Since the birth of the atomic bomb, this nuclear weapon has only been used in actual combat and has been bombed by Japan. In order to force Japan to surrender, the United States threw two of them at Hiroshima and Nagasaki respectively, and the appalling lethality it produced is still sounding the alarm for the world.
The United States dropped the Nagasaki atomic bomb
So until now, nuclear weapons have only been used for deterrence, and once the actual combat is red-eyed, the nuclear weapons that humans now have are enough to destroy the entire earth.
However, during the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, MacArthur, commander-in-chief of the "United Nations Army," was a fanatical advocate. In the end, not only the European countries panicked, but Truman was even more confused. MacArthur, on the other hand, dug a pit for himself and was dismissed by Truman directly .100% of his post.
On June 25, 1950, the sudden outbreak of the Korean War surprised all the countries of the world, including the Soviet Union and the United States.
After the outbreak of war, the Korean People's Army took just over two months. It compressed the South Korean army and the US army into a narrow area of about 10,000 square kilometers east of the Nakdong River, and captured more than 90% of the South Korean land, which can be said to be a triumphant advance.
However, after MacArthur commanded the "United Nations Army" to land at Inchon on September 15, the war situation took a sharp turn for the worse, and the Korean People's Army no longer regained its earlier advantage, and under strong firepower, it was gradually defeated, and the war burned directly to the Yalu River in China. After repeated warnings were fruitless, China fought back and fired the first shot of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea on October 25 of the same year.
After the volunteers entered the DPRK to assist the Korean People's Army in battle, MacArthur did not think so at all, and he directly believed that even if the volunteers went to fight in the DPRK, it would not change the outcome of the defeat of the DPRK. He said to the officers and soldiers below: "Before Christmas, we must end the war and let everyone go home for Christmas." But that was just MacArthur's imagination.
From october 25, 1950, when the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea began, to January 8, 1951, the three battles launched by the Volunteer Army directly beat the arrogant MacArthur to the point of losing his temper.
In just over two months, the Volunteers annihilated 70,000 South Korean troops and the "United Nations Army", expelled them to the south of the "38th Parallel", and pushed the front near the 37th parallel north.
Faced with such an unbearable situation, MacArthur was worried at this time, and he no longer had the smile and arrogance of the past. In the face of the continuous defeat of the war, MacArthur's face was dull, and the morale of the troops fell to the extreme. At this time, MacArthur had to do everything he could to save the situation, so he put his hopes on the use of atomic bombs.
After the war, the U.S. Army archives confirmed a never-before-public document that exposed MacArthur's final "struggles and delusions."
According to this information, as early as December 1950, MacArthur had already provided the military and government departments with a list of what he called "retarded targets." In this list, he stated for the first time his strategic intentions and the idea of using the atomic bomb.
In his list of targets, MacArthur used atomic bombing as a means of attack. His proposal was this: Bomb the "enemy target forces" and "enemy air force massing forces" with 4 atomic bombs each, and at the same time use atomic bombs to build a radioactive zone along the Yalu River generation between China and North Korea.
In this way, his purpose is very obvious, that is, to expand the war and declare war directly on China, so that China cannot support North Korea.
However, MacArthur's proposal was directly rejected by Truman. At this time, Truman was quite annoyed in his heart, that is, from that time on, Truman had already planned to change people in his heart.
Why, then, did MacArthur's proposal to use the atomic bomb make the then U.S. President Harry S. Truman have the idea of a replacement in his mind, and finally remove him from his post?
In fact, we often can't look at things, from the dismissal of MacArthur, ostensibly because of the continuous defeat of his command of the "United Nations Army", in fact, to a large extent, it is really related to MacArthur's desire to use atomic bombs, and another point is inseparable from MacArthur's arrogance.
After the volunteers went to fight in Korea, the "United Nations Army" was frustrated in the first battle. When the world saw the defeat of the "United Nations Army" in the confrontation with the volunteer army, the direction of this war became a matter of concern to many people.
So at a press conference in November 1950, Someone asked Truman about the direction of the Korean War. In the face of reporters' questions, I don't know whether Truman had in mind or just wanted to threaten, he said this: "If the war situation develops to the necessary level, the United States will use all the means and military weapons at its disposal." ”
As soon as this statement came out, many reporters began to be restless, and then a reporter quickly asked that when all the weapons packages referred to did not include the atomic bomb, he answered a "YES" without hesitation.
Truman
As soon as this statement came out, the whole audience was in an uproar, and the subsequent questions pushed the Truman administration directly to the outlet, as if the matter was already very clear, that is, in the near future, the United States will use atomic bombs in the Korean War.
After the press conference, the news reached Mao Zedong's ears, and he just shook his head and smiled, and continued to let Peng Dehuai fight according to plan. As an outstanding military expert, Mao Zedong's ability to see the overall situation was a false name, and he had long known that Truman's move was either a threat or he moved a stone to drop his heel.
