July 1,1950 - Muccio sends his deputy Noble to meet with Rhee Syngman. Noble asks Rhee to evacuate Taejun. Rhee is going mad and blames MacArthur (Rhee's "great God"), Truman and Muccio for the disaster in S Korea. Rhee announces that he and his wife are ready to die in Taejon - no more retreat. Rhee's wife finally talks the old man out of his madness. Rhee and his cabinet retreat to Taegu.
July 2 - Japan: Col. Smith receives his marching order from Gen. Dean, commander of the 24th Division -
"When you get to Pusan, head for Taejon. We want you to stop the North Koreans as far from Pusan as possible."
Gen. Dean did not know where the ROK Army or Rhee was - he did not care. Col. Smith and Company are given a Messiah's welcome at Pusan complete with a marching band. MacArthur's pointman in Korea, Gen. Church, assures Col. Smith that
"a few white soldiers will scare the shit out of the gooks and the war would be over in no time at all".
July 3 - US war planes bomb ROK Army headquarters at Suwon, ROK tanks, ROK ammunition trains, and civilian targets still in S Korean hands. Rhee wants to know just whose side are the Yanks? MacArthur orders US planes to stay north of the Han River. S Korean police commits one of the worst mass massacres at Suwon under Donald Nichols (US CIC) supervision at Suwon.
About 1,800 political prisoners are shot to death by the retreating police. Two American bull-dozers are kept busy digging ditches and burying the victims. The prisoners are brought in from nearby prisons in army trucks. They are lined up along the edge of a ditch and shot in the head while Donald Nichols dutifully photographed the scene.
July 5, 1950 - Jukmi Pass (Osan): The N Korean tanks roll over the first American unit sent to Korea - The 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, USA Army, code named Task Force Smith (after its commander, Col. Charles Smith). The task force had 540 men, 120 rounds per M1 rifle, two 75mm recoilless rifles, with 12 rounds, four 4.2" mortars, 2 days of C-rations and no working radio. Col. Smith escapes south with 86 survivors - the wounded, dead and heavy equipment are left behind.
July 6 - Taejong: One of the worst atrocities of the war occurs. The S Korean police under the guidance of US advisers murder some 7,000 imprisoned guerrillas from Cheju, Taebaik, Yosu and other areas in the village of Yangwol near Taejung. The local farmers are forced to dig mass graves for the dead while the Americans video the massacres from their jeeps.
July 7, 1950 - Beijing: Mao sees a disaster looming for Kim Il Sung and orders his military to prepare for military actions in Korea. Gen. Nie Rongzhen, acting Chief of Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, convenes a series of meetings of the Military Affairs Committee.
July 8 - The US military is worried about the Soviets stirring up trouble while US is tied down in Korea. A CIA internal report states -
"It is not yet clear whether the USSR will force the Chinese Communists to give open support to the Korean operations or to start a new operation elsewhere in the area. The Peiping regime is unlikely to commit military forces to operations outside China on its own initiative, but almost certainly would comply with a Soviet request for military action. Chinese Communist troop strength and dispositions would permit intervention in Korea with little or no warning."
Another CIA report asserts -
"the Soviet leaders would be justified in assuming a substantial risk of general war during the remainder of 1950, arising either out of the prosecution of the Korean incident or out of the initiation of new local operations. Soviets are capable of employing against the continental US the twenty-five A-bombs estimated to be currently available. The Soviets may use TU-4 bombers possibly disguised with US markings on one-way missions, and clandestine introduction of nuclear weapons into key harbors by merchant ships."
These reports never reached the top policy makers.
July 9, 1950 - Tokyo: MacArthur sees his glorious career going down the drain. His army, which now outnumbers the communists, is losing badly in S Korea. MacArthur wants to use A-bombs in Korea. And Rhee urges him to drop the A-bombs right away. Rhee does not mind Korea turned into a no-man's land as long as he retains his power. A man who had embezzled Korean patriots in 1925 - wants his country destroyed to stay in power and satisfy an American megalomaniac's ego.
