Chapter 13 5. MacArthur who shirked responsibility

On November 28, the Chinese army attacked more violently.When the battle on the entire Western Front was already in full swing, MacArthur held a meeting in Tokyo that was called "the strangest meeting in the Korean War" by military historians around the world. The meeting time was 21:50 on the evening of November 28, 1950. The American flag flutters over MacArthur's official residence in the First Building in Tokyo, and the interior of the official residence is brightly lit.The Japanese who were defeated in World War II seemed to have forgotten all about the war. The bustling streets of Tokyo were crowded with people. Looking out from the huge floor-to-ceiling windows of the MacArthur conference room, it was a scene of singing and dancing.The people who participated in the meeting have arrived: MacArthur, Hickey, Wright, Willoughby, Whitney, and Walker and Almond who were hastily called from the battlefield.In this regard, the US military history describes: "MacArthur's words and deeds now immediately become contradictory and confusing-these behaviors show that he is both confused and panicked, and he does not want the reality he is in. Destroyed the illusion of his intentions. The first in this strange series of actions he summoned two of his field commanders to Tokyo for a war seminar."

The reason why the meeting is "strange" is that there has never been such a meeting in the military history of the world: the front line of the war is at stake, and the troops participating in the war are facing desperation. Order the troops who left the front line to fly to a place thousands of kilometers away from the front line to study military issues. At the critical moment of the second battle of the Korean War, MacArthur, who has always been called "daring to go to the front line", did not go to the front line this time and held a meeting in the rear. The meeting continued until 1:30 am on the 29th.

The military issue discussed in the nearly four-hour meeting was: what should the United Nations army do in the face of the powerful attack of the Chinese army? While the meeting was open, urgent telegrams from the front-line commanders were sent in one after another. The meaning of the messages was basically the same: if there is no complete retreat, the entire army may be wiped out. At the meeting, Walker and Almond kept repeating a kind of work, which was to describe the huge number and incomparable combat effectiveness of the Chinese army in as vivid words as possible: "This time is not a partial counterattack, but a premeditated large-scale attack! The Chinese army is well-commanded and disciplined. They attack wave after wave without stopping and without rhythm. Keep hitting! Shock!"

"The Chinese army is all scud, and often pops up in places you can't even imagine, and often a whole division! Chinese soldiers blow a special kind of trumpet endlessly, and there seem to be whistles and cymbals and other clatters , rushed to our position like waves. They don't take life seriously at all!" "They especially like to fight behind our positions and launch assaults at night. Those Chinese soldiers have very good eyesight, and the night does not affect their operations." Walker especially complained about the great danger brought by the collapse of the South Korean army's defensive right flank: "A front without a flank is vulnerable. The Chinese army is good at turning around tactics. If the gap on the right flank is ineffective, the retreat of the United Nations forces will be difficult." If it is cut off, the situation will be unimaginable!"

MacArthur really fell into a kind of extreme confusion and fear at this time.It happened too suddenly. When the United Nations army attacked across the board and planned to end the war before Christmas, the Chinese army suddenly counterattacked with a huge force without any warning.To make matters worse, the United Nations Army was defeated so quickly.Is there a problem with intelligence?He glanced at Willoughby—the intelligence officer had his eyes closed, and he had put on a posture of swearing to death since the beginning of the meeting.Is it the low combat effectiveness of the United Nations Army, specifically the U.S. Army?Is it really the comfortable life after World War II that made these guys timid?Has the US military really become a "tatami army" as some reporters said?What is even more difficult to accept personally is, where did the large numbers of Chinese troops emerge from?Under the large-scale bombing that lasted for more than two weeks, how did they gather from mainland China to North Korea?Why did the U.S. reconnaissance plane not detect such a large troop march? ——MacArthur remembered: This is the consequence of Truman and his gang not allowing the thorough bombing of the Yalu River Bridge and the direct bombing of mainland China!