As Mao Zedong expected, a dramatic scene was staged. As soon as this news came out, all european countries began to worry and speculate. Especially after the United States delivered a dismantled Mark4 nuclear bomb to the Okinawa region a few days later, the European countries really couldn't sit still.
When they first formed the "United Nations Army" with the United States to invade North Korea, the purpose was very simple, that is, to "hug the thigh." If the United States really used the atomic bomb, it would inevitably cause uncontrollable large-scale conflicts, after all, the Soviet Union had millions of troops in Europe, and they were very jealous. Thinking of this, the former British chief Churchill and the then Prime Minister Attlee personally rushed to Washington, D.C., and had a big fight with Truman.
In the face of pressure and accusations from Britain, France and other European countries, Truman even the president of the United States had to consider these factors, and he also realized that the use of atomic bombs would inevitably face China and the Soviet Union, and he did not want to be the sinner who provoked the war.
Subsequently, Truman had to re-declare that "the United States will not use atomic bombs" to quell the storm. But the two sides of things are sometimes so difficult to deal with. After this remark, although Truman stabilized the European countries, he also offended a group of people, that is, the hardliners represented mainly by MacArthur.
Five-star General MacArthur, as a famous General in World War II, in the minds of many Americans, is no less prestigious than this president. MacArthur, on the other hand, was arrogant and conceited, and he looked down on Truman, who was halfway out of the house.
Take the example of the success of the Inchon landings, when Truman wanted to meet MacArthur and asked him whether the meeting was far away from Hawaii or Wake Island, MacArthur directly chose to let the president fly thousands of kilometers to Wake Island, rather than hawaii where he himself flew thousands of kilometers. When they met, they also looked arrogant, smoking his big cigarette butt directly in front of Truman, who hated the smell of smoke, and did not salute.
MacArthur
So, after Truman announced that he would not use the atomic bomb, MacArthur openly attributed the defeat in Korea to the weakness of the Truman administration and the restriction of its military operations, which caused Truman's support to plummet.
Therefore, between the use and non-use of the atomic bomb, Truman can be said to be "overwhelmed."
Reluctantly, Truman felt that the matter could be basically put to rest, but unexpectedly, a list of "retarded targets" for MacArthur's planned use of atomic bombs appeared on his desk again, which was the scene mentioned earlier in the article. At this time, Truman, who had already reached the point of mentioning the "atomic bomb", had already hurt his head, and his heart was not to mention how depressed he was.
However, no matter how much dissatisfaction MacArthur had in his heart, Truman had to endure, after all, MacArthur did not withdraw what he wanted.
After Truman announced that he would not use the atomic bomb, MacArthur began to embark on the path of "open opposition" to Truman. As everyone knows, he dug himself a "pit" deeper and deeper.
MacArthur not only directly refuted the weakness of the Truman administration, but also insisted on going his own way, directly sending reconnaissance planes into China's territorial airspace on many occasions to conduct illegal investigations, that is, to engage in friction and at the same time undermine and obstruct the DPRK peace talks.
How did Truman do it? He didn't say or ask, but first gave MacArthur a "chicken to scare the monkey."
On January 15, 1951, Truman dismissed Rear Admiral O'Donnell, commander of the U.S. Far East Air Force, on the grounds of reorganizing the Air Force. O'Donnell, on the other hand, was one of the ardent supporters of MacArthur's atomic bomb program. The intention was already obvious, and that was to tell MacArthur, "Without my order, you want to use the Air Force to drop an atomic bomb, that's no way." ”
Truman thought to himself, if MacArthur relented in this, then forget it, if he still insisted on going his own way, then don't blame him for being rude. Of course, he did not have too many expectations for MacArthur, a patient with "atomic bomb paranoia", and everything was just a collection layout for the later dismissal of MacArthur.
As he had guessed, MacArthur continued to go his own way, using his position as commander-in-chief of the "United Nations Army" to exaggerate and trumpet nuclear deterrence. More seriously, he once again pointed these spearheads at the Truman administration, intending to drag Truman into the water with the voice of public opinion.
On April 11, 1951, without any notice from the military, MacArthur himself heard on the radio that he had been dismissed from His post by Truman. MacArthur left the Korean theater with a "disgrace" in mind, and Ridgway subsequently took over his post.
Truman's handling of MacArthur has always been to convey a message to the public: "MacArthur's removal is forced to helpless, I am the victim." ”
Despite this, after MacArthur was removed from his post and returned to the United States, he was still warmly welcomed by the American people, and many places broke out in large marches against Truman, and Truman's support rate fell to an all-time low.
However, in terms of the current historical point of view, does Truman think that he is right? By MacArthur, he was not sure what he was going to do.