The War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea was New China's first foreign war, and its victory made our New China regime more stable, and the myth of the invincibility of the United States was thus broken. It can be said that after this war, we have precious time and space for development and devote ourselves to economic construction.
This was not an easy task, because the United States had a strong cooperation between the army, sea and air forces, and even more political permission from the United Nations, which put our volunteer army in a situation of overall weakness. Therefore, at that time, there was unanimous agreement at home and abroad that the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea should not be fought, and if it was necessary to fight, it must be fought beautifully, and all voices of doubt must be calmed with strength, so that the enemy can see our firm will and determination!
Therefore, the Battle of Chosin Lake was crucial to confronting the United States and aiding Korea. We won this battle very badly, but it also made the US military completely recognize the volunteer army as an opponent.
A terrible enemy, in the most unlikely place, appeared
After the first battle, the time has come to winter, the Korean Peninsula is beginning to be covered with snow and ice, and the outdoor temperature has reached as low as minus 30-40 degrees Celsius. The mechanized troops of the US army were affected by the severe cold, the gun bolts could not be pulled open, the tanks walked slowly, and the soldiers were even more frozen. Therefore, the commander of the US military judged that the volunteer army would seize this rare opportunity to rest, and there would be no war on the front line for the time being.
The Art of War: "Surprise and attack unprepared", we just want to take advantage of the enemy's carelessness to launch an attack. It is true that the troops that have previously entered North Korea are resting as predicted by the U.S. military, but the newly transferred 9th Corps is ready to carry out combat missions. So General Peng ordered this unit to detour back to the rear of the US army, hide in the Chosin Lake area, and eliminate the retreating US troops in one fell swoop.
If it's an online military game, the plan is seamless. But there were many difficulties in the real implementation: soon after the 9th Corps entered Korea, the winter clothes for the cold had not yet been equipped; because it was an ambush mission, it had to remain motionless on a snowy day outside, waiting for the enemy to enter the encirclement.
When American General Smith was conducting reconnaissance, he also sighed: "No one can survive in this ghost place!" This is a place that even Genghis Khan did not want to conquer! "Therefore, all the American troops could not imagine that the volunteers would launch an attack on them in such a place."
MacArthur: It's a great honor that we were able to make a smooth retreat
On November 27, 1950, the Battle of Chosin Lake began. The U.S. Marine Corps' 1st, 3rd, and 7th Infantry Divisions, plus a scattered South Korean army of about 100,000 men, fell into the encirclement of the 9th Corps. After 28 days of fierce fighting, the remnants of the Us military withdrew from the battle through the sea passage under the cover of seven aircraft carriers.
In this battle, the 9th Corps of our volunteer army suffered only 20,000 casualties, frostbite and non-combat losses of more than 30,000 people. It can be said that after paying a painful price, the US troops were completely driven out of the northeast of the Korean Peninsula, which enabled our volunteer army to win a great victory on both the eastern and western fronts.
The Battle of Chosin Lake was thus selected into all U.S. military textbooks, and every commander who graduated from a military academy was required to analyze the most arduous and brutal battle in U.S. military history. Frankly speaking, the Battle of Chosin Lake was not the most worthy of study for the volunteers' combat plans, troop deployment, interspersed tactics, etc. But the resilience and tenacious will of the 9th Corps in this battle were deeply engraved in the minds of the American troops and completely convinced them.
We cannot defeat them unless atomic bombs are used
After the defeat of the U.S. military at Chosin Lake, MacArthur was widely questioned at home and abroad. Defeated again and again by the new Chinese regime that had just been established from the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation, the most elite Polar Bear Corps even captured the flags of the volunteers as a burden of steamed steamed buns. These failures made him a joke in the US military.
MacArthur had wanted to run for president with the prestige he had built up in World War II, but the situation on the Korean Peninsula shattered that dream. Desperate, he prepared to make a desperate bet, and proposed an atomic bomb plan to the domestic government, using 26 atomic bombs to attack North Korea and Mainland China, and also allowing Taiwan's Kuomintang troops to take advantage of the situation to counterattack the mainland.
Unfortunately, the mad MacArthur was poured a bucket of cold water by President Truman. Not to mention that the Kuomintang army had previously behaved badly, and the atomic bomb would evolve the Korean War into a full-scale world war. China's entry into the Korean War in the name of the Volunteer Army is obviously unwilling to completely tear the face of the United States. If the United States uses atomic bombs to cause great damage, New China will naturally counterattack with the strength of the country, and the Soviet Union will be involved in this war, and the United States will have very little chance of winning this war.
As a result, MacArthur was forced to step down, and Ridgway, who had really caused big trouble for the Volunteers, took over the command.
epilogue
"This is the biggest blow the U.S. military has suffered since Pearl Harbor, and perhaps it will be the biggest disaster in the history of the U.S. military."
After the Battle of Chosin Lake, the Western world finally recognized the fact that China was no longer the country that brought it to its knees with one or two warships, and the hundreds of years of usurping territory with a few forts in the East were gone!