Preface
The Battle of Iwo Jima was a large-scale battle for the island in the Taiping Battlefield, while the Battle of Shangganling was a fierce mountain battle in the Korean War.
Although there is no connection between these two battles, because in these two battles, the Chinese and Japanese armies inflicted a large number of casualties on the US army through the tunnel formula, so they have been compared by some netizens.
However, Iwo Jima, which the Japanese desperately defended, was eventually captured by the American army, and the volunteers finally won the battle of Shangganling.
So, what is the reason why the US troops who were able to capture Iwo Jima have never been able to take Shangganling?
The bloody Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Japan began in 1945, when Japan had been defeated by the Allies, and its once proud "Combined Fleet" had been completely destroyed by the Allies.
Therefore, before the Battle of Iwo Jima began, Tadamichi Kuribayashi, the commander of the Japanese army who was in charge of the defense of the entire island at that time, realized that relying on the Japanese forces on Iwo Jima could not stop the US attack on Iwo Jima.
Tadashi Kuribayashi
Therefore, before the Battle of Iwo Jima began, Kuribayashi Tadamichi demanded that a large number of fortifications be built on Iwo Jima, and he also vetoed his men's plan to launch an attack on the landing American troops in order to drive them into the sea.
For Kuribayashi Tadamichi, before the Battle of Iwo Jima began, he realized that in this battle, the Japanese army had no hope of victory at all, and all he could do was to delay the pace of the American army and inflict maximum casualties on the American army.
Therefore, it can be seen from the entire battle of Iwo Jima that the Japanese army's combat methods have changed very much before this, and a large number of Japanese troops hid in the tunnels and fought with the American army until the last moment.
And Kuribayashi Tadamichi's approach did bring great casualties to the U.S. military, even though the U.S. military had a huge advantage in strength and firepower in this battle, but the Battle of Iwo Jima became the only battle in the Pacific theater in which the U.S. casualties were greater than the Japanese's.
However, no matter how stubbornly Kuribayashi's troops resisted, the U.S. forces eventually took Iwo Jima, and more than 20,000 Japanese troops, including Kuribayashi Tadamichi, were killed, except for more than 1,000 who were captured.
More importantly, the stubborn resistance of the Japanese army on Iwo Jima did not have any impact on the war situation at that time, and after the US military occupied the airfield on Iwo Jima, it used it as a "springboard" for bombers and began to bomb the Japanese mainland more violently.
The fierce Battle of Shangganling
The Battle of Shangganling took place in 1952, during which the Volunteers had been fighting with the "United Nations" forces under the leadership of the United States for two years, and gradually stabilized the battle line near the 38th parallel.
For the Americans at that time, they knew very well that relying on the strength of the "United Nations" army, it was difficult to break through the solid defense line built by the volunteers on the Korean battlefield.
But as a superpower at the time, the United States would naturally seek a "decent" way to end the Korean War, and the Americans would need to extract more benefits from the negotiating table if they wanted to be "decent".
If you want to gain benefits at the negotiating table, you need to gain advantage on the battlefield, so the Americans set their sights on Shangganling.
As a result, the U.S. military gathered a large number of troops near Shangganling, and also prepared a large number of artillery support, and its powerful artillery preparation cut the hilltop of Shangganling by two meters in a very short time.
Ammunition consumption of the US military
However, even so, the "United Nations" forces led by the United States could not completely control Shangganling in the next dozens of days of fighting, and finally lost the Shangganling Battle under the counterattack of the volunteers.
Why, then, did the Americans have two very different outcomes when attacking Shangganling and Iwo Jima?
Reasons for different results
There are many reasons why Shangganling and Iwo Jima faced different outcomes under the fierce attack of the Americans.
First of all, Iwo Jima was an isolated island in the Pacific Ocean, and although the Japanese troops on the island could receive continuous reinforcements from Japan's shore-based air forces and fleets, under the circumstances of the time, Japan's support had already been destroyed by the American forces.
Therefore, for the Japanese troops who were responsible for defending Iwo Jima at that time, they had to face a very desperate situation.
