numbers are debatable, but that said, pretty much everyone agrees that the chinese/NK suffered more casualties. that's not a surprise, again the US had total naval, near complete air dominance, far better supply and equipment for their army as well. the fact that china fought them back then the war ended in a stalemate is a win for the chinese. imagine if a 10 year old fought a MMA fighter, in a serious match, and the result was a tie with both still standing who do you think most people will have say to have figuratively "won" that fight?
Correct.
The COLDEST WINTER by Halberstam
David Halberstam's The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War
Should you read any history of the Korean War it should be
The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War by
David Halberstam. It was Halberstam's last book. Shortly after publication, Halbertsam was killed in an automobile accident April 23, 2007. He was on his way to interview a subject for his next book.
Lest the reader pick up this volume thinking it is a history of the compete Korean War, it is not. It is a masterful treatment of the background of the War and its principal players. Here are careful portraits of the division of the Korean peninsula into North and South following the end of World War II, the respective leaders, Kim Il Sung, indoctrinated by the Soviets during World War II, and Synghman Rhee, considered friendly to the United States. Throw in detailed sketches of Dean Acheson and Averell Harriman, original Cold War warriors for the United States, and Harry Truman in his second term as President, the man under estimated by his political opponents. Most of all, General Douglas McArthur seems to tower over them all, the Supreme Commander in World War II's Pacific Theater, and America's ruler of Occupied Japan from his headquarters in the Dai Ichi.
But Korea was long ignored by the United States. McArthur considered the country to be the problem of the State Department, not an issue of his concern. He was wrong. As time passed he would realize how wrong he was, but he would not accept responsibility for his errors. Rather he would attack the Truman Administration for not having fulfilled his request for more support and permission to widen the war that began in June, 1950, with an attack by North Korean forces across the Thirty-Eighth Parallel that caught the South Korean government and United States by surprise.
North Korean forcess threatened to push American troops off the Korean Peninsula at Pusan. It was a war of strategic mistakes, divided commands, largely the responsibility of Ned Almond, a McArthur man. Almond primarily attempted to wage war by surveying maps rather than studying the actual terrain which favored North Korean forces. McArthur waged war from his headquarters in Japan. He never spent an entire day in Korea while in command. American casualties were horrific.
An American defeat was avoided by McArthur's last hurrah. An amphibious landing at Inchon, behind the North Korean forces who had cornered American troops far south in the area of Pusan. The North Korean Assault was halted. American commands pushed the North Koreans back beyond the Thirty-Eighth Parallel. McArthur planned an American drive all the way to the Yalu River on the Manchurian Border.
McArthur promised the war would be over by Christmas and American boys would be coming home. In Washington the Administration was worried about intervention by Mao's Communist Chinese. Intelligence reports indicated massive Chinese Divisions forming along the Yalu River.
But McArthur only believed in truth as he decided it should be. The Chinese would not intervene.
American forces continued to race North. McArthur's head of Intelligence, Charles Willoughby, suppressed information of the Chinese presence. Nor was Washington any the wiser of the presence of Chinese forces. If there is a villain of the Korean War, Willoughby is one. A colleague, knowing of Willoughby's deception said Willoughby should be in jail.
On October 25 and 26, 1950, Chinese forces actively intervened, carving up American Units. Many American troops fought in summer uniforms. They were equipped with bazookas incapable of piercing the armor of Soviet T-34 tanks. The treads of American Sherman tanks froze to the ground. Soldier's carbines and M-1 rifles locked in the cold. Willoughby continued to suppress information about Chinese intervention. Division Commanders on the ground insisted they knew a Chinese when they saw one. They were ignored.
The secret presence of Chinese troops could not be kept. Not by Willoughby or McArthur. No, the troops would not be home for Christmas. McArthur argued that a widened war was absolutely essential, proposing an invasion of China and the use of atomic weapons if necessary.
McArthur's political thrusts against the Truman Administration that his hands were tied by Democrats who wanted to fight a war of appeasement ultimately led to his recall by Truman. McArthur never seemed to grasp that America was no longer alone in the nuclear age. The Soviets had successfully exploded their first atomic device in 1949.
Some military histories can be remarkably dry. David Halberstam never wrote anything that was a turgid stream of facts. This is an exceptional book filled with the stories of men, heroes and cowards both. And as with any good history, it has its lessons. It leads us to the frightening conclusion that Kim Jong-Un is the grandson of the man who launched the surprise attack on South Korea in June, 1950. There will be no easy answers to today's problems on the Korean Peninsula.
AND AT THE END
Do post up here the war game hold by Pentagon on Korean war when Dugout Doug with his battleships with 16 inch guns and artillery and Ma Dueces with unlimited ammo and cannon fodder provided by 5 Eyes and South Koreans against China with single shot bolt action rifles and limited ammo?
How soon Dougout Doug will be getting Muricans home by Christmas in 1950?
They all ran shitting in their pants and screaming MAMA MAMA south of Parallel in less than 3 weeks
Look on the front line at 24 Nov 1950 and the front line of 16 Dec 1950.