MacArthur asks for ten to twenty A-bombs. Mac says -
"I would cut them (Chinese and Russians) off in N Korea. In Korea I visualize a cul-de-sac. The only passages leading from Manchuria and Vladovostok have many tunnels and bridges. I see here a unique use for the atomic bomb - to strike a blocking blow - which would require a six-months repair job."
Fortunately for Korea, the cool heads in Washington deny Mac's request. If no nukes, then MacArthur says he needs four infantry divisions in addition to the four he has requested two days earlier.
Photo: N Koreans occuprying Taejun
July 10, 1950 - The American and S Korean troops are bottled up in the Pusan perimeter. The North Koreans are trying to hit Pusan from due west. The N Korean 2nd Army led by Gen. Mu Jong pushes south along the west coast. The Pang Ho San Unit (the 6th Division of the Mu's 2nd Army) takes Chinju. The People's Committees are resurrected in liberated areas in S Korea. Guerrillas come out from their hideouts and join the N Korean Army.
More than 60 members of the Republic of Korea National Assembly join the N Korean cause. It is back to the early days of 1945 - we are getting liberated from the American colonials and their Japanese collaborators. Kim Il Sung is our national hero after all!
July 19, 1950 - Chiang Kai Sek offers to send three of his best divisions to help Rhee. The Joint Chiefs of Staff think Chiang is trying to get a free meal out of Rhee's problems. Truman tells Chiang to mind his business -
"The present military neutralization of Formosa is without prejudice to political questions affecting that island. Our desire is that Formosa not become embroiled in hostilities disturbing to the peace of the Pacific and that all questions affecting Formosa are to be settled by peaceful means as envisaged in the Charter of the United Nations."
July 20, 1950 - N Korean newspapers are full of pictures of inhuman atrocities committed by the American soldiers: whole villages burned down, women and children machine gunned, captured soldiers beheaded and so on. The Americans routinely burn villages suspected of harboring guerrillas. Many are burnt just to deny sanctuary to the communists. Children and women are choice targets for the Americans.
The Americans show no respect for Koreans, especially the ROK Army. The majority of combats are done by S Koreans and yet they are hardly mentioned in any war news or briefings. American units routinely diverted war supplies intended for ROKA to their own units.
The American racism is not limited to the lower-level roughneck grunts. Gen. Hobart Gay, commander of the 1st Cavalry Division, states in public that he does not consider ROK troops ready for any serious combats. Gen. Gay evicts all Korean civilians, women and children, from his area of operation. His eviction includes S Korean police as well. The ROK government officials, including Rhee, are kept in the dark by the US military. Rhee gets war news from newspapers.
July 20 - Taegu: The front lines have stabilized. The UN forces now outnumber the North Koreans - close to 100,000 men. The ROKA is back to 45,000, roughly 50% of its pre-war muster. The US commanders know that the Korean units are filled with farmers and youths pressed into battles with virtually no training. These conscripts are led by equally green "seven-day wonders" - second lieutenants mass produced by the S Korean 7-day "officer" school.
The UN forces now have heavy tanks, modern artillery and mastery of the sky and the seas. A lucky strike by an American bomber wipes out the supreme command of the North Korean Army (South) - the turning point of the war. A solemn Kim Il Sung attends the state funeral of the dead war heroes in Pyongyang.
July 23 - Tokyo: MacArthur cables the JCS:
"Operation planned mid-September is amphibious landing of a two division corps in rear of enemy lines for purpose of enveloping and destroying enemy forces in conjunction with attack from south by Eighth Army. I am firmly convinced that early and strong effort behind his front will sever his main line of communication and enable us to deliver a decisive and crushing blow. The alternative is a frontal attack which can only result in a protracted and expensive campaign."
None of the communist intelligence services pick up this cable.
July 30 - Formosa: MacArthur is given a hero's welcome in Taipei. In an earlier secret cable to Truman, Chiang Kai Sek offered to resign and make MacArthur the new Generalissimo of Formosa (NB: Mac was offered the job of Field Marshall of the Philippines in 1940's). Here is a strange case: an American general is being interviewed for a job with a foreign government. MacArthur talks with Chiang with Chiang's American-educated wife interpreting - no outsiders are present: no one. including the CIA, knows what these old men have discussed. MacArthur wants to expand the war while Chiang wants the Yankee purse opened for him again.