This is why, during this battle, although Kuribayashi Tadamichi had always asked the Japanese army not to launch a "jade shattering" charge, his subordinate troops repeatedly acted against his orders.
And this desperate suicidal attack on the American positions basically means nothing other than to increase the casualty figures of the Japanese army itself.
However, for the volunteers in the Shangganling tunnel, the situation they had to face was not like this, because the Korean battlefield at that time was actually in a confrontation situation where the battle line was basically fixed.
Therefore, in this battle, the volunteer troops stationed in Shangganling were actually able to obtain fresh force and artillery support from the rear (in the battle of Shangganling, in order to be able to replenish ammunition, water, food and fresh forces for the front line, the volunteers paid a huge price).
It is precisely because of the continuous support from the rear that the volunteers provided logistical support for the final victory of the Shangganling Campaign.
In addition, the biggest difference between the Battle of Shangganling and the Battle of Iwo Jima is that the Battle of Shangganling was a battle of a righteous nature, while the Battle of Iwo Jima was nothing more than the death throes of militaristic Japan.
As a result, there is a big difference between the performance of the Chinese and Japanese soldiers in these two wars.
Like Japan at that time, although due to the influence of militarism, its soldiers could often launch suicidal charges, but this kind of charge was only a kind of "giving away heads" in the face of the powerful firepower superiority of the US military.
The volunteers who "resisted US aggression and aided Korea, defended their homeland and defended the country" knew very well what they were fighting for, which made the volunteer soldiers not only have a strong and brave will to fight, but also gave full play to their own subjective initiative.
On the Korean battlefield, through various examples of the volunteers, it can be seen that the volunteers showed extremely advanced combat skills in this war.
Relying on the various wisdom and wisdom displayed by the officers and men of the Chinese Volunteers in the battle, we were able to finally win the final victory of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea in a situation where the enemy was strong and we were weak.
In addition, in these two wars, the attitude of the US military towards these two wars is also very different.
As for Iwo Jima, which broke out during World War II, the purpose of the U.S. military was to seize the island and use it as a bomber to bomb Japanese airfields, so the Americans spent a lot of effort in this war.
As for the Battle of Shangganling on the Korean battlefield, the purpose of the Americans in launching this battle was actually more in the hope of gaining more benefits at the negotiating table, and their attack on Shangganling itself actually did not have much military value.
Although many people now talk about the Battle of Shangganling, they think that Shangganling is very important, because this place is the gateway to the Five Sacred Mountains, and behind the Five Sacred Mountains is a large plain, so if the Five Sacred Mountains are lost, it will have a huge impact on the entire Korean War.
But in fact, with the strength of the US military in Korea at that time, it was tantamount to wishful thinking to take Wusheng Mountain in the hands of the volunteers.
It is precisely on the basis of this judgment that before the start of the Shangganling Campaign, although our side obtained some information about the US army's intention to attack Shangganling, our army did not make any major changes in its operational deployment.
Therefore, although the Americans launched the Shangganling Campaign, although they prepared a large amount of heavy firepower, it was more of a speculative act in the hope of winning more interests at the negotiating table.
Therefore, although the Americans mobilized a large amount of strategic resources to attack Shangganling, the battle ended in defeat for the Americans.
epilogue
The victory in the Battle of Shangganling was of great significance, as it not only demonstrated China's national and military prestige, but also won decades of peace for the entire East Asian region.
As for the Battle of Iwo Jima, the outcome of this battle had a great impact on the course of World War II, but prompted the US military, which suffered heavy casualties, to decide to drop atomic bombs on the Japanese mainland, in the hope of ending the war earlier.
Therefore, apart from some military comparisons, the two battles are not at all comparable in other respects.
Resources
China Military Network: "Why is the Battle of Shangganling so famous?", October 24, 2020
China Military Network: "We are always on Shangganling", October 15, 2023
People's Political Consultative Conference Network: "Shangganling is not a mountain or a ridge, but a ......", November 3, 2020
Baidu Encyclopedia: "The Battle of Shangganling"
CCTV7 "World War History" column: "The Battle of Iwo Jima" December 24, 2021