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The Van Fleet group, which attacked and rescued the 24th Mibu Division from Gapyeong to the northwest, retreated overnight.

The 3rd Mibu Division was immediately transferred to Moshiyu-ri by Van Fleet, the 25th Mibu Division returned to Gapyeong to garrison, and the 9th and 11th Divisions of South Korea also returned, but it was delayed a little to allow the U.S. troops to withdraw first.

Not only the 3rd Meibu Division but also the 2nd Meibu Division rushed to Moshiyuli overnight.

Traveling across the ocean, the 2nd Mibu division transported from the west coast of the United States to South Korea has been dangling on the sea for nearly a month, but neither Ridgway nor Van Fleet had time to let the 2nd Mibu division rest. On May 5, the three regiments went ashore from Busan and Pohang at the same time. After each regiment found its heavy equipment, it immediately moved forward.

It was the first uppercut of Van Vleet's "double hook" offensive.The 2nd Meibu Division and the 3rd Meibu Division headed west from Moshiyuli, and the 600st Marine Division and [-]st Meiqi Division crossed the Han River from Henan (the east side of the south bank of the Han River), and launched assaults on Namyangju from two directions.After the capture of South Yangzhou, three and a half divisions and [-] tanks of the United Nations broke into the North Plain of the Han River.

Van Fleet's second uppercut was on the Eastern Front. The remnant of the 5th Army Corps of the People's Army, which had suffered heavy losses in the previous few days of fighting, was guarding Yangkou County. The Division and the 5th Division jointly attacked Yangkou County, and then the 13th Mibu Division poked west - the west of Yangkou County is the area from Chunchuan to Huachuan, where the 7rd and 3th Army besieged and monitored Chuncheon Meibu 5 Division and Meibu 7 Division.Whether this uppercut can be successful depends on the premise that the three divisions of the United Nations Army can quickly annihilate or defeat the 63th Army of the People's Army in Yangkou County. The probability of being able to issue a combo.

As for the objectives of the campaign...to recapture Seoul and the Han River plain on the western front, to annihilate or defeat the Chinese army that semi-encircled Chuncheon on the eastern front, and to push the front north to the [-]th parallel.If the two battles on the east and west lines achieve their goals, it will probably be fine.

On the morning of May 5th, Moshi Yuli.

Although the old 2nd Meibu Division had nearly 3000 soldiers (including a roughly complete infantry battalion) running out on the Qingchuan River, the new 2nd Meibu Division actually had few veterans who had participated in the first and second battles.After returning from the defeat at the border between China and North Korea, the 3000 people who ran out either applied for retirement, or were forced to retire with PTSD.

Except for a few grassroots officers who had served in the Korean battlefield, the newly formed 2nd American Division was mostly re-recruited soldiers, but not all recruits—nearly 40% of the grassroots soldiers were re-enlisted WWII veterans.

The 2nd Meibu Division took the lead in attacking, and the "Pershing" heavy tanks of the 741st Heavy Tank Battalion crossed a small village called Lucunli, and Moshiyuli Village was ahead.

When a row of shells came out of Moshiyuli Village, the commander of the 741 Heavy Tank Battalion felt very dizzy for a while: Didn’t it mean that a few small villages only need to pass through quickly, and the large troops can go straight to the outside of Namyangju?

Chapter 151, Double uppercut and three pits

Li Qiwei suppressed Blackshire for a long time and refused to let the 24th Meibu Division surrender. The purpose is obvious.In fact, Tang Hua reckoned that even if the Volunteer Army hadn't cracked the U.S. wireless telegram in real time, Su Yu would have been able to guess what Li Qiwei was thinking.Even better after cracking the telegram, no more guessing.

Let the 24th Meibu Division carry it to death in Lianchuan, even if nearly a hundred seriously wounded die every day, it is to hold back the volunteers who besieged the 24th Meibu Division (the US military estimates that there are 8 to 10 divisions, which is basically accurate), and then Van Fleet can find another breakthrough and use the time difference to fight back.

美步24师牵制了志愿军3个军，这样在西线和联合国军顶在一线的就只有志愿军3个军和朝鲜人民军1个军团，而联合国军有5个美军师、2个南朝鲜师、2个英国旅和1个土耳其旅。美步24师5月12日傍晚投降，虽然在李奇微看来如果能多拖24小时更好，但美步24师好像确实体力不支了，不得不举白旗，勉强算完成任务吧。

5月13日上午，美军的计划就是双勾拳：西线4个美军师（美骑一师的坦克部队伤得比较重）从汉江平原东侧打开突破口；东线1个美军师和2个韩国师攻击杨口郡然后迂回。

Another development that may be slightly less important is that on the easternmost side of the Eastern Front, the South Korean Capital Division and the 7th Division marched all the way along the coastline.From May 5th, when the attack of the People's Army's 5nd Corps was contained, it began to push back. By May 2th, the South Korean Army had been attacking for 5 days in a row. Lake, the next step is to advance to Goseong County.Of course, this is not because of how powerful the South Korean capital division is, but because the U.S. Navy has two "Iowa"-class battleships in the Sea of ​​Japan, with 13mm cannons attached to the shore and bombarded...

