After the end of the second campaign, our volunteer army had pushed the front near the "38th Line" and recovered all the territory of North Korea north of the "38th Line" except Xiangyang. At this time, Peng Dehuai, as the commander and political commissar of the Volunteer Army, considered the actual situation on the battlefield and asked the troops to stop the attack and rest.
General Peng's decision was undoubtedly correct, because in the first two battles, although our army won a complete victory and annihilated nearly 60,000 enemies, the losses of our army were also not small, and after the two battles, our army lost nearly 50,000 people.
In addition, the logistics and material transportation of our army is difficult, and after the two major wars, the personnel and weapons of the troops need to be replenished, so it is extremely necessary to take a temporary rest.
Of course, more importantly, as a result of successive victories, the mood of the DPRK party, government, military, and people has risen, and the sentiment of demanding "quick victory" and blind optimism has also grown, and if it is fought desperately, then the war situation will likely change again. The reason why the Korean People's Army suffered a crushing defeat in the first place was that it suffered such a loss.
The second campaign was marked by the course of the operation
However, Peng Dehuai's proposal to rest was opposed by the Soviet Union and north Korea! They believe that in the first two battles, the US army has been hit hard by our army, and at this time it is in the stage of rout, so our army must take advantage of the victory to pursue and completely annihilate it.
Obviously, this is the sense of superiority brought about by successive victories, but it does not take into account the reality of the war!
After the two battles, although the enemy suffered heavy losses and morale was relatively low, there are still 260,000 troops, so not only will they not immediately withdraw from the Korean battlefield, but they are likely to fight again.
In Peng Dehuai's words:
"The Korean War is still quite protracted and arduous. The enemy has shifted from offense to defense, the front line has been shortened, the troops are concentrated, and the front is narrow, which naturally strengthens the depth and depth, which is beneficial to the operations of the joint arms. ”
Therefore, our army should now adopt the policy of fighting steadily and steadily, and must not be blinded by the victory in front of us.
However, for reasons of international politics, Mao Zedong finally ordered the volunteer army to launch a third campaign immediately after a brief rest, crossing the "38th Line"!
However, Mao Zedong still agreed with peng Dehuai's long-term and steady combat policy, and agreed that after crossing the 38th Line, the troops would be collected immediately, and the main force of the whole army, including the People's Army, would have to retreat tens of miles to rest.
Marshal Peng Dehuai
On December 31, 1950, the third battle officially began!
In this battle, our army's campaign attempt is to crush the enemy's use of the "38th Line" to set up positions for defense, so as not to give the enemy a chance to breathe.
By January 8, at the cost of 8,500 casualties (including 5,500 volunteers and 3,000 KPA), our army annihilated more than 19,000 enemy troops, advanced 80 to 110 kilometers to the south, and successfully captured Seoul, the capital of South Korea.
At this time, the original predetermined goal had been completed, and Peng Dehuai immediately ordered the troops to be collected, and the whole army entered a state of rest.
In fact, this is also reasonable! As early as January 3, Peng Dehuai sent a telegram to Kim Il Sung, saying: The enemy quickly fled after the defensive line was broken by our army, so our army achieved not much success, and only captured more than 3,000 people. If the enemy continues to flee south, then the pursuit to the Suwon area must immediately stop standby.
The development of the war situation is also just as Peng Dehuai expected!
In the third campaign, although our army broke through the 38th Line and captured some areas of South Korea, including Seoul, its "United Nations Army" took the initiative to retreat, so our army did not deal a fundamental blow to the enemy except for some territory.
Most importantly, after the third battle, our army's personnel, grain, grass, ammunition, etc. all need to be replenished, and if we continue to pursue, it will be extremely dangerous! Moreover, considering that the enemy is likely to "lure the enemy deeper," that is, to lure our army deep into the fixed positions set up in advance on the Luodong River and to lead our army to attack the stronghold, then our army will repeat the mistakes of the People's Army at the beginning of the war.
Therefore, it is precisely in view of these considerations that Peng Dehuai ordered the collection of troops on January 8 and the rest of the whole army.
