On April 19, 1951, a speech by MacArthur caused a sensation in the United States, just a few days before he was revoked by Truman of his command of the Korean battlefield, followed by a speech that caused the general dissatisfaction of the American public with the Truman administration.
They believed that General MacArthur had been politically murdered, and sent 27,363 letters of protest to the White House and letters and telegrams impeaching the president.
MacArthur
People were disappointed by Truman's decision, and Truman's own political image was affected, but Truman felt that he had done nothing wrong, and the U.S. government considered it a necessary political measure because MacArthur was a veritable war maniac.
As early as the early 1950s, MacArthur was in contact with the Chinese Nationalists, who tried to support the Nationalists in attacking southern China, and for this purpose he repeatedly resisted Truman's restricted war, ordering the bombing of the Yalu River on the Sino-North Korean border and acquiescing in the flight of American aircraft into Chinese airspace.
The Anti-War American citizens may not know that it is this General MacArthur they worship madly, who intends to use "nuclear weapons" on the Korean battlefield.
Before MacArthur was removed, he threatened China and the DPRK to drop 29 atomic bombs on them, and the leaders of the North Koreans asked Chairman Mao for help in a panic, but Chairman Mao said a word, directly hitting the pain points of the United States and calming the restless mood of the North Koreans.
Why did Truman insist on MacArthur's removal? What exactly did Truman think about the nuclear strike between China and North Korea? How did Chairman Mao answer?"
After the outbreak of the Korean War, MacArthur was appointed commander-in-chief of the U.S. Far East Army, commanding the United Nations forces to invade Korea, and Truman and MacArthur agreed that they were using "military force" to save South Korea and curb Soviet rule and invasion of all of Korea, which was a war of freedom, and that North Korea was just the vanguard of the Soviet Union.
When Truman ordered MacArthur to land at Inchon, he wanted to use the U.S. military to crush the armed forces of North Korea and end the war at an early date, and Truman authorized MacArthur to command military operations north of Korea.
On October 15, Truman and MacArthur met on Wake Island, and MacArthur assured Truman that the war would end before Thanksgiving on November 23, and that U.S. troops would withdraw to Japan at Christmas, with little chance of Sino-Soviet intervention, and MacArthur said that if China really wanted to go south to Pyongyang, it would be hit hard.
At this time, China also made a voice to prevent the United Nations army from advancing to the 38th Parallel, but MacArthur felt that China and the Soviet Union would not intervene, so he ignored the obstruction of the joint meeting of chiefs of staff, withdrew the South Korean army, commanded the US troops to approach the Yalu River, and sent aircraft to bomb near the Yalu River, and the flames of war burned to the Chinese border.
The United States originally wanted to achieve a complete military victory with overwhelming force on the Korean battlefield, but unexpectedly, the first confrontation between the United Nations army and the Chinese Volunteer Army, the United Nations army was defeated, pushed from the Yalu River to the south of the Cheongcheon River, and continued to retreat to the 38th Line.
The Chinese volunteers broke the U.S. battle plan in North Korea, and the U.S. authorities once again raised the issue of the shelved use of nuclear weapons.
In the eyes of the United States, the current situation has to use nuclear weapons, and even Koslin, who initially opposed the use of nuclear weapons, asked his subordinates to study the circumstances under which atomic bombs would be needed.
On November 30, 1950, Truman spoke at a press conference: "The use of nuclear weapons has been actively considered, and their role is determined by military commanders on the battlefield."
At this time, the United States had completely fallen into the illusion of using nuclear weapons against China and North Korea, and agreed from top to bottom that only nuclear weapons could stop the counteroffensive of the volunteer army.
In April 1951, Truman decided to send B-29 bombers with full atomic weapons to Guam and managed to spread the news to China, warning the Soviet Union and Beijing that if the rules of conduct were broken, they would have to take responsibility for the consequences.
As soon as this news came out, the leaders of the Northern Dynasty immediately panicked, and he immediately went to Beijing to discuss countermeasures with Chairman Mao.
