Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Therefore, after he moved south, he began to compete with Syngman Rhee for the support of the southern farmers.

The effect is still very good.

The policies of Marxist parties during this era were truly appealing in many ways and were able to win popular support. Fang Hushan abolished the land reform policies of the Syngman Rhee administration and implemented new land reforms directly based on the North Korean model. As in Northeast China, he organized numerous local armed work teams to participate in the land reform movement, establish local governments, and win the support of local farmers.

The effect is really good.

Many farmers supported Fang Hushan's land reform and were eager to join the army. Of course, this place was too far away, making it difficult to transport weapons and ammunition from the rear. To cut off communication between the main force and Fang Hushan's Fifth Corps, Ridgway dispatched large numbers of aircraft to bomb any enemy troops transporting supplies to Fang Hushan. The Soviet Air Force would not easily cross the 38th parallel, let alone this side.

Without the support of the Soviet Air Force, the US Air Force could bomb however it wanted.

This was also the reason why the Wei Hongjun army had always been against continuing the southward advance. If it were an ordinary air force, the Wei Hongjun army would never stop its offensive. However, the US Air Force was too powerful. It was not difficult for the US to dispatch one or two thousand aircraft to participate in bombing in a single day. But who could withstand a bombing of this scale?

Fang Hushan lacked sufficient supplies, so he resorted to scavenging weapons and ammunition from the civilian population. After all, the war had lasted nearly a year, and there were still a lot of weapons scattered among the people. Using this method, Fang Hushan managed to expand his army by over 26000 men, bringing the Fifth Corps' current strength to over .

Therefore, Syngman Rhee attached great importance to Fang Hushan.

If we can't completely wipe out Fang Hushan's troops, how can we maintain our rule?

The other troops followed Ridgway to the front line.

However, after the troops arrived at the front line, Ridgway's mood was not so good.

"William, are you kidding me?"

Ridgway angrily yelled at his Chief of Staff, William Collier, "There must be the main force of the Chinese and North Korean troops lurking in these mountains not far from us. But we don't know how many Chinese and North Korean troops are in front of us, let alone where they are stationed. We don't know where their artillery positions are. So many planes have been flying back and forth, but they can't find anything. We don't have any intelligence at all. How are you going to let the planes drop bombs? Where are the artillery going to fire? Where are the infantry going to charge? How can we fight like this?"

It was impossible for Ridgway not to be angry.

People?

Hundreds of thousands of Chinese and North Korean troops were just ahead, yet reconnaissance planes, despite daily reconnaissance missions, couldn't even locate them. Ridgway actually felt a certain empathy for MacArthur at this point. MacArthur had been complaining that US Air Force reconnaissance planes hadn't spotted the 700,000 or 800,000 Chinese troops entering North Korea, let alone that they were lying in wait right under their noses.

At that time, Ridgway still scoffed at it.

Think MacArthur is shirking responsibility.

But now I've encountered the same situation. So many reconnaissance planes have been sent up to survey the area every day, but they haven't even found the Chinese army's positions. The Chinese army's positions have not been discovered, and their artillery positions are even more unknown.

This is what Ridgway cares most about.

The Chinese army had a large number of artillery, including a considerable number of rocket launchers. During the first battle, many US troops suffered heavy casualties because they were not used to the rocket launchers fired by the Chinese army.

Both sides have now rested for a few months.

Ridgway believed that the Chinese military must have strengthened its heavy firepower again. Perhaps they had added several more rocket artillery regiments. Ridgway's intuition and judgment in this regard were remarkably accurate. China had indeed added two more Katyusha rocket artillery regiments, as well as two domestically produced rocket artillery regiments.

Currently, each Chinese army has a rocket artillery regiment and an artillery division under its command.

But where are the artillery positions?

Can't find it.

This made Ridgway very depressed. If he really couldn't find these artillery positions, then he would be unable to destroy the heavy firepower of the Chinese army. When his troops attacked, their artillery fire would appear, causing him to suffer heavy casualties.

Collier knew that Ridgway was angry and also blamed himself.

But Collier couldn't help it.

