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On April 15, 1969, two MiG fighter jets of the North Korean Air Force shot down an American EC-121 large reconnaissance aircraft, killing all 31 crew members on board.
This news shocked the world, and all the eyes of the world turned to North Korea, a small country.
EC-121
As we all know, the United States, as a superpower, has been walking unscrupulously in every corner of the world. Many countries shunned him for fear of being shunned.
North Korea, this small country has dealt an unexpected blow to the United States. This blow not only disgraced the United States, but also made the dumb Americans unable to tell the story of their suffering.
Surprisingly, after the incident, US President Nixon did not retaliate against North Korea.
Why does North Korea dare to attack the United States? Why did the United States swallow its anger and admit defeat?
acts arrogantly and causes trouble
The EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft is also called early warning aircraft . As the name suggests, it has the ability to predict danger in advance and defend it. It can scan a radius of up to 500 kilometers, which means that any disturbance within the range can be accurately captured by the EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft.
EC-121
Once it encounters danger, it will immediately notify its own air force aircraft or naval aviation aircraft to intercept it and nip the danger in the bud. The
EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft possessed the most advanced reconnaissance technology and equipment in the United States at the time. In addition, it has a maximum level flight speed of 517 kilometers per hour and a maximum range of 7,405 kilometers, so the EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft has become a well-deserved "reconnaissance overlord."
At that time, the United States and the Soviet Union, leading their own brothers, wanted to have a Star Wars, and they both wanted to know themselves and the enemy so that they could fight without danger.
The Atsugi base built by the United States in Japan was to establish a reconnaissance line. They took off from Japan's Atsugi base and flew directly across the Sea of Japan to North Korea's airspace. After obtaining North Korea's intelligence, they passed through the airspace of China and the Soviet Union on their return trip and obtained Sino-Soviet intelligence.
Atsugi base
The United States’ wishful thinking is ringing. Indeed, during the two years of flying, there was never any problem. We always adhered to the "American style" and went straight to any place.
In the three months before the accident, the EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft conducted nearly 200 unimpeded reconnaissance operations.
In addition, North Korea and South Korea were developing in a friendly direction at that time, and North Korea intended to unify the Korean Peninsula.
But after the Cold War, the United States has always adopted a hostile policy towards North Korea, and they have mixed this sentiment into the affairs of the Korean Peninsula.
This directly caused the United States to feel uncomfortable with others, and then began to increase its investment in South Korea and provide South Korea with a large amount of support from all aspects in an attempt to eliminate North Korea's attraction to South Korea.
North Korea wants to unify, and the United States is undoubtedly the biggest stumbling block.
The picture comes from the Internet
This series of actions by the United States has made North Korea dare not speak out. Their forbearance has made the United States more arrogant and domineering.
On the eve of the incident, the United States and South Korea conducted military exercises, intending to show North Korea their military equipment and intimacy to warn North Korea not to act rashly.
As the saying goes, if you often walk by the river, your shoes will not get wet.
On April 15, 1969, the EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft took off from Atsugi Base in Japan as usual, starting a new day of reconnaissance work.
did not know that this ordinary day was actually North Korea's long-term plan to target the EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft.
According to records, April 15 happened to be Kim Il Sung's birthday. The North Korean Air Force chose this day to shoot down the EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft in order to send a congratulatory gift to Kim Il Sung. It seems that the North Korean Air Force is very sure of the demise of the EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft.
Kim Il-sung
blindly underestimated the enemy and buried it in the sea
On that day, shortly after the EC-121 reconnaissance plane carrying 31 crew members flew into North Korean airspace, the crew discovered two North Korean MiG-21 fighter jets flying towards them.
But at this time, they did not pay attention to the MiG fighter jets at all. In their minds, how could North Korea dare to open fire on the United States? It was this arrogant attitude that cost them their lives.
At that time, intelligence personnel analyzed the information transmitted by radar and concluded that MiG fighter jets might attack the EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft, but the crew believed that the North Koreans were just pretending.
Because in the following time, the U.S. Air Force radar could no longer detect the whereabouts of the MiG fighter jets, which increased the blind confidence of the crew. They thought that the MiG fighter jets had returned disappointed. Little did they know that North Korea had made quite rigorous arrangements for this mission.
MiG-21
For the North Korean Air Force, the only way to break the functional settings of the EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft is to take advantage of the MiG-21 fighter's ability to conceal ambush and attack quickly.
In order to make the EC-121 reconnaissance plane relax its vigilance, it must intercept it from the airport closest to the departure point of the US plane. By observing the routes of US aircraft, the North Korean Air Force finally used North Korea's Yulang Base as a sortie base.
At that time, the MiG-21s of the North Korean Army were deployed at the Beicang Base in Ping'an South Road. Flight activities in North Korea are under strict supervision by the United States and South Korea. In order not to cause any trouble, the North Korean Air Force has taken great pains.
They disassembled two MiG-21 fighter jets and secretly transported them by railway to the cave in Yulang Base for reassembly. Then he lurks here like a falcon, waiting for the best opportunity to kill his prey with one strike.
MiG-21
In order to conceal themselves, the MiG fighter jets flew along the sea level to escape the tracking of the US military radar. Achieve the purpose of confusing the EC-121 crew and then quickly attack. Things are developing as North Korea predicted.
When the MiG fighter jets appeared again in the radar monitoring range, the EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft was not aware of the approaching danger. The crew only knew trouble was coming when headquarters sent them a warning.
But it was too late at this moment. The EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft was already within the range of the MiG fighter jets. Two minutes later, the EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft had completely disappeared from the US Air Force radar instrument panel.
More than ten minutes later, there was still no news of the EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft on the US military's radar. Only then did the US military realize that something might have happened to the EC-121.
