Chapter 15 Chapter 14 Chiang Kai-shek wanted to send the remaining ace in the mainland, the 52nd Army, to Korea to participate in the war, but was killed by Truman

Chiang Kai-shek wanted to send the Fifty-Second Army, the last remaining ace in the mainland, to North Korea to join the war, but Truman refused. (Taipei-Washington, end of June 1950-February 1952) In order to achieve the effect of surprise and surprise, most wars are fought on Sundays.This is no longer a secret, but a law of waging war.Although there have been many precedents for fighting on Sundays, on Sunday, June 25, 1950, a war suddenly broke out at the 38th parallel at the border between North and South Korea.War often requires both parties to pay a huge price.The Korean War later evolved into a contest between China and the United States.According to historical records, when the 38th Parallel first started, Chairman Mao Zedong and President Truman had the same reaction: they were not elated and overjoyed like Chiang Kai-shek.

After the founding of New China, there are decades of war wounds in mainland China that need to be treated.In early and mid-June 1950, Mao Zedong hosted the Third Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China at Huairen Hall in Zhongnanhai.At the meeting, Mao Zedong made a written report "Struggle for a Basic Improvement of the National Financial and Economic Situation" and made a famous speech "Don't Attack from All Sides". He advocated that in order to build a new China, the majority of people, including ethnic groups The majority of the bourgeoisie and intellectuals should not attack from all sides, make many enemies, and cause national tension.Then, Mao Zedong participated in the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference held in Beijing in mid-to-late June, and invited representatives from all parties to discuss the upcoming "Land Reform Law".By June 1950, the number of people in the PLA had reached a huge number of 5.4 million.With the end of the large-scale war and the needs of economic construction, in addition to ensuring that there is enough force to liberate Taiwan and Tibet, consolidate national defense and suppress counter-revolutionaries, with the approval of Mao Zedong, it is planned to demobilize 1.4 million in the second half of 1950 people, so that the army retains four million troops.Mao Zedong heard the news of the outbreak of the Korean War during this series of meetings governing the country.He is concerned, and the first thing he worries about is whether this war will affect the pace of new China's construction.Even soon after, MacArthur ignited the flames of war to the Yalu River on the northeast border.Mao Zedong convened several meetings of the Politburo, and after repeated deliberation, he had to decide that Peng Dehuai should take command and send troops urgently.

Because of the time difference, Americans were spending their weekends when the war broke out.Truman, so heartbroken by congressional Republicans these days that he could barely bear it, was happy to put foreign affairs on the back burner, relax, and go home to Missouri for a few days this weekend.The presidential plane flew over the Mississippi River and landed in Kansas City.A rare family reunion begins with hugs, banter and small talk.There was only time to have a family dinner, and a rush of phone ringing wiped out the joy of family reunion that night.The call came from Secretary of State Acheson: "Mr. President, I have just received extremely serious news. The North Koreans have invaded South Korea."

After a flurry of fuss, Truman had to break off his vacation, assemble his entourage, and fly back to Washington. For Chiang Kai-shek, the days before the outbreak of the Korean War can be said to be the saddest and most uncomfortable days in his life.After the loss of Hainan Island and Zhoushan, the people on Taiwan Island were panicked. Even if he ordered the shooting of Chen Yi and Wu Shi, several important figures failed to calm people's hearts.Truman and Acheson were waiting to see his joke.Malik, the representative of the Soviet Union, proposed to expel the representative of Taiwan in the United Nations, and the seat of "China" should belong to New China; for this reason, Malik withdrew from the venue in protest of the Kuomintang still occupying the seat.On the other side of the strait, the armies of the two corps of the Communist Party of China boarded the ship every day to practice water warfare.Some newspapers have described Chiang Kai-shek's fate as "sitting and waiting to die".That is, the non-communist countries in the Asia-Pacific region held a meeting in Baguio, Philippines at the end of May. India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia, Ceylon, Pakistan, Thailand, etc. all sent representatives to attend the meeting. The participating countries did not agree with the invitation of Chiang Kai-shek by President Quirino of the Philippines. join.Although Chiang Kai-shek was the initiator of this meeting, he also visited Manila and Seoul from Taiwan to initiate the meeting.Chiang Kai-shek is indeed sad and desolate enough.

