Changjin Lake: From Xinxingli to Seoul

Chapter 229 The Final Assault!

US 1st Cavalry Division Command

"Sir, the Chinese commander named Li Yunlong has led the remaining two divisions of the 27th Army out to support Yangcun outside Muyunli."

"After discussion, the General Staff predicted that he probably wanted to hold off the US 2nd Brigade led by General Ridgway in order to buy time for the 7th Steel Regiment, the 80th Division and the New 8th Army to completely annihilate the 5th Division."

"General Ridgway sent twelve urgent telegrams in succession, ordering us to stop the Chinese 27th Army at all costs, otherwise the US 5th Division would be completely finished."

"That's what the chief of staff of the 1st Cavalry Division said."

"Twelve urgent telegrams?"

"But with the 27th Army gone, I am confident that I can take Tiande Peak in a short time!"

"I know China sent reinforcements, but it's just the 113th Division. How could they possibly withstand our fierce attack when they're so exhausted!"

"Damn it, couldn't the US Fifth Division just hold on a little longer?"

"Townberg frowned and said."

"The US Fifth Division has suffered repeated defeats and is now reduced to only a few thousand men by the Chinese army. It is indeed impossible for them to hold on."

"That's what the chief of staff of the 1st Cavalry Division said."

"Just hold them off for half an hour as a token gesture, that way it won't be considered that I disobeyed military orders."

"The Chinese 27th Army is an elite force that fought all the way from Xinxingli to Seoul and Incheon. We cannot afford to lose too many soldiers here, lest it delay our subsequent offensive and advance."

After thinking for a moment, Tangenber made his final decision.

"Sir, but what about General Ridgway? He'll definitely be furious in this situation."

"The chief of staff of the 1st Cavalry Division asked."

"Ridgway?"

"Hmph! Once I take Seoul, his position might be mine. I don't care about him!"

"Don't worry, I won't treat you badly. I'll bring you up to take over Van Fleet's position."

Tangenber waved his hand and said in a low voice.

"Townbur!"

"Even twelve urgent telegrams can't command you, is that it?"

At that moment, Ridgway's voice suddenly rang out.

"What?!"

"General Ridgway... what brings you here?"

"These guards are something else, they didn't even tell me beforehand."

Tangenber was slightly taken aback. The moment he turned his head and saw Ridgway, he was shocked and said as if he had seen a ghost.

"I notified your subordinates to pick you up and told them not to tell you."

"I know you didn't want me to come, but take a look at this!"

Stop dreaming about conquering Seoul!

"I turned a blind eye to your 1st Cavalry Division before because you had a high chance of capturing Seoul."

"But now, the difficulty has increased, and it's not worth taking the risk."

Ridgway tossed a piece of intelligence data to Tornbur and said.

"China has sent Ding Wei with an army to North Korea ahead of schedule?!"

"Townberg murmured."

"You should know that Seoul is not without troops, it's just that its defenses are relatively weak."

"Now, with reinforcements arriving soon, unless you are confident that you can capture Seoul within a day, it is very likely that you will not be able to take the city and will instead be trapped by others."

“I came here in person because I was afraid you would get carried away and make a desperate gamble.”

Li Qiwei sat down and took a deep breath.

"Sir, I will have the troops do everything in their power to resist the 27th Army."

"But they are China's elite troops. I didn't plan to hold out for long, so I didn't build any strong fortifications in advance. I'm afraid I can only hold out for a day at most."

When Tonber saw Ridgway come in person, he resigned himself to his fate.

"One day is enough..."

"VanVleet should have no problem outplaying Yangcun, whose defense is wide open."

Li Qi nodded slightly and said.

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

Outside Yangcun, the headquarters of the 2nd US Brigade
"Sir, we've already completed one round of shelling. Shall we launch a probing attack as usual?"

A U.S. Army colonel asked.

"Only one round?"

"No, this is far too little!"

"Pass on my order: bombard the village ten times in a row. Shells are no problem. Ideally, we should flatten Yangcun completely, and then we'll charge over there on this scorching hot ground!"

Van Fleet waved his hand and said.

"Ten wheels?"

"They're launching ten rounds of attacks before even starting a probing attack?"

Upon hearing this, the U.S. Army colonel thought he had misheard.

"more than!"

"I have also ordered the hundreds of fighter jets that General Ridgway arranged for me to be transferred here."

"After ten rounds of artillery bombardment, the fighter squadron should be arriving soon. Once the fighters have finished bombing, we'll send all our main forces in to attack!"

"The situation is urgent, and there is no time to slowly wear things down. Otherwise, the Chinese army will send back wave after wave of reinforcements, which could lead to unforeseen changes."

Van Fleet looked at the battle map and said seriously.

He knew the importance of time, but there were few ways to take shortcuts in a battle of offense and defense.

Once you've captured it, you've captured it. If you can't capture it, no matter how you try to maneuver around it or how many sides you attack, it's all in vain.

Instead of studying tactics, we should focus on artillery barrage.

With overwhelming artillery firepower, offensive efficiency will be greatly improved.

This is the strength-based dynamics theory advocated by Van Fleet.

"Yes, sir!"

Upon hearing this, the U.S. Army colonel quickly saluted and hurriedly went to relay the order.

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

Soon, more than twenty American howitzers and dozens of mortars raised their muzzles, aimed at Yangcun, and began firing shells at an alarming rate.

Several times during the battle, the cannon barrels turned red-hot, and only after the artillery commander strongly urged them to slow down a bit.

Not long after the shells were fired, the US Air Force arrived as expected, and a huge number of them swooped down towards Yangcun below.

“Buzz buzz buzz buzz——”

A new bombing raid then began.

