Chapter 70 How to "lure" the United Nations Army to take the bait

It was the second battle described below that laid the foundation for victory in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.This battle is also called by Western scholars as the "Battle of Qingchang" that changed the direction of history, that is, the battle of Qingchuan River and Changjin Lake. Soldiers who, deception also. According to Peng Dehuai's decision, the first battle was stopped at the right time, and the entire volunteer army retreated. In fact, they wanted to lay a big bag to paralyze MacArthur.This is easy to say, but not easy to do.Because although MacArthur despised the Chinese army, after all, he was hurt in the first battle, and the United Nations army became very careful.

In order to paralyze the enemy, Boss Peng and the volunteers adopted three tactics: lure them with profit, show weakness and arrogance, and cover them with falsehoods. The first measure: retreat to show weakness. Beginning on November 6, the Chinese army suddenly disappeared from the battlefield. A small number of volunteers fought and retreated, and many dilapidated weapons and equipment were abandoned along the way. It is actually not easy to lure the enemy to go deep, because the fire is very difficult to control: if you retreat quickly, the Americans will find flaws, and the effect of "lure" will not be achieved; if the battle is fierce, the volunteers will expose their strength and make the opponent more careful It can't achieve the effect of "lure".

This is a psychological battle between the commanders of both sides. Two tricks: send false information. On November 17, the headquarters of the Volunteer Army called the Central Military Commission, requesting: "Before the next battle, we will release 100 US and Li puppet prisoners, so as to expand our army's preferential policy of prisoners and break the enemy's fear of killing." Mao Zedong quickly called back: "That's right, they should be released as soon as possible, and they should be released in batches at any time after that. Don't ask for instructions."

On the night of November 18, the Political Department of the Volunteer Army organized the release of the first batch of United Nations prisoners of war, a total of 103, including 27 US prisoners and 76 South Korean prisoners.The news that the captives were released blew up nests in the United Nations Army. They all contended that the Chinese army was not as bad as the rumors said, they tortured the prisoners they captured, and even dragged them out to kill them.They treated the captives well and fed the captives well, even better than treating the volunteers.Moreover, he was released so quickly.

Since then, many United Nations troops have been fighting the Volunteers, and they don't care about it at all, and raise their hands as prisoners. The "Stars and Stripes" of the US military in the Far East reported the news as quickly as possible, and some American news media followed up. These American and Western media seldom said good things about China, saying that the Chinese people have a good attitude towards prisoners of war, which embodies the spirit of humanitarianism. Li Qiwei, the later commander of the United Nations Army, also admitted: "Compared with the Koreans, the Chinese are more civilized enemies. Many times, they shared the little food they had with the prisoners and adopted a friendly attitude towards the prisoners."

The US Central Intelligence Agency pointed out in a document: "Because the Chinese treated the prisoners preferentially, one-third of the prisoners had doubts about the US system, and one-third of the prisoners committed large and small crimes against the United States in the prisoner-of-war camps. crime, and the conversion of one percent of prisoners of war is a heavy blow to the free world!" The great statesman Mao Zedong keenly noticed the international repercussions of this matter. On November 24, he gave to Peng Dehuai, Deng Hua, and Pu Yiyu (from South Pyongan Province, North Korea, who participated in the revolution in Northeast China in the early years. , member of the Military Commission), Hong Xuezhi also reported the telegrams of Gao Gang and He Jinnian, stating that "your release of American prisoners has achieved excellent results in the international arena", and instructed "to release a large number of prisoners after this campaign." , such as three or four hundred people".

Here, what we see is Mao Zedong and Peng Dehuai's superb struggle strategy. In fact, it shows a kind of self-confidence of a great power, a kind of brilliance of human nature, and a kind of compliance with and respect for the development trend of world civilization. In late November, the main force of the Volunteer Army quietly moved north and entered the scheduled combat area.At the same time, some troops were dispatched to stop the United Nations Army.After the 112th Division of the 38th Army repelled 57 attacks by the United Nations Army at Feihu Mountain, it retreated in accordance with Peng Dehuai's order. The 115th Division of the 39th Army abandoned Bochuan and Huangcaoling on the eastern front.