Chairman Mao also received the latest news from Truman, but he firmly said: "This is a nuclear intimidation, they dare not launch a nuclear war, the United States is not the only one who possesses nuclear weapons, if they really want to provoke an overall war, they do not have to say it with great fanfare!" ”
Chairman Mao had a clear understanding of the mind of the United States, and as long as the Soviet Union stood behind them, the United States would not dare to use nuclear weapons.
Despite the rhetoric, the U.S. government is skeptical that China has received the news, because it has since launched its largest ground offensive to date.
Instead of deterring China, the United States asked them to attack again, but the allies of the US imperialists were not lightly frightened by the use of nuclear weapons, and the British prime minister's assistant called the US embassy in a frenzy.
On December 4, 1950, British Prime Minister Attlee flew to the United States, and during the meeting and conversation between the two sides, Attlee strongly opposed the use of nuclear weapons by the United States, and even offered to hand over Taiwan's seat in the United Nations to Beijing in order to make Korea cease fire.
Prime Minister Attlee of the United Kingdom
Attlee believed that they could not get too deep into the eastern battlefield, which would expose them to attack in the western battlefield.
They should be guarding against the Soviet Union, since the Soviet Union had nuclear weapons, Britain has been worried that the American bomber troops stationed on their territory will become the target of the Soviet Union's nuclear attack.
The United States had expected its ally Britain to side with it, but Britain had no interest in the Korean battlefield, and the strengthened relations between Britain and the United States were only because of their nuclear weapons cooperation.
Britain was very dissatisfied with the arbitrary behavior of the United States in insisting on using nuclear weapons, and believed that "if the United States uses nuclear weapons, World War III will soon break out."
Not only that, but the deterrent value of nuclear weapons for major wars will also be reduced.
Not only Britain, but also the United Nations ambassadors to the United States are restless, and the Dutch envoys are even more tearless, discussing with the French envoys to eliminate the feasibility of using nuclear weapons in the United States.
The atmosphere of the United States' use of nuclear weapons against China and North Korea was brought to a climax, when Truman suddenly woke up to the fact that if they used nuclear weapons, the possibility of the Soviet Union participating in the war was very high.
On the North Korean front, MacArthur was still enthusiastically planning the drop-off points for nuclear strikes in China and North Korea.
The situation of the United Nations army on the battlefield is not optimistic, the American troops from the peak to the whole army retreat, by the volunteer army retreated three hundred miles, MacArthur's position plummeted, he saw the number of United Nations casualties continue to rise, the country is more and more dissatisfied with his command ability, MacArthur decisively requested Truman to launch a nuclear strike against China and North Korea.
He plans to drop a large number of nuclear bombs near the Yalu River, create a nuclear radiation belt, and prevent the People's Liberation Army from continuing to send troops to North Korea before dropping nuclear weapons into China's heavy industrial zones.
Korean
But judging from China's reaction to the nuclear threat, China does not seem to be afraid of the fatal blows brought about by nuclear weapons, and Chairman Mao also said at the people's government committee held in September 1950: "It is nothing more than fighting the third world war, but this time we are fighting the atomic bomb, not a short strike, a long strike, so we must be fully prepared!" ”
The U.S. government may not quite understand this chinese idea, nor does it understand Chairman Mao's personality, and he fully explains the words in the book: "The people are not afraid of death, so why should they be afraid of death?" ”
How could China, which had sacrificed millions of fighters on the battlefield to resist imperialism, fear the U.S. nuclear threat? Not to compromise is not necessarily to die, compromise is the difference between early death and late death!
As early as the time when the volunteers entered Korea, Chairman Mao was already prepared for a long-term battle, so he sent hundreds of thousands of troops into Korea to resist the war at the beginning.
Chairman Mao concluded that at this time the United States was in a stage of economic war, and if they wanted to increase their exports on the Korean battlefield, they must lengthen the front line and increase economic exports, and this alone could drag them down.
Chairman Mao
The main thing is that if the United States uses nuclear weapons, then the Intervention of the Soviet Union is inevitable, unless they abandon the European battlefield and fall from the top of the world power, which is why the volunteer army is deaf and blind, and directly opens a large road battle.
