Sword of Light: Humanoid Self-Propelled Artillery

Chapter 331 Substitution
Wang Gensheng was worried because after the Second Battle, the US military commander on the front lines in Chaozhou was changed from Michael Aserham to Richard Li.

Of course, at this time, Michael Aser was still in command, but because the commander of the Eighth Army of the United States Army, Walker, died in a car accident on the battlefield, Li Qiwei took over Walker's position.

Because of the repeated defeats, Michael Aser gave Li Qiwei a great deal of operational autonomy, so the third battle was essentially fought by Li Qiwei.

Don't underestimate the Eighth Army, because it is the highest command of the U.S. Army in the Taiwan Strait. It can be said that the ground battle is entirely decided by the corps commander of the Eighth Army, while Michael Aser's position is the head of the Army, Navy and Air Force.

However, in the war in Chaozhou, the army played a more crucial role than the navy or air force. Therefore, the position of the Eighth Army Corps Commander was naturally very important. After the Third Campaign, when Michael Ase was dismissed, Li Qiwei, the Eighth Army Corps Commander, naturally took over Michael Ase's position.

He became the highest-ranking commander of the army, navy, and air force on the Korean Peninsula battlefield, and his appointment naturally brought greater trouble to the aid-to-Chaozhou army, forcing them to deal with it with caution.

As for how the original Eighth Army Commander Walker died, that was naturally related to the Second Phase Offensive.

Although they failed to annihilate any of the American troops, the Chaozhou reinforcements achieved significant victories on both the eastern and western fronts in the second campaign.

In the battles of Sansuoli, Longyuanli, and Songgufeng on the western front, the Chaozhou reinforcements achieved great victories. The 38th Army became famous in one battle, marching 70 kilometers in a day and night. After that, they repelled repeated attacks by the US army. On the eastern front at Changjin Lake, the soldiers of the 9th Army Corps also made the 1st Lion of the Marine Corps experience the most difficult retreat in history. That year, Changjin Lake was undoubtedly the nightmare of the 9th Army Corps.

More importantly, the biggest loss for the US military in this great victory was the death of General Walker, commander of the Eighth Army. As a renowned US general during World War II, Walker's death was obviously too ignominious, and his death once caused the morale of the US military to plummet.

Unfortunately, if Walker had died on the battlefield, the morale of the American troops might have actually improved. But tragically, Walker died at the hands of his own people.

When talking about Walker's death, we have to mention another army during the Korean War, the "Welding Army." Before Wang Gensheng's time travel, many films in the Welding Army portrayed them as very brave. Some films even attributed the victory of the Korean War to the Welding Army. However, as the saying goes, "Those who say the harshest words will be beaten the most severely."

Back then on the Korean Peninsula, if the US military hadn't had the Weld Army as an ally, it wouldn't have suffered such a defeat. It could be said that the Weld Army's combat effectiveness was even worse than that of the Italian army during World War II; at most, it only created some air resistance for the aid troops.

It should be noted that Walker, a renowned general in World War II, was not as arrogant as Michael Aser; on the contrary, he was somewhat cautious like Li Qiwei.

Of course, this level of caution was only a tiny bit. If they had been truly cautious, they wouldn't have fallen for the enemy's trap of luring them deep into their territory.

From this perspective alone, Walker's command and combat capabilities are far inferior to Li Qiwei's.

As the former supreme commander of the battlefield before Li Qiwei, Walker had already sensed something was amiss when the Second Battle broke out, because the "retreat" of the reinforcements seemed too suspicious, like an organized withdrawal.

However, his military honor, impulsive nature, and Michael Aser's urging also compelled him to continue his incursions into the heart of the peninsula.

Walker's fears soon came true. The various units of the 13th Army Corps of the Chaozhou Army had successively infiltrated behind the American troops. When the order for the general offensive was given, the Chaozhou Army was everywhere, in front, behind, and to the sides.

The US Army's 7th Lion, 24th Lion, 25th Lion, as well as the 1st Cavalry Lion, the 2nd Army of the Hangu Pass, and the Tu'erqi Brigade, etc., were all attacked by the reinforcements of the Chaozhou Army.

On December 6, the aid troops recaptured Pyongyang, which was even reported by the US media as "the most disastrous military defeat for the US since the Zhenzhu Port incident." Within ten days, the Eighth Army was forced to retreat 300 kilometers.

Walker's defeat was a huge loss of face for the US military, and Walker, who knew Michael Aser's character well, also knew that Michael Aser might blame him for the defeat when he returned.

So on this day, in order to comfort the officers and soldiers of the U.S. Army who had retreated from the front lines, Walker traveled by car from the headquarters of the Eighth Army to the 20th Brigade and the 2nd Brigade of the U.S. Army to present these units with certificates of merit.

Unfortunately, Walker encountered a traffic jam when he went out that day.

It turned out that the defeated Han army had blocked the road, and Walker's commander was getting impatient with the situation and planned to drive past them.

Unfortunately, a large truck was heading straight for Walker's Jeep. Walker swerved the steering wheel, but this caused the vehicle to lose control and overturn.

Walker's driver and guard were thrown violently, but fortunately they only suffered minor injuries. Walker, on the other hand, fared much worse. When the car overturned, the handrail fell directly on him, and a piece of broken glass pierced his head, killing him instantly.

The death of the Eighth Army Commander in a car accident quickly became big news. Although Li Qiwei was dissatisfied with Walker for repeatedly violating his orders, he still recommended that Walker be promoted to four-star general. The White House decided that Li Qiwei would succeed Walker in his position.

When the welders learned of Walker's death, they realized they had committed a grave offense. A renowned soldier had died in a traffic accident; this was simply unforgivable.

So, in order to give the government an explanation, the government planned to execute the driver to quell public opinion.

Of course, the Mi Guo knew that this matter had a bad influence, but in order to show their magnanimity, they rejected the Han Guo's suggestion and believed that Walker had caused the accident by driving too fast, so they spared his life.

However, the welding country felt that it would be difficult to explain to the Americans if they were not punished at all, so they imprisoned the welding truck driver for three years.

Walker's death was an unexpected event for the US military. With the arrival of Li Qiwei, Michael Arthur's campaign on the peninsula was also coming to an end, and the reinforcements would soon face their most formidable opponent.

Compared to Michael Aser's arrogance, Li Qiwei was much more cautious.

After learning from the lessons of the second battle, Li Qiwei also discovered that the reinforcements from Chaozhou would stretch the battle lines too far when they launched a deep offensive.

Most importantly, although the reinforcements to Chaozhou were light infantry, they were agile and could quickly infiltrate.

However, the weakness of light infantry is also very obvious, namely, their poor endurance.

The amount of ammunition and food they carried was simply insufficient to support the reinforcements' long-term infiltration operations.

(End of this chapter)