Back to the Republic of China to be a editor

Tang Hua: "It is now mid-July, 1952. Since Clark sent a letter stating that he intends to resume the armistice negotiations, it can be considered that this is Truman's instruction. Eisenhower formed a clear advantage, then the Truman team will believe that resuming the truce negotiations will help the Democratic Party win the election, and he will always support the truce negotiations. But if it is the end of September and early October, although the truce negotiations are continuing, Steven Sen's poll support rate is not significantly ahead of Eisenhower, the two sides are stalemate and even Stevenson is slightly at a disadvantage. At this time, Truman will suddenly change some policies, which may be domestic policies or international policies, making a 7-degree turn. , if the diametrically opposite policy is implemented and succeeds, it will be 'suppression first, then growth', which can reverse the unfavorable election situation in one fell swoop."

Prime Minister: "It turns out that Tang Hua was not analyzing whether the United States is sincere in its willingness to restart negotiations recently, but has already begun to consider whether the attitude of the United States will change in two or three months. ... This prediction is worth noting. At the last moment, high-level U.S. officials may make some incomprehensible and incomprehensible moves."

Chairman: "We must start talking now, so let's make preparations for them to stop talking after two months of talking. If the Americans stop talking at the negotiating table, then we will continue talking on the battlefield."

Su Yu was also thoughtful at this time: "This means that we pay close attention to the poll results of the top two candidates in the US general election. If it is not seen that Stevenson can beat Eisenhower, then Truman may announce another adjournment. Fight on the battlefield?"

Tang Hua: "Let's look at the results of the polls in September first. If Stevenson doesn't have the upper hand, and Truman doesn't have major news about major domestic policies, then he must want to major international policies. Preparations at the end of September, 9 When preparations are completed in early October, the U.S. military will provoke war somewhere on the front line."

Su Yu: "So now that the armistice negotiations are restarting, will the Americans continue to avoid talking about the substantive content?"

Prime Minister: "Not necessarily. The Americans may also reach agreement on one or two of the five items of the armistice negotiations and make some progress to confuse us."

Su Yu: "I want to provoke on the battlefield to turn defeat into victory in the general election, but if they fail to provoke on the battlefield, wouldn't Truman's Democratic Party lose even worse..."

Tang Hua was wondering where the Americans would fight this time.

Eisenhower's election in August and September 1952 was going to be good, but Stevenson was in jeopardy.

Eisenhower advocated getting rid of political turmoil and focusing on ending the Korean War. He also said that he would personally go to South Korea after taking office.And Stevenson adhered to the policy of containing China and the Soviet Union similar to Truman's.This is one of the reasons why the U.S. military suddenly fought in Shangganling.

But now Shangganling is the rear of the Volunteer Army... It is at least [-] kilometers away from the front line of fighting and confrontation between the two sides.Even if the U.S. military hit its head, it would not be able to rush to Shangganling.

If the Americans fight, where will they fight?

Chapter 223 General Liu Zaixing Please Calm Down

Huachuan County, in the lava.

The town has been deserted for more than two months since the United Nations delegation announced the adjournment last time.Every day, there are only farmers plowing and picking up rice in the small paddy fields in the mountains, and a few fishing boats boldly jumping back and forth between the US-controlled area and the Volunteer Army-controlled area to catch fish.However, although the truce negotiations were adjourned, the U.S. military and volunteers tacitly maintained a ceasefire around the lava, allowing these fishermen to come and go smoothly.

In June 1951, when the armistice negotiations had just started, the U.S. military also thought about provoking the negotiation venue, but an F-6 they sent had just shot the road near Hwacheon with a machine gun. 1 hit down.After realizing that the Volunteers had deployed anti-aircraft missiles and artillery groups in perfect harmony outside the negotiating neutral zone, the U.S. military never sent planes again.

On July 7, the quiet lava finally became lively.The day before, staff from both sides prepared the venue together. Early the next morning, the US-made jeep convoy of the Chinese and North Korean delegations arrived at the negotiation venue via the pontoon bridge, and the US helicopter also arrived on time.

General Nan Ri, Chen Geng, Chief of Staff of the Volunteer Army Xie Fang, Director of the Investigation Bureau of the General Command of the People's Army Zhang Chunshan, and Chief of Staff of the 1st People's Army Zhang Pingshan got off the car and walked to the venue.

Due to the adjustment of Zhisi's work, Ye Ting will do his own work in Zhisi, and will no longer serve as the negotiator of China and North Korea, and will be replaced by Chen Geng.

William Kelly Harrison, Jr., Chief Negotiator for the Armistice of the United Nations Armistice, Negotiators Orrin Burke, Lawrence Craig, Henry Hodge, and Liu Zaixing.

After Turner Joyde Clark sent a message to the Chinese and North Korean delegation expressing his willingness to resume the armistice negotiations, he completed his mission in the United Nations negotiating delegation and also completed his mission in the Korean War.The high-level navy has already told him that he will be transferred back to the mainland to serve as the president of the US Naval Academy.

