Hamhung - Student Volunteers Army: We are getting the basics - ideals of 'Wha-Rang-Do', ethics, military tactics. These are taught by college kids from S Korea. SVA units are organized on an egalitarian basis much like the Chinese People's Liberation Army - no ranks, only job functions such as squad leader, company leader and so on. Anyone can be elected to a leadership position by his peers. Those of us who are considered to be reliable (sons of landowners, capitalists, Christians, etc.) are organized into a special unit and get additional training - guerrilla and espionage techniques.
Our teacher is Commander 'X' who was trained in S Korea and sneaked into N Korea in 1949, one year before the War started. He led a guerrilla army of about 50 men (mostly students) in the mountains around Hamhung. 'X' reports to and receives materials from a US spy unit (NB: as stated in a later section, this unit turns out to be the US AF 6006 Recon and Intel Squadron). He has been getting his supplies and men air dropped since the start of the war.
Oct. 24 - US 1st Marine Div. moves to Hamhung from Wonsan and the ROK I Corps move out. We meet the US soldiers for the first time. MacArthur orders his commanders to drive to the Manchurian border with all speed and with full utilization of all their force - in a clear violation of the JCS directive to use only ROK forces in the Northeast Provinces. Gen. Bradley is shocked by MacArthur's insubordination and calls for a top-level meeting in Washington. MacArthur wins again: The ROK forces are too few and their commanders are too emotional to do the job.
Photo: Chinese infantry passes by US Army trucks
Oct. 26 - N Korea (west): The Chinese regulars virtually wipe out the ROK 6th and 8th divisions at Onjin. Simultaneously, the ROK 1st Div. is hit hard and collapses at Unsan. The ROK Army in the west evaporates. The 8th Army's advance comes to a halt and the entire front lines are in chaos. MacArthur's intelligence chief (Gen. Willoughby - perhaps, the most incompetent man on MacArthur's staff) is still repeating - "the auspicious time for intervention has long since passed."
Oct. 29 - N Korea (east): US 7th Div. lands at Iwon, northeast of Hungnam and starts a long march to Heysan, 100 miles from Iwon on the Yalu River. One regiment branches out to the Fusen Reservoir north of the Chosin Reservoir. MacArthur falls into Peng Tehuai's trap per Sun Tzu's dictum -
"Thus one who is skillful at keeping the enemy on the move maintains deceitful appearances, according to which the enemy will act. He sacrifices something, that the enemy may snatch at it. By holding out baits, he keeps him on the march; then with a body of picked men he lies in wait for him."
The 7th Division units pay dearly for MacArthur's arrogance.
Nov. 1 - The US X Corps (Gen. Almond) moves to Hamhung. MacArthur orders indiscriminate carpet bombing of every village, town and city still in the communists control. For the first time, Russian MIG's manned by the Soviets appear to fight the Americans. The X Corps is made of the 1st Marine and the 7th Infantry. The Hamhung City Hall is the X Corps Headquarters.
Photo: Hamhung City Hall flying US, UN and S Korean flags
Nov. 1, 1950 - Unsan: The 8th Regiment of the 1st Cavalry Division is virtually wiped out. The survivors join remnants of 3 ROKA divisions smashed by the Chinese in a general retreat.
Nov. 2, 1950 - Beijing: Radio Peking (Beijing, Peking and Peiping are synonymous) announces officially that Chinese "Volunteer Corps" are in Korea fighting the US imperialists. The Volunteers are to protect the Hydroelectric Zone along the Yalu. This gives MacArthur an excuse for another spin to the Chinese intervention:
"The Chinese, extremely subtle and obsessed with saving face, are attempting to have their cake and eat it too. "
On the other hand, MacArthur's G2 chief, Gen. Willoughby warns
"Although indications so far point to piecemeal commitment for ostensible limited purposes only, it is important not to lose sight of the maximum potential that is immediately available to the Chinese Communists. Should the high level decision for full intervention be made by the Chinese Communists, they could promptly commit twenty-nine of their forty-four divisions presently employed along the Yalu and support a major attack with up to 150 aircraft."
A Chinese division has about 10,000 men. A field army is made of three divisions.