During these days, Chiang Kai-shek was particularly concerned about the news in the newspapers.He reads the newspaper twice a day.Read Taiwan newspapers while having breakfast at 7:30 in the morning.At three o'clock in the afternoon, the Hong Kong newspapers arrived, and he wanted to read them too.When he is too busy, the attendants will use red and blue pencils to underline the titles that he should read.He pays special attention to discussing his books and Taiwan news.A newspaper in Hong Kong on June 24 reprinted a newsletter from the Press Trust of India, saying: Acheson has stated that the United States will not vote against whether to accept China’s admission to the UN General Assembly, and Washington has already hinted that On several occasions, it hoped that other members of the Security Council would "force" it to accept a Red China seat at the UN, and there were reports that France and Egypt were already being mobilized to vote for Beijing in the General Assembly.Of course, this was a piece of news that Chiang Kai-shek read very bitterly.

After 7 o'clock in the morning on June 25, Chiang Kai-shek read newspapers for breakfast as usual.Jiang Jingguo, who was in charge of the briefing, hurried in with two documents and said, "It's starting! It's starting on the 38th parallel!" Chiang Kai-shek quickly took over the materials and glanced at them, which listed the news received through sporadic fragments of international telecommunication: "Kim Il Sung's troops crossed the 38th parallel on Sunday..." Cars are fighting fiercely on the 38th parallel..." Chiang Kai-shek was a little emotional, his face was a little flushed, and his eyes were bright: "Jing Guo, hurry up and contact Ambassador Zou in Seoul."

Did the Third World War that Chiang Kai-shek was looking forward to day and night really come? !At ten o'clock that night, Taipei received the first telegram from Zou Yulin, the ambassador to Seoul, reporting the situation of the North Korean armed forces crossing the 38th parallel and going south.At 10:30 in the evening, a second telegram was received, reporting the embassy's response and the progress of the battle.After midnight, a third telegram was received, reporting Zou Yulin's contact with the South Korean government and the US embassy, ​​reflecting the urgent need for foreign aid in South Korea, and reporting that the embassy planned to withdraw to Busan if necessary.Chiang Kai-shek's initial reaction to the Korean War was roughly the same as Zou Yulin's research and judgment.According to Zou Yulin's record——

Today, the Korean Communist Party invaded the south and led to a major war. The whole country of South Korea rose up to resist the war, which was tantamount to performing surgical treatment on cancer.For Taiwan, the Korean War had only benefits and no disadvantages.The military threat we face from the Chinese Communist Party, as well as the diplomatic crisis in which our friend, the United States, abandons our country and recognizes banditry, has changed drastically due to the outbreak of the Korean War, revealing a glimmer of opportunity.China and South Korea share weal and woe. If the Korean War develops in the future, if it benefits South Korea, it will also benefit my country. If the Korean War turns into a world war between the United States and Russia, not only will South and North Korea be unified, but we may also return to mainland China by the Yalu River from the northeast.If the Korean War progresses unfortunately and South Korea is unfavorable, it is bound to raise the vigilance of the United States and free countries. Stepping up aid to South Korea will never allow the international Communist Party to cross the sea and attack Taiwan.

On the same day, Chiang Kai-shek also received an urgent telegram from MacArthur, commander-in-chief of the US Far East Army, from Tokyo, asking whether Chiang could send an army to fight in North Korea.On the same day, MacArthur dispatched to Taiwan the "Far Eastern Military Liaison Group in Taiwan" headed by Colonel Feld. On June 26, before dawn, Chiang Kai-shek called South Korean President Syngman Rhee to express his deep concern about the war in South Korea.Then, Chiang Kai-shek held an emergency meeting at Yangming Villa to study the issue of sending troops to North Korea.The leader of the military opposed sending troops, but Wang Shijie.Ye Gongchao and other civil officials thought this was a rare political opportunity and they should send troops.After a few hours of debate, the meeting passed the decision to send troops to North Korea.

