Korean conflict. Participation of the USSR, USA and China in the Korean War

21.11.201927.05.2017

Korean War- armed conflict between North and South Korea, which lasted from June 25, 1950 to July 27, 1953. The main reason for the war is the desire of both sides to unite Korea under their command (Kim Il Sung - with a pro-socialist ideology, and Syng-man Lee - with a pro-capitalist one). As a result, in fighting the leading world powers - the USSR and the USA were involved.

Prerequisites

At the end of World War II, on the basis of an agreement between the allied states, the territory north of the 38th parallel was occupied by Soviet troops, and to the south - American. Subsequently, it was supposed to form an all-Korean national government. Soviet Union in 1948 he withdrew his troops from Korea, by 1949 American troops had also left their deployment areas in South Korea. With the assistance of the United States, a puppet government of Lee Syngman was created in South Korea, the formation of an army began, and then preparations for an open war against North Korea In the summer of 1950, even before the outbreak of the war, as a result of the Massacre of members of the Bodo League, up to 200 thousand people were killed on charges of communist views. The number of the South Korean army by June 1950 amounted to about 93 thousand people, not counting 50 thousand policemen. By this time, they were armed with 840 guns and mortars, 1900 bazooka rifles and 27 armored vehicles. In addition, the Leesynmanovtsy had 20 aircraft and 79 small ships, mostly of small displacement, although the American Congress openly stated that the Korean issue was not in the circle of US interests.

In the autumn of 1948, preparations began for the attack. and by the spring of 1950, not without the help of the USSR, a plan of attack on South Korea was developed. His plan was to encircle and destroy the main forces of the South Korean army in the Seoul region and south of Danjon and Taegu by means of an offensive by ground forces from the front with the help of airborne units landed in the rear. The balance of forces by the start of hostilities was in favor of the DPRK, which in the main, Seoul, direction outnumbered the enemy in infantry by 1.9 times, (175 thousand people) in tanks - by 5.5, (it included 150 T- 34,) by aircraft - by 8.5 times (there were 172 combat aircraft in the air force. The fleets of the opposing sides were approximately the same and solved only supporting tasks.

fighting

According to the North Korean version of the description of the beginning of the war, on June 23, 1950, South Korean troops began shelling KPA positions, and at dawn on June 25, assuming that after a long (two days) artillery preparation, the main enemy targets were destroyed, went on the offensive. In some areas, South Korean troops managed to wedge in 1-2 km north of the 38th parallel. Having repulsed the first blows of the enemy, the KPA troops launched a counteroffensive. The enemy, who did not expect such powerful retaliatory strikes, began to retreat and on July 28 was forced to leave Seoul.

According to the South Korean version, which is followed when describing events in the historical literature of the West, the KPA troops crossed the 38th parallel for no apparent reason on June 25 and began an offensive deep into the territory of the Korean Peninsula.

In a month and a half of hostilities, the KPA troops advanced 240-350 km. Lisynmanovskaya army lost almost 100 thousand people killed, wounded and captured.

In July 1950, the United States, having received a mandate from UN peacekeepers, landed its troops in the south of the peninsula and launched a large-scale counteroffensive. By November, the US Army had reached the Chinese border.

In October 1950, China and the USSR intervened in the conflict. By tacit agreement, China provided the units being formed with personnel under the guise of "Chinese people's volunteers", and the USSR supplied weapons and equipment to North Korea, including the latest jet fighters, and also provided the KPA troops with military advisers.

The entry into the war of China and the USSR on the side of North Korea contributed to the restoration of the front on the 38th parallel.

War at sea

Fleet of the DPRK

At the beginning of the war, the North Korean navy had 20 ships, including 3 patrol ships, 5 torpedo boats, 4 minesweepers and several auxiliary vessels. With the outbreak of hostilities, up to 100 ships with a displacement of 60 to 100 tons were mobilized. The forces of the fleet were stationed at the main naval base of Nampo. The coastal defense of North Korea was in the process of formation: by the beginning of hostilities, it consisted of 3 artillery regiments, including one anti-aircraft regiment, and was armed with field guns of 76- and 107-mm calibers. The Marine Corps consisted of 2 regiments stationed in Wonsan and Nampo.

The main tasks that were carried out by the DPRK fleet during the war in Korea were the landing of tactical assault forces on the coast occupied by the enemy, episodic battles with enemy ships on the high seas, supplying the ground army and laying minefields, including anti-amphibious ones.

mine war

Mostly defensive minefields were put up. Active minefields were not exposed due to the lack of high-speed minelays, which could provide covert laying of mines in areas controlled by the enemy. Due to the fact that the laying of mines was carried out under the conditions of the undivided domination of the enemy at sea and in the air, they were placed only in the dark. During 1950-1951, 2741 mines were exposed. Most of them (2157 mi) are off the east coast and only 584 mines are off the west. Two destroyers sank from a mine explosion, and 10 minesweepers, a patrol ship and four destroyers were damaged. Fearing mine explosions, large ships almost did not approach the coast closer than 50 miles, and cruisers - 10-15 miles. In areas where no mines were laid, even ships of the line came close to the shore.

Actions of coastal batteries

Coastal artillery also played a significant role in the defense of the coast. The North Korean army was armed with 76- and 107-mm field guns. In addition to stationary batteries, the North Korean fleet also had batteries on mechanical traction and on railway platforms. Coastal batteries were placed thoughtfully and reliably protected from enemy naval artillery fire. In sheer coastal cliffs or on reverse slopes, usually in caves, 3-4 guns were placed. The embrasures were masked with yellow-green camouflage capes, tree branches, wicker mats, and in winter - white masks. Such firing positions are very difficult to detect, but even more difficult to destroy. The ships of the UN forces, engaging in a firefight with the North Korean coastal batteries, rarely achieved success, while they themselves received significant damage.

On August 1, 1950 at 16:00, a detachment of enemy light forces consisting of two cruisers and a destroyer approached the port of Ongdin. From a distance of 60 cables, they began shelling the port and the battle formations of the KPA troops. The 76-mm battery of the 918th artillery regiment opened fire on the ships. Shells fell near the ships, and individual volleys covered the targets, but the enemy continued to maneuver and fire along the coast. Having fired 400 shells, the ships withdrew to the south.

On August 4, 1950, the destroyer of the Americans for a long time fired at the troops located in locality south of the port of Chumunzhin. A "wandering" 76-mm battery was called to this area. She took up an open firing position at the water's edge and from a distance of 20 cables opened fire on a destroyer. The very first volleys covered the target, a fire broke out on the ship, and the destroyer began to move away from the coast in alternating courses, transferring its fire to the battery.

On August 20, the same battery, which was in a firing position in the Mukho region, engaged in battle with a destroyer that approached the shore at a distance of 20 cables. The battery was the first to open fire and immediately scored hits. The ship returned fire and immediately moved away from the shore into the sea. It had its chimney blown off, its navigation bridge damaged, and what appears to have been damage to its vehicle, as it drastically slowed down.

On October 12, three destroyers tried to approach the port of Wonsan. The ship leading the ship was blown up by a mine, the other two rushed to his aid. Two 76-mm batteries from the Nakhimov Peninsula and about. Annenkov opened fire on the ships. Having received damage, the destroyers left the battery fire zone.

On June 14, 1951, near Songjin, the Thompson minesweeper approached the shore for about 3 km. Suddenly, a four-gun battery opened fire on him. Returning fire, the minesweeper began to withdraw at maximum speed. But, before he managed to get out of the fire zone, he received 13 hits, while 3 people were killed and 3 wounded, the central artillery post, radio room and radar station were badly damaged.

