I asked my grandfather:
After the Fifth Campaign to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, why was there no Sixth Campaign?
Grandpa said:
The advantage of the defender is huge, and it is difficult for anyone to push forward.
First, Ridgway's magnetic tactics have caused trouble to our army
After the end of the three battles to resist US aggression and aid Korea, the volunteers were already very tired, Seoul was the base camp of the enemy army, there was no mass base at all, and the losses of the US and South Korean troops were far from being broken to the extent of breaking their muscles and bones, and the terrain of Seoul was relatively flat, which was not conducive to the interspersed operations of the volunteers.
In the face of Li Qiwei's magnetic tactics, the Chinese People's Volunteers suffered relatively large losses in the fourth and fifth battles, and it was difficult to sustain the short-term assault tactics; under the superiority of the US army's weaponry, logistical support, and navy and air force, it changed to tunnel warfare and defense, and at the same time to guard against landing, supplemented by appropriate attacks, and the plan for the sixth campaign was cancelled and replaced with better cold guns, cold artillery, and tunnel tactics.
Second, the volunteer army has grown, and so has the enemy
When the Korean War first began, the US military was all new recruits, except for the technical arms, and most of the veterans had already retired.
After three years of fighting, the recruits have also become veterans.
The enemy has gone from fleeing from the wind in the previous three battles to being able to resist the attack of our army in front of the position.
As a result, the enemy's situational awareness of the battlefield was greatly enhanced, and the interspersed tactics of the Volunteer Army were greatly weakened.
Moreover, the U.S. military has also learned to intersperse encirclement tactics, the volunteer army attacks, the U.S. military reverses the charge interspersed with encirclement, the U.S. military has air force and equipment superiority, and it does not panic after being surrounded, there is a steady stream of supplies, and even the wounded and sick can be airlifted to Japan for treatment.
Third, logistics
From beginning to end, air supremacy in the Korean battlefield has always been in the hands of the United Nations forces, and the so-called MiG corridor is over Sinuiju on the border between China and North Korea, and the logistics and transportation lines have always been unsafe.
After the third battle, we were overly optimistic about driving the UN forces into the sea, but in fact, as the battle line was lengthened, our army was in danger of being cut off from the supply line at any time.
After the fourth and fifth battles, our army realized that the American army was not so easy to fight, so it stopped six battles and switched to positional defense.
The volunteers have done their best, if they can drive the US troops into the sea or wipe out a few divisions, it will definitely be a great thing, and it will also have huge political significance, but our fighters really can't move, and it is already extremely difficult to stabilize the 38th parallel.
Fourth, the Air Force
The Soviet Union dispatched its air force into North Korea, and basically maintained the size of an aviation force composed of 2-3 fighter aviation divisions + 2 antiaircraft artillery divisions.
The MiG corridor can only go to the Pyongyang-Wonsan line, because China and North Korea cannot build an airfield in North Korea, and the MiG's combat radius can only protect that small section of airspace.
Fifth, the U.S. military can't fight either
The U.S. military has calculated that the cost of the Korean War was about the same as that of the entire World War II, and the casualties were greater than any other battle in World War II.
The U.S. military needs to consider cost performance, and if it wants to continue to expand its results, it needs to invest more money, and it needs to kill more people, and his strategic focus is always in Europe.
MacArthur once uttered a wild statement that he wanted to expand the Korean War, but he was immediately dismissed by Truman.
In fact, this is the only way for both sides to do not want to suffer greater losses.