In April 1969, the US military stationed in Japan sent an EC-121M electronic reconnaissance aircraft from the Akigi base in Japan to fly to the Korean Peninsula to try to conduct military reconnaissance activities. However, the US military's intelligence detection behavior was captured by the North Korean military's radar in order to expel the US military's reconnaissance aircraft . The North Korean Air Force dispatched two MiG-21 fighter jets to launch the air in an emergency.
EC-121M electronic reconnaissance aircraft
For US intelligence crews, being monitored by enemy air force is not a serious matter. After all, according to international practice, as long as you honestly withdraw from the opponent's airspace after being warned, the combat aircraft will not launch an attack.
But they forgot that the other side is North Korea. Without warning, the North Korean Air Force directly shot down the US EC-121M reconnaissance aircraft. What is even more unexpected is that the United States actually swallows anger at this matter. Why is this?
The disappearing US reconnaissance aircraft
In the 1960s, US-Soviet battle for entered the most intense stage. In order to obtain the intelligence of socialist camp , the United States has repeatedly sent electronic reconnaissance planes to invade the airspace of East Asian countries . China and North Korea are the main detection targets of the US military.
U-2 is also a US aircraft that invaded Chinese airspace many times in the 1960s
On April 15, 1969, a US military EC-121M electronic reconnaissance aircraft was taken off at the Akigi base in Japan, preparing to cross the Sea of Japan to arrive at the North Korean airspace for intelligence collection. At that time, a total of 8 senior intelligence officers and 23 US soldiers were riding on the plane.
15 at 12 noon, after several hours of flight, the EC-121M electronic reconnaissance aircraft successfully arrived near North Korean airspace and entered the state of intelligence collection.
According to the US military regulations, crew members who go out to perform missions need to keep in touch with the base every 1 hour . These US soldiers contacted the tower personnel in a relaxed atmosphere and expressed their hope to drink hot coffee immediately after returning to the base.
US military base duty room
12 At 30, the crew members of the EC-121M electronic reconnaissance aircraft discovered that two North Korean Air Force fighter jets were flying in their direction, probably two MiG-21s. US military intelligence officials disagree with this information. They believe that they have not crossed the North Korean border , so they will not be attacked by the North Korean Air Force, and will only be expelled at most. But this time the US military was wrong.
MiG-21
1 at the time of the North Korean Air Force, it was time for the EC-121M electronic reconnaissance aircraft to contact the base tower, but the U.S. military Akigi base has never received news from crew members. At this time, the US military realized that was not good and immediately dispatched more than 40 planes to search nearby waters, but found nothing. This US reconnaissance plane has disappeared into the vast sea.
caused an uproar
It was not until April 16, 12 hours after the incident that North Korean officials announced an important news: On April 15, the North Korean Air Force shot down a US reconnaissance aircraft that invaded North Korean airspace. North Korea did not capture surviving US military personnel, and all crew members are expected to die.
US military electronic reconnaissance aircraft
This news officially announced by North Korea immediately caused an uproar internationally, among which the United States' reaction was particularly strong. A spokesperson for the US Department of Defense immediately stated that the coordinates of the disappearance of the US reconnaissance aircraft are still 50 nautical miles away from the North Korean border line and cannot be regarded as the US invasion of North Korean airspace. Therefore, the North Korean Air Force's direct shooting down of US aircraft belongs to "provocation to the United States ".
The senior U.S. military is currently discussing
, but North Korea obviously will not agree with the US statement. North Korea responded: The evidence of the US reconnaissance plane stealing North Korean intelligence is conclusive. In the event of a serious threat to national security, North Korea has the right to take all necessary measures. At the same time, North Korea also issued a mobilization order at home, and hundreds of thousands of Korean People's Army carried out exercises, making it very prepared to rekindle the war on the peninsula.
Korean People's Army
The US military is also not to be outdone.On April 23, the US military deployed aircraft carrier battle group in the Asia-Pacific region, trying to force the North Korean government to surrender with force, and the peninsula was full of gunpowder. At that time, the nerves of China, the United States, North Korea and South Korea became nervous because this was likely to become the fuse for the outbreak of the "Second Korean War".
The United States
, but what is confusing is that the originally tense situation on the peninsula ended with the United States swallowing .
In May, the White House held a press conference to summarize the previous peninsula crisis and stated:
The United States requires North Korea to strictly restrain its troops and not allow the same thing to happen again.
After the press conference, the two US aircraft carrier battle groups that were originally showing off in the Japanese Sea also evacuated near North Korea. The peninsula crisis ended in a "tiger-to-scarce" manner.
0 The US aircraft carrier battle group of the 60s
Why would the strong US choose to swallow the bitter fruit of its reconnaissance plane being shot down? At present, based on the background of the era at that time, there may be three main factors:
first, the United States was already in the quagmire of war in in Vietnam and was unable to open up the "second battlefield" in North Korea.
Vietnam War was the biggest event on the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. It caused more than 300,000 casualties in the US military in 20 years, and at the same time caused the United States to pay a huge military expenditure of US$870 billion, almost draining the US treasury. Therefore, the United States is unwilling to fight again with North Korea during the outbreak of Vietnam War.
US military in Vietnam battlefield
second, the United States was deeply impressed by Korean War failure shadow . In the Korean War more than ten years ago, the US military once fought to the Yalu River , almost forcing North Korea to the point of ending its end. However, at this time, China, as a major eastern country, took action. Hundreds of thousands of volunteer soldiers crossed the Sino-North Korea border and began to fight with the US military, and defeated the arrogant US military.
From then on, the United States realized that if it wants to attack North Korea, it must first see if it has the courage to have another bloody battle with Chinese soldiers.
Volunteer Army fighting in North Korea
Third, the US domestic anti-war atmosphere is strong . Affected by the Vietnam War, the US domestic economy suffered a heavy blow, the national unemployment rate hit a new high, and people took to the streets to demand that the US government stop the unjust foreign war.
In 1969, the largest anti-war march in history broke out in the United States, and millions of people gathered in Washington to protest the United States' "believer policy." Against this background, the US government dares not take the risk of using force against North Korea against public opinion.
Therefore, after seeing that North Korea could not be intimidated, the United States had no choice but to accept the fact that the reconnaissance plane was shot down and chose to swallow its anger.
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