Zhang Zuyu was a decent man, of noble moral character, rigorous in style, far-sighted, well-planned, and almost no one on the tasks he deployed raised dissenting opinions or was not resolute in its implementation. It was not because he was the old commander of the 60th Army, and the soldiers blindly obeyed. Rather, he does things, speaks, assigns tasks in an orderly manner, and can even be said to be impeccable. If there are opinions, it is also to supplement and improve the plan, so that it can be better implemented and the victory is greater.
In June 1953, Zheng Weishan, acting commander of the 20th Corps, Zhang Nansheng, political commissar, and Xiao Wenjiu, chief of staff of Xiao, convened an operational meeting to convey the instructions of their superiors to shift the focus of the attack to the South Korean Army on the eastern front and study and deploy specific operational plans. Yang Yong, the new commander of the 20 corps, and Wang Ping, the political commissar, have already arrived; in view of the fact that the battle is under way, the entire battle plan was drawn up by Zheng, Zhang, and Xiao, and the chief of the Volunteer Army decided that at this stage the operation will still be mainly commanded by the old command team, and the new commander and political commissar will understand the situation and be familiar with the situation.
Commander Zhang Zuyu attended the meeting, and he reported on the combat plan of his own army.
The meeting decided that the 60th Army and the 67th Army should cooperate with each other to further attack the 6th and 8th Divisions of the South Korean Army, and prepare to attract and crush the enemy's counterattack of more than two divisions of troops from depth and depth. It was decided to deploy the 20th Regiment of the 7th Division to the 60th Army.
The new and old chiefs of the corps approved Zhang Zuyu's plan, believing that the plan was meticulous and the measures were feasible. Immediately a summary report was made to the Volunteer Headquarters, and the Head of the Volunteer Army quickly approved the plan.
Wang Chenghan and Deng Yishijun organized various divisions to make combat preparations day and night, and they firmly grasped the two central links of engaging in stealth and artillery fire support. With regard to the infiltration, the personnel at and above the commander of the organized combat group were organized to conduct repeated reconnaissance of the route of advance, the terrain of the incubation area, and the enemy's situation, so as to achieve free access, familiarity with the situation, clear regulations, and thoughtful measures. Drills were also conducted in selecting similar terrain in the rear, from advancing, lurking, and impacting, hitting fire points, and eliminating the remnants of the enemy.
The head of the army personally grasped the formation of artillery and the firepower plan, and asked each division to send responsible cadres with strong ability to grasp the artillery. Yao Xiaocheng, chief of staff of the 179th Division's Mountain Division, personally organized and planned artillery firepower, and a total of 101 artillery units of the 197th Division, 76 cannons, 122 howitzers, and Katyusha rocket artillery formed the division's artillery group. The division decided to organize it into a 535 regiment artillery group, commanded by Wang Yuzhu, chief of staff of the 537th regiment, and Zhao Shuangxuan, chief of the division organization section, under the command of 18 artillery pieces of the 1st group, 14 guns of the 2nd group, 7 guns of the 3rd group, and 20 guns of the 4th group. Both are mouth-type 75 mountain guns and Soviet-type 120 heavy mortars, mainly supporting the first echelon battalion and regiment combat. The division's artillery group consisted of 14 122 howitzers, which mainly supported the breakthrough and suppression of enemy artillery and command systems.
The artillery group of the 181st Division, commanded by Chief of Staff Xu Dehou and Director Meng Zhixin, was organized into the 542nd Regiment Artillery Group, which had the first firepower team under its jurisdiction, with 24 howitzers. The second fire brigade has 11 field guns and anti-aircraft guns. The Third Fire Brigade had 35 mortars of various types. The 543rd Regiment Artillery Group, under the command of the first fire brigade, had 16 howitzers. The second fire brigade had 16 field guns and anti-aircraft guns. The third fire brigade has 35 mortars and mountain guns of various types.