So he spread his hands and said helplessly: "This is not my fault. I can only say that the Chinese army is very good at hiding. Our planes flew back and forth many times, but we could not find where the Chinese army was. What can we do? Moreover, the Chinese have a large number of anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns. When many of our planes were flying at low altitude, they were suddenly attacked by their anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns, causing considerable losses. Then we wanted to bomb their anti-aircraft gun and anti-aircraft machine gun positions, but we couldn't find where they were. The Chinese army is like a rat, maybe they have burrowed into the ground.

"How is that possible? That's hundreds of thousands of troops? Hundreds of thousands of troops eating, drinking, defecating, and urinating, with so many artillery units, how could we not find any trace of them?"

Ridgway really didn't believe it.

That's not just a few people, it's hundreds of thousands of people.

Collier could only say, "If you don't believe me, you can take a plane and see for yourself. I've also personally observed this from a plane. Can't you really find where the Chinese troops are?"

Collier was actually also confused.

In previous wars with Germany and Japan, there had never been such a situation where hundreds of thousands of troops disappeared without a trace. Ridgway was furious when he heard Collier's words. He said with a stern face, "Do you think I dare not? I will go for reconnaissance tomorrow. However, if I die in the fall, you can take over my position. I hope you can reach Seoul."

Ridgway really didn't believe it.

So Ridgway boarded the plane that day.

He wanted to see for himself. Now commanding over 40 troops, the situation was pressing. Yet, with hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops on the front lines, he could find nothing. Ridgway had no idea where the Chinese troops were, what their intentions were, or even whether they actually existed on the front lines.

Therefore, he had to see it with his own eyes to feel at ease.

But after taking a walk around the plane, Ridgway was disappointed.

Where's the Chinese army?

Ridgway couldn't believe it. He circled around and saw almost no one, nor any signs of campfire smoke or wheel tracks, which would indicate a large troop concentration. He couldn't even see any troops, and the artillery positions he'd been searching for were completely gone. He only saw the occasional trace of trenches, but no large troops within them, only the occasional sight of one or two individuals.

Ridgway returned to the command room and suddenly didn't know what to do.

This was the first time he had encountered such a battle.

In the past, the German and Japanese armies were also very powerful, but they basically fought openly, and the battles depended on who was better at positional warfare. When had I ever encountered such a strange situation?

"We can only use fire reconnaissance to determine where their positions are."

Collier was angry at Ridgway's attitude.

But he was Ridgway's chief of staff after all, so he quickly thought of a solution for Ridgway. Collier said, "Now that we can't find the Chinese army's position, we can use firepower to test it. As long as we open fire and the artillery hits the Chinese army's position, they will move away.

As long as their troops start to move, our aircraft will be able to detect and track them, and then we can find where the Chinese troops are stationed. Once we find the Chinese troops stationed, we will send the air force to bomb them.

“That’s a good idea.”

Li Qiwei nodded.

If the Chinese positions could not be found, deploying the attack would be problematic. Ridgway also needed to know which positions were Chinese and which were Korean. Different units had different combat capabilities, so they would naturally choose different attack methods.

"Order each unit to form a reconnaissance team to locate the positions of the Chinese and North Korean troops."

Soon each unit began to form its own reconnaissance unit.

第八集团军下辖第一军和第二军，第一军拥有美2师、美3师、美7师，第二军拥有40师和45师。

The First Army formed a reconnaissance detachment with one tank battalion, two infantry battalions, one artillery company, and one engineering company. Their purpose was to use firepower to scout the Chinese army's positions.

Their method was to fire first, and then the reconnaissance plane would observe from the air.

According to Ridgway and Collier, as long as the artillery fire was on, the Chinese troops on the position would definitely retreat. Any movement on the position would be detected by the reconnaissance aircraft. If there was no movement on the opposite side, the reconnaissance detachment would continue forward and explore the next hill.

Use this method to find the Chinese army positions.

"Let the troops calm down."

Zheng Weishan was in charge of front-line operations.

After receiving the telegram from the front, he understood that the enemy was conducting reconnaissance because they hadn't found the frontline's positions. He immediately ordered: "Wait for the enemy to approach, then attack. But don't expose your artillery positions. Use recoilless rifles, anti-tank guns, and rocket launchers to attack enemy tanks." After the counterattack, all troops, except for the observation post, retreated into the tunnels.