Nov. 2 - US 1st Marine Div. moves out Hamhung and marches northwest toward the Chosin Reservoir. The 7th Marine Regiment reaches Sudong-ri on the same day and relieves the ROK 26th Regiment. The Chinese troops strike at the marines for the first time in the war. The marines push on north and reach Koto-ri on Nov. 7 after numerous skirmishes with the Chinese. Six Chinese POW's are brought back to Hamhung. It is obvious that they are NOT Koreans. I realize that Comrade Chu knew exactly what was going to happen.
The commander of the 1st Marine wisely follows Sun Tzu's teachings -
"When in difficult country, do not encamp. In country where high roads intersect, join hands with your allies. Do not linger in dangerously isolated positions. In hemmed-in situations, you must resort to stratagem. In desperate position, you must fight. There are roads which must not be followed, enemy armies which must not be attacked, towns which must not be besieged, positions which must not be contested, orders of the general which must not be obeyed."
He disobeys MacArthur's order to push on (and saves his division from annihilation).
Photo: An aerial photo of the Chosin Reservoir
The Chinese prisoners are not afraid of the Americans - having been treated fairly by the Americans - Yankee cigarettes, canned beef, chocolate bars, medical attention, etc. - far better than what they were getting from their own army. Their uniform is more or less of home-made variety. heavily quilted against the Korean winter. The Chinese have no military ranks and hence, their uniform has no place for any fancy stuff that the N Koreans have. Leaders are identified by their uniform which is identical to that of a soldier except it has an extra pocket.
Another sign of an officer is a side arm. They wear no dog tags, instead they have their name and unit inscribed inside of their jacket. Under the quilt, they were whatever clothing they own. Since they own only one set of clothing, the sanitary situation of the Chinese army is not good. The Chinese bathe only twice in their entire life - upon exiting from the womb and upon death.
The Americans douse the poor Chinese with DDT to rid the noxious lice. One of the best things the Americans brought to Hamhung is their DDT. Ever since my childhood, I have been waging a losing battle with lice - head lice, arm-pit lice, foot lice. Every day, I used to spend at least one hour on my battle with lice - you catch them and squash them by the hundreds, but they keep on coming back. The American DDT has solved my lice problem. I think the Chinese POWs will thank the Yanks for ridding their body lice.
The Chinese are poorly armed. Most of them carry old Japanese or Russian 'Type R' rifles - both rifles WW1 bolt-action types. The only thing they are good for are bayonet banzai. They also carry American submachine guns and mortars confiscated from Chiang Kai Sek - courtesy of Uncle Sam. As a matter of fact, about three quarters of the Chinese used to be in Chiang's army.
The Chinese soldier carries everything he needs on his person. His ration consists of powdered rice mixed with whatever staple he can get hold of. The powder is mixed with water and consumed while marching or resting. His ration is carried in a cloth roll pack which has pockets for daily portions. He gets dried fish to chew on now and then.
The daily routine of a Chinese soldier is as follows: By daylight, he digs a fox hole for himself and eats his breakfast. During the day he hides in a fox hole motionless - only a scouting party moves around looking for enemies and the next camp site. At sunset, he packs his gear and starts his nightly march until daylight next day. He can cover as much as 18 miles a day on frozen mountain paths.
Photo: Chinese soldiers enjoying a hot meal
By the end of October, Peng Tehuai had four armies, more than 250,000 men, positioned in N Korea - motionless and invisible to aerial recons. Gen. Lin is patiently waiting for an opportune moment to close his trap. Chinese soldiers carry one week's supply of rice, powdered millet and Soya bean in a cotton cloth tube hung over their shoulders. They have enough ammo and grenade good for one week's hard fighting.
The Chinese army needs no trucks, no field kitchen, no clerks for paper work and no frills. Every man in a Chinese army is a fighter - compared to one fighting man supported by 4 support logistics guys in the American army.
Nov. 4, 1950 - Chungchon River: The 119th and the 120th Divisions of the Chinese Volunteers Army smash the US 19th Regiment and the British 27th Commonwealth Brigade.
