Korean War.html



This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (April 2008)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2008)

Korean War
Part of the Cold War
Clockwise, from top: American trucks crossing the 38th parallel, F-86 Sabre flying over Korea, the port in Incheon where the Battle of Incheon commenced, Chinese soldiers being welcomed back after the war, and USMC 1st Lt Baldomero Lopez climbing the seawall in Incheon.
Date June 25, 1950 – the armistice on July 27, 1953 Location Korean Peninsula Result Cease-fire; North Korean invasion repelled; establishment of Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ); a few territorial changes along the 38th parallel, but essentially uti possidetis.
Belligerents
United Nations:  Republic of Korea  Australia  Belgium  Canada  Colombia Ethiopia France Greece  Luxembourg  Netherlands  New Zealand  Philippines South Africa  Thailand  Turkey  United Kingdom  United States Naval Support and Military Servicing/Repairs:  Japan Medical staff:  Denmark  Italy  Norway  India  Sweden	Communist forces: Democratic People's Republic of Korea People's Republic of China  Soviet Union
Commanders
Syngman Rhee Chung Il-kwon Paik Sun-yup  Turkey Tahsin Yazıcı Douglas MacArthur Matthew Ridgway Mark Wayne Clark Harry S. Truman Dwight D. Eisenhower	Kim Il-sung Choi Yong-kun Kim Chaek Mao Zedong Peng Dehuai Joseph Stalin Georgy Malenkov
Strength
590,911 480,000 63,0001 26,7912 17,000 7,4303 5,4554 3,972 3,4215 1,389 1,294 1,271 1,263 1,068 900 826 44 Total: 941,356–1,139,518	260,000 780,000 26,000 Total: 1,066,000 Note: All figures may vary according to source. This measures peak strength as sizes changed during the war.
Casualties and losses
South Korea: 58,127 combat deaths 175,743 wounded 80,000 MIA or POW6 United States: 36,516 dead (including 2,830 non-combat) 92,134 wounded 8,176 MIA 7,245 POW7 United Kingdom: 1,109 dead8 2,674 wounded 1,060 MIA or POW9 Turkey: 721 dead10 2,111 wounded 168 MIA 216 POW Canada 516 dead11 1,042 wounded Australia 339 dead12 1,200 wounded France: 300 KIA or MIA13 Philippines: 112 KIA3 South Africa 28 KIA and 8 MIA14 Total: Over 474,000	North Korea: 215,000 dead, 303,000 wounded, 120,000 MIA or POW9 China (Chinese estimate): 114,000 killed in combat 34,000 non-combat deaths 380,000 wounded 21,400 POW15 (U.S. estimate):9 400,000+ dead 486,000 wounded 21,000 POW Soviet Union: 315 dead Total: 1,190,000-1,577,000+
Civilians killed/wounded (total Koreans) = 2 Million (Est.)16

The Korean War refers to a period of military conflict between North Korea (officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea) and South Korea (officially the Republic of Korea) regimes, with major hostilities lasting from June 25, 1950 until the armistice signed on July 27, 1953. The conflict arose from the attempts of the two Korean powers to re-unify Korea under their respective governments. The period immediately before the war was marked by escalating border conflicts at the 38th Parallel and attempts to negotiate elections for the entirety of Korea ¹⁷. These negotiations ended when the North Korean Army invaded the South on June 25, 1950. Under the aegis of the United Nations, nations allied with the United States intervened on behalf of South Korea. After rapid advances in a South Korean counterattack, communist-allied Chinese forces intervened on behalf of North Korea, shifting the balance of the war and ultimately leading to an armistice that approximately restored the original boundaries between North and South Korea.

While some have referred to the conflict as a civil war, many other factors were at play.¹⁸ Each side was supported by external powers and the conflict expanded, becoming a proxy war in the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union.The term has also been used to describe both the events preceding and following the main hostilities.