MacArthur then suddenly thought of a piece of "top secret information" that Willoughby had just sent to his desk. The content of the information was said to be a conversation between China's Lin Biao and his subordinates: I would never have risked my men and my military reputation by launching this attack had I not known in advance that Washington would prevent General MacArthur from taking appropriate retaliatory measures against our supplies and lines of communication. MacArthur made it clearer: it was Washington who emboldened the Chinese!These traitors! In fact, even MacArthur's junior officers would not believe this "intelligence" for the simple reason that it was not Lin Biao who commanded the Chinese army to participate in the Korean War.This document is most likely made by those agents of Chiang Kai-shek who have been all over the battlefield since the beginning of the war. It is easy for them to throw such a forged document to the US military. Only Chiang Kai-shek desperately wants the US to treat China Large-scale bombing of the mainland was carried out.

Of course, MacArthur would not trust such "intelligence", but this is undoubtedly the best reason that can be found for the defeat of the United Nations Army. The four-hour meeting did not discuss any policy or method to solve the problem. If there is a final decision, there are only two words: retreat. After the meeting, MacArthur sent a telegram to Washington. The US war history said that the essence of this telegram was that MacArthur was shirking responsibility: The developments resulting from our offensive operations are now clearly on display.All hopes of confining the Korean conflict to the North Korean military and an enemy force composed of symbolic foreign elements should now be completely ruled out.China has invested a large amount of military power in North Korea, and its strength is still growing.Any excuse for a small amount of support under the guise of volunteering or other pretexts does not have the slightest validity now.We face a whole new kind of war.

At present, as the Yalu River is frozen, the Chinese have opened up more and more reinforcement and supply channels, making it impossible for our air power to enforce the blockade.Obviously, our current military strength is not enough to deal with this undeclared war of the Chinese, and the right time and place are more beneficial to them.The resulting situation brings about a whole new situation that expands the possibilities for consideration on a worldwide basis beyond the discretionary purview of the theater commander.The Command has done everything within its purview, but the situation it is currently facing is beyond the Command's ability to manage.

When this telegram reached the hands of General Bradley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States, Mayor Bradley, who had already known about the reversal of the Korean War situation, was still surprised by MacArthur's current tone, because it was almost yesterday. , MacArthur also said that he was "full of confidence in the end of the war soon." Overnight, the war became "a whole new war" that "beyond the command's ability to control."The telegram clearly conveyed a message: MacArthur began to find excuses for the failure of the war-anyway, I did "everything within my power", and if the Joint Chiefs of Staff can't make any decisions, I will not be responsible for any accidents.

MacArthur's telegram was sent to Truman at 6 am on the 29th.At this time, Truman was preparing to take his daily morning walk on Pennsylvania Avenue, but Bradley called: "The Chinese have set both feet in North Korea!" Bradley said, " The Eighth Army has run into a large number of Chinese troops in Qingchuan Jiangbei, the right wing has disintegrated, and the U.S. military is being defeated!" Bradley read MacArthur's telegram on the phone. Truman's first thought was that the old guy who said "in any case, end the war by Christmas" was passing the buck - if the situation got to the point where even this arrogant old guy was eager to find a way out, then There is no doubt that the Korean War is really facing a crisis.

