Why did Li Chengwan's command lead to the collapse of 100,000 troops on the Korean battlefield overnight?

In order to let the president stay, Muqiao knew that the south Korean army was on the way to escape, and some of them had even been completely annihilated, but he still casually said that the south Korean army played well and no army was defeated. If the president stays in Seoul, it will inspire the fighting spirit of the troops. If the president escapes, the news will spread, "not a single South Korean soldier will resist the North Korean attack" and "the whole South Korean army will collapse without a fight". But Li Chengwan insisted on leaving. Mucho's disgust reached its peak. He said, "Well, Mr. President, if you want to leave, you can leave. Make up your mind. I won't leave anyway! "

Li Chengwan was shocked by Muqiao's tough attitude and said piteously that he couldn't leave tonight.

As soon as the wooden bridge left, Li Chengwan immediately ordered the Minister of Communications to prepare a special train and set it on fire.

The news of the president's escape first reached the members of the National Assembly. Lawmakers accused Li Chengwan of abandoning the Korean people; However, some lawmakers believe that if the president is captured, then South Korea will not exist. To this end, the National Assembly voted after several hours of debate, and most members advocated that the President stay in Seoul "with the people".

However, in the early morning of 27th, less than 50 hours after the war broke out, Li Chengwan, his family and several close assistants fled Seoul by special train. He finally didn't dare to inform Ambassador Mucho before he left. "I didn't know he had escaped until he left." Mucho later said, "He did this to keep me in a favorable position in the next few months, because he left Seoul before me."

When MacArthur came back from Tokyo airport to bid farewell to Dulles, he saw an urgent telegram, the content of which was that Washington approved him to use the navy and air force to support the retreating South Korean army. Because George, commander of the American Far East Air Force? Captain General Sturm Lyle was having a meeting in the United States, so MacArthur told Earle, deputy commander of the US Far East Air Force. Partridge issued a series of verbal orders-partridge's feeling was that MacArthur was "very happy and triumphant" when he gave the order-and he ordered the US Far East Air Force to dispatch within 36 hours, "using all available means to crack down on the North Koreans and let them taste the power of the US Air Force". MacArthur approved partridge's request to transfer a bomber brigade from the US military base in Guam to the Japanese air force base. Finally, MacArthur reminded partridge of the subtlety of this war: "The Far East Air Force is on full alert, beware of the Soviet attack on Japan."

Before dusk, the Far East Air Force Base was in a hurry. The reconnaissance plane set out for the battlefield to take pictures. The ground crew at the airport is loading the B-26 with bombs, and the fuel truck shuttles back and forth. The pilots gathered together to study every target that should be attacked in the narrow area of the Korean peninsula.

On June 27th, after nightfall, when South Korean President Li Chengwan tried to escape from Seoul, ten American B-26 bombers loaded with bombs took off. The fleet passed through the thick clouds hanging over the sea of Japan and headed for the Korean peninsula.

Syngman Rhee

The United States Far East Air Force has a history of only six years. The epaulettes of this unit are very special: in addition to the same wings as other air force units in the United States, there is also a sun said to be the Philippines and a five-star representing the Southern Cross. The Southern Cross indicates that the Far East Air Force was born in Brisben, Australia in the southern hemisphere of the earth on 1944. As for the sun in the Philippines, the American explanation is that the US Air Force was driven out of the Philippines by the Japanese in194/kloc-0, and the Far East Air Force will not forget the shame. This young army won a proud honor in the Pacific War. After the war, the Far East Air Force Command was located in a building in the center of Tokyo, Japan. Air force staff officers can overlook the royal garden of Emperor Hirohito through the window, just like overlooking the whole of Japan.

But this time, the Far East Air Force was in trouble from the beginning. First, because of the bad weather and dark night, the bomber who took off could not find the tank column of the Korean People's Army in the north of Seoul, so he flew back through the thick clouds of the Sea of Japan with the bomb. Then when the plane of the Far East Air Force took off for North Korea again, the sky over the peninsula was overcast and the bomber broke down for the second time.

MacArthur was extremely dissatisfied with the performance of the Air Force. He told partridge on the phone that the air force must be used as soon as possible, otherwise the South Korean army would be finished! Edward MacArthur's chief of staff? Major General almond told partridge more clearly that the United States should throw bombs at North Korea at all costs, whether accurate or not. In other words, whether the bomb is dropped on the head of a North Korean soldier or a South Korean soldier, just drop it!

