In the second stage of the Fifth Campaign to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the Sixty-third Army of the Volunteer Army fought fiercely on the North Han River for two days, successively capturing the Qingping River and Jiaping River, and annihilating a number of enemy troops north of the Han River, while the remnants of the enemy fled south of the Han River.
Fu Chongbi, commander of the Sixty-third Army (who became the founding major general in 1955), led all the officers and men of the army to take advantage of the victory to pursue, forcibly break through the Han River, and continue to move forward.
The 187th Division moved the fastest, breaking through the Yokogawa River, annihilating some of the enemy, capturing more than 300 enemy soldiers alive, and then encircling a regiment of the enemy. The Volunteer Command was very happy to learn of this success and ordered the Sixty-third Army to annihilate the enemy regiment.
At this time, the 189th Division, which was fighting on the left side of the 187th Division, captured the prisoners of the US Ninth Division, and after interrogation, it was learned that the enemy was trying to cut off the volunteer retreat south of the Han River.
At the same time, the 188th Division also reported to Fu Chongbi that the Sixty-fourth Army on their left had retreated and that the enemy from Seoul was attacking the 188th Division.
This means that if the units of the Sixty-third Army continue to advance, they are very likely to be attacked by the enemy!
At that time, the command post of the Sixty-third Army was located on the north bank of the Hengchuan River behind the 187th Division, and the commander Off Fu Chongbi, the political commissar Long Daoquan (founding major general), the deputy military commander Yi Yaocai (founding major general), the deputy political commissar Huang Zhentang (founding major general), the chief of staff Du Yuhua (founding major general), and others held an emergency meeting to decide whether to fight or withdraw.
However, there were divergent views in the discussions, with several participants believing that the withdrawal would be necessary with the approval of the Volunteer Command and the Nineteenth Corps Command.
The volunteer army is a disciplined unit with strict military discipline, and whether the unit is forward, backward or staying behind, it really needs to ask its superiors for instructions, otherwise it is unorganized and undisciplined.
However, the situation was already very urgent at this time, and it was obviously too late to ask for instructions from the front and then let the troops retreat after they were approved.
At this time, for Fu Chongbi, who is the commander of the first army, it is undoubtedly a major test, and he knows that this critical moment is related to the life and death of all the soldiers of the army, and he must not hesitate and cower, but must show his decisiveness and courage!
Fu Chongbi pondered for a moment, risked personal punishment, and decided categorically at this critical juncture: the whole army retreated! I'm alone when something goes wrong!
He immediately used the telephone to inform Xu Xin, commander of the 187th Division: "Your unit quickly retreats from the original road, the sooner the better." For the prisoners who have been captured earlier, they will be released after the work is done. I am waiting for you with my troops at the Han River Crossing! ”
Subsequently, the Sixty-third Army, with the 189th Division as the lead, took the lead in crossing the river and covered the crossing of all the 187th Divisions in the north of the river.
After the sixty-third army all retreated to the north of the Han River, it was still not in contact with the headquarters of the nineteenth corps. Unexpectedly, at this time, I first received a telegram from the volunteer headquarters, and the volunteer's instructions were: Chuncheon had been occupied by the enemy, a division of the Sixty Army had suffered losses, and the enemy in Seoul had begun to advance north. If your artillery has difficulty retreating, you can blow up the artillery.
Seeing this telegram, all the generals of the Sixty-third Army were relieved that Shiji had ordered a retreat, which meant that Fu Chongbi's previous "self-assertion" retreat without asking his superiors coincided with Shiji's opinion.
However, Fu Chongbi was reluctant to blow up the vehicles and artillery, because the volunteer army was too short of heavy weapons, and such a foundation could not be abandoned unless it had to.
To this end, he once again defied the public opinion and decided to assign the artillery unit to an engineer battalion, asking them to overcome all difficulties and assist the artillery to withdraw to the west of the Iron Plains.
Later events proved that Fu Chongbi had made the right move again, and the artillery of the Sixty-third Army was indeed safely withdrawn to the predetermined location.
Due to the timely retreat of the Sixty-third Army, the whole army finally withdrew to the designated area after seven days and seven nights. At this time, all the food and medicine were used up, the troops could not eat all day, the wounded and sick could not change the medicine for several days, and the wound was suppurative and infected, but no one cried bitterness.
When Yang Dezhi, the commander of the corps, learned that the Sixty-third Army was safe and sound, he said with relief: "Fortunately, you withdrew in time, otherwise it was very likely that you would be caught by the enemy!" ”
Subsequently, Fu Chongbi received an order from the headquarters of the Nineteenth Corps, asking him to lead the Sixty-third Army back to Tieyuan immediately and take over the defense of the Sixty-fifth Army on the line from Hantan River to Lianchuan.
The corps placed a division of the Twelfth Army east of Tieyuan under the command of Fu Chongbi, and assigned the Sixty-third Army to the 194th Division, the 1st Artillery Division, the 8th Artillery Division, the Rocket Artillery Regiment and the Tank Regiment of the 63rd Army, and ordered them to "resolutely block the enemy's advance to the north."
Soon, the Famous Military History of the Iron Plains Blockade War was officially launched. The 35-year-old Fu Chongbi's soldiers marched dangerously, taking the attack as a defense, leading all his troops to take the initiative to attack and cut off the waist of the US troops advancing north.
The battle lasted for thirteen days, was extremely fierce, and was finally won. The Volunteers defeated a total of 47,000 well-equipped and air superiority of the American army with 28,000 men, not only annihilating more than 25,000 enemy troops, but also winning valuable time for the deployment of the whole army.
The Sixty-third Army suffered heavy losses in the Tieyuan Blockade Battle, and Fu Chongbi was also seriously wounded and fell into a coma for four days before waking up. But there is no doubt that this is the most important and wonderful example of Fu Chongbi's career.
Afterwards, both Fu Chongbi himself and Yang Dezhi, commander of the corps, believed that if Fu Chongbi had not been able to overcome public opinion and resolutely order a retreat when he was on the north bank of the Hengchuan River, it would have been impossible to preserve the elite of the Sixty-third Army, and the victory of the Tieyuan Blockade Battle would have been impossible to talk about.