"I am Major General William Kelly Harrison Jr. of the U.S. Army. Starting from today's negotiation, I will serve as the chief representative of the United Nations Army in the armistice negotiations. You will deal with me in the future." Harrison said.

"I am Chen Geng, Deputy Commander of the Chinese People's Volunteers, succeeding Ye Ting as the negotiator between China and North Korea in the armistice negotiations."

……

It was business as usual in the armistice negotiations, and it was business as usual in the regatta meeting of Western journalists in the fountain-lava.

Early in the morning, in the "reporter's village" in Yuanquanli, a large group of reporters carrying photographic equipment and document bags, and agents disguised as reporters walked to the pier, found the motorboat they rented, jumped on the small boat, and went back to the river. And up.A few kilometers of waterway arrived quickly, and then reporters with landing permits jumped ashore and gathered next to the negotiation site, while reporters without landing permits wandered on the surface of the Bukhan River outside Lavali Village, looking for topics to report.

"The chief representative of the United Nations military delegation is confirmed to be William Kelly Harrison Jr.," an AFP reporter dictated to the support reporter of the boat through a huge Motorola walkie-talkie. "General Harrison refused to be interviewed by reporters. Half-cooperatively asked the reporter to take pictures for 1 minute, then walked into the venue without saying a word from the beginning to the end."

"One member of the Chinese and North Korean delegations was replaced. According to the self-introduction before the start of the negotiations, it was Chen Geng who replaced Ye Ting, and his position was still the second negotiator of the Chinese and North Korean negotiating delegations," said a reporter from the Associated Press. I was also communicating with the support manager, "Please the Far East Reporter Station quickly find out Chen Geng's personal information, and try to be as detailed as possible..."

……

"The main reason for the complexity of the Korean War is that the United States and the United Nations forces assembled by it intervened in the Korean War, which led to the protracted war, a large number of civilian casualties on the Korean Peninsula, and serious damage to material assets." Nam Il said in his speech.

"Therefore, we have always advocated in the armistice negotiations that the first agenda item of the armistice negotiations - when the two sides reach a consensus on the military demarcation line, they should also confirm the consensus that foreign troops will leave the Korean peninsula after the armistice. However, after more than a year of negotiations You have always avoided this point. Today you are finally willing to come to participate in the armistice negotiations. After consideration, we have determined that in future negotiations, we will first resolve the issue of the armistice military demarcation line."

"Even so, there are huge differences between your side and our side regarding the claim of the military demarcation line. This is the only reason why the agenda for the armistice negotiations has been stalled from last year to May this year. Peace has been restored on the peninsula. Now we have revised and re-proposed the military demarcation line of the armistice: outside the Hanjiang Plain, the two sides should use the existing actual contact line as the military demarcation line, and then each retreat 5 kilometers to establish a buffer demilitarized zone. In the Han River Plain, due to the special nature of the plain in terms of military affairs, in order to achieve a stable peace on the Korean Peninsula, the two sides should start from their current defensive positions and retreat 2 kilometers each to establish a demilitarized zone with a total width of 5 kilometers. At the same time, we propose to reach three understandings: one party shall not insist on any adjustments that the other party does not agree to; after the determination of the military demarcation line, the delegation will immediately enter the discussion of other items on the agenda; The right to make corresponding amendments to the military demarcation line before the signing of the armistice agreement."

Nam Il's long speech made the four U.S. troops in the United Nations negotiating delegation deep in thought, while the only South Korean military officer, Liu Zaixing, stared and twitched at the corners of his mouth.

So far, the U.S. military still occupies two "bridgeheads" north of the Han River: one is the core area of ​​downtown Seoul, and the other is downtown Goyang.Outside the bridgehead and beyond the reach of the artillery groups on the south bank of the Han River, it is the active area of ​​​​the volunteer army.

The "thickness" of the US military's bridgehead here is about 6 to 7 kilometers.If you retreat 5 kilometers from your current defensive position, you will be driven south of the Han River in one breath.After retreating 5 kilometers, the U.S. military was left with only a belt of mud and pebbles on the banks of the Han River. It would be better to retreat to the south bank of the Han River without leaving any soldiers.

As for the volunteer army, they retreated 5 kilometers from the current defensive position. In fact, they have not yet retreated to Uijin government. The volunteer army can set up a new line of defense in the southern suburbs of Uijin government.

The newly proposed armistice condition is a step back from last year's "Ye Ting" line. It originally required that the Han River be used as the boundary, and that both sides should retreat 2 kilometers.

After pondering for a long time, Harrison responded first: "This is not in line with common sense. The territory you acquired in the recent battle on the Han River Plain cannot be maintained for a long time. From a military point of view, this conclusion can be drawn from a very simple deduction. You want to use This unstable front that can be captured at any time is used as the military demarcation line of the armistice between the two sides. The range was maintained for 11 months and more qualified as a starting line for defensive positions."

Chen Geng: "From July 7th to July 5th, we have stood on this front for 7 days. You have also tried to attack on a large scale, but you have not shaken our front."

