Chapter 76 second quarter

Regarding the outbreak of the Korean War, the often-discussed question is "Which side of the North and the South launched the attack first", and this is still an interesting mystery.A document published by the U.S. State Department asserts that North Korea invaded: "Regarding the initial incident of North Korean troops crossing the 38th parallel (Korean time) before dawn on Sunday, June 25, 1950, and launching an all-out attack on the Republic of Korea The official report from the United States Ambassador to North Korea, John Jay Mucho, was received by the State Department on Saturday evening (June 24 at 9:26 p.m. EDT). North Korea The sudden attack by the communist regime on the Republic of Korea was a mad attack on world peace. It was a sudden attack on a peace-loving people under an independent government elected by the people themselves, under the United Nations Established with the assistance of the United Nations and recognized by most of the free nations of the world." ("White Paper on North Korea") Since this day happened to be Sunday, some people regard this surprise attack as belonging to the same nature as the attack on Pearl Harbor .

John Nemuro wrote: "On the morning of June 25 (Sunday) (1950), my wife and I returned to Tokyo from Kyoto and went straight to Nikko for a trip. Before driving, Whitney He will see us off in the future. He said that he could not travel to Nikko with us, because according to MacArthur's order, he had to go on this Sunday. But we didn't think it was due to any accident at the time, Because it is not uncommon for senior officers of General Headquarters to be called on Sundays. The time was 8:20 in the morning, and it seems that no one in General Headquarters knew what was happening in Korea at that time. We arrived at Nikko and visited Temple - that is one of the most gorgeous places in the world. About to eat lunch, a senior official was suddenly called to answer the phone. As soon as he came back to me, he whispered: 'Big news: the South Korean army is heading north North Korea is attacking.'” (The MacArthur Mysteries)

Nemuro's article is often cited in various books.The senior official is said to have whispered at the time: "South Korean troops have launched an attack on North Korea." Nemuro went on to write; "The news is terribly wrong as to which side invaded first, but..." Nemuro simply changed the positions of host and guest.That is to say, the senior official said it upside down due to overexcitement. Nemuro went on to write, “Needless to say the headquarters in Tokyo, even the Americans stationed in South Korea were completely taken by surprise. They were all astonished, as if the sun had suddenly disappeared. The North Korean side successfully carried out a tactical A real surprise attack, even a strategic one. To be honest, we were even more humiliated this time than at Pearl Harbor. Not only were our eyes closed, but our whole body was in deep sleep."

What was written in this report became the impression of the Japanese people on the Korean War.When Japanese newspapers reported the news for the first time, they all used the headline "North Korean Army Invades the 38th Parallel".Therefore, most Japanese still believe that North Korea attacked South Korea. According to Nemuro, on the morning of June 25, the North Korean side dispatched a large army including four divisions of the regular army and three garrison brigades to launch an attack.70,000 officers and soldiers and about 70 tanks were deployed on the front, operating simultaneously in four different locations.Nemuro also said something to the effect that it would take at least a month of preparation time to assemble so many troops, distribute weapons and equipment, and launch the scheduled offensive on a broad front on the scheduled date.If this is the case, wouldn't the Pentagon in Washington know anything about these movements on the 38th Parallel?Before that, there would have been no less than hundreds of small battles on both sides of the 38th parallel, and the situation was extremely tense.In fact, John Foster Dulles, an adviser to the US State Department, visited the trenches at the forefront of the 38th Parallel two days before the outbreak of the war and had just returned to Tokyo.It would be too slack to say that the U.S. intelligence network's "surprise attack" on the north was completely "closed eyes, and the whole body was sleeping soundly".

Journalists in Washington, trying to make this clear, questioned the CIA director, Rear Admiral Roscoe Ho. Hillenkett.He replied that "North Korea is in a state where it might launch an aggression this week or next week," adding that U.S. intelligence agencies were aware of the situation.The major general also attended the secret meeting of the Senate Budget Committee the next day. On the one hand, he assured the Republican lawmakers that "this is not unexpected by the US intelligence network", but at the same time he said: "The North Korean army a year ago It has the strength to invade South Korea, but whether they will really launch an attack and what kind of plan they will launch the attack is unpredictable.” These words are different from what he said earlier.The next day, he was called to the Senate Budget Committee to explain further in secret meeting.It is said that Major General Hillen Kite’s testimony this time is completely different from the previous vague conversations, and he also showed the bound reports of the intelligence agency, which proved that this was not beyond his expectations. Therefore, from the conference room The commissioners who came out believed that "the CIA is doing a good job." (E.V. Stone: "The Secret History of the Korean War")

So what about MacArthur's headquarters in Tokyo?Nemuro defended MacArthur and said: "However, MacArthur didn't pay much attention to North Korea. Before the war broke out, he only went to North Korea once, and he only stayed for one day-that time was to participate in the South Korean Conference held in August 1948. Independence celebration. After the independence of South Korea on August 15, MacArthur has no responsibility for North Korea, whether in terms of politics or military affairs. The Marshal is beyond reproach. North Korea is not under his jurisdiction.” However, probably Nemuro after all Feeling like this is really unreasonable, he then reprimanded tactfully: "But on the other hand, as the supreme commander of the US Far East Army, he should have paid more attention to the situation in North Korea." He said that North Korea was not under MacArthur's jurisdiction. , which is equivalent to saying that North Korea is not under the jurisdiction of the Far East Army Command.Anyone who listens will think this is ridiculous, and can only think it is a sophistry with strong words.Lieutenant General Hodge was stationed in North Korea as the commander. Needless to say, he often kept in touch with MacArthur, the Supreme Commander of the Far East Army.