Nov. 5 - MacArthur is ignoring, for whatever reason, eyewitness field intelligence reports being radioed to him hourly. He says that there are only a few thousands Chinese 'volunteers' and that he can whip them in no time at all. New orders are issued to hurry to the Yalu so that the Americans can go home before Christmas. This guy is either an idiot or has a secret magic in his sleeves.
He will have all of us killed. He has been saying to everyone, including Truman, that China is incapable of intervening in Korea. Now that some 200,000 Chinese are in Korea, he is trying to find a way to save his face. If his Xmas campaign succeeded in kicking out the chinamen, then his misjudgments would be forgotten or justified.
MacArthur's daily routine is as follows: Mac works seven days a week. His motorcade of MP's and a 1941 Cedilla arrives at Dai-ichi Building at around 10:30 A.M. Several dozen Japanese servants wait in line and bow deeply to their master. A waiting elevator takes Mac to his penthouse on the top floor which overlooks the Japanese emperor's palace.
He works on speeches, mail and memoranda until noon. Maj. Gen. Courtney Whitney (an expatriate lawyer in the Philippines - not a military man) is Mac's personal secretary. Mac goes home for lunch at 12:00 and takes a long siesta. He returns to work at 17:30 P.M. and stays there until midnight.
Gen. Charles Willoughby (Tokyo chief of intelligence - G2) is another faithful servant - whose job is to provide intelligence reports in support of Mac plans. For example, Mac wants to expand the Korean War into WW3 and therefore, Gen. Willoughby gathers "reliable" intelligence data and issues a definitive statement -
"The Chinese and Soviets have decided against further expensive investment in support of a lost cause."
Sun Tzu said:
"Now the general is the bulwark of your army; if the bulwark is complete at all points; the army will be strong; if the bulwark is defective, the army will be weak. There are three ways in which a leader can bring misfortune upon his army: (1) By commanding the army to advance or to retreat, being ignorant of the fact that it cannot obey. This is called 'hobbling'. (2) By attempting to govern an army in the same way as he administers a government, being ignorant of the conditions which obtain in an army. This causes restlessness in the soldiers' minds. (3) By employing the officers of his army without discrimination, through ignorance of the principle of adaptation to circumstances. This shakes the confidence of the troops.
"But when the army is restless and distrustful, trouble is sure to come from the other dissidents. This is simply bringing anarchy into the army, and flinging victory away. Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory:
(1) He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.
(2) He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.
(3) He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks.
(4) He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.
Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."
If only the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington heeded Sun Tzu, millions of lives would have been saved.
Nov. 6, 1950 - Peng Dehuai orders his men to break all active combats with the enemy forces and withdraw to their mountain sanctuaries. Peng hopes that MacArthur has gotten the message and get out of N Korea without further losses. Peng needs to rest and resupply his troops. Peng needs time to assess battle performance of the enemy and refine his tactics.
Nov. 8, 1950 - Peng Dehuai was wrong - MacArthur did not get it. MacArthur orders his air force to starts a massive bombing of Manchurian border installations, and anything standing south of the border - "every factory, every city, and village." The Joint Chiefs of Staff approve the order without consulting the State Dept. The air force commander, Gen. Stratemeyer, reports Mac's order to his superiors in Washington which is leaked to the State Dept. All hell breaks out. The State Dept. countermands MacArthur's order. But Truman sides with MacArthur.
MacArthur dares Peng by bombing Andong, the Chinese city where Peng's headquarters is located.
Nov. 10 - Tokyo: Gen. Willoughby, chief of MacArthur's G2, reports:
"In the frontier area, fullest advantage can be taken of the extent to which world opinion already is conditioned to acts of aggression and regards identification of a few regiments on the wrong side of a border as something less than overt action..
It will be much easier to ship up support of public opinion in China for major military operations if immediate threat to the Manchurian border can be claimed, which sources believe will be done despite the belief that CCF (Chinese Communist Forces) leaders are aware that the UN forces have no intention of crossing the Manchuria."
Nov. 13 - The 7th Marine Regiment occupies Hagaru. The Chinese disengage and disappear. Peng Tehuai replaces his front line troops with fresh ones for the second major offensive. The Chinese army works on a "five-days to fight and 10 days to replenish" schedule due to their limited resupply capability. Fresh troops are loaded up in a rear area and then march forward to replace the exhausted and out-of supply front-line troops. Later in the war, the Chinese rely on captured war materiel to compensate for this weakness.
