January 4, 1951, was a day to be remembered for The North Koreans, and the Volunteers helped them liberate Seoul. This was the victory of the volunteer army in the third campaign to resist US aggression and aid Korea, and the news spread to China and also caused a sensation; the People's Daily successively published messages congratulating the "restoration of Seoul," which was also broadcast on the radio, and for a time became the focus of the people's attention of the whole country, and the celebrations and parades that appeared in Beijing quickly spread to all parts of the country.
Peng Dehuai, commander-in-chief of the Volunteer Army on the Korean front, heard the news of the victory celebration at home from the radio, but he was sleepy and had mixed feelings. The good news is that the people of the motherland are so happy about the victory won by the volunteer army, which is a great encouragement to the officers and men of the volunteer army, and is also full of care and longing; the sad thing is that the people of the motherland do not understand the situation on the battlefield and the difficulties of the volunteer army, and are too optimistic.
In fact, in the third battle, the enemy army with mechanized superiority did not love to fight, and in a big step back, Seoul was voluntarily abandoned by the US army. By the end of the campaign on 8 January, the Combined Forces had advanced to the 37th parallel and regained all towns and villages north of the 37th parallel. However, in this campaign of hundreds of thousands of troops, the number of enemy annihilated was only 19,000.
As Mr. Peng said, the volunteer army failed to annihilate the enemy's main force in large numbers during the offensive, the enemy's losses were not large, the balance of forces between the enemy and us did not change much, and MacArthur would not easily abandon Seoul and would counterattack. In the more than two months since the volunteer army entered the DPRK, after three battles, it has become very tired, more and more wounded and sick, and the troops are in urgent need of rest and replenishment.
Moreover, it was a cold winter, cotton clothes had not yet been delivered, the US military planes bombed fiercely, the supply was difficult, the vast number of volunteer soldiers had thin clothes, dry food fried noodles were in short supply, and they could only "one handful of fried noodles and one handful of snow", and many people suffered from night blindness. Under these circumstances, General Peng ordered on January 8 to stop pursuing the enemy and rest and stand by. In particular, the troops on the south bank of the Han River should strengthen their defenses.
At that time, the Korean People's Army believed that it should continue to advance southward and drive the AMERICAN troops into the sea. Kim Il Sung also specifically debated this issue with Mr. Peng, and was finally persuaded by Mr. Peng. Some of the volunteer generals also had a quick victory mentality and felt that they should fight a dozen more battles, but they soon realized that the command's decision was very correct.
However, under the influence of the idea of quick victory, several people on the Soviet side, led by the ambassador to Korea, were very stubborn, repeatedly asked the volunteer army to continue to pursue the enemy, and also had a dispute with Peng Zong.
The Soviet ambassador, named Razuvaev, participated in the Soviet army's attack on the Japanese Kwantung Army at the end of World War II, was the commander of the group army when the Soviet army entered Korea, and later became the ambassador to Korea. After the outbreak of the Korean War, his other identity was that of general adviser to the Korean People's Army.
The first three battles of the volunteer army won successive victories, hit the 37th Line, and occupied Kaesong and important areas such as the Yan'an Peninsula and the Ongjin Peninsula, which made Razuvayev very excited. Yang Di, former deputy director of the Operations Department of the Volunteer Army Command, recalled that Razuvayev was "overwhelmed by victory" and that after Peng gave the order to stop the march, Razuvaev came with anger.
During the talks, Razuvayev proposed that the volunteers should continue to expand their achievements and not give the enemy a chance to breathe and drive them out of Korea. He also rebuked Peng Zong by name: "Who has won a battle but has not pursued the enemy?" Where is there such a commander? Razuvaev, who fought in World War II, presented himself as a military man and had an arrogant attitude.
Apparently, Razuvayev had forgotten how the Korean People's Army had previously reached the Nakdong River and collapsed after the U.S. landing at Inchon. General Peng Rongma spent half his life and was a rare military and strategist. He knew very well that the commander of the US army had also fought in World War II, not a rice bucket, in an attempt to lure our army deeper. And the U.S. military is still increasing its troops.
Our army is full of difficulties, the 9th Corps on the eastern front has already wounded the vitality, and the 6 corps on the western front have been fighting continuously, and they are also about to be wounded, and they are temporarily unable to launch a major campaign. So Mr. Peng categorically refused Razuvayev's request.
Mr. Peng said: "Our army is already very tired, and it does not have air supremacy, so the rear cannot be supplied. The enemy is motorized, our army is two legs, how can this catch up with the enemy? Moreover, if the enemy is compressed into the southeast corner of the Korean Peninsula, the enemy will be concentrated, and there will be a Barrier between the Luodong River, which will be even more detrimental to our army's annihilation of the enemy. ”
Razuvayev and others said: "We cannot annihilate the enemy, and it is good that we occupy more places." "Mr. Peng believes that it is too risky to continue the offensive, and it is impossible for our army's current strength to drive the enemy out of Korea. Razuvaev stubbornly believed that as long as our army attacked, the enemy would definitely withdraw from Korea.
Finally, Mr. Peng said solemnly: "I completely disagree with your opinion. I am responsible to the people, and if I am wrong, I am fully responsible! ”
After Razuvaev and others were rejected, they became angry and immediately sent a telegram to the Soviet leader, claiming that Peng zong had missed the fighter. Mr. Peng also reported the differences of opinion between the two sides to Beijing, and Chairman Mao forwarded Mr. Peng's telegram to the Soviet leaders.
The Soviet leader quickly sent a telegram to Zuvayev, saying: "Comrade Peng Dehuai is a contemporary military expert, and all military operations in the Korean battlefield should be under the command of Comrade Peng Dehuai." Then Razuravaev was transferred back to the Soviet Union and removed from his post. Since then, Soviet representatives have never interfered with Peng's command again.
Then again, in the first five campaigns of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the volunteers had not yet received heavy weapons and equipment aided by the Soviet Union. If the volunteers had strong artillery fire at that time, most of them would have driven the American troops out of Korea.