The Korean War: The Untold Truth

Chapter 31
Noble swallowed his anger and interceded with the Army's command organizations at all levels.The Chief of Staff is now on the northern front, and G-2 (Intelligence) has repeatedly stressed that the division is ordered not to refer to the Soviet Union in public statements.

Noble countered: "Look, this is not a press release, this is a statement from the President of the Republic of Korea, issued in his name and has nothing to do with the U.S. Army."

G-2 was still muttering, saying that the 24th Division had its own rules, and that it was in charge of the telegraph business. If Syngman Rhee wanted to make an inflammatory statement, he had to find another way.A G-2 junior officer even pointedly asked Noble for his credentials.

After two days of fruitless battles with the military bureaucracy, Noble took the case directly to his old friend, General William Dean.For God's sake, Dean told Correspondence, send the telegram.

This negligence of the Americans is actually unnecessary.Syngman Rhee used to like to make some ridiculous statements from time to time, saying that he was "fighting alone" in the war and could not get the support of the United States.Now that his habit has intensified, Ambassador Mucho managed to keep these remarks from reaching the press.The only thing that can calm Rhee is his patient European-born wife, a woman who is extremely sensitive to political realities.According to Mu Qiao's recollection, a "small procedural understanding" gradually formed between him and Mrs. Li.If she sensed that "he (referring to Li Chengman) is going to do something that she thinks is inappropriate", she would call Mu Qiao and suggest that he come to visit.She didn't need to specify on the phone, "The call is to remind me that I have something to do", and then Mu Qiao would "make some excuses, saying that he came to visit this old man on the way. If I sat for a longer time, he would take his Speak your mind. That's what she always did in those very critical days."

Mucho had been in constant trouble with the U.S. military at the time, so he sympathized with Syngman Rhee's situation in the telegram incident.Several times, Mu Qiao's special car was blocked by guards when it drove to the main gate of the Eighth Army Headquarters.They claimed that only officers above the colonel were eligible to enter and leave the gate, and that even Muccio's ambassadorial status could not change the attitude of some soldiers.

Mucho has dealt with the military for a long time, and he knows it's useless to growl and stomp these slackers in uniform, let alone a civilian official.So he thought of a way to convince those stupid soldiers.He planted an American flag on the front of the bumper and a blue flag with 48 white stars on the other end, 45 more than General Walker.

The inexplicable Harold Noble asked Mucho how many stars he should have on the flag as an ambassador. "Forty-eight," Mucho replied, "I represent the whole of America." The guards stopped bothering him.

However, Mucho could do nothing about the US military's contemptuous attitude towards the South Korean Army.Although half of the front line is held by South Korean troops, they cannot do their fair share of the equipment shipped from Japan.The quartermasters of the 8th Army only intended to stockpile supplies for their own troops, regardless of the North Koreans.In the rear, ill-equipped Americans ignored direct orders from General Walker to intercept supplies for South Korean troops.The indifference of the Eighth Army even affected the American military advisers. The officers not only had to make room for the newcomers, but also saved their own food.

What disturbs Mucho is that the new Americans make no secret of their disdain for the Koreans.Maj. Gen. Hobart Gay, commander of the 1st Cavalry Division, said at a press conference that he "has no intention" of deploying troops with the ROK Army in mind. (He reconsidered his view a few days later, when a South Korean unit fought hard to remove the threat to his right flank.) Gay also drove the peasants off his division's perimeter, with complete disregard for the peasants and their families. caused suffering.He also removed the South Korean National Police from his zone, thereby compromising the security of his own troops. (Walker pressed him to rescind these absurd orders.) The Americans were so wary of the South Koreans that they never disclosed any major events to them, so much so that the South Korean foreign minister had to go to a press conference to find out what was going on.

South Koreans can only swallow their anger at the arrogance of the Americans for a while.But a year later, when they had the opportunity to retaliate at a critical period in the peace talks, the Americans paid the price several times for their unfriendly attitude.

Fishing net plugging
Throughout July, General William Dean dropped battalion after battalion of U.S. troops into the path of the North Korean advance. This piecemeal approach delayed but never stopped the North Korean army.The war turned into a series of large and small battles, and the U.S. military retreated southward, close to collapse."Stopping these North Koreans is like plugging a leak with a fishing net," Dean said at one point.