Nov. 15, 1950 - Shenyang, China: The worst winter in 200 years is raging through Manchuria and Korea. Pen Dehuai welcomes this unexpected help from mother nature. Peng knows that the Americans are not prepared for winter combats. Peng rises at 5:30 A.M. and does an old-man's tai chi exercise by his bed. He does a short run-around in the courtyard - rain or shine - for about 20 min.
At 6:30 A.M., Peng leads his staff on a jog around the command area, a distance of about 2 km. Peng eats breakfast of tea and a bowl of spicy rice gruel. He goes over cables and reports while eating. He attends the first staff meeting at 8:00 A.M. Meetings last all day and night until about midnight.
Peng states -
"First, although we were able to succeed in our initial attack operations, the enemy's main force units were not damaged. Since the main force units of the Chinese Peoples Volunteers had not appeared, the enemy were anticipating an attack. Second, the enemy was counting on his air power to cut our communications and food supply.
This gave us an opportunity to deceive the enemy with regard to our intentions. Since we only sent a few troops, we were able to plant the impression that our food and supplies were insufficient. Third, because the enemy was armed with aircraft and tanks, it would be difficult for us to win if we fought directly with such an enemy."
Peng's next move is to smash Ned Almond's US X Corps in Hamgyon Namdo. This task falls on 120,000 volunteers of the 9th Army Group commanded by Song Shilung. In the western front, the 13th Army Group lead by Li Tianyu will take Seoul and move southward as far as it can go. Peng tells his generals -
"The enemy has learned nothing over the past few weeks. They continue to advance recklessly. To that extent, our first-phase offensive has been a failure. My strategy may have been overly cautious. But in an encounter of this nature, with so many unknown possibilities, it seemed essential to get into position and deliver deterrent attacks upon the Americans without provoking a level of retaliation that would escalate the Korean conflict into another world war."
"But all we seem to have accomplished is to convince the Americans that Chinese troops have not entered Korea in any strength. This is unfortunate, because China now has no alternative but to teach the imperialists a lesson."
Peng's intelligent agents have learned Mac's "home by Christmas" offensive plan and Peng continues -
"And when it comes, the Chinese People's Volunteers will counterattack with all available force. The 9th Army Group will encircle and exterminate the US Marines around the Changjin Reservoir. Other enemy forces in that area will be mopped up along the coast. This should be possible, bearing in mind the enemy's scattered dispositions across difficult country."
Photo: US 7th Infantry moving through my birth-palce, Kapsan.
Nov. 15 - My birthday: No birthday party or cake for me this year. I have more important things on my mind. Are we winning or losing the war? MacArthur says we are winning, but everyone else is saying that we are losing. Our unit is on standby - we may be ordered into guerrilla actions or bug out at any time. No one is allowed to leave the camp.
Nov. 20 - The 7th Infantry Div. reaches the Manchurian border town, Hyesan at the Yalu River. My birth place Kapsan is completely destroyed by the special request by MacArthur and Rhee - Kapsan was the guerrilla base of Kim Il Sung during 1932-1941.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff has given MacArthur specific orders to stay far away from the Yalu, but MacArthur ignores the orders and tells his staff - "those asses in Washington" don't know how to fight a war. MacArthur is jubilant and believes he has been right about the Chicoms all along -
"Heartiest congratulations, Ned (Gen. Almond) and tell Dave Barr that the 7th Division hit the jackpot."
MacArthur takes his top generals and flies over Kapsan and Hyesanjin. Medals are handed out to all officers involved in this jackpot.
Peng Dehuai's main problem is keeping his men fed, clothed and supplied with enough ammunition. Most supplies must be moved by less than 800 old trucks of unknown age. The Soviets have promised modern trucks and they have not arrived. Supplementing the trucks are the coolies recruited from Manchuria and Korea. Some half million Chinese coolies are required to ferry war supplies across the Yalu. And as many Korean coolies are needed to deliver the goods to the front-line soldiers. The coolies must be fed, housed and protected.
