Chapter 370 Prelude to Landing
[370] Prelude to landing
When MacArthur was unable to look north in Suwon, in addition to Seoul under artillery fire and the torrent of troops and refugees from the south, Inchon also attracted his attention.
At this time, he had already sketched in his mind that the only strategic maneuver plan for the US military to reverse the decline of the peninsula was the Inchon landing.
This was not a flash of inspiration for MacArthur, but it was actually the successful landing operations in the Pacific War, which had firmly integrated this way of thinking into his personal combat mode, so that every time he saw a war, MacArthur always had to habitually analyze where to land.
In Incheon, MacArthur smelled the familiar smell of blood.
In World War II, MacArthur, who had been beaten by the Japanese who had mastered air and sea supremacy, also used the same landing tactics to beat the Japanese army with blood after the US military regained air and sea supremacy.
The dual experience of being abused and abused allowed MacArthur to play the landing operation in a comprehensive manner. The experience of learning war in the war made him understand that once he has strong air and sea supremacy, everything connected to the sea is a smooth road!
MacArthur clearly knew that the reason why the landing operation was so powerful was that once our military forces suddenly made a strategic maneuver on a strategic point where the enemy's troops were weakly defended or even undefended, the psychological pressure on the enemy was enormous.
MacArthur, who had personally commanded as many as 11 landing operations in the Pacific War, still vividly remembers every time he suddenly detoured from the sea to the enemy's flank, landed from the enemy's rear, and outflanked and cut off the enemy's rear, how helpless and vulnerable the enemy was, how desperately they turned around and charged, and then collapsed in despair, completely lacking the resilience and composure that normal infantry should have, and it didn't take long, or even attack, The opponent will automatically disintegrate from the inside into a bunch of stragglers until the attacked one falls apart.
Yes! Incheon landing!
MacArthur was full of confidence at the moment, and he was extremely sure that as long as he landed at Incheon, North Korea would be defeated!
This is the intuition of a veteran who has been in a lot of battles out of experience, and this intuition is either a big victory or a crushing defeat in Shijie military history. But when the balance of power is so obvious, it seems that there is only one possibility of a big victory.
Although as many as 10 countries participated in the U.S.-led police operation without UN authorization, most of them provided service troops, and no country was willing to send the most elite main combat units to fill the front line of the black hole.
Lieutenant General Brooks, assistant chief of staff of the US Army General of Staff, bluntly told MacArthur that his current work was as difficult as rebuilding the US Army. Because of MacArthur's need for soldiers, all the jihua that the United States had formulated to deal with possible contingencies in Western Europe and other parts of the "free shijie" were all wasted and completely ineffective.
This means that once the giant bear of the Soviet Union wants to do something bad in Europe, the United States will be able to do nothing but protest.
MacArthur was noncommittal about Brooks' complaints. He simply told Brooks that he needed 38,200 in addition to the 50,000 that had just been transferred to North Korea to replenish the troops and fill them full. Of course, this is not the end.
Brooks couldn't help MacArthur, a five-star general, and he could only do what he needed.
After receiving the troops requisitioned by the Army, MacArthur formally organized the Landing Force Command, appointed General Almond, chief of staff of the US Far East Command, as the commander of the army, and began to plan the Inchon landing with all his might. However, the White House and the Joint Chiefs of Staff were not satisfied with this appointment, and General Almond's appointment was so "MacArthur" that this kind of strong factional appointment was so strong that after the capture of Seoul, Almond's name was not even mentioned in the congratulatory telegrams of the White House and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Of course, this is a later story, so I won't show it for the time being.
This operation Jihua of course also reported to Washington.
The White House's senior political advisory panel told Truman that, after analysis, they believed:
“…… Putting aside the military significance of the Inchon landing, politically speaking, any act of crossing the 38th parallel would cause opposition from the Soviet Union, and the Soviet Union would demand that Chinese send troops to help North Korea, and then hope that there would be a war between China and the United States, and the Soviet Union would hide behind the scenes and support China in depleting the strength of the United States......"
The report of the Advisory Panel analyzes:
“…… In this case, as long as the US military can gain an advantage, it should continue to fight and teach China a good lesson. Decide where the U.S. Army should stop depending on the subsequent development of the war......"
“…… At the same time, the United States should immediately accuse China of being an aggressor in the UN Security Council and make a moral condemnation of China. After all, the Chinese had already collaborated with the Soviet Union and were constantly accusing the United States of invading the DPRK and interfering in its internal affairs. In this way, everyone's stance on sending troops will be leveled, and the United States will no longer be accused of being an "aggressor" as called an "aggressor" by international public opinion......."
“…… Keep a close eye on the rebels and political forces in China, especially in Manchukuo, and be prepared to support them, and if it goes well, when the American forces pursue Chinese, the time when they enter Manchuria smoothly and smoothly will be the time when civil strife for independence breaks out in Manchuria......"
