As we all know, the Battle of Chosin Lake, which took place at the end of 1950, was a classic battle of the Volunteer Army in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and it was also a great victory in the history of the Volunteer Army.
What are the highlights of this campaign? In summary, there are four highlights:
First, this battle created a glorious record of the volunteer army in completely annihilating an entire regiment of the US army on the battlefield of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
Second, the battle forced the U.S. "ace forces" (mainly its First Marine Division and the Third and Seventh Infantry Divisions) to experience the "longest retreat" in U.S. military history.
Third, through this battle, the Chinese and DPRK armies recovered a vast area in the east north of the "38th Line" in one fell swoop.
Fourth, this battle meant that the volunteer army had accomplished the feat of winning a great victory in both the eastern and western fronts, turning the battlefield situation into an extremely favorable situation for the Chinese and DPRK armies, thus becoming an "inflection point" and laying a solid foundation for the final armistice and peace talks.
However, some people pointed out from the angle of "hindsight and blame" and with a mentality of seeking perfection and blame that among the many bright spots in the Chosin Lake Campaign, there was also a regret, that is, our army failed to annihilate all the US troops trapped in the encirclement under the situation of seizing the opportunity.
From the viewpoint of respecting the facts and restoring the truth, it is necessary for us to discuss the reasons for this and to make a few key points.
Why did the Volunteer Army fail to completely annihilate the besieged American troops at the Battle of Chosin Lake? The reasons vary from all sides to everyone, but the most critical factor is weaponry, which is a point that must be faced squarely.
It has to be admitted that because New China had only been founded for a few years, and had previously experienced the civil revolutionary war, the War of Resistance Against Japan, and the War of Liberation, the national strength and military strength were limited, and the weapons and equipment of the volunteer troops at that time were not one star and a half worse than those of the US army, but were "thrown out of a few streets."
In the life-and-death duel on the battlefield, what contest will the enemy and us take? Of course, we must first rely on weapons and equipment, and if we are too far behind the opponent in this regard, it will inevitably seriously limit the exertion of the combat effectiveness of the troops.
So how big is the gap between the Chinese and US militaries in terms of weapons and equipment? Some specific facts may be given.
Taking the "main force in the main force and the ace of the ace" of the US army invading Korea as an example, the First Marine Division, they are a highly mechanized unit with extremely superior equipment.
As the main force in the Battle of Chosin Lake, the Ninth Corps of the Volunteer Army was at an overall disadvantage in its weapons and equipment.
What light weapons is equipped with the US First Marine Division? It is no exaggeration to describe the division's light weapons configuration as a leader in the countries of the world at that time.
There are mainly Thomson submachine guns (often called "Tom guns" by volunteers), automatic rifles, Browning machine guns, and M1 semi-automatic rifles.
In addition, as a regular configuration of the division, each infantry battalion had 4 81 mm mortars, each infantry company had 3 60 mm mortars, and each platoon had several 89 mm bazookas ...
So, what are the main light weapons of the Ninth Corps of the Volunteer Army?
Sadly, in addition to the very few machine guns and submachine guns, the vast majority of them are Japanese-made Type 38 rifles, and their rate of fire is far from comparable to that of the US Military's M1 rifle.
If the heavy weapons of the two sides are compared, the US military is far superior.
In simple terms, the 1st Us Continental Division was equipped with at least 12 107 mm heavy mortars per regiment. Speaking specifically of the division's Eleventh Artillery Regiment (the main artillery unit of the U.S. Army in the Battle of Chosin Lake), its structure consisted of: a 155 mm howitzer battalion with a total of three companies, each equipped with 6 155 mm howitzers; three 105 mm howitzer battalions, with a total of nine companies, each equipped with 6 105 mm howitzers.
In addition, the armored units of the US First Division are simply "open and hanging" for the Chinese and DPRK armies. At that time, the Volunteer Army did not have tanks to fight, and the U.S. Army dispatched more than 200 tanks around Chosin Lake alone.
The heavy weapons available to the Ninth Corps of the Volunteer Army in the Battle of Chosin Lake were only a very limited number of small and medium-caliber artillery, which was completely difficult to match compared with the Us army.
The U.S. 1st Marine Division also had a strong armored force, with more than two hundred tanks deployed in the Chosin Lake area, while the Ninth Corps of the Volunteer Army was not equipped with tanks at all.
There is another important aspect that cannot be ignored, that is, the comparison of air firepower between the two sides.
In this area, the volunteer army is completely blank, and there is no such thing as air support and cover.
As for the US First Marine Division, at most, it can obtain as many as hundreds of fighters to cooperate with the ground troops, which can be said to have completely monopolized the air superiority and formed a crushing blow to the volunteer ground troops.
Every time the US army launched an attack, it often dispatched planes to carry out a wild and indiscriminate bombardment of the volunteer army, blowing up the entire position beyond recognition before sending infantry units to attack. Just by thinking about this tragic picture, it is not difficult to know how difficult the volunteer army is in combat!
This inevitably led to the volunteer army being forced to hide its tracks during the day when the US warplanes did whatever they wanted, and could only take the "moon offensive" and choose to attack at night as much as possible.
In terms of communication equipment used to command operations and contact troops, the US military is also far superior. One of the most powerful examples is that they equipped each platoon with very complete and advanced communications facilities, which could perceive the situation on the battlefield with great sensitivity and timeliness.
The most basic communication facilities of the Ninth Corps of the Volunteer Army are located at the regimental headquarters, that is to say, the combat units below the regimental level are often in a state where it is difficult to communicate and command in a timely manner, and this battle is certainly not easy to fight.
All in all
The Volunteer Army has a huge disadvantage compared with the US army in terms of weapons and equipment, which is the most critical reason why the besieging US troops were not completely annihilated in the Battle of Chosin Lake, which deserves our serious attention.
Under such difficult circumstances, the volunteers were still able to cut the US First Marine Division and the Seventh Infantry Division into five sections and divide and annihilate them, causing the ENTIRE US army to flee, showing the four highlights mentioned at the beginning of this article, and cannot but say a great victory.