The Korean War: The Untold Truth

Chapter 37 The Last Stand (3)
陆战队第5团第2营担任这项进攻任务。8月17日上午8时，在炮兵射击和空中轰炸未能有效摧毁北朝鲜人阵地的情况下，第2营开始进攻。《时代》周刊记者詹姆斯·贝尔目睹了陆战队向被称为无名高地的山头运动：
Hellfire burst around the Marines as they moved up the bare hillside.Soldiers fell here and there along the way of the attack, and it seemed impossible to move forward.But the glory always goes to the bravest soldiers we have ever seen, and the attack was not repulsed.The casualties were unbelievable, but the attacking force never retreated.They go on, they fall, they get up and go on.

The brigade commander, General Edward Craig, stood on a road in the valley watching the troops' advance.His hands trembled as he held up the binoculars."I've never seen soldiers so desperate," he said.

Machine-gun and mortar fire from North Korean troops continued to fire condescendingly on the attacking forces for more than an hour.The Marines retreated, rushed up, and had to back off again as grenades rolled into their ranks down the hill.Ambulance personnel led South Korean stretchers around the battlefield to pick up the wounded. Time magazine reporter Bell asked a Marine if he fought in World War II, and he replied, "No, and I don't want to."

A platoon led by Lt. Mike Hinca captured Hill 109, one of the many small peaks on the Unknown Ridge.But they were immobilized by the crossfire of machine guns on two nearby hills.Although the platoon was supported by artillery fire and another air strike, by noon the platoon was down to 15 men.Nevertheless, they managed to repel a counterattack.Hinka recounted what happened next:

We were running low on ammunition and had suffered heavy casualties. We had to hide in the shallow trenches dug by the North Koreans, so I decided to retreat until the fire on our left was suppressed.I give the order to retreat with all wounded and weapons.About three-quarters of the way down the mountain, I asked the soldiers to take cover on the spot.Only 6 soldiers were still able to fight at that time.

I decided to retrace my steps to see if there were any casualties I had missed.When I made my way back to my position (the summit of Hill 109), I found a wounded Marine lying between two dead soldiers.I grabbed him and dragged him out of the foxhole when a bullet hit me in the jaw and blood was pouring down my throat and I couldn't even breathe.

I threw a grenade at the Easterner climbing up the hill, turned around before it exploded, and grabbed the marine by the arm as far away from the hill as possible.

Another bullet hit my right arm, and I rolled down the hill for a long distance under the momentum of the bullet before stopping.

Shinka managed to get to a command post, from where ammunition was delivered to his remnants, before trying to heal his wounds.Shinka's bravery earned him a Bronze Star.

At 4:[-] p.m., Marine planes and artillery bombarded Unnamed Ridge so hard that bodies, wrecks of weapons and equipment abounded throughout the hill.The Corsairs then flew behind the North Korean positions, bombing and strafing reinforcements crossing the Nakdong River.Other companies in the Marine Corps reserve took advantage of the collapse of the North Koreans' fighting spirit and rushed up the mountain.

Meanwhile, Marine M-26 tanks were in the valley below, firing at North Korean tanks and anti-tank artillery and machine gun emplacements on the hills.In the middle of the night, four of North Korea's formidable T-34 tanks rumbled up to meet them—the first battle between Marines and Communist tanks.In just 5 minutes, the Marine Corps broke the myth that the T-34 tank was invincible.Anti-tank guns broke the tracks of the leading tank, and the M-26 tank, which entered the battle for the first time, fired a salvo of 90mm guns, turning the tank into a pile of burning scrap iron.The second tank was destroyed more spectacularly: a 3.5-inch rocket knocked out its right track, and another rocket ignited the fuel tank.The tank wobbled down the road, and the 90mm anti-tank guns of the two Marines fired at it calmly with rounds that pierced the turrets and shattered the hulls of the tanks.An enemy soldier actually opened the top cover. At this moment, a 2.36-inch white phosphorous bomb hit the open hatch and bounced into the tank. The enemy soldier fell into the tank, and flames burst out of it.The third tank rounded the detour, but couldn't get past the burning first two tanks, and the Marines concentrated fire on it—rockets, anti-tank rockets, cannons.In an instant, the tank exploded.The Marine Corps' first tank battle was a complete victory for the U.S. Army.

