Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

There will be a lot more things that can be solved by then.

There was the ongoing Vietnam War, and the East-West German conflict. East German leaders had been implicitly suggesting to the Soviet Union that they could help Germany resolve the issue of German reunification after resolving the Korean issue.

That wasn't possible before.

But if Korea wins, it is not impossible.

"If we want to be responsible for the logistics of the Chinese and North Korean troops, then we need to send at least 20 air force divisions to participate in the battle. This is still conservative. If the Chinese and North Korean troops really move south, cross the Han River and go south, then 20 divisions will be stretched to protect the logistics transportation of the Chinese and North Korean troops. Because the US Air Force not only has a large number of aircraft that can participate in the battle, but their navy also has a large number of aircraft that can participate in the battle."

"More than 20 air force divisions?"

"Yes."

Vasilevsky replied with certainty. Before Stalin could ask more, Vasilevsky continued, "This is a conservative estimate, calculated only to counter the US Navy and Air Force currently in Korea and Japan. The US military has over 3000 aircraft available for combat in the entire Far East. Following Truman's domestic mobilization, US aircraft production has skyrocketed. If the Americans decide to deploy additional air forces, we will need more as well."

Stalin frowned.

More than 20 air force divisions would be too large. Although Stalin wanted to drive the Americans into the sea, he was hesitant to send so many air force divisions to participate in the war.

The expansion of the Korean War was a concern for both the United States and the Soviet Union.

Resolving the issue within the Korean Peninsula was something both the US and the Soviet Union could accept. However, if the scope expanded and the US and the Soviet Union came to blows, it would be World War III. Neither the US nor the Soviet Union was willing to do this, nor could they afford it.

The atmosphere is rather solemn.

Several people were waiting for Stalin's decision.

At this moment, someone came in and handed Mikoyan a telegram. After taking a look at it, Mikoyan immediately handed it to Stalin and said, "Comrade Stalin, this is a telegram from Comrade Zakharov in Beijing."

Stalin took the telegram, glanced at it briefly, and then threw it on the table.

He angrily said to Mikoyan: "Tell Comrade Zakharov to do what he should do and not interfere with the Chinese military operations in North Korea.

Stalin was a little annoyed.

Zakharov was the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Army, a position of considerable stature within the ranks. Currently assigned to China as Chief Military Advisor, his primary responsibility is to support the development of China's military. This includes assisting with Chinese military training, the formalization of various Chinese military departments, the establishment of universities needed for China's military industry, and the implementation of Soviet-aided military industrial projects.

His position is extremely important and China also attaches great importance to his attitude.

Zakharov would attend some non-confidential meetings of the Military Commission.

This time, when the Volunteer Army stopped at the Han River, Zakharov expressed his dissatisfaction directly to the Military Commission. Initially, Yang Quanwu explained to Zakharov, and later General Peng and General He, but Zakharov remained dissatisfied. This alarmed Marshal Nie, who personally intervened. Marshal Nie personally explained to Zakharov, but Zakharov was dissatisfied, so he sent a telegram to Moscow.

But this made Stalin furious.

They are all causing trouble.

Stalin respected the strong. The Chinese army's performance on the Korean battlefield proved its strength and its ability to fulfill its promise to the Soviet Union. That China could help stabilize the Soviet Far East. Stalin now clearly understood that if the Soviet Union wanted to confront the United States in the Far East, China was indispensable. Because the Soviet Union's strength in the Far East was limited, it needed a major power like China as an ally.

So Stalin began to change his attitude towards China.

However, these people sent by the Soviet Union to work abroad kept offending China.

How could Stalin not be angry about this?

Stalin finally said: "Send a telegram to our ambassadors and military representatives in China and North Korea, asking them to do their own thing. Do not interfere in the affairs of the Chinese army on the battlefield. Tell the Chinese government that we respect Comrade Wei Hongjun's command. The Soviet Air Force will work hard to help the volunteer army stabilize its logistics. As for the issue of the southward advance, we also respect Comrade Wei Hongjun's judgment.

857 Military Preparations

After Stalin made the decision, things became much easier.

