.Chapter 66 Strategy for Entering North Korea

On the second day of landing, the First Land Fighting Division invaded Yuanshan City and relied on its powerful vertical delivery force to encircle and annihilate the defenders.

Although at the last moment, the People's Army began to destroy the port infrastructure, the coalition forces advanced very quickly, and most of the facilities were still not blown up when the port fell. In order to improve the efficiency of material transportation, the South Korean Navy transferred two 10,000-ton roll-ro-cargo ships after the First Land Warfare Division captured Wonsan Port, and ran aground on the north shore of the bay. Then it set up a floating dock to allow the transport ships to dock and unload.

The flank was broken through by the US-South Korea Allied Forces, and the People's Army had a strong position.

On August 1, the North Korean government began to transfer to Shinyiju.

Park Jun-cheol was afraid of death and even more afraid of becoming a prisoner of war in the US-South Korea coalition forces. If Kim Seung-hwan hadn't insisted on letting him stay and promised to accompany him to Shin-Yiju when necessary, he would have snatched away hundreds of thousands of soldiers from Pyongyang before the other leaders and fled to the rear first.

Is there any point in defending Pyongyang?

The People's Army began to shake, but Huang Zhibo did not shake at all.

At this time, Pyongyang's strategic value was truly revealed.

However, on the question of how to fight next, Huang Zhibo must convince senior leaders including Fu Xiubo to make them believe that Pyongyang has great strategic value.

For this reason, Lu Fenglie made arrangements to ask him to return to Beijing to explain the situation to the senior leaders.

"If, before that, guarding Pyongyang was mainly for political reasons, then from now on, the military significance of guarding Pyongyang is more prominent."

"General Huang, you have to give a more convincing reason." Fu Xiubo is not a military strategist and needs a clearer explanation.

"First of the People's Republic of China, the ones you see now is the map of North Korea." Huang Zhibo was prepared and asked the staff to put the map on the big screen. "With autumn, the weather in North Korea is becoming unfavorable to the attacking party. The continuous rainy weather will inevitably make it more difficult to access the road, and most of the roads in North Korea cannot withstand main battle tanks like m1. If the coalition forces want to ensure the transportation of materials, they must rely on railways."

“Relatively speaking, North Korea’s railways are not short.”

"Compared with economic strength, North Korea's railways are indeed not short, and they mainly serve the army." Huang Zhibo smiled and said, "It's just that North Korea's railway network has one feature: it is divided into two parts. The main railway trunks are concentrated in the west, from Pyongyang to Shinyiju, Shuifeng and Manpu, covering the main towns in the western region. The eastern railway trunks start from Won-san and lead to Sishui on the south bank of Changjin Lake, and go to the lakeside on the south bank of the lake, Huishan on the upper reaches of the Yalu River, and Hong Yili at the northernmost end of Nanyang and Tumen River estuary. From the picture, it can be seen that the eastern and western railway networks are relatively independent, and Won-san and Shuncheon on the north side of Pyongyang are the two major jiāo hub centers."

"What does this have to do with Pyongyang?" Wen Tinggui asked.

"If we give up Pyongyang, the US and South Korean coalition forces heading north from the west coast can easily capture Shuncheon and open the big mén of North Ping'an Road and Cijiang Road. Our army entered North Korea to fight mainly from Liaoning, Dandong and Tonghua as the main assembly areas. If North Ping'an Road and Cijiang Road are lost, the situation will become very unfavorable to us." Huang Zhibo asked the staff to replace the US and South Korean coalition forces with the advance map of the US and South Korean coalition forces and continued, "Even if they can't defend Pyongyang, as long as they can persist for a few days, they will force the US and South Korean coalition forces landing in Wonsan to advance westward and strive to quickly capture Shuncheon."

"Why didn't the coalition forces go north directly?" Li Pingko also asked.

"If the coalition forces abandon Shunchuan and go north from Yuanshan, they either advance along the coastline to the northern Xianjie Road, or cross the Gaima Plateau at Changjin Lake and the Go Zhan Lake. More than 60 years ago, the United ** commanded by MacArthur made a fatal mistake here. They were caught off guard by the volunteers and retreated all the way to the 37th-degree north latitude, and even Seoul was not defended. Although I don't know if Aron would make the same mistake, with the current technical means of the US military, we must know that we put our main force in Liaoning, and Xinyizhou and Jiangjie are the first stops for the volunteers to enter North Korea."

“What does this mean?”

"This shows that seizing the southern bank of the Yalu River is much more important than sweeping northeastern North Korea." Lu Fenglie answered for Huang Zhibo.

"So far, the main force of the coalition, namely the Second Infantry Division and the 9th Armored Division of the South Korean Army, are still south of Pyongyang, and the results of our submarines have blocked the Second Marine Division from the battlefield. In the short term, about half a month to one month, the US military cannot send more troops to the eastern battlefield. With limited troops, the difficulty of fighting from Yuanshan north has greatly increased, and its strategic significance has also been greatly reduced." Huang Zhibo paused for a moment and said, "Although from the perspective of the battle situation, the coalition forces have not lost the opportunity to block the volunteer army from North Korea, there is only one way to occupy the entire territory of North Korea before our ground troops enter North Korea."

"What's the solution?" Fu Xiubo lit a cigarette.

"Concentrate our troops and capture Ping'an North Road and Cijiang Road, forcing us to send our main force to Jilin and enter the North from the upper Yalu River with Tumen River."