The third battle has a plan of operations
However, this move has been strongly dissatisfied and opposed by the DPRK side!
Kim Il Sung said: The rest time of the troops should not be too long, and one month is enough. If the time is too long, after the river thaws, it will increase the difficulty of troop movement, and the enemy can also use this time to reorganize the armament, which will increase the difficulty of our army's combat.
In short, Kim Il-sung wants our army to take advantage of the victory and pursue it in order to achieve its goal of recovering all of Korea! In fact, as early as January 2, during the third campaign, Kim Il Sung published by the Korean "Rodong Sinmun" could see it in the report of the Third Standing Committee of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party!
Kim clearly pointed out in his report that the DPRK people cannot tolerate and cannot sit idly by while the division of the "38th Line." Therefore, the current military task is to cross the 38th line to "actively carry out a pursuit war" against the fleeing enemy, and also to organize a "decisive battle"!
Although Kim Il Sung was very much in favor of "quick victory" in his heart, considering the lessons and pressures of the defeat in the early stages of the battle, he agreed with the deployment of crossing the 38th line for a two-month rest.
But after the victory of the third battle, his inner belief in expecting "quick victory" was even stronger. After all, such a "great opportunity" is in front of us, who can not be moved?
Therefore, in order to mobilize Peng Dehuai to take advantage of the victory to pursue the enemy, on the evening of January 10, Kim Il Sung, accompanied by Chai Sung-moon, went to Peng Dehuai's headquarters.
Peng Dehuai and Kim Il Sung
During the talks, Peng Dehuai carefully analyzed the actual situation of the enemy and ourselves at present to Kim Il Sung and insisted that the troops must rest and recuperate, and only after full preparation can more enemies be eliminated in the next campaign.
Kim Il Sung agreed to this, but demanded that the time for rest must be shortened as much as possible, so that the three armies could first advance south, and the rest of the troops should rest for a month before going south to attack the enemy.
Peng Dehuai held that dispatching the army now will only force the enemy to abandon a few more places, and not only will it not achieve substantial results, but it will also compress the enemy's main force in a narrow area around Busan, and in this way, it will not be conducive to our army's division and encirclement.
In the early days of the Korean War, the Korean People's Army drove the "United Nations Army" to the Daegu and Busan areas, which seemed to be victory in sight, but in fact it was full of dangers. Because under the situation of small disparities in weapons and equipment and troops, it is indeed too difficult to win by attacking strong points.
And the final result is also very clear to us! MacArthur, while replenishing the "United Nations Army" besieging Busan with men and weapons and ammunition, planned a landing at The Port of Incheon in the rear of the KPA flank, and made a front-to-back attack on the KPA, thus changing the situation of the Korean War!
Therefore, it is precisely with such a lesson from the past that Peng Dehuai had to make such a decision! Besides, at this time, suddenly entering is not in line with the art of war!
But Kim Il Sung argued that it was important not to destroy the enemy and to expand the territory. General Peng replied: It is better to expand the territory than to destroy the enemy first, and if the enemy is eliminated, the territory will naturally be obtained.
Previously, the KPA, with the support of the Soviet Big Brother, destroyed the "United Nations Army" along the way, and occupied more than 90% of south Korea in less than a month. As a result, when the U.S. army landed at Inchon, it effortlessly took back all the lost lands and pools of South Korea.
Of course, there are naturally other factors affecting this, but the people's army's extensive occupation of territory and its failure to eliminate the enemy's effective forces in a timely and effective manner are undoubtedly one of the important reasons for its defeat. Therefore, Peng Dehuai's proposal to strike steadily and steadily is correct.
Kim il sung
However, the successive victories of the Chinese and North Korean armies at this time seem to have made Kim Il Sung forget the lessons of the previous fiasco, and he still insisted that only by occupying more territory and increasing the population at present can the elections after the armistice be conducive.
However, Peng Dehuai believes that for the time being, there is no need to consider these things, and the central task at present is to win the battle and eliminate as many effective forces as possible from the enemy.
In the end, due to the dispute between the two sides, Peng Dehuai had to report it to Mao Zedong!