"Retracting the defense line and reinforcements have made my troops more abundant than a week ago. If all the counterattacks on the east and west lines achieve the purpose of the campaign, our army can resume its offensive posture on the battlefield."

In the 8th Army headquarters in Suwon, Li Qiwei and Van Fleet did not dare to neglect the ongoing double uppercut counterattack, and were always paying attention to the changes on the front line.

Ridgway: "What is the greatest possible outcome of the campaign?"

范佛里特：“如果反击足够迅速，西线我军将在汉城击溃或歼灭4个中国师和3个朝鲜师。在东线我们已经击溃了2个朝鲜师，未来还能击溃或歼灭3个中国师和1个朝鲜师。”

Li Qiwei: "What about the smallest result?"

Van Fleet: "The worst luck is that our army failed to annihilate any Chinese division, but even so, the control area of ​​​​our army on the east and west lines can also expand northward."

Ridgway: "General Bradley's plans and suggestions to the White House are indeed correct."

Van Vleet: "What's the suggestion?"

"After the double hook offensive is over, the United States will propose a truce, no matter where the battle line ends up stopping," Ridgway said. "So, the double uppercut may be our last large-scale offensive campaign."

……

While Ridgway and Van Fleet were discussing the future of the Korean battlefield and the fate of the United Nations Army, the hunting battles of tanks and anti-tank guns in Lucunli and Moshiyuli villages were in full swing.

The 2st Heavy Tank Battalion of the 741nd Meibu Division, from the battalion commander to the soldiers, basically came to North Korea for the first time.When the tanks driven by the veterans were swayed by the artillery shells from the opposite village, there was an illusion that this was not in East Asia but in Western Europe.The enemies they faced were not the Asian army, but "cheetahs" and "tigers".

The 741st Heavy Tank Battalion paused the attack after the number of tanks destroyed reached double digits.The marching speed was too fast, and the two tank battalions of the 2nd Meibu division still had half an hour to reach the battlefield, and the howitzer regiment was still farther behind, and it took about 45 minutes to an hour to deploy.

The 2nd and 3rd Mibu divisions will cross Moshiyuri to attack Namyangju, while the [-]st Marine Division and [-]st Biqiu Division will forcibly cross the Han River and attack from the south of Namyangju.

Now, the 20th Army plus the first tank division has to face counterattacks launched by almost 4 US divisions from two directions.

……

美步2师与坦克第一师的SU-100接战的时候，前些天双方打得不死不休的加平-大名溪谷，沿着山谷依次撤退的美步25师、南朝鲜第9、11师行军纵队突然被27军79师截断。一阵乱仗过后，拖在最后的南朝鲜11师全师被切断包了饺子。

In the blocking battle in the past week, all three divisions of the 15th Army went to the blocking line. Under the order of Zhisi, the 27th Army hid the two complete divisions of the 79th and 80th, and only used the 81st and 94th Divisions to go up the mountain to block the attack.Moreover, when the US military's offensive momentum slowed down, on the night of May 5, the lightly armed troops of the 11th and 79th Divisions began to walk through the mountains in the central part, walking at night to avoid the high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft of the US military. On the morning of May 80, The two divisions had detoured behind the United Nations army group, and took advantage of the retreat to launch an attack from the mountain.

The battle of the 27th Army to cut off the marching column almost drove William Hodge, commander of the 8th Army of the 9th Army, crazy.Of course, the motorized marching column of three full divisions could not see the front and the rear on the mountain road with only two lanes.In fact, on the morning of the 13th, the 25th Meibu Division was the first to set off and retreat. At this time, the whole division had already left the mountainous area and entered Gapyeong City. The traffic jams on the mountain road were the 9th and 11th Divisions of the South and a US military. Engineer Battalion.

Therefore, only the South 9th Division and the South 11th Division can rescue each other. Even if the Mibu 25th Division who entered Gapyeong Fortress wants to turn around and go back to save the field, it will be difficult.