Yet case after case shows that what the Army lacks in equipment and strength it makes up for in the individual heroism of its officers and enlisted men.During a melee in the poor village of Cheonan, Colonel Robert Martin, commander of the 34th Infantry, found himself the only man in the field who could fire a 2.36-inch bazooka.As a column of tanks rumbled toward the city, Martin ordered Sergeant Jerry Christsen to reload, then jumped out of the cabin and aimed his bazooka directly at a North Korean tank.Tanks and rockets fired simultaneously, and North Korean shells blew Martin's body in two.One of Christison's eyeballs was knocked out of its socket, and he stuffed it back in.He was in pain, bleeding profusely, and took solace in seeing a North Korean tank hit and ablaze. (Christsen was captured that day and died of his wounds in the camp in December.)
The 21st Infantry Regiment, with just over 2 men, fought against 000 North Korean divisions of 17 men supported by tanks.The regiment was ordered by Dean to "defend to the death" Jochiwon Castle north of Daejeon.The troops also received air support on the first day of the battle.However, the night and the next day were so thick and foggy that the enemy targets could not be seen clearly from the air.The regiment's 000rd Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Carl Jensen, bore the brunt of a well-coordinated attack by the North Koreans, and its tanks made it across the minefields unscathed because the obsolete American mines would not go off.In the first minutes of the battle, precise mortar fire destroyed the battalion command post, communications center and ammunition dump.Under the cover of thick fog, North Korean infantry sneaked into the US military positions.But courage and panic coexist.Private Paul Speer and some other soldiers were blocked by machine gun fire near the company command post. Speer grabbed a pistol, the only weapon he could find, and went straight to the machine gun position by himself.He ran out of bullets as he reached his target, but he charged forward, swinging the pistol like a club.His ferocious impact scattered the shooter. (Speer, who was badly wounded, was later awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.)
The horrific force of the North Korean offensive—tanks coupled with superior firepower—severed the nerves of many soldiers in the battalion.When the order to retreat finally came, they fell on deaf ears.An officer addressed a group of uninjured soldiers huddled by the side of the road, who refused to leave.A sergeant said: "Lieutenant, you better go, I am exhausted, they will have to take me in." The 800rd Battalion, which has as many as 3 people, lost 60% of its personnel in this battle.Of the troops that were able to retreat to the rear, 90% of the soldiers lost their guns, ammunition and water bottles, and one unfortunate soldier returned with his helmet and shoes missing.

But, in Dean's view, the important thing was that the small number of American soldiers had forced the two menacing North Korean divisions to slow down their advance for three days, buying General MacArthur much-needed time.

general dean captured
Nonetheless, the overall situation on the battlefield was entirely in the North Koreans' favour, and by the night of July 7, the battle lines around Daejeon, the key UN defense sector, were so uncertain that General Dean admitted, "I can't even say Is the position northwest of Zhundaejeon still in our hands? At that time, almost no major operational decisions were made." Dean said that in those chaotic days, an experienced sergeant could replace him in command of the battle .Dean was not in his command post. He took a few assistants and sneaked into an abandoned house, fell asleep on the ground, "sniffed into the rice field rot, mud walls, manure and The smell of filth," now with the acrid smell of smokeless powder from the shell casings.

Before dawn, they were awakened by the sound of small-arms fire nearby. North Korean tanks rushed into the city.Everyone—the South Korean soldiers, and the overwhelmed, weary American soldiers scurrying across the city—ends up in Daejeon for what it is.These American soldiers, Dean writes, "was potbellied less than a month ago, happily staying in the occupying dormitories, having fun with Japanese girlfriends, drinking beer, and servants polishing their boots."

The chain of command of the 34th Infantry Regiment failed due to a breakdown in communication between units.Officers had no idea of ​​where other troops were, and none commanded the meager high-explosive anti-tank weapons to deal with North Korean tanks roaming the city.Any contact with the enemy is an encounter and is completely at the mercy of the North Koreans.In one horrific battle, North Korean tanks rumbled into a compound surrounded by only American support personnel—truck drivers, mechanics, cooks, clerks.A cannon blast from the tank leveled the compound, killing most of the 150 soldiers there and destroying much of the equipment.It wasn't until the tanks rumbled off to attack other targets that a 3.5-inch anti-tank gun was found, but the only targets that could be spotted were snipers concealed in the houses.One house was hit by the first round of fire and the fire spread to other thatched-roofed homes.In an instant, most of Daejeon was engulfed in flames.

