The Korean War: The Untold Truth

Chapter 60 China's Intervention (4)
After a few days of working under this restraint, aircrews found it simply wouldn't work, so many decided to ignore the order—one of the better-kept secrets of the Korean War.Noel Parrish is a flight commander and retired brigadier general from the Air Force.His conclusion was that, according to such harsh requirements, blowing up the Jiangqiao would have to pay a heavy price.So he ordered his pilots to fly straight north, drop their bombs when they reached the North Korean border, and then make a sharp turn south.

This approach would necessarily drive the B-29s many miles deep into Chinese airspace.Therefore, the escort fighters had to do the same to drive off the Communist MiGs.The pilots kept secrets, and such a violation, if revealed, could put them under the command of an officer who was scrupulously enforcing the restraints, which could have cost them their lives.Parrish did not admit his fault for violating military orders.According to his calculations, the Chinese would accuse the American planes of violating "Manchuria" anyway, so he would rather save the life of his pilot.

marine corps apprehension
Meanwhile, far to the east of Eighth Army, the 8st Marine Division began its mission with mixed confidence and apprehension in the territory of X Corps. On October 1, MacArthur's deputy, Edward Almond, flew to Wonsan and outlined his expectations for the division.Almond spoke in staccato staccato and waved his wand vigorously.He gestured in front of the map, focusing on the area around the Chosin Reservoir, 10 miles away from the Marine position.Almond talked as if he was planning a pleasant weekend walk.The Marine Corps will advance along the west bank of the reservoir, and then head north into the Yalu River.The Army's 10th Division, as a supporting force, will pass through the Xinxing Valley, move east of the reservoir, and then go straight north to the border town of Huishanjin, which is far away from "Manchuria".

"When we've cleared the area," Almond concluded matter-of-factly, "the South Korean military will take over and we'll pull our troops out of North Korea."

The officers of the Marine Corps were silent and suspicious when they heard this.They had scouted the terrain ahead of them both by air and on the ground and knew it was dangerous.The first town on their journey was Sudong, where the Chinese had crippled a South Korean division only a few days earlier.Although Chinese troops have since withdrawn from the area — that’s what the intelligence community says, anyway — the Marines fear another Chinese raid.Not that they were cowed by the enormity of the task, but the battle plan they came up with was a far cry from their traditional mission as an elite amphibious landing force.This Marine Corps is being converted into an infantry unit conducting land warfare, fighting under the command of the Army.Almond's plan was for the sole marine division, numbering about 8 men, to stretch along the 000-mile road from the port city of Xingnan to the small town of Xiajieyuli at the southern end of the Changjin Reservoir.The "road" is a narrow track of dirt and gravel that begins in the coastal plain and gradually rises through numerous sharp turns and winding roads into a treacherous terrain of high peaks.The most rugged section is the 64 miles from Zhenxingli to Liutanli. From Zhenxingli, the road leaves the plain and enters the mountains.Among the 35 miles of mountain roads north of Zhenxingli, Huangcaoling Pass occupies 10 miles. The road is winding and winding, hanging on the rock wall. Bring the Jeep to a halt.Another impenetrable barrier north of Hajieyu-ri is Deokdongling Pass, a forbidding, 8-foot-long, upwardly eerie gorge surmounted by a plateau leading to Yudam-ri.

Parallel to much of this road is a narrow-gauge railway, which was heavily bombed in the first months of the war, but the section closer to the coast is still operational.Three power stations have been built along the Jangjin River south of the Jangjin Reservoir to provide electricity to chemical plants in the Hamhung area.Other power lines lead to industrial centers in places like North Korea and "Manchuria".

The Marine Corps has many doubts about this combat plan.In the opinion of the division commander, General Oliver Smith, it was militarily foolish to send an infantry column dozens of miles into enemy-occupied territory without flank protection.Almond was unsympathetic.For example, Smith told Almond that he intended to build an airstrip at Hagaru-ri to bring in supplies and evacuate casualties before pushing north along the banks of the Chosin Reservoir.

"What casualties?" Almond asked Smith.

