On April 19, 1951, MacArthur, who had been removed from office by U.S. President Harry Truman, delivered the famous "Veterans Don't Die" speech in the U.S. Congress at the time.
At this time, not only did he not have the slightest sense of malaise after being dismissed, but on the contrary, due to the rapid rise of "popularity", the whole person looked radiant.
Such a grand situation made Truman very embarrassed, knowing that just 10 days ago, it was he who personally ordered this "five-star general" to be swept to the end!
But in retrospect, Truman didn't regret it. Because this "war maniac" delusionally pulls the entire United States into the endless abyss, he wants to use the "atomic bomb" in the Korean battlefield!
(MacArthur speaking to Congress)
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="4" > the arrogant MacArthur, who threatened an atomic bomb on the Korean battlefield</h1>
After the outbreak of the Korean War, the United States quickly intervened in the situation on the peninsula and sent Uncom troops to help South Korean troops, defeating North Korea step by step.
At the same time, the US side has repeatedly stirred up trouble on China's northeast border. In order to crack down on the arrogance of US imperialism, Chairman Mao and other leaders of other countries made the policy decision of "resisting US aggression and aiding Korea and defending the homeland."
(Volunteer Army Enters Korea)
After the volunteer army entered the DPRK, it quickly turned the tide of the war and blocked the UN army near the "38th Line".
This situation was intolerable to MacArthur, the commander-in-chief of the United Nations Forces, who had always been arrogant and arrogant.
Thus, the atomic bomb with super lethal power came to mind of this war maniac...
In fact, at the beginning of the Korean War, MacArthur had already thought of using the atomic bomb.
At that time, due to north Korea's gradual defeat, the United States feared that China would intervene in this way. So, as early as the summer of 1950, the military deployed B-29 strategic bombers at the U.S. Air Force base in Guam. In an attempt to deter China, thereby achieving the goal of preventing China from sending troops to Korea.
It is only now that the volunteer army has joined the battle in a big way, and there is no scruples about it. This made the United States, which originally just wanted to scare and frighten China, really move to kill.
The unfavorable situation on the battlefield has also made the United States indignant. For a time, public opinion on the use of atomic bombs in North Korea was very loud, which forced Truman to seriously consider and make a decision!
On November 30, 1950, While attending a press conference, Truman was asked by a reporter about the war in Korea. Truman said: "We will take any necessary military steps to deal with the military situation in North Korea!" ”
As soon as this statement came out, the audience was in an uproar. This was followed by the question: Does any military step also include the atomic bomb? Truman said without hesitation: "We have been actively considering, this is a new weapon of ours!" ”
(U.S. President Harry S. Truman)
In this way, before the press conference was over, a news that "the United States is about to use the atomic bomb on the Korean battlefield" was spread through the major media!
MacArthur was thrilled to hear the news and quickly devised a nuclear strike plan. After calculations with his staff, he came to the conclusion that it only needed 26 atomic bombs to completely turn the tide of the war.
The 26 atomic bombs were used to attack the forward units of the Volunteer Army that were still fighting in Korea, and nuclear strikes were also carried out on heavy industrial bases and airfields in the northeast.
In addition, a large number of nuclear bombs were dropped on both sides of the Yalu River to create a nuclear radiation belt about 30 kilometers wide from north to south, so as to prevent the volunteer army from fighting across the river.
(Yalu River)
These tactical ideas, although crazy and unrealistic, were the real ideas of the US military at that time!
And soon, jurisdiction over the U.S. atomic bomb was transferred to the military by the Atomic Energy Commission, and the Strategic Air Command received orders to deploy medium-range strategic bombers in the Far East.
In December, the U.S. military, with Truman's authorization, secretly transported a dismantled atomic bomb to the Far East and stored it on an aircraft carrier. Along with the team were a number of atomic bomb experts.
The U.S. move clearly means that when the war situation is about to get out of control, the atomic bomb will be assembled at any time by these experts, and then the strategic bomber will be dropped on the battlefield.
Sure enough, as soon as the atomic bomb arrived in the Far East, it aroused great concern from all sides.
North Korean leader Kim Il Sung is even more worried. To this end, four days after Truman sent the news of the nuclear threat, he secretly traveled to Beijing to meet Mao Zedong and seek a solution.
When he put out his worries about Mao Zedong and His Mind, Mao Zedong said disapprovingly: "This is completely intimidation, and even more naked nuclear blackmail, we don't eat that set!" ”
Although Mao Zedong was fearless, Kim Il Sung's worried look did not dissipate.
So Mao Zedong added: "Don't say that the Soviet Union has mastered nuclear weapons, Truman did not dare to risk launching an atomic bomb war, even if he really wanted to use atomic bombs, there is no need to say it." ”
Being able to say such a thing shows that Mao Zedong did not focus on the victory or defeat of the First World War and the First Battle, he had already seen through the essence of the Korean War as a game between the United States and the Soviet Union, so as long as the Soviet Union did not make a big move, the United States did not dare to do anything out of the ordinary.
The U.S. airlift of the atomic bomb did not frighten Mao, but rather made his allies in Europe panic.