Aug. 1, 1950 - Beijing: Mao Zedong and the Soviet foreign minister Molotov discuss the Korean War. The CIA report on this meeting reads:
"Thus the stage has been set for some form of Chinese Communist intervention or participation in the Korean war. Overt participation by regular forces would preclude admission of Communist China to the UN, while covert participation of Manchurian volunteers might ensure continued localization of the conflict. Intervention could be launched to restore peace by preventing further US aggression and could be linked with the USSR sponsored peace campaign. It is impossible to determine at this time whether a decision has been made. In any case, some form of armed assistance to the North Koreans appears imminent."
Aug. 3, 1950 - The best known surgeon in N Korea, Dr. Lee, is killed in S Korea. Dr. Lee was the only Korean surgeon in Hamhung before the liberation. He was much respected even by the Japanese. After the liberation, he taught at Hamhung Medical College. When the War broke out, he volunteered to serve the People's Army fighting in S Korea. American bombs wiped out his medical unit near Taejun.
Aug. 4, 1950 - A #500-bomb explodes on the roof of an abandoned factory mere 20 miles from Pusan - the N Korean People's Army Front Command Headquarters. The bomb breaks Gen. Kang Kon's arm, chief of staff (Kang Kon died on Sept. 8, 1950 by a land mine) and nearly misses Gen. Kim Chaik, the Front Commander. It does destroy the radio room and leaves only a single radio still operating. Kim Chaik realizes that he has missed a golden opportunity to take Pusan - he has wasted too many resources and time in his ill-conceived mop up operations in Chulla Namdo region.
Photo: N Korean Front Army HQ
Aug. 5, 1950 - Beijing: The Military Affairs Committee orders Gao Gang, commander of the Northeast Military District, to complete combat preparations by the middle of August. Gao Gang has 4 armies, 3 artillery divisions and air units under his command.
Aug. 6, 1950 - Beijing: Mao Zedung gathers his top generals - Chu The, Peng Tehuai, Su Yu, Nie Rongzhen, Deng Xiaoping, Ho Lung and others - to discuss the Korean War and the Taiwan invasion plan. Peng and Su advise Mao that the People's Liberation Army is not ready to invade Taiwan. The Army will need modern weapons and transports. Besides, the US Navy is the way because of the Korean War and the invasion must be postponed until the Korean War is concluded and the US Navy withdrawn from the Strait of Formosa..
Gen. Nie, acting chief of staff, PLA, reports that the N Korean Army is bogged down and the tide is about to turn against it. Gen. Nie is also concerned about the excessive loss rate (more than 40%) of the N Korean Army. Gen. Su Yu, in charge of the Taiwan invasion army, asks - "What is China supposed to do about it?' The PLA Supreme Commander, Zhu Te, replies -
"The Revolutionary Committee has spent a great deal of time discussing the possibility - and I emphasize the tentative nature of our talks. The Committee feels, after giving the matter lengthy consideration, that we should urgently prepare contingency plans to back up the Korean People's Army if the situation on the Korean battlefront deteriorates. There seems little likelihood of this happening, but I need not remind you of the need for planning for any and every contingency."
Gen. Ho Lung asks - "Is there any chance of the Americans using the atomic bomb?". Gen. Nie states that it is not likely because Stalin has the bomb, too. But, will Stalin help? Another general asks if the PLA is not up to invade Taiwan now, how can it fight the Americans in Korea? After much debates, the generals agree that China must be prepared to help Kim Il Sung.
Peng states - "There is every indication that this bridgehead will be eliminated within the next two weeks. If it is not, then the possibility of protracted war in Korea cannot be ruled out. Look carefully at the geography. The Korean peninsula . Long and narrow. Remember the enemy. MacArthur the - what's the word?--the 'island-hopper.' The Korean peninsula lends itself to amphibious operations, though this will require a lot of daring. Our Korean comrades discount the possibility, but remember, whoever makes the first move, wins."