Name of the conflict

In South Korea, the war is often called 6·25 or 6·25 War (Korean: 6·25 전쟁), from the date of the start of the conflict or, more formally, Hanguk jeonjaeng (Hangul: 한국전쟁; Hanja: 韓國戰爭, literally "Korean War"). In North Korea, while commonly known as the Korean War, it is formally called the Joguk haebang jeonjaeng or Fatherland Liberation War (Hangul: 조국해방전쟁; Hanja: 祖國解放戰爭). In the United States, the conflict was officially termed a police action — the Korean Conflict — rather than a war, largely in order to avoid the necessity of a declaration of war by the U.S. Congress. The war is sometimes called The Forgotten War or The Unknown War because it is a major conflict of the 20th century that gets far less attention than World War II, which preceded it, and the Vietnam War, which succeeded it.¹⁹ The war was a unique combination of the techniques utilized in both World War I and World War II, beginning with swift, fast-paced infantry advances following well-choreographed bombing raids from the air by the American military and its UN allies. However, following both sides' failures at holding the land captured, battles quickly evolved into World War I-type trench warfare in January 1951, lasting until the essential border stalemate at the end. In China, the conflict was known as the War to Resist America and Aid Korea (抗美援朝), but is today commonly called the "Korean War" (朝鮮 戰爭 Chaoxian zhanzheng,²⁰ 韓國戰爭 Hanguo zhanzheng, or simply 韓戰 Hanzhan).

Japanese occupation

The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. (October 2008) Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved.

Korea had been a unified country since the 7th century.In 1895, Japan defeated China in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–5, and their Japanese forces remained in Korea, occupying strategically important parts of the country. To Japan, a late arriving player in the game of great powers, Korea seemed a natural fit in their sphere of influence.²¹

Ten years later, the Japanese defeated the Russian navy in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–5), contributing to Japan's emergence as an imperial power.²². Following the end of the Russo-Japanese War, The Japanese declared Korea was their protectorate and expanded their control over local institutions despite Korean opposition. In August 1910, a treaty of Annexation was signed.²³

While Korean nationalists from both North and South Korea have their own versions of life under Japanese rule, it was clear that Japanese policies were harsh.²⁴ Educated Koreans and nationalists were all endangered and most fled. The harshness intensified as Japan became increasingly militant in the 1930s; Korean and its literature were banned from schools and conscription began in 1938. During the Second World War, 2.6 million Koreans were conscripted for forced labour (in addition to the kidnapped "Comfort Women"). Japan, especially as the American submarine campaign intensified, stripped out all livestock, rice stocks, and metal – causing much hardship.²⁵. At the close of World War II, forces of both the Soviet Union and the United States occupied the peninsula in accordance with an agreement put forth by the United States government to divide the Korean peninsula. This decision, which was made without consultation of the Korean people, was made by then Colonel Dean Rusk and Army officer Charles Bonesteel.²⁶ The Soviet forces entered the peninsula on August 10, 1945 and remained north of the 38th parallel waiting for the US forces to arrive. A few weeks later, the American forces entered through Incheon led by U.S. Army Lt. Gen. John R. Hodge and formally accepted the surrender of Japanese forces south of the 38th parallel on September 9, 1945 at Government House in Seoul.²⁷

The end of the Second World War saw a Korea whose under-developed industrial infrastructure had been poorly maintained and much of it was damaged; there had been much famine as a result of Japanese confiscation of food-stocks; few qualified Korean administrative personnel remained due to the Japanese occupation.

Division of Korea

Though the eventual division of Korea was considered at the Potsdam Conference,²⁷²⁸ the wishes of the Korean people to be free of foreign interference were not considered.²⁹³⁰ British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had stated a determination for Korean independence and freedom at the Cairo Conference.³¹³² During the earlier Yalta Conference in February 1945, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin called for “buffer zones” in both Asia and Europe.³³ Stalin believed that Russia should have preeminence in China, and the US requested that the USSR join in the war against Japan “three months after the surrender of Germany.”³³ On August 6, 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on the Japanese Empire and, on August 8, it began the liberation on the northern part of the Korean peninsula. As agreed with the United States, the USSR halted its troops at the 38th parallel on August 26.³⁰ However, on September 3, Lt. Gen. John R. Hodge, commander of XXIV Corps and designated U.S. Commander in Korea, received a radio message from Lt. Gen. Yoshio Kozuki, commander of the Japanese 17th Area Army in Korea, reporting that Soviet forces had advanced south of the 38th parallel only in the Kaesong area.²⁷ Hodge decided to trust the Japanese reports of events in Korea. U.S. troops arrived in the southern part of the peninsula in early September 1945.³⁰

