In the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the Turkish brigade in the "United Nations Army" once threatened to be inferior, and was very dismissive of the volunteer army with backward weapons and equipment, and repeatedly threatened to teach a lesson, but after experiencing several battles, they made a miraculous operation of mistakenly injuring friendly troops, and later they were defeated by the volunteer army and lost everything. so
How exactly did the Turkish brigade make a joke about annihilating friendly forces? And how did the volunteers defeat it?
Next, let's elaborate.
On the Korean battlefield, why did Turkey, which was far away in the Middle East, enter the war
World War II ended with the defeat of the German-Italian-Japanese Fascist Alliance, the Soviet Union and the United States became the two most powerful countries in the world, many countries were attached to the United States and the Soviet Union, and the world formed a new two forces in the secret competition. Militarily, the capitalist countries of Europe and the United States, led by the United States, Britain, and France, formed NATO to oppose the soviet union and the camp of socialist countries in Eastern Europe. Turkey is no exception, wanting to join NATO closer to it. Because the defeat in the First World War caused Turkey to be seriously injured, the past glory of the Ottoman Turkish Empire was completely gone, and Turkey also wanted to rely on the power of the Western capitalist powers to rise and restore its hegemony in Eurasia.
On August 25, 1949, NATO was established in Washington, the capital of the United States, and less than a year after its establishment, the Korean War broke out, and the United States decided to form a "United Nations Army" for its own interests on the Korean Peninsula and send troops to forcibly intervene in the situation on the Korean Peninsula. At this time, New China had just been founded and was in urgent need of recuperation, but the US military frequently flew planes across the yalu river border of our army, and some people in the arrogant US army even threatened to fight the Yalu River. At this time, the Korean People's Army was unable to stand alone, and the leader of the Korean People's Army, Kim Il Sung, asked our army to ask for help and asked our army to join the war and jointly resist the aggression of US imperialism. Faced with the provocation of the US military and the request for help from friendly countries, the leaders of our army decided to participate in the Korean War, and the object of the declaration of war was the "United Nations Army" composed of the US army, the French army, and the British army. Among them, Turkey also sent a brigade to join the "United Nations Army".
It is reasonable to say that the Korean War did not have a dime relationship with Turkey in the Far Middle East, but in order to show its goodwill to European and American powers and find a new backer, Baiar, then president of Turkey, announced that turkey actively responded to the call of the "United Nations Army" and sent troops to participate in the Korean War. What is more interesting is that compared with Luxembourg, Belgium and other countries that only sent dozens of people to participate in the war, the Turkish government worked hard, sending a brigade of more than 5,400 people, ranking fourth in the "United Nations Army" after the United States, Britain, and Canada. In order to ensure that nothing goes wrong, the Turkish government specially sent Brigadier General Yazchi, who is senior and experienced in combat, as the brigade commander. Yazchi is a legendary general who lived through the Baptism of world war, and many Turks regard him as a hero of the battle. Before the departure of the Turkish army, the Turkish government also equipped them with the best weapons and equipment in the country, howitzers, air defense companies, transport companies, motorcycle chemical companies are readily available, most of these five thousand people are veterans, and their combat effectiveness on the battlefield is very tenacious, which can be called turkey's most elite troops. After arriving in Busan, South Korea, they beat gongs and drums, clamoring to make the Americans look good with merit, and after they tossed them, the armies of other countries were also in awe of them.
Oolong, defeat, the participation of the Turkish brigade
However, the truth is not as simple as the Turks think, and the Turkish brigade's record on the Korean battlefield is not so good. Although the Turkish brigade also had a brilliant record of resisting our army's attack in the second battle, it was more that the Turkish brigade was repeatedly defeated by our army, and even made an embarrassing "oolong" incident.
October 25 was an important turning point in the Korean War, the Chinese Volunteer Army crossed the Yalu River from Ji'an, and the 118th Division of the 40th Army of the Volunteer Army took the lead in launching a surprise attack on the "United Nations Army.", this battle was extremely successful, a large number of "United Nations Troops" were caught off guard, and after the exchange of fire, they withdrew in all directions, the US First Army and the Ninth Army also suffered heavy losses, and our army won the first victory in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
Walker, the commander of the U.S. Eighth Army at the time, felt it was time for the powerful Turkish brigade to attack, and decided to let the Turks set out to fight and cover the American troops. As soon as it landed on the Korean Peninsula, the Turkish brigade was extremely eager to make meritorious service, and this time the task of supporting the US army was the first time that the Turks had participated in the war since they entered the DPRK, and they wanted to show their skills and crush the volunteer army. The Turkish brigade sent scouts to constantly search for the position of the American troops on the battlefield, and the Turkish reporter at that time also excitedly sighed: "The lions from Turkey are looking for prey", when the front suddenly encountered a group of yellow-skinned and dark-eyed, Asian-looking soldiers passed nearby, it seemed that there were not many people, the Turkish scouts immediately reported the situation to the brigade headquarters, Yazchi was overjoyed, thinking that this was what they wanted to find the volunteer troops, so he ordered the three battalions under their command to concentrate their fire on the "volunteer army" that was sent to the door In this way, the Turkish brigade soldiers opened fire at the same time, and the density of firepower held the opposite side dead.
