There is an African country that once claimed to be the world's second-largest power, second only to the United States, and once entered the Korean battlefield and threatened to teach the volunteers a harsh lesson!
However, soon after, the country's army was beaten by the volunteer army, most of the casualties, and ran back to Africa in ashes, recognizing its world status!
So, where does this country come from? How did they defeat North Korea?
Ethiopia
This African country, which claims to be second only to the United States, is called Ethiopia. Located at the northeastern tip of the African continent, it covers an area of 1.1 million square kilometers and has a population of 110 million, making it a typical landlocked country.
With a history of three thousand years, the country is an ancient civilization, which is extremely rare on the African continent. On this closed and backward continent, the only two countries that can trace the history back to ancient times are Ethiopia and Egypt.
Moreover, with the continuous development of history, Egypt has gradually separated from its ancient culture, and Ethiopia has passed on the uniqueness of its culture to this day, which can be described as a truly ancient civilization.
But this in no way means that the country is highly prosperous; on the contrary, it is an extremely economically backward country with little industrial development, and Ethiopia is no different from other African countries in this regard.
It is such a poor and backward country that has joined the United Nations Army formed by developed countries in Europe and the United States, and has become a rare African participating country.
The reason why they crossed the ocean and went to Korea to participate in the war is inseparable from their own history.
Colonial period
Due to the relatively backward and closed nature of Africa, Ethiopia has had little contact with the outside world for three thousand years of history, and has maintained a self-sufficient agrarian society.
In the late Middle Ages, Ethiopia fell into Italian hands and became an Italian colony.
During the colonial period, Ethiopia did not get any opportunities for development, all the citizens were reduced to slavery, working all day in the fields to produce agricultural products for Europe, and economic development almost stagnated.
In 1896, the oppressed and tortured Ethiopians could not bear it, and the rebel army defeated the Italian colonists, declared independence, and divided the modern territory.
In 1936, Nazi leader Mussolini commanded the Italian invasion, Ethiopia was reoccupied, and Emperor Selassie I went into exile in Europe. It was not until five years later, when the Allies defeated Italy, that Selassie I was able to return to the throne.
After returning to China, the emperor lamented that his nation and country had so many disasters and many difficulties, and was determined to make changes from then on, so that the motherland would become stronger and no longer be bullied.
He first thought of a key point: Ethiopia has rarely communicated with the outside world since its founding, and in an information-closed environment, the country is gradually lagging behind, and no one comes to help at the critical juncture of aggression.
Therefore, the emperor was determined to find powerful allies for the country and act as his own backing.
Selassie I wanted to ally with the United States so that he could receive his asylum and assistance, so he actively sent diplomatic signals to the United States in anticipation of their response.
At that time, in order to curb the power of Britain and France on the African continent, the United States was also looking for African countries that could be allied, just when Ethiopia threw an olive branch, the two countries hit it off and decided to form an alliance.
Selassie and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, on a U.S. warship docked near Egypt, drank tea and elaborated on the terms and contents of the alliance: Ethiopia set aside a port for U.S. military use, and the United States provided military and economic assistance.
Selassie was complacent about this, with the help of the United States, Ethiopia was almost invincible on the African continent, and the emperor's ambitions were constantly expanding, no longer willing to be just an African power, and he longed for his country to have world-class influence.
Troops to North Korea
Soon, Selassie's dream opportunity came, and the United States formed a "United Nations Army" in the name of "peacekeeping" to send troops to the Korean Peninsula.
Selassie was eager to try, believing that ethiopia would be known all over the world as long as it was won as part of the United Nations army, but he had never considered whether they could afford a war of this magnitude.
Therefore, Ethiopia, as the only African little brother of the United States, is eager to prove that it has a huge role for the United States and the world, and decided to join the United Nations army to send troops to North Korea.
Selassie used the strength of the whole country to piece together to barely assemble an army of more than 1,000 people, and arrogantly claimed that these more than 1,000 people would bring a fatal blow to the volunteer army and leave a deep psychological shadow on them.
In order to show loyalty to its hard-won thighs, Ethiopia can be said to have done its best, but this thousand-man army, which claims to be the strongest in the country, does not even have a decent gun.
The United States had no choice but to issue them a full set of weapons and equipment, and even military training was fully responsible for US officers.