"Remember also that a long and narrow landmass imposes its peculiar limitations on our field armies. In past campaigns we have habitually traded space for time when confronting a better-equipped opponent. Korea has no such space. It could turn out to be a straitjacket. A peninsula presents unusual supply difficulties. This occurred to me when I reviewed the American situation in Pusan. The Americans problems are considerably eased because distances within the Pusan perimeter are short. Although it is true that the enemy is forced to transport men and materiel great distances by sea. those supply lines are inviolate. They cannot be cut."
"Our Korean comrades, on the other hand, are operating a long way from their supply bases. This is becoming a dreadful disadvantage. American air attacks on those supply lines are causing serious losses. The basic problem of Korea, for either side, is that the farther you advance the slimmer your supplies are likely to become."
"China will become involved in hostilities in Korea only if the integrity of their Democratic People's Republic is directly threatened. There is no likelihood of any such disaster at present. Still, it is our business to cover every contingency, so let us assume that some incredible turn of fortune enables the American imperialists to launch a full-scale invasion north of the 38th parallel. The Chinese response, in my opinion, should be on a limited scale, sufficient to warn the aggressors. If that fails, we should attack with the full weight of the People's Liberation Army."
Aug. 6, 1950 - Truman wants to know exactly what MacArthur has promised Chiang, but the old fox hedges. Truman sends Averell Harriman to Tokyo to grill the general and determine if he is mentally and physically fit for his job. MacArthur tells Harriman that: 1) Chiang offered him a full-time job commanding Chiang's troops, but Mac declined (Mac offered Chiang consulting services), 2) Discussed purely military matters. MacArthur then proposes to Harriman to "let Chiang land on Chinese mainland and get rid of him that way." Harriman believes the old general is going insane or senile
Aug. 8, 1950 - American bombers appear daily and bomb railroad and bridges in Hamhung. Some 47,000 Americans are fighting in S Korea and they outnumber the communists. The N Korean Army has lost its momentum and the front lines stabilize on the Pusan perimeter - from Pohang on the east coast, Chinju on the southwest and Taegu on the north. The NKA 6th Division is stopped at Pohang and fails its mission to drive south along the coast to Pusan - the first (and the fatal) defeat of the N Korean Army.
Aug. 10, 1950 - We have a sudden increase in wounded soldiers arriving in our town. The Hamhung Medical School is turned into an army hospital. My brother is only a sophomore at the School but my father thinks he will be drafted as an army doctor at any time. The army hospital is located at the foot of Mt. Unhung, only a few blocks from my house. The wounded soldiers are allowed out to roam the neighborhood and mingle freely with civilians. The soldiers pick flowers in the meadow across from my house (the hospital backs into the meadow). I spend hours fascinated listening to the war stories of these veterans fresh from the battle fields of S Korea.
I get to know Comrade Choe very well. He is 35 years old - his family was killed by Koreans working for the Japanese in Manchuria. He joined the Chinese 8th Route Army at the age of 14. I met him a few days earlier in the meadow across from my house (back of the Hamhung Medical School - an army hospital now). As usual I was chatting with a group of wounded soldiers sun bathing in the meadow. I asked about the famous Chinese 8th Route Army - using the derogatory "Ddong ddae nom" (dirty chinaman).
One of the comrades gave me a tongue lashing for using this term. This comrade was Choe. He told me his story - how he was taken care of by Chinese peasants when his family was wiped out in Manchuria. He went on to relate his war experience in China and S Korea. Choe says that the American soldiers rely on tanks and air planes. They are no match for us - man to man, but they do have more tanks and planes (which we don't have). He points to a wounded tank commander sitting next to him. His tank shot down an American B29 plane, but not before he was wounded.
Comrade Choe says that the American soldiers are afraid to die. At the first sign of a trouble, they panic and abandon their weapons. The Americans like to play opossum. Choe recommends shooting "dead" Americans at least twice in the head. The Americans are afraid of night fighting because their air planes cannot help them during the night. They depend on trucks and jeeps for mobility - they don't like to walk any long distance. You destroy their vehicles and they surrender without fight.
