Why few people know about this battle, as the book says: Chinese and American soldiers are reluctant to recall the battle of Changjin Lake, because this bloody battle is too cruel.
After reading the book, the biggest feeling is that some realities are difficult to describe in movies and words.
When watching movies, every nerve is nervous: I wish the plane would be all right when the volunteers pretended to be dead to avoid enemy planes, but the damn American troops flew back to compete and shoot dead bodies. This passage reminds me of the part where the Japanese killed people in the same competition in the Nanjing Massacre. Is it the viciousness of human nature, or has the war turned people into butchers?
Every time I thought I was going to win, planes and tanks bombed in turn, hoping that the bullets would end soon, but how could it be so easy?
The pictures in the film give people an unusual sense of shock, the color of the hero and the aura of the protagonist, which is also exciting. The detailed description in the book makes people see a more cruel side. In the cold of Changjin Lake at minus 40℃, the 28-day decisive battle and the disparity of weapons and equipment can be fully reflected by more than one shot. The reality is beyond the expectations of soldiers, which is unimaginable for us living in peacetime.
Many volunteers were injured and could have been saved, but they were frozen to death. Some people couldn't fall down after being strafed by machine guns, scaring off the enemy because they were frozen stiff all over. Some people walk, stop for a while, and then disappear. Even if there is a spark of gas, it is hopeless and can't be saved.
The US military has cold hats, tweed uniforms, sweaters, coats, wool socks, leather boots and duck down sleeping bags. The company is equipped with cotton tents and stoves. In addition to a small gasoline stove, each class and each car has a special electric stove for heating. Due to the sufficient ammunition and gasoline, in order to prevent the equipment from freezing and the car from starting, it is stipulated to shoot at regular intervals and start the car once. There are canned cooked food made of meat and beans (C field rations), even canned meat, dairy products, vegetables and fruits (B field rations), and Christmas dinner.
Not to mention the difference between weapons, American planes, cannons and tanks, while our volunteers only have explosives, grenades and rifles. In the ice and snow, the Grenade can't be pulled, and it won't ring like in the movie.
The American army is not a paper tiger, but the will of the volunteers is an invisible steel gun and cannon to defeat the well-equipped enemy.
Look at the description of the ice sculpture company soldiers, which makes people's eyes moist.
The reality may be even more cruel than the written description, and the shocking casualty figures let us see the price behind the victory.
What if we don't rush to dispatch troops, but have food and grass first and be fully prepared? If the communication between officers can be thorough and clear; If the country's communication can be developed, it will not be so easy to do in China in the early days of liberation. Thousands of people who died in battle, soldiers who froze to death, could not be saved.
No matter how we win or lose, we should always remember our predecessors, learn from our experience and cherish the present peace, instead of forgetting him in the long river of history because of the cruelty of fighting and the stability of the world.