Chapter 6 Incheon Landing

The disintegration of the American army in the early days of the Korean War calls into question whether it is the same force that fought so bravely in World War II.In World War II, the extraordinary ability of senior American generals to organize large-scale battles and the brave and tenacious combat awareness of American soldiers in extremely cruel situations, have they been completely lost on the Korean battlefield? An American journalist and an American soldier had the following conversation: Soldier: They said it was a police operation, only a police operation! There are police?There are robbers?What kind of police action is this?

Reporter: Didn't the officers explain it to you? Soldier: No.Let's not talk to Bobby about this. Reporter: Who is Bobby? Soldier: Bobby, don't you know?Our platoon leader. Reporter: So, didn't Bobby tell you? Soldier: No.I'm afraid he can't tell. An American military chaplain described: In the eyes of the people in the occupied territories, these American soldiers were poor young men who didn't understand why they fought or the meaning of victory. There were only three things they were interested in: finding women to sleep with, sneaking brandy and waiting for the next boat home.

After the Battle of Daejeon, the North Korean People's Army took advantage of the victory and started the Fourth Battle on July 21, 1950.The main direction of the People's Army's fourth campaign is Jinquan and Daegu. Its campaign policy clearly stated Kim Il Sung's ultimate ideal, which is to completely destroy the enemy and create conditions for a general offensive: "Defeat the enemy's defense forces in the Yongdong, Hamchang, and Andong areas, liberate the north of the Nakdong River and the The vast area to the west, and quickly cross the Nakdong River, creating favorable conditions for the final elimination of the enemy."

Kim Il Sung's headquarters moved forward again, and he personally arrived at the frontline headquarters in southern Chungju to take command.He especially emphasized the detour and infiltration tactics other than strengthening the main force to advance along the road. There is only one purpose, that is, to further increase the speed and not give the enemy a chance to breathe, because Kim Il Sung's time is already extremely precious. On the 29th, the 1st Division and 25th Division of the U.S. Cavalry failed to block Yeongdong. The People's Army broke through Qiufeng Ridge, destroyed the defense lines of the U.S. Army and the South Korean Army, and successively liberated Kimcheon, Jinju, Andong, etc. An important town, long drive straight to the north bank of the Nakdong River.In combat, the U.S. First Cavalry Division performed tenaciously, but still retreated steadily.The South Korean army seems to have recovered a bit from the defeat. In the words of Kim Il Sung, "The combat effectiveness of the US military is sometimes inferior to that of the puppet army, and the puppet army is increasingly unwilling to disarm."

The Nakdong River defense line is an outer line about 160 kilometers north and 80 kilometers east and west. Behind it is Busan, which is the last foothold of the South Korean army and the United Nations army on the coast of North Korea.Therefore, the Nakdong River defense line is the "last line of defense" in the eyes of the US military, and if it retreats, it will retreat into the sea. On the 29th, General Walker, commander of the U.S. Eighth Army, rushed to the headquarters of the retreating U.S. 25th Division in person, and delivered a speech of "staying on the spot" to the officers and soldiers of the division.He said: "We are fighting for time now, and we are not allowed to retreat on the basis of battlefield preparation and any other reason. There is no longer a line of defense in our rear...Retreating to Busan will mean the biggest killing in history. .So we have to fight to the end."

Walker's so-called "fight for time" refers to fighting for time for the United Nations to further increase its troops. After the North Korean People's Army completed the planned goal of the Fourth Battle, in order to completely wipe out the enemy in the narrow area in front of Busan, they forcibly crossed the Nakdong River on August 8. The U.S. 1st Cavalry Division, 25th Division and New The second division that participated in the war was defeated and retreated again, and the People's Army had already approached Masan, the gateway to Busan. The fourth campaign ended on August 20.The North Korean People's Army has compressed the enemy into a very limited space. Although the planned goal of the Fourth Campaign was not fully realized due to the increasingly tenacious resistance of the opponent, the North Korean People's Army completely wiped out the enemy in the Fourth Battle. More than 30,000 people occupied 90% of the land in South Korea, including 20% ​​of the population, carried out land reform in the occupied areas, held elections for government organs at all levels, and implemented the laws of North Korea.