Volunteered
This African army, which claims to be the second largest in the world, ignored the advice of the US military and insisted on boarding a warship bound for the Korean Peninsula.
The United States, fearing that they would drag the UN forces behind when they went to Korea, repeatedly rejected Selassie's "kindness", but despite the emperor's enthusiasm, they finally had to agree to Ethiopia's participation in the war.
Before the army was about to leave, Selassie I gave a grand speech to send them off, and gave them the name "Camp Cagnus", ordering them to return from the battlefield with a trophy from the volunteer army.
Why the emperor and his army were so confident is still a mystery. The only thing we can know is that this so-called Cagnu battalion, even the uniforms were issued by the US military.
However, in order not to reduce the prestige and image of the UN army, the US military can only praise the Ethiopian army hard, saying that they have "excellent physical condition and excellent combat quality."
Receiving praise from the U.S. military, camp Cagnus immediately became mysterious. For a time, the soldiers of the United Nations Army were full of curiosity about this "ace unit" from Africa, expecting them to play a big role in the battlefield and defeat the volunteer army.
In their imagination, the Ethiopian army has received comprehensive training from the US military and has a full set of equipment from the US army, so it seems reasonable to be second only to the US military in combat effectiveness.
However, as soon as they arrived on the Korean Peninsula, they suffered a big loss. The climate here is so different from Ethiopia that many of them have never seen snow before, but it is full of white.
Although they had already carried out physical training before coming, most of the soldiers suffered from severe wind chills because of the cold, and they were directly bedridden before the battle was fought, which added a lot of burden to the medical personnel out of thin air.
Soldiers who were not infected with wind and cold all developed "snow blindness" of varying degrees, and they could not see anything clearly in the snow during the day, let alone raise their guns to fight.
As soon as Camp Cagnu arrived on the Korean Peninsula, it fell ill in a large area, unable to form an effective fighting force, let alone fighting the volunteers on the front line.
The outrageous level of the Ethiopian army left the UNITED Forces speechless. But they had no choice but to let these "wounded" stay in the rear, do some logistical work, and forbid them to participate in the battle.
After a while, the Cagnu camp, not to mention the defeat of the volunteer army, did not even set foot on the battlefield, and was always arranged in the rear, not to mention the army and thought it was a tourist group from Africa.
How can the great goal of revitalizing Ethiopia be accomplished in this way?
This caused great dissatisfaction in the Cagnus camp. In their plan, Ethiopia should serve as the main force of the United Nations army, fiercely thwart the volunteer offensive, and become a meritorious unit that attracts everyone's attention and win glory for the country.
But now the Americans had been ordering them to cower in the security rear, apparently looking down on camp Cagnus. They protested jointly and strongly demanded to go to the front.
The top brass of the US army was distraught by these people, and could only repeatedly guarantee that they would be sent to attack at the first opportunity to confront the volunteers.
The Ethiopian soldiers were all excited to shake their fists, and the time had come to do their best for the country!
Head-to-head
Their illusions were soon shattered, and the volunteers' formidable fighting power far exceeded their expectations.
On 26 August 1951, uncommittees gave it the order to attack Hill 602.2. They rushed to the volunteer positions under the cover of American artillery fire.
Responsible for the defense was the 67th Volunteer Army, which was not too strong in the whole army sequence, and its combat effectiveness was moderately low. However, under the indiscriminate bombardment of the Americans, they stubbornly resisted the charge of the Ethiopian army.
Seeing that they could not attack for a long time, the US army had to order a retreat. Camp Cagnau didn't even see anything from the commanders of the volunteer positions, and one by one they were dejected and demoralized.
After all, before they came, they put on a posture of sweeping the opponent, and now that they have lost the first battle, they have not even seen what the opponent looks like, and they feel a little humiliated.
After this battle, the Cagnu camp rested for more than half a year, did not introduce itself again, and obediently did logistical work.
After the recuperation, the Ethiopian army has not gone to the front line again, but has engaged in sneak attacks and ambushes in areas where the fighting is not so fierce, which has caused a lot of trouble for our army.
At this time, the Korean War had entered a white-hot stage, and both the Volunteer Army and the United Nations Army were looking for opportunities to launch a final general offensive and defeat each other in one fell swoop.
On October 14, 1952, the Shangganling region was the largest and most tragic battle since the Korean War.