The Marine general was disgusted, and later recalled, "That's the kind of thing you have to deal with, and he wouldn't even admit that there would be casualties." (Smith ignored Almond and ordered the airstrip to be built. Later, "We 4 casualties were evacuated from the field".)
Colonel Alpha Bowser, of the 1st Marine Division's Operations Branch, also shuddered when he read the map. He saw that the Marines and the 7th Infantry Division would be far in front of the right flank of the 8th Army on the Western Front.He accused Almond of being "overly optimistic," while MacArthur and his staff had a wish: "We're going to get away with it in this weather." Bowser argued that Almond was "aggressive, almost to the point of what I thought was a mistake." . . . Almond paints this as an unstoppable victory that he has secured".Bowser believed that the safer course for the Marine Corps was to establish a winter line of defense and hold it until the weather warmed up.

A Marine reconnaissance plane flew over the advance route in late October.The pilot, Major Henry Vosner, knew that South Korean troops had captured 10 Chinese prisoners in eastern North Korea a few days earlier.From the air he saw no sign of enemy troop movement anywhere around the Chosin Reservoir, but he noted—and reported—the difficult terrain the Marines had to traverse on foot.

During the interrogation, 16 Chinese captives said that troops from 4 divisions of the Chinese Communist Army had crossed the Yalu River in mid-October. And the flank of the Chinese army facing the 10th Army in the west.Tenth Army intelligence denied the possibility that the Chinese intended to fight around the two reservoirs, despite the confessions of the prisoners to the contrary.The Intelligence Department of the 8st Marine Division believed that the 10 captives showed that "the Chinese Communist Army has decided to intervene in the Korean War" and that they participated in the war as cadres of organized units rather than volunteers. "However, pending more definitive intelligence, it must be assumed that the Chinese military has not yet decided to intervene fully."

However, Colonel Homer Lizenberg of the 7th Marine Regiment, the advance force in the North, did not fully agree with these intelligence analyzes.On the night before the regiment's departure, he called the officers and non-commissioned officers to headquarters and told them that they might soon be engaged in the prologue of the Third World War.

"We can expect to run into Chinese Communist forces," he concluded. "It is crucial to win the first battle. The outcome of this battle will have repercussions around the world, and we want to make sure that it is a good outcome for both Moscow and Beijing." negative effect."

"Scud" Lizenberg is here

Lizenberg's 7th Marine Regiment landed on the coast of Incheon on September 9, a full week after the rest of the 22st Marine Division.But the regiment soon overtook the other two regiments, and made such rapid progress past Seoul that the officers joked with admiration that the commander was "Scud" Lizenberg.

Lizenberg, however, is now proceeding cautiously.He knew that the Chinese were near the water hole in front of him, which was the first target on his way forward, but he could only guess how many Chinese there were.So, he directed his regiment—known as the 7th Regimental Combat Team (Regimental Combat Force)—carefully, step by step.The regiment's 1st Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Raymond Davis, advanced across the valley; the 2nd Battalion advanced along the ridgeline in what Lizenberg called a "walking circle of defense." ; the rear of the 3rd Battalion.According to Lizenberg's orders, the length of this marching formation could not be less than 4000 yards or exceed 6000 yards.In this way, there is enough depth to start the battle, and it is closely connected so that the three battalions can support each other.

On the first day, October 10, the regiment advanced four miles toward the water hole, meeting only sporadic resistance along the way.Fighting units of the regiment rescued the South Korean troops the next day, and immediately after that the tempo of the fighting picked up.The Chinese stepped up resistance along the ridgeline of the road, and the Marines trudged up the slope to drive them off (a company climbed 31 feet vertically, with an average gradient of 4 degrees).Flying at low altitude, the aircraft attacked the camouflaged Chinese Army positions with 1-pound bombs, 600mm shells, and rockets.By the evening of November 25, the 500th Marine Regiment dug a trench just one mile from the water hole to pass the night.