August 15th is North Korea's "Fifth Anniversary of the Liberation of the Motherland" program.In a massive mass rally in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, Kim Il Sung delivered a tirade ordering August to be the month of reunification of Korea. On August 31, the fifth battle of the North Korean People's Army started, and it was called the "Battle of Pusan".The Battle of Pusan ​​was the final battle. The decisive battle is coming. However, the course of the war has always been constrained by various factors.After the start of the Fifth Campaign, the North Korean People's Army has shown that it is unable to do what it wants.In the last narrow defense zone of the United Nations Army, reinforcements of the U.S. troops continued to arrive, and troops from other countries participating in the war also arrived one after another.However, the strength of the People's Army has been exhausted in two months of continuous intensive attacks, and the loss of troops has reached more than 50,000.In early August, the ratio of the North Korean People's Army and the United Nations Army had changed to 1:2. In terms of air force, the United Nations Army also had an absolute advantage at this time.As the front moved southward, the logistics supply line of the People's Army became longer and longer. The United Nations Air Force began to send a large number of planes to continuously and indiscriminately bombard the 300-kilometer supply line. The strict blockade of the naval fleet is no longer possible.The center of North Korea's territory is very narrow, and the U.S. military has repeatedly bombed the area of ​​the Han River Bridge that is stuck on the transportation line.

At the same time, the U.S. military began to use advanced anti-tank weapons. Its 130mm rockets have a high destruction rate on tanks. The greater threat is the use of napalm bombs, which are loaded with 110 gallons of napalm. The time is 20 seconds, but it is enough to turn an area of ​​50 square meters into a sea of ​​flames. The guide wheels of the T-34 tank are made of rubber, and the ammunition and fuel loaded on the tank itself make it more than 10 times destroyed by napalm bombs than by rockets.The number of tanks in North Korea decreased sharply. By the beginning of the Fifth Battle, the number of tanks in North Korea was only one-third of what it had been since the beginning of the war.The U.S. Air Force also carried out large-scale strategic bombing of North Korea's rear.Industrial cities from Pyongyang to Wonsan and Xingnan were devastated. Under such circumstances, North Korea's military production was basically paralyzed.

At this time, the United Nations Army concentrated the strength of 5 divisions on the narrow Nakdong River defense line, plus the 8 divisions of South Korea. The density of defense forces on the entire defense line was unprecedented in the history of human warfare. soldiers.In the sky, the United Nations Air Force began a 24-hour "non-stop bombing".Although the vanguard of the People's Army had reached the 35th parallel in the fifth battle, when the powerful forces of the United Nations Army began to organize a counter-offensive on September 10, the People's Army was forced to switch to full-line defense, and the entire Nakdong River front Into a difficult state of stalemate.

Kim Il Sung's quick-fix strategy began to undergo a severe test.Kim Il-sung's limited precious time was lost in day-to-day defense.At the same time, unbeknownst to Kim Il Sung, an operation that would deal a devastating blow to the North Korean army was currently being planned. On September 15, 1950, a military operation that shocked the world that MacArthur had been planning for a long time began. This is the Incheon landing. Incheon is a port on the west coast of central North Korea, only 40 kilometers away from Seoul. It is the narrowest "bee waist" in North Korea's east and west.If the U.S. military successfully lands here and deploys its troops, it will be equivalent to cutting off the North Korean country from the rear of the North Korean army, thus encircling the North Korean army on South Korean soil. On the fan-shaped battlefield that unfolded, there were enemies on both sides.Well, even the least knowledgeable of military common sense will know what the consequences will be.

