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Text: Lin Yuezhou
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introduction
During the two years and eight months of the Korean War, the commanders of the United Nations forces in the United States changed again and again, and the three commanders were all famous: MacArthur, Ridgway, and Clark.
Among them, the first commander, MacArthur, is a well-known military celebrity, who once made a lot of nonsense about bombing the coastal areas of the mainland, but this war momentum was so frightening to America's European allies that he was kicked out of his post by Truman.
The second Li Qiwei is a famous general who fought for strength in World War II, and it is precisely because he was born on the battlefield and understands the horror of the volunteer army, so he is very clear about his goal on the job, that is, to support on the Korean Peninsula. He did manage to hold on and was promoted to commander-in-chief in Europe.
(Clark)
After Ridgway was promoted, the position of commander-in-chief of the United Nations forces fell to Clark, who is the protagonist to talk about today, Mark Wayne Clark. He was nicknamed a "murderer" by the US military, although his sense of presence was not high compared to the other two commanders. But in the later stages of the Korean War, he was the last opponent of the Volunteers.
1. Ordered to go on an expedition and land in Incheon to show his style
In May 1952, Clark was officially appointed commander of the United Nations forces, becoming the opponent of the Volunteer Army after Ridgway.
But this was not the first time he had fought against the Volunteers, who had already landed at Inchon in 1950 and changed the course of the war by gathering intelligence, which had an impact on the Volunteers.
(Landing Battle)
In August 1950, when the U.S. military was debating whether to land at Inchon or Gunsan, MacArthur was already in full swing preparing for the Inchon landing.
Incheon's geographical location is superior, Incheon as the gateway to Seoul, only 29 kilometers away from Seoul, and the direct capture of Seoul by land, so it has great political influence, so it has a high strategic value, but the difficulty of landing in Incheon is by no means comparable to landing at other locations.
(Clark)
When it came to sending important personnel, Clark was the best choice, an officer who had progressively risen from the ranks. He fought throughout the Pacific War from Australia to the Philippines, and after World War II, he served as a captain of navigation, communications, gunners and captains of military cargo ships.
Sixteen years at sea gave Clark the ability to determine the appropriateness of a landing site and how to operate a ship, and to speak some Japanese and Chinese.
Therefore, Clark was sent to land at Inchon as an intelligence officer, accompanied by two North Koreans.
On the morning of September 1, 1950, Clark and his entourage landed on the beach of Lingxing Island, which was full of gravel.
The honest village chief was led by the nose by Clark, and also gathered the young people in the village, and under Clark's selection, formed a sentinel team of 40 people.
After establishing a simple armed system on the island, Clark began to sweep the surrounding seas, capturing passing fishermen as prisoners and obtaining information from them.
As the landing day approached, Clark successfully completed the mission, and the Korean People's Army's victory in the first battle was finally overwhelmed by the tide rising from Inchon due to the lack of cover. The landing enemy forces quickly advanced in depth, cutting off the rear route of the KPA.
2. Succeed to a high position and serve as commander-in-chief of the coalition forces
The reason why Clark was able to succeed Ridgway was because the United States hoped that he would be able to exert his good negotiation ability and strive for as many interests as possible for the United States in the war situation.
Looking at Clark's military history, it can be seen that he was indeed a man of diplomacy and negotiation. From his first time on the battlefield, he joined Operation Torch as Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Coalition Forces.
(Clark)
In this operation, Clark did not participate in the fighting, but showed his talent as a diplomat, leading four of his entourage to Algiers, North Africa, alone to talk to the leaders of the German puppet Vichy government.
During this meeting, Clark single-handedly persuaded the puppet French to accept the many demands of the Allies.
Behind the stellar results is Clark's wisdom and vision. He, like the previous commander Li Qiwei, is very clear about his task, Li Qiwei's task is to hold on, and his task is to speed up the end.
As commander of the United Nations forces, he focused his work on the Korean War. He first went to the battlefield of the 38th parallel to conduct inspections, and the results surprised him.
(Clark)
The fact that the volunteer soldiers were planting vegetables on the battlefield and preparing for a protracted war made Clark feel bad, and he knew that such a battle could not be fought at all.
At this time, Clark set his sights on Shangganling.
(Shanggan landform map)
Third, unable to return to heaven, sign an armistice agreement
In order to have more leverage in negotiations with China, Clark was determined to take Shangganling, which he believed was weak and that no more than one company was stationed on each hill.
But they still underestimated the combat strength of the volunteers, and originally planned to take Shangganling in only five days, estimating the loss of personnel at about 200.
However, the battle lasted for 43 days, and the American troops suffered 25,000 casualties, but they still failed to capture Shangganling.
(Clark)
Negotiations are approaching, and Clark realizes that he has no choice but to use his eloquence to reduce his losses.
Therefore, he told the world that Shangganling was not worthy of the sacrifice of the US military, and he believed that denying the value of Shangganling would reduce the impact of this defeat, but his remarks were nothing more than a joke.
(Clark)
Once negotiations began, Clark failed to use his talent. On July 28, 1953, he signed the armistice agreement in a sloppy manner.
In response, he also laughed at himself: "I was the first general in American history to sign an armistice that did not lead to victory." ”
Resources:
Peak." I was a spy for the Inchon landing"——Captain Clark of the U.S. Army in the Inchon landing[J].Global Military, 2003(10X):3.
Hu Haibo.The final contest to resist US aggression and aid Korea[J].Friends of Party Members and Cadres, 2010(11):2.