During the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the "United Nations Army" changed three commanders-in-chief before and after: MacArthur, Ridgway, and Clark.
Compared to Clarke, MacArthur and Ridgway have distinct personalities and mavericks.
Let's take a look at their iconic image.
In many old photographs, macArthur, a non-smoker, always has a large cob pipe in his mouth.
Unlike most professional soldiers, General MacArthur was more of an out-and-out "actor."
People described him as "an idol-like figure with rich body language and exaggerated speech."
MacArthur was very popular with journalists because he always let reporters take the photos they wanted and get the news they wanted, even though many of the news was exaggerated or false.
MacArthur participated in World War I and World War II, and his brilliant military exploits made him an American idol;
In the Korean battlefield, MacArthur successfully implemented the Inchon landings, instantly turning the situation in Korea and reaching the peak of his military career.
At the same time, MacArthur was also a man of no one's eyes, self-absorbed, and obstinate.
He grossly underestimated China's courage and strength to resist aggression, and even more underestimated his opponent, Peng Dehuai, and the Chinese Volunteer Army he led.
Until his death, MacArthur could figure out how the world-dominating U.S. military could lose to the ragged Chinese army.
After repeated defeats in Korea, on April 11, 1951, the arrogant MacArthur was removed from his post by Truman, and his glorious military career ended in Korea.
On April 19, 1951, MacArthur delivered his famous speech - veterans do not die;
MacArthur died of gallstones on April 5, 1964, at the age of 84.
At that time, he succeeded MacArthur as commander-in-chief of the "United Nations Army" by Ridgway.
Ridgway was a student at MacArthur West Point and a soldier with great personality.
In December 1950, Ridgway became commander of the U.S. Eighth Army and commander of the "United Nations Army" ground forces.
On the day he went to North Korea to take up his post, As soon as Ridgway got off the plane, he "blinded" the reporters' eyeballs.
I saw him wearing a raw hat, a pistol around his waist, an airborne combat suit, a collar turned up, and two American melon grenades hanging from his shoulders.
The reporters immediately thought of MacArthur's corn cob pipes, and they all sighed: such a maverick, it is indeed MacArthur's students, the same line!
Therefore, the media has a lot of criticism of Ridgway, saying that he is innovative and eye-catching.
There was a lot of discussion in the outside world, but Ridgway went his own way and didn't care.
In fact, hanging grenades on the shoulders is nothing new, as many U.S. officers and men did during World War II.
The reason why Ridgway did this is nothing more than the following points.
First of all, this may be a habit of Ridgway;
Secondly, this can throw a grenade in the first time, time is life, especially in this case;
Third, boost morale.
The author believes that as the supreme commander of the "United Nations Army", the probability of Ridgway personally going to the battlefield to fight is very small.
Therefore, "boosting morale" should be his greatest intention, and Ridgway may also want to tell his subordinates that your commander will fight with you and face death together.
In this way, Ridgway's grenade is much more real than MacArthur's pipe.
Ridgway was indeed much more pragmatic than his predecessor, MacArthur, and he performed much better than MacArthur in The Korean Theater.
After the end of the "Korean War", some military historians once said that it was Ridgway who saved the rout of the Un Army, otherwise, the UN Army was likely to be driven off the sea by the Chinese army...
Ridgway's "official luck" was also much better than MacArthur's, and only 5 months after coming to Korea, Ridgway sat on the throne of the commander-in-chief of the "United Nations Army", the supreme commander of the Allied forces in Japan, and the commander-in-chief of the US army in the Far East.
Soon after taking office, Ridgway left a deep impression on Mr. Peng.
In January 1951, before Ridgway withdrew from Seoul, he deliberately hung a nightgown on the wall of his office and left a note with the following words: "The commander of the Eighth Army would like to pay tribute to the commander of the Chinese army."
In Mr. Peng's view, this is not only a tribute, but also a war book.
At this time, Commander Peng Dehuai did not know what "tricks" Ridgway would make next.
Ridgway was not as arrogant as his old headmaster, MacArthur, nor did he show much irritability and pessimism.
Faced with the mess left by MacArthur, Ridway thought more about how to turn the tide.
He traveled to all the U.S. garrisons in South Korea and asked the local commander what tactics would be used to defeat the volunteers.
The answer he could hear was surprisingly unanimous: no matter how it was fought, it would be difficult to defeat the Chinese army.