As a result of the fire of artillery batteries, two frigates, four landing ships, one schooner, five longboats were sunk, 12 destroyers, two frigates and one minesweeper were damaged. However, the fire of artillery batteries on armored cruisers and destroyers, which fired at coastal targets from long distances, was ineffective.

In April 1951, 56 107-mm guns and 48 76-mm guns were allocated to the DPRK Navy to organize the defense of the coast from landings and artillery shelling from the sea, later artillery and machine-gun brigades were formed.

On July 17, 1951, in Yunghin Bay, there was a detachment of enemy ships that blocked the port of Wonsan, consisting of three destroyers, two mortar ships, two minesweepers, two transports, a tanker and a hospital ship. Minesweepers carried out minesweeping, destroyers fired at coastal facilities at low speed, the rest of the ships and vessels were at anchor. Six artillery batteries were installed on the coast of the bay. At 3 p.m., all the batteries, on the set signal, opened fire on the ships. The destroyers increased their speed and, moving in a circle, returned fire on the batteries. At 5:30 p.m., two mortar ships entered the circle and fired a volley from rocket launchers. Coastal batteries used up 191 107-mm shells and 82 76-mm shells. There were hits on destroyers and mortar ships, but they continued to bombard the batteries with shells. From 4 pm to 7 pm, the ships fired over 2,000 shells. Taking into account the limited supply of shells and the insufficient effectiveness of the fire of coastal batteries, an order was given to cease fire, cover the materiel and personnel. On the morning of July 18, a battleship, a cruiser and five destroyers appeared in Yunghin Bay. The cruiser and destroyers resumed shelling the batteries. Of the six batteries, the positions of only two were destroyed. However, the rest of the batteries were suppressed and could not resist.

Actions of torpedo boats

At least one attack by torpedo boats of the DPRK Navy was also successful. At midnight on July 2, 1950, a TKA detachment of the DPRK Navy left the Sokcho base with the task of searching for and destroying enemy ships. At 04:20, in the area east of Chumunzhin, boats discovered the masts of large ships and approached them. The enemy detachment consisted of a Baltimor-class heavy cruiser, a Jamaica-class light cruiser, and a destroyer. The boats were against the background of the dark coast and were not detected until the launch of the torpedoes. The enemy did not expect such a daring attack from the DPRK torpedo boats, as a result of which surveillance of the water surface was weakened on the ships. Surprise ensured the success of the attack by torpedo boats, torpedoes were fired from a distance of 2-3 cables. Two or three torpedoes hit the heavy cruiser, and one torpedo exploded off the side of the light cruiser. Both ships were damaged, but reached their base. In this battle, with fire from enemy ships, two torpedo boats The DPRK were sunk, the third was damaged and washed ashore. Only one boat, which attacked first and used a smoke screen to break away from the enemy, managed to reach its base.

South Korean Navy

The South Korean Navy (ROKN - ROK Navy) was formed in 1948 from a Coast Guard base established during the American occupation. The command and headquarters of the fleet were in Seoul, the main base was located in Chinhae to the west of Busan, the second base of the fleet was located in Incheon. In addition, naval bases were established at Mukho and Pohang on the east coast of the Sea of Japan, at Busan and Yeosu in the south, and at Mokpo and Gunsan on the coast of the Yellow Sea.

By the beginning of the war, the South Korean Navy consisted of five divisions (detachments) of ships (1st, 2nd, 3rd, training and detachment of the naval base in Chinhe), a marine regiment, nine coast guard detachments, two naval educational institutions, and numbered 15 thousand people, of which 6956 people on 71 ships. Among them were: 1 PC-701 Bak Du San submarine hunter, 21 minesweepers (JML-301, JML-302, JML-303, JML-304, JML-305, JML-306, JML-307, YMS- 501, YMS-502, YMS-503, YMS-504, YMS-506, YMS-507, YMS-509, YMS-510, YMS-512, YMS-513, YMS-514, YMS-515, YMS-516, YMS-518), 1 landing ship LST Q-007, 43 auxiliary vessels (including Munsan, the former American LST-120, transferred in 1947).

None of the South Korean ships on the west and south coasts could resist the North Korean landings on the east coast. However, the first naval battle took place on June 25, 1950. Northeast of Busan, a PC-701 Bak Du San (Cmdr. Cmdr. Nam Choi Yong) submarine hunter collided with approximately 600 North Korean soldiers and sank a 1,000-ton armed steamship (sometimes ex-Japanese). On the transport was the 3rd battalion of the 766th KPA regiment, which had the task of landing and capturing the port of Pusan.

During the war, the South Korean fleet included up to 38 minesweepers of the UMS type, 10 patrol boats and 20 auxiliary vessels.

US Navy activities

The United States had in the immediate vicinity of the Korean Peninsula significant forces from the main command of the country's armed forces in the Far East with headquarters in Tokyo under the leadership of General D. MacArthur. The 8th Army was stationed in Japan (3 infantry and cavalry divisions), on the islands of Ryukyu and Guam - on a separate infantry regiment. The US Air Force was represented by the 5th Air Army (VA) in Japan, 20 VA - on about. Okinawa, 13 BA - in the Philippines.

The US Navy had 26 ships of the 7th Fleet in the region (aircraft carrier, 2 cruisers, 12 destroyers, 4 submarines, about 140 aircraft). Total population grouping of the US Armed Forces, which could be used in hostilities on the Korean Peninsula in a relatively short time, was approaching 200 thousand people. The aviation component of the US troops in the region was especially powerful - 1040 aircraft, including 730 in Japan.

In early July 1950, US President Harry Truman, referring to the request of the Security Council for assistance to South Korea, ordered the establishment of a naval blockade along the entire Korean coast.

The goals of the naval blockade are to prohibit the delivery of military cargo by sea from countries friendly to North Korea and undermine its defense capability, hinder the operation of a small fleet and prevent coastal transportation, including land communications. By the end of the summer of 1950, the blockade forces were consolidated into an operational unit, commanded by Rear Admiral Hartman. The number of ships of the main classes of the US Navy involved in operations in Korea has increased to 89 units.

The operations of the US and South Korea at sea were limited to preventing North Korea from providing its army with humanitarian supplies by sea, as well as suppressing coastal artillery. However, all this was complicated by physical and geographical difficulties, such as strong currents, muddy shallow water and numerous underwater rocks.

Between May 1951 and March 1952, US Navy ships fired 414,000 artillery shells at targets on the Korean Peninsula (90% were 127mm shells; the rest were 152mm, 203mm, and 406mm).

The US leadership, seeking to let the largest possible number of ships of its Navy through the Korean theater of operations, attracted a total of about 575 ships (including 4 battleships, 8 aircraft carriers and 8 cruisers) for combat operations. A total of 265,000 US Navy personnel took part in the Korean War. Official casualties were 475 killed, 1,576 wounded, and 4,043 died of injury or disease.

Participation of the fleets of other countries of the UN coalition

The UN multinational forces took part in the hostilities in Korea - the troops of states that supported the UN Security Council (SC) resolution of June 27, 1950 on rendering military assistance to South Korea in the outbreak of war with the DPRK. Among them: Australia, Belgium, Great Britain, Greece, Canada, Colombia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Thailand, Turkey, Philippines, France, Ethiopia and the Union of South Africa. Military medical units were provided by India, Italy, Norway, Sweden. In total, the strength of the southern coalition of troops ranged from 900 thousand to 1.1 million people, including the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan - up to 600 thousand people, the US Armed Forces - up to 400 thousand, the armed forces of the above allies - up to 100 thousand people.

The Royal Navy of Great Britain allocated a total of about 50 ships of various classes (including 4 light aircraft carriers and 10 light cruisers) for operations off the coast of Korea. By the end of 1950, the number of ships of the main classes of the British Navy off the Korean Peninsula had grown from 20 to 27 units.

