Gao Gang served the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea

Gao Gang served the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea

"Logistics Officer" of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea

Dai Maolin, Zhao Xiaoguang

　　The Korean War was one of the most far-reaching and extremely complex wars since World War II.

　　The war took place on the three-thousand-mile Korean Peninsula, lasted three years and one month, and the armies of 18 countries participated in the war, but the final result was stopped at the place where the war began, the 38th parallel north.

　　The War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea was a just war in which the people of the Chinese rose up to defend their homeland and safeguard world peace under the crisis of the newly founded People's Republic of China, when the sovereign dignity of the people's republic of China was severely challenged.

　　In this war, which brought out the national and military prestige of New China, the confidence and ambition of the Chinese and the people, and the arrogance of US imperialism in dominating the world, Gao Gang played a special role as the head of the party, government, and army in the northeast region who was at the forefront of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.

So much so that Peng Dehuai, commander of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army, said uneasily when accepting the first-class national flag medal awarded to him by the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK: "It is not appropriate for me to award this medal, and the first should be awarded to Gao Mazi (Gao Gang). ”

　Gao Gang commanded the Northeast Frontier Defense Army

　　On June 25, 1950, the Korean Civil War broke out in full swing.

　　North Korea is a peninsula in the northeast of the Asian continent that stretches out into the Pacific Ocean.

　　The Korean Peninsula was divided into two countries with different social systems, the South and the North, bounded by the 38th Parallel, as a result of the occupation of the north and south of the Korean Peninsula by the US and Soviet armies after World War II.

　　The outbreak of the Korean Civil War was originally an internal affair of the Korean nation and did not allow foreign forces to interfere. However, after the outbreak of the Korean Civil War, the United States saw that the South Korean army was vulnerable and that the South Korean Government was in danger of rapid collapse, so it disregarded the norms of international law and openly intervened in the Korean civil war and invaded Taiwan with arms, thus changing the nature of the Korean War from a civil war to a war of aggression by the United States and against aggression by the Korean people.

　　The US aggression against Taiwan has made the United States associate the Korean issue with China's sovereign dignity at the very beginning of its armed intervention in the Korean civil war.

　　Originally, the northeast was in the position of a strategic rear in the overall national defense deployment after the founding of New China. The liberation of the northeast was the earliest, the land reform had been completed, the industrial recovery was nearing completion, and the focus of work had shifted to economic construction. As far as national defense is concerned, the northeast is backed by the Soviet Union and adjacent to North Korea, and the Sino-Soviet alliance and Sino-DPRK friendship make the security of the northeast region worry-free. Therefore, among the six major military regions at that time, the Northeast Military Region had the smallest number of soldiers, only 100,000 people. However, after the outbreak of the Korean War, the northeast suddenly changed from a strategic rear to a national defense outpost, which forced the party Central Committee to take urgent measures to quickly adjust the national defense deployment and strengthen the national defense strength of the northeast region.

　　On July 7, 1950, Zhou Enlai, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, presided over the first meeting on the issue of defending national defense, conveying the decision of the CPC Central Committee on the establishment of the Northeast Border Defense Army. The meeting decided to immediately dispatch the 13th Corps of the National Defense Mobile Force located in the Central Plains to the north, assemble in the Sino-DPRK border area, and form the Northeast Border Defense Army, which will undertake the task of defending the northeast border and assisting the Korean people if necessary. On July 13, the Central Military Commission officially issued the Decision on Defending the Northeast Border.

　　When the Northeast Border Defense Army was formed, the Central Military Commission appointed Su Yu as commander and political commissar, but Su Yu was recuperating in Qingdao at that time, and the Border Defense Army was gathering in the northeast region for rectification, and it was inevitable that there would be relations with the Northeast Military Region, so on July 22, Zhou Enlai and Nie Rongzhen jointly proposed to Mao Zedong:

　　It is suggested that the Northeast Border Defense Army first be placed under the command of gaogang commander and political commissar of the Northeast Military Region. ①

　　Mao Zedong issued a directive on the 23rd:

　　agree.