On August 10, 1945, with the Japanese surrender imminent, the American government was unsure whether the Soviets would adhere to the proposal arranged by the U.S. government. A month earlier, Colonels Dean Rusk and Charles Bonesteel, after deciding in their 1/2 hour session that at least two major ports should be included in the U.S. zone, had drawn the dividing line at the 38th parallel in less than one-half an hour using a National Geographic map for reference.^27343536 Rusk, later U.S. Secretary of State, commented that the American military was “faced with the scarcity of U.S. forces immediately available and time and space factors which would make it difficult to reach very far north before Soviet troops could enter the area.”³³

The USSR agreed to the 38th parallel being the demarcation between occupation zones in the Korean peninsula, partly to better their position in the negotiations with the Allies over eastern Europe. It was agreed that the USSR would receive surrendering Japanese troops on the northern part of Korea; the U.S., on the southern side. The Soviet forces entered and liberated the northern part of the peninsula weeks prior to the entry of American forces. In accordance with the arrangements made with the American government, the Soviet forces halted their advance at the 38th parallel.

The American forces arrived in Korea in early September.³⁰ One of Hodge’s first directives was to restore many Japanese colonial administrators and collaborators to their previous positions of power within Korea. This policy was understandably very unpopular among Koreans who had suffered horribly under Japanese colonial rule for 35 years, and would prove to have enormous consequences for the American occupation.¹⁷

A second policy set forth by Hodge was to refuse to recognize the existing political organizations that had been established by the Korean people. Hodge sought to establish firm U.S. control over events throughout the southern half of the peninsula.²² These policies would help give rise to the later insurrections and guerrilla warfare that preceded the outbreak of the civil war.²²²⁹

In December 1945, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to administer the country under the U.S.-Soviet Joint Commission, as termed by the Moscow Conference of Foreign Ministers. It was agreed by the US and the USSR, but not the Koreans, that Korea would govern itself independently after five years of international oversight.³⁷ However, both the U.S. and the USSR approved Korean-led governments in their respective halves, each of which were favorable to the occupying power’s political ideology.³⁸ Some elements of the population responded with violent insurrections and protests in the South.²² The USAMGIK tried to contain civil violence by banning strikes on December 8 and outlawing the revolutionary government and the people's committees on December 12. Events spiraled quickly out of US control, however, when Koreans²⁹ staged a massive strike on September 23, 1946 by 8,000 railway workers in Busan which quickly spread to other cities in the South. The Daegu uprising occurred on October 1, in which police attempts to control rioters caused the death of three student demonstrators and injuries to many others, sparking a mass counter-attack killing 38 policemen. It should be noted that at this time, the vast majority of members of the South Korean police force officers had been members of the Japanese police force during the colonial period.²⁹ When the US forces sided with these former collaborators, it discredited the US in the eyes of many Koreans.²⁹ Over in Yeongcheon, a police station came under attack by a 10,000-strong crowd on October 3, killing over 40 policemen and the county chief. Other attacks killed about 20 landlords and pro-Japanese officials. The US administration responded by declaring martial law, firing into crowds of demonstrators and killing an unknown number of people.³⁹