Orrin Burke chimed in: "We haven't launched a major offensive in the last 12 days, just small reconnaissance attacks."

Chen Geng: "If you follow your logic, from August 1951 to June 8, we did not launch a large-scale attack on your so-called Yangzhou defense line, but only small-scale reconnaissance attacks. But when we actually launched an attack , you can only retreat to the Han River to build a bridgehead."

Harrison, Orrin Burke:  …

At the negotiating table, the most anxious person was Liu Zaixing.He and I found that Harrison and the other three Americans, when they heard the revised armistice conditions proposed by Nam Il, did not immediately slam the table and angrily, but began to care about technical details with the Chinese and North Korean delegations in a gentlemanly manner.

Liu Zaixing's sixth sense is even guessing the final attitude of the US military.He guessed that the U.S. military is not opposed to withdrawing all troops to the south of the Han River. The central meaning of the bargain seems to be that while he retreats to the south of the Han River, the volunteers should retreat more, preferably all the way back to the foot of Dongducheon. .

What if the Americans and the Chinese reach an agreement?

"Crack!" Liu Zaixing jumped up.

"Seoul is the capital of our Republic of Korea. It has a splendid culture of 3000 years. It was once the central city of Asia, far ahead of Beijing and Chang'an. Don't you want to take it away from us!"

"General Liu Zaixing, please calm down," Nam Il said, "As we reached a consensus in 1951, the main agenda of the Chinese and North Korean delegations and the U.S. military delegation is a complete armistice on the Korean peninsula, and try to discuss only military issues rather than political issues. You mentioned that South Korea has crossed the capital just now, and you broke the rules."

Chapter 224, Borrowing New Debts to Repay Old Debts

Liu Zaixing's runaway surprised both the Chinese and North Korean delegations and the U.S. military, but Nam Il and Chen Geng did take this situation into consideration in the preparatory meeting before the negotiations.

The Korean War has been fought for more than two years, and South Korea’s economy cannot be better than that of North Korea—at least North Korea can grow food for self-sufficiency. Now that the rear is stable, the volunteers have begun to buy food from the local government of North Korea to meet the staple food of the volunteers on the spot supply.South Korea's current national finances depend on the United States to hang its life, and its food also depends on American flour to keep its stomach hungry.Not to mention the military, everything from equipment to military pay to training depends on the United States.

To put it bluntly, based on the current disparity in strength within the United Nations Army, the armistice negotiations can be decided by the United States alone, and the attitude of South Korea is not important.It is of course best to be consistent with the US position, if the position is not consistent, the US will beat Syngman Rhee.

Harrison first glanced sideways at Liu Zaixing, and then turned around and said to Nanil: "The prerequisite for the truce negotiations, as our side has emphasized for a year, is to sit here and negotiate in order to reach a military truce, and try to reach an agreement. An agreement that can be signed by the top military commanders of both sides does not include political issues. Any discussion that includes political issues, political assumptions, and other non-military content is meaningless and should not continue. However, we are negotiating China also opposes all military blackmail and unrealistic rogue methods."

...Harrison's tone of speech was very serious, as if the US military had never cheated at the negotiating table.

Nan Ri: "The situation on the battlefield is changing at this stage, but after a long period of fighting recently, I think you can already see that the balance of military power generally cannot escape the current balance between our two sides. Near the line of actual control. This line can be considered to approximately reflect the power situation of both you and us on the battlefield. Therefore, from a purely military point of view, it is reasonable for each to take a step back and cease fighting based on the line of actual control."

Harrison: "The actual control line and the actual control line cannot be generalized, but there may be essential differences. Some actual control lines are temporary and elastic, and are in the state of maximum expansion of elastic expansion and contraction, and will return soon. but the actual control line of the other side is not flexible, but a rigid and powerful defense line that cannot be repelled. If the rigid and stable control line is required to be treated equally with the elastic and stretchable control line, each should start from the current position. Retreating a few kilometers is tantamount to allowing your side to obtain benefits at the negotiating table that cannot be obtained on the battlefield. We will not fall into this logical trap."

Chen Geng: "I want to remind Mr. Harrison that we are sitting here not to boast of our military power and clamor for war, but to negotiate to stop the war and build a bridge to peacefully resolve the Korean issue. From July 1950 to 7 In July of 1952, the two sides conducted multiple see-saw attacks and defenses on the North Plain of the Han River, and Seoul changed hands six times. Moreover, here I also say frankly and fairly: In the past two years, no matter whether we or your side attacked Seoul, every time All the battles were successful, that's why Seoul changed hands six times. The defending side, including ourselves, failed to repel the attacking side and win the defense battle. Seoul is not a fishing city, oh, use your western allusions , Seoul is not Constantinople, it is not built on a terrain that is good for defense, nor is it a point that must be held or it will lead to the collapse of the empire, and the blood of many soldiers was wasted in this city-whether you Americans It is not worth the blood of our Chinese and North Korean side."

Liu Zaixing: ...

Harrison: "That's all for today, the meeting is adjourned."