The Battle of Changjin Lake in a Personal Diary: The Cultural and Industrial Corps, Abbaji, and the American Military Cultural and Industrial Corps | The Korean Armistice Agreement | Anti American Aid to Korea

Flipping through the script, diary, and manuscript written by his father Wu Zaowen during the Korean War, it can be seen that the 60th Division of the 20th Army's cultural and industrial team sang the heroic journey amidst the smoke of war on the eastern front, and scenes came to mind.

The female soldiers of the 60th Division's cultural and industrial team

The predecessor of the 60th Division of the 20th Army was the Zhejiang East Guerrilla Column of the New Fourth Army. This division had the highest level of education in the New Fourth Army and Huaye Central. There were many workers and students from cities in Shanghai and the Jiangnan region, and my father was the captain of the division's cultural and labor team at the time. On June 25, 1950, the Korean War broke out. On October 7th, the 60th Division stationed in Luodian, Shanghai moved north and arrived in Zouxian on the 14th. On November 4th, I boarded another train to Meihekou, crossed Shanhaiguan on the 7th, arrived in Tonghua on the morning of the 10th, and crossed the Yalu River from Ji'an to participate in the war in North Korea on the 11th.

The day after entering the court, he was heavily bombarded by enemy planes

"Those American pilots are really crazy. They flew so low that the propellers could almost hit the brim of the walking person's hat. When diving, the sharp whistling pierced the eardrums and shook the heart strings." Father's description was immersive.

The army is digging a pit in Yuanshan

That was the second day of entering the court, and the cultural workers who departed at 2 pm were marching on the road. Not a kilometer away, enemy planes attacked, and everyone was busy hiding at the foot of the mountain. At this moment, the mule used by the cultural workers to carry curtains, props, and clothing was startled. People desperately pulled it into the mountain ditch, but it rushed desperately towards the road. The caretaker Lao Tang couldn't hold onto him alone, and his father rushed to help, but the two of them still couldn't hold onto. The enemy plane dived down again, and Old Tang let go of his hand. The mule went up the road. During the gallop, the load on the mule slipped down, while the straps were still wrapped around the mule's body, and the frame also slipped and hung under its belly. Lao He from the cultural workers rushed forward, holding the reins in one hand and untiing his shoulder straps in the other, and followed the mule along the road. I only heard the roar of enemy planes and the sound of machine guns popping out loud

The 20th Army is marching in the snow

The sky is getting dark, enemy planes are moving away, and the road is back to traffic. The cultural team continued to advance, and my father turned back to look for Lao He and the mule. Turning around the foot of the mountain, a North Korean man approached and gestured in half Chinese and half Korean, saying, "A Chinese person hanging flowers on the same tree."

Father hurried forward and saw bloodstains on the road, but did not see Lao He. He walked all the way to the landlord's house where he stayed on the first night of entering the court, and saw Lao He lying on the kang. The bullet of the aircraft machine gun was thick, causing a large wound, and Lao He was bleeding profusely. The North Korean military doctor who was wrapping him asked his father for a bandage. His father took out all four emergency kits and he also wrapped Lao He with a layer to stop the bleeding. The landlord brought charcoal fire to warm the injured.

Father finally breathed a sigh of relief. After sitting down, he asked the military doctor: Is there a hospital nearby? How to transfer the injured to the rear? The military doctor answered one by one with a pen. The military doctor's name is Li Songjian. He brought a box of saline injections, and his father gifted him a commemorative medal for the screening of the movie "The Victory of the Chinese People".

It's getting dark. Father stopped a car on the road. As soon as he saw that the car was filled with the People's Army, he gestured for wounded soldiers to be transported, and a soldier got off the car to give way and help him lift Lao He onto the car. Father turned around to see off the reluctant gaze of the family of Abba Ji, and his heart warmed. He was about to get off the car and shake hands before saying a few more words when the car started.

North Korea's Xinxing County presents a banner to the civil service team

There are two former North Korean comrades from Shino on the car, and one administrator speaks Northeastern dialect and is very familiar with the situation here. He told his father that the external responsibility mentioned by Dr. Li Jun no longer has a hospital. It would be better to send the injured to Manpu. If there is no hospital in Manpu, then bid farewell to Wu. If there is no hospital in Manpu, then cross the river and send them to Ji'an. As expected, he rushed to Ji'an. My father recalled, "The common people in this area have a high level of consciousness. Whenever they see an injured person, they let them carry them home. A middle-aged man called up a sleeping family and asked them to go to a corner to sleep, and gave the hot kang to Lao He to sleep on."