In South Korea, an anti-trusteeship right wing group known as the Representative Democratic Council emerged, this group came to oppose these U.S. sponsored agreements.^{citation needed} Because Koreans had suffered under Japanese colonization for 35 years, most Koreans opposed another period of foreign control. This opposition caused the U.S. to abandon the Soviet-supported Moscow Accords.^{citation needed} The Americans did not want a communist government in South Korea, so they called for elections in all of Korea.⁴⁰ Since the population of the South was double that of the North, the Soviets knew that Kim Il-sung would lose the election.^{citation needed}

The government that emerged was led by anti-communist U.S.-educated strongman Syngman Rhee, a Korean who had been imprisoned by the Japanese as a young man and later fled to the United States.⁴¹ The Soviets, in turn, approved and furthered the rise of a Communist government in the North.⁴⁰ Bolstered by his history as an anti-Japanese fighter, his political skills, and his connections with the Soviet Union, Kim Il-sung rose to become leader of this new government and crushed any opposition to his rule by the summer of 1947.¹⁸ In the south, those who supported Communism were driven into hiding in the hills, where they prepared for a guerrilla war against the American-supported government.¹⁸

History of Korea
Prehistory  Jeulmun period  Mumun period Gojoseon 2333-108 BC  Jin state Proto-Three Kingdoms: 108-57 BC  Buyeo, Okjeo, Dongye  Samhan: Ma, Byeon, Jin Three Kingdoms: 57 BC - 668 AD  Goguryeo 37 BC - 668 AD   Sui wars  Baekje 18 BC - 660 AD  Silla 57 BC - 935 AD   Gaya 699-820 North-South States: 698-935  Unified Silla 668-935  Balhae 698-926  Later Three Kingdoms 668-935   Later Goguryeo, Later Baekje, Silla Goryeo 918-1392   Khitan wars  Mongol invasions Joseon 1392-1897  Japanese invasions 1592-1598  Manchu invasions Korean Empire 1897–1910 Japanese rule 1910-1945  Provisional Gov't 1919-1948 Division of Korea 1945–1948 North, South Korea 1948–present  Korean War 1950–1953
List of monarchs Timeline Military history Naval history
Korea Portal This box: view • talk •

South Korean President Syngman Rhee and North Korean General Secretary Kim Il-Sung were each intent on reuniting the peninsula under his own system.⁴² Partly because of numbers of Soviet tanks and heavy arms, the North Koreans were able to escalate ongoing border clashes and go on the offensive,⁴² while South Korea, with only limited American backing, had far fewer options. The American government believed at the time that the Communist bloc was a unified monolith, and that North Korea acted within this monolith as a pawn of the Soviet Union.

Course

Invasion of South Korea

This article or section appears to contain speculation and unjustified claims. Information must be verifiable and based on reliable published sources. Please remove speculation from the article. Please see the discussion on this article's talk page.

Under the guise of a counter-attack, the North Korean Army struck in the pre-dawn hours of Sunday, June 25, 1950, crossing the 38th parallel behind a firestorm of artillery.⁴³ The North claimed Republic of Korea Army (ROK) troops under the “bandit traitor Syngman Rhee" had crossed the border first, and that Rhee would be arrested and executed.²⁷ While certainly true that both Southern and Northern militaries had for the past year exchanged gunfire and crossed over the 38th parallel, the attack on June 25 was considered by some nations to be an extension of the North's plan to unify the country and not a direct result of a particular attack from the South.

The United Nations Security Council was convened in a few hours and passed the UNSC Resolution 82 condemning the North Korean aggression unanimously. The resolution was adopted mainly because the Soviet Union, a veto-wielding power, had been boycotting proceedings since January, in protest that the Republic of China (Taiwan) and not the People's Republic of China held a permanent seat on the council.⁴⁴ President Truman had made a statement on June 27, 1950 ordering the United States air and sea forces to give the South Korean regime support. While the United Nations Security Council was convened and had been debating the issue from the invasion forward it only issued Resolution 83 on July 27 which definitively recommended member-states militarily assist the Republic of Korea. The Soviet Union's foreign minister accused the United States of starting armed intervention on behalf of the Republic of Korea before the Security Council was summoned to meet on June 27, and confronting the UN with a fait accompli.⁴⁵