You know, the biggest enemy of the United States at that time was neither North Korea nor China, but the Soviet Union standing behind them.
The United States was busy with the Korean War, but the Soviet Union was free to look at Europe, and Britain, France, and Italy felt more pressure.
British Prime Minister Attlee, in particular, after learning of Truman's intention to use the atomic bomb in North Korea, fidgeted like an ant on a hot pot.
(Former British Prime Minister Attlee)
In order to obtain sufficient shelter from the United States, Britain formed an alliance with the latter and had the American B-29 nuclear strategic bomber deployed on its soil.
Now watching the United States transport the atomic bomb to the Far East, once there is a mistake, it is very easy for the Soviet Union to misunderstand, so as long as a few atomic bombs from the Soviet Union fly over, has Britain not become a substitute ghost for the United States?
So, after meeting with the French prime minister and foreign minister, Attlee went straight to the United States. After meeting Truman, he directly expressed his opposition to the use of atomic bombs in the Korean battlefield.
Upon hearing Attlee's objections, Truman ordered a moratorium on plans to use the atomic bomb on the Korean battlefield.
For he knew very well that Britain's opposition represented all of Western Europe, and at such a critical juncture the views of these allies could not but be taken into account!
But MacArthur didn't care about any of this, he only had war in his eyes, and for him, he just wanted to win!
Therefore, the atomic bomb was still his lifesaver in turning the tide of the war, and he did not really abandon this crazy plan because of Truman's orders.
in MacArthur
In his opinion, there is nothing more effective than the atomic bomb if you want to completely defeat the Chinese volunteers on the battlefield!
Will the United States eventually abandon the use of the atomic bomb according to Truman's advice, or will it follow MacArthur's advice and follow a dangerous path?
Chairman Mao has a clear understanding of this issue...
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="28" > Mao Zedong's unique vision and one sentence broke through its weakness</h1>
Mao Zedong was a great military man, but also a strategist. In his view, in order to achieve a fundamental victory in the war, it is not enough to rely on only a few new weapons, but most importantly, it is necessary to rely on the people.
As early as 1945, when the US military bombed Japan with an atomic bomb, the world had already witnessed the power of the atomic bomb. At that time, China's major newspapers competed for a lot of coverage of the lethality of the atomic bomb explosion.
(Scene after the atomic bombing of Japan)
This incident also caused a huge sensation in the Liberated Areas. However, Mao Zedong did not agree with this, and for this reason he specifically criticized the relevant comrades responsible for the distribution of the newspaper.
In his view, the atomic bomb is indeed hugely lethal, but it should not be exaggerated, which will not only shake the hearts of the military, but also make some fighters feel timid.
That being said, it does not mean that Mao Zedong did not have a clear understanding of the power of the atomic bomb. For he once said: We must despise the enemy strategically, but we must pay attention to him tactically.
Therefore, on the eve of the People's Liberation Army's entry into the War in Korea, he once said to Deng Hua, commander of the 13th Corps of the Strategic Reserve:
"Your task after assembling in the northeast is to defend the northeast frontier, but you must prepare for war with the Americans, you must prepare for an unprecedented big war, and you must prepare him to fight the atomic bomb. He hit the atomic bomb, we hit the grenade, grabbed his weakness, followed her, and finally defeated him. ”
(Admiral Deng Hua)
Just a month later, Mao Zedong stressed again at the ninth meeting of the Central People's Government Committee:
"When a war is fought, it is not a small fight but a big fight, not a short fight but a long fight, not an ordinary fight but an atomic bomb, and we must be fully prepared. You have to do that, and we'll follow. ”
From these words, it is not difficult to see that Mao Zedong actually realized that the volunteer army's entry into the korean war may cause the US military to jump the wall, so he has long instructed the volunteer generals to be prepared.
In addition to having a clear understanding of the strategic intentions of the United States, Mao Zedong also saw the comprehensive strength of the US military very thoroughly.
He believes that the United States has indeed far surpassed other countries in the world in terms of the productivity of weapons, which is indeed conducive to his concentrating superior firepower on the battlefield to strike at us, which can be regarded as one of his advantages.
But fighting on the Korean battlefield, far from the U.S. mainland, is difficult to supply troops and weapons. Although the United States has a large number of military bases in the Far East, they are only temporary stops.
Moreover, after World War II, the centers of the United States' military alliances were all in Europe, mainly used to guard against threats from the Soviet Union. Now another foot has been inserted into the Far East battlefield, and the battle line is too long, which is bound to cause it to lose sight of one or the other.
And the most important thing is that for the United States, no matter how grandiose its reasons are, it cannot hide the fact of aggression. For American soldiers who enter the war, this reason will also greatly affect the morale of the military.
Therefore, it seems that the United States has almost no chance of winning the Korean war except for the only "nuclear strike" advantage.
Although Mao Zedong had long seen through the inadequacy of the US nuclear threat, MacArthur, who was bent on "surgery" for China, did not think so!