However, if the U.S. military lands from Incheon, in theory it just violates basic military common sense, because Incheon Port has a 24-kilometer-wide silt formed by a huge tide drop, which is "the most unsuitable port in the world for landing operations." one".Perhaps it was this that caused Kim Il-sung to overlook the port of Incheon, which would cripple his army soon after. MacArthur had long thought of Incheon.When the Incheon landing was successful, he said that his idea came about on the fourth day after the outbreak of the war. On June 29, when MacArthur inspected North Korea, he climbed a hill south of Seoul and raised his telescope to look north.He said: "On this hill, I pictured in my mind that the only way to deal with the current desperate situation is to invest in the only strategic maneuver of the U.S. Army and turn the tables - the Incheon landing plan, and analyzed the specific implementation possibility." No one knows whether this is true, but the combat plan for the Incheon landing is indeed a work created by the American general in his later years that can forever record the world's military history. MacArthur's operational vision for the Incheon landing came from his experience in commanding operations in the Pacific during World War II.The U.S. military once created the "leapfrog tactics" in the Pacific theater, that is, to implement mobile operations against the Japanese army's weakly defended or even undefended rear areas. .MacArthur once commanded the US military to land operations on the Pacific islands many times, and the tactics were almost the same: detour to the enemy's flank and land from the enemy's back. The U.S. military used such a "leapfrog strategy" to successfully open up the road to victory in Luzon Island. Even so, when MacArthur announced the plan for the Incheon landing operation in his spacious office in Tokyo, almost none of the military generals present did not think that the 70-year-old general "had something wrong with his mind." On the afternoon of August 23rd.Tokyo Daiichi Building meeting room. This is the highest-level military meeting convened by the US military since the outbreak of the Korean War.Attending the meeting were senior generals of the three armed forces including Admiral Sherman and Collins Army Chief of Staff who came from the United States.They were discussing the Incheon landing plan proposed by MacArthur. The navy spoke first, all about how impractical it was to conduct a large-scale landing operation in that place called Incheon.There is the world's largest drop in tides.As a result, the mud accumulated over tens of millions of years has formed tens of kilometers of tidal flats. "The mud is just like chocolate fudge, but the taste is quite different." Landing infantry on such tidal flats is tantamount to becoming a A living target for the enemy.Incheon Port has only one waterway for ships to enter, and it is very narrow, and the tide is raging in the narrow waterway.In such a waterway, even if any ship has a slight accident, the entire waterway will be completely blocked, and the rest of the ships will have no room to turn around.And once the ebb tide is delayed, the ships on the waterway will run aground, and they have to wait for the next high tide to float again. Under such a situation, how can the enemy's coastal artillery fire be idle?The Navy concluded: "If a landing in such a place is successful, the Navy will have to rewrite the textbook." The Army’s concern was that once the U.S. troops landed in Incheon landed, in order to achieve the goal of landing operations, they had to rely on Walker’s Eighth Army deployed in the Pusan ​​defensive circle to launch a counterattack to the north and form a north-south pincer situation with the U.S. troops who landed.At present, Walker is not sure that he can lead the Eighth Army to break out of the Pusan ​​defense circle. He is currently surrounded by the People's Army.And if Walker can't attack north when he lands, "it will be disastrous" for the U.S. troops who landed in Incheon. Whether to land combat? Where is the landing operation? The navy and army were pessimistic. MacArthur spoke last.His posture was not so much speaking as speaking.The long silence in the conference room gave his speech its impressive intensity.MacArthur appreciated everyone's pessimistic tone, and even appreciated their anxious looks when they were arguing, because all of these became the foreshadowing before his speech. As Collins later recalled: "Even if the obvious dramatic effect is excluded, this is an excellent statement of his all-or-nothing argument for his determination to land in Inchon." MacArthur firmly believes that the enemy is not ready