Chapter 5 The Panmunjom Debate (Part 1)
1953, at 10 o'clock in the morning of July 27, please remember this historic moment.
After two years of arduous negotiations, representatives from various countries finally signed the armistice agreement for the Korean War in Panmunjom, demarcated the "38th parallel" and agreed that the armistice agreement would take effect twelve hours later.
Putting aside the right and wrong of history, political factors, and the position of the country and nation, and considering it from the perspective of human nature, this war has been fought too long and the price paid is too great.
Even as representatives from various countries sat at the negotiating table, the constant negotiations and constant temptations, the US military also conveyed the request of Commander Smith, the First Land War Division, to the Chinese military... He wanted to meet a commander who had never met in the breakthrough battle in Jieyuli.
Commander Smith really wanted to see which commander it was. When the First Marine Division had retreated to Zhenxingli and other Chinese troops stopped pursuing due to supply problems, they dared to lead a division's troops to pursue him relentlessly, and even went into the United Nations forces' control area alone. When the First Marine Division entered the "safe area" and was able to meet with friendly forces in a few hours, they fought a beautiful raid battle. Almost in front of their own door, they completely wiped out their remaining troops that had experienced too many battles and were exhausted!
This Chinese commander, who can only be described as bold, played another trick of great interlude before the United Nations forces encircled them. Just when everyone thought he would withdraw his troops as quickly as possible to get out of trouble, the commander seemed to be unsatisfied and turned around and fought a classic ambush that could definitely be loaded into the West Point War paradise, successfully hitting a British tank regiment behind them.
At this point, the commander once again showed his bold and arrogant side. Taking advantage of the night, he actually assembled elite troops in the company, crossed mountains and ridges and took shortcuts, successfully grabbed the front of the First Landing Division, and carried out an absolutely unexpected special raid on the First Landing Division, annihilated the guard company of the Division Command Post with an unstoppable attitude, and almost directly asked him to take Smith's division command center.
Commander Smith has experienced two world wars, and he has never seen any commander who is so ignorant of advancing and retreating on the battlefield, and even more so aggressive. He really takes the lead in attacking and attacking again and again.
After the Lao Shi went deep into the expedition alone, the commander was like a magician who turned his hand around and turned his hand around. He led his reorganized division troops and miraculously avoided the seventeen sieges of the joint forces. Finally, he successfully withdrew the area controlled by the Chinese army in a futile farewell to the United Nations forces.
Commander Smith asked himself that even if he retained his current military command experience and qualities, and was thirty years younger, he would have the ability to coexist with western cowboys to the limit, and he would never dare to command a division's troops on the battlefield. He would have carried out such an attack that was simply unaware of advancing and retreating, but could turn decay into a magical offense.
This really requires too radical adventurous spirit, too precise logical reasoning and intelligence analysis capabilities, more demanding nerves than steel wires, and commanding charm that can only be described as spiritual leaders.
"If possible... I also want to see the special forces commander who blew up the Watergate Bridge four times. I really want to see what kind of person is, who can still blew up the life and death arteries that we must pass when we retreat once and we have sent troops to defend our troops!"
Shuimen Bridge is located six kilometers south of Shuiligu. It is a load-bearing bridge spanning a cliff dozens of meters. It is a life-and-death traffic line that must be passed by a life-and-death traffic line that cannot be ignored when retreating!
The first time the Chinese troops blew up the Watermen Bridge was on December 1, 1950. At that time, the First Marine Division did not send troops to defend the bridge. The Chinese army only needed to send a small group of troops to capture it. On December 4, the First Marine Division had decided to retreat through the Watermen Bridge and sent troops to repair the Watermen Bridge. After sending a platoon of troops to garrison, about a company of Chinese troops wiped out the defenders on the bridge in one fell swoop and broke the Watermen Bridge again.
It was on December 7, 1950, when the First Marine Division retreated across the board, the troops with a total of elusive and organized at most were one company, and once again forcibly attacked the Watergate Bridge defended by the Marine Corps soldiers, and successfully blew up the Watergate Bridge for the third time.
When the First Marine Division received the attack report and immediately sent advance troops to support Shuimeng Bridge, trying to protect their retreating life and death trunk line, the advance troops encountered layers of sniping by Chinese soldiers using high-precision sniping as a means. Before a battalion troops reached Shuimeng Bridge, officers above the non-commissioned officers were killed by all sniping and had to withdraw back to the division headquarters.
On December 8, the advance troops of the First Land Division finally occupied the Watermen Bridge, and there they saw the tragic appearance of the company commander stationed at Watermen Bridge being completely wiped out. It was because the Watermen Bridge was blown off for the third time that the First Land Division was forced to stop and turn to fight the Chinese army's attack. At the same time, their engineers built a steel bridge in their original position. It was under the nose of the main force of the First Land Division, and under such an impossible situation, the elusive small elite troops actually broke the Watermen Bridge... the fourth time it exploded!