Unexpectedly, the Cagnu battalion, which had always been obscure and only engaged in some harassment and sabotage operations in remote theaters, also participated in this huge battle, showing the willpower that the US army had never had, and charged fearlessly.
Tragic Shangganling
Ethiopia's absolute elite, most of them were annihilated by the volunteers on the battlefield, and they paid the price of blood because of their arrogance.
The Shangganling area is a strategic powerhouse connecting all fronts, and was previously controlled by our army, which has brought great help to the deployment of volunteer personnel, the transportation of resources and the promotion of the front.
The United Nations army has set up a huge force, mobilized more than 60,000 infantry, about 300 artillery pieces, nearly 180 main battle tanks, and dispatched more than 3,000 bombers and fighters to try to completely destroy our army's positions with cover firepower.
The officers and men of our army received the order to resist to the death, and relying on the tunnel fortifications, wave after wave defused the fierce offensive of the United Nations army, and held the control of the Shangganling area in their hands.
Seeing that the attack could not be attacked for a long time, the casualty figures were increasing, and the attack did not make any substantial progress, the American commander Van Vleet was impatient.
He wanted to order the stopfire coverage and send the infantry charge directly. However, at this time, the Un Army was demoralized by the Volunteers, and the charging effect was certainly not good. The South Korean army could not count on it, and every time the front line was slightly turbulent, they were counted as the fastest to withdraw.
Seeing this, the Ethiopian army immediately volunteered to ask Van Vleet for instructions, and they would serve as the main force of the first wave of the charge.
He wanted to refuse, but there was no better candidate on the front line than these soldiers from Ethiopia, so he ordered the Cagnu battalion to quickly organize and charge from the eastern front to capture the heights.
They were organized in half an hour, divided into six groups and marched towards the target point, and the battalion commander of the Cagnus battalion took the lead in the charge. The spirit of not fearing death that they showed was similar to the embarrassing and useful performance they had before.
On the Korean battlefield, no army other than the volunteers had ever launched such a fierce charge. The battalion commander even called on the American artillery unit to bomb the open ground 25 meters in front of the STORMtroopers.
This greatly shocked the UN generals, and although the bombing at this distance was extremely effective, it also had a high probability of injuring their own people by mistake. But he eventually did so, because the Ethiopian army really had the possibility of taking the high ground!
The Volunteers in charge of the defense of the heights had been holding out for two full days, and the UN army's "wheel war" offensive caused a huge ammunition loss. Now suddenly a fierce stormtrooper team appeared, and the commander of our army immediately made a decision and ordered a strategic retreat, and the Ethiopian army actually conquered the next high ground!
The U.S. military commander, Van Vleet, was stunned that these soldiers from backward African countries had done what they could not do.
But the volunteers could have been defeated so simply. Our army soon reorganized its counter-offensive, and the Cagnu battalion held its position and tried its best to resist, but soon had to retreat due to excessive casualties, and the high ground occupied for less than a day was lost.
The Battle of Shangganling ended in a comprehensive victory for the Volunteer Army. Soon, the Korean War ended and UN forces withdrew south of the 38th Parallel.
During the three-year Korean War, Ethiopian troops lost 121 casualties and wounded 536, for a total of 657, more than half of the total. Although they failed to achieve results, their performance in the Battle of Shangganling was still impressive.
After a grand plan on the battlefield and the hope of making a name for himself shattered, the commander of the Cagnu Battalion led the remnants back to Africa in ashes.
The failure of the strategy of using military force to make a name for itself, and the loss of most of the elite troops, much to the chagrin of Selassie I.
The Korean War completely woke him up, and the Ethiopian emperor began to face up to the international situation, seriously consider international relations, and no longer dream of "the world's second power".
Selassie I was bitterly aware of his mistake and decided to abandon his existing diplomatic strategy in favor of China.
Ethiopia has since taken a firm stand, stood in the camp of the Third World, established trade relations with the mainland in 1956, and soon sent a delegation to visit the mainland.
In order to fully demonstrate the goodwill of the mainland, our side visited Ethiopia in 1964, and the two sides formally finalized and established diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level.
Since then, the relations between the two countries have gone all the way up, and a series of economic and trade cooperation agreements have been signed. Later became one of the important strategic partners.
In general, the Egyptian side has suffered heavy losses from misjudgment of the international situation, but they have painfully thought about it and turned to the right path, which is also a wise move, which has also developed steadily along the way.