After all, MacArthur is a world-renowned military strategist, and he cannot be easily deceived; after all, the U.S. military is a first-class army that has just experienced the baptism of World War II and can conquer wars. There are many generals, and they are not vegetarians. In this regard, Commander MacArthur also adopted three measures: The first move: intensive bombing.He ordered the U.S. Air Force to carry out indiscriminate bombing of the northern part of North Korea, leaving no railways, roads, or infrastructure, and bombing all cities and villages. When signs of the army were found, it was even more saturated bombing.That means you have nowhere to hide.

The second trick: intensive reconnaissance.He sent a large number of air force reconnaissance planes to conduct intensive reconnaissance in northern North Korea and over the Yalu River to understand the movements of the volunteers.Aircraft reconnaissance, that is science, it has electronic eyes, how can hundreds of thousands of troops not be discovered? The third trick: test the attack.After launching an attack to the north, he ordered the troops to stop and go, take a step and watch one step, and move very slowly. MacArthur, a straightforward person, showed some patience this time. It's a battle of minds.

Deng Hua analyzed: "The enemy started to attack on November 6. In 10 days, the US military on the western front only advanced 9 to 16 kilometers northward, with an average of 1 kilometer per day. It is still far away from the area we planned to wipe out the enemy! The 1st Division of the U.S. Marine War on the Eastern Front only walked an average of 1.6 kilometers a day, wandering around Xiajieyuli and Gutuli all the time." Hong Xuezhi analyzed: "It may be that the 112th Division pushed the enemy too hard at Feihu Mountain and shocked the enemy." At this time, Peng Dehuai was also anxiously turning in circles: "It's too slow, it's really too slow! They're all snails!"

Peng Dehuai paid great attention to collecting intelligence on the US military.He learned that there was singing in front of the UN Army camp, and Miss Monroe, a big-ass star, went to the battlefield to work on the front line, and the soldiers were very happy. He judged: It seems that the enemy is still preparing to attack, but because the 38th Army is too strong, the enemy is more careful in attacking.Therefore, the top should be relaxed. Peng Dehuai ordered: "Order all blocking troops to take the initiative to retreat more than ten kilometers and give up all forms of blocking. Just be careful not to show any flaws!" On November 17, seemingly unable to withstand the fierce attack of the United Nations Army, the volunteers on the east and west fronts once again abandoned their positions and "fleeed" north. The "United Nations Army" boarded the positions that the Volunteers had held, and found discarded guns, ammunition, food, etc. everywhere in the positions abandoned by the Volunteers and on the way to escape. Now, Commander MacArthur was relieved and ordered the United Nations Army to march northward boldly. In this way, the Volunteer Army used several tricks and finally "lured" the United Nations Army into the predetermined battlefield. From the beginning of November to November 24, in nearly 20 days, the highest command levels of China and the United States fought a psychological warfare.In this psychological warfare, the two sides battled wits and courage, and made brilliant moves one after another.In the end, General MacArthur was fooled.The fundamental reason he was wrong was not that he was unintelligent or even careless, but that he believed in common sense so much that he took it for granted when things changed dramatically. This common sense can be summed up in a famous saying he said at the time: "The Chinese army is not a force that cannot be insulted." Indeed, since the Opium War of the Qing Dynasty, the Chinese army has been defeated again and again, and it is a force that can be insulted at will. This fact has been repeated for hundreds of years and has become "common knowledge". Believe in common sense, Commander MacArthur is not wrong! He was wrong.Because common sense is not equal to facts, let alone truth. This common sense that the Chinese army is like paper, and it will crash when you poke it, should be changed in the era of Mao Zedong and the Communist Party of China.