Under the leadership of Li Zhongxuan and Wang Zhenbang, the artillery command headquarters of the 180th Division, and under the unified organizational plan of artillery director Wang Zhicheng, the artillery commander of the 180th Division was organized into: 538 Regiment Artillery Group, with 12 mortars: 539 Regiment Artillery Group, with 21 mortars and mountain artillery; 540 Regiment Artillery Group, with 19 mortars; 609 Regiment Artillery Group, with 21 mortars; under the division's artillery group, there were 27 field and howitzers; the 3rd Group had 11 M-13 rocket artillery pieces; and the 2nd Group had 17 field and howitzers.
Before 6 June, all artillery groups had entered positions, completed reconnaissance of the targets, demarcated the firing targets, and completed the test firing. The 179th Division organized two forward observation posts, and the 181st Division organized the main one, which contacted the assault battalion and was ready to follow up. A plan for cover of latent fire was formulated, and in order to prevent the enemy from observing and the sound of the latent detachment from being detected by the enemy, the enemy was fired in a cold artillery manner, and the deputy group commanders of each artillery group personally mastered the shooting. It also made plans to switch to a strong offensive during the day and provide artillery support. Artillery preparation and support for the impact, the plan is to first carry out 3 minutes of rapid attack shooting on the two wings of the target, then 20 minutes of suppressed fire, two false extensions of artillery fire, in order to lure the enemy to occupy the field position, kill and injure, and then cover the infantry impact, in order to achieve the purpose of surprise.
The army, division, and regiment also divided the work of a military chief to grasp logistics support, strengthened the logistics command structure, and stockpiled enough grain and ammunition.
Wu Shihong, Zhang Guobin, Yao Xiaocheng, and Wang Yucheng, commander of the 535 regiment, organized the cadres of the combat detachment to conduct repeated studies in the sand table. Zhong Shi and Wu Zhankui, commander of the 542nd Regiment, and Zhang Zeqing, commander of the 543rd Regiment, organized cadres at and above the company level of the combat detachment to discuss the tactics in the sand table and on the spot, and handed over tasks, all of which were completed.
After Commander Zhang Zuyi returned from the corps meeting to the military headquarters, all kinds of combat preparations had been basically completed, and this was the initiative they had once again gained in implementing the instruction of "just fighting, not talking."This time they were the first to complete the preparations and launch the first attack, so as to play a leading role in realizing the intentions of the headquarters of the Volunteer Army and the head of the 20th Corps.
Zhang Zuyu conveyed the instructions of his superiors to the Standing Committee of the Army, and decided that the attacking troops of the 179th Division and the 181st Division would enter the lurking area on the evening of the 9th and launch an attack on the 10th. The superiors quickly approved the time to launch the attack.
On June 8, in the name of the Military Party Committee, a combat mobilization order was issued to the whole army, stating: "Comrades! The biggest battle we've had since we took up our positions is about to begin! This is an extremely arduous and extremely glorious task, and this battle is the best opportunity to win the greatest honor of our army; therefore, all the commanders and fighters, combatants, and all kinds of staff of our army must give full play to their enthusiasm and creativity in combat, do their best, give full play to their greatest wisdom, overcome all difficulties, and successfully complete the combat task. ”
On June 9, the army forward command post was opened at Longmen Mountain, which was less than 3 kilometers away from the front of The 883.7 Highland, where the enemy's large-caliber machine guns could be hit, and shells and bombs continued to explode on the hill, threatening the safety of the command post. But here you can directly observe the battle situation. All the staff in the command post are full of confidence that on the night of the 10th, the high ground that threatens our position will be turned into a position controlled by the volunteer army.
Also on this day, the 20th Corps Forward Command Post was also established at Longmen Mountain. Zheng Weishan, acting commander of the 20th Corps, Zhang Nansheng, political commissar, Yang Yong, new commander, Wang Ping, political commissar, and Zhao Guanying, deputy chief of staff, all arrived at the front point. Xu Shiyou, the new commander of the 3rd Corps, Du Yide, deputy political commissar, and some instructors of the Military Academy also visited the front-line command post for guidance.