Critics charged that the information on this resolution was based on U.S. sources referring to reports of the South Korean army. The DPRK was not invited to sit as a temporary member in the UN which some say violated Article 32 of the UN Charter. It was argued that the situation in Korea did not fall within the scope of the UN Charter since the initial clashes between North and South Korean forces would have to be classified as a civil war. Since the USSR representative decided to boycott the United Nations with the announced purpose of preventing action by the Security Council, the legality of UN action was challenged; legal scholars argued that unanimity among the five permanent members was required to take action on important matters.⁴⁶⁴⁷

At the outbreak of war, the North Korean Army was equipped with 274 Soviet-made tanks, about 150 YAK fighters, 110 attack bombers, 200 artillery pieces, 78 YAK trainers and 35 reconnaissance planes. Around 231,000 North Korean soldiers invaded South Korea²⁷ These forces were assigned to the invasion while 114 more fighters, 78 bombers, 105 tanks, and 30,000 were stationed in North Korea. Their navy had several small warships, and launched attacks on the South Korean Navy. North Korea's logistics system was able to quickly move supplies south as the army advanced. Thousands of Korean civilians running south were forced to hand-carry supplies, many of whom later died in North Korean air attacks.^{citation needed}

The South Korean Army had 350,000 soldiers armed, trained, and equipped by the U.S. military, and as a force with comparable in armor and artillery. The South Korean military had 160 tanks, 104 attack bomber, 164 fighter planes and 210 artillery pieces. There were no large foreign combat units in the country when the war began, but there were large American forces stationed in nearby Japan. ²⁷

The North's well-planned attack with about 231,000 troops achieved surprise and quick successes.²⁷ North Korea attacked a number of key places including Kaesŏng, Chuncheon, Uijeongbu and Ongjin. Many South Korean soldiers hated their government being a puppet of the United States and just wanted Korea to be united. Many South Koreans switched sides and fought with the North Koreans. South Korean aircraft flew to North Korean airfields and South Korean ships sailed to North Korean ports.

Within days, South Korean forces, often of dubious loyalty to the Southern regime, were in full retreat or defecting en masse to the North.⁴⁸ As the ground attack continued, the North Korean Air Force conducted bombing of Kimpo Airport near Seoul. North Korean forces occupied Seoul on the afternoon of June 28. An air battle took place over the city in which 37 South Korean fighters were shot down while only 9 North Korean fighters were downed. Two days later, the largest battle between North and South Korean forces only happened. The North Koreans destroyed 89 tanks, 76 artillery pieces, 19 bombers, and 21 fighters. South Korean casualties were 7,000, while 16,000 were captured. Many of these South Koreans later fought for North Korea. Many South Koreans deserted after the battle^{citation needed}

However, North Korea's hope for a quick surrender by the Rhee government and the reunification of the peninsula evaporated when the United States and other foreign powers intervened with UN approval.^{citation needed}

U.S. intervention

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (September 2008)

Despite the post-World War II demobilization of U.S. and allied forces, which caused serious supply problems for American troops in the region,⁴⁹ the United States still had substantial forces in Japan to oppose the North Korean military. These American forces were under the command of General Douglas MacArthur. Apart from British Commonwealth units, no other nation could supply sizable manpower.

On being told of the outbreak of large-scale hostilities in Korea, U.S. President Harry S. Truman ordered MacArthur to transfer munitions to the ROK Army, while using air cover to protect the evacuation of U.S. citizens. Truman did not agree with his advisors, who called for unilateral U.S. airstrikes against the North Korean forces, but did order the Seventh Fleet to protect Chiang Kai-Shek's Taiwan. The Nationalist government (confined to the island of Taiwan) asked to participate in the war. Their request was denied by the Americans, who felt that it would only encourage intervention by the People's Republic of China (PRC).⁵⁰

American soldiers in Korea

The first significant foreign military intervention was the American Task Force Smith, part of the U.S. Army's 24th Infantry Division based in Japan.⁵¹ On July 5, it fought for the first time at Osan and was immediately defeated with 1,416 casualties and 785 taken prisoner.⁵² The victorious North Korean forces advanced southwards, and the 24th Division was forced to retreat to Taejeon, which also fell to the Northern forces.⁵³ 3,602 casualties and 2,962 soldiers taken prisoner Major General William F. Dean, commander of the division, was taken prisoner.⁵³ 18 American fighters were shot down in this battle compared to 5 North Korean fighters. 29 U.S. bombers were shot down by North Korean fighters or anti-aircraft fire in these actions.