But Truman can become the president of the United States, his political power will not be destroyed by a momentary impulse, after China's fearless battlefield strike, the crowd gradually reacted, they identified the nuclear threat, not only did not fulfill the "political responsibility", but also scared their allies half to death, and did not play any role in the Soviet Union.
They were carried away by the entry of China and North Korea into the war, because this anguished the face of the British and French allies, involved the Soviet Union in the war, and even triggered the third world war, which was completely more than worth the loss.
The U.S. government realized that their nuclear strikes were limited.
So Truman ordered a limit on the scale of the war, and also limited MacArthur's nuclear power, preventing him from expanding the idea of war.
This made MacArthur very dissatisfied, so he threw his frequent defeats on the Korean battlefield directly to Washington's various restrictions on him, implying that the Korean War was now deadlocked here, and if it did not use nuclear strikes against China, it was likely to make the situation of the United Nations army more dangerous.
MacArthur's public statement surprised the U.S. allies, everyone was stopping the war, and the field commander wanted to escalate the victory, could the U.S. government really mobilize the ambitious general?
This upset Truman, who was not the first time MacArthur had disobeyed Truman's orders.
In the summer of 1951, the Truman administration decided to continue north militarily and negotiate with China and North Korea on the basis of a policy of strength, but MacArthur and Truman were opposed.
Repeated remarks at odds with Washington's, and even issued an ultimatum to the Chinese military without any communication, declaring: "Once the US military operation expands to China's coast and inland, China will be vulnerable."
MacArthur and Truman
MacArthur's stubbornness in letting the war proceed according to his own thinking led macArthur to be rebuked by everyone, with Acheson angrily calling him a "deliberate sabotage" of government policy, and some arguing that MacArthur's statement was "unforgivable and irreparable" to the United States.
Truman wanted to kick this brainless war maniac into the China Sea, but what really made Truman abandon MacArthur was his common incident.
On April 5, 1951, because of the disagreement between the two people, one wanted a ceasefire and the other wanted to use nuclear strikes to occupy China and North Korea.
So MacArthur wrote privately to Truman's political enemy Joseph Martin, in which he praised his advocacy of opening a second battlefield, and criticized Truman's policies, even asserting, "We must fight, there is no other way."
Perhaps MacArthur did not expect that the Communist leader would directly disclose the information, leading to a direct break between MacArthur and Truman.
MacArthur returned home
MacArthur went so far as to overthrow himself in order to expand the war, and Truman felt that this man really could not be retained any longer.
On April 11, 1951, Truman issued a public statement: "On behalf of the Government, I have come to the conclusion that MacArthur, a five-star general in the Army, could not wholeheartedly implement United Nations decisions on the duty network, so the United Nations consulted to remove MacArthur from all command rights on the Korean battlefield and appointed Richie as a lieutenant general to succeed him!" ”
After MacArthur stepped down, Truman held an armistice negotiation with China and north Korea in June 1951, but unfortunately nothing threatened the volunteer army now, and the four countries of China, North Korea, South Korea and the United States were not satisfied with the terms of the armistice proposed by both sides, so the war continued.
The newly appointed General Ridgway of the United Nations Army also failed to turn the Korean War into a victory, and in the Battle of Shangganling, the remains of american troops killed by Chinese and North Korean troops can be seen everywhere, and both sides have suffered no small losses.
The accompanying U.S. military reporters shouted the name Sadness Ridge in despair in the face of this war situation.
Battle of Korea
After the defeat at Shangganling, the U.S. military could no longer wage a battalion-sized battle, and the news returned to the United States, and the American people protested and demanded a government truce.
At this time, the US military realized that in the Korean War, whether it was the use of nuclear weapons or an ordinary war, it was a wrong war for the United States.
After the defeat, MacArthur, who failed to conduct a nuclear strike against China and North Korea, said sarcastically: "Whoever fights with the Chinese Army must be sick!" ”