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Were the U.S. troops in the Korean War a bunch of soft eggs?
In the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the founding war of New China, the Chinese Volunteer Army fought with the Seventeen-Nation Coalition Army in the ice and snow of Korea for two years and nine months, and finally forced the United States to sign the armistice agreement. A poor and weak country that once needed only a few thousand men and horses to break through the capital and pay compensation for the land, after only a few short decades, actually made the number one power like the United States helpless, which is indeed a miracle on earth.
Needless to say about the heroism of the Volunteers. The gap in weapons and equipment is huge, and can only be made up with tactics, wisdom and courage. The battle history of the 15th Army records: "In the Battle of Shangganling, it became a common phenomenon to pull grenades, grenades, explosive canisters, and explosive packs at critical moments with the enemy, and sacrificed oneself to blow up the enemy bunker and block the enemy's gun hole. ”
In contrast, the main opponent of the volunteer army, the US army, we have always had the impression that it all depends on good equipment, fear of death and suffering, and once surrounded, it either flees or surrenders, and does not dare to fight a hard battle... It is simply a group of pampered "young master soldiers".
But have we really won such an enemy?
Looking for examples in today's world, the army that best meets the above conditions is probably saudi Arabia's "royal army". I believe that friends who are concerned about the world's military intelligence know that this is simply a ragtag group, no matter what kind of battle is fought, it is about to collapse at a touch, throw away the armor.
▲ 1,000 tons of small expulsion single-handedly picked up 40,000 tons of Yamato, this is not the behavior of cowards
Obviously, with a little more thought, the U.S. army, which is still the strongest country in Blue Star, can never be made up of such a bunch of instigators.
In fact, military fans are generally familiar with some of the heroic performances of the US military in World War II - the second enlistment, baslon who attacked the Japanese army on Guadalcanal, the 101st Airborne Division that still held on to Bastogne under the heavy german siege, the pilot who crashed into the Japanese aircraft carrier in the Battle of Midway, the Taffy 3 squad that dared to single out the entire combined fleet including Yamato and Nagato in the Battle of Samar Island...
It is hard to imagine that such an army would suddenly lose its will within a few years, would not fight, but would only surrender and flee. So, did the U.S. military show bravery in the Korean War?
▲ The highest award of the U.S. Army: Medal of Honor
On this question, we can look at it from the perspective of the recipients of the "Medal of Honor".
To explain here first, the Medal of Honor is the highest military honor in the U.S. military and is awarded to those who "risk their lives in battle and show bravery and fearlessness outside of their obligations." Equivalent to our special skill.
Throughout the Korean War, the United States awarded a total of 145 medals of honor, including 4 for the Air Force, 92 for the Army, 42 for the Marine Corps, and 7 for the Navy.
In the Korean War, the US military occupied the sea and air superiority, and it is said that the navy and air force had no chance to perform, but there were still "combat heroes". Major Louis J. Sebille, part of the 67th Fighter Squadron, was killed at the Battle of Busan at the beginning of the war.
At this time, the Korean People's Army offensive was booming, and the US and ROK troops were caught in the precarious defense circle of Busan and extremely dependent on air support.
Sybil is a veteran of World War II, participating in 68 air battles and flying more than 3,000 hours. After the outbreak of the Korean War, his squadron was responsible for air strikes and close support. On August 5, 1950, Sybil piloted a P-51 to conduct an air strike against the KPA, and when the second round of attack was carried out, it was hit by anti-aircraft artillery and the aircraft emitted thick smoke.
According to U.S. military records, Sybil reported by radio that he and the plane were mortally wounded, and the commander asked him to fly to Daegu for a forced landing, and Sybil replied, "No, I won't do this, I'm going to go back and kill that bastard...", and then steered the plane to aim at the ground target, opened fire and ran out of ammunition, crashed into the KPA convoy, and died together.
Sybil died in combat with the Korean People's Army, and during the battle against the Volunteers, the U.S. Air Force also had a "kamikaze" - Major Charles Lorraine. He was part of the 80 fighter squadron and was also a World War II veteran who flew 55 missions in Europe and was shot down in a Nazi German prisoner-of-war camp for half a year.