　　Subsequently, the Central Military Commission entrusted Gao Gang with the responsibility of "taking the main responsibility" for the border defense troops.

　　On August 5, Mao Zedong, in the name of the Central Military Commission, sent a telegram to Gao Gang, commander and political commissar of the Northeast Military Region, stating:

　　The various units of the Border Guard Corps are now concentrated and may not have a combat mission in August, but they should be ready to operate in early September. Comrade Gao Gang was asked to take the main responsibility, convene a meeting of the cadres of various military divisions in mid-August, instruct the purpose, significance, and general direction of the operation, and ask all departments to complete all preparatory work within this month and be ready to go out for combat. In order to ensure that morale is high and well prepared, the ideological questions in the troops must be answered. ②

　　In accordance with Mao Zedong's instructions, Gao Gang presided over a meeting of senior cadres of the border guards from August 13 to 14, and mobilized and deployed the tasks of the border guards, the purpose and significance of fighting abroad, and the requirements for military preparations. In his report on the 13th, he pointed out:

　　American imperialism has directly launched armed aggression against the peoples of the East. Attack Korea, occupy Taiwan, and organize all the reactionary forces in Asia to suppress the national democratic liberation movements of the peoples of Asia. The war of aggression against Korea by the United States is part of its entire aggressive plan. US imperialism has never forgotten to invade China and occupy Asia. Therefore, it is attempting to occupy Korea as a springboard for attacking Northeast China and China, and is actively arming Japan and (South) Korea, using the manpower and material resources of Japan and Korea to fight for the aggressive plans of the American imperialists.

　　In particular, the report explains why the Border Guards are preparing to fight in Korea, stating:

　　If the American aggressors occupy Korea, there is no doubt that they will be prepared to attack our northeast and north China and attack our motherland. So should we let it lay down the DPRK, let it prepare its strength, increase its arrogance, and destroy it when it reaches China, or should we now strive to take the initiative and cooperate with the Korean People's Army to destroy the enemy and defend ourselves outside the national territory? Obviously, the annihilation of the enemy outside our homeland is in our interest, in the interest of our friends and in the cause of the people of the world in opposing imperialism for peace and democracy. Therefore, in order to defend the motherland, consolidate victory, and smash the imperialist plans of aggression, we must take the initiative and actively assist the Korean people, help the Korean people to liberate, and make Korea an independent, democratic, and unified country. In other words, the enemy of the Korean people is our enemy. The victory of the Korean people is our victory. Supporting the DPRK and defending our motherland is consistent with defending world peace. Therefore, such a war is just.

　　The report also sets out the guiding principles for fighting the U.S. military, and analyzes the conditions and difficulties of victory in the battle against the U.S. military. In response to the fear of atomic bombs among the troops, it was noted that:

　　Some people are afraid of atomic bombs, but they don't have to be afraid.

1. The atomic bomb was not only owned by the United States, but also by the Soviet Union.

2. The atomic bomb is used on the battlefield, not only to damage the other party, but also to damage yourself.

3. The people of the whole world oppose the atomic bomb and expose the evils of imperialism, which has forced the United States to have some scruples.

　　The report sets specific requirements for the preparation of the border troops, mainly full political mobilization, active military preparations and specific material preparations. The report also pointed out that when the border guards went out, "they came to Korea in the name of the volunteer army, wore Korean clothing, used the Korean nickname, and played the flag of the Korean People's Army, and the main cadres changed their names to North Korean names." Such a disposition can be liked by the Korean people and very strategic. ”

　　The report concludes by saying:

　　"We have defeated Japanese imperialism and wiped out eight million U.S. and Chiang kai-shek troops. Now the Party and the people are calling on us to destroy the aggressive army of US imperialism" and "bravely undertake this glorious task of fighting." "All departments and departments should carry out full preparations promptly and carefully, and adequate preparation is a prerequisite for victory." "Political education must be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, military techniques and tactics must be practiced diligently, and all preparations should be made by special personnel, strictly inspected, and prevented from falling short, and completed within a time limit." ③