As a veteran, Ridgway knows that a victory is needed to boost morale, and to win, it is necessary to understand his own strengths and weaknesses with his opponents.
After some deliberation, Ridgway found a problem in his previous combat records: most of the volunteer attacks lasted only about 7 days.
Why is that?
Ridgway soon figured it out that because of the difficulty of supply, the rations and weapons and ammunition carried by the volunteers were only enough to consume for a week.
Ridgway called it the "worship offensive."
He also carefully studied the Volunteers' best play, the Night Raid.
Similar to the cause of the "Worship Offensive", because there was no air superiority, the volunteers could usually only attack at night.
The Volunteer Army's "three-three system" tactic also gave the US army a headache, which is a tactical group of 3 people, who alternately cover the attack, are flexible in organization, and are reasonably configured.
The "three-three system" can also avoid large-scale artillery fire to the greatest extent, but its interspersed ability makes the US military invincible.
The "three-three system" coupled with the night battle made the US soldiers frightened, and the saying that "the moon and night belong to China" was circulating in the US army.
It was after calm observation and reflection that Riche sorted out the advantages and disadvantages of both sides and introduced a new method of warfare - magnetic tactics.
The "magnetic tactics" pinpointed the weaknesses of the volunteer army's lack of air superiority, poor mobility, and untimely logistical supplies, which brought great pressure to the volunteer army.
So, did Ridgway's magnetic tactics exert its power?
In the fourth campaign, our volunteers were sensitive to the changes in the tactics of the US army and resolutely adopted the strategy of "withdrawing from the west to the east" to ensure the orderly retreat of the volunteers.
The 38th and 50th Armies of the Volunteer Army carried the Western Front for more than 20 days, cooperating with the operations of the Eastern Front, which won time for the retreating Volunteer Army and successfully built 3 lines of defense.
As the volunteers retreated layer by layer and resisted, the U.S. and Roksars had to stop their offensive near the 38th line.
Due to the flexible adjustment of the response tactics of the volunteer army, Ridgway's "magnetic tactics" failed to achieve the desired effect.
As a result, in the third campaign, the volunteer army only took 7 days to fight the American army from the 38th line to the 37th line;
In the fourth campaign, the US army returned from the 37th line to the 38th line, and it took a full 87 days.
However, Ridgway's "magnetic tactics" are still very destructive.
On one occasion, the U.S. military was only one step away from a great victory, only because there was a place that blocked the path of the U.S. army to victory.
This place is called Iron Plains.
Tieyuan was an important transportation hub for the Volunteer Army, and the Volunteer Army was responsible for guarding The 63rd Army, and the commander of the army was Fu Chongbi, who was only 35 years old.
In Tieyuan, a life-and-death duel between Van Vliet and Fu Chongbi, Ridgway and Peng Dehuai unfolded!
With a tenacious will to fight, Fu Chongbi led the 63rd Army to fight the Iron Plains for 13 days, completed the established strategic task with huge casualties, and won valuable time for the main force of the volunteer army to transfer.
After this battle, Ridgway completely lost the opportunity to crush the volunteer army in one fell swoop, and his self-confidence was also hit hard.
To be fair, Ridgway's "magnetic tactics" are not bad, and the "VanVleet ammunition volume" is not much, and in the end, it can not be said that the hard bones of the volunteer army can not be solved.
In front of General Peng Da, who was "slashing at the knife", even though Ridgway was smart and cunning, he did not get too much advantage in the end.
Later, with the election of Eisenhower as president of the United States, Ridgway was transferred out of the Korean theater to serve as supreme commander of the European Allied forces.
In 1953, after more than two years of talking and fighting, the Americans finally bowed their haughty heads and signed the armistice.
In fact, Ridgway, who has a fairly good insight, has long expected that such an ending may be the most decent.
In any case, Ridgway can be regarded as a "high man" in the US military.
Compared with his predecessor MacArthur, Ridgway was more worthy of the title of Commander Peng Dehuai's opponent.
In 1956, after his retirement, Ridgway published his autobiography, Matthew Lee. Memoirs of B. Ridgway".
Ridgway's memoirs had this to say about the South Korean army:
"They don't know anything but run, and intercepting such a defeated army is like intercepting an avalanche, and they run away three times faster than they can advance."
At the same time, Ridgway commented on the Chinese Volunteer Army:
"These Chinese soldiers are the toughest enemies I have ever encountered in my life, they are not only strong but also fierce... They are also the most respectable enemies... Is a respectable opponent. ”