The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) sent a total of 8 destroyers and 3,621 crew members to the coast of Korea between 1950 and 1955. The destroyers DDE218 Cayuga, DD225 Sioux and DDE219 Athabaskan were the first to arrive on the theater of operations on the coast of Japan on July 30, 1950, which were later joined by DDE213 Nootka, DDE215 Haida, DDE216 Huron, DDE217 Iroquois and DDE228 Crusader. The tasks of the ships of the Canadian Navy included ensuring a naval blockade of the coast of North Korea and shelling coastal facilities, primarily trains. The first combat contact with the North Korean coastal battery occurred in mid-January 1951 during the shelling of the Incheon coast. According to the Canadian version, the fire of the North Korean guns was inaccurate and the destroyers silenced them with two volleys. The only loss in the personnel of Canadian ships was officially recorded on EM Iroquois (commander captain William Landymore, later commander-in-chief of the Canadian Navy), when he came under fire while patrolling the east coast of the peninsula on October 2, 1952 coastal battery. As a result, 3 crew members were killed and 10 were injured. In total, Canadian ships chalked up 8 destroyed North Korean railway trains, with three of them falling on the EM Iroquois.

Some of the ships of the Royal Australian Navy at the end of World War II were based in Japan and Hong Kong, so already on June 29, 1950, Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies made a statement that the frigate HMAS Shoalhaven and the destroyer HMAS Bataan were being transferred to the command of UN forces in Korea. First military operation with the participation of Australian warships began on July 1 - the frigate Shoalhaven escorted a convoy of American ammunition transports from Japan to Busan. On July 27, 1950, the destroyer Warramunga appeared off the coast of Korea. In total, until 1955, 11 ships of the Australian Navy visited the waters of the Korean Peninsula, including two aircraft carriers (R17 Sydney and R71 Vengeance), five destroyers (Arunta, Anzac, Bataan, Tobruk and Warramunga) and four frigates (Culgoa, Condamine, Murchison and Shoalhaven) , on board were 5771 crew members. AB Sydney aircraft (Sea Fury fighters of 805 and 808 squadrons and Firefly from 817 squadron of the Navy) made 2700 sorties, losing three pilots and 9 aircraft.

From the navies of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France and Holland in combat operations in different time up to 32 ships of various classes took part in the waters of Korea (including a light aircraft carrier and 10 destroyers).

The replacement of the ships of the fleets of the USA, England, Canada and other countries participating in the hostilities in Korea was carried out, as a rule, in 5-7 months.

The forces of the 7th Combined Fleet of the UN Naval Forces were organizationally reduced to the following permanent operational formations:

The 72nd formation, which consisted of ships of the US Navy, provided cover for about. Taiwan from the sea.
The 77th aircraft carrier formation, which included US Navy ships (3-4 aircraft carriers, 2-3 cruisers and 15-20 destroyers and patrol ships), constantly carried out a blockade of the east coast of Korea and performed other combat missions in this area.
The 79th Maintenance Force consisted of US Navy auxiliary vessels and security forces.
The 90th amphibious formation was composed of landing ships, amphibious transports, US Navy dry cargo transports and security forces (destroyers and patrol ships). It transported troops, equipment and weapons between Japan and Korea.
The 92nd Service Force consisted of US and British Navy bulk carriers, tankers and other support vessels, and security forces. This formation provided ammunition, fuel and food for the US Navy ships operating off the east and west coasts of Korea.
The 95th formation included warships of the navies of the countries participating in the UN multinational forces operating in the waters of Korea (usually included 1-2 aircraft carriers, 2-3 cruisers, 15-20 destroyers, 15-20 patrol ships and 10-15 minesweepers). It constantly carried out a blockade of the western coast of Korea.

In addition to these permanent formations, during the hostilities in Korea, other formations were also created, in particular, the 70th (artillery support ships), the 96th (security forces), the 99th (reconnaissance), etc.

Artillery strikes against ports and other coastal facilities were carried out both by single ships and by detachments of ships consisting of 1-2 cruisers, 2-5 destroyers and patrol ships. Episodic shelling was carried out by larger formations of ships in the battleship, 2-3 cruisers, 6-8 destroyers and 4-5 patrol ships.

According to the headquarters of the 7th Joint Fleet of the UN Naval Forces, surface ships for operations against coastal facilities in the period from June 1950 to June 1953 spent 4,069,626 shells with a caliber from 406 to 127 mm with a total weight of more than 75 thousand tons.

The results of the war

The Korean War was the first armed conflict of the Cold War and was the forerunner of many subsequent conflicts. She created a model of local war, when two superpowers fight in a limited area without the use of nuclear weapons.

On the territory of the Korean Peninsula, more than 80% of the industrial and transport infrastructure of both states, three-quarters of government institutions, and about half of the entire housing stock were destroyed.

At the end of the war, the peninsula remained divided into zones of influence of the USSR and the USA. American troops remained in South Korea as a peacekeeping contingent.

The content of the article

KOREA WAR, 1950–1953 armed conflict between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and China (supported by the USSR), on the one hand, and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) and a coalition of several UN countries led by the United States, on the other.

background

From 1910 to 1945, Korea (the former Kingdom of Goryeo) was a Japanese colony. After the defeat of Japan in World War II, by agreement between the allies, it was divided into two occupation zones - Soviet (north of the 38th parallel) and American (south of it). The aggravation of the Cold War prevented the USSR and the USA from reaching a compromise agreement on ways to build a unified Korean state. On May 10, 1948, under the supervision of a UN commission in the southern zone, elections were held for the National Assembly, which on August 15 announced the creation of the Republic of Korea (ROC). Lee Syngman (1948-1960) became the president of the country, establishing an authoritarian pro-American regime. In response, the Soviet-oriented government of the northern zone (People's Committee of North Korea), headed by Kim Il Sung, held elections in July 1948 to the Great People's Assembly, which in early September proclaimed the creation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). The communist regime was established in the north.

After the Soviet Union and the United States withdrew their troops from the peninsula, the leaders of North and South Korea began to develop plans to unify the country by military means. The DPRK, with the help of the USSR, and the ROK, with the help of the United States, formed their own armed forces. In this competition, the DPRK was ahead of South Korea: the Korean People's Army (KPA) outnumbered the Army of the Republic of Korea (AKP) in terms of numbers (130,000 versus 98,000), in terms of the quality of weapons (high-class Soviet military equipment) and in combat experience (more than a third of North Korean soldiers participated in civil war in China). However, neither Moscow nor Washington were interested in the emergence of a hotbed of tension on Korean Peninsula- they preferred to limit the scope of the Cold War to the European continent, not wanting it to spread to the Far East, which was fraught with an increased risk of a nuclear conflict. However, this prospect was of particular concern to the Chinese Communists, who in 1949 achieved decisive successes in the Civil War against the regime of Chiang Kai-shek and were preparing to liquidate his last bastion - the island of Taiwan; they feared that an armed conflict in Korea would provoke an American invasion of Asia and thereby interfere with their plans for Taiwan.

On January 12, 1950, US Secretary of State D. Acheson issued a statement that the American defense perimeter in the Pacific region included the Philippines, the Ryukyu Islands, Japan, and the Aleutian Islands; the statement said nothing about South Korea. The North Korean and Soviet leadership had the impression that in the event of a war between the DPRK and the ROC (if the USSR and the PRC did not participate in it), the United States would remain neutral. It was with the help of this argument that Kim Il Sung, as newly discovered documents from the Soviet archives show, was able to convince J.V. Stalin to approve his plan to invade the south.

