Chapter 41 2. "I want to go to North Korea myself"

After the smoke of the fierce battle at Shangganling cleared, a temporary calm appeared on the Korean battlefield.Severe winter came to the bloody battlefield, cooling the scorching land, and the people after the bloody battle got a temporary rest. What new moves will the opponent have, and what should be the next move?This is a headache for decision makers and commanders on both sides of the war. In the fall of 1952, the 34th U.S. presidential election took place.How to end the Korean War is a prominent topic in this general election campaign. Whether the candidate is able to solve this thorny issue is crucial to whether a candidate can ascend to the throne of the 34th President of the United States.Therefore, both the Democratic candidate Allard Stevenson and the Republican candidate Dwight Eisenhower vowed in the general election to end the Korean War.

Eisenhower, who once served as the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in World War II and has just resigned from the position of Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the "NATO", publicly promised in his campaign speech in Detroit on October 24 that if he is elected president, He was going to North Korea himself to try to win the Korean War.He said: "One of the first tasks facing the new government is to re-examine possible approaches to bring the Korean War to an early and honorable end." "To complete this work, I need to go to North Korea in person, and I am willing to go in person. Only then can I know how to serve the people is best—whether to wage war or to achieve peace. I must go to North Korea.” Eisenhower’s promise is very important in the hearts of voters. decisive influence.

Eisenhower fulfilled the promise he made during the campaign and started his trip to North Korea on November 29.Along with Eisenhower were future Secretary of Defense Charles E. Wilson, Attorney General Herbert Brownell, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Omar Bradley.They were joined by Admiral Arthur Radford, commander of the US Pacific Fleet, when they stopped at Iwo Jima. On December 2, they reached South Korea. During the three days in North Korea, Eisenhower held a series of talks with Clark, Van Fleet and other senior U.S. generals, as well as Syngman Rhee. 1st Division and other troops.Eisenhower also went to the front line to observe an artillery battle with binoculars and observe the situation of the Volunteer Army positions.

Eisenhower revealed in his memoirs, "The commanders in the field agreed that if the negotiations are not successful within a certain period of time; our only way in the end can only be to launch an offensive with all our strength regardless of all dangers." "My conclusion when I left North Korea was that we cannot stay on a fixed front forever and continue to suffer casualties with no results in sight. A small attack on a hill will not end this war." "We cannot tolerate the North Korean conflict continuing indefinitely." Eisenhower adopted Dulles's strategy of using a three-pronged rake to catch dragons to contain China, exert all-round pressure on China, and force China to make concessions at the negotiating table.According to the strategy described by Dulles to Maxwell Taylor (who replaced the retired Van Fleet as the commander of the US Eighth Army in February 1953), one tooth came out of North Korea and the other came out of Taiwan. Three came out of India.Coming out of Taiwan is to use the power of Chiang Kai-shek who fled to Taiwan to create trouble for New China.On the "Helena" cruiser, Eisenhower decided to lift the Truman administration's so-called "neutralization of the Taiwan Strait" regulations and encourage Chiang Kai-shek to launch a diversionary attack on the Chinese mainland, which is the so-called "release Chiang from the cage."Eisenhower announced the decision after his inauguration in 1953.He said the purpose of this decision is to "remind the Chinese Communist Party that the stalemate is not long, and the Korean War will either end or expand beyond North Korea."The so-called third tooth is to warn China through India that if it does not make concessions, it will fight hard, and even use atomic bombs.

After returning to the United States, Eisenhower stated at a press conference held on December 14: "For an enemy we face, we cannot hope to impress it with words, no matter how eloquent the words are; but only with actions." —actions to be carried out under conditions of our own choice." Carrying out large-scale military adventures is a concept of the US authorities trying to resolve the impasse in North Korea on their own terms, and it was a plan that Eisenhower focused on before and after he came to power. While the relevant U.S. authorities were planning the "United Nations Army" military action plan in North Korea, since October 1952, the "United Nations Army" had frequently conducted landing combat exercises.According to statistics, four drills were conducted in October, three drills were conducted in November, and fifteen drills were conducted in December.Some drills were so realistic that American soldiers thought they were really doing landing operations.

At this time, the ground forces of the "United Nations Army" had seventeen divisions on the front line, including four divisions of the U.S. Army, one division of the Commonwealth Army, and twelve divisions of the South Korean Army; The mobile forces of the two divisions and the other three regiments of the Korean Army.For the first time since the outbreak of the Korean War, the U.S. military maintained three divisions as mobile reserves on the Korean battlefield.