Korean War V.

This is coolbert:

Yet still more links to the You Tube video the topic of which is the Korean War:

"Korean War - PART 16, The Low Point"

"200,000 PLA troops roll back the UN army from North Korea. 10 PLA divisions slam into the 8th Army in the west, sending them back to the south. The war is going very badly for the UN forces, as a major Chinese intervention was not foreseen"

* Communist Chinese Forces [CCF] known even in the fall of 1950 to number more like 300,000 troops the immediate area of the Manchurian/Korean border.

* The Chinese offensive consisting of Phase One [early November] and Phase Two [late November].

* CCF units at that exact moment probably the BEST light infantry in the world.  Experienced, motivated, hardened, resolute. As was the North Korean soldier in June 1950 so was the CCF soldier in November 1950. American troops far outclassed in some instances?

* Chinese soldiers fully well understand not impervious to extreme cold. Probably suffering worse than UNC personnel.

"Korean War - PART 17, Winter of 1950 / Atrocities"

"The US Marines of the 10th Corps fight their way out of the Chinese envelopment, helped by uncontested control of the air. The retreat was orderly, unlike the 'bug-out' in the west."

* Bug-out as to leave quickly. In the Korean context American troops in some instances retiring from the battlefield in a less than orderly and planned manner.

* U.S. Army RCT [Regimental Combat Team] 31 more or less obliterated east of the Chosin reservoir. Twenty-four hundred men at the start of the battle [28 November], four days later only four-hundred men left standing!!

* UNC forces betrayed by treachery of the worst possible sort. The spy ring of Philby/Burgess/MacLean passing secrets of inestimable value to the communist during this period.

"Korean War - PART 18, Retreat from the North"

"General Walton Walker is killed in a jeep accident in North Korea. The 10th Corps leaves North Korea. Humiliated, the UN forces destroy as much as they can in their retreat out of North Korea"

* Only two nations in the history of warfare [U.S. and Great Britain] have demonstrated a capacity to execute a reverse amphibious operation while under pressure and done so in an organized manner, not a disastrous pell mell retreat. The evacuation of X Corps from Wonsan such an instance.

"Korean War - PART 19, Hard fighting"

"The combined Chinese/North Korean forces try to defeat the UN in South Korea. Ridgeway's [sic] change of strategy meant that the UN forces would hold ground, relinquish it, then counterattack with superior air and artillery support"

* Matt Ridgway the only senior American combat commander in Korea who seems to have emerged from the conflict with his reputation more or less intact.

* Measures as implemented by Ridgway to counter the massed human-wave attacks of the Chinese called "Meatgrinder".

"Korean War - PART 20, MacArthur is Fired"

"MacArthur is fired due to his criticism of US president, Truman"

* MacArthur wanting to widen the war into Manchuria. MacArthur wanting to use the atomic bomb. MacArthur also wanting to "lay down" a radioactive cobalt layer on the border between Manchuria and Korea. MacArthur also wanting to commit Nationalist Chinese troops to the fray.

* Douglas MacArthur unfortunately having a big mouth and openly critical of American military policy in Korea. A big mouth and openly critical and expressing himself too frequently. His dismissal a sad ending to an illustrious career.

More to follow!

coolbert.