The troops of more than 1,200 men on the opposite side were scattered, and the Turkish brigade gained a lot. This achievement also impressed the American generals, who believed that the fighting power of the Turks was not insignificant. However, just when the U.S. and Turkish troops were complacent, the South Koreans were not happy, and the commander of the South Korean Seventh Division angrily approached the U.S. military headquarters and loudly questioned the U.S. army why its troops had been attacked. It turned out that it was the South Korean troops who were attacked by the Turks, who had obeyed the orders of their superiors to support the American troops, but they were beaten by the Turks on the way. This oolong operation of the Turkish army was simply a big speechless event, and it became a joke within the United Nations army, so that the British and American troops often laughed at the Turks after tea and dinner.
However, this Oolong incident is only the beginning, the more serious problem comes, many middle and lower-level officers in Turkey do not understand English, which seems to have no impact when they first went to the battlefield, and when it came to really fighting with the US Army and the British Army, the Turkish brigade up and down often received a lot of contradictory orders, and the US side could not get the progress and action routes of some units of the Turkish Brigade. At the Battle of Gaj ridge, the Turks were ordered to garrison the area and use ambushes to stop the volunteer raids. Gazhi Ridge, which is the middle of the Tokugawa and Tokugawa rivers, is surrounded by mountains and dense forests, which can be called a place of contention for soldiers, and its strategic location is extremely important.
Since receiving the order, the Turkish brigade waiting here still can not see the trace of the volunteer army, it was already late autumn, the Turks living in the Middle East were not hardy, and the Turkish company commanders on the front line could not resist and directly built a fire at night to keep warm. Originally, our army did not find anyone ambushed here, because the road was not familiar with the delay for tens of minutes, but we saw that even more people were making fires in the mountains in the middle of the night. Our army was overjoyed, and was turned into a counter-sneak attack, and hundreds of brothers raided the guys and quickly exchanged fire with the unsuspecting Turkish army. The scattered Turks were not defensive, and they did not know how many volunteers came around at night, and after a few simple resistances, they scattered and fled, and a battalion of 1,000 people was defeated by hundreds of soldiers of our army.
The retreating Turkish officers and men received orders from the U.S. military command to retreat to join the 38th Regiment of the U.S. Second Division to ensure that the U.S. army's communication routes were not harassed by the volunteers. However, due to the language barrier, the Turkish soldiers only knew about the retreat, did not know about the rendezvous, and as a result, the entire Turkish Third Battalion turned around and ran backwards en masse, and on the way it was attacked by the volunteers, and the commander of the Third Battalion, Colonel Birkin, was killed by our army, and the Turkish army was once again defeated.
Defeat can not lose face, the funny story of Brigadier General Yazchi
On July 27, 1953, at Panmunjom, China, the DPRK, and the United States signed an armistice agreement for the Korean War, and the Campaign to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea ended in the victory of our army. At the end of 1953, the members of the "United Nations Army" retreated from South Korea and returned to their home countries. Turkey was no exception, the Turkish brigade, which had suffered heavy losses, first retreated from South Korea to Taiwan for recuperation, and at the time of recuperation, Brigadier General Yazchi, the brigadier general, bought a "national flag" in Taiwan as a trophy after returning home. During his time in Taiwan, Yazchi and his generals swept away the haze and spent a relaxing time, and then set off to return home. After successfully arriving in Turkey, the Turkish brigade on the Korean Peninsula was warmly welcomed by the Turkish people, and the Turkish government also received a commendation order from the US military to commend the sacrifices and contributions of the Turkish brigade on the Korean battlefield, and welcomed Turkey as a member of NATO. At this time, Turkey's status in the capitalist world has also been enhanced, and the purpose of Turkey's military dispatch has finally been achieved.
Back at home, Yazchi and his generals became national heroes, and at a celebration banquet, Yazchi talked about the heroic performance of Turkish soldiers in Korea, he bluntly said that the performance of Turkish soldiers was not inferior to that of the American army, under his leadership, Turkish officers and soldiers repelled wave after wave of attacks by volunteers, and Turkish brigades attacked and defended in every way. General Yazchi also stated that under his wise leadership, the Turkish army captured the flag of the volunteers. After saying this, Brigadier General Yazchi ordered his attendants to take out a "captured" Chinese "national flag" and show it to the people attending the meeting. Suddenly, there was thunderous applause from the audience, and people applauded the legendary general, but some Turkish officials and reporters found a problem and their expressions became very embarrassed, because this "national flag" was not the five-star red flag of the People's Republic of China Volunteer Army at all, but the flag of the Kuomintang that defeated Taiwan.
As everyone knows, Taiwan was being ruled by Chiang Kai-shek, who fled from war at that time, and their "national flag" was exactly the "red flag of the Republic of China", and it was impossible to buy the national flag of the People's Republic of China in Taiwan. To digress, Chiang Kai-shek originally wanted to send Taiwan troops to the Korean Peninsula to support the US military to participate in the war, but macArthur, commander-in-chief of the "United Nations Army," refused. Instead of expecting the combat effectiveness of the Kuomintang in Taiwan, it is better to train Syngman Rhee's Rok army well.
After learning the truth, Brigadier General Yazchi received a tidal wave of ridicule, and the disgrace was almost lost, and all walks of life in Turkish society had great doubts about this combat hero, not only did no one believe in his exploits on the Korean battlefield, but even doubted whether his exploits in the First World War were true. It can be said that after encountering our army, a generation of famous generals finally lost many battles and lost their lives. The story of the Turkish brigade is more like a small episode of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, which will be unforgettable for future generations, but it also proves from the side the bravery and fearlessness of our army officers and soldiers and the fierceness of that war.