for defense against Inchon.He cited the example of the British raid in Quebec, Canada, in 1759. It was the British soldiers who climbed up the high bank that others thought was impossible to climb, so that the French guards fell off guard.Incheon is exactly where the surprise wins.He said that he believed in the Navy more than the Navy believed in itself, because the U.S. Navy had overcome many difficulties in many amphibious operations in World War II, and the Navy would definitely be competent in the Incheon landing.Although the danger of landing in other places is small, the value is also small.The Incheon landing can cut off the enemy's waist, and the enemy's long front will be paralyzed.As for whether the Eighth Army can break out of Pusan's defense circle, MacArthur thinks it is not a problem. He believes that the tenacious fighting spirit of the American soldiers will soon prove this point.In the end, MacArthur said: If there is no landing, there is only one way left, which is to continue to defend in Busan. "Are you willing to let our troops wait to die in the circular defense circle like a slaughterhouse like cattle and sheep? Who is willing to be responsible for such a tragedy? Of course, I would never want to!" "If my estimates are wrong, and if I get into a defensive situation that I can't handle, I will personally withdraw our troops and the only loss will be my personal and professional losses. Fame only. But the Battle of Incheon will never be lost, it will be won, and it will save a hundred thousand lives." All the people present were moved by his speech. With his tenacity and his prestige as a military general, MacArthur not only persuaded the hard-to-handle ministers of the armed forces in the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but also after repeated statements, anger, and threats, President Truman finally had to agree to the Incheon landing operation. planned.Truman was very uncomfortable because MacArthur had such a major plan, but he never asked him for instructions. He asked MacArthur many times in July whether there was such a combat plan, but the arrogant MacArthur kept shouting at the president, as if the United States The affairs of the Far East can be arranged by a Far East commander at will. However, as to how to resolve the current embarrassing stalemate in the Korean War, Truman seemed to have no other better way than to agree with the idea of ​​the commander-in-chief of the United Nations Army appointed by him.But at this time, everyone, including Truman, had great worries about the Incheon landing. As MacArthur himself said, this was not so much a landing operation as a gamble. Everyone knows the law in casinos: the chance of making a fortune with just one chip is almost slim. When the Korean War broke out, China had not yet established an embassy in North Korea. Therefore, Chinese leaders did not know the progress of the Korean War in a timely manner.Soon after the war broke out, the Chinese embassy in North Korea was hastily established. At the beginning of September, Chai Chengwen, political counselor of the Chinese embassy, ​​returned from Pyongyang to report on the Korean War. It was a stalemate on the front line in Busan, and it was also a time when the U.S. military was secretly preparing for the Incheon landing.When Chai Chengwen reported the situation to Nie Rongzhen, he specifically raised a point of view, that is, the U.S. military is actively preparing for a counterattack, and it is likely to carry out a landing operation behind the North Korean People's Army, and the location is likely to be in Incheon.Chai Chengwen’s reason for this judgment is: Incheon is the gateway to Seoul. Occupying Incheon can directly attack Seoul, cut off the logistics supply line of the People’s Army in one fell swoop, and at the same time can echo with the U.S. military in the Pusan ​​defense circle. In addition, intelligence shows that the recent activities of the US military along the coast of Incheon have been very frequent. This is a judgment about the overall success or failure.Nie Rongzhen submitted the outline of Chai Chengwen's report to Mao Zedong on the same day, and Mao Zedong immediately commented after reading it: "After Zhou's reading, Liu, Zhu, Ren Yue, and Nie will retire. Please ask Zhou to talk to Chai Chengwen and instruct the tasks and methods. Tenth Whether the military personnel from the Three Corps who went with Chai will come to Beijing to teach Chai face-to-face is for Zhou to decide." When Zhou Enlai talked with Chai Chengwen, he clearly asked: "If we send troops, what kind of difficulties will we encounter?" Lin Biao asked Chai Chengwen: "Are they (referring to Kim Il