In October 1950, the Chinese People's Liberation Army crossed the Yalu River in a majestic and angry manner and set out for Korea to fight against US imperialism. After the first battle, the Chinese Volunteers beat the invincible American troops to the ground and slapped MacArthur, who had been clamoring for the occupation of North Korea before Christmas, with a resounding slap in the face.
After this encounter, MacArthur had to re-examine his opponents, and he tried to find flaws in the volunteer army on the map in an attempt to save his face with a thunderous strike. MacArthur observed for a long time, stopping his gaze at the Border between China and North Korea, and it wasn't long before a smile appeared on MacArthur's face.
However, when MacArthur asked Truman for his killing, he was rejected by Truman, which not only made the five-star admiral suddenly jump and thunder, but also couldn't help but scold in the war room: "Those people in Washington are blind!" ”
So what exactly was MacArthur's killing move? Why did Truman reject MacArthur's plan? Finally, after MacArthur's plan was implemented, how would the Volunteers respond?
MacArthur
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MacArthur, a five-star American general, was extremely arrogant, and in his impression, the Chinese army still had long pigtails and carried Qing Dynasty soldiers made in Hanyang, so when the American army landed at Inchon, Truman went to Wake Island to meet MacArthur, and asked worriedly: "What if China sends troops?" MacArthur said the most regrettable words in his life: "China will not send troops, China has not won a victorious battle in history, what kind of troops will be sent?" ”
After the end of World War II, the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union signed the Moscow Agreement for the administration of the Korean Peninsula and the establishment of a provisional government, and the north was entrusted to the Soviet army and the south to the united states military. Despite the North Korean people's desire to achieve the reunification of the Korean Peninsula, in the context of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union continued to eliminate opposition forces in their respective trust areas.
Iron Curtain Speech
Subsequently, with the support of the two superpowers of the United States and the Soviet Union, the North and the South successively established political power. Subsequently, the United States and the Soviet Union announced the withdrawal of troops on the Korean Peninsula, but the contradictions and conflicts between the two sides near the 38th Line continued to escalate, and finally on June 25, 1950, the Korean People's Army launched a war to unify the Korean Peninsula.
South Korean troops, accustomed to U.S. military protection, lacked war preparations, and only three days after the outbreak of the Korean War, South Korean President Syngman Rhee hurriedly fled Seoul. A month later, the triumphant Korean People's Army advanced its front to the Daegu and Busan areas, where the two sides confronted each other along the Nakdong River.
In the face of the deteriorating situation on the Korean Peninsula, the united States, which has always been hegemonic, could not tolerate the damage to its own interests and decided to send troops to the Korean Peninsula. On September 15, 1950, under the command of Five Star General MacArthur, the U.S. 10th Army successfully landed at Inchon. After the landing, the US 10th Army, together with the US 7th Division landing on the east coast of the Korean Peninsula, directly divided the Korean People's Army into two, and the situation on the Korean Peninsula gradually became unfavorable.
On September 27, 1950, the US army conquered Seoul, and the US army gradually gathered its strength in order to compete for world hegemony, brazenly crossed the 38th Line, and the Korean People's Army, which had collapsed all the way, was unable to resist. The surprising success of the war made MacArthur somewhat oblivious and proposed to the U.S. government: "Take advantage of the victory to advance north and drive communism out of the Korean Peninsula!" ”
The U.S. military then advanced all the way north toward the Yalu River on the border between China and North Korea, posing a huge threat to China's national security. On October 25, 1950, the Chinese Volunteer Army entered the Korean War. At that time, MacArthur had received the news of the discovery of the Chinese army, but MacArthur did not believe it, because in his view, the best time for China to send troops to North Korea had been missed, so he judged that the report was only a small wave of Chinese troops.
Soon after, however, the Volunteers launched their first campaign, in which the U.S. 8th Army was beaten to the point of retreating and the U.S. 1st Division was severely damaged, framing the U.S. plan to occupy all of Korea. This shocked MacArthur, who felt numbness in his scalp and determined to save face for the volunteers.
