During the Korean armistice negotiations, because of a flag, the US military once made a small foreign appearance.
Although the US military does not agree, the media and public opinion in the United States are in an uproar, and china is full of joy!
Here's the thing.
On the first day of the negotiations, representatives of the Chinese Volunteer Army arrived on time by car with a bright red flag in the front of the car.
Immediately after, the CAR in which the US representative was riding also arrived, and to the surprise of the people present, a white flag was planted on the front of the US military car.
As soon as the news was released, public opinion in the United States was generally surprised, and a well-known media in the United States reported:
"For the first time in American history, a U.S. military commander went to negotiate with an opponent with a white flag!"
China's domestic media have also reported: "The US representatives are holding white flags to negotiate!" ”
Suddenly, the whole of China boiled over, and the people of the whole country rejoiced and rushed to tell each other: The Americans have surrendered!
Isn't it an armistice negotiation?
How can the US side hold up a white flag to negotiate?
In fact, before the two sides formally began negotiations, in order to ensure the safety of the negotiators and avoid accidental injuries, the two sides agreed to plant a flag on the negotiators' vehicles.
It was agreed that soldiers on both sides would not shoot at flag-bearing vehicles.
The volunteer side suggested the use of red flags, the idea of the volunteers is very simple, the red flag is more conspicuous, highly recognizable.
However, the US military is particularly sensitive to red, and they naturally associate "red" with "red China".
U.S. military representatives believe that planting red flags on U.S. military vehicles is an insult to them Chinese.
Unexpectedly, the US military proposed the idea of using a white flag.
"White flag?"
The volunteer representatives were surprised that, in the eyes of the Chinese, in most cases, only surrender would fly the "white flag".
The Hague Conference confirmed that the white flag represents surrender, truce or negotiation, and that those holding the white flag are not allowed to be attacked, and that the white flag cannot be used as a tool for surrender.
To tell the truth, the EXPLANATION of the US representative is reasonable, and the volunteer representative did not bother to explain to them what kind of definition of the "white flag" is in Chinese culture.
Since you Americans are "crying and shouting" to fly the white flag, do it!
As a result, the two sides finally reached an agreement, and the red flag was raised on the volunteer side and the white flag was placed on the US side.
Hence the "spectacle" of the day of negotiations.
Later, probably unable to stand the criticism of domestic public opinion, the US military was forced to make some adjustments.
Two years later, on July 27, 1953, when the armistice was formally signed, the two negotiating parties agreed:
Those who came to panmunjom for the meeting each had a yellow cloth strip wrapped around their arms, and cars and helicopters each wore a yellow flag as a symbol of the peace talks delegation.
A simple white flag, but behind it is such a profound story.
The signatory to the armistice agreement on behalf of the "United Nations Army" was Clarke, commander-in-chief of the "United Nations Army".
"I received an unenviable honor, which is that I became the first commander of the U.S. Army in history to sign an armistice without victory."
These remarks are Clarke's assessment of the war in his memoirs.
However, do not think that the US military has always been "invincible", and Americans are not unfamiliar with such things as white flag surrender.
If they hadn't been "amnesiac," a few years ago, tens of thousands of U.S. troops had surrendered to the Japanese.
Their leader was Named Wainwright, commander of U.S. forces in the Philippines.
Later, MacArthur, who served as commander-in-chief of the "United Nations Army" in the Korean War, was Wainwright's predecessor.
During World War II, the Japanese army attacked the Philippines in an all-round way, and the American army was defeated all the way, and finally forced to withdraw to Bataan, ready to hold out here for half a year.
MacArthur promised the outside world that he "will hold on to the last free front in Asia."
However, the Battle of Bataan was fraught with despair from the beginning.
The U.S. military first suffered a food shortage crisis.
At that time, bataan had 80,000 U.S.-Philippine coalition troops and more than 20,000 civilians and more refugees, and after the Japanese blockade, Bataan's grain reserves lasted less than a month.
In order to fill their stomachs, American soldiers killed all the peasant buffalo, and even the war horses of General Wainwright, the commander of the First Army of the United States Army, were killed to fill the hunger.
The second is the disease, the Bataan Peninsula malaria, dengue fever and other diseases are high, and a large number of American soldiers are infected every day.
The Americans were struggling there, and the Japanese took the opportunity to attack aggressively.
In order to destroy the morale of the American army, the Japanese army launched a psychological offensive at the same time.
They threw a large number of leaflets into U.S. positions every day.
The content of these leaflets is also particularly "heart-piercing", for example, the Japanese army printed on the leaflets an American woman who was alone in an empty house, and there was a strong foreign macho next to it...