The next day, the reconnaissance pilot Braez? Bo Xilai took off first in the RF-80A reconnaissance plane, and he finally saw the clear sky over the Korean Peninsula. As a result, a large number of planes of the Far East Air Force began to take off. This is the worst day for the B-26 bomber. When they dropped bombs on railways and highways near the 38th parallel, the ground air defense firepower of the North Korean army was unexpectedly fierce, and almost every B-26 was hit. One of them was forced to land at Shui Yuan Airport near Seoul, and the other badly damaged plane returned to the Japanese base, but it was completely scrapped. The most tragic thing is that an old B-26 crashed into the ground when it made a forced landing at Roya airport in Japan, killing all the people on board. The damage of the F-80 fighter is lighter than that of the bomber, but because the distance from the Japanese airport to the Korean battlefield is almost the limit of the radius of this aircraft, the pilots are trembling, so as not to accidentally be unable to go home. They found a long line of tanks and trucks on the highway north of Seoul, and they really started the attack "whether it is accurate or not". The 80-kilometer-long highway is ablaze. It was the B-29 bomber who was cursed by Bai Shanye, commander of South Korea's first division. This strategic bomber, known as the "air fortress", should not have been deployed in purely tactical support operations, but at MacArthur's insistence, four were deployed. The crew of four huge bombers took an extreme approach-whenever they found a target on the ground, whether it was a group of soldiers or a group of tanks, whether it was an enemy or a friendly army, they would say, "As long as it looks worth bombing, throw a bomb." As a result, the B-29 bombers flying along the expressway in the north of Seoul and the railway parallel to the expressway dropped most of the bombs they carried on the heads of the south Korean soldiers retreating south. Even the staff of the Far East Air Force thought it was "strange" to use strategic bombers in this way, but "General MacArthur demanded to show the strength of the US Air Force to the maximum".

On the night of Li Chengwan's escape, the ninth regiment of the third division, the vanguard of the Korean People's Army, had entered the northeast corner of Seoul with tanks. South Korean troops are still resisting on the hills on the edge of the city. Korean People's Army planes dropped leaflets on Seoul, demanding that South Korea surrender immediately.

1The night of June 27th, 950 was a hell night for people living in Seoul.

Panicked citizens finally knew that disaster was coming after hearing the news on the radio that "* * * and Congress were temporarily transferred to Shui Yuan". Seoul citizens flocked to the railway station with their luggage, and all the southbound trains were crowded with refugees. Those who couldn't get on the train used bicycles and ox carts, some simply walked, and the people fled south in the defeat. According to historical records, 400,000 refugees fled Seoul that day.

On this day, the American embassy was also a mess. Ambassador Mucho originally held a glimmer of hope that "even if * * * occupied Seoul, the embassy staff could be declared to enjoy diplomatic immunity", so he was determined to stick to it until the end. However, Secretary Acheson, after asking China for instructions, resolutely opposed it on the grounds that "the staff of the US Embassy may be * * *". So Mujo decided to run away. Gunfire is getting closer and closer. South Korean soldiers report from time to time that North Korean troops may rush into downtown Seoul at any time. The embassy staff quickly carried the safe out and began to burn all the documents they thought could not fall into the hands of * * * in the dark. The light of burning documents seems to make the whole embassy burn, which further increases the fear of Seoul citizens. Security guards at the embassy began to blow up the cipher machine. Ambassador Muqiao was on the phone with MacArthur, and the phone was hung up without saying a few words. It turned out that the embassy staff smashed the telephone exchange with a sledgehammer. Finally, the family members of the embassy staff were put on a temporary requisition ship named "Lundholdt" and left the Korean coast, while the staff boarded the plane and flew to Tokyo. The wooden bridge returned to the embassy. He drove a jeep and wanted to go to Korea, but now he doesn't know. When the jeep left the embassy, the wooden bridge looked back, and the national emblem of the United States was hung on the embassy. Mucho thinks he should take off the American national emblem, but there is no time. To his surprise, after the North Korean army occupied Seoul, it paid little attention to the American national emblem. A few weeks later, when Muqiao returned to Seoul under the attack of American troops, the national emblem was still hanging there intact.

