Chapter 18 Character determines destiny, and leader's character determines the destiny of a nation

As a president cultivated in a culture of individualism and competition, Truman believed in strength very much, advocating power, and believed that whoever is strong is "God". In this regard, he is almost no different from Nixon who made peace with China, Reagan who launched the Star Wars project, and Bush Jr. who went to other countries to arrest and shoot the presidents of other countries. This is America; this is American culture. As soon as the Korean War broke out, President Truman, who was tens of thousands of miles away, immediately ordered the Far East Command to intervene because he believed that the United States was "God";

When he was warned that the U.S. military crossed the 38th parallel and China would take care of it, he didn't believe it at all, because he believed that China was not "God"; When the Chinese People's Volunteers pushed back the U.S. military to the 38th parallel, he clamored to drop the atomic bomb because he believed that the atomic bomb of the "God" of the United States could frighten China, which is not "God"; It wasn't until he was beaten to the ground by the "stubborn rock" that Mao Zedong described himself that he was unable to recover, that he finally realized that the United States is "God" and China can manage "God."

China is the "God" of "God". Therefore, he, who believes in God, is also very wisely preparing to end the war with "God" through negotiations. Mao Zedong, on the other hand, was a warrior, an idealist yearning for world peace, equality and justice. He is well aware of the spiritual demands of an ancient nation that has experienced a century of humiliation. He also imprinted his own character on this ancient oriental nation.In Mao Zedong's bones, there is such a cognition, that is: If you are poor, you must live with ambition; If you are poor, you must live with dignity.

This understanding is consistent with the common understanding of the first generation of leaders of the Communist Party of China.Later, when discussing whether New China would build an atomic bomb, Marshal Chen Yi used his long-sounding and short-toned Sichuan saying: "Even if you are a trousers, you must make an atomic bomb!" The thick Sichuan dialect with ups and downs makes people feel refreshed after listening to it. The weak Marshal Lin Biao said: "The atomic bomb must be carried on, and it must be fired, even if it is burned with firewood!" General Zhang Aiping said: "The beggar still has a dog-beating stick!"

Cheer up! To command such a large world war, almost all major decisions had to be made in Mao Zedong's mind alone. As soon as the decision to flatten the Americans was made, Mao Zedong said: "Party affairs, less strange management; daily affairs, the prime minister; I, management of the Korean War." If you catch a bull by the nose, you won't let it go.This is Mao Zedong's working methods and thinking characteristics. As soon as the war started, Mao Zedong began to study the frontline warfare without black and white. Napoleon, Stalin and other world strategists commanded the military, and most of them spent their days in the general headquarters covered with maps, a group of staff and service personnel were busy talking, a group of deputies came in and out, and they were in meetings and making phone calls. Miscellaneous, so lively.

Mao Zedong's command style is very creative and unique, almost unprecedented, and absolutely unprecedented. The headquarters is his big bedroom. There is usually no one else in the bedroom, just him.The room was very quiet, only when he greeted, did the service staff come in and out. Mao Zedong was lying on a big bed, and a map of North Korea and a lot of information were placed in a mess on one side of the bed. According to Ye Zilong, Mao Zedong's confidential secretary, Mao Zedong barely got out of bed during the more than half a month when the war broke out. He just studied, worked, made decisions, and even ate on this big bed.

He slept very little. When the war was at its height, he did not close his eyes for three consecutive days and did not shave for a week. He looked at the data, studied the map, and thought about the strategy, and so on and on. Once he had made up his mind, he got out of bed, took up his pen, and began to draft the telegram. The command and dispatch of the front line depends on this small telegram. "A raging soldier, a raging nest." On the contrary, the spirit of Mao Zedong is the concentrated expression of the spirit of the Chinese nation in that era.Once the Chinese nation changed the spiritual temperament of Daoguang, Xianfeng, Guangxu, Empress Dowager Cixi, Li Hongzhang, Yuan Shikai, and Chiang Kai-shek, it gained fresh vitality.

Even today, the national character of our Chinese nation is deeply imbued with the spirit of Mao Zedong. When U.S. President Truman and his family vacationed on weekends, eating roasted whole lamb and playing golf comfortably in their farm, how did he know that at this time his opponent, Mao Zedong in China, had forgotten the spring and autumn, cold and heat, and the delicious food. Cai Xiang, forgetting to be busy day and night, is on the bed in his big bedroom, struggling for the rebirth and dignity of an ancient nation. Mao Zedong's thoughts were all condensed on the icy and snowy Korean battlefield, condensed in this life-and-death war, thinking about how to swing his iron fist and beat the Yankees hard.