Faced with such a small force that was really too troublesome to continue harassment, Commander Smith made a cruel decision and directly asked the Air Force to airdrop eight sets of M2 rut components through airdrops, and successfully built a steel bridge that could carry 50 tons on a cliff.
Every time I think of this, a sense of fear will involuntarily surge in the heart of Commander Smith.
If the Chinese army had not misjudged the industrial capacity of the US military, it was unknown that the US military had dropped eight M2-type rut components on the First Marine Division in a row when the Watergate Bridge was completely blown up, allowing the engineers to successfully build a steel bridge on the offensive shore that can carry 50 tons of weight and allow any kind of combat vehicles to pass through; if the Chinese army had not had the offensive slowed down in the later stage due to logistical supply issues, if it were not for the cover of air force that had an absolute advantage, the First Marine Division had been completely wiped out on the Korean battlefield.
If that is true, who would have thought that the First Army Division successfully broke through the 26th Army of the Chinese Army and the 27th Army attacked on both sides. With the help of the air force, it opened up a path of sniping with six divisions, but it was just because a team of members did not exceed one company's elite troops?!
Fortunately, this result did not happen. Otherwise, it would be a bit ironic for the First Land War Division, Smith himself, and the United States, right?
Faced with the request of Commander Smith, the Chinese military finally responded: At 10 o'clock on December 7, 1953, at the time of the formal ceasefire between the two sides, Commander Smith and the two commanders he requested to meet had a meeting in Panmunjom, a place destined to be recorded in history.
At that time, these three commanders who had sacrificed their lives and fought repeatedly on the battlefield, even if they were not friends, at least... they were no longer enemies.
Commander Smith, who was notified by his superiors, came to Panmunjom early. This old soldier, who was sixty years old, had a layer of silver on his hair, but still stood like a javelin, but did not walk into the conference room where representatives of various countries had been arguing for two years. Instead, he stood quietly in a higher place, looking at the foreign land under his feet with a plain and deep gaze.
It was on this land that the American soldiers signed an armistice agreement at the negotiating table without military victory for the first time; it was on this land that thousands of children from the First Division of the Land War closed their eyes forever; it was on this land that the American soldiers, who had always been invincible, faced a wrong enemy at a wrong place and at a wrong time.
Commander Smith faced the cold current blowing from Siberia, quietly staring at the land carrying too much blood and smoke, until the dark sky enveloped the entire earth, and behind him, a rustling sound of footsteps came. Commander Smith turned around and led by two low-level officers acting as translators, two Chinese soldiers came over to Commander Smith.
Commander Smith's eyes fell straight to one of the Chinese soldiers. His height was 190 cm, which was already a very amazing height in the Eastern Kingdom. Although the sky was completely dark now, with the sparse stars above his head and the bleak half month, Commander Smith could only barely see the outline of the other party, but looking at his majestic body that was as straight as a javelin, which could carry any weight, and felt the heavy and oppressive feeling of his every move. Without a translator or a translator, Commander Smith also understood that the opponent he had always wanted to see with his own eyes had appeared in front of him.
The two translators obviously felt the extremely strong and extremely oppressive feeling of this Chinese soldier. They stood on both sides of the Chinese soldier, one left and one right, leading him to Commander Smith all the way. Even they themselves did not notice that as American soldiers with a higher vision, they did not dare to walk in front of this Chinese soldier in a big way!
When this Chinese soldier finally walked to Commander Smith, he participated in two world wars and experienced the most cruel bloody battle with the Chinese army on the Korean battlefield. Commander Smith, who could really be regarded as seeing countless people, was once again surprised.
This Chinese commander who can lead a division is really young. Judging from his appearance, he is probably around 34 or 35 years old, but his eyes... Commander Smith couldn't imagine how many trials of life and death a man had to go through, and how much right and wrong a man had to go through, so he had such a keen, but also had a hint of forbearance, containing a bit of light that was so insightful about the mortal world? It was such a pair of eyes that made the young Chinese commander in front of him have such a contradiction and such an unimaginable and strange charm.
It can be seen that the Chinese military has made careful preparations for this meeting. At least they prepared a brand new and hot military uniform for the young division commander, and also put a pen in his pocket. With this young Chinese commander, it is no less than any movie star. It is like a tough line on his face that has been deliberately carved and his healthy wheat-colored skin makes him full of an unspeakable attraction. Smith dares to bet with anyone that if he can take a few photos of this young Chinese soldier and put them in American newspapers, the view of the Chinese soldiers as a group of farmers will definitely change drastically!
"Smith, Commander of the 1st Marine Division of the United States!"
Commander Smith had been dealing with Chinese soldiers for several years on the Korean battlefield and knew about their etiquette. He directly extended his right hand to the Chinese soldier in front of him.
After listening to the translation, the young Chinese commander also stretched out his right hand. The two soldiers who were equally powerful and experienced the darkest war history of modern humans, held each other tightly in this place called Panmunjom.
Chapter completed!