Arriving at Ji'an, I finally found out that there was a hospital in the nearby countryside. At two o'clock in the morning, I used a stretcher to take Lao He there. My father, who felt relieved, was very tired but wanted to return to the front early. He met a comrade from the Division and the People's Movement Department, and learned that the gathering place of the troops was in Qianchuan. He took a car to Jiangjie and the next day, he took a car to Qianchuan to meet with the cultural and labor team.

The author's father is in North Korea, and the first on the right is Zhang Yu, the instructor of the civil work team

Two days later, I met Xu Fang, the director of the political department of the division, in Nanxing Cave. My father said, "Director Xu didn't criticize us, he just said, 'The situation is very different from the domestic war. You are hitting the edge of the knife, and this is when MacArthur is going crazy! You must be careful!'" Director Xu also told everyone that the 'aerial campaign' failed to prevent the 150000 troops of the 9th Corps from completing the battle assembly, and the first battle of the 60th Division going abroad is about to begin. ".

"Glucose has one root"

The first battle in Korea was at Changjin Lake. On November 14, 1950, the 20th Army entered combat standby position, and the 60th Division was located in Guangchengdong. On the 27th, the battle broke out. Although our army was lagging behind in artillery, light weapons, ammunition, clothing, and food, we fought bravely until our ammunition ran out and completed the mission. By December 12th, the battle had basically ended.

Battle of Xinxing Village in Changjin Lake

My father said, "Throughout the Battle of Changjin Lake, in addition to taking care of the wounded and managing prisoners, the cultural workers' team mainly collected food to fill their stomachs and supply the wounded, and made every effort to find food for the frontline troops in the local area."

Lin Jie, an enemy worker who knows "Yangjingbang" English, is responsible for reviewing prisoners of war. The soldiers don't know foreign languages, they only know one "OK". Wake up the prisoner of beauty and say "OK, OK", go to bed and say "OK, OK", drink water and eat with a gesture of "OK, OK", defecate and defecate, pat his buttocks and say "OK, OK". My father said, "American prisoners are quite smart. When they say 'OK, OK', they understand everything. Later, the military generally taught English and shouted, 'Put down your gun' instead of 'glucose has one'."

American pilots captured in the 20th Army

When it comes to the two years on the Eastern Front, my father said, "During the war, we all dispersed our military work and sometimes even incited the front line. During the war breaks, we went to the troops for cultural performances."

The cultural work team performs for the army. The cultural work team cheers on the roadside

As the captain of the civil service team, my father served as the captain of the 60th Division's combat work team during the war. Speaking of this work, my father sighed and said, "Thank you to the party and government leaders of Xinxing County, South Hamgyong Province, and the local elders for their strong support to our army. As soon as we arrived there, they did everything they could to welcome our army to the area for rest and recuperation, leaving us with nothing to do. All supplies have been effectively carried out, from repairing rural electricity, restoring rice milling, to washing clothes for the volunteer army, transporting injured and sick people, and various daily necessities. They not only supplied the best rice for our army's local area, but also asked me if I wanted apples. The locally produced Guoguang apples are well-known."

One week after entering North Korea, my father deeply felt the depth and breadth of the mobilization of the Korean people in this war. He escorted the injured back to Jiangjie without catching the bus to Maekawa and found a place to stay. Almost all the houses in the entire urban area were bombed by enemy planes, but a magnificent Zhenjiang building with Chinese ancient architectural style, which is considered a miracle, stands tall. Not far away, a intact residential house was found. What impressed me the most was that the small door, which looked like a window, opened and emitted a dazzling light. It turned out that an electric stone lamp was lit inside, illuminating the indoor space very brightly. The kang was very hot, very big, and very clean. The owner took out a blanket and warmly welcomed us to stay. That night, I slept very soundly until 8 o'clock the next day. I felt the hot sleeping kang for the first time. "It's very comfortable." Father took a rice bag to the kitchen to cook breakfast and saw the small kitchen crowded with the hostess and a group of children. He thought, it's very cold outside. Last night, let's sleep on a hot kang. Where will they rest?

