Chapter 27 5. Ridgway's order

On the afternoon of June 30, 1951 (Saturday), in the office of the U.S. Far East Naval Command in Tokyo, Vice Admiral Turner Joy, commander of the U.S. Far East Naval Command, was chatting with the former head of the Naval Command, General Sherman.The topic of the two sides has repeatedly involved the Korean armistice negotiations.During the conversation, Joey's adjutant came in to report that General Ridgway had sent Joey. Hearing the rumors, Joey immediately got up and went to the First Building to meet Li Qiwei.Li Qiwei was straightforward and straightforward, and he said to Joe straight to the point: "I want you to be my senior representative in the truce negotiations."

Joey was a little surprised when he heard this.He didn't expect that this matter would come so quickly, let alone that this important task would fall on himself.But Joey accepted the order in military fashion.He thanked Li Qiwei for his trust in him, and said to Li Qiwei: "I promise to do my best to carry out the mission." In the next nine days, Joey's primary task was to earnestly understand and grasp the basic position and goals pursued by the United States in the negotiations.This is: "A truce is a military issue that requires a military solution, unlike a general peace treaty. Military realities lead both parties to seek a solution to the conflict, and the terms of an armistice agreement must reflect military realities. Any demilitarized zone separating two hostile forces must necessarily be based on the positions of both sides. There is no other proper place to base it on, let alone artificial lines of latitude. We also want to secure , and once the armistice is signed, the conflict will never recur."

"...we demand assurances that the terms of the armistice must be fulfilled. This requires the organization of a military inspection team, working under the Joint Armistice Commission, which can inspect anywhere in South Korea." "Because a truce is simply a cessation of conflict, and in a truce, as in a war, our first concern is the safety of our troops. We should have defensive positions for our own safety. Of course we would like the enemy to have theirs too. " "In the end, we hope that the issue of prisoners of war is resolved for the best." The second thing Joey did was choose four more representatives.Joey recommended his deputy chief of staff, Major General Orrin Burke, as a negotiator; in addition, the commander of the US Far East Air Force recommended his deputy commander, Lawrence, Major General Kreich; the Eighth Army Van Fleet recommended his deputy chief of staff, Henry Major General Huo Zhi and Major General Baek Sun Yeop, Commander of the 1st Army of South Korea represented.These candidates were all approved by Ridgway.At the same time, Colonel Andrew Kenny of the U.S. Air Force, Colonel James Murray of the U.S. Army, and Lieutenant Colonel Li Shurong of the South Korean Army were appointed as liaison officers.

Subsequently, Joey also presided over the drafting of the negotiation agenda and discussed various issues that may arise during the meeting.At that time, the US still assumed that the negotiations would be held on board the Danish ship in Wonsan.Therefore, while Joey was preparing for the meeting in the First Building, on the other hand, he also planned to deploy a fleet to concentrate in Wonsan for the delegation's stay, board and lodging, etc.The officials temporarily transferred from the headquarters and the combat department are the main members of Joey's negotiating team, and they are busy conducting countermeasure research on various possible debate issues.

After the U.S. side received the news that the DPRK and China proposed to replace Wonsan with Kaesong, Li Qiwei personally presided over the meeting, believing that Kaesong is located south of the 38th parallel and is actually controlled by the DPRK and China. Whether in action or propaganda, it is not good for the United States.But in South Korea, there are too few places that can be used as negotiations. Kaesong is considered no man's land, its location will not be seriously affected by the war, and there is not much difficulty in entering and exiting, so it is acceptable. Since the location of the meeting was changed from sea to land, the US had considered whether to send another army general as the chief representative.However, since Ridgway had no idea of ​​the situation that the Eighth Army had to deal with, and did not want to weaken his lineup of field commanders, the post of negotiator was still held by Joey without change.

On October 9, Joey and Ridgway flew to Seoul on the same plane.On the way, Joey drew up a division of labor and cooperation plan: Huo Zhi presided over the issue of the demilitarized zone; Craig was in charge of the ceasefire and the specific measures of the truce; Buck dealt with matters related to prisoners of war.If representatives or staff members of the US delegation have comments and suggestions, they should first pass through the above-mentioned team leaders before submitting them to Joey. Joey also decided that whatever the US proposes during the meeting, it must use the written documents prepared in advance or written temporarily during the meeting; There must be records.

After Li Qiwei and Joey arrived in Seoul, they transferred to a helicopter and arrived at Wenshan.The US delegation's camp is located in an apple orchard.As a kind of treatment, Joey's son, Duncan, a lieutenant of the US 10th Army Communications Company, was also temporarily transferred to the camp as a telephone operator. Joey lives in a rectangular tent made of two tarpaulins, which contains a foldable table, two chairs, a washstand, and a camp bed hung with a mosquito net.Qian Dewei, a first-class soldier in the army, was ordered to be Joe's servant. After the representatives and staff members of the delegation settled down in their residences, they gathered in a tent that was used as a meeting room to make final preparations for the next day's meeting.After Li Qiwei gave instructions to the delegation members, he went to Seoul to meet with the press.

During the negotiation period, Joey still needs to perform the duties of the commander of the Far East Navy, so most of the US delegation is from the navy to assist Joey in two aspects of work. A week later, the number of people stationed in the delegation tripled, including 75 officers and more than 300 soldiers. Here, starting from the first ten days of June, during the negotiation process between the governments of China, North Korea, and the Soviet Union, the DPRK and China began to make preparations in terms of negotiating guidelines, negotiating candidates, and meeting organization. At the end of June and the beginning of July, Mao Zedong, Kim Il Sung and Peng Dehuai reached consensus on negotiating candidates and the organization and leadership of the negotiations through e-commerce, and also reached consensus on the basic propositions on the proposals made by the DPRK and China in the armistice negotiations .

At 9 a.m. on July 8, a preparatory meeting for formal negotiations was held in Kaesong.From the Chinese and North Korean sides, Zhang Chunshan, Chai Chengwen, Jin Yibo, Bi Jilong, and Do Youhao attended the "United Nations Army" side: Colonel Andrew Kenny of the US Air Force, Colonel James Murray of the US Army, Lieutenant Colonel Li Shurong of the South Korean Army and Korean translator Ender Wood, Chinese translator Cather Wu. The meeting confirmed that the first meeting of formal negotiations was held at Laifengzhuang, Kaesong at 10 am on July 10, 1951.