Fu Xiubo frowned, and the expressions of other senior leaders also became extremely serious.

"In order to achieve this goal, the coalition forces will definitely attack Pyongyang and at the same time mobilize troops from Yuansan Chou to attack Shuncheon. Perhaps during this period, the coalition forces will go north from Yuansan, but the main force will definitely be in the direction of Shuncheon, and going north is just to prepare for the final capture of the entire territory of North Korea. As long as the goal is achieved smoothly, the coalition forces will get the opportunity to replenish their troops. At that time, even if we enter North Korea from the upper reaches of the Yalu River and the Tumen River, we will have to fight the first battle with the coalition forces in the northeastern region of North Korea." Huang Zhi

Bo Rang's staff replaced the map of North Korea, "The northeastern region of North Korea is very narrow, and mainly plateaus and mountains. Although the special terrain limits the combat capabilities of the coalition forces, it also has a negative impact on our army's combat operations. The too cramped battlefield will more seriously limit our army's ability to fight mobile warfare. If I want to choose, I will put the first battle on the worse Gaima Plateau, limit the armored assault capabilities of the coalition forces, and give full play to our army's advantages."

"Even if you defend Pyongyang, the coalition forces may not necessarily go to the battlefield you choose." Fu Xiubo asked a very clever question.

"Not now, it does not mean it will not be in the future."

Fu Xiubo smiled, allowing Huang Zhibo, who was full of confidence, to continue to perform.

"As long as we can persist in Pyongyang for several days and force the coalition forces to mobilize troops from Wonsan Chou to attack Shuncheon, we can organize the People's Army to strengthen the strategic defense line from Shuncheon to the Jiangjie and take the initiative to defend the Jiangjie. As mentioned earlier, if the coalition forces want to block us from North Korea, in addition to capturing Shin-Yiju, they also have to capture the Jiangjie. If the Jiangjie cannot be captured in time, our army can still enter North Korea to fight as planned."

"You mean, force the coalition forces to attack the Jiangjie?"

"While attacking Xinyiju, attacking Jiangjie."

Fu Xiubo nodded thoughtfully, probably understanding Huang Zhibo's meaning.

"At this point, the coalition forces have no choice but to divide the troops into two groups. We can strengthen the defensive forces of Shinyiju or Jiangjie according to the actual situation and create a favorable situation. When the time is ripe, our army crosses the river from the middle of the Yalu River, starts the first battle on the Gama Plateau south of the Jiangjie, and then quickly passes southward, forcing the coalition forces attacking Shinyiju to retreat, and then fight the second battle in Shuncheon or Yuanshan to annihilate the main force of the coalition forces. If everything goes well, the third battle will start near the 38th parallel and drive the coalition forces out of North Korea."

At this time, other senior leaders also understood Huang Zhibo's intention to defend Pyongyang.

"General Huang, we believe in your judgment. There is a problem now," Fu Xiubo smiled and said, "How can we achieve this goal?"

"The People's Army alone will definitely not be able to defend Pyongyang." Huang Zhibo sighed and said, "If it weren't for Ambassador Kim, Park Jun-cheol had probably left Pyongyang. If the North Korean leader is like this, the situation of the People's Army can be imagined. My opinion is to organize a group of troops to enter North Korea as soon as possible to assist the People's Army in combat. Because the troops can enter North Korea in a timely manner, the troops cannot get effective support and support during combat, so try to choose Jingxing, mainly to strike and destroy the logistics support of the coalition forces, and not participate in frontal battles."

Fu Xiubo nodded and looked at Lu Fenglie.

"Our special forces have gathered in the Northeast and are under your full command."

Huang Zhibo hesitated for a moment and said, "In addition, I think the Volunteer Army Headquarters should be established as soon as possible to give the People's Army some hope."

"Go to North Korea?" Fu Xiubo immediately frowned.

Huang Zhibo nodded, indicating that this is what he meant.

"It's not very suitable now, right?" Wen Tinggui said first, "The ground forces of the Volunteer Army have not yet entered North Korea, and it is probably necessary to set up a Volunteer Army Headquarters in North Korea..."

"Lao Wen, since we have joined the war and have fought in the air and on the sea, what else are there to worry about?"

Wen Tinggui sighed and did not argue with Fu Xiubo.

"General Huang, I support your suggestion. It's just that the safety of the Volunteer Army Command is the top priority. I don't want to lose several generals before the fight begins."

"The Korean government has moved to Shinyiju, and the Volunteer Army Command can be set up in Shinyiju." Lu Fenglie made a choice for Huang Zhibo, "This can ensure the safety of the headquarters, secondly, strengthen communication with the People's Army, and thirdly, stabilize the Korean government."

"Old Lu's words make sense, General Huang, what do you think?"

"As long as the People's Army soldiers can believe that the Volunteer Army will fight side by side with them, it doesn't matter where they go."

"Then let's decide this way, and set up a Volunteer Army Headquarters in Xinyiju as soon as possible. The special forces entering North Korea will be up to you to decide." Fu Xiubo smiled and said to Huang Zhibo, "Before the ground troops participate in large-scale wars, we must fight air and sea wars, and show our military authority, so that the enemy knows that the volunteers can not only fight on the ground, but also attack invaders everywhere."

Huang Zhibo nodded and agreed.
Chapter completed!