"The United States first realized the limits of war during the Korean War. ”
"In the Vietnam War, in order to prevent China from intervening, the United States ordered that the US military should not bomb areas within 40 kilometers of the Chinese border, and even not set up infrastructure!"
"Chairman Mao's strategic legacy is still an effective deterrent to U.S. provocations. ”
These remarks came from a speech made by General Jin Yinan, an expert on national security strategy and a professor at the National Defense University, at a televised forum.
During the discussion, Professor Kim Il-nam emphasized that the United States has been engaged in provocative acts, but after a war, the American military changed its perception and attitude towards us, and this effect is far-reaching and still has an impact today.
The strategic legacy mentioned by Professor Kim Il-nam is the "Korean War", a local war that has been sublimated into a strategic level that has had an impact on the country for decades. It can be seen that there are many contents that are worthy of our in-depth discussion and consideration.
General Kim Il-nam also elaborated on the causes of the "Korean War" and the international situation at that time.
With the end of World War II, the world pattern changed radically. Both the victorious countries led by the United States, Britain, and France, as well as the defeated countries led by Germany, Japan, and Italy, temporarily stopped their military expansion and began to recuperate. However, the greedy nature of capitalism has not changed.
After dividing up resources by military means, the focus shifted to political and economic colonial expansion. At the same time, in terms of ideology, the world has formed two camps, the capitalist countries headed by the United States and the socialist countries led by the Soviet Union.
In terms of military affairs, it is manifested in two major military blocs, the former led by NATO and the latter led by the Warsaw Pact. Despite their great ideological differences, competition and antagonism, a relative balance has been maintained due to the common goal of prioritizing the recovery and development of the domestic economy.
However, in 1950, the situation on the Korean Peninsula upset the original equilibrium.
After the end of World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union each supported the establishment of proxies on the peninsula to maintain this governance by drawing the "38th Parallel".
On June 25, 1950, with the support of the Soviet Union, the North Korean army launched an all-out attack on South Korea across the "38th parallel" and launched an all-out attack, triggering the "Korean War".
Rhee's regime was unprepared and quickly routed, and in less than three days, the capital Seoul was lost.
Just a month later, North Korean forces had captured 90 percent of the Korean Peninsula, and the tide of the war seemed to be in their favor.
With South Korea in jeopardy, the United States organized the so-called "United Nations Army" to intervene, and on September 15, MacArthur personally led the 10th Army to land at Incheon, cutting off the rear route of the North Korean army and recapturing Seoul within a week.
In the face of the huge "United Nations Army", the North Korean army had no resistance, MacArthur took advantage of the situation to pursue, crossed the "38th parallel", spread the war to the whole of Korea, and finally approached the Yalu River.
In the face of the invincible "United Nations Army", the North Korean army could not resist, so it had to urgently send a special envoy to China to ask for assistance.
Why did China choose to participate in the "War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea"? What was the domestic situation at that time? At that time, New China had just been founded for one year, and it was faced with a situation in which everything was waiting to be rebuilt, and the overall situation was not optimistic.
On the economic front, the long-term exploitation of imperialism, the 14-year Japanese invasion, and the corruption and plunder of the Kuomintang have plunged China into a weak foundation and poverty.
The new order in the financial sector has not yet been fully established, the problem of inflation is serious, and ordinary people live in poverty.
China's industrial base is quite weak, and infrastructure such as road transportation still needs to be greatly improved. Affected by the economic blockade of Western countries, China was facing serious economic difficulties at that time.
With a population of more than 400 million, China accounts for a quarter of the world's population, but its per capita GDP is only $23, a significant gap compared to the United States ($1,882) and Taiwan ($156) at the time.
Against this background, the government led by Chairman Mao is committed to nationwide land reform, vigorously promoting economic development, hoping to quickly resolve the problems left over from history and put the national economy on the right track.
At the political level, although the People's Republic of China has been founded, it has faced international political isolation and has failed to restore its legitimate rights and interests at the United Nations.
There are still Kuomintang spies lurking in the big cities of China, and fierce anti-narcotics battles are still being waged in Sichuan, Guangxi, Tibet, and other places, and the Taiwan issue has not yet been resolved.
Most of the main forces of the PLA are still involved in military struggles, and they are also supporting local construction.
On a psychological level, people who have experienced a long period of war are eager to recuperate and live a peaceful and stable life. In the face of the pleas of the USSR and the DPRK, opinions were divided at home.
Some people believe that proceeding from immediate interests, we should concentrate our efforts on developing the national economy and reunifying Taiwan. Considering the huge gap between our army and the US military, many advocated avoiding involvement in the Korean War.
However, Chairman Mao and other leaders believe that they cannot sit idly by. They fear that the collapse of North Korea will expose the heavy industrial bases of the three northeastern provinces to a U.S. threat, and that the United States has inflated ambitions that could encircle the mainland from multiple directions.