So after carefully observing the map for a long time, MacArthur focused his attention on the Yalu River Bridge on the border between China and North Korea. In MacArthur's view, the US military can rely on air power, if the Yalu River Bridge, which is the only way for the volunteer army to supply the rear, is blown up, then the Chinese army fighting head-on will surely defeat itself without a fight.
The Yalu River Bridge was built by the Japan Railways Bureau in 1905, and behind it was the Japanese's intention to invade northeast China and invade China. The bridge is 944 meters long and 11 meters wide, and was originally built for the purpose of railway bridge. In 1943, in order to invade China and facilitate colonial rule in Korea, the Japanese built a second railway bridge, and the first railway bridge was changed to a road bridge.
Yalu River Broken Bridge
MacArthur believed that the Yalu River Bridge was the supply lifeline of the Chinese army, and it was extremely harmful to the operations of the "United Nations Army" and should be blown up. So MacArthur made meticulous and sufficient preparations in order to blow up the Yalu River Bridge, and dispatched the most advanced B-29 bombers from the "United Nations Army" to carry out this bombing mission. In fact, MacArthur had already set the take-off time of the bomber, 1 a.m. Washington time on November 5, but before the plane took off, he felt that the matter might be related to the diplomacy of the two countries, so he asked the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff for instructions.
MacArthur was the "Emperor Taishang" of Tokyo at the time, and this time he submitted a request to the Senate just to take care of the face of the Senate personnel, but what he did not expect was that the Senate actually refused the five-star general's request, so that he broke his mouth and scolded, so why did the Senate not agree to MacArthur's request?
When the Joint Chiefs of Staff learned of MacArthur's bombing plan, they were so surprised that they did not dare to take the matter lightly, so the Joint Staff would report the matter to the State Department. When the then Secretary of State, Acheson, learned of the news, he felt that the situation was too urgent to delay, and immediately informed Truman, who was participating in the election.
Truman
At the State Department meeting, Acheson analyzed MacArthur's plan: tactically speaking, this matter is not worth it, and at the same time we in the Western European Union already have an agreement not to expand the scale of the war without consulting with them, not to take action on the other side of the Yalu River, and at the same time there is a shadow of the Soviet Union behind the two countries, and the Soviet Union and China have signed an alliance treaty.
Truman listened and asked Secretary of Defense Marshall what he thought. Marshall was a Chinese expert and had a unique view of the Chinese issue, which won Truman's trust. Marshall said: "Unless it is found that the Chinese communist army is massed in Dandong, it is unwise to bomb the Yalu River Bridge in a hasty manner." ”
The U.S. General Staff then issued instructions to MacArthur to abandon the bombing mission, but only 1 hour and 20 minutes before MacArthur took off. The Joint Staff then did not forget to instruct MacArthur: "No bombing can be carried out in all places five kilometers from China's northeast border until the latest instructions are received." ”
After receiving the news, MacArthur could not bear it any longer, and scolded in the staff room: "The people in Washington are blind!" Watch as Chinese troops deliver supplies to North Korea over the Yalu River Bridge. At the same time, MacArthur complained to the chairman of the Board of Staff, Bradley: "In this case, it will be a huge blow to the morale of the Air Force and ground forces." ”
MacArthur was a pure general, so his plans were based on the situation on the battlefield, but the war was a continuation of politics, and behind each war was a multi-faceted game between countries, such as political economy, not just military confrontation. At this time, the international relations around the Korean Peninsula were already very tense, and China and the Soviet Union were even more nervous, and a careless move was very likely to trigger the Soviet Union to go down and fight against the United States.
At that time, although the economic strength of the Soviet Union and the United States was still a little different, but in terms of military strength, it was comparable to the United States, which caused the United States to be very jealous, and once a military conflict broke out with the Soviet Union, it would inevitably lead to the outbreak of the third world war. Once a big war breaks out, the United States will lose the support of its allies, because Britain and France, these countries, whose economic construction has just recovered from the shadow of World War II, can still be promised to let them help the United States send some troops, but let them participate in the next world war, which they will never agree to.