The Chinese military has many tactics that the US military has never seen before.

Because the first battle ended too quickly.

Ridgway had heard that the Chinese army excelled in close combat. However, he only knew that the Chinese army preferred to penetrate enemy positions and engage in close combat. He was unaware that the Chinese army was also very skilled in close combat in positional warfare. In the past, when ammunition was scarce, the Chinese army would only engage the enemy when they were close.

That's it now.

The U.S. military used artillery to test several locations but there was no response.

So the US tank battalion opened the way again, preparing to scout the next hill. However, just as the tank battalion passed by, it was suddenly attacked by recoilless rifles, anti-tank guns, and rocket launchers.

A lot of people suddenly appeared on the hilltop where there was no reaction at all during the previous artillery attack.

"Bang--bang--bang--"

“Boom—boom—boom—”

The US tank battalion was unprepared.

The flank was attacked, and in the blink of an eye, more than 100 tanks were destroyed. Including the infantry battalion following behind was also attacked. The Chinese army's current infantry firepower is quite powerful.

The grassroots troops are equipped with sufficient light and heavy machine guns and submachine guns.

Sudden attack, the US tank battalion, infantry battalion and engineering company had no time to react.

There were a lot of casualties.

However, the frontline troops were unwilling to fight. After a fierce surprise attack on the US reconnaissance unit, they quickly retreated to the trenches before the US troops could react. However, the situation on the US reconnaissance detachment was extremely dire. Although the battle lasted only a little over ten minutes, they had lost over twenty tanks, and the infantry battalion and engineering company suffered over 300 casualties.

This is not a place.

Not only the First Army sent out a reconnaissance detachment, but other troops also sent out reconnaissance teams.

All were attacked.

It's basically the same tactics.

After receiving the report, Ridgway was not angry about the casualties. Instead, he was very satisfied because it showed that the Chinese army had indeed set up a position in this place. Therefore, he ordered all troops to increase their reconnaissance of this place.

For four consecutive days, Ridgway did not launch a major offensive.

Instead, they used this small-scale reconnaissance force to constantly observe the positions of the Chinese army.

After four days of reconnaissance, Ridgway had a rough idea of ​​the Chinese and North Korean positions. While casualties were considerable, the reconnaissance objective had been achieved. However, the artillery positions of the Chinese and North Korean forces had not been found, which made Ridgway somewhat uneasy.

But Ridgway was still very confident.

After all, we have air superiority. It doesn't matter if the Chinese and North Korean artillery positions don't appear now. As long as the Chinese and North Korean artillery positions appear, we can use the air force to bomb them.

So Ridgway decided to launch a full-scale attack on the Chinese and North Korean troops.

Ridgway used US and Syngman Rhee's puppet troops to attack the Chinese positions, and Chiang Kai-shek's troops to attack the Korean People's Army positions. It was not that Ridgway did not want to see a civil war in the Chinese army, but he still abided by some agreements with Washington.

Originally, Washington agreed to use Chiang Kai-shek's troops in order to defend Busan, not to participate in the Korean War.

Washington has always been very worried about the escalation of the war.

Ridgway was short of troops, so he called on Chiang Kai-shek's 15-man army. But in order to avoid being too blatant, he asked Chiang Kai-shek's army to attack the Korean People's Army positions.

Of course, before the full-scale offensive, US Air Force planes and artillery bombarded the positions. Chairman Mao said the US military had "more steel and less gas," and the US truly had plenty of steel. They simply didn't take bombs seriously.

Facing the Chinese army positions, the US artillery alone fired 14 artillery shells in a short period of time.

The US military then launched a full-scale offensive.

The US 2nd Division sent a tank battalion and two infantry battalions to attack the hilltop held by the 38th Army. The Chinese army's greatest strength was its ability to remain calm. The 38th Army waited for the 2nd Division's troops to attack. Once within artillery range, the artillery positions, where the various units had been hiding, suddenly opened fire.

It was a heavy blow to the attacking US troops.

Just like the rocket artillery regiment of the 38th Army, it directly launched two rounds of salvos at the attacking troops of the US 2nd Division, and one of the two infantry battalions was directly wiped out.