The Korean War: The Untold Truth

Chapter 46 Incheon Gambling Win (9)
At dawn, the North Koreans backed off, and they called off their offensive, leaving hundreds of dead soldiers on the streets of Seoul.Colonel Lewis Pooler came to observe the massacre.A war correspondent asked Puller what he thought of the previous night's reports of "enemy troops fleeing."He said: "I only know that there are 300 people there, they can't escape anywhere, they are all dead."

Later that day, Marine High Command heard with disgust that, hours before the night battle began, Almond had issued a communiqué to the media at midnight saying that Seoul had been "liberated."Later that day, MacArthur also released his statement:

在北朝鲜人发动突然进攻的三个月之后……第10军的战斗部队重新夺取了首都汉城。……汉城的解放是第10军部队协同作战的结果。……到9月25日14时（下午2时）为止，汉城的军事抵抗已被粉碎。……敌军已从该城向东北方向逃窜。

However, on the same day, the troops fought house-to-house with the stubborn defenders in Seoul. "Even if Seoul is liberated, the remaining North Koreans don't know about it," wrote an Associated Press reporter.The fighting continued for another three days.

But MacArthur did not let reality prevent him from showing off.For him, "truth" is what he said at a news conference in Tokyo, not what actually happened to combat troops on the battlefield.

Recapture Seoul
On September 9, the fighting in Seoul had calmed down enough for General MacArthur to return triumphantly, but he wanted the event to have his own character.He hoped to enter Seoul from Gimpo Airport by car and be accompanied by President Rhee.But doing so required crossing the Han River between Gimpo and Seoul, which had no bridges at the time.The Marine Corps, like the Army, sent entire divisions of Marines across the Han River on rafts and amphibious landing craft.All the bridging equipment brought from Incheon was used to make rafts.Someone asked MacArthur's headquarters, is it not possible to take a helicopter from Gimpo to Seoul?No, the general wishes to go by car.If there is no bridge, build one now.

An enraged General Oliver Smith was still engaged in the battle to clear the outskirts of Seoul. "Nevertheless, it seemed that most of the Marines were going to build the bridge for MacArthur," he said, "and they did some of the hardest work. They (the Marine Corps engineers) had pontoons flown in by air from all over the Far East. We dismantled several rafts and sent pontoons to support them." The river bridge was completed at midnight before MacArthur arrived in the morning.

MacArthur was in full swing when he arrived.At Gimpo Airport, he appeared at the gate of the special plane, stretched heartily, and said, "This is the same as in the past." Then he got into a Chevrolet sedan and headed for Seoul, followed by 4 cars of staff officers and 40 people. A jeep carrying journalists and other junior officers.

Harold Noble, who returned to Seoul with the rest of the former embassy, ​​felt that Seoul was now in ruins, even worse than Tokyo and Yokohama after 1945, for a city that changed hands twice in three months. That said, it's understandable. "The sight of the ruins is disgusting," he said.

The side of the ground floor of the U.S. embassy building has been pierced by bombs, and a body is floating in the water in the basement. (Later, during the renovation, the workers found six more corpses in various places in the building; in a ditch near the archives, there were about a dozen more corpses, with their hands tied behind their backs.) The artillery fire tore away Mu Qiao Part of the roof of the ambassador's former residence had been stripped of furniture by thieves.

Despite the catastrophe, the citizens of Seoul who survived the catastrophe still came out in full force to welcome MacArthur and Syngman Rhee.Noble's keen eyes noticed that there were no men of military age in the crowd, but mostly young children and the elderly.They waved small South Korean flags and chanted welcome slogans.Despite Noble's misgivings about the South Korean government, he looked at the haggard faces and decided that no one could organize such a rally. "They were cheering and crying because they were overjoyed that Seoul was free."

MacArthur and Syngman Rhee drove to the bombed-out capital building, now a smoke-blackened shell of masonry with bullet-scarred walls.MacArthur's nose twitched slightly.Although columns of infantrymen and marines spent hours dragging the bodies out of the building, the general could smell the "smell of death" coming from the shattered windows.