At this time, Zou Yulin called again from Seoul to report: South Korea is in urgent need of foreign aid, and it must be particularly urgent, otherwise it will be too late; among the possible foreign aid, the first is the United States, and the second is Taiwan. If there is no timely foreign aid, Needless to say, Seoul, the entire Korean peninsula is bound to fall completely into the hands of the North Korean communist army within two weeks.On the same day, after Chiang Kai-shek made the decision to dispatch troops, he immediately sent a telegram of support to Syngman Rhee, expressing that he would take effective steps to provide assistance, including sending 33,000 troops from the 52nd Army, the main force, and the 13th Division to North Korea, directly participating in the war, and Get started now.Supplement and adjust the officers, soldiers, equipment, and transportation of the troops preparing to participate in the war. It is planned to transport the troops to the Korean battlefield by air and sea. Carry "the best equipment in China's own hands. Taiwan will send 20 C46 transport planes to transport these troops, and these troops can be ready and ready to go within five days." Chiang Kai-shek himself publicly said: " The Government Army of the Republic of China is the closest to South Korea, and it is the friendly army that can go to the rescue the fastest."

The Fifty-second Army stationed in northern Taiwan was the only complete main force that Chiang Kai-shek withdrew from the mainland.In the Battle of Liaoshen, the 52nd Army fled from Yingkou City to the sea. It was the only Kuomintang army-based unit that slipped through the net in this battle.When he came to defend Shanghai, he fought fiercely with Chen Yi's army in Puxi, and then retreated to Taiwan via Zhoushan by warship.It also deployed the Zhoushan Islands.Liu Yuzhang, the former army commander, graduated from the fourth phase of the Whampoa Military Academy. He was a brave general. He was wounded at Gubeikou during the Great Wall Anti-Japanese War. He also participated in the famous Taierzhuang Battle, Wuhan Battle, and Changsha Battle. Later in Taiwan, he was promoted to the rank of general of the army.It can be seen that Chiang Kai-shek is willing to use his last trump card in order to counterattack the mainland through the Korean War. After June 26, the 52nd Army was ordered to enter the first level of combat readiness.The whole system is on standby, ready to go at any time.On the 26th, Sun Liren, commander-in-chief of the army, was ordered by Chiang Kai-shek to adjust and enrich the 52nd Army. Guo Yong was appointed as the commander of the army, and Li Youhong was appointed as the deputy commander. On June 28, Ye Gongchao, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Taiwan authorities, instructed Ambassador Gu Weijun to the United States and Hu Shi, a cultural celebrity in the United States, to visit President Truman at the White House and meet Chiang Kai-shek in person. A copy of South Korea's telegram to show Taiwan's sincerity. At 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 25, the presidential plane flew back to Washington.The White House was still being repaired, and Truman listened to brief reports from Secretary of State Acheson, Secretary of Defense Johnson, and Deputy Secretary of State Webb on the short drive from the airport to the Blair Building of the temporary White House.After arriving at Blair Building, Truman had no time to eat, and just enough time to call his wife to inform him of his safe arrival. Thirteen senior officials in charge of the country's military and foreign affairs were already waiting in the conference hall. Oddly enough, the meeting to discuss the Korean War got off to a point right from the start.Bradley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, first read a long memorandum on Taiwan submitted by General MacArthur, instead of discussing the war situation and developments in North Korea.What the attendees heard was MacArthur's urgent appeal to Truman to reverse the January announcement that the United States had no intention of defending Taiwan.MacArthur likened the island to an "unsinkable aircraft carrier and submarine supply ship" and believed that ceding it to an unfriendly regime "would be a colossal disaster for the United States."MacArthur expressed willingness, even urgency, to visit Taiwan to conduct a survey to determine the "requirements and limits of military assistance" needed to defend the island from invasion.The participants had already heard these remarks, and because they repeated the same old tune, they sneered at them, neither interrupting nor expressing their views.Acheson secretly muttered that the hawks in the military wanted to use the Korean War to put pressure on the president on the Taiwan issue. After Bradley finished speaking, the president's butler came to