlefields that had been on the verge of death...

But time waits for no one, and eventually, we all grow old.

In June 1988, hero Guan Chonggui was diagnosed with liver cancer and passed away in Jilin two months later at the age of 63.
Salute to the heroes! Salute to Grandpa Guan!
(End of this chapter)