Moreover, didn't MacArthur's top intelligence officer-Secretary of Intelligence Willoughby, like Washington, not know of the North Korean army's invasion in advance? Contrary to the above reports, in the early morning of June 25, when the war broke out, the Pyongyang Radio Station broadcast the Ministry of Internal Affairs communiqué.The communiqué stated: "At dawn on the 25th, the Puppet Defense Forces of South Korea launched an unexpected attack along the entire 38th parallel to the area north of the 38th parallel. In the Cheorwon area, it has invaded the area north of the 38th parallel by one to two kilometers. The Ministry of the Interior of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has ordered the Republic Guard to repel the enemy who invaded the area north of the 38th parallel. Currently, the Republic Guard is resisting A fierce defensive battle was launched against the enemy. The Republican Guard repelled the enemy who invaded the area north of the 38th Parallel from Xiangyang.”

According to various data, it can be generally seen that the south Korean side foresees the outbreak of war and has taken various preparatory measures.But it is impossible to know whether such "measures" have also been taken by the North Korean side.Either because North Korea doesn't have much data on this, or they have "absolutely failed" to take "measures".But according to common sense, the latter case is unlikely.Because before that, there had actually been more than a thousand small battles on the 38th parallel, and it was hard to imagine that North Korea had not collected any information on South Korea’s war preparations that will be mentioned later.After North Korea was "invaded" by the South Korean side, it immediately fought back, easily repelled the South Korean army, and pursued it fiercely.Therefore, it is difficult to imagine that North Korea only made defensive preparations and deployed only a small number of garrison troops.Nemuro spoke about North Korea's deployment.The famous American military reporter Hanson Baldwin also reported: "On the 38th Parallel, the main forces of the four North Korean divisions and two units reported to be the garrison brigade are deployed. Light tanks and light tanks believed to be made in Japan are deployed on the front line. Medium tanks, about 30 Soviet-style 1.22mm field guns, and other heavy equipment, the concentration of troops is becoming more and more obvious." How reliable the figures listed in the report are, it is another matter; It is equipped with forces that can immediately pass from defense to massive attack.

After MacArthur retired, he himself testified on this point.Regarding the deployment of the North Korean army before the war, he once said: "Both sides have organized troops that can be called lightly equipped. The strength of the South Korean Border Guard is stronger than that of the regular police. Of course they are guarding the border, but they cannot compete with them." Compared with the regular army. As far as I can remember, the security forces in the North Korean army are organized into what they call four brigades, whose strength is almost equivalent to the regular army of North Korea. But the North Korean side is still deploying along the 38th parallel Behind the security team, a new team was organized. This team was organized under strict conditions. In short, the North Korean army was deployed far from the 38th parallel. It was a deployment for defense, not for offense. "

This is a strange piece of testimony.MacArthur testified that North Korea did not deploy forces to attack.How can this be used to explain the North Korean aggression that the United States accused of when it raised the issue with the United Nations, after he was removed from office?On this matter, Stone also wrote: "Why did the North Korean side not wait until it is fully ready before launching an aggression? I am afraid that Major Willoughby will explain why." A year later, the following statement by Willoughby echoes that of Stone.He said: "For several weeks, the entire North Korean army has been on standby, ready to be dispatched at any time along the 38th parallel." Chisun said: "I don't think there is any mistake in the intelligence work." Regarding the intelligence of the North Korean army's intentions, the examples that have been frequently cited so far are the two reports submitted before June 25.One of these is the weekly consolidated intelligence report of the Commander-in-Chief of the US Far East Army.This information stated that on March 10, 1950, "received a report that the North Korean People's Army is scheduled to start its invasion in June 1950".The commander-in-chief of the US Far East Army is of course MacArthur.In addition, regarding the question of how much support the United States is prepared to give South Korea once it goes to war with North Korea, Connally, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the United States Senate, will make a statement when he meets a reporter from an influential weekly magazine in Washington. " (May 3) was reprinted.The newspaper's headline read: "Connery Predicts Communist Army Will Drive U.S. Army Out of South Korea."

No matter how evasive MacArthur was, the United States did receive frequent warnings that South Korea might provoke North Korea.Rear Admiral Hillen Kate was the second director of the CIA (in October of this year, he was dismissed and replaced by the famous Allen Dulles).When he was in office, he was praised as "the US intelligence agency is doing a good job".Washington's intelligence agencies were of course aware of the alerts.It goes without saying that the intelligence department in Tokyo also knows about it.It is not difficult to imagine that Tokyo's intelligence agencies have deployed more intelligence networks in North Korea than Washington has deployed, no matter from the perspective of geography or the direct influence of the local troops stationed there.Intelligence gathered in North Korea has occasionally been sent directly to Washington, but in many more cases it may be more appropriate to assume that intelligence was forwarded by Tokyo.As the official and unofficial records show, U.S. General Command Intelligence has an unrivaled intelligence network and is the first-class intelligence agency.Among them are the "counterintelligence team", the independent Cannon agency, and the so-called Y agency, etc., which have invested billions of dollars in total and mobilized all agencies to specialize in intelligence about China, North Korea, and the Soviet Union. Ciphers and correspondence were obtained by secret means. Since this is the case, why did it give people the impression of being "surprised" and make a fuss in the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee?Moreover, why is the atmosphere at the U.S. Army General Headquarters so leisurely that Nemuro visits Nikko on Sundays?Here, I can't help thinking that whenever a prisoner plots a crime, he always tries to make others think that he was not there at the time.In this incident, the U.S. military deployed South Korean troops in front of the 38th parallel, and claimed that they were always on the defensive and failed to anticipate North Korea's attack.This is the method used by the United States to prove that it was "not there". On June 24, the day before the fighting began, UN observers on the ground presented a report to the UN Security Council, purporting to show that "it is impossible for the South Korean military to wage a war of aggression."For the United States, this has also become a very suitable "alibi" proof.

---

Notes: