The Korean War was a large-scale local war that broke out in the early days of the end of the Second World War, and the war was no less intense than the Second World War, and countless heroic deeds were born.
The protagonist of this article, Chai Yunzhen, is a legendary hero of the Volunteer Army, a "special meritorious hero", and a first-class combat hero. In the Fifth Campaign of the Battle of Pu Dafeng in the Zhipuli area, Chai Yunzhen single-handedly held the battlefield and repelled several attacks by the US army, creating a miracle in military history. His heroic deeds have been translated into more than a dozen languages and spread all over the world. After the war, he took root in the countryside and became a "living martyr" for decades. North Korean leader Kim Il Sung searched for him for thirty-three years without encountering him, and Deng Xiaoping directly ordered: Search all over the country, and we must find the old hero.
Chai Yunzhen, a native of Sichuan, was 17 years old when he was captured by the Kuomintang and became a soldier in the Nationalist Army. However, Chai Yunzhen, who came from a poor peasant background, hated the dark rule of the Kuomintang very much, was unwilling to beat his own people, and whenever he fought with the People's Liberation Army, he would shoot in the air, and sometimes deliberately hid and refused to participate in the war.
On November 6, 1948, the world-renowned Battle of Huaihai began, Chai Yunzhen's unit revolted, he transformed into a glorious PLA soldier, was incorporated into the guard company of the 45th Division of the 15th Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, and began to follow the troops to the south and the north. In the Battle of Crossing the River, Chai Yunzhen fought fiercely and rushed, single-handedly destroyed a front-line command post of the enemy, and was awarded the second class of personal merit and became a combat hero.
In December 1949, the heroic Chai Yunzhen gloriously joined the Communist Party of China.
In June 1950, when the Korean War broke out, Chai Yunzhen followed his troops across the Yalu River to the Korean battlefield.
On April 22, 1951, the Fifth Campaign broke out. After inflicting a large number of casualties on the "United Nations" troops headed by the US troops, Peng Dehuai, commander of the Volunteer Army, judged the hour and sized up the situation, resolutely ordered all units on the front line to temporarily stop attacking, and all corps and armies quickly retreated and gathered near the "38th Line" to organize defensive operations.
Seeing that the volunteers began to retreat, the newly appointed commander-in-chief of the "United Nations Army" and Lieutenant General Ridgway of the United States Army saw that there was an opportunity to take advantage of it and immediately ordered the United Nations army to launch a large-scale attack in an attempt to completely annihilate the main force of the volunteer army near the "38th Line."
The volunteers immediately organized their forces and established defensive positions in the Park Dafeng Mountains to prevent the American attack.
The dangerous and densely forested mountain of Park Dafeng was the only way for the US army to attack the volunteer army. Ridgway, determined to win, mobilized the U.S. Twenty-fifth Division and the Canadian Twenty-fifth Brigade, and under the cover of dozens of aircraft and a large number of tanks and artillery, launched a bloody attack on the positions of the Park Dafeng Volunteer Army.
After five days and five nights of fierce fighting, relying on strong firepower and equipment superiority, the US military forcibly occupied two hills of Park Dafeng, and the situation was extremely dangerous.
The 3rd Battalion of the 134th Regiment of the 45th Division of the Volunteer Army was ordered to organize a counterattack and resolutely retake the lost positions. At this time, Chai Yunzhen, who was already the commander of the eighth company of the three battalions, led 9 soldiers to serve as sharp knives and took the lead in launching an attack on the US army.
After years of tempering in the war, Chai Yunzhen at this time has gradually grown from an ordinary soldier of the Nationalist Army to a combat hero of the Volunteer Army, bold and careful, brave and strategic. The enemy was well-equipped and numerous, and it was obviously not possible to attack during the day, so he decided to give full play to the characteristics of the volunteer soldiers who were good at night battles, and prepared to launch a surprise attack on the enemy at night.
When night came, Chai Yunzhen divided the 9 fighters into two groups, took advantage of the night to go around to the foot of the mountain, took advantage of the enemy's lack of preparation, threw several bundles of grenades at the enemy's position, blew the enemy unconscious, quickly attacked, and recaptured a hill in one fell swoop.
With a bang, Chai Yunzhen led the warriors to rest and immediately attacked the second mountain hair. More than an hour later, they succeeded again.
Subsequently, the soldiers of the third battalion quickly came to the position, rushed to repair the fortifications, and actively prepared for the battle. Chai Yunzhen continued to lead 9 fighters to defend Hill 2.
At dawn, the Americans launched a group charge against the Volunteers with the strength of two regiments. After leaving dozens of corpses behind, the retreat began. Not long after, dozens of enemy planes roared in, bombarding Chai Yunzhen's No. 2 hill, followed by hordes of American soldiers.
The enemy was outnumbered, coupled with the inferiority in equipment, Chai Yunzhen's squad was about to be unable to resist, and at this time, 3 soldiers had been killed. At the critical moment, the regimental headquarters issued an order to retreat, Chai Yunzhen and his soldiers reluctantly withdrew from the battle, and Hill 2 was once again lost.
After resting for a while, Chai Yunzhen asked for help again, leading the remaining 6 fighters to attack Position 2 again. With only one charge, Chai Yunzhen once again stood on the No. 2 high ground, however, unfortunately, during the charge, 2 fighters died heroically.
The U.S. army saw that Chai Yunzhen was only a few people, and began to scream and rush towards the position... The bullets ran out, and Chai Yunzhen and the remaining 4 fighters raised their bayonets and prepared to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy.