greet him for dinner.The meeting was changed to the oval mahogany table in the restaurant. The president spoke first, expressing his willingness to listen to any insights on the situation, and he has no intention of making any major decisions for the time being.He first asked Acheson to report on the situation in North Korea.Acheson introduced the chaotic and unclear situation on the Korean battlefield that day, expressing concern.Acheson put forward three proposals that were discussed by officials of the State Department and the Ministry of Defense: 1. Sending weapons and equipment not planned for military aid to South Korea; 2. Mobilizing the Air Force to cover the retreat of American nationals; In order to prevent the CCP from attacking Taiwan, and to dissuade Chiang Kai-shek from taking any actions against the mainland, MacArthur was not allowed to make an investigative visit to Taiwan. Acheson emphasized that the United States should not get too hot with Chiang Kai-shek.He believes that the future of Taiwan will be determined by the United Nations. Truman interjected: "Or it may be decided by the peace treaty with Japan." Bradley went on to speak, saying that he did not think the Soviets were ready for war, and that he had "doubts about the advisability of engaging ground forces, especially on a large scale." Admiral Sherman also spoke that Chiang Kai-shek should be restrained.Secretary of Defense Johnson proposed that MacArthur should also be strictly controlled, "so as not to make his authority too large." The next day, on the Korean battlefield, the South Korean army was about to collapse, and the North Korean army advanced to Seoul.Syngman Rhee led his senior aides to flee south, and there was news that Syngman Rhee and his party were going to Japan to establish a "fugitive government".Acheson was taken aback, and interrupted Truman's dinner at 7 o'clock in the evening, saying that the situation in North Korea was extremely serious.Truman said: "The meeting will be held at nine o'clock in the evening." In this way, the original people who attended the previous day's meeting returned to the round mahogany table in the Brewer Building.Despite the seriousness of the situation, after discussion, Truman did not authorize the Navy and Air Force to "take action south of the 38th parallel."Truman suggested watching for a few days before making a decision, saying, "I don't want a war." Acheson also mentioned Chiang Kai-shek, and hoped that the Seventh Fleet would implement a two-way blockade, that is, to prevent either side from attacking the other side. Truman agreed, and moved on to Taiwan.Truman overturned the statement he had made on January 5 to recognize China's sovereignty over Taiwan. At this meeting, he proposed to consider "Taiwan's reclassification to Japan" and wanted to put Taiwan under MacArthur's control.He revealed that about a month ago, Chiang Kai-shek sent him a secret letter, in which Chiang proposed to "retire" and let another less controversial figure take his place.Truman believed that if MacArthur was offered to replace Chiang, Chiang would accept it. This means that MacArthur will establish the de facto governors of Japan and Taiwan.Acheson was very worried about this.Acheson believed that Chiang Kai-shek was full of tricks and ulterior motives, and that he might use tricks to actually boycott MacArthur, just to achieve the purpose of asking for US aid."It's not worth throwing us into confusion over Taiwan," Acheson said. Acheson's short, powerful words convinced Truman.Defense Secretary Johnson chimed in: "The United States, for whatever purpose, cannot give Chiang another dime. The money we gave them in the past is now invested in American real estate deals, or deposited in banks in Manila." This time Acheson dissuaded Truman from colluding with Chiang Kai-shek.The meeting decided that the U.S. Air Force and Navy would fight the North Koreans, with the U.S. Navy ensuring that the two Chinese regimes kept their distance from each other. Four days after the war broke out, on June 30, MacArthur sent a two-word telegram to Washington in a very urgent tone, claiming that the use of only the navy and air force was useless, and that the only hope at present "is in the Korean combat area." Introduce American ground forces." He suggested sending a reinforced regiment of about two thousand men immediately, after which he hoped to "draw up to two divisions of American troops from Japan for an initial counteroffensive." It was just after seven o'clock that morning , Truman called Secretary of Defense Johnson and Secretary of War Stanley, asking them to "consider the transfer of two divisions to MacArthur, and consider the possibility of accepting the Chinese Nationalist government to provide two divisions." Truman believes that the Chiang Kai-shek government is still a permanent member of the Security