The invasion of the North Korean army into South Korea and the occupation of the main part of its territory (June 25 - August 3, 1950)

On June 25, 1950, at 4 a.m., seven KPA infantry divisions (90,000) after a powerful artillery preparation (seven hundred 122-mm howitzers and 76-mm self-propelled guns) crossed the 38th parallel and using one hundred and fifty T-34 tanks as a striking force , the best tanks of the Second World War, quickly broke the defenses of four South Korean divisions; 200 Yak fighters in service with the KPA provided it with complete air superiority. The main blow was inflicted on the Seoul direction (1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th divisions of the KPA), and the auxiliary one was delivered on the Chunghon direction west of the Taebaek ridge (6th division). South Korean troops retreated along the entire front, losing a third of their strength (more than 34 thousand) in the first week of fighting. Already on June 27 they left Seoul; On June 28, units of the KPA entered the capital of South Korea. On July 3, they took the port of Incheon.

In this situation, the administration of G. Truman (1945-1953), which proclaimed the doctrine of "containment of communism" in 1947, decided to intervene in the conflict. Already on the first day of the North Korean offensive, the United States initiated the convening of the UN Security Council, which unanimously, with one abstention (Yugoslavia), adopted a resolution demanding that the DPRK cease hostilities and withdraw its troops beyond the 38th parallel. The USSR, which had boycotted meetings of the Security Council since 1949 in protest against the blocking of Mongolia's admission to the UN, did not have the opportunity to veto it. On June 27, Truman ordered the US Navy and Air Force to assist the South Korean army, but he did not dare to ask Congress to declare war. On the same day, the Security Council, at the initiative of Secretary General Trygve Li, by a majority of votes (seven to one with two abstentions) gave a mandate to use international forces to drive the KPA out of South Korea. Fifteen countries have agreed to include their military contingents in the UN forces. True, the participation of most of them turned out to be rather symbolic: France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Colombia and Ethiopia sent one infantry battalion to Korea, the Union of South Africa (South Africa) - a fighter squadron, Canada, Thailand and Greece - one infantry battalion and transport aircraft, the Philippines - an infantry battalion and a small detachment of tanks, Australia - two infantry battalions and a fighter squadron, Turkey - an infantry brigade, New Zealand - an artillery regiment. Only Great Britain provided significant forces - two infantry brigades, one armored regiment, three artillery engineer regiments, two aviation squadrons; the British Far East Fleet actively participated in naval operations off the Korean coast.

On July 1, the transfer of the 24th US Infantry Division (16,000) to the peninsula began. On July 5, her units engaged in battle with KPA units near Osan, but were driven back to the south. On July 6, the US 34th Regiment unsuccessfully attempted to stop the advancing North Korean troops at Anseong. On July 7, the Security Council entrusted the leadership of the military operation, dubbed "police action", to the United States. On July 8, Truman appointed General D. MacArthur, commander of the American armed forces in the Pacific, at the head of the UN troops in Korea. On July 13, US troops in Korea were merged into the 8th Army (Lieutenant General W. Walker).

After the North Koreans defeated the 34th regiment at Cheonan (July 14), the 24th division and the South Korean units withdrew to Taejon, which became the temporary capital of the Republic of Korea, and created a defensive line on the river. Kymgan. However, already on July 16, the KPA broke through the Kymghan line and captured Taejon on July 20. As a result of the first stage of the campaign, five of the eight ROK divisions were defeated; South Koreans lost 76,000 and North Koreans 58,000.

However, the KPA command did not take full advantage of the fruits of its success. Instead of developing the offensive and dropping the still few American formations into the sea, it paused to regroup forces. This allowed the Americans to transfer significant reinforcements to the peninsula and defend part of South Korean territory.

Battle of the Busan Perimeter (August 4 - September 14, 1950)

At the end of July 1950, the Americans and South Koreans retreated to the southeastern corner of the Korean Peninsula in the area of the port of Pusan (Pusan Perimeter), organizing defenses along the Jinju-Taegu-Pohang line. On August 4, the KPA launched an assault on the Pusan Perimeter. By this time, the number of defenders, thanks to significant American reinforcements, reached 180 thousand, they had 600 tanks at their disposal, and they occupied advantageous positions on the river. Naktong and in the foothills. Nevertheless, the attackers, having much smaller forces (98 thousand and 100 tanks), during the First Naktong Battle (August 8–18) managed to capture Chinju and come close to the port of Masan. At the same time, American and South Korean forces managed to halt a North Korean advance west of Taegu on August 15–20 (the "Battle of Bowling Alleys"). On August 24, 7,500 North Koreans with 25 tanks almost broke through the American defenses near Masan, which was defended by 20,000 soldiers with 100 tanks. Nevertheless, the forces of the Americans were constantly growing, and from August 29, units from other countries began to arrive near Pusan, primarily from the British Commonwealth. On September 1, the KPA troops launched a general offensive and on September 5-6 they punched a hole in the South Korean defensive lines in the northern sector of the perimeter near Yongchon, took Pohang and reached the near approaches to Taegu. Only thanks to the stubborn resistance of the American Marines (1st Division), the offensive was stopped by mid-September (Second Naktong Battle).

The landing at Inchon and the capture by UN troops of the main part of North Korea (September 15 - October 18, 1950)

In order to relieve pressure on the Pusan bridgehead and achieve a turning point in the course of hostilities, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCNSH) in early September 1950 approved the plan proposed by MacArthur for a landing operation deep in the rear of the North Korean troops near the port of Inchon with the aim of capturing Seoul (Operation Chromite). The invasion troops (10th Corps under the command of Major General E. Elmond) numbered 50 thousand people. Early in the morning of September 15, they landed near Incheon and, breaking the resistance of the North Koreans, captured this port on the same day, and on September 20 launched an offensive against Seoul and, after fierce fighting, captured it on September 22–28. On September 16, the 8th American Army launched an offensive from the Pusan bridgehead, broke through to the north of Taegu on September 19-20, surrounded three North Korean divisions on September 24, captured Cheongju on September 26 and connected south of Suwon with units of the 10 Corps. Almost half of the Busan grouping of the KPA (40,000) was destroyed or taken prisoner; the rest (30 thousand) hastily retreated to North Korea. By early October, all of South Korea had been liberated.

The American command, inspired by the military success and the prospect of unification of Korea under the rule of Syngman Rhee, decided on September 25 to continue military operations north of the 38th parallel with the aim of occupying the DPRK. On September 27, it received Truman's consent to this. Thus, the United States made a major political mistake: instead of defending South Korea, which was attacked by the DPRK, they appeared in the eyes of the whole world as an aggressor and, in fact, contributed to the expansion of the conflict by provoking the intervention of the People's Republic of China (PRC).

On October 1, the 1st ROK Corps crossed the demarcation line, launched an offensive along the east coast of North Korea, and on October 10 captured the port of Wonsan. The 2nd ROK Corps, which was part of the 8th Army, crossed the 38th parallel on October 6-7 and began to develop an offensive in the central direction. The main forces of the 8th Army (by that time, in addition to the Americans and South Koreans, it included British, Australian, New Zealand, Canadian, South African, Turkish, Thai and Filipino units) on October 9 invaded the DPRK on the western section of the demarcation line north of Kaesong and rushed to the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, which fell on October 19. To the east of the 8th Army, the 10th Corps (Americans, South Koreans, British) transferred from Seoul was advancing. By October 24, the troops of the Western coalition reached the line of Chonju - Pukchin - Wudang - Orori - Tanchon, approaching with their left flank (8th Army) the Yalu River (Amnokkan) bordering China. Thus, the bulk of North Korean territory was occupied.

