Why are Chinese and American soldiers reluctant to recall the Battle of Chosin Lake? China is not willing to recall, and the United States is afraid to recall

The Battle of Chosin Lake was a battle that neither side wanted to recall. Colonel Bowser, chief of operations of the U.S. First Marine Division, said in a memoir: "I believe that the icy and snowy terrain of Chosin Lake and the fierce attack of the Chinese army regardless of casualties are a nightmare that will never linger in the hearts of every Marine." ”

At the Battle of Chosin Lake, the volunteer army suffered more than 14,000 casualties, nearly 30,000 frostbite, 32% of the total number of troops, and 22% of severe frostbite.

The U.S. Marine Corps' most elite Marine Division suffered an unprecedented blow at the Battle of Chosin Lake. According to the data released by the United States, in this battle, the US military suffered more than 7,000 casualties, of which more than 2,500 were killed or missing, and 7,300 were frostbitten.

The evaluation of the US military after the war was that the Chinese Volunteer Army won and the "United Nations Army" successfully retreated.

After the war, the history of both sides praised their own combat operations. The Ninth Corps regained a vast area in the east north of the 38th Parallel and won a strategic victory. The headquarters of the Volunteer Army sent a congratulatory message to the Ninth Corps: "You fought hard with the enemy for more than a month under the extremely difficult conditions of ice and snow and the extreme difficulties in the transportation of grain and ammunition, and finally survived the difficulties, defeated the First and Seventh Divisions of the US Invading Army, recovered many important towns, and won great victories. This strong will to fight and the spirit of fearlessness are worth learning from the whole army. ”

China's "History of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea" commented: "Under such difficult and difficult conditions, the Ninth Corps carried forward the revolutionary spirit of the people's army's bravery and tenacity, not being afraid of hardships and hardships, and not afraid of bloodshed and sacrifice, fought bloodily with the US army for more than ten days and nights, annihilated a total of 13,916 enemy personnel, gave the US First Marine Division and the Seventh Infantry Division a annihilating blow, opened up the war situation on the eastern front, and effectively guaranteed the flank and rear security of the Western Front Corps of the Volunteer Army, and completed a huge strategic task under extremely difficult circumstances." The last sentence is Mao Zedong's assessment of the Battle of Chosin Lake.

The korean authoritative historical record, the History of the Korean People's Righteous War of Liberation of the Motherland, writes: "Most of the basic forces of the enemy surrounded by the shores of Chosin Lake were annihilated, and only a part of the troops escaped from the siege on December 6 and retreated south." The Korean and Chinese People's Army forces pursued the retreating enemy, expanded the results of the offensive, and liberated Xianxing on December 18. The second line troops of the People's Army operating near Ma zhuanli and Yangde defeated the enemy who were desperately resisting, and liberated Wonsan on December 6. As a result, the retreat of the enemy's ground troops on the Eastern Front was completely cut off. The combined forces of the Korean People's Army, which were pursuing the enemy along the eastern coast, and the joint forces of the Dprk and China People's Army, which were attacking in the direction of Huangcaoling and Hamheung, compressed the enemy into the areas of Xingnan and Lianpu and dealt a fierce blow. The remnants of the enemy army, which had lost their way of retreat on the ground, fled south by boat from Xingnan in panic on December 24. As a result, the enemy who invaded the eastern region north of the 38th Parallel was completely driven out. ”

The U.S. Marine Corps' post-war summary stated: "The First Marine Division retreated from the encirclement, took all the equipment it could use, sent the wounded back, and maintained the formation to break out." ...... The three corps of the Ninth Corps of the Volunteer Army were all incapacitated due to losses in the Chosin Lake Operation, and it took a considerable time to replenish equipment and reorganize the organization. As a result, the critical moment when the U.N. army could maintain its foothold in Korea or had to give up, avoiding the reinforcement of 12 divisions of the Chinese army to the front of the Eighth Army. ”

The U.S. First Marine Division also regards the Chosin Lake Operation as its proud capital, and the U.S. military has awarded a total of 17 medals of honor and 70 naval crosses for the Chosin Lake operation, which is the largest number of medals awarded for a single operation in the history of the US military. The US "Time" magazine even said that the "Chosin Lake Operation" was "incomparable in the history of the US military ... It's an epic of stoicism and courage..."

Time magazine's evaluation of the First Marine Division is more suitable for evaluating Chinese soldiers who are helpless to watch the withdrawal of AMERICAN troops on the hills around Xingnan Port. Regrettably, except for a few heroic figures, the epic battles of the soldiers of the Ninth Corps who "sacrificed their lives to go to the country and regarded death as a sudden return" during the long battle of the month were rarely mentioned after the war.

The Japanese Defense Agency's history of the Korean War commented that MacArthur's attempt to conquer North Korea ended in failure. After the war, Japanese military researchers tried to analyze that the volunteer army still faithfully carried out offensive tasks against the enemy despite complete lack of air superiority and extreme lack of equipment, ammunition, food and cold protection. It is still difficult for us to imagine why these soldiers, who had an empty stomach for a month and only a few bullets in their magazines, did not stop the long and increasingly desperate pursuit as long as they did not fall. Japanese scholars believe that this is the spirit advocated by Mao Zedong that "no matter what difficult and difficult occasions, as long as there is one person, this person will continue to fight."

Fighting in the harsh climatic conditions of Chosin Lake, both the Ninth Corps of the Volunteer Army and the FIRST Marine Division of the United States paid a great price, and the encounters of these two powerful brigades also fully demonstrated the sense of honor and willpower of the soldiers of the two armies. Why was the Volunteer Army able to confront the world's first-class troops in the absence of its own logistics, poor communication, and insufficient firepower to attack fortifications? If there is any difference in the combat ability between the two sides, in fact, there are only two very abstract terms, that is, the spirit of fighting and the spirit of sacrifice.

Xu Bangli, a veteran of the war, said: "At that time, our troops had a saying that the enemy was crushed by us, and we were crushed by the severe cold, so when the enemy broke through, we could not take out the troops to pursue them, which was our biggest regret. ”

In September 1952, the Ninth Corps returned from Korea to china, driving along the Yalu River, the commander Song Shilun asked the driver to stop, get out of the car and stand silently in the direction of Chosin Lake for a long time, and then took off his hat and bent down and bowed deeply. When he looked up, the guards noticed that the gray-haired general was in tears and unable to hold himself. This rather tragic scene is undoubtedly the best illustration of the fierceness of the battle.

▲ Pay attention to me not to get lost, take you on a journey through the long river of history