Photo: The Americans wade across the Changjin River where my father has built irrigation canals in 1930's.
Nov. 18, 1950 - Peng's generals ask for artillery, air support, tanks and more food and ammunition. Stalin's promised help begins to materialize. Russian burp guns and machine guns arrive in huge numbers for Peng's army. Two Soviet air divisions are being moved to Manchuria. One air defense division is on its way. Peng's people could use better communications - anything better than the runners and 2,000-year old methods (bugles, flags, flares, etc.) in use.
Nov. 23 - Thanksgiving: The Chinese have not returned and a general relief and optimism prevail. GI's have the best meal of the war - shrimp cocktail, roast turkey, fruit cake and mince pie - all you can eat. At a Hamhung hotel, Gen. Almond and his X Corps staff attend a ravish dinner party. Little they know that this would be the last meal for many Americans.
Photo: US 7th Infantry racing to the Yalu - Haesanjin is in the background
Nov. 24 - MacArthur orders a general offensive to finish the war. Mac flies over Kapsan (my birth place) and Hyesan to gloat over destruction of Kim Il Sung's old Guerrilla base - totally unaware of the pending disaster on the ground and the end of his myth of the military genius of the 20th century. MacArthur addresses his troops:
"The United Nations massive compression envelopment in North Korea against the new Red Armies operating there is now approaching its decisive effort. The isolating component of the pincer, our air forces of all types, have for the past three weeks, in a sustained attack of model coordination and effectiveness, successfully interdicted enemy lines of support from the north so that further reinforcement therefrom has been sharply curtailed and essential supplies markedly limited.
The eastern sector of the pincer, with noteworthy and effective naval support, has now reached commanding enveloping position, cutting in two the northern reaches of the enemy's geographical potential. This morning the western sector of the pincer moves forward in general assault in an effort to complete the compression and close the vise."
"If successful, this should be for all practical purposes end the war, restore peace and unity in Korea, enable the prompt withdrawal of United Nations military forces, and permit the complete assumption by the Korean people and nation of full sovereignty and international equality."
This is the famous "Home by Christmas" promise made by MacArthur.
Nov. 25, 1950 - Mao's son, Mao Anying, is killed in a bomb raid in Pyongyang along with scores of high-ranking Soviet advisers Anying was commanding an artillery unit moving toward the front when his unit was attacked by American bombers. Mao Zedung shows no emotion when informed of this tragedy and forbids publication of his son's death. Mao does not want any preferential handling of Anying's death. He is just one of the many thousands of the Chinese youth sacrificed fighting the American imperialists.
Photo: Mao and son, killed in Korea
Mao Zedong has developed his own theory of warfare adapted from The Art of War by the 500 BC military genius Sun Tzu. Mao wrote:
"Luring the enemy to penetrate deep in our territory is the most effective military strategy for a weaker army in a defense against a stronger army....Is it not self-contradictory to fight heroically first and abandon territory afterwards? One eats first and then relieves oneself; does one eat in vain?"
Mao's strategy saved his Liberation Army many times during the Chinese Civil War. Kim Il Sung and Peng Tehuai are practicing this age-old Sun Tzu's strategy.
Photo: US 7th Infantry and 2nd Marine POW's at Chosin
Ned Almond, the X Corps commander, flies to the Changjin Reservoir and tells Task Force Smith (the 7th Infantry Division) -
"The enemy who is attacking you is nothing more than some remnants of Chinese divisions fleeing north. We are still attacking and we're going all the way to the Yalu. Don't let a bunch of Chinese laundrymen stop you."
Almonds hands out medals and returns to his hotel suite in Hamhung. Task Force Faith, including its commander, Col. Don Faith, is squashed that night by the Chinese. Captured GI's are released to the US Marines stationed south of the Reservoir. Peng wants the 5th and 7th US Marine Regiments destroyed. Song Shilu's 9th Army Group has more than 100,000 men assigned to encircle and exterminate some 20,000 US marines - the best fighting men of the world.
Peng doesn't care about the US 7th Infantry or the three ROKA divisions, numbering more than 100,000 men; he lets them escape from Wonsan, Hungnam and Chanjin via US, Japanese and S Korean ships.