Chinese intervention in the Korean conflict. Expulsion of Americans from North Korea (October 19, 1950 - January 24, 1951)

After the entry of allied troops into the DPRK, the command of the People's Liberation Army of China (PLA) warned that they would not be inactive if they crossed the Yalu River. Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong asked the USSR for military support; Premier of the State Administrative Council of the People's Republic of China Zhou Enlai was sent to Moscow for negotiations. The Soviet government agreed, but, not wanting to enter into a large-scale war with the United States, decided to limit its assistance to the supply of military equipment to the PLA and the dispatch to Korea of the 64th Fighter Aviation Corps (321 MiG-15 fighters, 441 pilots), which was supposed to be based in Manchuria (Mukden) and fight under the Chinese flag (from November 1951 he acted as part of the United Air Army under the command of General Liu Zhen).

October 19, 1950 Chinese troops (three regular armies The PLA, numbering 380,000), under the command of Peng Dehuai, Vice Chairman of the People's Revolutionary Military Council of the People's Republic of China, crossed the Korean border without declaring war. On October 25, they launched a surprise attack on the ROK 6th Infantry Division; the latter managed to reach Chosan on the river on October 26. Yalujiang, but by October 30 it was completely defeated. On November 1–2, the same fate befell the US 1st Cavalry Division at Unsan. The 8th Army was forced to stop the offensive and by November 6 retreated to the Chongchon River.

However, the Chinese command did not pursue the 8th Army and withdrew its troops for replenishment. This gave rise to MacArthur's erroneous belief in the weakness of the enemy's forces; at the same time, he relied on data from the American military intelligence, which inexplicably underestimated the size of the North Korean and Chinese troops, downplaying it by more than ten times. On November 11, the US-ROK 10th Corps launched an offensive to the north: on November 21, units of its right wing reached the Chinese border in the upper Yalu River near Hesan, and by November 24, units of the left wing established control over the strategically important area of the Chhosin reservoir. At the same time, the 1st ROK Corps captured Chongjin and ended up 100 km from the Soviet border.

In this situation, MacArthur gave the order for a general Allied advance with the aim of "ending the war by Christmas". However, by that time, Chinese and North Korean troops had a significant numerical superiority (250,000 against 400,000): the 8th Army (135,000) was opposed by the PLA 13th Army Group (180,000) and KPA formations (100,000). ), the 10th and 1st South Korean Corps (115 thousand) - the 9th army group of the PLA (120 thousand). On November 25, the 8th Army moved from Chongchon to the Yalu River, but on the night of November 26, the PLA 13th Army Group launched a counterattack on its right flank (2nd ROK Corps) and made a deep breakthrough. On November 28, the 8th Army left Cheonju and retreated to Chongchon, and on November 29 to the Namgang River.

On November 27, the vanguard of the 10th Corps (US 1st Marine Division) launched an offensive west of Chhosin Reservoir in the direction of Kangge, but the next day, ten Chinese divisions (120 thousand) surrounded the Marines, as well as the 7th Infantry Division United States, occupying a position east of the reservoir. On November 30, the corps command ordered the blockaded units (25,000) to break through to the East Korean Gulf. During the 12-day retreat, the Americans managed to fight their way to the port of Hynam by December 11, losing 12 thousand people. killed, wounded and frostbitten. Chinese losses amounted to 67.5 thousand. The US Marine Corps still considers the battle of Chhosin one of the most heroic pages in its history, and the PLA - its first major victory over Western armies.

In early December, the allied forces were forced to begin general waste south, which also proved to be the longest American retreat in history. After the PLA 13th Army Group broke through to Songchon (December 1), the 8th Army left the defensive line on the Namgang River and left Pyongyang (December 2). On December 5, the Chinese occupied the North Korean capital. By December 23, the 8th Army rolled back beyond the 38th parallel, but was able to gain a foothold on the Imjingan River. The 10th and 1st ROK corps, which were under the threat of encirclement, on November 30, the first began to retreat to Songjin (modern Kim-Chek), and the second to Hynnam, and on December 9–24 they were evacuated through these ports on US Navy ships to South Korea ; in total, 105,000 servicemen and 91,000 civilians were taken out. By the end of the year, the government of Kim Il Sung regained control over the entire territory of the DPRK.

However, the Chinese leadership decided to continue the offensive to the south with the aim of capturing the entire peninsula, in doing so, they made the same political mistake that the American command made four months earlier. If the Chinese troops had stopped at the demarcation line, the international prestige of the PRC would have increased dramatically, and the United States would hardly have been able to prevent its admission to the UN (which, because of this, was delayed until 1971). Now the PRC has acted as the aggressor.

On December 31, the Chinese and North Koreans with forces of up to 485 thousand people. launched an offensive along the entire front south of the 38th parallel. By January 1, 1951, PLA units had broken through the allied defenses on the Inmjingan River, and KPA units carried out a frontal detour on the left flank. The new commander of the 8th Army, General M. Ridgeway, was forced to begin a retreat to the river on January 2. Hangang. January 3, 1951 expeditionary forces left Seoul, January 5 - Incheon. Wonju fell on January 7th. MacArthur demanded to use against China nuclear weapon, but it was rejected by President Truman. By January 24, the advance of Chinese and North Korean troops was stopped on the Anson-Wonju-Chengkhon-Samcheok line. But the northern regions of South Korea remained in their hands.

Ridgway's Counteroffensive (January 25 - April 21, 1951)

At the end of January - the end of April 1951, Ridgway launched a series of strikes with the aim of recapturing Seoul and pushing the Chinese and North Koreans over the 38th parallel. During Operation Thunderbolt, which began on January 25, 1951, the 8th Army captured Suwon on January 26, and Inchon on February 10. On February 5, the 10th Corps launched an offensive; True, on February 11-12, as a result of a Chinese counterattack, he was thrown back to Wonju, but a week later he still forced the enemy to retreat to Hengson. On February 21, the 8th Army inflicted new blow in a northerly direction (Operation "Killer") and by February 28 reached the lower reaches of the Hangang to the nearest approaches to Seoul. On March 7, the allies launched another offensive (Operation Ripper), occupied Seoul on March 14–15, and by March 31 reached the Idaho Line (lower reaches of the Imjingan - Hongcheon - north of Chumunjin) in the 38th parallel area. On April 2–5, they made a breakthrough in the central direction and by April 9 they reached the Hwacheon reservoir (Operation Ragid), and by April 21 they were already at the nearest approaches to Chkhorwon, displacing the PLA and KPA beyond the 38th parallel (with the exception of the extreme western section front).

Even before the end of the counter-offensive, MacArthur, due to disagreements with Truman regarding the idea of using nuclear weapons in the Korean War against the forces of the PLA and the KPA, and for mistakes made in November 1950, was removed from the post of commander of the UN forces and replaced by Ridgway (April 11). General D. Van Fleet became commander of the 8th Army (April 14).

Battle of the 38th Parallel (April 22 - July 10, 1951)

From late April to early July 1951, the belligerents made a number of attempts to break through the front line and change the situation in their favor. On April 22, Chinese and North Korean troops (350,000) attacked the 8th Army in the western direction, again pushing it back beyond the 38th parallel, but at the end of April they were stopped north of Seoul and near Hongchon. On May 15, they struck in the central and eastern directions, but he was not successful either. On May 21, the 8th Army launched a counteroffensive, by the end of May it knocked out Chinese and North Korean troops back beyond the 38th parallel, but in June it got stuck in battles for the Iron Triangle (a strategically important area between the cities of Cheorwon, Pyongan and Gimhwa). True, in mid-June, she managed to capture Chkhorvon, but then military operations acquired a positional character.

air war

important integral part the Korean War was a confrontation in the sky. This was the last major military conflict in which propeller fighters were used, and the first in which jet fighters were used. In the initial phase of the war, the KPA, thanks to the presence of Yaks, had complete air superiority. But with the intervention of the Americans in the conflict, whose Air Force had F-80 fighters ("Shooting Stars") with a turboprop jet engine, the situation changed dramatically: during the defense of the Busan perimeter, the Inchon landings and the UN invasion of North Korea, aviation dominated the sky Western coalition. Bombers B-29 ("flying fortresses") and B-26, operating under the cover of "shooting stars", performed the role of long-range artillery, clearing the way for the advancing troops and destroying enemy communications.