Over the next few days, the Marines and the North Koreans continued to fight fiercely in and around Wufengling, with the U.S. air and ground superiority gradually gaining the upper hand.The North Koreans couldn't hold on any longer, and their main force was suppressed by bombs and artillery. When they were attacked, they became chaotic and fled "like birds and beasts". On August 8, in a massacre reminiscent of the "Goseong Turkey Shooting Battle," hundreds of fleeing enemy soldiers fled to the banks of the Nakdong River in broad daylight in an attempt to wade across to Escape a beachhead that has been turned into a death trap by the Marines.Marine Corps Corsairs bombarded and strafed hundreds of enemy troops gathered along the Nakdong River.Napalm and bombs set fire to the banks of the Nakdong River.

On the afternoon of August 8, under the Waguan Bridge on the east side of the Marine Corps defense area, the troops of the 17th Cavalry Regiment of the Army encountered an 5-year-old American Private Roy Manlin from Chicago. The troops crawled over.Manlin, who was wounded by a submachine gun in both legs and an arm, told a horrific story.

Two mornings ago, his company H received news that a platoon of the South Korean army was coming to reinforce the mortar platoon of Company H.At breakfast, they saw a group of North Koreans walking through an apple orchard.No one realized it was the Communists until the North Koreans stood in front of the American bunkers. (As a North Korean soldier said after being captured: "The American soldiers looked stunned.") Due to the huge disparity in numbers, it was almost 10:1, and the American platoon surrendered.manlin said:

They came forward and put their submachine guns to our stomachs with one hand, and the other hand reached out as if to shake hands, but they grabbed our guns.A communist soldier pulled my gun, I pulled it back, and he pulled it back.I said to myself, "This is not the time to argue," and let him take it.They made us undress and took our helmets.They took my watch and wallet which contained $11.81 and a picture of my girlfriend.They took the photo out, looked at it, and took it away.They love pictures of women. ...

The North Korean, who was apparently the commander, told the prisoners that if they behaved well, they would be sent to a POW camp near Seoul.They tied the hands of the prisoners behind their backs, and the North Koreans led them on several marches that night and the next day.Heavy American artillery fire prevented them from wading across the Nakdong River under the cover of night.One incident suggests that the North Koreans may not have intended to mistreat Americans in the first place.The two Americans managed to loosen the ropes that bound their wrists.For this fault, a North Korean soldier threatened to shoot them, only to be shot down by a Communist officer himself.But the next day, an American who knew a little Japanese was talking to North Koreans and overheard a lieutenant saying that the prisoners were going to be executed because the Americans were too close.

The Army's official history cites an order issued by the North Korean People's Army Front General Command on July 7 prohibiting the "unnecessary killing of enemy personnel when they are available as prisoners of war.  … Those who have surrendered will be treated as prisoners of war and will use all means to destroy the enemy ideologically and politically".Another order was issued by North Korea's 28nd Division on August 2, which said: "Some of us are still killing those enemy troops who come to surrender. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the political departments of each army to educate soldiers to accept and treat prisoners of war well. .”

U.S. journalists who stayed with South Korea and the U.S. military were not blind to apparent violations on their side of the line.In fact, veteran journalist John Osborne was so disturbed that he lashed out at what he called "atrocity by proxy" in the late August issue of Time.Osborne does not advocate publishing "serious indictments" or pardoning "more serious atrocities in North Korea," but he does lay out "basic facts of the war in Korea": ​​South Korean police and I at the front The South Korean marines seen in the area are also very brutal.They killed prisoners of war, saving them the trouble of escorting prisoners of war to the rear.They kill civilians to keep them out of their way, or to avoid the hassle of manhunts and interrogations.They tortured confessions to obtain information (this information was needed by our army and was requested from South Korean interrogators), and their methods were so cruel that they cannot be described in detail.

