There had been signals relayed from China to the US through diplomatic channels (India, who was acting as a conduit in this) that China would not tolerate a US presence close to their borders or any troops other than ROK elements crossing the 38th Parallel, and that they would send troops if these events took place. The US did not verify these warnings. And MacArthur, a current US hero, stated that China would not intervene in any large numbers, even after CCF attacks at Unsan and in northeastern Korea. While the Far Eastern Command listed total Chinese troops in the theater as 35 000, over 300 000 had already moved into Korea.
MacArthur was convinced that he could reunify all of Korea. Regarding China, MacArthur was aware of some danger, but disregarded it, sure that allied air and firepower would disable China's ability to attack. The Chinese army was considered weak, partly because they were poorly supplied.
The Americans had been winning the war, had pushed into North Korea (Sept. 27), and were trying to end the war "by Christmas." After the entry of the Chinese into the war (first battle Oct. 25, 100 000's of CCP troops ordered into North Korea Nov.), which was a surprise to America and her allies, the entire UN army was brought to near disaster, pushing them back across the 38th. The UN army recovered, and the war settled into a stalemate that lasted two years until the peace treaty was signed dividing Korea again into North and South (early 1951 until July 27 1953), followed by failed peace talks between China and the US.
No comments:
Post a Comment