By August, the South Korean forces and the U.S. Eighth Army under General Walton Walker had been driven back into a small area in the southeast corner of the Korean peninsula around the city of Pusan.⁵⁴ As the North Koreans advanced, they rounded up and killed civil servants.⁵⁵ On August 20, MacArthur sent a message warning Kim Il Sung that he would be held responsible for further atrocities committed against UN troops.⁴¹⁵⁵

By September, only the area around Pusan — about 10 percent of the Korean peninsula — was still in coalition hands. With the aid of massive American supplies, naval and air support, as well as ground reinforcements, the UN forces managed to stabilize a line along the Nakdong River. This desperate holding action became known in the United States as the Pusan Perimeter.

Escalation of the Korean war

U.S. forces target rail cars south of Wonsan, North Korea, an east coast port city.

In the face of fierce North Korean attacks, the allied defense became a desperate battle called the Battle of Pusan Perimeter by Americans. However, the North Koreans failed to capture Pusan.

American air power arrived in force, flying 40 sorties per day in ground support actions^{citation needed} Strategic bombers (mostly B-29s based in Japan) closed most rail and road traffic by day, and destroyed 32 critical bridges necessary for the conduct of warfare.⁵⁶ Trains used by military and civilians alike waited out the daylight hours in tunnels.⁵⁷

Throughout all parts of Korea, the American bombers knocked out the main supply dumps and eliminated oil refineries and seaports that handled imports. The bombing was designed to starve North Korean forces of ammunition and other martial supplies. Naval air power also attacked transportation choke points. The North Korean forces were already strung out over the peninsula, and the destruction caused by American bombers prevented needed supplies from reaching North Korean forces in the south.⁵⁸

Meanwhile, supply bases in Japan were pouring weapons and soldiers into Pusan.⁵⁹ American tank battalions were rushed in from San Francisco; by late August, America had over 500 medium tanks in the Pusan perimeter.⁶⁰ By early September, UN-ROK forces were decidedly more powerful and outnumbered the North Koreans by 180,000 to 100,000. At that point, they began a counterattack.²⁷⁶⁰

South Korean and allied forces move north

Main article: Battle of Incheon

In the face of these overwhelming reinforcements, the North Korean forces found themselves undermanned and with weak logistical support.⁶⁰ They also lacked the substantial naval and air support of the Americans.⁵⁸ In order to alleviate pressure on the Pusan Perimeter, General MacArthur, as UN commander-in-chief for Korea, argued for an amphibious landing far behind the North Korean lines at Incheon.⁶¹

The violent tides and strong enemy presence made this an extremely risky operation.⁶² MacArthur had started planning a few days after the war began, but he had been strongly opposed by the Pentagon.⁶¹ When he finally received permission, MacArthur activated the X Corps under General Edward Almond (comprising 70,000 troops of the 1st Marine Division and the Army's 7th Infantry Division and augmented by 8,600 Korean troops) and ordered them to land at Incheon in Operation Chromite.⁶³ By the time of the attack on September 15, thanks to reconnaissance by guerrillas, misinformation and extensive shelling prior to the invasion, the North Korean military had few soldiers stationed in Incheon, so the U.S. forces met only light resistance when they landed, though extensive shelling and bombing destroyed much of the city.⁶⁴

The landing was a decisive victory, as X Corps rolled over the few defenders and threatened to trap the main North Korean army.⁶⁵ MacArthur quickly recaptured Seoul.⁶⁶ The North Koreans, almost cut off, rapidly retreated northwards; about 25,000 to 30,000 made it back.⁶⁷⁶⁸

