On January 1, 1951, the volunteer army marched all the way, and several troops of several armies broke through the enemy defense line of the Linjin River, which was known as the "natural danger", and pointed the sword at Seoul.
The "United Nations Army" led by the US military has been defeated and retreated one after another, and everyone is in a state of panic. By January 3, the U.S. army could not sit still and began to retreat south across the Han River.
At noon on this day, US Ambassador to South Korea Mosio suddenly received a phone call from Ridgway, commander of the US Eighth Army: Please immediately inform the "President" of South Korea, Syngman Rhee, that the US military has begun to withdraw from Seoul and demand that the South Korean side take the same action before three o'clock in the afternoon of the same day.
Mosio immediately got in touch with Syngman Rhee and told Ridgway the results of the call, saying that Rhee was very annoyed.
His original words were: "Since General Ridgway has repeatedly said that he will stay in Korea for a long time, why did he retreat from Seoul after staying in Korea for only a week?" Could it be that the U.S. army led by General Lee has fallen to the point of desertion? ”
Ridgway replied with embarrassment: "Mr. Ambassador, you may wish to let that lovely Mr. President go to the front line to see for yourself the attack of the Chinese Communists' army like a tidal wave, and the scene of the South Korean army escaping like a flock of sheep seeing a wolf." ”
The next day, Syngman Rhee had to move the "capital" to Busan with his South Korean government, and the fleeing "United Nations Army" retreated to the front command post to Daegu.
Interestingly, before Ridgway had no choice but to evacuate his headquarters office in Seoul, he went so far as to nail a somewhat tattered pajama to the wall, and on a whim, he left a sentence on the wall: "The commander of the US Eighth Army would like to greet the commander-in-chief of the Chinese army."
Why did Ridgway do these two puzzling things before he escaped?
Although at this time, the US military suffered consecutive defeats, causing Ridgway, the commander, to lose his face and face, but it must be admitted that during the entire Korean War, only Ridgway could be regarded as the real opponent of Peng Dehuai, the commander-in-chief of the Volunteer Army.
In the view of some historians, the real general dared to admit his defeat, and Ridgway's action of nailing pajamas and leaving a message when he led his army to flee Seoul may indeed contain Ridgway's respect for the volunteer army, but things are not so simple.
Soon after the withdrawal of the "United Nations Army" from Seoul, a division of the 50th And 39th Army of the Volunteer Army, as well as the 1st Army of the Korean People's Army, marched into Seoul with great enthusiasm, creating a happy and historic moment in the Korean War.
After that, the Chinese and North Korean armies continued to take advantage of the victory and pursue, gently crossing the "38th Line", which the US military called the "lifeline".
When the volunteers captured Seoul and stormed the U.S. military headquarters, they saw The "masterpiece" that Ridgway had left behind in his office—pajamas and messages on the wall. Although some of them knew English, the crooked message on the line confused them and had to report to their superiors.
When General Manager Peng learned of this, he pondered carefully and suddenly uttered a sentence that surprised the generals: "Order the troops to stop pursuing!" ”
Why will the crowd be surprised? Because they all know that according to Mr. Peng's plan, after capturing Seoul, they will still have to take advantage of the victory to advance, "it is advisable to chase the poor and the poor", why do they now see Ridgway's tattered pajamas and the message, but they have stopped this plan? This is really confusing.
In fact, in Mr. Peng's plan, he was also making repeated weighing of whether he would continue to pursue the enemy after capturing Seoul.
When the Chinese and Dprk armies sang a triumphant song, Mr. Peng soberly realized that he must not be carried away by the victory in front of him, and there are many hidden dangers under the great victory.
First, our army's logistical supply is relatively lagging behind, and the further we push forward, the more difficult it is for our army to make logistical supplies.
Second, our army has suffered a large number of attritions in previous operations, and there are still many wounded who urgently need to be treated.
Third, although the enemy army is about to collapse at a touch, the actual casualties are not heavy, and if you rush to pursue, it is very likely to fall into the trap of the enemy.
Mr. Peng actually came to Seoul with all these considerations, and when he learned of the pajamas and sentences that Ridgway left in his office, he tasted two points from these two details: one is that Ridgway has a good psychological quality in the face of defeat, and has a great general's style; second, Ridgway is not willing to lose, which is a very unconvinced opponent.
It was precisely for the above reasons that General Manager Peng categorically issued an order for the troops to stop advancing.
This decision also proved to be very wise, and if the volunteers continued to pursue, it was likely that the defensive line laid out by Ridgway south of Seoul would be strongly counterattacked by the Americans.
This incident fully confirms a truth: in order to be a general, only by knowing the way forward and retreating can we establish an invincible position.