“…… It remains to be seen whether the Soviet Union will acquiesce to the independence of Manchuria, and if the Soviet Union strongly opposes it, then the US Army should stop at the Sino-Korean border, but the operations of the US Air Force and Navy, as well as the activities of intelligence officers, should not be restricted by the border......
The Senior Advisory Group went on to analyze the situation with Soviet troop contributions:
“…… In another scenario, the Soviet Union would personally send troops to occupy North Korea and make a joint declaration with the North Korean government to defend North Korean territory to the death. In which case a large force of the Soviet Union would enter North Korea, either openly or covertly, MacArthur should be ordered to immediately implement defensive tactics and not to take any steps that might worsen the situation, simply put, not to cross the 38th parallel......"
When Truman brought the report of the Senior Advisory Group to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, MacArthur said that he had no interest in China or the Soviet Union, and that he wanted to completely eliminate the North Korean army and wipe the country off the Shijie.
After receiving a detailed analysis report from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Truman approved MacArthur's Inchon landing in Jihua, submitted by the War Department.
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After a night of fighting, the KPA held on to Whitewater Cave, but could not move any further, and the total casualties of the militia and infantry divisions combined had reached 24,000. Kim Il-sung had no choice but to temporarily stop the offensive and hold on to the spot.
Obviously, the US military did not agree with Kim Il Sung's idea, and the day was a good time to give full play to air superiority, and the B-26 "Marauder" and B-29 "Super Air Fortress" had already been dispatched to continue the strategic bombing of the rear of the KPA.
Since the U.S. military entered the war, the bombing of the North Korean hinterland has not stopped, but it has not been as large as this time, and the main task of the U.S. bombers has been to carry out air strikes against the KPA on the southbound lines of communication, the Nakdong River front, and the Pusan defensive circle. Although the bombing of North Korea's hinterland has been carried out regularly, it has not been able to carry out large-scale and destructive bombing. After all, although the US Air Force at this time dominated the world in sorties a month, it was only a little more than 7,000 sorties, which was far from the scale of more than 2,000 sorties a day when the Desert Storm was launched against Iraq a few decades later.
Undoubtedly, this was because the siege pressure on the Eighth Army in Busan was simply too great. Lieutenant General Walker recently complained: "...... We have been raised by stepmothers for this time......"
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Just before June 25, MacArthur's intelligence chief, General Willoughby, officially reported to him based on a secret infiltration reconnaissance operation by U.S. airdropped intelligence agents in Northeast China:
“…… China has been moving troops from the center to Manchuria for some time, which indicates that they are ready to enter the Korean theater......
…… The regular army in Manchuria numbered about 246,000 men and was organized into nine corps with a total of 37 divisions......
…… Our intelligence officers found that, just like their Taiwanese garrison, Chinese was armed with a number of improved models similar to the T-44 medium tank, as well as a large number of new assault rifles, new camouflage uniforms, similar to the German STG44 assault rifles......
…… There is no doubt that the Soviets armed them, and there may have been a tacit understanding between the Chinese and the Russians that once we cross the 38th parallel and enter North Korea, Chinese will send troops to defend the country and try to prevent it from perdition......"
MacArthur scoffed at this information, and he completely despised the nation that he remembered most people still had braids.
"It's a pity that Chang Kaishen is gone, he is a representative of one of the few civilized people in China, if he rules that country......" Thinking of this, MacArthur sighed a little disappointed. Regarding the gold bars that Chang Kaishen gave him last time he came to Tokyo, he didn't have time to repay it, and the "civilized civilized man" hung up. After losing Taiwan, MacArthur didn't smile all week.
"If Chinese dare to ......" MacArthur clenched his fists, first remembering the terrifying scene experienced by the Seventh Fleet in the Taiwan Strait......
Therefore, MacArthur ordered the Far East Air Force Command to find out the deployment of the Chinese on the border as soon as possible.
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The B-29 commanded by Captain Daniels was on an aerial reconnaissance mission, and according to the instructions of the Far East Air Force Command, it reconnoitred whether there were any Chinese troops in action near the Yalu River. The formation was accompanied by four Mustang P-51s on escort duty.
Daniels was optimistic, because Edwards, the squadron leader of the accompanying P-51 Mustang fighters, told him:
"If the Chinese dare to shoot a reconnaissance plane in the sky, he will rush down and use the machine gun to cut off the pig's tail left by the Chinese in the back of the head."
"Haha, I bet those Chinese will cry like because they don't have braids!"
"Haha......"
This conversation made everyone happy at the time.
The pilots laughed and laughed, as if they had seen Chinese weeping tears because the braid on the back of his head was knocked off by the old Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Edwards......
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Heartfelt thanks to the whisperer in the wind, Stupid Xiaohui, Shanxi Flood, LZC880210, Lazy Snake Lao Kai, Zizhu rewarded me!
Xiexie Everybody!!
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