Then, MacArthur sent consecutive telegrams asking for an increase in troops, including two requests for permission to use Chiang Kai-shek's troops in the Korean War.MacArthur's reason was: Chiang Kai-shek's request was rejected in the past because he was worried about the Communist Party's attack on Taiwan and giving the Communist Party an excuse to participate in the Korean War. Now these considerations no longer exist, and the Korean battlefield urgently needs troops. In an extremely bad mood, Truman immediately called a special enlarged meeting of the National Security Council. After listening to the introduction of the Korean War situation, the participants all opened their eyes wide and remained silent. Secretary of Defense Marshall insisted on his point of view: the United States, as an independent country, or as a member of the United Nations, should not be involved in an all-out war with Communist China, otherwise it would fall into a trap carefully laid by the Soviets.So the United States should not enter Chinese territory, nor should it use Chiang Kai-shek's army. Bradley added: "If we are involved in a war with China, our power in Europe cannot continue to expand." Vice President Barkley couldn't hold back the anger in his heart, and raised a "public relations problem" that he believed was very dangerous for the government: MacArthur's words about "getting the children home before Christmas" have been widely quoted in the media , and did General MacArthur say such a thing? "MacArthur told reporters yesterday that he formally denied saying anything like that," Bradley said. "As a theater commander, it's a child's play!" Buckley knocked on the table, "It's a joke!" After the participants agreed that the attitude of the Soviet Union should be closely monitored, the discussion of the meeting turned to: How to leave North Korea with dignity? The embarrassing question has since been raised, and has dogged the U.S. government for two years. The meeting in Washington, like the one in Tokyo, did not produce any substantive results.Since MacArthur was arranging the retreat of the troops, there was no need to give him any new instructions; besides, even if Washington had any new instructions, Washington knew that the old guy would not listen. The commanders of the Chinese 38th Army were excited to see the telegram from Mao Zedong on the 27th.The telegram congratulated the victory of annihilating the South Korean army in the direction of Tokugawa, and then pointed out that the next task was even more difficult, that is, the battle aimed at annihilating the main forces of the US First Division, Second Division, and Twenty-fifth Division.If this goal is achieved, the war situation will develop smoothly. After the start of the second campaign across the board, the commanders of the Chinese 38th Army realized that whether they could annihilate one or two divisions of the US military was related to the future of the entire Korean War; and the key to annihilating the US divisions lay in the first Can the Thirty-Eighth Army be interspersed in place? Peng Dehuai ordered the 38th Army to immediately advance in the direction of Sansuoli, completely blocking the retreat of the US military. The officers and soldiers of the 38th Army who had just finished the Tokugawa battle were very tired.When the temporary slack came down, hunger and sleepiness came quietly.Soldiers may fall asleep anytime, anywhere, whether they are digging fortifications or moving the march.Zhu Yueqing, head of the 338th Regiment of the 113th Division, had just picked up a bowl of porridge, and when he stirred it with chopsticks, he fell down and fell asleep, spilling the porridge all over his body. The 113th Division was interspersed with the most important target, the 3rd Division, and the vanguard of the 113th Division was the 338th Regiment led by Zhu Yueqing. Jiang Chao, a division commander of the 113th Division, said to Zhu Yueqing on the phone: "Order your regiment to set off immediately! Do you have a map with you?" According to the instructions of the teacher, Zhu Yueqing marked the advancing route on the map.Measured on the map, the straight-line distance from the departure point to Sansuoli is 72.5 kilometers. At that time, few regiment-level officers of the 338th Regiment clearly knew what they were going to do in a hurry to the 3rd Institute.Immediately, Zhu Yueqing issued orders to the battalions: eat meals while walking, and issue tasks while walking, and no soldier is allowed to be left behind. In the Battle of Tokugawa, the 38th Army seized a lot of light weapons, and many Chinese soldiers replaced them with American Tom guns and machine guns. 13 captives who could drive cars, including 8 South Koreans and 5 Americans, were selected. Under the escort of Chinese soldiers, they drove 13 cars full of captured ammunition and followed the 113th Division. In the hazy moonlight, the team of the 113th Division rushed to the intended target desperately.The long team crossed the mountains, forests and rivers, trying to keep quiet, but people kept falling and making loud noises.The extremely tired soldiers staggered when they walked, and woke up when they fell into the mountain stream, and then climbed up again. As soon as the team stopped, even for a moment, someone fell asleep, and the snoring sounded all at once.Some people are