MiG-21
So they dispatched two F-102A fighter jets to search the area where the ET-121 reconnaissance aircraft lost its signal. The search turned up nothing.
Then they formed a temporary search and rescue team, dispatched 26 fighter planes and aerial tankers, as well as the warship from the Japanese military port, and rushed to the sea area to conduct large-scale search and rescue. The scene was spectacular.
The military and government of North Korea, the perpetrators, watched with cold eyes as they went to heaven and earth. On April 16, North Korea issued a statement admitting that they had shot down the EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft.
also claimed that the US reconnaissance aircraft violated North Korea's airspace and tried to escape, but was shot down by the North Korean Air Force 80 nautical miles away from the North Korean coast.
As soon as this statement came out, the world was in an uproar. North Korea is really brave. To provoke the United States is to provoke authority. How could the United States, which has always been tough and arrogant, give up? Since North Korea openly admitted this matter, they must have made corresponding arrangements.
Pictures come from the Internet
The US Government’s Dilemma
The news that the EC-121 reconnaissance plane was shot down instantly spread back to the United States, and the White House everyone was furious.
President Nixon, who had just taken office, was indecisive. Once the chess piece was made wrong, it was bound to cause heavy damage to the new Nixon government.
Nixon decided to brainstorm and held a National Security Council meeting chaired by National Security Advisor Kissinger to submit the opinions and plans of various departments before making a decision.
In fact, there are only two options for holding a meeting, either war or peace.
It was the Department of Defense that proposed using force to resolve the dispute. They felt that maintaining the authority of the United States was more important than anything else. As long as North Korea is beaten to the ground, it will not hesitate to use nuclear weapons .
Nixon
But to do so, we must first gain the support of the international and American people. This is undoubtedly an insurmountable gap.
It was the State Department that proposed "retaliation through diplomatic means" and they planned to seize North Korean ships flying the Dutch flag while sailing on the high seas. This will serve to deter North Korea so that it can put forward conditions for negotiation with North Korea.
But if it does this, the United States must first consider whether international law of the sea and are feasible. Regarding these two plans, high-level discussions in the United States were heated.
The representative of the force of conquest was General Earl Wheeler, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He insisted on military retaliation, tit for tat, and directly bombed the North Korean base where the MiG fighter jets were located.
On the other side who advocates non-force is William Rogers of the State Department. He believes that bombing an airport in North Korea is just to vent anger and does not provide any substantial help to the United States.
Nixon
In fact, many people thought that President Nixon would 100% choose to fight violence with violence. After all, Nixon once said that only by using fists can the United States change the world and regain its image.
At that time, not to mention the United States, basically the entire world agreed that President Nixon would launch a strong military strike in this incident.
But things did not develop as imagined. To everyone's surprise, Nixon adopted a low-key attitude and chose to keep things quiet. Such a tough United States showed its "weakness" to the public, which really shocked the jaws of those who wanted to take advantage of it.
But American politicians have never been vegetarians, so they have to think carefully before frying such a refreshing side dish.
Nixon
Controlled by domestic and foreign troubles
President Nixon, who has always shown himself to be belligerent, can lower his eyebrows and lower his eyes because of the overall consideration.
In terms of foreign situations, the United States at that time was stuck in the quagmire of war with Vietnam. The United States, which has always been invincible, was blindly confident this time. It thought that it would be able to win the war with Vietnam easily, and it would be resolved quickly and in minutes.
Unexpectedly, China and the Soviet Union reached out to help. Vietnam not only received a large amount of arms supplies, but also received military technical guidance, and its combat effectiveness improved sharply.
led to the US military's goal of annihilating North Vietnam far away. This war has actually become a war of attrition. In this war, the United States suffered increasing losses and did not have the manpower and material resources to launch another war.
The Chinese People Aid Vietnam and Resist the United States
It is said that before the EC-121 reconnaissance plane was shot down, the White House of the United States received a report from the Institute of Strategic Studies in London, England, stating that the United States had been involved in the Vietnam War. If another war breaks out, not only will the United States not be able to get support, but the American people will not buy it.
In fact, at this time, the United States was already experiencing turmoil. The American people, who had suffered so much from the war, began to feel war-weary, and anti-war movements emerged one after another. In 1967, millions of people marched across the United States to protest against the U.S. government's sending a large number of soldiers to Vietnam.
The huge military expenditures consumed by the war caused serious inflation in the United States and led to a sluggish economy. As a result, social problems occurred frequently, and revitalizing the American economy became the top priority of the Nixon administration.
Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea Old Photos
Even if domestic and foreign reasons are put aside, if the United States insists on attacking North Korea for its so-called dignity, it will only end up in a situation where it will lose both its people and money, because behind North Korea is China.
During the war to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea, the Chinese soldiers were fearless of life and death, and their iron will left a profound memory for the United States. Those impressions are enough to make the United States think twice about using force against North Korea.
In the end, after careful consideration, the Nixon administration had no choice but to give up the use of force to resolve the EC-121 crash. He only chose to express his position weakly through protest.
North Korea dared to seal the throat of the United States with one sword. First, it seized on the weaknesses of the US military's arrogance and paralysis. The second is to recognize the plight of the United States in internal and external troubles. In the end, after careful planning, he retired with success.
The United States in the 1970s
This diplomatic incident that shocked the world ended in the loneliness of the United States. But this does not mean that the United States is afraid of trouble or loves peace, but the result of American politicians weighing the pros and cons in the general environment at that time.
Wherever there are people, there are rivers and lakes, and where there are rivers and lakes, there are disputes.
Therefore, in this huge arena of the earth, disputes are unavoidable. Only by strengthening yourself can you not be trampled by others, can you stand firm in the world, and can you keep your own breeze and bright moon.