Dean's heart was heavy at the moment, and he didn't see any poetic charm in terms like "forward, backward" at this moment.He and his troops held out for 20 days, exhausted and costly.He had to tell soldiers over and over again when they were going to retreat and when they were going to come back and fight again.He later wrote in his memoirs about the Korean War: "Any officer in the Army must have a heart of stone at times, and part of your duty is to send soldiers where you know you will never return them. This is no easy task It's a soul-crushing job, especially when you trade someone else's life for a moment of respite."

At 6:30 in the morning, Dean found himself in "a general's nowhere."Communication between the 34th Regiment headquarters and the two battalions under it was lost, and the position of its flank and the progress of the overall battle situation were also unknown.Dean brings combat down to the primitive level of one-man combat.He was powerless to control the entire war, but "maybe we can still deal with a few tanks." He led an assistant and a North Korean translator to find the tanks.

Even this low-level task fails.Dean forced a truck carrying a 75mm recoilless gun and directed it to shoot at two tanks parked at an intersection.But four or five shells went flying.Near noon, Dean's impromptu anti-tank artillery team had only one shell left.Panicked, the gunners missed their target at a range of 100 yards.The tank turned around and rumbled past Dean's group about 20 yards away.General Dean was so enraged that he stood in the street and fired at the tanks with his only .0.45 pistol.He didn't think it was okay to shoot a tank with a pistol. "It was pure anger and frustration at the time," he said later. "I lost my temper."

The third attack was more successful, though the cost frightened Dean.This time, Dean and his party tracked a tank to a street intersection.They slipped past empty shops, houses, and across a courtyard where Dean and the gunners were sprawled on a ledge overlooking the street of parked tanks.

Dean cautiously looked out from a corner of the window sill, "It is facing the muzzle of a North Korean tank more than ten feet away, and I can spit on the barrel of the gun."Then, three anti-tank shells destroyed the tank.

From early morning until late in the evening, Dean remained on the street searching for tanks.After he finally returned to the messy command post, the "big problem" was commanding troops to withdraw from Daejeon in an orderly manner.The remnants of the 34th Regiment divided into two columns and retreated southwards under the cover of light tanks.Dean was in a detachment behind in the jeep.

Before the column in front reached the south of the city, it was ambushed by powerful enemy forces.The truck was shot and caught fire, blocking the narrow street.North Korean soldiers shot down from the roof, and American soldiers fought back.

Dean's jeep speeds through the hand-to-hand melee, "and it rolls around the immobilized truck .The driver missed an intersection.But machine gun and rifle bullets rained down from the buildings on both sides.It was impossible to turn around, so they could only push forward, hoping to escape with their lives.

The situation became more critical in the hours that followed.Dean loaded the wounded but ambulatory soldier into the jeep.He pulls up next to an overturned truck.The driver had died, and two soldiers were crushed under the car. One of them said to the general, "We'd better surrender. Resistance is futile." Dean knelt down to talk with them, and a North Korean sniper suddenly appeared on the ridge superior.Dean grabbed an M-1 rifle and fired, and the sniper disappeared.

Dean told the drivers of the jeep and guard vehicle to keep driving south, and he stayed by the truck to persuade the two "shivering" soldiers to come with him.He stopped a half-tracked tractor, "The car was so crowded that there was no place to stand on it. We still boarded the wobbly pedals, grabbed the handle, hung out of the car and got on the car."

They were ambushed again, and people jumped out of their cars one after another, stumbling into the ditch beside the road to hide.They were finally safe and sound, and discussed the way to the south, and finally decided to wade across the Jinjiang River, cross the steep ridge on the other side of the river, and head south all the way.

They abandoned the jeep and walked on the soft sandy soil with a seriously wounded man on their backs.In the dark night, they moved as quietly as possible so as not to alarm the North Koreans.The seriously wounded man started talking nonsense, drank all the water, and complained of thirst.

During a break, Dean thought he heard running water on the side of the ridge they were walking on.He groped in that direction, but the hillside was so steep that he rushed down involuntarily, unable to hold back his feet no matter what.He threw himself forward and finally fell.

Later, at some point, Dean woke up with pain all over his body.His shoulder blade was broken and a cut was made on his head. "A year ago, I just had surgery on my abdomen, and now the pain is unbearable."The people who traveled with me have also disappeared.Dean was unconscious and awoke to see a North Korean patrol passing a few yards from him, undetected.At dawn, he tried to go south, and met Lieutenant Stanley Taber, who had fallen behind. Hiding in a South Korean home.Dean shelled out 1 million won ($2) to show the family the way to Daegu, but instead they found a North Korean patrol.

(End of this chapter)