The most important combat units on the Korean battlefield are the Volunteer Army, the Korean People's Army and the "United Nations Army" led by the United States, but because of the fierce competition between the Volunteer Army and the "United Nations Army" on the Korean Peninsula, people ignore the performance of the Korean People's Army on the battlefield, and even think that the Korean People's Army's operational thinking throughout the Korean War is vulnerable.
However, in the early stage of the outbreak of the Korean War, the North Korean army successively attacked Seoul and Daegu and other places, defeated the ROK army and the US troops stationed on it, and occupied more than 90% of the entire Korean Peninsula, indicating that the North Korean army at this time was brave and good at war, and the military strategy of the Korean People's Army was not imminent.
However, with victory in sight, after MacArthur led the "United Nations Army" to carry out the Inchon landings, the combat effectiveness of the North Korean army took a sharp turn for the worse. If we really want to judge the combat effectiveness of the North Korean army in the Korean War, we must analyze it according to the actual situation.
The overwhelming People's Army
The North Korean army would show a huge difference in combat effectiveness before and after the Inchon landing, which was inextricably linked to the opponents encountered before and after and the military combat ideology. Before the Volunteer Army entered the Korean War, the combat effectiveness of the Korean People's Army was a combat force that could not be underestimated, otherwise it would not have forced the US-ROK coalition army to the Busan area and annihilated about 60,000 ROK troops. The North Korean army, before preparing to attack the ROK army, was itself a well-armed and well-equipped force. During World War II, the Japanese colonized Korean Peninsula established a number of armies under Japanese administration to provide military support for Japan to launch a war of aggression against the outside world, and also developed and improved military technology on the Korean Peninsula.
After the end of World War II, the Soviet Union stationed military advisers in North Korea and strengthened the military training of the North Korean army, which developed rapidly on these basis. Later, with the support of advanced Soviet equipment, it launched an unstoppable attack on the Rokk army.
Faced with the menacing position of the North Korean army, the ROK army was caught off guard and had to hurry to deal with it, because at that time the U.S. army stationed in South Korea was not much, and the weapons and equipment were slightly inferior, resulting in the US-ROK coalition army being defeated by the North Korean army.
Vulnerable People's Army
Before the Inchon landings, the North Korean army was as brave as a tiger and was a strong fighting force. However, the North Korean army began to pride itself after the major victory of the offensive, believing that the "United Nations Army" commanded by the US army would not land at Inchon, resulting in a failure of the record. MacArthur was a general with great achievements during World War II and had mature combat experience in landing operations. Although the Inchon landings faced great risks, MacArthur was an uncompromising commander who led multinational armies to land at Inchon.
After the capture of Incheon, Seoul, which had been captured by the North Korean army, was quickly captured by the "United Nations Army" due to insufficient defense, and quickly advanced towards the southern part of the Korean Peninsula.
These support forces, together with the U.S.-ROK coalition forces around Busan, formed a pinch attack on the more than 100,000 North Korean troops stationed around Busan, and the North Korean troops, which had been cut off from logistical support, could not resist the fierce fire attack of the other side, were defeated, gradually withdrew from South Korea, and took advantage of the victory and pursuit, directly approaching North Korea's Pyongyang.
epilogue
Before and after the MacArthur Inchon landings, the North Korean army performed very differently on the battlefield, and the size of the army and the operational ideology were important influencing factors. The early US-ROK coalition forces were weak in small arms and naturally could not defeat the Soviet-backed North Korean army. With the victory of the North Korean army in the process of flat pushing, it was somewhat good and happy, and did not pay attention to the importance of Inchon at all, resulting in the positions that had been painstakingly laid in the early stages were finally sent back because of military strategy mistakes.
After the volunteer army entered the Korean war, it unified its operational thinking with the North Korean army, and the overall command was led by the volunteer army. The Volunteer Army and the People's Army, in the face of the enemy's excellent combat troops and advanced weapons and equipment, adopted a variety of exquisite tactics, causing heavy casualties to the enemy, so that the United States and South Korea finally had to sit down and negotiate. It can be seen that only when an army with strong combat effectiveness cooperates with advanced tactical thinking can it break through on the battlefield.