According to the elaborate Seoul defense emergency plan, every important bridge and expressway north of Seoul should be blown up at a critical moment. However, in the collapse of the south Korean army, not a word of the plan was implemented, and the defense emergency plan was equivalent to a piece of waste paper. However, the plan to blow up a bridge was resolutely carried out. This is the only bridge on the Han River south of Seoul, namely the Han River Bridge. This bridge is the only passage from Seoul to the south. When a large number of refugees and defeated soldiers retreat to the south, the bridge is equivalent to a lifeline. Therefore, Wright, chief of staff of the American advisory group, could hardly believe his ears when he learned that the South Korean army was going to blow up the bridge. He told South Korean War Minister Kim Byung-il that it was absolutely impossible to blow up the Hanjiang Bridge when the troops, materials and equipment had not been withdrawn. Jin Baiyi didn't listen. Wright once again explained that even if the South Korean army retreats, it depends entirely on this bridge. In addition, there are thousands of refugees crossing the bridge. Finally, Wright found Cai Bingde, chief of staff of the Korean Army, and agreed on a principle: make sure that the enemy tanks are close to the bridge before blasting.

However, under the orders of senior officials of the South Korean Ministry of National Defense, the South Korean army decided to blow up the bridge immediately. The reason is that it is not the lives of thousands of South Korean soldiers and refugees that matter, but the tanks of the Korean People's Army must never be allowed to cross the Han River. The commander of the second division of South Korea guarding Seoul proposed * * *. The commander said that his troops were still in the city and their equipment had not been withdrawn. Hanjiang bridge cannot be blown up now. When Cai Bingde, the chief of staff, had crossed the river, the deputy director of the South Korean War Bureau immediately rushed to the bridge in an attempt to order a delay in detonation. However, his military jeep simply couldn't walk among the refugees. When he finally reached a distance of 0/50 meters from the bridge/kloc-,he saw a huge orange fireball rising from the Hanjiang bridge, followed by an earth-shattering explosion. In the terrible firelight, the deputy director of the South Korean War Bureau saw the vehicles, refugees and soldiers on the Hanjiang Bridge, together with the fragments of the bridge, flying into the fiery night sky.

The time when the Hanjiang Bridge was blown up was: 2 am on the 28th 15.

At this time, the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th and Capital Divisions, the main forces of the South Korean army, still stopped at the periphery of Seoul. Military vehicles crowded on the north bank of the Han River waiting to cross the bridge lined up in eight rows on the highway, and soldiers and refugees were crowded together and could not turn over. All this was left to the Korean People's Army with the bombing of the Hanjiang Bridge.

Frank Gibney, an American reporter for Time magazine, witnessed this hellish night in Seoul. He later reported: My colleagues and I were sitting in a jeep, and it took a long time to break free from the streets of Seoul crowded with refugees and vehicles. Then the refugees on the highway with packages on their heads struggled south, and finally our jeep finally got on the bridge. On the bridge, the jeep can't move, and there is a team of six-wheeled trucks in front. I got off the bus to find out why I couldn't walk, but I found that the bridge deck was crowded with refugees and there was no room for me to leave. I went back to the car and waited. Suddenly, the sky was lit up by a morbid orange flame. There was a loud explosion not far ahead, and our jeep was lifted by air billow 15 feet high. Gibney's glasses were blown off at that time. His face is covered with blood and he can't see anything. When he could see the objects around him, he saw bodies everywhere on the broken bridge deck.

Blow up the Hanjiang Bridge prematurely and throw the American advisory group to the Korean People's Army. Chief Wright managed to find several wooden boats to transport the refugees, but the refugees didn't care what Americans they were. As a result, the Americans shot, meaning that they would either give the boat or get shot. At American gunpoint, South Korean boatmen sent frightened American consultants across the Han River.

The premature bombing of the Hanjiang Bridge has brought "disastrous consequences" to the South Korean army. Some south Korean soldiers who fled to the south used rafts, while others simply swam to the south to survive. Many soldiers were swallowed up by the river and all their weapons and equipment were lost. It was later confirmed that the Korean People's Army entered the center of Seoul after the bridge was bombed 10 hour, and reached the Han River after 12 hour. If the bombing of the bridge is delayed for several hours, two divisions of the South Korean Army and most of the materials can cross the river. According to historical statistics, when the war broke out, there were more than 98,000 Korean troops. After the Hanjiang Bridge was blown up on 28th, only more than 20,000 South Korean troops fled the Hanjiang River. Although the South Korean military court later shot the engineer in charge of bombing the Hanjiang Bridge on the charge of "improper way of bombing the bridge", the psychological impact of this incident on the South Korean army will not disappear for a long time. As stated in the History of the United States Army, "the North Korean army collapsed at an alarming rate."