On the other hand, China's side, just in the Korean War, has caused the United States a headache, once the United States falls into a deeper vortex of war, it will invest a lot of financial resources, manpower, etc., once stopped, it means the defeat of the war, and finally will face serious international sanctions, and in vain let the Soviet Union become the world's largest country.
Of course, the Soviet union at that time did not want to have a large-scale conflict with the United States, and at that time, the Soviet Union did not directly send troops to fight in support of China, but only some military equipment and fighters, which showed that Stalin did not want to break out a world war. Among them, after the third battle, the US army was defeated all the way, which was very beneficial to our army's combat and continued to expand the results of the battle, but Stalin still expressed to our side to rest the troops and avoid the expansion of the scale of the war.
Truman, in addition to not wanting to expand the scale of the war, was not optimistic about MacArthur's bombing operation. The Yalu River Bridge is the logistics supply center of the Chinese army, which will be heavily defended, while the Soviet warplanes are constantly patrolling the vicinity, and the US military will bomb through layers of fire blockade, which is unlikely to succeed, and Truman's view, blowing up a bridge cannot stop the Chinese communist army.
Although Truman and MacArthur had great differences in the bombing of the Yalu River Bridge, they could not stop MacArthur from constantly pestering and constantly analyzing the war situation for senior OFFICIALS of the US government, and finally Truman could not resist MacArthur's soft and hard bubbles, and agreed to MacArthur's request to bomb the Yalu River Bridge, but prohibited MacArthur from bombing the northeast Air Base in China.
MacArthur was overjoyed to learn that Truman had agreed to his bombing plan, and although Truman's final request made his plan a bit lame, it still excited MacArthur, who was eager to change the situation on the Korean battlefield. Soon after, however, Truman's fears that the Yalu Bridge would blow up would not deter the Chinese communist forces were confirmed.
From mid-November 1950 to December 11, 1950, U.S. bombers began bombing the Sino-North Korean border. Under the indiscriminate bombardment of the US military, the Yalu River Bridge was blown off. However, the Volunteer Army at this time was in the middle of the second campaign and was in urgent need of a large number of logistical supplies, so soon after a large number of logistical supplies were piled up near the Yalu River.
When MacArthur heard the news, he was very excited, in his opinion, the Chinese army that had lost its logistical supplies would eventually stop here, and after the rear supply line was broken, the Chinese army would soon retreat or be annihilated. After the Yalu River Bridge was blown up, MacArthur immediately announced to the outside world that it had dealt a heavy blow to the Chinese army.
However, the reality was that the Chinese military and civilians did not follow MacArthur's ideas, and the Chinese military and civilians were not so easy to defeat. When China learned of this news, it immediately appointed General Hong Xuezhi as the commander of the Logistics Department of the Volunteer Army, and Hong Xuezhi organized the repair of the Yalu River Bridge on the one hand, and erected a pontoon bridge on the river surface on the other.
Hong Xuezhi
After MacArthur learned the news, he immediately intensified the frequency of bombing by the US military, so that the US bombing was not regular, but the determination of the Chinese military and civilians to support the front line was something that MacArthur could not have imagined. After the pontoon bridge was erected, in order to avoid the air bombardment of the US army, the logistics staff demolished the pontoon bridge during the day and re-erected it at night.
Later, the US military used guided missiles to bomb the Yalu River Bridge, and under the powerful artillery fire of the US army, some of the piers of the Yalu River Bridge even shifted, making the US military feel that the task had been completed several times, but when they woke up the next day, the Yalu River Bridge stood up again.
The US military bombed again and again, the volunteer logistics personnel repaired again and again, sometimes the military situation is urgent, the logistics personnel have to withstand the bombing of the US army to repair the bridge, so the Chinese military and people with their own tenacious perseverance, finally the logistics materials were continuously transported to the front line, with their flesh and blood to protect the Yalu River Bridge, to maintain the logistics supply lifeline of this volunteer army.
MacArthur has the world's most advanced equipment, but can not blow up the bridge, some people think that Truman did not prematurely agree to MacArthur's plan, but this is the Chinese military and civilian support the front line of determination, which is their not afraid of hard work, not afraid of sacrifice, standing up the Yalu River Bridge.