Americans view the brutality of North Koreans against prisoners of war and suspected Communists as part of their ingrained traits. Keyes Beach of the Chicago Daily News admitted that his indifference had reached such a level that he could stand by and watch "South Korean soldiers beat suspected Communists to blood" without interfering.On one occasion he encountered a group of women, guarded by bayonet-wielding guards, who were forced to kneel on sharp stones with their hands raised above their heads.A baby crawls in front of a woman, trying to reach her breast to feed.She dared not move. "Life" magazine photographer Carl Madance couldn't take it anymore, he picked up the baby and carried it to his mother's chest.

Temporary peace

At the end of August, there was an uneasy calm on the battlefield, as if both sides in the battle had tacitly agreed to take a breather.The headquarters of the 8st Marine Brigade moved to a new camp near Ma Shan, which later became known to the Marines as "the bean field."In peacetime, here it is.Here the Marines had their first opportunity to repair and test fire weapons, replenishing personal items discarded during the days of heavy fighting.Thanks to helicopters, even the patrols in the mountains to the north of this rest area are getting hot meals.President Syngman Rhee came here, awarded the Purple Heart and other medals, and even a group of South Korean girls came to hold a concert.

The immediate crisis seemed to be over, but even the dumbest soldiers noticed a puzzling phenomenon: trucks laden with supplies were rolling into the Busan beachhead, apparently for troops already in the country ; but meanwhile, logistics officers from the 1st Marine Brigade were quietly loading equipment onto ships to be shipped out of the country.Apparently, Bean Patch's days as a brigade resting place were numbered.

But where are they going?Certainly not home, though some optimists at MacArthur's headquarters in Tokyo -- who were comfortably away from the furore of a war that was far from over -- hinted to a Time reporter in early September that it could be over by Thanksgiving war.

Intelligence reports point to one reason for the calm on the battlefield. The North Korean People's Army has lost a large number of well-trained soldiers, most of its 13.3-strong force being poorly trained recruits.As a result, Prime Minister Kim Il Sung will not be able to achieve his announced goal of ending the war by August 8, the anniversary of North Korea's independence from Japan. After the time limit on August 15 passed, Kim Il Sung issued another order through Pyongyang Radio: All troops must drive the UN forces out of North Korea before the end of August, because "the longer the delay, the stronger the UN forces' defense." On August 8, the CIA issued a warning: "Such broadcasts may herald a full-scale military and guerrilla attack."

Kim Il Sung did not need secret intelligence on American strategy, because MacArthur seemed unable to control his impulse to reveal his grand plans to the American and world press time and time again.He is "trading space for time" to gather strength, and then break through the Pusan ​​defense circle, and may even launch an attack from the flank, catching the North Koreans off guard.Of course, under the present circumstances, the only way to "flank" is to carry out an amphibious landing in the northern part of the Korean peninsula.

Therefore, before MacArthur's forces could launch an offensive elsewhere, Kim Il-sung would have to launch an all-out offensive anyway to force MacArthur's forces to withdraw from North Korea. In the early morning of September 9, an explosion broke the short-lived calm, and the North Koreans launched at least five large-scale attacks on the tight Pusan ​​defense circle.Walker desperately moved troops on the front lines to plug weak spots.The 1th Army's defenses were precarious and in some places breached.But Walker knew that the North Korean People's Army could only maintain a continuous offensive for three to four days at most due to lack of durable logistical supply capabilities.As long as it persists, shortages will force the North Koreans to retreat.

Walker may be right in his assessment.But during this period, the United States paid a relatively heavy price in the war.On September 9 alone, the Army had 5 soldiers killed, 102 wounded, and 420 missing; the Marine Corps had 587 killed and 35 wounded.Casualties totaled 91.The North Korean People's Army also paid a heavy price: from September 1245 to 9, its casualties reached 2 in the battle with a U.S. battalion near Xian'an; More than 3 people were killed or injured nearby.However, the North Korean People's Army continued to attack, almost to the point of madness, despite the heavy casualties.

Nonetheless, it was widely believed at the time that the Korean War was about to enter a new phase.For several days in mid-September, soldiers of the 9st Marine Brigade quietly withdrew from their positions and left Pusan.The counterattack aimed at ending the siege of troops inside Pusan's defensive perimeter was not far off.

General Walker has finally completed his mission, and the "Dunkirk of North Korea" will no longer appear.

(End of this chapter)