Then, in the first period of the Chinese offensive (November 1950), new Soviet MiG-15 jet fighters appeared in the Korean sky, which significantly exceeded the F-80 in their technical characteristics; Soviet officers had extensive combat experience since the Great Patriotic War. In a series of air battles from November 1950 to January 1952 between Pyongyang and the Yalu River (“MiG Alley”), Soviet pilots inflicted serious damage on the aviation of the Western allies, shooting down 564 aircraft and losing only 71 aircraft and 34 pilots. The connection between the enemy bombers and fighters was destroyed - without air support, he could no longer carry out large-scale ground offensive operations.

From the end of 1951, the Americans began to use a new type of jet fighter - the F-86 ("saber"), which, in terms of distillation range, maximum speed, rate of climb and working ceiling, approached the MiG-15. As a result, they managed to reduce the loss ratio from 8:1 to 2:1. During 1952, the 64th Corps shot down 394 aircraft, losing 174 (51 pilots), in the first half of 1953 - 139 aircraft, losing 76 (25 pilots). If ground operations actually ceased at the beginning of 1953, then the activity of air confrontation remained high until the very end of the war.

Over the entire period of participation in hostilities, Soviet pilots made 63,229 sorties and conducted 1,790 air battles, shooting down 1,097 enemy aircraft. The total losses of the 64th Corps are 319 vehicles and 110 pilots.

Peace talks and truce in Panmunjom

The stalemate that developed in the summer of 1951 on the Korean front prompted the participants in the conflict to look for diplomatic ways to resolve it. On June 23, the Soviet representative to the UN called for a ceasefire in Korea. In response, on June 30, Ridgway invited the DPRK and the PRC to enter into negotiations. Negotiations between the command of the KPA and the PLA, on the one hand, and the command of the UN forces, on the other, opened on July 10 in Kaesong (North Korea), but on August 23 were interrupted by the North Korean delegation. However, after a new successful local offensive by the 8th Army in the Chhorwon area (October 3-19), the DPRK resumed negotiations (October 25), which were transferred to Phanmunjom. On November 12, the American command decided to finally abandon offensive operations and switch to "active defense."

On November 27, 1951, the parties agreed to establish a demarcation line based on the existing front line and to create a demilitarized zone. But then the negotiations stalled due to disagreements on the issue of the repatriation of prisoners of war: the DPRK demanded their mandatory return, while the UN representatives insisted on the principle of voluntariness. On October 8, 1952, a UN delegation broke off negotiations due to lack of progress. On October 24, during the presidential election campaign in the United States, Republican candidate D. Eisenhower, given the deep dissatisfaction of the Americans with the protracted war, promised, if elected, to go to Korea and establish peace there, which largely ensured his victory in the November 4 elections. On November 29, the newly elected president visited Korea.

On March 28, 1953, the DPRK proposed resuming negotiations and carrying out an exchange of sick and wounded prisoners of war even before the armistice was signed. Despite the objections of Secretary of State D. F. Dulles, who demanded as a preliminary condition the consent of the DPRK to the political unification of Korea, the Eisenhower administration returned to the negotiating table on April 26. On June 8, the DPRK government, under pressure from Chinese diplomacy, agreed to the voluntary repatriation of prisoners of war, provided that it takes place under the supervision of both sides. However, the South Korean parliament unanimously rejected this option; Syngman Lee urged Eisenhower to "continue to fight for the unification of the country." These calls met with a wide response in the US Congress, especially among the ruling Republican Party. Nevertheless, the American president was able to convince the South Korean leadership to support the ceasefire project.

On July 27, 1953, at 10 a.m. in Phanmunjom, American Lieutenant General W. Harrison from the command of the UN forces in Korea and North Korean General Nam Il from the command of the KPA and Chinese troops signed a truce, according to which, 12 hours after the act of signing, all hostilities on the peninsula ceased . A 4-kilometer demilitarized zone was created between South and North Korea, running from the mouth of the Imjingan in the west through the northern environs of Cheorwon to the coast of the Sea of Japan in the east. To monitor compliance with the terms of the armistice, a Military Armistice Commission in Korea was established, consisting of ten senior officers (five from UN troops and five from the PLA and KPA) and the Commission of Neutral Countries for Supervision of a Truce in Korea, consisting of four military representatives from Poland, Czechoslovakia, Switzerland and Sweden. The Korean War is over.

Losses

The war left a huge number of victims on both sides. The total military losses of the South Koreans are estimated at 984.4 thousand (228 thousand killed). According to American data, the North Koreans lost approx. 600 thousand, and the Chinese - approx. 900 thousand The Chinese estimate their total military losses at 460.6 thousand (including 145 thousand killed).

The total losses of the UN forces amounted to 118.5 thousand killed, 264.5 thousand wounded and 93 thousand prisoners. The largest losses were suffered by the Americans - 169 thousand (irretrievable - 54 thousand, including 33.6 thousand killed in battle); this figure is only slightly inferior to the number of their losses in the Vietnam War of 1964–1973. The total losses of the rest of the coalition members are as follows: Great Britain - 5017 (710 killed), Turkey - 3349 (717), Australia - 1591 (291), Canada - 1396 (309), France - 1135 (288), Thailand - 913 (114), Greece - 715 (169), the Netherlands - 704 (111), Colombia - 686 (140), Ethiopia - 656 (120), Philippines - 488 (92), Belgium and Luxembourg - 453 (97), New Zealand - 115 (34 ), South Africa - 42 (20).

The loss of the civilian population of Korea, according to various estimates, is estimated at 3 million. More than 80% of the Korean production potential was destroyed and Vehicle. The bombing caused enormous damage: for example, UN aircraft practically wiped out Pyongyang, which had a population of approx. 400 thousand people The result of the conflict was a real humanitarian catastrophe on the peninsula.

Results of the Korean War

The Korean War was the first local armed conflict between the Western and socialist blocs in the nuclear era, in which the participation of the superpowers was limited (it spread over a limited territory and was not accompanied by the use of weapons of mass destruction).

Although the conflict ended in a truce and neither side achieved victory, the war had important political implications for both Korea itself and the rest of the world. It consolidated the split of the Korean Peninsula and strengthened the political positions of both the Kim Il Sung regime in the north and the Syngman Rhee regime in the south. Kim Il Sung managed in 1952-1957 to eliminate all opposition factions ("internal", Soviet and Chinese) in the ruling Workers' Party of Korea and establish full control over the country. As a result of the Panmunjom Truce, the territory of the Republic of Korea increased, and the authoritarian nature of the Syngman Rhee regime, which relied on the ever-increasing military and financial support of the United States, intensified in it.

The Korean War led to the spread of the Cold War not only to the Far East, but also to other regions. The United States maintained a significant military contingent in South Korea, sent troops to defend Taiwan, abandoned its former policy of neutrality in Indochina, and expanded its military presence in Europe and the Middle East. The US military budget has reached 50 billion dollars, the size of the American armed forces has doubled; special emphasis was placed on the development of aviation. The US military-industrial complex, which was in deep decline after the end of World War II, has regained its economic position.