Sung) prepared to go to the mountains to fight guerrillas?" It should be said that the Chinese leaders, who have rich experience in war, have fully anticipated the actions that the US military will take.Because the current stalemate in the war situation is becoming more and more unfavorable to North Korea.In order to prepare for the reversal of the war situation, at the suggestion of Nie Rongzhen, the Central Military Commission decided to transfer Song Shilun's Ninth Corps (administering the 20th, 26th, and 27th Armies) and the Song Shilun in East China to liberate Taiwan. Yang Dezhi's 19th Corps (under the jurisdiction of the 63rd, 64th, and 65th Armies), which had just completed the campaign against bandits in the Northwest region, assembled on the Jinpu and Longhai railway lines respectively to serve as the northeast frontier defense The second echelon of the army.At the same time, in the southeastern coastal areas of China, vigilance against possible attacks by the Nationalist army was heightened. On August 26, Zhou Enlai presided over the National Defense Conference again, and decided to speed up the construction of artillery, air force and armored forces of the Chinese army, and step up the order of necessary weapons and equipment from the Soviet Union. There is still no definite record as to whether or not China greeted the North Korean side with regard to the advance prediction that the U.S. military would land in Incheon, and through what channel Kim Il Sung was warned. September 15, 1950.morning. MacArthur was sitting on his "McKinley Mountain" flagship, with his corncob pipe in his mouth, and through the portholes he could see the rough waves and the landing fleet advancing in the waves.MacArthur's mood at this time is indescribable. This professional soldier who has experienced many battles feels a little uneasy in the face of the dark Korean coast and the unstoppable operation.MacArthur knew that the key to landing operations was a surprise attack. However, the time and attempt of the US military landing can be said to be no secret, the secret is the location of the landing.For this reason, he ordered all the radio stations and newspapers to carry out deceptive reports, publicizing that the United Nations Army will launch a counterattack in Busan, hoping to confuse people's vigilance against the Incheon landing operation.At the same time, near Sanwa on the east coast of North Korea, MacArthur ordered to dispatch the "Missouri" battleship fleet, which is famous for accepting Japan's signed surrender. All batteries and coastal positions on the coast. The "Trimgay" aircraft carrier and the "Helena" cruiser also bombarded the outer port of Pyongyang and Nampo.Especially in the vicinity of Gunsan Port, where it is most likely to be expected to land, the U.S. Air Force carried out heavy bombing of roads, railways and other targets within 50 kilometers of Gunsan Port, just like before the actual landing operation. Combined Raiders also conducted combat reconnaissance of the Mountain Coast.A series of feints to cover up the Incheon landing proved to have worked.However, the Incheon landing site needs pre-landing reconnaissance after all. Therefore, a US military captain named Clark, nicknamed "Night Thief", sneaked into the Incheon area alone many times, and the legendary reconnaissance story that arose from this happened in the US Marine Corps. Written records have been left in the history of war.At the same time, the necessary firepower preparations began. On September 14, U.S. pirate planes dropped a large number of napalm bombs on Wolmido Island, which was a beautiful park in peacetime, outside the port of Incheon, and the island was immediately reduced to ruins. So, what else was MacArthur worried about? According to intelligence, the North Korean defense force near Incheon Port does not exceed 1,000 people, and its firepower is only no more than 10 artillery pieces and some machine guns. Perhaps at this time, MacArthur really realized that the success or failure of the Incheon landing operation will affect the reputation of his military career. He has reached the age of retirement. Great regret, even shame. MacArthur restrained himself as much as possible on the "Mount McKinley".Beside him are the reporters he specially invited, and MacArthur wrote on the invitation to them: Please visit a small battle.The reporters came to the warships that were advancing through the waves, and asked MacArthur the question of "Whether China is interfering" without losing the opportunity. MacArthur's answer was: "In that case, our air force will make the Yalu River flow like never before!" At 2 o'clock in the morning, the order to land in Incheon was issued. MacArthur boarded the flagship's bridge.At this time, the entire fleet had entered the narrow waterway of Incheon Port, and the guns of all ships were aimed at Incheon Port in the dark. With a burst of flames and a loud noise, the firepower preparations for the landing began quickly, and the unprecedented scale of the attack left the reporters dumbfounded. 