Council. As a council member, it is justifiable to use Chiang's troops.Truman's reason was: "Britain, Australia, Canada, and the Netherlands all sent ships and planes to the war, and we should probably also use Chinese ground forces." Truman foresaw a backlash: "We don't know what this will mean for Mao Zedong. We must be careful not to cause a full-scale war in Asia." At 9:30 in the morning, Truman's War Council met at the White House, and Truman sought advice on MacArthur's request for two additional divisions.He couldn't make up his mind whether it was "worth it" to accept Chiang Kai-shek's offer of an army of 3,300 men.These troops can be shipped on board within five days as Chiang Kai-shek said.Truman believed that "time is of the essence". Acheson clearly opposed the involvement of Chiang Kai-shek's army.He pointed out that accepting Chiang Kai-shek's army would risk introducing the CCP into North Korea or Taiwan.In addition, if Chiang Kai-shek sent troops to North Korea, it would certainly weaken the ability to defend Taiwan.The Communists will take advantage of this opportunity and force the United States to decide whether to intervene in Taiwan while intervening in North Korea. The chiefs of staff of the three armed forces made it clear that they would avoid Chiang Kai-shek's involvement.Chiang Kai-shek's troop equipment was comparable to that of the South Koreans, and the South Koreans were no match for the North Korean armored forces.In addition, the use of Chiang's troops required the use of transport vehicles, which were more effective in transporting American troops and supplies into North Korea. In the end, Truman had no choice but to agree to politely decline Chiang Kai-shek's assistance.In addition, the United Kingdom, which has started negotiations on the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United Kingdom, stated that it cannot fight side by side with the Taiwan military.Weighing the pros and cons, the United States could only adopt the plan of taking Yingshe Chiang and rejected Chiang Kai-shek's reinforcements. Chiang Kai-shek was particularly keen on sending troops to participate in the Korean War, and his purpose was straightforward: he hoped that by going to North Korea to fight, he could attack the Northeast from North Korea, or open up a second battlefield on the southeast coast, realizing his wishful thinking of counterattacking the mainland.Therefore, Chiang Kai-shek later boasted that if Taiwan's Kuomintang troops participated in the Korean War, the situation of the war would be completely changed, and the political and psychological influence of the Chinese Communist Volunteers in combat would be able to disintegrate their morale.He accused the United States, Britain and other Western countries of opposing the participation of the Kuomintang troops in the Korean War, which was "one of the biggest reasons why the Korean War failed in the end." Seeing that the proposal to formally send troops was invalid, Chiang Kai-shek proposed to send 15,000 people to the court in the name of "volunteers" through his personal relationship with MacArthur in August 1950, but was rejected by the United States. In October of the same year, the volunteer army of New China crossed the Yalu River from the northeast to fight in North Korea. In late November, the U.S. military was defeated by the counterattack of the Chinese Volunteer Army in northern North Korea. MacArthur also proposed that Chiang Kai-shek send reinforcements and transported two Army equipment, and dispatched to pick up the troops of the aircraft. Overjoyed, Chiang Kai-shek ordered the 52nd Army to complete combat preparations within 24 hours on December 1, and sent an advance regiment to Seoul. By this time, however, President Shrumman had convened a national security conference.After the discussion at the meeting, it was believed that the use of Taiwan's army could only have a superficial value, but it would be strongly opposed by the United Kingdom and other allies, and there was a danger of triggering an all-out war with China. towards. Chiang Kai-shek still did not give up. In February 1952, when the Korean battlefield was the most intense confrontation, Chiang Kai-shek proposed to the United States to send troops to North Korea for the third time. Truman saw more and more clearly that Chiang Kai-shek’s intention to join the war was to provoke a war between the United States and New China; and on the Korean battlefield, both the United States and the CCP wanted to control the war within a certain scale. Therefore, Truman could not let Chiang Kai-shek achieve his goal by sending troops to North Korea.In the end, Truman not only rejected Chiang Kai-shek's request to send troops, but also completely separated the Korean War from the Taiwan issue in the name of command adjustment. Chiang Kai-shek complained deeply to Truman for this.