The audience was almost entirely military: American and Korean officers in overalls and olive-green uniforms; several British naval officers in short white uniforms, white stockings, and white shoes; Brigadier General Greg, like Colonel Lewis Pooler, wore combat uniform on purpose. "The order calls for two division officers and one officer from each regiment to attend the ceremony," Smith said. "As far as the (Marine) units are concerned, we are ordered not to let them show up, not to be seen by others." Craig was particularly annoyed at the fact that they "carried the weight of the battle to take Seoul" and that the Army's gendarmerie, though "well-dressed and glamorous ... somehow didn't fit the scene".The snub for the Marines has not escaped the attention of senior military figures. "It's kind of mean to the Marines to do that," Smith said, "but I guess that's a political thing."

MacArthur's eloquence was once again brought to the extreme:

By the grace of a merciful God, our troops fighting under the banner of the United Nations, the symbol of the greatest hope and sustenance of mankind, have liberated the ancient capital of Korea.It got rid of the dictatorship of communism, and its people once again had the opportunity to enjoy the eternal meaning of life: the unwavering supremacy of their own freedom and personal dignity.

There are hundreds of words like this.

Then, MacArthur asked all the people present to recite the Lord's Prayer with him.As they recited the Lord's Prayer, pieces of glass from the building's dome, shaken loose by gunfire, fell to the ground 100 feet below.Amazingly, no one was hurt (MacArthur was as dismissive as ever).

The general turned to Syngman Rhee and said, "Mr. President, my officers and I will now return to our military duties, and the administrative aspects will fall to you and your government."

With wet eyes, Rhee held MacArthur's hand tightly and said, "We admire you, and we love you as the savior of our nation."

In less than an hour, MacArthur set off to fly back to Tokyo, confident that the war had been won. "Time" magazine agreed with this, and the cover report of the October 10th issue talked about "victory in South Korea" and "Stalin's defeat in North Korea".

Aftermath of the Incheon Landing

Victory at Incheon was achieved against the opposition of almost all officers involved in the matter, and it was MacArthur's most glorious moment in the Korean War.General Matthew Ridgway, who was still a staff officer at the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time, praised MacArthur's military genius.He later wrote: "This combat operation ranks among the best in military history from the boldness of conception, the talent in formulating special operations plans, and the courage, sharpness and art shown in the implementation process." But he also admitted that although Incheon The login was successful, but it also created problems.Because MacArthur made a plan hastily, he did not carefully consider the follow-up actions of the big victory-that is, how to maximize the advantage of the victory.As a result (discussed below), most of the North Korean People's Army was able to withdraw to the north, or integrated into the South Korean countryside to join the guerrillas.

Nor did Washington have time to contemplate the unguessable question of how China and the Soviet Union would react to this momentous victory: Would they stand by?Will they openly intervene to save the North Korean army?Answering these questions took a lot of precious time after the Incheon landing.

The long-term impact of the Incheon landing is also very important for an aspect that people did not realize at the time.As Ridgway wrote:
A more subtle consequence of the Incheon victory was that general MacArthur's infallibility had grown almost superstitious, and even his superiors seemed to have begun to wonder if they should question any of MacArthur's decisions.As a result, MacArthur lost the opportunity for frank and informed criticism that every commander deserved, especially when he was trying to "direct the war" from 700 miles away.

It takes a certain kind of arrogance to tell a superior officer that his actions are wrong (General George Marshall used to say that he was "risking his position").But that's what a good officer does when he thinks a serious error is about to happen that could put his life at risk.

In the next few days, when MacArthur offered to withdraw half of his triumphant division from the battle, to sail them around the bottom of the Korean peninsula, and launch another amphibious assault in the north behind enemy lines (this time at Wonsan port) At that time, he escaped such sharp scrutiny.Naval authorities and division commanders opposed the plan, but few were willing to openly question the foresight of a general who had just performed a military miracle (see Chapter 8).

General Ridgway wrote: "Even if he (MacArthur) suggested wading from a battalion to Wonsan Port, some people would probably be willing to try it."

(End of this chapter)