Near midnight, the Chinese suddenly launched an attack.The flashes of fire and the sound of bugles showed that on every ridge a fierce battle was waged.When the Chinese met resistance, they fought fiercely with light machine guns and hand grenades; when they found gaps in the weak points of the defense line, they swarmed down the valley.In the nighttime melee, the Chinese seemed to be everywhere.Marines who fought against the Japanese nighttime attacks in World War II found that the Chinese tactics were very similar - they called the field medics in English and shouted with foreign accents "Hey, Joe, where are you?" I see you, Charlie."The Marines, on the other hand, engaged the Chinese in nervous silence, shooting only when the Chinese exposed themselves.A Soviet-made T-34 tank broke through a barricade and rumbled into the command post of the 1st Battalion, firing indiscriminately at mortar positions, vehicles, and even individual soldiers.A 1mm rocket from the Marines hit the tank, its turret swerved and it took just one 3.5mm round - which was actually fired at flat range - to knock out the Marine rocket launch group.Then the tank turned around and rumbled north.

At dawn, the Marines found themselves at the bottom of the valley with the Chinese.Chinese troops occupied the road between the command posts of the 1st Battalion and the 2nd Battalion, and the companies of the Marine Corps were scattered on the mountains, many of which were cut off from each other.At this time, another Chinese regiment rushed to assist.

Lizenberg did not panic, and ordered the surviving artillery and mortar units to form a fire net in front of the Chinese army positions.Meanwhile, United Nations planes lashed out at the Chinese on the hills with rockets and machine guns, often within yards of the Marine positions.American snipers shot and killed Chinese soldiers from behind rocks and caves in mountains and valleys.Lizenberg emphasized one principle to his subordinate commanders: To thwart a Chinese nighttime attack, whether a massive breakthrough or penetration, the defending force must hold its position until dawn.In this way, the superior firepower of the Marine Corps will eventually crush the Chinese's crowd tactics.

This is what happened all day on November 11rd, the massacre of Chinese people.A Chinese force, panicked under the pressure, attempted to walk out of the valley in single file in broad daylight.Marine machine guns took their time to smash the column to pieces. (Later, the 3st Battalion counted 1 Chinese corpses in its own area alone.)
The Chinese fought tenaciously and unyieldingly. Two platoons of E Company swooped down on the Chinese entrenched on a high ground, but were repulsed by grenades in what Lieutenant Robert Bay called "undoubtedly the densest grenade barrage I have ever witnessed." ".An aerial bombardment eventually hit the hill, and the Marines who rushed to the top found 40 dead Chinese.Elsewhere, a Chinese sniper found within range of the 2nd Battalion's pack-up and knocked down six Marines in quick succession, one of whom was Doctor Lieutenant Clarke, who was shot and wounded while treating a wounded man.

As night fell, the fighting eased.Suddenly, the Marines realized that the Chinese had disappeared from the battlefield.The patrol came across a few Chinese soldiers who had fallen behind.Now, the Marines faced only a heavily reduced North Korean army supported by four tanks.On the way to Jinheung-ri, the Marines knocked out three of the tanks with grenades and bazookas, and a Corsair took out a fourth tank with a direct hit from two 4-inch rockets.

The next day, November 11, the Marines continued their advance and, after crossing Zhenxingli, slowly ascended a sharp bend and a steep slope in the road, engaging sporadic Chinese defenders with artillery and machine gun fire.On several occasions, the team stalled, only to be freed by heavy air support.

The Chinese have disappeared - why?How long will it last?
On the other side of North Korea, that is, the Eighth Army, the night of November 8-11 was also the climax of the Chinese "first battle".Soon after nightfall, UN troops found the battlefield eerily silent.The Chinese disengaged and are now marching north in long lines.

The 8th Army had been effectively stopped on a line about 60 miles south of the Yalu River.In the east, Tenth Army was also forced to slow its advance, although the Chinese were less involved there.The South Korean army remained on the east coast, and "Manchuria" was within their attacking distance.

Thus another factor appears in this inexplicable puzzle.Why did the Chinese decide to withdraw from the fighting?Was their brief attack a warning to the Americans and South Koreans to stay away from the Yalu?Are the Chinese signaling that if the UN offensive resumes, the result will be all-out war?
The sudden suspension of the war by the Chinese gave officials in Washington and General MacArthur an opportunity to reconsider their war plans and determine a course of action for the future.Yet another attempt by the United States to guess the intentions of the Chinese went terribly wrong, with the result that American and Korean lives were costly.

(End of this chapter)