Choe's winning secret is to slip a few men behind the enemy positions and fire a few shots. This spooks the Americans into daze and frantic calls for help. Choe was leading an attack when friendly covering fires by a green-horn gunner hit him on the left foot. Choe has no bad feelings towards the gunner: he is eager to rejoin his unit.
Aug. 20, 1950 - Stalin realizes that Kim Il Sung is about to go under and sends a military commission headed by Gen. M. V. Zakharov, deputy chief of staff of the Red Army, to Pyongyang. Zakharov plots out various military options - guerrilla warfare, Soviet volunteers, Chinese volunteers, and so on.
Photo: Mao Zedung, Bulganin, and Stalin
Aug. 24, 1950 - Beijing: Gen. Deng Hua, Commander of the Northeast Defense Force, reports to Mao that Kim Il Sung's rapid advance has resulted in excessive extension of supply lines, that the great gap between forward and rear areas are likely to invite MacArthur to launch amphibious operations in the vicinity of Seoul or Pyongyang. Mao agrees with Deng Hua's assessment and warns Kim Il Sung and Stalin to slow down and beef up coastal defenses.
Mao is worried that Kim will get China sucked into his war. China had been fighting for over 20 years. and it had only just been unified. The internal devastation had to be: repaired and land reform in newly liberated areas is in an unfinished state. In border districts there are bandits, spies. and Kuomintang remnant forces. Mao would prefer to prepare for liberation of Taiwan and Tibet. But the US imperialists are about to wipe out Kim Il Sung and he must be helped.
Aug. 25, 1950 - An American general Dean, commander of the 25th Division, is captured hiding in a rice field near Taejung. His picture is a front-page news. Dean was in charge of the Taejung defense on July 19. His troops were wiped out by the guerrillas and N Korean troops, but Dean escaped and has been in hiding since. Finally, he is spotted and captured on this day. He is the ranking American POW of the Korean war. (NB. Col. Lee Hak Ku was the ranking NK POW. Gen. Walker, commander of the 8th Army, was the ranking KIA and Gen. Kang Kon, commander of the N Korean Army (South) was the ranking KIA on the communist side.).
Aug. 25 - 1950 - The first major OPC operation, code named Trudy Jackson, is conducted by a US team led by 39-year old Lt. Eugene Clark of the US Navy. Clark was a Japanese linguist attached to MacArthur's G2. He is volunteered to lead an OPC team made of Lt. Youn Joung (ROK Navy), Col. Ke In Ju (ROKA), a US Army captain, and 10 Korean agents trained by Tofte. Col. Ke was formally an intelligence officer who was fired by Rhee for his failure to predict the invasion.
August 28, 1950 - Hans Tofte flies Clark and the two Korean officers to an OPC camp at Sasebo. There they receive a quick lesson on covert operations and get teamed up a CIA radio team. Tofte gives Clark enough weapons, rice, dried fish, sugar, whiskey and gold bars to form a guerrilla army.
Photo: Lt. Clark and his CIA partisan unit near Inchon
Aug. 28, 1950 - Kim Il Sung orders his final campaign to wipe out the Pusan perimeter. Pohang and Chinju and Nakdong front lines crumble, but the US 8th Army regroups and stops the campaign. This is the turning point of the war. The North Korean Army has run out of steam and goes down hill from this time on. The bulk of the Chinese war vets are dead or wounded.
On Augst 31, 1950, the team boarded the British warship HMS Charity and left for Inchon. They were transferred to the S Korean warship PC-703 at the entrance of Flying Fish Channel. On Sept. 1, 1950, Lt. Clark and his team landed at Yonghong-do in preparation for the Inchon (14 miles from Yonghong) landing. Clark pressed some 50 islanders into scouting missions in Inchon. Informants called in the N Korean troops; the commandos escape to a nearby island of Palmi-do leaving behind the islanders. Those who helped the Americans were shot by the communists.
Sept. 1, 1950 - Shenyang (Manchuria): Gen. Peng Dehuai establishes his secret army (Chinese Volunteers Army) headquarters at an old Japanese armory. Peng moves in with two battered suitcases an one book on butterflies - his only hobby.