On January 11, Mao Zedong called: The First, Second, Third, and Fifth Armies of the Korean People's Army can be placed on the first line south of the Han River, while our volunteer army will withdraw to Inchon and north of the Han River for rest for two to three months, and the garrison of Inchon and Seoul will be taken up by the volunteer army.
In addition, Mao Zedong pointed out in a telegram that if Kim Il Sung insisted on advancing to attack the enemy, then he agreed to let him go, and he could also be under the command of the North Korean government itself. Simply put: if you want to chase, then you go by yourself!
In the afternoon of the same day, Peng Dehuai, Kim Il Sung, and Park Hyun Yong, director of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People's Army, had a fierce argument!
And the content of the controversy is the issue of the volunteer army taking advantage of the victory to pursue and collect the troops to rest! Based on the information he had, Park Hyun-yong came to a conclusion: The US military will only withdraw from Korea if it is pursued by our army, otherwise the US military will find an excuse not to withdraw.
Peng Dehuai retorted: I don't chase, they can automatically withdraw, which is a good excuse for them. But Park Hyun-yong insisted: "If we don't pursue it, we won't quit, and we should take advantage of the contradictions within the US bourgeoisie."
Peng Dehuai returned: Only by eliminating a few more divisions of the US army will this contradiction be deepened, and this factor will become a favorable condition, but the volunteer army can only fight again after resting.
Finally, seeing that there was no hope for Peng Dehuai to send troops to pursue, Kim Il Sung put forward his previous opinion, that is, to let the three corps of the volunteer army continue to attack the enemy in the south, and the rest of the troops would rest for a month before attacking.
At this time, Peng Dehuai began to be a little impatient!
Volunteers captured Seoul
Peng Dehuai said loudly to Jin Pu and the two:
Your opinion is wrong, it is all based on wishes! In the past, you said that the United States would not send troops, but you did not think about what to do if it did! Now it is said that the US military will definitely withdraw from North Korea, but it does not consider what to do if it does not withdraw. You want this war to be "quickly won", but you do not make concrete preparations for it, and this will only prolong the war.
If you place victory in war by chance and gamble on the cause of the people, you will only lead the war to defeat again. It takes two months for the volunteers to rest and replenish, not less than a day, maybe three months, and without preparation, not a single division can advance...
The more President Peng spoke, the more agitated he became, and then he pointed out according to Mao Zedong's telegram opinion:
The Volunteer Army was responsible for all garrisons north of the Incheon-Yangyang line, while the 4 corps of the KPA were under your own command and continued to advance south according to your own wishes. If the U.S. military really withdraws from Korea as you say, then I should celebrate the liberation of Korea, and if I do not withdraw, then the volunteer army will march south according to the predetermined plan...
Mr. Peng's words were domineering, but they were also justified, and they suddenly left Jin Pu and the two speechless!
Subsequently, Kim Il Sung had no choice but to say that the KPA was not ready now, that its vitality had not been restored, and that it could not fight alone in the south, and that it also admitted that there was indeed a mood of "quick victory." In the end, Jin Pu and the two agreed to the two-month rest of the volunteer army, and decided to convene a joint meeting of senior cadres of the two armies to exchange experiences and unify their thinking.
Peng Dehuai, Kim Il Sung
Later, when Stalin learned of this, he said: "The leadership of the Chinese volunteer army is correct ... There is no doubt that the truth is in the hands of Comrade Peng Dehuai. In addition, Stalin praised Peng Dehuai for defeating the world's most powerful U.S. imperialism with inferior equipment and was a well-deserved genius military man.
Marshal Peng Dehuai is of course a genius military man, and this has been well proved as early as the period of the Domestic War of Resistance!
But then again, Peng Dehuai's proposal to collect troops for recuperation is entirely justified from a military point of view, and the reason why the North Korean leader is opposed is obviously influenced by political and other factors.
Although there are certain differences between China and the DPRK on this matter, this is only a matter of holding different views on military tactics, and from the perspective of the overall strategic principle, both China and the DPRK are in agreement.
This is like two brothers in a family, although they are close, they cannot avoid different opinions and small conflicts in some things, and this does not affect the relationship between the two brothers at all.