Obviously, it is absolutely impossible for the South Korean army to save the situation in the Korean War.

Just as the South Korean army was desperately running south in order not to fall behind, outside the Korean peninsula, a man was wearing a pistol to face the attack of the North Korean army. This man is 70-year-old MacArthur.

No one can change MacArthur's decision.

Since the Korean War broke out, MacArthur has been strongly dissatisfied with the United States and even the United Nations. On the night when the Hanjiang Bridge was bombed, he sent a telegram to Washington, saying strongly: The United States is too slow to act, and South Korea is in danger. In the middle of the night, he said in a telex to Washington: Unless doping is injected into the south Korean troops, the war will end in a few hours. MacArthur's intention to make the United States act quickly is obvious, that is, to send ground troops directly to the war.

As far as the United Nations is concerned, it is unconstitutional for Truman to approve the US Air Force to fly to North Korea for bombing, which Truman knows very well. What the United States needs now is for the United Nations to pass a proposal authorizing armed intervention in the Korean War. Under the control of the United States, the United Nations Security Council held a meeting at1June 27, 950 15 in the absence of the Soviet representative. The heated debate lasted for several hours, and it was not until midnight that it was adjourned for several hours. A proposal to openly intervene in a country's civil war in the name of the United Nations was passed: "Member States of the United Nations provide this necessary assistance to the Republic of Korea to stop armed attacks and restore peace and security in the region." Now, the military action that the United States has begun is not only legal, but also has the power to further escalate.

When MacArthur told his pilot Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Storey the order to go to North Korea, Lieutenant Colonel thought the old man was just joking. MacArthur called four reporters to his office to announce his decision, and said that he could take them with him as long as they were not afraid of death. MacArthur deliberately made this operation horrible * * *: "This plane is unarmed and there is no fighter escort at the same time. I am not sure where to land. If I don't see you before I leave tomorrow, I'll think you've gone on another mission. " The reporters were fascinated by the atmosphere almost like an adventure movie and said they all wanted to go. In fact, this is another performance by MacArthur. Don't say this is a flight to the battlefield. Even if MacArthur takes the opportunity to go out to play, it is impossible for the Far East Air Force to let the supreme commander's special plane fly alone.

MacArthur's landline is Bataan. Bataan is the name of a province in central Luzon, Philippines. During World War II, MacArthur's troops were defeated here, and 70,000 American troops surrendered to the Japanese army. Ten thousand prisoners of war were later tortured to death by the Japanese army. When Bataan was about to take off at Haneda Airport in Japan, the weather was extremely bad. Lieutenant Colonel Storey learned that the weather forecast was storms, rainfall and low clouds. MacArthur was shaving when he asked MacArthur to postpone his departure for one day. Lieutenant Colonel Storey heard a gloomy answer: "Take off immediately!" Under the escort of four fighter planes, Bataan carried MacArthur, his five staff officers and four journalists to the Korean peninsula. When the plane reached cruising altitude, MacArthur began to smoke a pipe. David Douglas, an accompanying reporter of Life magazine in the United States, later wrote: "MacArthur is full of energy and bright eyes, just like the face of a high fever patient I have ever seen."

In front of reporters, MacArthur dictated a telegram to partridge, deputy commander of the Far East Air Force, which read: Clear the North Korean airport immediately. Keep quiet. MacArthur approved it. This telegram means that American planes can attack across the 38th parallel. As all the reporters know, the attack scope of the US military is strictly controlled to the south of the 38th parallel, which Washington has been emphasizing for fear of the Soviet Union's involvement in the Korean War. MacArthur's blatant defiance of Washington's orders is a pleasure. This is the first time since the outbreak of the Korean War that MacArthur has gone beyond the authority of the president and made his own decisions on major issues. Such arrogance is one of the many factors that lead to his tragic fate in the future.

MacArthur's special plane landed at Shui Yuan Airport, which is a US military airport south of Seoul. Before Bataan took off, Shui Yuan airport was attacked by the Korean People's Army, and a C-54 plane at the top of the runway caught fire. The runway was already short, but the burning plane shortened it by 20 meters. What's more, when the Bataan taxied on the runway of Shui Yuan airport, a Jacques plane of the People's Army came out of nowhere and the plane came straight at the Bataan. Everyone in the cabin screamed, except MacArthur, who said excitedly, "Look, we'll clean it up!" " Due to Storey's deft evasive action, the Bataan landed safely at Shui Yuan airport. At this time, the C-54 plane at the top of the runway was still smoking.