Sept. 5, 1950 - Nakdong: Kim Il Sung's final offensive, involving 133,000 ill-trained troops, to crush the Pusan perimeter comes to a halt. For the first time, the UN forces match the N Korean Army in numbers and fire power. By now the entire infantry fighting manpower of America is in Korea.
Sept. 8, 1950 - Kang Kon, commander-in-chief of the N Korean Front Army and many of his staff are killed by a land mine. Kang was born on June 23, 1918 in S Korea and joined Kim Il Sung's army in 1933 and stayed with Kim until his death on the banks of Nakdong, S Korea. Two days later, Kim Il Sung holds a solemn funeral for Kang in Pyongyang.
Photo: Kim Il Sung's top generals - Kang is first from right
Kim Ilsung failed because he did not heed Sun Tzu's dictum - " ground over which it flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing. Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape
Do not repeat the tactics which have gained you one victory, but let your methods be regulated by the infinite variety of circumstances. Military tactics are like unto water; for water in its natural course runs away from high places and hastens downwards.
So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak. Water shapes its course according to the nature of the, so in warfare there are no constant conditions. He who can modify his tactics in relation to his enemy and thereby succeed in winning, may be called a heaven-born captain. The five elements (water, fire, wood, metal, earth) are not always equally predominant; the four seasons make way for each other in turn. There are short days and long; the moon has its periods of waning and waxing."
Kim Il Sung has failed to shape his tactics to fit the changing war circumstances. The Americans could and did read Kim's movements like a clock. Kim was beating his head against the wall.
Sept. 10, 1950 - Shenyang: Peng Tehuai speeds up his preparation for Korean intervention. Peng sees that Kim Il Sung is fast fading away. Peng is faced with the enormous problem of assembling a an army of a quarter of a million: most field officers have no experience of fighting a conventional war against a well-organized army; transportation and communication are virtually non-existent. Mao Zedung thinks 3 weeks will be enough to place armies in N Korea, but Peng knows that it will take him at least 2 months.
Peng plans his counter attack using a giant relief model of Korea. He tells his staff for the time on the record that the Korean situation is indeed very bad for Kim Il Sung. Peng has three field armies - the 38th, the 40th and the 42nd, the finest - of the 4th Army at his disposal. Two additional field armies - the 27th and the 39th - are being brought in from South China. Peng observes -
"In war, numbers alone confer no advantage. Do not advance relying on sheer military power. Manpower alone will not win a war in Korea. Korea will be a battle of supplies."
Peng continues:
"Our planning must be flexible. In war, there are no constant conditions. We must match our methods to the prevailing circumstances: the terrain, the weather, the state of the enemy. Given the theoretical situation we have here, knowing our weaknesses as well as our strengths, I would oppose an all-out initial assault. But I would not advocate a purely guerrilla-style campaign.
Our first response to an American invasion of North Korea should be limited. The PLA has not the equipment, the supplies, or the time to launch large-scale operations deep into Korea. If by some mischance the Americans and their allies ever invade the DPRK, we should halt them north of Pyongyang at the narrow neck of the Korean peninsula."
Peng doubts if MacArthur would be so stupid as to move into the mountainous north and overreach himself - especially if he detected a large Chinese force in place. Peng orders more supply and engineering units; three more field armies arrive. Peng orders mobilization of local civilians for war.
Sept. 12 - Truman fires Secretary of Defense, Louis Johnson, for insubordination and for leaking confidential information to Truman's political opponents. Johnson has been a staunch supporter of Chiang Kai Sek and MacArthur. Gen. George Marshall is recalled from retirement to take over the Defense Dept. Truman axes his head spook, Adm. Hillenkoetter. Gen. Walter Smith takes over the CIA.
Sept. 15, 1950 - Shenyang: Gao Gang, the boss of Manchuria, calls for an emergency meeting. He informs the latest intelligence on a large American naval task force near the S Korean coast. Half way through the meeting, a signals officers brings in the news of Inchon landing. Peng Dehuai calmly proclaims to his staff -
"The American counterattack has begun. This morning the imperialists landed on the Korean coast close to Seoul. The place is called Inchon."
