[Seventy years ago, on October 19, the Chinese Volunteer Army crossed the Yalu River; on October 25, the first battle after the garrison in Korea was fought. After three years of bloody struggle, we finally won a great victory in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
At that time, with the disparity in military strength and national strength, why was China able to achieve victory? What did this war mean for the newly formed People's Republic?
On September 12, 1953, Chairman Mao Zedong summed up at the 24th session of the Central People's Government Committee that "the victory and significance of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea." I will revisit this article today to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Chinese Volunteer Army's going abroad to fight in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. 】
After three years of winning a great victory in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, this has now come to an end.
What did the victory in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea rely on? Just now the gentlemen said that it is because of the correct leadership. Leadership is a factor, without the right leadership, things are not done well. But mainly because our war is a people's war, supported by the people of the whole country, and the people of China and the DPRK are fighting side by side.
We are fighting against enemies like U.S. imperialism, whose weapons are many times stronger than ours, and whose victory we cannot force them to reconcile. Why can it be reconciled?
First, militarily, the US aggressors are in a state of disadvantage and beaten. If there is no peace, its entire front will be broken, and Seoul may fall into the hands of the Korean people. This situation has already begun to be seen last summer.
Both sides of the battle called their own fronts the iron wall of copper. In our case, it is indeed a copper wall. Our soldiers and cadres are resourceful, brave and not afraid of death. The U.S. invading forces, on the other hand, were afraid of death, and their officers were more rigid and less flexible. Their fronts are not consolidated, not an iron wall.
The problems that have arisen on our side are, first whether we can fight, then whether we can defend, then whether we can guarantee supplies, and finally whether we can break the germ warfare. These four problems, one after the other, were solved. Our army is getting stronger and stronger in the Vietnam War. This summer, we have been able to break through the enemy's position of twenty-one kilometers in front of us in one hour, to fire hundreds of thousands of shells in a concentrated manner, and to penetrate eighteen kilometers. If we continue to fight in this way, and then fight it twice, three times, or four times, the enemy's entire front will be broken.
Secondly, in the political aspect, there are many unresolved contradictions within the enemy, and the people of the whole world demand peace.
Third, in terms of economy, the enemy spent a lot of money in the war of aggression against Korea, and its budget revenue and expenditure were unbalanced.
These reasons combine to make the enemy have to make peace. And the first reason is the main reason, without this article, it is not easy to make peace with them. The US imperialists are very arrogant, and they must be unreasonable wherever they can be unreasonable, and if they are reasonable, they will be forced to do so.
In the Korean War, the enemy suffered 1.09 million casualties. Of course, we also paid the price. But our casualties were much less than originally expected, and with the tunnels, there were even fewer casualties. We're getting stronger and stronger. The Americans could not take our positions; on the contrary, they were always eaten by us.
Just now when you talked about the factor of leadership, I said that leadership is a factor, and the most important factor is that the masses can find a way. Our cadres and soldiers have come up with all kinds of ways to fight wars. Let me give you an example. In the first month of the war, our cars were heavily damaged. What to do? In addition to the leadership finding ways, it is mainly up to the masses to find ways. More than 10,000 people stood guard on both sides of the road, and when the plane came, the signal gun was fired, and the driver hid when he heard it, or found a place to hide the car. At the same time, the road was widened, and many new roads were built, and the cars drove over and drove unimpeded. In this way, the loss of the car is reduced from forty percent at the beginning to a few tenths of a percent. Later, the underground warehouse was built, the underground auditorium was also repaired, the enemy dropped bombs on it, and we held a meeting below. Some of us who live in Beijing feel quite dangerous when we think of the Korean battlefield. Of course, there are dangers, but as long as everyone thinks of a way, it is not so remarkable.
Our experience is that by relying on the people, coupled with a more correct leadership, we can use our inferior equipment to defeat the enemy with superior equipment.
The victory in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea was great and of great significance.
First, together with the Korean people, we fought back to the 38th Parallel and defended the 38th Parallel. This is important. If the 38th Line is not returned, the front line is still in the Yalu River and the Tumen River, and the people in Shenyang, Anshan, and Fushun will not be able to produce with peace of mind.
Secondly, military experience has been gained. We have gained experience in actual combat against the invading armies of the United States Chinese volunteers, infantry, artillery, engineers, tanks, railroads, air defenses, signal troops, health units, logistics units, and so on. This time, we touched the bottom of the U.S. military. To the U.S. military, if you don't touch it, you will be afraid of it. We played with it for thirty-three months and got to know its bottom. U.S. imperialism is not terrible, it is what it is. We've had this experience, and it's been an amazing experience.
Third, it has raised the political awareness of the people of the whole country.
As a result of the above three articles, a fourth article was born: the postponement of the new imperialist war of aggression against China and the postponement of the third world war. The imperialist aggressors must understand that now that the Chinese people have been organized, they cannot be provoked. If you mess with it, it is not easy to do.
In the future, the enemy may still fight, even if he does not fight, he must also use various methods to make trouble, such as sending spies to sabotage. They have huge secret service agencies in places like Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan. However, we have gained experience in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and as long as we mobilize the masses and rely on the people, we have a way to deal with them.
Our situation is different now than in the winter of 1950. At that time, were the American invaders on the side of the 38th line? No, they are on the yalu river and the Tumen river. Do we have any experience in fighting against the American aggressors? No. Familiar with the U.S. military? Unfamiliar. Now that has changed. If U.S. imperialism does not postpone a new war of aggression, he says, I will fight! We will use the first three against him. If he says, I won't fight! Then we have the fourth article. This also proves the superiority of our people's democratic dictatorship.
Are we going to invade others? We don't invade anywhere. However, when people invade us, we must fight and fight to the end.
Chinese people have such a rule: peace is in favor, war is not afraid, and both can be done. We have the support of the people. During the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the people enthusiastically signed up to join the army. The people who signed up to join the army were very strict, and people said that they were stricter than picking sons-in-law. If U.S. imperialism wants to fight again, we will fight with it again.
Note: This was part of Chairman Mao Zedong's speech at the Twenty-fourth Session of the Central People's Government Committee.