When the American troops rushed to a distance of only 50 meters from the front, Chai Yunzhen and 4 fighters suddenly stood out of the tunnel, condescending, holding bayonets, and their eyes were wide open, like 5 steel giants, standing on the top of Mount Park Dafeng No. 2, glaring at the enemy.
This death-defying position frightened the American troops silly, and they stopped and fell on the hillside, not daring to advance half a step.
After a long time, the US military eased up, stood up, and shot at Chai Yunzhen with a gun, hitting 3 soldiers on the spot.
At the critical moment, reinforcements arrived and drove down this vicious enemy.
However, when Chai Yunzhen returned to the camp headquarters to rest, he came with the news that Mount 2 had been lost again.
Chai Yunzhen led several newly added fighters to the top of Hill 2 for the third time.
This time was different from the past, Chai Yunzhen was not fighting alone, behind him, there was a whole company of reinforcements sent by the regiment. After some shock, Chai Yunzhen led several fighters to occupy Hill 2 again.
As in previous attempts, the U.S. military once again organized a massive charge. During the battle, the comrades around him were shot and killed one after another, and only Chai Yunzhen himself was left on the position, and he was seriously wounded.
Four American soldiers surrounded Chai Yunzhen and wanted to capture him alive. Taking advantage of the enemy's lack of preparation, Chai Yunzhen shot down 3 enemies with a shuttle of bullets, but at this time, the bullets had also been exhausted. Chai Yunzhen endured the sharp pain coming from the wound, threw away his rifle, and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the remaining American soldier.
However, american soldiers grew up eating steak after all, tall and powerful, and gradually, Chai Yunzhen could not support it.
In a hurry, Chai Yunzhen stretched out his hands against the enemy's head and stretched out five fingers to clasp his eyes, but the American soldiers opened their mouths and bit off Chai Yunzhen's right index finger. Ten fingers connected to the heart, coupled with extreme fatigue, Chai Yunzhen's eyes turned black, and Dengshi passed out. The American soldiers were still not at ease, and they grabbed a stone with their hands and smashed it at Chai Yunzhen. Suddenly, Chai Yunzhen's head was covered in blood.
Thinking that Chai Yunzhen was dead, the American soldiers fled down the mountain in a hurry. At this moment, because of extreme pain, Chai Yunzhen woke up, saw that the enemy was going to run, stood up hard, picked up the rifle thrown down by the Americans around him, aimed at the enemy, pulled the trigger, "bang", the American soldier fell to the ground in response, and his soul returned to heaven.
At the same time that the American soldiers fell to the ground, Chai Yunzhen could no longer support him and fainted again.
After a long time, reinforcements arrived, carried Chai Yunzhen down the position, and sent him to the rear field hospital.
In the battle, the seven squads led by Chai Yunzhen annihilated more than 400 enemy people, and Chai Yunzhen alone annihilated more than 200 enemy people.
After rescue, Chai Yunzhen came back to life. The doctor said: Chai Yunzhen has been fatally injured in many places on his body, and it is simply a miracle that he can survive.
After the war, the Headquarters of the Volunteer Army awarded Chai Yunzhen the honorary titles of "Meritorious Hero of the First Class" and "Combat Hero of the First Class", and the Korean People's Army awarded him the Order of the National Flag of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea of the First Class.
A year later, Chai Yunzhen recovered from his wounds and rushed to find the old troops, but the doctor told him that the wounds were too serious to return to the battlefield.
In desperation, Chai Yunzhen left the hospital and returned to his hometown in Sichuan.
After returning to his hometown, Chai Yunzhen became a farmer again, hid his name, and lived an ordinary life.
In 1984, when Chairman Kim Il Sung, the supreme leader of the DPRK, visited China, during talks with Deng Xiaoping, Qin Jiwei, and other leaders of the Central Military Commission, he specifically talked about four heroes, including Huang Jiguang, Qiu Shaoyun, Lai Yongze, and Chai Yunzhen, and included the deeds of these four heroes in the Textbook of the DPRK. Among them, Huang Jiguang and Qiu Shaoyun have been sacrificed, Lai Yongze has been found, and only Chai Yunzhen's whereabouts are still unknown, so Kim Il Sung has been searching for Chai Yunzhen in North Korea and China for more than 30 years, but still without success.
After hearing this, Deng Xiaoping immediately gave instructions to the leaders of the countries around him: As long as Chai Yunzhen is still alive and as long as he is still on Chinese territory, he must be found. Subsequently, Sichuan Daily, Guizhou Daily, Yunnan Times, People's Daily, China Youth Daily, People's Liberation Army Daily, and other major newspapers and periodicals in China successively published in a conspicuous position the inspiration of "looking for Chai Yunzhen, a special meritorious hero."
Deng Xiaoping personally ordered that the pace of searching for Chai Yunzhen across the country gradually accelerated. Soon, news came from Sichuan, and Chai Yunzhen found it. Yang Chengwu, Hong Xuezhi, and other veteran chiefs of the year, as well as the principal leaders of the Central Committee and the Central Military Commission, respectively received Chai Yunzhen.
In 1985, at the invitation of the supreme leader of the DPRK, Kim Il Sung, Chai Yun-jin visited the DPRK together with a delegation of heroes to resist US aggression and aid Korea, and Kim Il Sung held a grand ceremony to award Yang Sung-wu, Liu Zhenhua (a first-class combat hero in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea), and Chai Yunzhen the "Medal of Freedom and Independence of the First Class."
On December 26, 2018, Chai Yunzhen, a "special meritorious hero" and a first-class combat hero, died without illness at the age of 93.
[Adhere to the original, do not forget the original heart, remember the history, taste life, welcome attention, common progress】