Despite the advanced equipment of the American army, its low morale, coupled with the labor expedition, gave China the confidence to defeat them.
Chairman Mao elevated the "War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea" to the strategic level of defending the motherland, emphasizing that "one punch should be fought, lest a hundred punches come."
The outcome of the "War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea" proved Chairman Mao's eloquence and foresight. As General Wang Zhen said: "Chairman Mao watched 50 years earlier than us. ”
On October 19, 1950, the Chinese People's Volunteers, with Peng Dehuai as commander-in-chief, crossed the Yalu River and began the battle to "resist US aggression and aid Korea," kicking off the war.
In the process of "resisting US aggression and aiding Korea," the mainland's navy and air force started relatively late, and the army's weapons were relatively backward, while the volunteers who entered Korea were in a hurry, unable to follow up in a timely manner, lacked cotton clothes, and only carried three days' worth of fried noodles as dry food.
Despite facing a well-equipped enemy by sea, land, and air, our army's superiority lies in its high morale and the style of fighting and fighting. On the Korean battlefield, our army quickly gained a foothold and launched a powerful counterattack against the American army.
The Volunteer Army adopted flexible tactics in the battle, including sharp knife breakthroughs, mobile attacks, interspersed divisions, and mobile defenses, which dealt a heavy blow to the US troops.
In frontal confrontations such as the Battle of Bloody Ridge and the Battle of Shangganling, our army won the victory with tenacious fighting spirit, and many combat heroes such as Huang Jiguang and Qiu Shaoyun emerged. Large-scale front-line support has also been launched in the rear of the country.
After nearly three years of war and five large-scale battles, the Chinese People's Volunteers and the Korean People's Army jointly turned the tide of the Korean war and drove the "United Nations Army" back to the "38th Parallel."
On July 27, 1953, at Panmunjom, the United States had to sign the Korean Armistice Agreement, ending the three-year Korean War. Years later, Clark, commander-in-chief of the "United Nations Forces," wrote with emotion in his memoirs: "I became the first general in American history to sign an armistice that did not result in victory." His frustration was palpable.
The Korean War was a large-scale local war that broke out after the end of World War II, with more than one million troops committed by both warring sides, and nearly 600,000 casualties, including the heroic sacrifice of 197653 volunteer officers and soldiers, including Chairman Mao's son, Mao Anying. The scale of this war, the tragedy of the battle, and the far-reaching impact have gone beyond the scope of a local war.
The Korean War changed the world pattern and greatly depleted and weakened the strength of the United States, while the Soviet Union took the opportunity to increase its strength and formed a situation of competing with the United States for hegemony. At the same time, the victorious powers failed to take into account the defeated countries such as Japan and Germany, which had made remarkable achievements in developing their economies in silence and laid the foundation for their return to world power.
The victory in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, Professor Jin Yinan believes that it has shattered the myth of the invincibility of the United States and completely changed the US military's perception of Chinese soldiers. This victory led to the fact that imperialism did not dare to invade and humiliate China easily, and the concept of "limited war" was put forward in the Vietnam War. This shows that the strategic legacy left by Chairman Mao played an important role in responding to US provocations.
The "War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea" greatly enhanced the Chinese people's sense of pride and national self-confidence, and made them united and cohesive. This national spirit has always been the cornerstone of China's development and take-off, and it has repeatedly burst out with tremendous energy in the face of challenges and difficulties.
On the economic level, the war took a huge toll on the continent, which was confirmed more than a decade later by the repayment of the foreign debt of the Soviet Union. However, from another point of view, the war also gave birth to the improvement of the mainland's industrial system, especially the vigorous development of heavy industries such as the military industry.
Over the years, we have always set the goal of developing a military force with sufficient defense capabilities, greatly improved the level of equipment, and provided solid support for the peaceful rise of the mainland.
The Korean War demonstrated the perseverance and tenacity of the Chinese to the world, and made the Western powers realize that "the days when Western invaders could occupy a country by erecting only a few cannons on the eastern coast are gone." At the same time, the world's sympathy and understanding for the continent is constantly increasing, and the mainland's international status has also been unprecedentedly enhanced.
This was evident in China's overwhelming return to the P5 in 1971.
Professor Jin pointed out that the Korean War created a prosperous and stable development environment for China, and laid a solid foundation for China's economic take-off in 30 years. To this day, the effects of the Korean War are still being felt in the contest between the mainland and the global financial game.
The strategic significance of this war goes far beyond itself, and its far-reaching impact may continue on the development path of the mainland. When we look at China's current achievements, we should not forget and cut off this period of history.
Every step of the ladder is built on the solid foundation laid by the predecessors. More than 60 years have passed, and the Korean War has become a history in which time and space are changing, and now the mainland has risen to become the world's second largest economy, and its national strength has been markedly enhanced. However, when looking back on this period of history, we should not forget the heroic volunteers and the martyrs who were buried in foreign lands, and at the same time be grateful for the great man's foresight and correct decision-making.