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="20" > Truman was furious and MacArthur was fired</h1>
MacArthur was furious when he learned that Truman had suspended plans to drop atomic bombs on the Korean battlefield due to Allied intervention.
In fact, macArthur's conflict with Truman did not just arise on the question of whether to use atomic bombs on the Korean battlefield.
As early as MacArthur's appointment as commander of the United Nations, Truman had already had a secret conversation with MacArthur.
Truman, as president of the United States, hoped that the Korean War would be controlled within a certain range.
As long as the "Syngman Rhee political clique" supported by the United States can continue to rule in South Korea, then the war will achieve its due purpose.
(South Korean President Syngman Rhee)
His greatest fear was that the outbreak of the Korean War would draw the United States into a head-on confrontation with the Soviet Union.
MacArthur, as a war maniac, wanted to do his best in one battle. He wanted to destroy Korea through the Korean War and inflict heavy damage on China in order to achieve his goal of attacking the socialist camp.
So at the beginning of the war, MacArthur repeatedly threatened to drop atomic bombs on the battlefield. To this end, he did not hesitate to disobey the operational orders of the Ministry of National Defense and privately ordered US aircraft to fly to northeast China for close reconnaissance.
In the face of such a "disobedient" MacArthur, Truman was once very angry. However, the war has reached the stage of anxiety, and it is a taboo for soldiers to change generals on the verge of battle. So the president had to endure MacArthur's misbehaving behavior.
However, for the president's tolerance, MacArthur took a fancy way to deal with it.
Because of the participation of Chinese volunteers in the war, the United States deeply felt that the war intention of taking the Korean Peninsula in one fell swoop through the Korean War was no longer possible.
So, on March 20, 1951, the Joint Chiefs of Staff sent a telegram to MacArthur that President Harry Truman would adopt peace talks to resolve the dispute over the Korean Peninsula.
To this end, peace talks have been issued to the member states of the United Nations army, while MacArthur has been asked to exercise restraint and not be too free in the ensuing military operations.
MacArthur had hoped to expand the war, and the more countries involved, the better, so that he could show his fists. The news undoubtedly poured a basin of cold water on his fanatical heart.
However, MacArthur was not willing to participate in the peace talks in this way, and instead of obeying the presidential order conveyed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he replied the next day: Headquarters should not limit the power of our commander-in-chief too much.
Moreover, on the 24th of the same month, without the consent of the President of the United States, he held a press conference and preemptively issued a statement that was completely contrary to Truman's wishes.
In his statement, he not only exaggerated the military and economic strength of the United States, but also emphasized the decisive role of sea and air supremacy on the battlefield. Finally, he specifically stated that the commander was willing to wait for the enemy commander to come and participate in the peace talks at any time.
As soon as this statement was issued, it caused a great shock to the US Government. When Truman heard the news, his lips turned white with anger, and he gritted his teeth and said, "I really want to kick him into the North China Sea!" ”
in Truman
Because MacArthur's statement was rather forceful and rude, it sounded as if it were not a peace talks statement at all, but more like a statement that the United Nations army was about to launch an attack on China itself.
It is conceivable that such consequences led to the complete failure of the Truman administration's desire for peace talks. Outraged, Truman added: "MacArthur's actions are not only a challenge to the power of my president, but also a contempt for the policies of the United Nations." I can't think of any other way than to dismiss him! ”
Truman was furious, but if MacArthur could change his mind at this point, he might be able to take a turn for the better. However, the appearance of a letter completely ruined all possibilities for MacArthur!
On April 5, 1951, in an attempt to attack the Democratic Party's policy failure on the Korean battlefield, Republican leader Joseph Martin made a letter between the two public without MacArthur's consent.
The letter indicated that MacArthur highly praised Martin's approval of Having Chiang Kai-shek in Taiwan wage war on China's southeast coast to contain the Chinese Communists' forces, saying that this practice was not only logical, but also in line with tradition.
At the same time, the current president, Truman, was criticized for his various policies regarding the Korean War. At the end of the letter, it is also stated that there is no second way for us to go except to achieve complete victory in the Korean War!
The publication of the letter infuriated Truman, for his general not only secretly communicated with his political enemies, but also did his best to denigrate himself in the letter, discrediting himself before the whole country.
So, six days later, Truman organized a press conference and issued a statement like this:
I am very sorry to say that because General MacArthur of the Army is not fully supportive of the policies of the United States Government and the United Nations on the issue of official duties, I hereby release all command over him and Matthew Ridgway takes over the post of Commander-in-Chief of the United Nations Forces!
In this way, MacArthur was thrown to the bottom by Truman!
(Matthew Ridgway)
After taking over, Ridgway did not create any miracles on the battlefield. After nearly two years of stalemate near the 38th Parallel, the two sides signed an armistice on July 27, 1953, and the cloud of nuclear war that hung over the Korean War completely dissipated.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="30" > conclusion:</h1>
We cannot deny the power of the atomic bomb, and we also deeply understand the strength of the United Nations army. Judging from the fact that the United States has finally and honestly returned to the negotiating table, we can conclude that whoever is the enemy of the peace-loving people is doomed to fail!