The role played by China in the Korean War restored to it the status of a great Asian power, which had been lost in the second half of the 19th century. However, the relations of the Chinese Communists with the West, and above all with the United States, became aggravated, which did not allow them to solve their main political task - to unite all of China under their rule. The Korean conflict also led to a crack in Soviet-Chinese relations: part of the leadership of the PRC considered the assistance of the USSR insufficient, in addition, dissatisfaction was expressed with the quality of the supplied Soviet military equipment.

Japan was a particular beneficiary of the Korean War, which turned from a former adversary into the main ally of the United States in the Far East. As early as 1951, the Western powers agreed to conclude the San Francisco Peace Treaty with her; in the same year, under the Security Treaty, the United States received the right to keep its troops on Japanese territory indefinitely. A significant portion of US military orders were placed in Japan. This triggered an economic boom; in 1955 the country surpassed the pre-war level in terms of gross national product and industrial production.

Ivan Krivushin

Literature:

Ridgway M. Soldier. M., 1958
Lototsky S. Korean War 1950–1953(Overview of military operations). Military history magazine. 1959, no. 10
History of Korea, v. 2. M., 1974
Tarasov V.A. Soviet diplomacy during the Korean War(1950–1953) – In: Diplomats Remember: The World Through the Eyes of Veterans of the Diplomatic Service. M., 1997
Volokhova A.A. Some archival materials about the Korean War(1950–1953 ) - In: Problems of the Far East. 1999, No. 4
Utash B.O. Soviet Aviation in the Korean War 1950–1953 Abstract dis. cand. ist. Sciences. Volgograd, 1999
Torkunov A.V. Mystery War: The Korean Conflict 1950–1953. M., 2000
Korean Peninsula: Myths, Expectations and Reality: Materials IV scientific. conf., March 15–16. 2000 Ch. 1–2. M., 2000
Gavrilov V.A. G. Kissinger:« The Korean War was not a Kremlin plot at all..". - Military History Journal, 2001, No. 2
The Korean War, 1950-1953: a look 50 years later: Materials of the international theoret. conf. (Moscow, June 23, 2000). M., 2001
Ignatiev G.A., Balyaeva E.N. Korean War: old and new approaches. - Herald of Novgorod state university. Ser.: Humanities, v. 21, 2002
Orlov A.S., Gavrilov V.A. Secrets of the Korean War. M., 2003

The content of the article

background

After the Soviet Union and the United States withdrew their troops from the peninsula, the leaders of North and South Korea began to develop plans to unify the country by military means. The DPRK, with the help of the USSR, and the ROK, with the help of the United States, formed their own armed forces. In this competition, the DPRK was ahead of South Korea: the Korean People's Army (KPA) outnumbered the Army of the Republic of Korea (AKP) in terms of numbers (130,000 versus 98,000), in terms of the quality of weapons (high-class Soviet military equipment) and in combat experience (more than a third of North Korean soldiers fought in the Chinese Civil War). However, neither Moscow nor Washington were interested in the emergence of a hotbed of tension on the Korean Peninsula - they preferred to limit the scope of the Cold War to the European continent, not wanting it to spread to the Far East, which was fraught with an increased risk of a nuclear conflict. However, this prospect was of particular concern to the Chinese Communists, who in 1949 achieved decisive successes in the Civil War against the regime of Chiang Kai-shek and were preparing to liquidate his last bastion - the island of Taiwan; they feared that an armed conflict in Korea would provoke an American invasion of Asia and thereby interfere with their plans for Taiwan.

The invasion of the North Korean army into South Korea and the occupation of the main part of its territory (June 25 - August 3, 1950)

Battle of the Busan Perimeter (August 4 - September 14, 1950)

The landing at Inchon and the capture by UN troops of the main part of North Korea (September 15 - October 18, 1950)

Chinese intervention in the Korean conflict. Expulsion of Americans from North Korea (October 19, 1950 - January 24, 1951)

On October 19, 1950, Chinese troops (three PLA regular armies numbering 380,000) under the command of Peng Dehuai, Vice Chairman of the People's Revolutionary Military Council of the People's Republic of China, crossed the Korean border without declaring war. On October 25, they launched a surprise attack on the ROK 6th Infantry Division; the latter managed to reach Chosan on the river on October 26. Yalujiang, but by October 30 it was completely defeated. On November 1–2, the same fate befell the US 1st Cavalry Division at Unsan. The 8th Army was forced to stop the offensive and by November 6 retreated to the Chongchon River.

However, the Chinese command did not pursue the 8th Army and withdrew its troops for replenishment. This gave rise to MacArthur's erroneous belief in the weakness of the enemy's forces; in doing so, he relied on data from US military intelligence, which inexplicably underestimated the number of North Korean and Chinese troops, downplaying it by more than ten times. On November 11, the US-ROK 10th Corps launched an offensive to the north: on November 21, units of its right wing reached the Chinese border in the upper Yalu River near Hesan, and by November 24, units of the left wing established control over the strategically important area of the Chhosin reservoir. At the same time, the 1st ROK Corps captured Chongjin and ended up 100 km from the Soviet border.

In early December, the Allied forces were forced to begin a general withdrawal to the south, which also proved to be the longest American retreat in history. After the PLA 13th Army Group broke through to Songchon (December 1), the 8th Army left the defensive line on the Namgang River and left Pyongyang (December 2). On December 5, the Chinese occupied the North Korean capital. By December 23, the 8th Army rolled back beyond the 38th parallel, but was able to gain a foothold on the Imjingan River. The 10th and 1st ROK corps, which were under the threat of encirclement, on November 30, the first began to retreat to Songjin (modern Kim-Chek), and the second to Hynnam, and on December 9–24 they were evacuated through these ports on US Navy ships to South Korea ; in total, 105,000 servicemen and 91,000 civilians were taken out. By the end of the year, the government of Kim Il Sung regained control over the entire territory of the DPRK.

On December 31, the Chinese and North Koreans with forces of up to 485 thousand people. launched an offensive along the entire front south of the 38th parallel. By January 1, 1951, PLA units had broken through the allied defenses on the Inmjingan River, and KPA units carried out a frontal detour on the left flank. The new commander of the 8th Army, General M. Ridgeway, was forced to begin a retreat to the river on January 2. Hangang. January 3, 1951 expeditionary forces left Seoul, January 5 - Incheon. Wonju fell on January 7th. MacArthur demanded the use of nuclear weapons against China, but it was rejected by President Truman. By January 24, the advance of Chinese and North Korean troops was stopped on the Anson-Wonju-Chengkhon-Samcheok line. But the northern regions of South Korea remained in their hands.

Ridgway's Counteroffensive (January 25 - April 21, 1951)

At the end of January - the end of April 1951, Ridgway launched a series of strikes with the aim of recapturing Seoul and pushing the Chinese and North Koreans over the 38th parallel. During Operation Thunderbolt, which began on January 25, 1951, the 8th Army captured Suwon on January 26, and Inchon on February 10. On February 5, the 10th Corps launched an offensive; True, on February 11-12, as a result of a Chinese counterattack, he was thrown back to Wonju, but a week later he still forced the enemy to retreat to Hengson. On February 21, the 8th Army launched a new attack in a northern direction (Operation Killer) and by February 28 reached the lower reaches of the Hangang on the nearest approaches to Seoul. On March 7, the allies launched another offensive (Operation Ripper), occupied Seoul on March 14–15, and by March 31 reached the Idaho Line (lower reaches of the Imjingan - Hongcheon - north of Chumunjin) in the 38th parallel area. On April 2–5, they made a breakthrough in the central direction and by April 9 they reached the Hwacheon reservoir (Operation Ragid), and by April 21 they were already at the nearest approaches to Chkhorwon, displacing the PLA and KPA beyond the 38th parallel (with the exception of the extreme western section front).