On November 22, 1952, Lorraine led four F-80s on patrol, and then received a report from a reconnaissance aircraft that an artillery position had been found near the ridge of Sniper Ridge, and the aircraft was surrounded by dense anti-aircraft artillery protection, and the fleet immediately went to bomb.
Seeing the "Sniper Ridge", there is no doubt that the volunteer army is on the ground. U.S. military records also confirm that the anti-aircraft guns on the ground are not vegetarians, they are "skilled" (The Chinese crews operating them were highly skilled), and the hit rate is high.
Although the F-80 is a first-generation jet, it is not easy for the anti-aircraft gun to hit it with one hit
Sure enough, Lorraine's first dive bombing was hit, the fuselage of the nose was injured in many places, and the aircraft caught fire and almost lost control. Lorraine's wingman advised him to try to return, but Lorraine turned off the radio, struggled to adjust the plane to an angle in line with the artillery, and swooped down at a 40-degree angle into the artillery position...
Since no corresponding corroboration was found on the side of the volunteers, Lorraine was awarded the medal a year and a half later, indicating that the US military itself had done enough investigation and verification, and the "kamikaze" act should be true.
Looking at another naval example, the same pilot, was awarded the medal for "bravery to save comrades."
Thomas Jerome Hudner Jr., first as a communications officer on warships, later applied to enter flight school and eventually became a pilot flying F-4U on the aircraft carrier Wright.
On December 4, 1950, during the Battle of Chosin Lake, a six-aircraft formation, including Hadner, took off from the carrier to provide support to the retreating U.S. Marines. After reaching the west side of Chosin Lake, the formation lowered its altitude to 200 meters in an attempt to search for and attack the volunteer troops at low altitude.
▲ The F-4U is the kind of plane that fights the volunteers in "King Kong River"
However, the Volunteers were well concealed, and not only did they not find out, but they also fired a "ambush" with a salvo of light weapons— the F-4U in the formation piloted by black pilot Jesse Brown leaked oil and lost control. Brown lost the auxiliary fuel tank and external ammunition and forced landing in a valley, the plane ruptured and caught fire, Brown was thrown out of the cockpit, one leg was crushed by the fuselage.
This is the black pilot who was shot down
Located about 24 kilometers behind the Volunteers, Harnard landed his plane next to it and suffered a back injury from the impact of the landing. He jumped out of the cockpit and ran over to extinguish the fire with snow, trying to pull Brown out, but the fuselage was too heavy to succeed. 20 minutes later, a helicopter came to the rescue, slashed the fuselage with an axe for 45 minutes, still in vain, and then Brown died in the temperature of minus 20 degrees, leaving the body and the wreckage of the plane in place, and two days later the U.S. military sent planes to destroy it with napalm.
▲Although the US military does not advocate forced landing rescue,
But the courage to save comrades-in-arms is to be praised
Harnard withdrew with the helicopter, but his actions were denounced by his superiors as "recklessly" because not only did he pose a greater risk, but he also lost an additional plane, and later the U.S. military banned the use of forced landings to rescue the shot-down pilots. However, to boost morale, the "reckless" Harnard was awarded the medal four months later.
The Army also gives a few.
The first example can be called "Meat Shield", George Dalton Libby, Sergeant of the 24th Infantry Division. On July 20, 1950, the division was severely hit by the Korean People's Army during the Battle of Daejeon and was urgently withdrawing to Daegu.
Libby's truck was ambushed by KPA on the way, the truck was broken and paralyzed, and the occupants of the truck, except for Libby, were either killed or wounded. Libby jumped out of the truck, rolled into a ditch on the side of the road and shot back, and braved the fire to rescue several wounded.
At this point, an M5 half-tracked vehicle with a cannon passed by, was stopped by Libby, and then loaded the wounded into the car, standing on the outside of the driver as a meat shield. Along the way, they constantly "picked up" the wounded, and at the same time, they were constantly hit. Libby insisted on serving the driver as a meat shield and was hit with a lot of bullets until the vehicle was out of range of KPA fire, and Libby died of excessive blood loss.