A massive swarm of American warplanes dove downwards, instantly engulfing Yangcun in a metallic storm.

While the air force was bombing, Van Fleet did not allow the artillery to rest, but instead ordered them to bombard the village simultaneously. More than twenty 155mm howitzers unleashed high-explosive shells at a maximum rate of six rounds per minute.

Each salvo detonates nearly ten tons of explosives within a radius of 500 meters.

The mortar barrage created an impenetrable crossfire network, with 120mm heavy shells raining down on every trench and bunker like hail, and pre-fragmented shrapnel tearing apart everything within a 30-meter radius.

Before the six rounds of saturation shelling had ended, clusters of incendiary bombs had begun to cover the outskirts of Yangcun.

Fire tornadoes formed from solidified gasoline rose from the ground, engulfing wooden houses and bushes into a continuous sea of ​​fire.

The high-temperature air wave, carrying carbonized debris, formed a scarlet vortex with a diameter of one kilometer.

Numerous P-51 Mustang fighters had also arrived at the bombing site, each carrying six 500-pound AN-M64 bombs that were simultaneously released at an altitude of several hundred meters above the ground.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom..."

A deafening explosion rang out, followed by flashes of fire and billowing smoke.

After the continuous barrage of fire, no intact structure above ground remained at the original site of Yangcun.

Craters overlapped to form a lunar-like depression landscape, with soil churned up to a depth of five meters and mixed with building debris to form charred black mud waves.

The surface temperature reached tens of degrees Celsius after being repeatedly plowed by the shock wave.

The blast wave propelled the burning beams and debris up a hillside two kilometers away, creating dozens of new ignition points.

……

US 1st Brigade Forward Observation Post
"The bombing will be over in about ten minutes."

"All troops, prepare to launch a simultaneous attack from all directions. We must take Yangcun!"

Van Fleet put down his binoculars and said, without holding back any further information.

"Yes, sir!"

Upon hearing this, the U.S. Army colonel quickly agreed.

……

Yangcun, inside an air-raid shelter

"No, Battalion Commander, if this continues, our air-raid shelters will all collapse!"

"That's what a volunteer army company commander said."

"That's right, Battalion Commander. All of us here will be buried alive."

"After all, if the entrance to the cave is buried under such thick smoke, there will definitely not be enough oxygen. Many people inside will faint and have no strength to dig a way out."

Another volunteer army company commander said.

“I understand what you’re saying, but we don’t even have anti-aircraft weapons. If we all go out, we’ll die even faster.”

"Pass on my order to reinforce the air-raid shelters to reduce the possibility of collapse."

"The Second Company is holding entrenching tools and guarding the vicinity of the cave entrance. They will start digging to rescue people immediately should any situation arise!"

"The Third Company should guard those grenades and ammunition boxes to prevent accidental detonation."

Looking at the flickering firelight outside, Zhang Taofang waved her hand and gave the order helplessly.

He had assumed that the US military would simply bombard the infantry with artillery, and if the infantry couldn't advance, they would bombard them again.

Unexpectedly, the US military seemed determined to bomb Yangcun to the ground, and the explosions continued for a long time.

"Yes!"

Upon hearing this, the company commanders quickly responded.

……

A few minutes later, the thing I was most worried about still happened.

The air-raid shelter was directly destroyed by the aerial bombs, and the entrance was buried by dust.

"dig!"

Upon seeing this, the company commander of the second company immediately shouted loudly, picked up his entrenching tool, and began digging.

Seeing this, the other soldiers also anxiously began digging.

Fortunately, thanks to Zhang Taofang's prior arrangements, everyone emerged from the air-raid shelter unharmed.

"Battalion Commander, the Americans have launched an attack!"

The company commander shouted, holding up his binoculars.

"So fast!"

"how many people?"

Zhang Taofang was startled and asked.

"It seems like... they've put all their eggs in one basket!"

"Battalion Commander, let's rush back to our position and hold it! We might still make it in time!"

"That's what the company commander said."

"We've wasted too much time; we rushed through things too much."

"Besides... with that level of bombing intensity, even the air-raid shelters collapsed. Do you think our positions are still standing?"

"Pass down the order: each squad will form an independent combat team, quickly disperse to various ruins and bunkers, use their marksmanship to snipe, and fight off the American troops step by step, buying time for Muyunli."

"Also, send an urgent telegram to the regimental commander, telling him that I, Zhang Taofang, have disgraced the assault regiment, and that I may not be able to hold out for that long, but I will definitely persevere until the last moment of my life!"

Zhang Taofang said with a firm gaze.

"Yes!"

Upon hearing this, everyone exchanged glances as if seeing each other one last time, and then responded in unison.

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

North side of Muyunli

"Commander, it's almost time."

Liu Hanqing said.

"3, 2, 1..."

Wu Wanli stared at his watch, silently counting the time, then raised the signal gun in his right hand and fired it into the sky.

"Chirp————————"

With a sharp whistle, the red signal light shot into the sky, its blinding red light illuminating half the sky.

"Drip drip drip drip drip..."

Upon seeing the red light, the bugler of the Seventh Steel Regiment immediately sounded the charge.

"Comrades, the time has come for us to make achievements and establish our family genealogy!"

"Our motherland and people will forever remember us!"

"Come at me!"

With a roar, Wu Wanli, carrying a Thompson submachine gun, charged ahead towards Muyunli.

"Rush!!!"

Upon hearing this, the soldiers of the 7th Steel Regiment leaped up with fervor and charged toward the American positions in the twilight with all their might.

The final offensive to completely annihilate the US 5th Division has begun.

(End of this chapter)