Invasion of North Korea

Main article: UN Offensive, 1950

The United Nations troops drove the North Koreans back past the 38th parallel.⁶⁹

Urban combat in Seoul, 1950, as U.S. Marines fight North Koreans holding the city

The UN forces crossed into North Korea in early October 1950.⁷⁰ The U.S. X Corps made amphibious landings at Wonsan and Iwon, which had already been captured by South Korean forces advancing by land.⁷¹ The Eighth U.S. Army, along with the South Koreans, drove up the western side of Korea and captured Pyongyang on October 19.⁷² By the end of October, the North Korean Army was rapidly disintegrating, and the UN took 135,000 prisoners.

The UN offensive greatly concerned the Chinese, who worried that the UN forces would not stop at the Yalu River, the border between North Korea and China, and might extend their rollback policy into China.⁷³ Many in the West, including General MacArthur, thought that spreading the war to China would be necessary and that since North Korean troops were being supplied by bases in China, those supply depots should be bombed. However, Truman and the other leaders disagreed, and MacArthur was ordered to be very cautious when approaching the Chinese border.⁷³

Chinese intervention

On June 27, 1950, before China entered the conflict, President Truman ordered the 7th Fleet to enter the Taiwan Straits, in order to protect Taiwan from Chinese Communist forces.⁷⁴ The PRC warned American leaders through neutral diplomats that it would intervene to protect its national security.⁷³ Truman regarded the warnings as “a bald attempt to blackmail the U.N.” and did not take it seriously.⁷⁵ The PRC Government argued that in making Japan its main war base in the Far East, launching an invasion against Korea and the Chinese province of Taiwan, and carrying out active intervention in other countries in Asia, the United States was building up a military encirclement of China.⁷⁶ The PRC Government reported that prior to China's entry in the Korean conflict, the United States violated Chinese airspace, bombing peaceful towns and villages.⁷⁷

On October 15, 1950, Truman went to Wake Island for a short, highly publicized meeting with MacArthur.⁷⁸ MacArthur, saying he was speculating, saw little risk.⁷⁹ MacArthur explained that the Chinese had lost their window of opportunity to help North Korea's invasion. He estimated the Chinese had 300,000 soldiers in Manchuria, with between 100,000-125,000 men along the Yalu; half could be brought across the Yalu. But the Chinese had no air force; hence, “if the Chinese tried to get down to Pyongyang, there would be the greatest slaughter.”⁶⁷⁸⁰ MacArthur assumed that Chinese wished to avoid heavy casualties.^{citation needed}

U.S. soldiers fire a 105 mm howitzer in an indirect fire mission on the Korean battle line, near Uirson in August 1950.

On October 8, 1950, the day after American troops crossed the 38th parallel, Chairman Mao Zedong issued the order to assemble the Chinese People's Volunteer Army. Seventy percent of the members of the PVA were Chinese regulars from the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Mao ordered the army to move to the Yalu River, ready to cross.^{citation needed} Mao sought Soviet aid and saw intervention as defensive of the broader revolutionary situation in Asia: “If we allow the United States to occupy all of Korea, Korean revolutionary power will suffer a fundamental defeat, and the American invaders will run more rampant, and have negative effects for the entire Far East.” he told Stalin. Premier Zhou Enlai was sent to Moscow to add force to Mao's cabled arguments. Mao delayed while waiting for substantial Soviet help, postponing the planned attack from October 13 to October 19. However, Soviet assistance was limited to providing air support no nearer than sixty miles (100 km) from the battlefront. The Soviet MiG-15s in PRC colors did pose a serious challenge to UN pilots. In one area, nicknamed “MiG Alley” by UN forces, they held local air superiority against the American-made Lockheed F-80 Shooting Stars until the newer North American F-86 Sabres were deployed. The Chinese were angry at the limited extent of Soviet involvement, having assumed that they had been promised full scale air support.^{citation needed}