For example, the Japanese army printed pictures of various gourmet dishes on the leaflets, making the hungry American soldiers salivate...
The "lethality" of these leaflets should not be underestimated, and many American soldiers were depressed and even collapsed when they saw the leaflets.
Seeing that the war situation was extremely unfavorable, in order to protect MacArthur and prevent the "American hero" from falling into the hands of the Japanese army, President Roosevelt ordered MacArthur to be transferred to Australia.
Before leaving, MacArthur promoted Winglet, commander of the First Army, to commander of the U.S.-Philippine coalition.
To appease the "scapegoat," MacArthur promoted Wainwright's rank from major general to lieutenant general.
MacArthur then patted his butt and left, leaving Wainwright with a box of cigars, a razor, two bottles of cream, and 80,000 starving, sick troops.
MacArthur had just left on his front foot, the Philippine president had made an excuse to slip away, and the situation in Bataan was becoming more and more precarious.
A few days later, the Japanese launched their final all-out assault.
At this time, tropical diseases such as malaria and dengue fever were being widely circulated in the US military, and medicines and food had all been exhausted.
Therefore, after some painful torture, General Wainwright chose to surrender to the Japanese army by "flying a white flag".
Wainwright later defended himself with this:
The reason why he chose to surrender was that he did not want tens of thousands of soldiers to die of disease and starvation, although surrender was a very humiliating thing, but it could save the lives of soldiers...
Speaking of this, the author can't help but think of a rumor that occurred during the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
In one campaign, volunteer soldiers captured a major officer of the U.S. First Cavalry Division.
Because it was the first time that an American officer had been captured, the troops sent the U.S. colonel officer to the Volunteer Command.
Mr. Peng asked the US military major: "You are called ace, how can you be so unbeaten?" ”
The U.S. military colonel's answer was: "In the event of the following four situations, we can choose to surrender." These four situations are running out of ammunition, running out of food, not being able to communicate with the outside world, and not being able to break through. ”
In the eyes of the volunteers, surrendering to the enemy was absolutely unacceptable shame, but the American major was right.
One by one, the officers and men of the volunteer army who were present laughed out loud.
Han Xianchu, deputy commander of the Volunteer Army, also laughed, and when the laughter was enough, Han Xianchu suppressed a sentence:
"What bird fight is this?" If this is the case, how can this battle be fought? ”
Deputy Commander Han Xianchu "did not speak roughly," and if we followed the theory of the US major, it would be impossible for our Chinese Volunteers to win the war.
Back to the surrender of General Wainwright.
Wainwright did not receive the "prisoner-of-war treatment" he imagined.
In the "Bataan Death March" that followed, the American prisoners suffered enough of abuse.
Because they did not expect to capture so many American officers and soldiers, the Japanese army was underprepared for food and troops, and soon became overstretched.
Therefore, on the way to escort American prisoners to prisoner of war camps, the Japanese army adopted a "cattle-catching" marching method.
They did not allow American prisoners to drink water or eat, and for wounded and sick soldiers, they were allowed to "fend for themselves."
Wainwright was no exception, and in the prisoner-of-war camp, he was also humiliated and tortured.
Because he was the highest-ranking American general, the Japanese soldiers took extra "care" of him.
When the Japanese army won a battle, the Japanese soldiers in the prisoner of war camp would beat Wainwright violently to celebrate;
The Japanese lost the battlefield, and the Japanese soldiers in the prisoner of war camp would still beat Wainwright violently to vent their anger.
Under the long-term hunger and abuse, Wainwright, who was originally tall and tall, finally had a skin and bones, and could not even straighten his waist.
Interestingly, after Wainwright was released and returned home, Truman awarded him a Congressional Medal of Honor and appointed him Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern Defense Zone.
His predecessor MacArthur also had a big gift to give to Wainwright.
On September 2, 1945, on the deck of the battleship Missouri, the signing ceremony for Japan's unconditional surrender was held here.
MacArthur was surrendered on behalf of the Allies, and behind him stood two very special people, namely Wainwright, who had been captured by the Japanese, and Lieutenant General Percival of the British Army.
MacArthur not only took Wainwright to the glorious ceremony of surrender, but also gave The pen that signed the surrender to Wainwright and Percival.
When he signed the surrender, MacArthur shared six pens, the remaining four of which were given to his wife, West Point, the Naval Academy, and the National Archives.
Why did a surrendering general like Wainwright not be held accountable or convicted, but seen as a hero after the war?
This is a difficult question to answer, maybe this is the difference between Chinese and Western cultures.
According to the traditional concept of honor and disgrace in the Chinese, people seem to prefer to see that it is always a disgraceful thing to surrender rather than surrender, to kill oneself.
What is your view on this issue?