For most of the last century, the Chinese Volunteer Army and the US military were the protagonists of the battlefield, and the "old boss" of local operations was always mentioned.
Until today, many people think that the Korean army has always acted as a background board in this war, and its status is very embarrassing.
In theory, the South Korean army should not be ignored in the wars fought at their own doorstep, but the entire Korean War process was ups and downs. Just like the Korean People's Army, the combat effectiveness of the South Korean army has always been changing.
However, from a general perspective, the combat effectiveness of the Korean army can be divided into the following three stages:
1. In the early stage of the war (basically zero combat effectiveness);
️2. In the period of mobile warfare (the overall soft but remarkable points);
3. In the late stage of the war (significantly improved).
Early War
On September 2, 1945, according to the Allied Agreement, MacArthur clearly pointed out in Directive 1 that the 38th latitude north is used as the dividing line for the two armies of the United States and the Soviet Union to accept the surrender of the Japanese army respectively.
After Japan surrendered to , the United States and the Soviet Union respectively sent troops to 8th parallel north and south regions. In August and September 1948, the South Korean government and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea were established in the north and south areas of the Korean Peninsula.
In October, the Soviet Union transferred administrative command in the region north of the 38th parallel to North Korea. Two months later, the Soviet army evacuated North Korea in full. A few months later, the US military also withdrew its garrison from the south of the 38th parallel, but it left behind the so-called "military advisory group".
On June 25, 1950, the civil war broke out on the Korean Peninsula. This battlefield was originally a war between South Korea and North Korea, but due to the international environment at that time, supporters of both sides were on the opposite side, which accelerated the process of the war to a certain extent.
In the early days of the war, the battle started between North Korea and South Korea. Faced with the Northern Army, which had been fighting guerrilla wars with the Japanese for many years, the South Korean army seemed weak and almost defeated repeatedly on the battlefield. It was directly defeated by the Northern Army to near Busan .
Seeing that the southern army was about to be swallowed up, the US military, as the eldest brother of South Korea, participated in the war. The South Korean army relied on the powerful joint combat capabilities of multiple arms, and immediately regained the previously lost position. The South Korean army originally thought that they could directly fight to the Yalu River with the US side, but unexpectedly they met the proud Chinese volunteer army.
Veterans who had participated in the war in Korea recalled: " The puppet troops we encountered (Korean army) were very weak, which was much worse than the previous national army."
So, how weak was the combat effectiveness of the Korean army in the early stages of the battle?
Before the outbreak of the Korean War, the United States did not pay attention to South Korea's national defense, because its strategic focus was on the European battlefield at this time, and it would not consume a lot of military and financial resources to intervene in South Korea's local affairs. Because of this, the support received by the South Korean army is very limited.
In terms of the number of people, the Korean army had 8 divisions and more than 100,000 troops at this time, but the weapons were very backward. There were only 40 armored vehicles , 90 cannons with a caliber of 76mm, and none of tanks .
On the other hand, their opponent, the North Korean army, has more than 200 tank and armored vehicles, more than 1,600 artillery pieces with a caliber of 76mm, and even combat aircraft.
Such a huge gap in equipment is actually related to the US military's defense against South Korea. At that time, , Lee Seung-man, , would occasionally advocate the unification of North Korea by force, but the United States did not intend to do so. They did not want to stimulate the Soviet Union because of the South Korean affairs.
On the day of the outbreak of the war, South Korea only released four divisions of troops on the front of the 38th parallel, and most of the other personnel were still carrying out guerrilla missions in the mountains, and there was still a large part of the troops on the front line on the holiday.
In this way, the Korean army's defeat on the front battlefield has been decided. Facing the Korean army whose weapons and equipment were much better than their own, the Korean army realized that something was wrong.
Secret Battle After three days of fighting, Lee Seoul was in a hurry to blow up Hanjiang Bridge , saving some of the vitality. Later, the South Korean army was quickly defeated in Suwon, Daejeon and other places.
In the month when the war began, the North Korean army advanced more than 200 kilometers. Later, due to the participation of the US small forces in the war and support, North Korea did not successfully capture Busan.
Even so, it is an indisputable fact that the Korean army has poor combat effectiveness at this time. If there is no support from the US military, South Korea will likely be directly pushed to the end by the North Korean army.
Mobile wartime
Seeing that the Korean army was about to stop, the US military began to intervene in the war on a large scale. After the Korean army was supplemented by personnel and equipment, it also blew the horn of counterattack.
At this time, the number of Korean troops had reached 300,000, but there were a large number of new recruits and civilians who were recruited everywhere.
In this way, the situation of the war reversed instantly. The South Korean army quickly reversed its numbers and equipment advantages and regained the lost cities. Among them, the 1st Division of the Korean Division was one of the representatives. They attacked very quickly and soon led their troops into the boundary of Pyongyang .
Although the scale of war has tilted towards South Korea, this does not mean that the combat effectiveness of the South Korean army has increased. At this time, most of the Korean army were recruits and had no time to participate in training. They were basically able to shoot, so the combat effectiveness of the South Korean army was still not strong, but they had a slight advantage in terms of number of people and equipment compared to North Korea. This weakness has emerged with the entry of Chinese People's Volunteer Army into North Korea. When the opponent was replaced by the Korean army to the Chinese volunteer army, the South Korean army once again exposed its true strength and suffered consecutive defeats, becoming a "soft persimmon" in the eyes of the People's Volunteers.