afraid that they will fall asleep and fall behind, so they simply lie in the middle of the road when they are resting, so that even if they fall asleep, they will be trampled awake when the team moves forward.It was even more difficult for the artillerymen. They carried the artillery pieces and shells and followed the infantry without falling. The sound of panting was scary.The 338th Regiment, the vanguard of the 113th Division, led by Liu Haiqing, the deputy commander of the 113th Division, wiped out a platoon of the South Korean Army in Anshan Cave, and a company of the South Korean Army in Shatun. In order to prevent the extremely tired soldiers from falling into the abyss due to dozing off, all the officers of the regiment walked ahead to open the way, while the soldiers behind grabbed the bullet belts of the soldiers in front and moved forward one by one. When it was more than 30 miles away from Sansuo, it was dawn.Dozens of U.S. military planes flew along the Datong River and circled over the miles-long march of the 113th Division.The soldiers thought that they would not march during the day as usual since they entered the court, as long as they heard the order to hide, they should hide as soon as possible, and then they could have a good sleep for a while.As a result, the order came down through the ranks: "Keep going at full speed!" The target of the 114th Division interspersed is Jiari Ridge.Jiari Ridge is a natural barrier 20 kilometers southwest from Dechuan. In the dense forest of high mountains, there is a steep pass with a width of only more than 10 meters. It is the only way for troops to march towards Junyuli.However, according to reliable information, in order to restore the broken right wing, General Walker has ordered the vanguard of the Turkish brigade to start from Jiachuan to Jiari Ridge.It took less than two hours by car to travel 30 kilometers from Jiachuan to Jiari Ridge, and the 114th Division was still 18 kilometers away from Jiari Ridge. It was too late for the tired soldiers to occupy the pass of Jiari Ridge by walking first. The 5,000 officers and soldiers of the Turkish brigade had only arrived in North Korea a few days ago. Walker sent the troops to plug the gap when the right wing collapsed. the mouth of the barrel".The Turkish brigade neither received the relevant battlefield intelligence it should have received, nor did Walker send US military advisers to participate in their operations as they imagined.At this time, the U.S. troops on the Western Front were retreating, but they were ordered to move forward.A few hours after the Turkish brigade set off, news of their "great victory" came. According to themselves, they "had a fierce battle with the swarming Chinese army", and they held the battle after "bloody battles". positions, and also captured "hundreds of prisoners".The officers of the US Second Division were overjoyed when they heard this, and immediately sent intelligence officers and translators to interrogate the prisoners. The officers understood without asking a few words that what the Turks defeated was a group of soldiers from the defeated South Korean Seventh Division. North Korean soldiers escaped from Dechuan and fled into the Turks' positions. The Turks who had just entered the battlefield could neither understand Korean nor English. The "Chinese soldiers" killed by them were all South Korean soldiers. Liang Xingchu, the commander of the 38th Army, and Liu Xiyuan, the political commissar, rushed to the command post of the 114th Division, which is only two kilometers away from Jiari Ridge. The deputy Changjiang Yonghui, who was already here, reported to the commander that a reinforced company of the Turkish brigade Sure enough, I occupied the main peak of Jiari Ridge first. At night, the main peak of Jiari Ridge is shining with the light of fire. After discussions, Jiang Yonghui, Zhai Zhongyu, commander of the 114th Division, and others decided to adopt the suggestion of Sun Hongdao, head of the 342nd Regiment, and Wang Pili, political commissar: Since the enemy is in the clear, let's make a sneak attack, approach quietly, open fire suddenly, and take it down in one fell swoop. While discussing, the sound of an accordion came from not far away. The sound of the accordion was very loud in the silent night, which surprised everyone. Playing the accordion was Yao Yurong, commander of the Second Battalion of the 342nd Regiment.He is the comrade-in-arms of Cao Yuhai, the battalion commander of the first battalion who entered the war with a love letter.The accordion is Yao Yurong's spoils of war, and because he likes it, he has been marching with this heavy thing on his back.Although he was out of tune, his soldiers found it very interesting.The division commander Zhai Zhongyu rushed towards this romantic battalion commander in the dark, and cursed: "Bastard! I've alarmed the enemy and I'll shoot you!" Yao Yurong immediately knew what he had done. He threw the accordion into the ravine, and the accordion made a louder sound as it rolled down.Commander Zhai Zhongyu looked at the soldiers looking at him in the dark night, and was so angry that he didn't know what to say. The officers and soldiers of the 2nd Battalion of the 342nd Regiment were very familiar with the terrain here, because they had defended here during the first battle. Under the leadership