The Volunteer Army Command sent Zhang Gangjian, chief of the operations section, to the army command post to guide the work and understand the situation.
Also on this day, the commanders of the 3rd Corps, the 20th Corps, the 12th Army, and the 15th Army all sent condolence groups to the front line to offer condolences, which was both an encouragement to the 60 Army's victory in the previous stage of counterattack operations and an expectation for future operations. Full of brotherly love and comradely love, this can also be said to be the unique style of the people's army, which is an inspiration for the 60 army up and down.
Commander Zhang Zuyu and Deputy Political Commissar Zhao Lantian immediately sent condolences to the front and to the commando team, and quickly informed the whole army of these situations. Commander Zhang said: The headquarters of the Volunteer Army and the heads of the corps are all concerned about this battle, and the comrades of the fraternal units are also concerned about this battle, and we must go all out to fight this battle well! We must repay the care of our superiors with the actions of winning the battle.
The commanders and fighters in the tunnels were whispering, some secretly making up their minds, some thinking quietly, some inspecting their preparations for battle, and all of them were preparing to fight this battle with one mind.
As the sun sets, Wu Shihong and Zhang Xiangshan take full care of all aspects of the overall situation. They asked Wen Yong, chief of the operations section, to carefully grasp the situation in all aspects and maintain contact. The division's artillery group, commanded by Yao Xiaocheng, chief of staff of the division, and Han Li, commander of the 197th Division's artillery regiment, was reassured, but they also had to check it out. The artillery group of the 535th Regiment, commanded by Wang Yuzhu, chief of staff of the 537th Regiment, and Zhao Shuangxuan, chief of the division organization section, were also ready for battle. They came to the command post of the 535 regiment, Wang Yucheng and the regimental political commissar Sun Shuzhen talked, Sun Shuzhen said, the backbone cadres have carried out intensive training, discipline and precautions everyone understands, everyone is full of confidence in victory, and the assault company held a flag ceremony.
The commander of the 8th Company was the first to sign his name on a red flag: Wen Youwang, and then Li Donghai, Wang Shoushan, Li Chengfu, Jiang Yuxing and more than 150 others signed. Everyone is determined to put the red flag on the 902.8 heights. Wang Yucheng said that the whole regiment participated in the battle of 1537 people, and they were all ready. They went to the 2nd Battalion to explain the precautions to the battalion commander Fan Hui, and then to the 13rd Battalion to give instructions to the commander of the Qin Daqi Battalion and the instructor Duan Zhilao. In the night, they sent off the attacking troops at the front and shook hands to say goodbye. Zhang Youren, commander of the 4th Company who served as a surprise attack, and the commando detachments saw the commanders of the division and regiment coming to the front and said with full confidence: Please rest assured that the chiefs will be assured and that they will complete the task.
Zhong Sheng, Zhang Chunsen, Wu Zhankui, and Zhang Zeqing all went to the assault company and battalion to check the combat readiness and visit the commanders and fighters. Zhong Sheng and Wu Zhankui patted the shoulder of Huang Shangzhi, deputy battalion commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 542nd Regiment, and said: In addition to commanding the troops of the headquarters battalion, you also have 1 battalion, 3 companies, 2 battalions, and 6 companies, and the burden is not light. At 14:00 on the 9th, at the flag-awarding swearing-in meeting of the 542nd Regiment, Wu Zhankui was at the mouth of the tunnel, and the party committee of the delegation gave a banner made by the division that read, "We must plant the red flag on the 973 highlands," to Cai Maitian, commander of the 8th Company. On behalf of the commanders and fighters of the 8th Company, Cai Maitian swore an oath to the motherland: "For the sake of peace, for the sake of the motherland, and for the sake of the Korean people, we guarantee that our superiors will fight wherever they go and nail them wherever they go..."
The offensive detachments of the 543rd regiment and the 540th regiment also completed all preparations.
At nightfall, Zhang Zuyu, Wang Chenghan, and Deng Shijun introduced the situation to the head of the corps on the one hand, and on the other hand, they always paid close attention to the situation of the lurking troops.