Chapter 132: Thin cotton clothes? Frozen potatoes? This is too miserable!

It is impossible to stretch out on the peninsula, which is narrow and mountainous.

Once you go too deep into the country, you may be cut off from retreat.

The Eagles also have an absolute advantage in terms of numbers.

The first batch to enter North Korea was four armies with 190,000 people, plus other troops totaling 210,000 people.

Joining the second two armies, there were a total of 290,000 people.

The United Nations army had 350,000 troops, a full 60,000 short.

The biggest gap is actually in weapons and equipment and logistical supplies.

With such a huge gap in strength between the two sides, it would be impossible for any other country to win.

Only China, with its strong fighting spirit, has been able to tackle this tough problem!
The old man sighed: "It was really hard back then. The temperature was over 40 degrees below zero, and we only had a thin cotton coat on us!"

"It's just this cotton coat, and not everyone has one."

"I saw with my own eyes an old squad leader who gave his cotton coat to a young soldier who had a cold and fever. The next day, he..."

The old squad leader is not an isolated case.

On the first day of arriving on the peninsula, more than 700 people suffered severe frostbite.

[What? It's minus 40 degrees Celsius, and you're only wearing a cotton coat? You're going to freeze to death!]

[How can we fight under such conditions? Are all Chinese people iron men? ]

[I remember that Yingjiang's cold-proof equipment is cotton underwear, turtleneck sweater, cold-proof jacket, and long down jacket! ]

[Yes, and it has also undergone special cold-proof testing to ensure it can withstand extreme low temperatures! ]

[Isn't China too stingy? They only give soldiers this kind of equipment? Where did the money go? ]

[I'm not being stingy. With the productivity at that time, this was already the limit! ]

At that time, garment factories across the country were working day and night, working hard to produce cotton clothes.

However, domestic productivity is limited, and it is still impossible for everyone to wear them.

At that time, the Prime Minister also specifically instructed to use new cotton.

It is not for the sake of appearance or warmth, but so that soldiers can use cotton to stop bleeding after being injured.

Because medicines and medical supplies are extremely scarce in the country, even cotton swabs and cotton balls are hard to find...

There are not enough cotton clothes, let alone quilts.

Often a dozen people would use a quilt and hug each other to keep warm.

Because the temperature was so low, many people were frozen unconscious.

What's worse, the ears would fall off with just a slight touch of the hand.

There was an 18-year-old soldier who had his fingers and toes frozen off in Changjin Lake.

Before he had the chance to participate in the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, he was sent to the rear for treatment.

He said: "I feel very ashamed. I have not made any contribution to the country, the party or the people."

"Grandpa, what are you eating?"

Anna was so shocked that her ears, fingers and toes were frozen off!

This was a scene she could never imagine.

She knew that the volunteer soldiers had a hard time, but she didn’t know it was so hard!
How painful it must be for the soldiers!

"As for food, I ate fried noodles at first. When I was hungry, I grabbed a handful of fried noodles. When I was thirsty, I ate some snow."

"You know what, fried noodles taste pretty good. Everyone likes it."

"We also thought of a slogan, which is to make contributions to fried noodles!"

"It's just that the snow is too cold. After eating it, my stomach hurts all day long."

"If I could drink some hot water at that time, I would be happier than a god!" [Eating snow to quench thirst? This is too miserable. I can't even drink water? ]

[By the way, what is fried noodles? Is there any Chinese friend who can explain it to me? ]

【70% wheat, 30% soybeans, corn or sorghum are fried, ground, mixed, and then 0.5% salt is added to make fried noodles. 】

[Ah? This thing is called fried noodles? It sounds unpalatable! They actually said they love it? ]

[Well, the taste is certainly not that good, but compared to the food in the later period, the fried noodles are already pretty good! ]

At that time, the Volunteer Army needed 1482 million kilograms of fried noodles every month, but Northeast China could only produce about 1000 million kilograms.

The Prime Minister personally took action and led the people of the whole country to stir-fry noodles.

A craze quickly arose, with men, women, old and young mobilizing everyone, and every household was busy frying noodles.

But even so, the fried noodles could not be supplied in time.

Because of the Eagle Sauce's incessant bombing, the Volunteer Army's supply lines were severely damaged.

On April 1951, 4, fighter planes dropped a large number of incendiary bombs, burning 8 train cars of supplies at one time, including 84 million kilograms of raw and cooked grain, 287 kilograms of soybean oil, 33 sets of clothes and shirts, 40 pairs of rubber shoes, and a large amount of other supplies.

Only half of the supplies made it to the front line, and the rest were destroyed on the way.

Because the Volunteer Army lacked effective countermeasures, it could only allow the Eagle Sauce fighter jets to run rampant.

In some troops, food rations were reduced to extremely low standards, with front-line troops receiving one pound per person per day and logistics troops receiving eight ounces per person per day.

Think about it, they are soldiers who are going to fight in the battlefield!
Only one kilogram of food can be distributed per day!
Not to mention being full, even eating half full is impossible, it's just enough to fill the stomach.

Even this low standard cannot be met most of the time.

"If the fried noodles are not enough, we can go and dig wild vegetables. Three or four ounces of fried noodles plus wild vegetables is a day's meal."

"But there are so many kinds of wild vegetables that we can't tell them apart."

"Some soldiers ate poisonous wild vegetables and died in battle."

"At that time, having a full meal was really a luxury."

"Then we went to dig potatoes. It was so cold, 40 degrees Celsius, and the potatoes were frozen solid."

“It started out as four per person per day, then it became two.”

"Everyone still treasures this rare food. Eating a potato makes people as happy as if it were Chinese New Year."

"The logistics troops took the initiative to give up their potatoes, but what they ate was grass roots and tree bark..."

[Oh my god, frozen potatoes? You can eat this? You can't even bite it! Don't they even have fire? ]

[I just put a potato in the freezer. I'll try it after it's frozen! ]

[I never thought that the life of the volunteer army would be so hard! ]

[My grandpa said that they ate canned beef and chewing gum at that time! ]

[In comparison, the American soldiers are so lucky that they can even eat turkey on Thanksgiving! ]

Anna couldn't help but burst into tears. Their life was really hard!

If she hadn't come to China, she might never have known these things in her life.

But even with such difficulties, the volunteer army still won.

Not only did they win, but they also scared the Eagles!

They called the battle the most grueling ordeal in the history of the Marine Corps.

"The volunteers come and come again, they are just like the indestructible cockroaches!"

"We are very scared. They are the most tenacious army I have ever seen!"

"In the first wave, they all had weapons. In the second wave, not everyone had weapons."

“But they took up the weapons of the first wave of people, and no one chose to retreat!
(End of this chapter)