[372] Mack's ambition

General Bradley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and chief of staff of the U.S. Army, did not have as much confidence in MacArthur's Jihua as MacArthur himself. There is only one reason, Incheon.

General Bradley certainly knew that if Busan collapsed, then Inchon would inevitably collapse with it, but that was not his concern. As for the desperate assault of the People's Army, he believed that under the dense modern infantry fire of the US army, the large-scale infantry attack would only increase the casualties on both sides. Although in General Bradley's view, the lives of American soldiers were worth more than the Koreans, in order to achieve complete victory in the battle, the temporary attrition was worth it.

At present, it seems that after round after round of air raids, the KPA's artillery strength is getting weaker and weaker, and the intensity and scope of artillery attacks on the US Busan's ring defense ring are also gradually decreasing, and it is very likely that the Battle of Pusan will turn from a white-hot battle for positions to a siege battle in which the two fronts have entered a stalemate stage.

In General Bradley's view, as a powerful United States, it is just a matter of waiting quietly at this time, and when the heat of this pot of soup is enough, it will launch a surprise attack with a dignified array and push back the KPA that has been weakened and powerless by the bombing of American planes. At this moment, the United States reinforced the troops in the Far East, like potatoes in onion soup, and arrived in Busan one after another. In this way, at the end of August and the beginning of September, it was the time for the defenders of Pusan to cross the ring of defense and launch a full-scale counteroffensive behind the armored forces that were the vanguard of the way.

This is the right way for soldiers, the so-called Qi Zhengyi said, only the weak side will be particularly biased towards the odd soldiers, because without the odd soldiers, the weak cannot defeat the strong.

General Bradley thought worriedly that once MacArthur launched the Inchon landing, the US military's support for Busan would inevitably weaken, and tens of thousands of troops would be transferred from Busan as the second wave of reinforcements for Incheon, which might also weaken Busan's ring defense ring. If there is a bad thing in Busan, Incheon will also be finished!

Despite all these concerns, General Bradley endured it, but the only thing he couldn't bear was MacArthur's insistence on choosing Inchon as the landing site.

Tokyo Daiichi Building.

Before the war, the 12-story baroque reinforced concrete structure with granite skirts was the headquarters of the National Insurance Company of Japan, and the building faces the moat outside the Imperial Palace, where the Emperor of Japan lived. After the war, the National Insurance Company of Japan was completely annexed by the American consortium and moved out of this comfortable office space. It was taken over by the U.S. Far East Command. The condescending overlook of the Japanese Imperial Palace here is very much the style of the emperor.

MacArthur was on the sixth floor of the building, in the huge boardroom converted into MacArthur's exclusive senior conference room of the US Far East Command, smoking his pipe fiercely and accepting the questioning, strictly speaking, it was indeed a question.

Representatives of the Joint Chiefs of Staff came, two generals and one lieutenant general.

Representatives of the Navy came, all four of them admirals.

On MacArthur's side, except for him, a five-star general, the rest were all lieutenant generals and below.

MacArthur felt that this formation was not at all to discuss the battle with Lao Tzu, but to force Lao Tzu to revise the landing Jihua according to their wishes. This made MacArthur, who had always felt that Lao Tzu had been the first in the Far East, very unhappy.

After MacArthur's chief of operations, Vice Admiral White, briefly explained the Inchon landing in Jihua, the Admiralty immediately attacked.

Admiral Redford did not speak,

Admiral Turner also did not speak,

Admiral Joy also did not speak,

Admiral Doyle, of course, did not need to speak.

Although the four admirals of the Admiralty did not speak, the nine staff adjutants they brought were not idle. Nonsense! Isn't it a trip to take you little ones all the way here? I saw that these nine young generals slapped at MacArthur's Jihua with the bricks!

Enemy!

Meteorology!

The state of the Yellow Sea!

The state of water transportation to Incheon!

The tide and topography of the Incheon coast!

Large-scale landing convoys are problematic in complex sea conditions!

Narrow waterway navigation dispatch problem!

Big drop tidal tidal flat landing window problem!

Problems with naval artillery fire support!

Aviation fire support problems!

……………………

The nine young generals brandished theoretical bricks and crackled MacArthur's chief of operations, Lieutenant General White, who planned to land on Jihua.

"Incheon has the largest sea water rise and fall on Shijie! It is a full six meters, and on the day of the full moon phase, the difference is a full 10 meters! When the tide recedes, the mudflats stretch out to the sea for 3 kilometers! ”

Lieutenant General White retorted:

"It also allows us to land closer inland, and to make that landing so sudden that the North Koreans would never have imagined that we would choose Incheon, which doesn't look suitable for landing."

"The Exocet Strait into Incheon is so narrow that if a ship is sunk in the waterway, the entire fleet will be blocked!"

General White retorted: "The 3-kilometer-wide waterway, do you have to crash into the sunken ship?" How could there be an enemy shore defense artillery attack after the previous naval artillery fire was covered? Since it was a surprise attack, how could the enemy possibly deploy heavy troops in this area? According to previous reconnaissance, the North Koreans had only two companies scattered on the coast in this area!