The North Korean people's understanding of Chinese culture also amazed their father. When he arrived in Maegawa, his father was hesitating whether to look forward for troops or backward for places to eat when a middle-aged North Korean man invited his father into the house. He is a high school English teacher who worked as a translator at the Garrison Command after the outbreak of war. He writes Chinese characters very well, loves drama very much, has played Ping in "Thunderstorm", is familiar with the history of Western drama, can recite Greek tragedies, and knows a lot about world-renowned writers, especially Soviet writers. My father also loves drama. Before joining the New Fourth Army, he worked at Yong'an Company. In his spare time, he studied literature and drama directing at the China Academy of Arts. He also participated in a drama troupe run by his classmates and watched performances by Shanghai Drama Society, China Travel Drama Troupe, and others. My father said, "Due to our similar hobbies and interests, we had a very good conversation." But there were also things that my father couldn't answer. The North Korean teacher asked, "What is Cao Yu doing now?"

My father said, "I only know that he is in Beijing and still engaged in theater. As a Shanghai native who is thousands of miles away from Beijing, I really don't know what he is doing."

The host invited a group of male and female students to have a meal together. Classmates sing and dance while eating, and sing "Without the Communist Party, there would be no New China" in Chinese. Their song paper is written in Chinese and Korean characters. I ate this meal for two hours.

Commander Song praises "mute play" and Teacher Peng calls out "legs not cut"

On January 4, 1951, the 20th Army rested for three months in Xianxing and Wulaoli. The altitude here is over 1000 meters lower than that of Changjin Lake, which is much warmer. The 60th Division's cultural work team has started singing and acting for the troops again, including two new plays created by their father based on battlefield materials: the mime "The Life of a Child" and the four act play "Fighting Together Forever".

The plot of "The Life of a Child" is: On the battlefield of Huangcaoling, a unconscious volunteer soldier is awakened by the sound of a baby crying. He crawled to search for a North Korean woman whose legs were frostbitten, and found a baby alive in the arms of a North Korean woman who had been killed by the US military. The soldier picked up the baby, climbed through the snow capped mountains, overcame the difficulties along the way, and delivered the baby to the hands of the Korean villagers. The entire drama is expressed through actions and expressions, with dance movements to enhance performance and music accompaniment. My father said, "Fortunately, without saying a word, anyone can understand."

On the 38th Festival, the play is performed by women from Xinxing County. The audience was filled with sighs, some burst into tears and continued to shout slogans. My father felt that the intense emotions at the meeting were rare in our daily lives. Afterwards, their cultural and artistic team made an exception and was transferred to participate in the cultural and artistic performance of the 9th Corps, which was only attended by the military cultural and artistic team. Commander Song Shilun of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps was deeply moved after watching this play. He repeatedly mentioned this play in his summary and instructions, praising it as a "mute play".

The other four act play "Forever Fighting Together" depicts two outstanding members of a Sino Korean joint guerrilla team in Changbai Mountain: Chinese Ding Shuhong and North Korean Jin Yanxun. They fought together, sharing life and death, and had a deep friendship. In a battle, Jin Yanxun was seriously injured and Ding Shuhong retreated with his back. A Japanese bullet penetrated the chests of the two, causing their blood to flow together. After the liberation of northern North Korea, Jin Yanxun and Ding Shuhong, who were about to return to their homeland, were inseparable and believed that their common ideals would make them fight together forever.

The stills of "Forever Fighting Together" in the diary

After returning to China, Jin Yanxun served as the captain of the People's Army squad. After the US military landed in Incheon, he was injured in guerrilla warfare in the south and was taken to a hospital in the mountainous area of North Korea. The platoon leader of the Volunteer Army, Ding Shuhong, intercepted and broke through the US military at Huangcaoling on the eastern front. He stuffed the final explosive package into the tank tracks, causing the tank to stop moving. Ding Shuhong was thrown into an ice cave and his legs were frostbitten. He was taken to the hospital where Jin Yanxun was staying. The doctor believes that Ding Shuhong's frostbite is seriously life-threatening and requires amputation, while Ding Shuhong is unwilling to lose both legs in order to return to the front line. At this moment, Jin Yanxun, who had recovered from his injuries and been discharged, came to bid farewell to the doctor. Ding Shuhong recognized his long lost comrade in arms and the two hugged tightly together. Upon learning that Ding Shuhong was often referred to as a hero of resistance against Japan by Jin Yanxun, the doctor and dean tried their best to save Ding Shuhong's legs. Jin Yanxun returned to the battlefield, and they once again made an appointment to meet again in front of each other, fighting together forever.

