Siheyuan: A Family of Loyal and Brave People

Not long after the 702nd Regiment arrived at the north side of Changjin Lake, snowflakes began to fall from the sky, accompanied by a howling cold wind, and the temperature dropped again.

Taking advantage of the break, Cheng Hao and He Yuzhu took off their equipment, took out the dry food and distributed it to the members of the regiment one by one.

In order to conceal the whereabouts of the troops, they could not make a fire. The soldiers of the 702nd Regiment could only bite the frozen dry food and eat some snow on the ground when they were thirsty.

"Zhu Zi, don't just stand there, move and eat some dry food to replenish your energy.

Otherwise, I won’t be able to bear it.”

After distributing the dry food, Cheng Hao stamped his feet while eating the millet in his hand that was as frozen as a stone.

In extremely cold weather, you must move as much as possible to keep your body warm and resist the cold, otherwise you will freeze to death.

Now that the enemy has not arrived yet, they can still move around a little.

When the enemy enters the war zone, they can only hide in the snow and stay motionless, which is very unbearable.

"Ah."

More than a month of military service has made He Yuzhu lose his childishness and become much more mature and stable, no longer as willful as before.

"Brother Hao, do you think it's really useful for the two of us to come here?"

He Yuzhu, who was chewing on dry food, suddenly looked up at Cheng Hao.

They were not allowed to light fires, and they could not cook. The kitchen staff was not effective, but rather a burden. He Yuzhu found it hard to accept.

“Of course it’s useful, doesn’t dry food need to be carried by someone?

Doesn’t ammunition need to be transported by people?

Even if we can't cook, there are still many things waiting for us to do.

Every soldier who braved the cold and trekked through mountains and rivers to come here is important, you have no doubt about it."

Cheng Hao stared at He Yuzhu intently and spoke in a serious tone.

As soon as he arrived at the battlefield, Cheng Hao keenly realized that the threat posed by extreme weather to soldiers might be even greater than that posed by the enemy.

When the fighting really breaks out, those of them who are responsible for logistics will have an extremely heavy burden on their shoulders.

The fact is just as Cheng Hao thought. Among the 150,000 volunteers who participated in the Battle of Changjin Lake, nearly 30,000 were frostbitten and more than 4,000 froze to death. This is a very cruel set of numbers. You should know that the casualties of this battle were less than 20,000. If calculated according to the casualty ratio of 1 to 3, the number of soldiers who froze to death is not much different from the number of people who died directly in battle. It can be seen how terrifying the extremely cold weather is.

"I understand."

He Yuzhu nodded, the doubt in his eyes disappeared, and his eyes became much more determined.

The frozen dry food was difficult to swallow, and before everyone had finished eating, the order came down from above.

All the members of the 702nd Regiment hurriedly packed up their things and went to the preset positions to hide and wait for the enemy.

……

The wind was still blowing, the snow was still falling, and the mountain forests north of Changjin Lake were completely silent. All I could see was a vast expanse of white snow, and all I could hear was the biting cold wind.

A US military unit moved north along the frozen Changjin Lake and directly into the mountains and forests.

The American soldiers in the team all had gloomy faces, wrapped their coats tightly as they walked slowly, and would complain from time to time.

“Damn it, oh my god, damn it.

I guarantee that the generals were out of their minds to let us march in such weather.

God will not forgive them!"

After the baptism of World War II, the quality of individual soldiers and the coordination of multiple arms of the US military have reached a very high level. However, even so, they still struggled in the temperature of more than 30 degrees below zero.

“Oh, Corporal Jack, stop complaining.

It's all about kicking that damn yellow monkey back into the cage.

As long as everything goes according to plan, we can return home before Christmas.

Then you can get some spoils for Christmas."

The officer in the middle of the team comforted his subordinates with kind words.

Along the way, everyone in the team had accumulated resentment, which could easily lead to disaster if not handled properly. With the war imminent, he didn't want to cause any trouble.

"Trophy?"

Upon hearing this word, the American soldiers nearby all burst into laughter.

"What kind of loot can a group of poor yellow monkeys have?"

“Maybe we should scalp them.

If it were more than a hundred years ago, I could have taken it as a reward."

In the early days of the United States, there was a massacre of Indians in the country. It was a cruel period in history. It is hard to imagine that there are still people who enjoy it today.

"Okay, boys, save your energy for the battle."

The U.S. troops advanced forward recklessly, completely unaware that countless pairs of eyes were staring at them in the thick snow.

As time passed, more and more UN troops arrived at Changjin Lake.

When the enemy's main force entered the encirclement, volunteer soldiers holding charge horns suddenly emerged from the snow in the mountains. Then the sound of charge horns one after another became one, resounding through the sky, and attacking with overwhelming force.

As soon as the horn sounded, the volunteer soldiers hiding in the snow took off their camouflage and launched an attack on the enemy according to the predetermined plan.

The enemy suddenly emerged from the snow and caught the UN forces off guard. In the panic, they were cut into several sections and surrounded by the volunteers.

Under a pine tree, Cheng Hao suddenly stood up, shaking his frozen body like a sieve. Before he could recover, he started digging the snow pile next to him like crazy. After a lot of effort, he finally dug out a person.

"Zhu Zi, Zhu Zi, wake up, are you okay?"

Cheng Hao continued to shake He Yuzhu's body, and finally breathed a sigh of relief when he found that he was still breathing.

All members of the 702nd Regiment were hidden in the snow, and no one was allowed to reveal their position without orders.

Crouching in the snow for a long time will cause a rapid depletion of body heat. Once you lose consciousness, you are in danger of freezing to death.

Originally, there were more than twenty people near the area where Cheng Hao was hiding, but now only less than twenty of them have stuck their heads out. It is obvious that some of them have fallen before the battle started.

"Come on!"

When the battle broke out, the volunteer soldiers who were still able to move ignored their unconscious teammates and launched a charge against the enemy under the leadership of commanders at all levels.

Cheng Hao and other logistics personnel rescued the wounded while setting up a temporary rear base to provide supplies to the front-line troops.

A battle lasts a long time. If the subsequent supplies cannot keep up, it will directly affect the combat effectiveness of the soldiers on the front line.

Cheng Hao dug out his comrades who had been frozen into ice sculptures from the snow. Every time he encountered someone who had lost their breath, his heart grew heavier.

These people were all brave warriors, but unfortunately they didn't survive until the battle began and they didn't launch an attack on the enemy. They died on the vast snowy plains. The only thing Cheng Hao could do was to salute them and then take off all their equipment and supplies to support the front line.

The 702nd Regiment was stationed in Sijiucheng and was equipped with winter clothes when they entered North Korea, but they still suffered many casualties. The Ninth Corps, who were wearing only single clothes, must have had a harder time. Collecting more unowned military coats may save lives at a critical moment.