The Chinese made contact with American troops on November 1, 1950. Thousands of Chinese had attacked from the north, northwest, and west against scattered U.S. and South Korean (Republic of Korea or ROK) units moving deep into North Korea. The Chinese seemed to come out of nowhere as they swarmed around the flanks and over the defensive positions of the surprised United Nations (UN) troops.⁸¹

The Chinese march and bivouac discipline also minimized any possible detection.⁸² In a well-documented instance, a Chinese army of three divisions marched on foot from An-tung in Manchuria, on the north side of the Yalu River, 286 miles (460 km) to its assembly area in North Korea, in the combat zone, in a period ranging from 16 to 19 days. One division of this army, marching at night over circuitous mountain roads, averaged 18 miles (29 km) per day for 18 days. The day's march began after dark at 19:00 and ended at 03:00 the next morning. Defense measures against aircraft were to be completed before 05:30. Every man, animal, and piece of equipment were to be concealed and camouflaged. During daylight, bivouac scouting parties moved ahead to select the next day's bivouac area. When Chinese units were compelled for any reason to march by day, they were under standing orders for every man to stop in his tracks and remain motionless if aircraft appeared overhead.⁸² Officers were empowered to shoot any man who violated this order.²⁷

Map of the Battle of Chosin Reservoir

In late November, the Chinese struck in the west, along the Chongchon River, and completely overran several South Korean divisions and successfully landed a heavy blow to the flank of the remaining UN forces.⁸³ The ensuing defeat of the U.S. Eighth Army resulted in the longest retreat of any American military unit in history.⁸⁴ Mostly due to the successful but very costly rear-guard action by the Turkish Brigade at Kunuri during November 26 to 30th, which slowed the Chinese onslaught by 3-4 days, the U.S. 8th Army escaped complete annihilation by the Chinese. In the east, at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, a 30,000 man unit from the U.S. 7th Infantry Division and U.S. Marine Corps was also unprepared for the Chinese tactics and was soon surrounded, though they eventually managed to escape the encirclement, albeit with over 15,000 casualties, after inflicting heavy^specify casualties on six Chinese divisions.⁸⁵

While the Chinese soldiers initially lacked heavy fire support and light infantry weapons, their tactics quickly adapted to this disadvantage, as explained by Bevin Alexander in his book How Wars Are Won:

The usual method was to infiltrate small units, from a platoon of fifty men to a company of 200, split into separate detachments. While one team cut off the escape route of the Americans, the others struck both the front and the flanks in concerted assaults. The attacks continued on all sides until the defenders were destroyed or forced to withdraw. The Chinese then crept forward to the open flank of the next platoon position, and repeated the tactics.

Roy Appleman further clarified the initial Chinese tactics as:

In the First Phase Offensive, highly skilled enemy light infantry troops had carried out the Chinese attacks, generally unaided by any weapons larger than mortars. Their attacks had demonstrated that the Chinese were well-trained disciplined fire fighters, and particularly adept at night fighting. They were masters of the art of camouflage. Their patrols were remarkably successful in locating the positions of the UN forces. They planned their attacks to get in the rear of these forces, cut them off from their escape and supply roads, and then send in frontal and flanking attacks to precipitate the battle. They also employed a tactic which they termed Hachi Shiki, which was a V-formation into which they allowed enemy forces to move; the sides of the V then closed around their enemy while another force moved below the mouth of the V to engage any forces attempting to relieve the trapped unit. Such were the tactics the Chinese used with great success at Onjong, Unsan, and Ch'osan but with only partial success at Pakch'on and the Ch'ongch'on bridgehead.²⁷

The U.S. forces in northeast Korea, who had rushed forward with great speed only a few months earlier, were forced to race southwards with even greater speed and form a defensive perimeter around the port city of Hungnam, where a major evacuation was carried out in late December 1950.⁸⁶ Facing complete defeat and surrender, 193 shiploads of American men and material were evacuated from Hungn