The Soviet Union personally sent a telegram to the CPC Central Committee, explaining what had happened, in order to appease the Chinese government. It then made it clear that the Soviet Union supported Wei Hongjun's command of the Volunteer Army and respected Wei Hongjun's judgment.

At the same time, Razovaev was transferred back to the Soviet Union and dismissed from all his posts upon his return. Also dismissed was Zakharov, the Soviet military adviser to China, though Zakharov's situation was much better than Razovaev's. Upon his return, Zakharov continued to serve as his deputy chief of the general staff. The Soviet Union sent Air Force General Krasovsky to serve as its chief military adviser to China.

After receiving the telegram from Moscow, Shtykov apologized to Wei Hongjun and expressed Moscow's support for Wei Hongjun's judgment and command, hoping that the Razovaev incident would not affect their cooperation.

The decisions of the Soviet Union and China disappointed Jinricheng.

But he couldn't change the overall situation.

Yet, he was unwilling to see such a vast territory go unrecovered. Given the strength of the Korean People's Army, if they couldn't take Busan, could they not take other areas? Especially with the influx of new Korean People's Army recruits trained by the Soviet Union in Northeast China, the Korean People's Army's strength had surpassed 100,000. Therefore, Jin Jincheng ordered the Fifth Corps, still in training, to attack. Jin Jincheng could not resist the temptation of conquering various areas. As a result, the situation on the Korean side was that the main Chinese and North Korean forces were north of the Han River, while only the Korean People's Army's Fifth Corps, with over 16,000 men from Fanghushan, advanced southward and occupied a significant area.

But Ridgway chose to be a Ninja Turtle to the end.

The Fifth Corps of the Korean People's Army was conquering cities everywhere, but General Ridgway remained silent, remaining in Busan. He was busy restoring his strength. Although he looked down on Syngman Rhee's puppet army and Chiang Kai-shek's troops, he now had to rely on them.

Therefore, a large amount of weapons and equipment were brought into North Korea, including tanks and artillery pieces owned by the US military. Then, US military instructors trained them. This type of training was most effective in improving the combat effectiveness of Syngman Rhee's puppet army.

However, the United States did not have enough troops in a short period of time, so it began to pay attention to its allies.

Ask all allies to quickly fulfill their promises and send the troops they promised.

In fact, after the first battle, some of the United States' allies had already begun to back off. After all, who could have imagined that the Chinese army was so powerful that even the US military suffered a crushing defeat? They had agreed to follow the Americans to fight in Korea in order to please the United States.

I didn't want to die in North Korea, but now the Americans are pushing me hard.

So the allies had no choice but to send a large number of troops to Busan. The largest number of troops came from Canada, which sent an entire infantry brigade of more than 6000 people. In addition to Canada, Australia and New Zealand also sent troops, totaling about 3000 people. Australia actually had a battalion that was captured in the battle with the British 27th Infantry Brigade, but the United States did not understand and still asked Australia to send an infantry battalion. In fact, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand followed the United Kingdom. Because although the United Kingdom is now in decline, it still has great influence in the Commonwealth. But now that the United Kingdom has been beaten up, it is cheating and quitting.

After the British 27th Infantry Brigade and the British 29th Infantry Brigade were annihilated, the 28th Infantry Brigade that Britain had promised did not come.

However, Britain was reluctant to fall out with the United States, so it agreed to send air and naval forces to the war. However, the British army only agreed to participate in transportation and reconnaissance tasks, not combat. As for infantry, it would definitely not send any more.

On the one hand, Britain is reluctant to engage in a war with the Chinese army, fearing its combat effectiveness. On the other hand, Britain is now mobilizing various channels to contact the Chinese government to resolve the prisoner issue. They do not want to create conflict with China at this time.

The French, on the other hand, don't believe in evil.

The originally scheduled battalion of more than 1000 troops arrived as scheduled. In addition to these countries, Colombia, the Netherlands, Greece, Belgium, and Ethiopia each sent a battalion of approximately 1000 troops to North Korea.

But these people are far from enough.

Soon the United States dispatched troops from the Philippines.