My father said, "This is a purely fictional story with historical and realistic basis. After the performance in the army, it received a strong response." While watching the play, Peng Fei, the commander of the 60th Division sitting in front of my father, saw that the doctor was going to amputate the hero. He was really anxious and turned around to grab my father. He said seriously and with a commanding tone, "This leg cannot be amputated!"

Father smiled and said, "Don't worry, chief. We won't let him cut it off!"

At the end, the teacher smiled with satisfaction. The Political Department of the Division believes that the cultural and industrial team adheres to serving the military, closely cooperates with political tasks, and plays a positive role in military education and the military and civilians of China and North Korea. The cultural and industrial team is awarded the collective third class merit, and the father is awarded the individual third class merit.

Group photo of the entire team after achieving third class merit in the establishment of the cultural and industrial team

"Sing My Cooking Room" won an award in Beijing

On September 25, 1951, the 20th Army launched the construction of field defense positions and conducted coastal defense readiness training between Baishan, Guangyan Mountain, Yingfeng Mountain, and Houlu Mountain in Yuanshan.

On December 24th, my father led the lower platoon of the division's cultural and industrial team to serve the army. The next day, he went to the 5th Company of the 178th Regiment. Seeing the whole company's emotions rising, there are people in each class who are looking for cultural and educational programs. The first step of the cultural work team is to create two "China North Korea Friendship Raps" to help the soldiers create. My father wrote in his diary that day, "It gives me the feeling that the progress of the troops going abroad is amazing. In terms of culture, war cannot defeat the military's literary and artistic activities, and hardship does not affect the requirements of the military's literary and artistic activities. Indeed, the new China will inevitably appear in the east of the world as a country with a high level of culture."

The members of the cultural team are creating

On the last day of 1951, my father participated in the evaluation of the 1st Battalion program and watched the 2nd Battalion program on New Year's Day. He felt, "From the creation of this series, we meet soldiers every day, work together every day, and there is still a great distance between our experiences of the soldiers' inner lives."

In 1952, the civil service team rushed forward and performed continuously. On January 4th and 5th, there will be two consecutive days of performances, including a stretcher team special session. In addition to performing and coaching the company to create programs, another important task of the cultural team is to produce results through group art. On January 17th, my father couldn't help but rejoice in his diary: "There is a Northeast comrade in Jiulian who can sing nearly a hundred minor tunes. It is said that my father is a drummer, and he himself can also play plum blossoms. This time, he made up a song called" Four Seasons Tune for Cooking Room ", which is quite beautiful." The "Big Golden Baby" that the cultural work team finally dug out was a cook named Zhang Fusheng, who wrote and sang "Singing My Cooking Room" in the 2nd Company of the Division Artillery Corps. ".

Battlefield Concerto

From June 20th to 24th, the 20th Army held a cultural and artistic review conference. I participated in 20 programs, of which 18 were created by soldiers. Among them, four programs, including "Singing My Kitchen", "Warrior Dance", "Little Iron Factory", and "New Cotton Pants", were selected by the Political Department of the Chinese People's Liberation Army and participated in the "August 1st" Cultural Festival of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. In Beijing, "Singing My Kitchen" won third prize and its work was published in "Talking and Singing". As stated in "The History of the 20th Army's War": "The cultural work of the army extensively mobilized the masses, cooperated closely with the center, had lively and lively forms, and rich and colorful content. The activities of military exercises formed a trend, which greatly encouraged and educated the army."

The 20th Army built cities in the Yuanshan area until September 1952, and returned to Andong on October 17. On the 19th, the 60th Division returned to Shanghai Luodian, where they were stationed before entering North Korea.