The second example can be called a suicide break – William Henry Thompson, a first-class soldier of the 24th Regiment of the 25th Infantry Division, was still a black man.
On August 6, 1950, the division launched an offensive near Masansan (Gyeongsangnam-do), where Thompson's platoon was ambushed by the Korean People's Army as it approached a small town. Several American troops were killed and wounded, and the platoon leader, Lieutenant Wilson, quickly gathered his men for defense and retreated as he fought.
At this time, Thompson's control of the M1917 machine gun was the only heavy firepower, and soon became a key target of the KPA. Thompson was injured by a grenade and was shot several times, but he insisted on shooting. The platoon commander twice ordered him to retreat, and two soldiers were sent in an attempt to drag him away from the fire point.
▲M1917 is still water-cooled, and a single person cannot move
However, Thompson said that he was seriously injured and was dying, and did not plan to withdraw, "Get out of here, I will cover you!" (Get outof here, I'll cover you!) "The platoon leader had to lead the retreat, hearing gunshots and explosions along the way until Thompson was killed.
A few days later, the U.S. army reoccupied the area, found Thompson's body, found that he fought to the last minute, killed a lot of enemies (there are doubts here, according to common sense, the KPA has enough time to clean up the battlefield, it is difficult to judge casualties afterwards), preventing more casualties.
The last photograph of Lieutenant Baldomelo Lopez
There is also a Lieutenant Baldomelo Lopez from the U.S. Marine Corps, pictured above at the U.S. Inchon landing, he is climbing over the seawall on the landing craft, the reporter took this photo a few minutes later, Lieutenant Lopez in order to protect his teammates, leaned over to a thrown grenade and was killed.
Since this list is very long, it is not exhaustive. Casually, most of the recipients of these medals of honor also received additional honors, with Louis Sybil's memorial in the U.S. Air Force Academy's administrative building, George Libby's name being used to name a bridge over the Imjin River in South Korea, and Thomas Hadner naming an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer (DDG-116).
Many years later, in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
The U.S. military has people who have been awarded the medal for "throwing grenades"
Rough statistics, the most reasons for the medal is the "smothering agrenade", that is, throwing oneself on the grenade thrown by the enemy to ensure the safety of comrades, of which the Army has 11 cases (including anti-throwing grenades are unsuccessful), the Marine Corps has 12 cases, in terms of proportion, the Marine Corps is much higher, almost can be regarded as a tradition.
The rest of the people, etc., there are also reasons for winning medals such as minor injuries not falling into the line of fire, fighting to the end in blood, fighting more with less, and even launching a bayonet charge in order to capture the position. Most of these acts occur in close combat, so it cannot be considered that the US military "does not dare to engage in close combat (night combat)", at most it can only be said that "not good at close combat (night combat)", "more steel and less gas", to be understood as "less gas than us", not "gas equals zero".
▲ In the Battle of Chosin Lake, the extremely tragic US troops were still able to retreat in an orderly manner rather than rout, which was not something that the weak brigade could do
Seeing this, you might say, yo, I became "Mibuki"?
In fact, I have always insisted on not blowing black and seeking truth from facts, and the reason why I wrote these things is to let everyone know the facts clearly, the US military does not rely only on well-equipped young masters, they have always been a bad enemy -- "the enemy is lenient", has always been a reasonable principle, if you want to win on the battlefield, you must pin your hopes on "you can do it yourself", not "the enemy can't do it", in case the enemy is ok?
On the other hand, the US military does not lack the will to fight, has a strong desire to win, and has a lot of good equipment, and has defeated such an enemy, does not it reflect that the volunteer army is more heroic and greater? Referring to the anti-Japanese drama, if we have to portray the enemy as a bunch of fools, an Eighth Route Army can kill a squadron of ghosts, the enemy is ugly, but at the same time it also greatly insults our brave soldiers!
Strategic contempt, tactical attention, this is the real way to win, do not understand this, you can go to relive the words of Commander Kong Jie in "Bright Sword".