By Qi Dexue, Bao Mingrong, Qu Aiguo, Xiao Shizhong, Chen Chuangang, and Bao Guojun
XINHUA NEWS AGENCY FIRST ANNOUNCES THE CHINESE PEOPLE’S VOLUNTEER ARMY ENTERING INTO THE WAR
On the day when the war broke out, the so-called “UN Forces” got the news that Chinese army participated in the war. However, they didn’t think it possible because in their view, the golden chance for China’s participation had slipped by and the country couldn’t turn the tide.
After China’s first success in the war, Xinhua News Agency gave a first report that the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army entered Korea and joined the war.
During the second campaign of Chinese army in the war, Mao Zedong first used the words, the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army, in his drafts for Xinhua news about the army’s attack of Seoul. Ever since, the Chinese news media formally employed the way of saying.
POSITIONAL WARFARE FIRST BECAME A MAJOR PATTERN OF CHINESE ARMY’S OPERATION
The Chinese People’s Volunteer Army employed the way of positional warfare during the war stalemate, unprecedented in the past, which marked a new era in the theory and practice of the warfare of Chinese Army.
The Chinese People’s Volunteer Army and their Korean counterparts established a strong defensive tunnel position system on the 250-km battlefront on the Korean Peninsula, forming an indestructible “Underground Great Wall” featuring tunnel warfare.
The assistant administrator of US Defense Department once commented that Mao Zedong had changed his traditional war concepts and moves and launched the position warfare which he tried to avoid before. “If you could not remember Mao, one matter you can not forget is that he is a strategist that uses the most critical perspective in assimilating past experiences and exerts most importance to practical situation,” He said.
CHINESE PEOPLE’S VOLUNTEER ARMY FIRST RELEASED WAR PRISONERS
When the night fell, several trucks carrying 103 American and South Korean war prisoners dodged the US aircraft bombardment and arrived at the forward position. The Chinese army informed them of the way to pass the US cordon, adding that they could go back in case of any failure. They were so moved that they hugged tightly with the Chinese soldiers.
The publicity of the policies of Chinese army towards war prisoners by the released ones had caused great panic in the US military authority. They blocked information and took the prisoners in custody and surveillance.
In the first battle of Chinese army, most of enemy troops made last-ditch fight and less war prisoners were captured. After the first release of war prisoners by the Chinese army, two armies of more than 100 US soldiers each surrendered during the second combat.
MAIDEN WAR OF CHINESE AIR FORCE
No less than one year after the establishment of Chinese Air Force, they entered Korea for the war. Before that, quite a number of pilots of the volunteer army had never been on the war, let alone war experience. The US pilots, however, had 1,000 hours of flight with the most, 3,000 hours, and exhausted thousands of tons of oil. Some were pilots of the World War II.
Pilot Li Han first shot down the US aircraft, and Zhao Baotong and Wang Hai brought down and damaged nine enemy planes each, the record high in individual military success in the air force of the Chinese Volunteer Army.
“It seems that the communism China has become one of the strongest powers of air force in the world overnight,” sighed the chief of staff of US air force.
FIRST TRUCE MEETING IN KOREAN WAR
When the delegation of so-called “UN Force” went for the negotiation meeting in their cars bearing white flags, the Western media were surprised, “It is the first time for a US commander under the order of US government to negotiate with enemies with white flags in 177-odd years since the founding of the United States.”
During the negotiation, the US delegation boasted of military forces and distained the Chinese and North Korean war prisoners under the guise of human rights. They tried to prolong the negotiation by adjourning and stopping the meeting, seeking what they couldn’t win on the battlefields.
“I received an undesirable honor,” said the US commander in chief after the Korean War. “I am the first commander of US land force in US history to sign a truce agreement in a war which we lost.” “The era is gone when several artilleries of Western invaders will conquer a nation,” said General Peng Dehuai of the Chinese Volunteer Army.
FIRST COMBINED OPERATION OF CHINESE LAND AND AIR FORCES
US and South Korean armies possessed an important frontier position on an island, where they stationed their information organizations. They frequently dispatched spies to infiltrate and pose threat to the rear position of Chinese and North Korean sides. The headquarters of Chinese Volunteer Army decided to eliminate this island.
The bombers of the Chinese Volunteer Army frightened several US and South Korean warships away during their first night bombardment
The Korean War witnessed the first and only combined operation of land and air forces launched by Chinese army and in the history of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), which was of great significance to future combined operation of multi arm of services of the PLA.
