In December 1950, the Volunteer Army won a brilliant victory in the second campaign, advancing the front to the vicinity of the 38th parallel. However, just when everyone was expecting General *** to cross the 38th parallel and go straight to Seoul, he suddenly stopped.
Everyone wonders about this, what the hell are you waiting for?
In the praise of everyone, the Volunteer Army showed fierce combat effectiveness in the first two battles, and the "United **" was embarrassed. However, ** and their generals know that victory is not easy to come by.
In this ice-covered battle, what difficulties and dangers did the volunteer soldiers face. In the first battle plus the second battle, the losses of the volunteer army have reached 100,000.
The sky and during the day, almost occupied by American aircraft. In the skies over North Korea, more than 2,000 US warplanes flew around, wantonly destroying the logistics supply lines of the volunteers.
Even a horse-drawn carriage could attract bombing by the U.S. Air Force. In the ranks of the Volunteer Army, truck drivers are the most dangerous positions, they are constantly facing the threat of enemy bombing, so the death rate is high among all branches of the Volunteer Army.
And the food, ammunition and clothing they transported were almost always incinerated by the incendiary bombs of American fighters. The highway is not passable, the railway cannot be used, the logistics can only rely on the primitive shoulder-carry, and even the singing and dancing art troupes have to help carry food.
Despite this, the logistics ** of our army still does not meet the needs of the front. The fighters lacked ** and ammunition, and the ammunition reserves of the troops were almost depleted. Some of the fighters even wore thin cotton clothes suitable for fighting in South China.
In the bloody battle of Changjin Lake, the number of volunteer soldiers who were frostbitten and froze to death even exceeded the enemy's artillery fire. After the end of the second campaign, our army's logistical line has extended to more than 400 kilometers, and if it continues to fight like this, the volunteers will face more difficulties.
In the arduous war environment, the soldiers of the Volunteer Army not only had to face the dilemma of lack of materials and ammunition, but also had to endure the fatigue of fighting for days. The U.S. military had a large number of transports and sea vessels, which could easily travel between Japan and South Korea, while the volunteer soldiers could only rely on their own legs.
In the second campaign, the volunteer soldiers often had to travel dozens or even hundreds of miles in a day, and they were extremely tired. In contrast, the U.S. military can calmly retreat by plane and car, and even rest in the Japanese lair.
In the Battle of Changjin Lake, the 1st Marine Division, which had been heavily damaged, returned to Japan to recuperate and quickly regained its combat effectiveness. Therefore, realize that this will be a protracted war, and as the war progresses, the US military will become more and more combative.
General Han Xianchu also believed that the victory in the first and second battles was largely due to the fact that the US army underestimated the enemy, and they advanced separately without knowing themselves and the enemy, committing a great taboo in the army.
However, when the enemy begins to be cautious and even overestimates the strength of our army, the scale and difficulty of the war increases. In short, although the combat effectiveness and spiritual strength of the Chinese people are very strong, due to the extreme poverty of national strength, it is difficult for their strength to be fully brought into play.
Therefore, as an experienced commander of a hundred battles, ** thought that he should stop near the 38th parallel and let the troops rest and recuperate.
** sent a telegram to ***, suggesting that the troops temporarily rest near the 38th parallel and wait for the next spring to fight again. However, the United States put forward a peace proposal at the United Nations and expressed its willingness to hold peace talks, stopping the battle line at the 38th parallel.
Although *** respected ***'s opinion, this time he chose to refuse, and asked the volunteers to take advantage of the victory to pursue, cross the 38th parallel, and search for and destroy the enemy in the north and south areas of Kaesong.
Therefore, the Volunteer Army once again plunged into a new campaign.
For many people, the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea was a historical event with a sigh of relief, and it seemed that if China had agreed to the "13-nation proposal" at that time, it would have won the victory and avoided losses.
But is that really the case? In the opinion of many scholars, the situation at that time was really not suitable for the immediate launch of the third campaign from a military point of view. But from a political point of view, it's a battle to be fought.
As the first hot war between the communist camp and the capitalist camp, the Soviet Union, North Korea, and the countries of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe were watching. And judging from the general international trend, the volunteer army cannot stop near the 38th parallel.
At the same time, the "peaceful" sincerity of the Americans was questioned. Their ceasefire plan, known as the "Five Principles," aims for a ceasefire first, a phased withdrawal of non-North Korean troops from North Korea, and a UN agency to resolve the Far East after a ceasefire agreement is obtained.
However, the Americans often resort to delaying the war. As early as the War of Liberation, the Communist Party of China suffered losses from the United States. When the Kuomintang was unfavorable in the war, American General Marshall flew to China to "mediate", but once the Kuomintang gained the upper hand and tore up the armistice agreement, the Americans turned a deaf ear.
The Chinese Communist Party has already been fooled once, and it will never do it again.
The ceasefire is only temporary, and once the negotiations reach an impasse, the war resumes. Therefore, we propose that we will not stop fighting unless we first withdraw the foreign team.
At that time, the U.S. Seventh Fleet crossed the Taiwan Strait, making it impossible for our leaders to believe in the sincerity of the United States. China's leaders, led by the Chinese people, deeply understand that peace is not achieved at the negotiating table, but needs to be won by force.
Therefore, it was decided that it was necessary to cross the 38th parallel, continue to pursue the enemy, liberate Seoul, and avoid giving the United States the opportunity to "fake peace talks, real preparations for war". History has proven that the strategic vision of ** is very accurate.
According to declassified US documents, the United States has no intention of accepting the so-called "five-step negotiation plan" at all, and their proposals are actually aimed at further war.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Lascaux once revealed: "The United States ** believes that Beijing's existence is not good for the Western world, so it is unwilling to do anything that could consolidate the red regime." ”
When the U.S. military is ready to go to war, the flames of war will burn again. The Volunteers must preemptively advance the battle line to the vicinity of the 37th parallel to prevent the flames of war from burning again on the 38th parallel.
Despite the exhaustion of our troops, the third battle was imperative and could not be delayed. After receiving the instructions of ***, ** immediately set about preparing for the third campaign. Our army has always put politics in the first place, and military affairs are subordinated to politics.
Although there are many difficulties, *** is by no means helpless, because he is a peerless general who can "turn the tide immediately". On December 31, hundreds of thousands of volunteers crossed the 38th parallel and conquered Seoul in just three days, moving the front forward 80 to 110 kilometers.
In the course of the war, it was noted that the US military was making an orderly retreat. Although our army occupied many areas, it annihilated less than 20,000 enemies. Therefore, it immediately became clear that this could be a trick by the US military to lure the enemy.
Therefore, despite the opposition of Soviet advisers and Kim Il Sung, he completely stopped the pursuit on January 8, occupied favorable terrain, and waited for the enemy to counterattack. This move frustrated Ridgway's plan to lure the enemy.
After the capture of Seoul, the international prestige of our volunteers reached its peak. In the eyes of the world, China is no longer the sick man of East Asia to be slaughtered, but a giant that cannot be underestimated.
This also proves that on the issue of whether to cross the 38th parallel, the vision of ** surpasses ordinary people. And with his extraordinary military talent, the political and military significance of the third battle has reached a balance.