On October 19, 1950, the Chinese People's Volunteers were ordered to go to the Korean battlefield and began to help North Korea resist the United Nations forces of the United States and South Korea.
【Crossing the Yalu River with great dignity】
Relying on their extremely stubborn will, the Chinese People's Volunteers won successive battles and quickly drove the US troops south of the "38th parallel," and in more than a month, the "United Nations Army" suffered more than 50,000 casualties.
The United States was amazed, they really couldn't figure it out, how could China, which had just finished the War of Liberation and not long after the founding of the People's Republic of China, have such ability without high-end equipment and being poor and white?
In order to regain the initiative on the Korean battlefield, a group of people in the US military, led by five-star General MacArthur, began to consider expanding the battlefield to Chinese territory, and even MacArthur wrote a letter asking the US Government to give an order to drop atomic bombs on the Sino-Korean border.
【MacArthur】
Because it would separate China from North Korea and deal a huge blow to China.
However, in the end, the American upper echelons did not adopt this strategy, and even later the American army was defeated in the war, and the United States repeatedly considered expanding the war, but the result was that the corresponding plan was not implemented, and in 1953 it hastily withdrew from the Korean battlefield.
Everyone understands that the United States, as the first country to possess nuclear weapons, will suffer heavy losses if it uses all means against China, but why did the United States finally give up?
[The United States is the first country to possess nuclear weapons]
This has to be analyzed from three aspects.
First, the United States does not fail to defeat wars, but does not fight wars at a loss
The United States has been a country for 248 years, and the days without war add up to only 16 years, and it can even be said that half of the land area of the United States, which ranks fourth in the world, and its GDP, which ranks first in the world, are obtained by "fighting everywhere".
【Schematic Diagram of U.S. Territorial Expansion】
For them, war is not a means to defend their sovereignty (after all, no country will infringe on their sovereignty for the time being), but a way for them to make money, especially during World War II, when the United States relied on the wars of various countries to make a lot of money.
Since the end of World War II, whether it is the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the two Gulf Wars, the Iraq War, the Kosovo War, the Afghanistan War, and so on, as well as the dozens or hundreds of sanctions imposed on other countries at every turn, the United States has always had only one purpose:
Expand your own influence, and then "suck blood" from these countries and regions.
Therefore, the most important thing for the United States to fight a war is not to win or lose, but to lose
The purpose of the Korean War was to contain the development of the Soviet Union at the beginning, after all, at that time, the struggle for hegemony between the United States and the Soviet Union was the leading role on the world stage.
[Concept map of the US-Soviet hegemony]
However, almost all of the most important "little brothers" of the United States are in Europe, that is to say, the center of gravity of the United States is actually in Europe, and if too much force is invested in the Korean battlefield, that is, in the Asia-Pacific region, it will inevitably weaken their control over Europe.
From this point of view, if the atomic bomb, which cost a lot of money, was used in the Korean War, even if it was won in the end, it would be a loss, so the upper echelons of the United States were unwilling to engage in such a "deal."
Second, America's allies do not support it
As mentioned earlier, the United States has a great influence in the international community, and they have long taken in many allies.
Besides, it is impossible for the United States to just let itself end up in the Korean War, and naturally its allies have to participate in this kind of bloodshed, so the United States dragged a dozen allies into the water to form the "United Nations Army."
["United Nations Army" on the Korean Battlefield]
But there is also the problem that when making major decisions, you have to listen to the public.
If the United States does not say a word of greeting, or ignores the suggestions of its allies, then no matter how powerful such a "big brother" is, it will be difficult to gain the respect of the "little brother", and who will willingly allow the United States to "suck blood" at that time?
So the United States must listen to what its allies think.
In addition to South Korea and the United States, many of the remaining allies, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France, and New Zealand, do not actually have much feeling for China, do not like it much, and do not feel any hatred, so they naturally do not agree to launch a nuclear attack on China.
[Concept of nuclear strike]
After all, the Soviet Union was also a nuclear-armed country, and nuclear weapons were the king bombs in the US-Soviet game, and the Soviet Union's response to the United States was: "Bombs can also be used to return the favor." ”
Third, MacArthur was already out of control
MacArthur was a five-star general in the United States, or a "star general" in the United States.
We won't talk about his military capabilities for a moment, but he does have a lot of popularity, and he is even ready to run for the presidency of the United States.
The most important thing is that MacArthur and then-US President Harry Truman did not belong to the same faction.
【MacArthur】
Although the United States is very strong from the outside, they also have a lot of internal strife.
Truman believed that Europe was the focus of the United States, and that it should gradually expand its influence to Western Europe, but MacArthur believed that Europe was already dying, and the Asia-Pacific region was the next focus of competition.
Later, on the Korean battlefield, MacArthur did not listen to the command, because he was born in the West Point Military Academy and thought he had superb command skills, but who knew that in North Korea, Mr. Peng, who was contemptuously defined by him as a "mud leg", chased and beaten, which made MacArthur so angry that he lost his mind.
[Peng Dehuai on the front line of the Korean battlefield]
When the upper echelons of the United States were suspicious of continuing to push for the Korean War, MacArthur had already started fighting frantically with the "United Nations Army" regardless of it.
The most crucial point is that MacArthur is still very concerned about China's Taiwan Strait issue, and even gets involved in China's Taiwan issue without authorization, and he pretends not to hear the warnings from the White House.
All of this was difficult for Truman to accept, and in his later memoirs, Truman said:
"MacArthur has left me with no choice, and I can no longer tolerate such disobedience to his leadership."
[Translation of Truman's Memoirs]
Therefore, under the pretext of the defeat of the two battles, the White House pushed MacArthur to the end, and his idea of bombing China with nuclear weapons and expanding the battlefield to China naturally would not be adopted.
As for the "United Nations Army" on the Korean battlefield, although a new commander will take over MacArthur's post in a timely manner, it is a taboo for soldiers to change their generals on the spot, and the morale of the United States is no longer good.
In the end, the United States could only leave the Korean Peninsula in disgrace.
Resources:
[1] Expand the timeline and take you to understand the history of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea!
[2] "The United States Considers Using the Atomic Bomb" Nuclear Shadow in the Korean War
[3] "Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea to Defend the Country": MacArthur and President Truman had a long-standing grudge and were removed from their posts on the Korean battlefield