In the first battle with the Chinese People's Volunteer Army, the forces of the three divisions of the 2nd Korean Army were blinded and there was almost no power to fight back. The entire army collapsed instantly and even the number was revoked.
In the second battle, the 38th Army of the Chinese Volunteer Army annihilated the troops of the 7th Division in just 4 hours; the 42nd Army also easily captured the 8th Division of the Han Dynasty.
If the first battle is done, the South Korean army will be caught off guard because they do not understand the Chinese army. After this battle, the South Korean army had a clearer understanding of the strength of the Chinese army.
After this battle, the TV station far away in the United States broadcast this: "The 2nd Corps of the Republic of Korea only lasted for 24 hours under the artillery fire of the Chinese army, and the entire army no longer existed."
In the third battle, our 42nd Army broke through the 38th parallel and then went straight to Jiningli, fighting a perfect cooperation with the 66th Army. The three main regiments of the 2nd Division of the Han Dynasty and the 5th Division collapsed again in less than a day.
In the fourth Hengcheng counterattack, in less than two days, the captured Korean army reached more than 7,300. The three regiments of the 8th Division of the South Korean Army and the living forces of the 3rd and 5th Divisions were all annihilated.
In the fifth battle, the forces of the three divisions of the Korean army were backed by the Zhaoyang River natural barrier and planned to defend the danger. The 60th Division of the 20th Army of the Volunteer Army quickly seized the Wumazhi and cut off the Korean army's retreat route. The isolated and helpless Korean army had to bite the bullet and break through. As a result, the troops of the 3rd Division and the 9th Division were almost wiped out, and the numbers were revoked soon after.
In several battles, the Korean army will always be eliminated as a whole. After these large-scale battles, the weaknesses of too many new Korean troops and inexperienced in the Korean army were exposed. Such a team was a paper tiger in front of our brave and experienced People's Volunteer Army, which was ravaged casually.
Of course, in the 300,000 Korean army, several generals with very command capabilities also appeared. Bai Shanye and Kim Jong-wu are typical representatives.
In the second battle, under the command of Bai Shanye, the 1st Division of the Han Dynasty retreated while facing the powerful People's Volunteer Army, and was not defeated at once. It preserved the main force of the troops and avoided the fate of being completely wiped out with the 7th Division and the 8th Division of the Han Dynasty.
and the highlights are also the 6th Division of the Korean led by Kim Jong-wu.During the battle of Chunchuan, the 6th Division of the Han Dynasty withstood the attack of the 2nd Division of the People's Army, so it is also named "Chunchuan Rock".
Except for these two divisions, the performance of the other Korean troops is at the level of disaster. This also affects the US military's control of the entire defense line.
US general Li Qiwei once said in his memoir: "My 2nd Division suffered a great loss in the fierce attacks of the Chinese. All this stemmed from the hasty retreat of the 8th Division of the South Korean Army. When the Chinese soldiers charged, many Korean soldiers fled quickly without looking back!"
Later in the war
In April 1951, the fifth battle came to the last moment. At this time, Bai Shanye, who was already the commander of the First Legion, led his subordinates, causing considerable trouble to our army. Although he doesn't have too many subordinates, it is a rare victory for the Korean army.
By October 1952, in the Battle of Baima Mountain, the 9th Division of the South Korean Army withdrew several charges from the 38th Army of the People's Volunteer Army at the cost of losing 9,000 people.
At this time, the Korean army, who had tasted the sweetness, thought their army had grown up in the war, so just when China and the United States had decided to sign the armistice agreement, they secretly used many small measures.
In order to teach the increasingly arrogant Korean army a lesson, our army launched the Jincheng Battle . It was this battle that made the Korean army completely recognize the gap in strength.
1953, the number of the Korean army had reached 500,000, and it was equipped with a lot of US military equipment, which is also the reason why they were arrogant. On the eve of the signing of the armistice agreement, the South Korean army insisted on not giving in to the issue of captives, which made it difficult to advance the peace talks.
South Korea's move not only angered the top leaders of the Chinese volunteer army, but also made the US military very dissatisfied with them. At this time, as the commander of UN Army , Clark also publicly said bluntly: "Let the Volunteer Army teach these arrogant Koreans a lesson."
So in July 1953, our army concentrated its main force in Kinmen, and under the support of powerful artillery fire (1,000 80mm caliber artillery), it broke through the 25-kilometer defense zone of the South Korean army and annihilated most of the 3rd, 6th and 8th Divisions of the South Korean army. In addition to the victory on other battlefields, a total of more than 80,000 enemies were wiped out in this battle, directly defeating the South Korean army's vitality.
This battle once again brought the Korean army to the negotiating table, and no longer had the previous arrogance.
Conclusion
Looking at the entire battlefield, the Korean army continued to learn in battle, from the moment they broke out in the early stages of the war to the highlights in the later stages, and their combat effectiveness was growing with the naked eye.
But they are facing the Chinese People's Volunteer Army that dares to fight and fight through the ups and downs. In the face of the firm will of the volunteer army and the fearless spirit of not being afraid of sacrifice, their failure is already doomed.