of Sun Hongdao, head of the 342nd regiment, and Wang Pili, political commissar, the seventh and eighth companies of the second battalion touched the main peak of Jiariling.They threw away everything on their bodies that could make a sound, and only carried guns and grenades.However, when approaching the main peak, the Chinese officers and soldiers took off their shoes and climbed barefoot on the snow because they were wearing large-toed shoes captured by the US military, which squeaked on the snow. The Turkish soldiers on the main peak only cared about the fire in the cold night, and the burning wood made a crackling sound.There were more than a dozen clumps of fire, and Wang Pili, the political commissar, divided his soldiers into several groups and ordered a group to deal with the enemies next to the fire.At a distance of only 20 meters from the enemy, the Chinese soldiers opened fire.In the sound of the grenade explosion, the Turkish soldiers immediately fled in all directions, and 20 minutes later, the main peak of Jiari Mountain fell into the hands of Chinese soldiers.Turkish soldiers climbed into the cars in a panic, and the cars drove down the mountain in a single file.The mountain road circled, and the head of the regiment, Sun Hongdao, ordered the Eighth Company to stop the enemy. The soldiers took the nearest straight line and rushed to the lower end of the mountain road.The mountain was extremely steep, and the soldiers jumped straight down the steep wall. Both those who were injured and those who were not injured continued to rush forward, blocking the fleeing enemy at one end of the mountain road.During the battle, the Chinese soldiers found that those single Turkish soldiers who got into the crevices of the rocks and under the cars, no matter how they shouted, they resolutely refused to surrender until they were beaten to death.As a result, under the siege of Chinese soldiers, only a few Turkish soldiers were captured.The Chinese soldiers saw that the captured Turkish soldiers were like some American soldiers they saw in the first battle. Everyone had one or even several Korean copper bowls hanging from their buttocks, and these bowls jingled when they walked. ring.The Chinese translator explained to them that the bowl was not made of gold, but the Turkish soldiers didn't believe it and refused to throw it away anyway. This time, Turkish soldiers encountered real Chinese troops. "The officers threw their hats on the ground, using this as a line, and the soldiers were not allowed to take a step back." After the battle of the 5,000 troops of the Turkish Brigade in the direction of Gari Ridge, there were less than two companies left. By the morning of the 28th, the battle situation on the Western Front was very clear.The 2nd and 25th Divisions of the U.S. Ninth Army, the Turkish Brigade, the 1st U.S. Cavalry Division, and the 1st South Korean Division have all been surrounded by the Chinese army on three sides. The escape route has not been cut off, and Sansuoli is the throat that must pass through on this retreat route.If the three places cannot be blocked, the entire second battle will inevitably become a rout battle that fails to achieve the goal of annihilating the enemy. Peng Dehuai's headquarters was permeated with anxious and uneasy atmosphere: Where is the 113th Division of the 38th Army, which is in charge of penetrating into the three institutes, now?Will they be there on time?Everything, no news at all! I contacted the headquarters of the 38th Army, and the answer was: the radio station couldn't get through. Peng Dehuai ordered his radio station to call the 113th Division directly, and the radio director personally went into battle to carefully search for the division's radio signal, but the 113th Division seemed to have suddenly disappeared from the entire battlefield, and there was no news at all! According to the plan, the 113th Division should have penetrated 80 kilometers behind the enemy. If the lone army occupies such a deep enemy force, anything can happen! Peng Dehuai's eyes were red and swollen, his lips were cracked, and his voice was hoarse and dry: "Damn! Where did this 113th Division go?!" In front of the United Nations Army, the Chinese Fortieth Army, Thirty-ninth Army, Fiftieth Army, and Sixty-sixth Army are fully compressing it.The 50th Army developed towards Tianhuadong and Dahuadong west of Bochuan; the 66th Army attacked the blocking enemy in the Fengwudong area; the 40th Army attacked with all its strength in the direction of Junyuli; The Ninth Army marched towards Anzhou. At this time, the 42nd Army is fully interspersed, which is as important as the interception of the 38th Army: it must advance without delay, and occupy Shunchon and Suchuan before the enemy, so as to completely cut off the enemy's retreat.Strictly speaking, the tasks performed by the Forty-Second Army are more arduous in comparison, because the distance they intersect is longer and the resistance they encounter is more severe. For this reason, Mao Zedong instructed in a telegram in the early morning of the 28th: ​​"...the first division (two regiments) of the U.S. Cavalry is moving between Tokugawa, Suncheon, and Sungcheon, with the purpose of consolidating the Sungcheon and Sungcheon areas and preventing our southward advance. Our Forty-Second Army should be solely responsible