On September 1, 1950, U.S. President Truman gave a speech saying that the United States’ military operations would not extend beyond the Korean Peninsula and hoped that China and the Soviet Union would not intervene.
html On September 11, Truman authorized the U.S. military stationed in North Korea to expand ground troops to the north of the 38th parallel on the premise that the Soviet Union and China did not send troops.MacArthur was extremely dissatisfied with this restriction. His goal was to occupy the entire North Korea. He also arrogantly said that if the Chinese participated in the war, they would be wiped out in North Korea.
On October 1, under MacArthur's instruction, the South Korean army crossed the 38th parallel on the east coast and advanced towards Wonsan.
On October 11, the South Korean 3rd Army occupied Wonsan.
On October 19, the U.S. 8th Army occupied Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea Pyongyang .
On October 26, the 6th Division of the 3rd Army of South Korea arrived at the Yalu River .
The US military used a large number of combat aircraft to carry out crazy bombing and machine gun strafing of residential areas in northern North Korea and northeastern China.
Others have bullied you right at your doorstep, what should you do?
At that time, New China was less than a year old. Due to the long-term civil war, the country was already riddled with holes, the national power was extremely weak, and the people were in urgent need of recuperation.
In addition, the country has not yet been completely liberated, and there are still millions of remnants of the Kuomintang and bandits entrenched on the coastal islands and in the southwest.
When entering North Korea to fight, they were faced with 16 United Nations forces led by the US military, the world's number one military power. The balance of power was very disparate and the risk was too great!
Let’s compare the industrial production capacity and military equipment of China and the United States at that time:
Taking 1950 as an example, the United States’ steel production reached 87.72 million tons, and the total industrial and agricultural output value reached 280 billion US dollars, while China’s steel production was 600,000 tons. The total industrial output value is RMB 44.6 billion (equivalent to US$10 billion).
The United States also has the most powerful and advanced arms industry in the world, with an annual output of millions of tons of various ammunition.
Judging from the military equipment of both sides, the US military has 21,428 artillery pieces, 7,000 cars, 2,430 tanks, and 1,100 combat aircraft and 300 ships in the Korean theater.
A corps of the People's Liberation Army has 198 artillery pieces over 75 mm, 120 vehicles, no tanks, and no naval or air force cover.
Stalin originally promised to use the Soviet Air Force to support the Chinese Volunteer Army's ground troops in combat, but temporarily changed his mind because he was afraid of conflict with the United States.
Peng Dehuai
At that time, the central government's senior officials had very different opinions on whether to send troops to North Korea.
On October 1, 1950, North Korea's Foreign Minister Park Heon-yong took Kim Il-sung's personal letter to Beijing to ask for a meeting with Mao Zedong, hoping that China could send troops to support the Korean People's Army in combat.
The real situation is that at this time, the Korean People's Army has been defeated. North Korea is facing the occupation of the entire United States and South Korea by the US and South Korean troops, and is very likely to be destroyed. Kim Il Sung even plans to organize a government in exile in Northeast China. The situation Very critical.
Since the outbreak of the Korean Civil War, Mao Zedong has paid close attention to the situation in North Korea, especially after the US military's landing in Incheon. Mao Zedong paid more attention to the study of the Korean issue and constantly listened to reports from all parties on the Korean War, almost to the point of restlessness.
Mao Zedong and the main leaders of the Central Committee Zhou Enlai, Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De and others discussed repeatedly and reached a unanimous opinion on sending troops to North Korea.
But this matter is not trivial. If the fight is good, there is nothing to say. If the fight is not good, it may endanger the domestic power and even lose the country. Then Mao Zedong cannot explain to history and the people.
Therefore, Mao Zedong decided to convene an enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee and invite senior generals to participate to discuss the issue of sending troops to North Korea.
On October 2, Mao Zedong held an enlarged meeting of the Politburo Standing Committee to discuss the issue of sending troops to North Korea.
First, Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai, Nie Rongzhen, Lin Biao, Gao Gang and others attended the meeting.
Most members of the Standing Committee believe that it is not appropriate to send troops to North Korea. It is best not to fight a war unless it is a last resort.
Later, the meeting gradually expanded its scope and convened more people to discuss the issue of sending troops to North Korea. The heads of various regions and the heads of the central party, government and military attended the meeting one after another.
At the same time, Peng Dehuai, commander of the Northwest Military Region, was urgently summoned to Beijing for the meeting.
Leaders from all parties at the conference spoke enthusiastically and their opinions were at loggerheads.
Some agreed to send troops to North Korea, while others did not. But regardless of opposition or support, most people expressed varying degrees of concern about sending troops and asked the central government to consider it carefully and act prudently.
Zhou Enlai, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, has an unswerving support for sending troops. His reason is that passive defense will make it impossible to defend, and the best defense is to attack. Instead of passively defending year after year, it is better to fight hard, attack early and solve the problem as soon as possible.
Peng Dehuai, who later arrived at the meeting, also firmly supported sending troops to North Korea.
In the end, the opinions were unified and it was decided to send troops to North Korea. The meeting decided to use 10 days to prepare, and initially planned to dispatch two armies to fight in North Korea on October 15.
Regarding the selection of commander-in-chief, Su Yu was initially prepared to serve as commander-in-chief. However, Su Yu had shrapnel in his brain and was overworked, causing severe pain in his head. He was recuperating in Qingdao .
Later, Lin Biao was considered to take command, but Lin Biao clearly opposed sending troops to North Korea and was weak and sick, so he declined Mao Zedong's request.
Finally, upon Mao Zedong’s suggestion, the Standing Committee unanimously approved Peng Dehuai as commander-in-chief.
On October 8, the overseas combat unit was officially named the "Chinese People's Volunteer Army", and Peng Dehuai was appointed as the commander and political commissar of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army.
To be honest, during this period, Mao Zedong had many concerns about whether to send troops to North Korea. He had trouble sleeping day and night, and he did not think about food and drink. The decision-making process was very difficult.
Therefore, many years later, Mao Zedong said that he encountered two things in his life that were the most difficult to make up his mind. One of them was to send volunteer troops to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea in 1950.
Resisting U.S. Aggression and Aiding Korea [Eighth Issue]
Chinese People’s Volunteer Army Badge
About the Author
I have been fond of words since I was a child. When I was a primary school student, I often used essays as essay examples. During his literary youth period, many of his articles won awards. After decades of ups and downs, my hobbies have not changed. I like to read literature and history, insist on writing, and welcome exchanges.