4 cruisers and 8 destroyers poured 2,845 shells on Wolmido Island very close to the shore in less than 45 minutes. The firepower of the naval guns made it impossible for naval pilots in the air to see Clear any target on the ground.As a result, "the whole island seems to have been plowed from beginning to end", and "all the creatures on Yuewei Island disappeared."At the same time, the Air Force began to dump bombs all over Incheon in an amount "exactly equal to the number of shells dropped on Omaha Beach before D-Day." But to the surprise of the Americans, when the US landing combat troops began to crawl on the muddy coast of Incheon, they were still stubbornly resisted by the North Korean army. Relevant military history records: "The commanders and fighters of the People's Army Coastal Defense Artillery Company commanded by Captain Li Daxun continued to fight with firepower until the gun body was heated and bent or was blown off by enemy shells, sinking and destroying four enemy ships. After the destruction, the artillery commanders and infantry fought fierce hand-to-hand combat with the enemy who had begun to land. At 10:00 am on September 15th, the sound of long live the last charge of the heroic Yuemido Island defenders sounded on Yuewei Island... ..." After the U.S. military successfully occupied Wolmido Island, the engineers began to work.At this time, the tide of the sea was low, and the fleet retreated to the open sea.This is a critical moment, because the landing operation has been made public. If the North Korean army counterattacks aggressively at this time, it is hard to say what the situation will be.For this reason, all carrier-based aircraft of the U.S. military were dispatched to carry out uninterrupted blockade and bombing of targets within a radius of 40 kilometers from Incheon, especially roads. Afterwards, it was learned that the North Korean People's Army did reinforce its troops in the direction of Incheon, but was severely blocked by the U.S. Air Force on the road, and was unable to advance throughout the day. Incheon Port has become a sea of ​​flames, especially the oil storage tanks in the port were hit, and the fire soared into the sky as if the entire city was burning.The U.S. Marines began to attack the beach in landing craft, and a reporter from the American "Time" magazine followed the Marines. He later described: "The sea wall of the thousand-foot-long Red Beach looks like the radio company of America. The same height as the building." At 1:30 p.m., the first U.S. Marines landed on Incheon soil. The U.S. Army quickly occupied Incheon City.Immediately afterwards, for a whole night, more than 18,000 U.S. Marines and a large amount of supplies.Dozens of tanks, all landed in Incheon. After the successful landing in Incheon, the U.S. military immediately rushed towards Seoul. On September 16, 1950, the second day after Incheon landed, MacArthur landed on the coast of Incheon.The general gloated in front of the reporters' cameras.On the battlefield full of burned tanks and corpses of soldiers, he himself directed a small drama. MacArthur's first line was: I want to find a man named Lewis.Puller's Colonel, is a Marine Corps commander.I would like to personally confer a medal on this head of the regiment. After Lewis, who was attacking a hill, was notified, the admirer of MacArthur said to the officer who came to invite him to accept the medal: "I don't have time! If he plans to award the medal, let him come here!" Not only did MacArthur not get angry because of the arrogance of the head of the group, on the contrary he admired him so much for his performance.MacArthur immediately took the jeep to the direction where the gunfire continued, no matter how his subordinates tried to persuade him, he would not listen.Until in a thatched hut where guns were roaring, MacArthur saw Lewis covered in gunpowder, "they saluted each other happily."The journalists were wild with joy, for there is no heroic story in the world that excites readers more than this. MacArthur's gamble and performance were both successful. The entire Incheon landing resulted in 203 U.S. casualties, and 1,594 North Korean People's Army casualties or captured. Next, even greater damage is still waiting for the North Korean People's Army, which has already advanced to the southern tip of South Korea.