"What if North Korea lays mines in the waterways? General White, have you thought about it? ”

"According to the previous reconnaissance by our intelligence officers, North Korea did not lay mines in this waterway!"

"There are only two slots of the day that are suitable for landing, two hours each, and the first Marine must complete the landing in two hours! After that, it is too difficult to establish a defensive position to hold the beachhead and establish a supply base! ”

"Are you saying that the Navy is not ready to put part of the landing craft on the beachhead?"

"Then our landing ships will become targets under the guns of the enemy's coastal artillery!"

"A landing craft is not a transport ship! They must rush to the beachhead! Stay there! Leave until all the men and supplies are unloaded! ”

"What should I do if I can't walk if I run aground!"

"Then go at the next high tide! Don't tell me that there are not enough landing craft in the Navy! ”

"Capacity is very tight at the moment!"

……………………

For the debate between the two sides, MacArthur seemed to smoke his corn stalk pipe leisurely, but in fact he was already angry!

"In the eyes of these sons of bitches in the eyes of the navy, the army is probably just a bunch of mud monkeys!

In their opinion, the value of the navy can only be reflected in naval battles!

None of these guys wanted to take the slightest responsibility for a failed landing, even though it was an impossible landing.

If even one warship is lost or damaged in a single land operation where no enemy fleet is present, these sons of bitch's navy will go crazy with rage. ”

Seeing that MacArthur's face was getting more and more gloomy, the representative sent by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Sherman, Chief of Naval Operations, slowly and unhurriedly opened his mouth and concluded:

"From the point of view of the Navy, all conditions that are not suitable for landing are clearly demonstrated in Incheon."

Another general sent by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Collins, Chief of Army Operations, spoke:

"Incheon is so far away from Busan that we don't see the need for you to land 260 kilometers from Busan. Since the North Korean army, which is fighting in the Busan encirclement, is to outflank it from behind, and the choice to land in the mountains is undoubtedly more suitable in terms of terrain, sea conditions, and combat functions. ”

At this time, among the three people sent by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, only Lieutenant General Edward, deputy chief of staff of the Air Force, did not speak.

Vice Admiral Edward seemed a little drowsy in this noisy debate, and he didn't care what the army and navy thought, in his opinion, it was his virtue to land anywhere, and the air force was only to attack anyway.

MacArthur suddenly stood up and walked to the edge of the map, apparently ready to fire himself.

“…… It is because of the difficulties brought about by various landing conditions that the enemy also thinks that it is impossible for us to land from Incheon, and as long as we do it, we will get the effect of a surprise attack, and I think we can!

…… In 1759, the Marquis de Montecamer believed that the southern part of Quebec's walls was built on a riverside cliff that no one could overcome, so his defensive positions were backed to the south and concentrated entirely in the north of the city. As a result, General Jim Wolfe led a squad to climb the cliff and appeared behind the Marquis of Montecamo, which decided that General Wolf would win the battle.

…… After the capture of Quebec, the Anglo-French war in Canada officially ended.

…… And Seoul is the Quebec of the Korean Peninsula! Only by landing at Incheon will we be able to take Seoul in the first place! Only then can we achieve not only a military victory, but also a political victory!

…… I also admit the various landing difficulties raised by the Navy, but I believe in the strength of the Navy more than the Navy itself. During the Pacific War, I commanded the Navy to participate in many landing campaigns, and each time it was equally difficult, but what was the result? We did it all.

…… This time, I think we can still do it. ”

Speaking of this, MacArthur was full of confidence, and said with his head held high:

“…… The idea of landing from the mountains and outflanking the rear of the KPA outside the Busan encirclement from the rear is conservative and old-fashioned, and it is not at all on the same level as my jihua.

…… What I'm going to do is land at Incheon, take Seoul, and then march directly into the heart of North Korea! I will not outflank the North Korean army fighting in the south, I will take North Korea directly!! Take Pyongyang!!

…… After the capture of Seoul, the supply system of the North Korean army will be completely disrupted. And to take Pyongyang, even, we only need to make a move to attack Pyongyang, and the North Korean army will inevitably collapse completely!

I firmly believe that! ”

Admiral Collins heard MacArthur talk about the follow-up to the Inchon landing for the first time today.

Before MacArthur kept silent, making everyone think that he was just going to cut off the supply lines and rear routes of the People's Army, and then attack south, who would have thought that he was actually going north! There is not a word about this in his crude landing jihua book.

Collins can imagine how angry General Bradley would have been when he heard the news! Mr. President will also be very dissatisfied with MacArthur's arbitrariness! This son of a bitch is a megalomaniac! He's still fucking the U.S. Army, isn't! How dare you deliberately conceal your operational intentions in the operational report, or in other words - misleading! He's misleading the Joint Chiefs of Staff! Mislead the President of the United States!

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Heartfelt thanks to King Xiling, Shuibutou, Lazy Snake Lao Kai, and Hippopotamus Elephant for rewarding! xiexie everyone!

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