After all, the Philippines is a traditional colony of the United States.

The Philippines was incredibly aggressive. Upon hearing that the United States was forming a United Nations force, it immediately assembled the 10th Regiment to enter North Korea. The Philippines was truly proactive. When the 10th Regiment departed, Philippine President Aquinas personally addressed the troops: "You are the first troops to go abroad bearing the national flag. You are fighting for freedom. Every peso spent on you is for lasting freedom and democracy."

The Filipino army arrived in Korea with considerable momentum, arriving only slightly later than the US and British forces, demonstrating their eagerness. However, MacArthur, underestimating their combat effectiveness, assigned them to fight against the Korean guerrillas, primarily protecting US logistics from guerrilla attacks. This task proved ineffective, and they engaged the Korean guerrillas several times, failing to annihilate them and instead suffering defeat.

But now Ridgway is short of troops and has no time to care about this matter.

Force the Philippines to increase its military strength.

Under pressure from the United States, the Philippines was forced to withdraw two more regiments, bringing the total to three regiments, totaling 4000 men. The Philippines had a total of 4000 troops, and this new force added 40 men. Ridgway began replacing them with American weapons and equipment, including over tanks.

Then, the United States offered Thailand $1000 million to entice it to send troops. Thailand agreed to send a regiment of 4000 soldiers and a transport squadron. Historically, Thailand had resorted to trickery by sending a battalion of 1000 soldiers. However, the United States, facing a shortage of its own troops, maintained a close watch, giving Thailand no opportunity to evade the enemy. Instead, the United States forced Thailand to send the 21st Regiment of 4000 soldiers. General Ridgway incorporated the 21st Regiment into the Eighth Army.

The arrival of these Allied troops increased the US military's strength by more than 20,000 troops.

But this amount of troops was far from what Ridgway required.

Therefore, Ridgway began to reorganize the 7rd Division by drawing officers from the 15rd and 34th Divisions that had retreated to Japan. The United States gradually sent Ridgway recalled veterans, who used them to successively form the th and th Regiments of the rd Division. Together with the th Regiment that had previously entered Korea, the rd Division was reorganized.

Of course, Ridgway was short on manpower, so the newly formed 4000rd Division, aside from the combat troops, consisted mostly of Koreans in its support units. As a result, the rd Division comprised over Korean soldiers. Within a month of Ridgway taking office, the defenses of Busan had become much more secure.

The vanguard of the 40th Division had already left the United States and begun its journey to North Korea. The United States had also decided to equip the 44th Division within the United States and send it to North Korea. As for the units annihilated on the Korean Peninsula, most were reorganized within the United States.

Ridgway's plan was to restore at least four US divisions in Busan within three months. Combined with the Allied forces and the various tank, artillery, and infantry battalions already assembled, the Eighth Army would have over 10 troops under its direct command. Adding the Rhee Syngman puppet troops and Chiang Kai-shek's forces currently in training, the UN Army alone would number 40. Adding the US Navy and Air Force and the Allied Navy and Air Force, Ridgway believed he could still fight a war.

While Ridgway was making preparations, Wei Hongjun also convened a high-level meeting of the Volunteer Army.

The commanders of the 13th and 20th Corps came to the conference room. They first reviewed the performance of each unit in the first and second battles and evaluated the gains and losses of the two battles.

And the current situation of each unit.

There are still many problems.

Not only were food and ammunition supplies not up to par, but some units were also not properly equipped with heavy weapons. Due to logistical difficulties, many heavy weapons were not delivered to the front-line troops in time.

Now is indeed not a good time to start a war.

If the troops continued to advance south, the frontline troops would basically be unable to bring heavy firepower into the battle. But if you fight the Americans without heavy firepower, how can you fight?

"Comrades, the Central Committee has agreed to the report of the Zhisi. Our troops will need to rest for three months, and then make further plans based on the development of the war situation."

Deng Guo presided over the meeting.

Although Wei Hongjun was still the commander and political commissar of the Volunteer Army, he knew that he would not be able to stay in Korea for long. After another confrontation with the United States, as long as the Korean War situation stabilized, Wei Hongjun would probably return.