for annihilating this enemy..." On the night of the 28th, the deployment of the 42nd Army was as follows: the 125th Division attacked and advanced along the routes of Guchangli and Yuepuli, captured Yuepuli and then occupied Sunchon; the 124th Division followed the 125th Division and was ready to make a decision The 126th Division went through Songyuli, Longmenli to Xinxingli to cooperate with the main force in the battle. The follow-up 125th Division encountered resistance from the 1st US Cavalry Division going north in Xincangli. In Xincang, a heroic Chinese platoon leader named An Bingxun appeared.In the attack on the U.S. military positions, he led a platoon to fight bravely, captured three highlands in a row, created a record of annihilating a U.S. platoon with a platoon of troops, and defeated a U.S. platoon, and won the title of "Battle Hero". .During the battle, his left cheek was pierced by a bullet, and his face was covered with blood, but he still insisted on commanding the attack. At the most difficult moment, his entire platoon of soldiers fought hand-to-hand with the U.S. military. In the many counterattacks of the US military, the 373rd Regiment of the 125th Division suffered heavy casualties. In order to preserve its strength, the 373rd Regiment withdrew from the battle. Shaken, after repeatedly discussing the issue of "to fight or not to fight", it was not until the 30th that the determination to fight was reached, and it was decided that the 124th Division and the 125th Division would attack the US military at the same time.But before the attack, the determination of the two divisions was shaken again. Without an order from the army, the 124th Division and the 125th Division did not launch an attack, but retreated 10 kilometers one after another.The artillery was left behind during the retreat and was bombed by American aircraft with heavy losses. Because the 42nd Army did not attack decisively, it finally failed to complete the interspersed mission assigned by Peng Dehuai. As a result, the Seventh Regiment of the First Division of the U.S. Cavalry escaped from the encirclement of the Chinese army, and the enemy's retreat in the direction of Suchuan was not blocked. The vanguard of the 42nd Army once penetrated deep into the Yaboli area, which was the furthest the Chinese army penetrated behind the enemy's rear in the second battle.However, in Yaboli, the 42nd Army still did not decisively launch an attack on the US military.The 370th Regiment was violently bombed by U.S. aircraft, and the unfavorable command caused huge losses to the troops.Zheng Xihe, head of the 378th Regiment, died in an attack by a U.S. aircraft on the east bank of the Datong River. There were many reasons for the frustration of the Forty-Second Army in the penetration.At that time, the physical strength of Chinese soldiers had reached its limit, and the lack of mechanized logistical support resulted in an extreme shortage of ammunition.The Chinese army still lacks effective means to attack the US positions head-on. The modern weapons and equipment of the US military will make the Chinese army suffer heavy casualties if they encounter it head-on.Finally, the tasks undertaken by the Forty-Second Army have exceeded its limits. While the 42nd Army's penetration was blocked, Peng Dehuai's 113th Division, which made Peng Dehuai extremely anxious, had been tenaciously advancing towards the predetermined target of 3rd Institute. Sansuoli is a small mountain village located in the hinterland of the US Eighth Army on the Western Front.It is adjacent to the Datong River in the south and the rolling mountains in the north. There is a north-south road in the west of the mountain village, which leads to Pyongyang.This is the only place for the United Nations forces on the western front to go north; of course, when the north march fails, it will become a "gate" for the main force of the U.S. military to flee south. In order to reach Sansuoli on time, in broad daylight, the large troops of the 113th Division marched boldly on the road tomorrow.It's not that they are not afraid of US military aircraft, but that they can only do so.Liu Haiqing, deputy commander of the division, said: We should love the soldiers, but if we don’t arrive at the third place in time, the soldiers will suffer even more casualties. This is dialectics, the highest mass concept in battle. Shi Jiangchao agrees with this point of view. The strange thing is that although the US military planes in the sky circled back and forth, they never bombed.At the beginning, when the planes were overhead, the troops still took cover. Later, because of such a serious delay in marching, the soldiers simply threw away their camouflage and walked swaggeringly.As a result, the U.S. pilots were fooled. They believed that this force must be the South Korean army retreating from the north.So the U.S. military pilots used the radio to ask the South Korean security forces in the three institutes to prepare meals for the "retreating national army."In addition to asking for rice and boiling water, the warm-hearted American pilot also asked to prepare some salted fish that North Koreans like to eat. The Chinese soldiers quickly realized that the Americans had been fooled, and they simply shouted to take courage and drive away the extreme drowsiness: "Go! Go! The front is here!"