It would be fine if only one South Korean division was cut off, but at the end there is an engineering battalion with more than 700 American soldiers, which cannot be lost.They were at the end of the retreat. Some armored vehicles were loaded with explosives to destroy the road, and some were loaded with mines to block the enemy.

……

In Yangkou County, the third hole dug by the Volunteers for the U.S. counterattack is here.

正如美军作战计划的电报里规定的，5月13日晨，美步7师果然带着南朝鲜第3师开始猛攻杨口郡，这里只有人民军第5军团的1个师外加1个团。

However, a few kilometers to the north of Yangkou County, the 19th Army of the 64th Corps of the Volunteer Army is quietly hiding in the mountains.

The U.S. military thought that after capturing Yangkou County, they could catch the 64th Army and the 65th Army of the Volunteer Army. In fact, there is no need to go around such a long way.

In Zhisi, Ye Ting and Jin Xiong, deputy commander of the Volunteer Army/former enemy commander-in-chief of the People's Army, finally got North Korean comrades included in Zhisi's combat plan after arduous communication.

After being attacked by the U.S. Army, the People's Army in Yangkou County retreated northward after a little resistance, and let the U.S. Army and the South Korean Army enter Yangkou County.When the U.S. Army entered Yangkou County and started the so-called westward sweep from Yangkou County, the 5th Army of the People's Army and the 64th Army fought back together to wipe out the left-behind troops of the United Nations Army in Yangkou County.

Yangkou County and Hwacheon County are almost on the same latitude line, but in this area, there is an east-west river in the north and an east-west river in the south. The two rivers separate the area between the two counties into a corridor. .If the 64th Army reoccupied Yanggu County to cut off the enemy's rear, the 65th Army blocked the front, and the 63rd Army continued to monitor the enemy in Chuncheon, the United Nations forces between Yanggu County and Hwacheon County would have nowhere to escape.

……

Washington.

After Bradley and Ridgway exchanged views, they held a meeting with President Truman with the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"With regard to the war in North Korea, we need to do two things now." Bradley said, "First, expand the scale of recruiting troops and form two to three new infantry divisions, one of which will be deployed to North Korea and one to Japan; Second, the United Nations forces are launching a large-scale ground counterattack in North Korea, and when the counterattack is over, no matter what the outcome is, they should propose a ceasefire and negotiations with China.”

"Two to three infantry divisions?!" Truman said dissatisfiedly, "I have read the documents of the Ministry of Finance, and an infantry division will cost taxpayers 5 million dollars. The extra costs are in the millions. Is the Department of Defense now a bottomless pit? Not to mention you have lost two entire infantry divisions in the past six months, don't you have any idea of ​​the total death benefits?  … Now It is already May 1951, and four and a half months have passed in 5 months of the year. I am afraid that there is no such precedent for the United States to propose an additional defense budget to Congress. I choose the second option to stop this war. At least the two sides must as soon as possible Stop the big battles and sit down and negotiate."

BRADLEY: "Mr. President, I'm afraid you've misunderstood what I'm saying. I'm talking about doing both at the same time — proposing a ceasefire to China while building up two or three divisions."

Army Chief of Staff Joseph Collins: "If we don't expand two or three divisions, we can't guarantee that we will have 9 divisions permanently stationed in North Korea and the 10th division can be deployed quickly in an emergency. Even if we propose a ceasefire to China, the Chinese will not bother. to negotiate with us. Even if China agrees to sit down and negotiate after the end of this counterattack, after a few months, when the Chinese rest and replenish their troops, or send additional troops from home into North Korea, they will put Overturn the negotiating table and resume the offensive until the United Nations forces are driven into the sea."

Truman: "Mr. Chief of Staff, you are scaremongering."

Collins: "No, it's quite possible in the future. If you don't do those two things, you might as well just throw the Okinawa nukes out."

Truman: ...

On May 5, after being indiscriminately bombarded by politicians from allies of the United States for a full 12 hours, Truman finally delivered a speech to respond positively.To sum up the long speech, the summary is "I am not, I don't, don't talk nonsense" and "This is the daily training of the Air Force, it is only a temporary transfer, not a permanent deployment to Okinawa".

Not only in words, but in terms of actual actions, the transport ship carrying the core of the nuclear bomb that was supposed to be close to Okinawa has now turned back.Moreover, the casings of the nine nuclear bombs shipped to Okinawa also left the assembly plant and were put back into storage, waiting for the transport ship to come and transport them back to Guam.

Bradley: "After this large-scale counterattack is over, the Chinese army will suffer huge casualties, and the surviving soldiers will also be very tired and will face logistical shortages. There is a high probability that they will be asked to negotiate at this time. The Chinese will be willing to sit at the negotiating table."