It is impossible for a cadre of Wei Hongjun's level to stay in North Korea for several years.

At that time, the Volunteer Army would undoubtedly be handed over to Deng Guo's leadership, as he was familiar with all Volunteer Army units and the Korean War. Therefore, Wei Hongjun gave Deng Guo more opportunities in advance to help everyone get used to Deng's leadership of the Volunteer Army. Of course, given Deng Guo's qualifications and his connections with the current Volunteer Army units, there would be no problems with his command.

But it's good for everyone to adapt in advance.

"But while our troops are resting, we can't just sit there and do nothing. The Americans are currently increasing their forces in Busan, and all kinds of weapons and equipment are constantly flowing into Busan. Once the Americans are ready, they will definitely try to attack again. So we must be fully prepared for battle. I have talked with the commander, and our troops are best at infiltrating and encircling, fighting mobile warfare, rather than engaging in positional warfare with a force like the US military, which has powerful firepower. However, there will be a lot of such positional warfare in the future, so we need to prepare in advance.

"The biggest problem in fighting a positional war with the Americans is how to defend against their heavy firepower."

Han Xianchu, commander of the 13th Corps, spoke.

He said: "When we fight the Americans, we cannot use the same combat mode as we used against the Chiang Kai-shek army to fight positional warfare. In particular, the shells of the US howitzers, including their aerial bombs, are extremely powerful, and our ordinary trenches are of little use. Many of our officers and soldiers cannot escape casualties when facing US aerial bombs, even if they are some distance away. This is because these shells and bombs are too powerful. Even if people are not at the explosion point and are not injured by shrapnel, the lethality caused by the sound waves and shock waves of the explosion is still very serious. Therefore, to fight a positional war with them, we must make some changes in the trench issue.

The US military is completely different from the Japanese and national armies that everyone has fought.

The power of artillery shells and aerial bombs is too great.

The Volunteer Army’s previous trenches were of limited use against American artillery shells and aerial bombs.

"Yes."

Commander of the 20th Corps, Zheng Weishan, also nodded.

He said: "Especially the aerial bombs dropped by American planes, which pose the greatest threat to our trenches. Many of them are simply impossible to defend against. If the Soviet Air Force continues to stay out of the front-line combat, then relying solely on our air defense forces will be a big problem. Our trenches must be changed.

What Han Xianchu, Zheng Weishan and others fear most is still the US Air Force and their heavy artillery units.

They all believe that changes should be made to the current trenches.

However, there was no specific plan yet. It can be said that many of the Volunteer Army's tactics throughout history were developed step by step, through the test of blood and fire. For those tactics that seemed simple to later generations, countless casualties were paid.

"Zhisi has also considered this."

Deng Guodao: "The commander, I, and the Zhisi General Staff have conducted simulations. Our current trenches are indeed very problematic against the US military. So the commander proposed a new idea: tunnel warfare, to protect against US heavy artillery and aircraft.

After the commander put forward his idea, the General Staff made a detailed tunnel warfare plan based on the commander's idea. Since the US military's firepower is strong, we must target this characteristic. Comrade Chen Zhonghe, please introduce it to the comrades. If there are any questions, the comrades on the front line can also raise opinions.

"Yes."

Chen Zhonghe took out a large map.

The Americans refused to accept this and were determined to challenge the Chinese in positional warfare. Wei Hongjun had conducted a comprehensive simulation of the entire Korean War long before entering North Korea. Now it was time to bring out the tunnel warfare techniques used by the Chinese People's Volunteer Army.

Historically, the Chinese People's Volunteer Army took a long time to perfect tunnel warfare. They dug tunnels during breaks in combat, spending six months digging while fighting. Some were even discovered and destroyed by US forces while digging.

But now the front-line troops have plenty of time.

Wei Hongjun wasn't the junior cadre he'd been just a decade earlier. After years of battlefield experience, he had a deep understanding of many aspects of the battlefield. So when Wei Hongjun proposed tunnel warfare, the plan was already quite good, and he had already considered every aspect of it.