Battle of the 38th Parallel (April 22 - July 10, 1951)

air war

An important component of the Korean War was the confrontation in the sky. This was the last major military conflict in which propeller fighters were used, and the first in which jet fighters were used. In the initial phase of the war, the KPA, thanks to the presence of Yaks, had complete air superiority. But with the intervention of the Americans in the conflict, whose Air Force had F-80 fighters ("Shooting Stars") with a turboprop jet engine, the situation changed dramatically: during the defense of the Busan perimeter, the Inchon landings and the UN invasion of North Korea, aviation dominated the sky Western coalition. Bombers B-29 ("flying fortresses") and B-26, operating under the cover of "shooting stars", performed the role of long-range artillery, clearing the way for the advancing troops and destroying enemy communications.

Peace talks and truce in Panmunjom

Losses

According to various estimates, the loss of the civilian population of Korea is estimated at 3 million. More than 80% of the Korean production potential and vehicles were destroyed. The bombing caused enormous damage: for example, UN aircraft practically wiped out Pyongyang, which had a population of approx. 400 thousand people The result of the conflict was a real humanitarian catastrophe on the peninsula.

Results of the Korean War

Ivan Krivushin

Literature:

Ridgway M. Soldier. M., 1958
Lototsky S. Korean War 1950–1953(Overview of military operations). Military history magazine. 1959, no. 10
History of Korea, v. 2. M., 1974
Tarasov V.A. Soviet diplomacy during the Korean War(1950–1953) – In: Diplomats Remember: The World Through the Eyes of Veterans of the Diplomatic Service. M., 1997
Volokhova A.A. Some archival materials about the Korean War(1950–1953 ) - In: Problems of the Far East. 1999, No. 4
Utash B.O. Soviet Aviation in the Korean War 1950–1953 Abstract dis. cand. ist. Sciences. Volgograd, 1999
Torkunov A.V. Mystery War: The Korean Conflict 1950–1953. M., 2000
Korean Peninsula: Myths, Expectations and Reality: Materials IV scientific. conf., March 15–16. 2000 Ch. 1–2. M., 2000
Gavrilov V.A. G. Kissinger:« The Korean War was not a Kremlin plot at all..". - Military History Journal, 2001, No. 2
The Korean War, 1950-1953: a look 50 years later: Materials of the international theoret. conf. (Moscow, June 23, 2000). M., 2001
Ignatiev G.A., Balyaeva E.N. Korean War: old and new approaches. – Bulletin of the Novgorod State University. Ser.: Humanities, v. 21, 2002
Orlov A.S., Gavrilov V.A. Secrets of the Korean War. M., 2003

The Soviet Union did not officially recognize its participation in the Korean War of 1950-1953 until the mid-1970s. The award lists and notices of death spoke of the "especially important task of the party and government." And today, few people know about this domestic page. But in the sky of Korea for 3 years, Soviet and American pilots waged a real war for the possession of the sky, finding out “who is who”. The sky is left behind Soviet aces. This article is dedicated to the memory of Soviet pilots who fought and died in Korea.

"Hot" episodes of the "Cold War"

After the representatives of Japan signed the act of surrender on September 2, 1945, the USSR and the USA again became rivals. The confrontation between the two world superpowers and the economic and military blocs they lead has gone down in history as the Cold War. But the war was not always cold. Often the confrontation turned into a "hot" phase. Numerous military conflicts in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East were based on the desire of the USSR or the USA to establish their control, their hegemony in a certain part of the world. The territories of many countries became testing grounds where the USSR and the USA tested their military equipment, tested in practice new methods of warfare, where officers acquired and improved their combat experience.

Korean "mess"

On June 25, 1950, the North Korean army crossed the 38th parallel, the former border between the two Koreas, and began to rapidly move south. By mid-August, about 90% of the territory of South Korea was under the control of the DPRK troops. The US military decided that this was a very suitable occasion for conducting large-scale military field exercises in conditions as close as possible to combat. In order to provide political cover, the United States "pushed" through the UN a resolution on the introduction of peacekeeping forces into Korea, and already on July 1, the first American military units landed on the Korean peninsula. To the great surprise of the American military, North Korean troops broke through the defenses of their 24th Infantry Division and stormed the city of Cheonan defended by it. The division, which did not have time to withdraw, was surrounded and soon ceased to exist, its commander, Major General Dean, surrendered.

"Peacekeepers"

The United States began to urgently increase the number of peacekeepers in Korea. Soon the combat units of Canada, Australia, Great Britain and other countries joined the American military. 15 states sent their military contingents to Korea. By September 1, the number of "blue helmets" in Korea exceeded 180 thousand, half of them were Americans. On September 15, this whole colossus, twice the size of the DPRK army, went on the offensive and literally wiped the North Korean army into powder. The decisive role in the success of the offensive was played by the superiority of the "peacekeepers" in weapons, military equipment and, above all, in aviation.

B-29

UN troops against the army of the DPRK

The striking force of the "UN peacekeepers" was the B-29 strategic bombers - "Flying Fortresses", inaccessible to anti-aircraft artillery, capable of carrying up to 9 tons of bomb load. They were covered by F-80 Shooting Star jet fighters. 835 aircraft of the 5th Air Army of the US Air Force opposed 200 piston LA-9, LA-11 and IL-10 attack aircraft. The North Korean Air Force was doomed. By September 20, 20 attack aircraft and 1 fighter remained from them, surviving by a miracle. In this situation, American pilots, "showing courage and selfless courage," began the methodical destruction of the North Korean armed forces from the air, dropping tons of bombs on them, thereby ensuring the success of ground tactical operations. By October 1950, UN troops were already approaching the Chinese border.
The leaders of North Korea turned to China and the USSR for help. China sent 270 thousand "volunteers" to help its southern neighbor, and the USSR took over the air cover for the troops.

Chinese pilots Li Xi Qing and Wang Yu Shin

At the end of October 1950, the first pilots arrived in Korea from the USSR. They were dressed in Chinese military uniforms and given documents with new names, without photographs. It is here that the origins of jokes about Chinese pilots with the surnames Li Xi Qing and Wang Yu Shin (Lisitsyn, Vanyushin). Together with the pilots, jet fighters MIG-15 arrived. Aircraft were worn by North Korean or Chinese identification marks. In the air, it was ordered to negotiate only on Chinese. The pilots wrote down the texts of the main commands in Russian letters and fastened these leaves on their knees, but in the very first battle they switched to Russian, while widely using profanity. The leadership very soon realized the absurdity of the order and canceled it. The group was called the "64th Fighter Air Corps".

The air group was commanded by Ivan Kozhedub, Thrice Hero of the Soviet Union. On November 8, the pilots for the first time "took a bite" of American pilots, who proudly called themselves "knights of the sky." The meeting ended with the loss of one F-80 fighter by the Yankees. Air Force "peacekeepers" began to suffer serious losses. To establish parity, the United States sent the latest F-86 Saber fighters to Korea.

US Air Force "Black Thursday"

But the real test of who is worth what was the battle on April 12, 1951, which went down in the history of the US Air Force as "Black Thursday". On this day, 48 B-29 bombers, accompanied by 80 F-86 fighters, flew to bomb the railway bridge across the Yalu River, through which the entire flow of military supplies went from China to Korea. 44 Soviet MiG-15s flew to intercept. The fighters were met by a dense screen of fire from B-29s and F-86s. Soviet pilots, many of whom were still shooting down Luftwaffe pilots, went straight into the fire. Subsequently, up to several dozen holes were counted on each of these fighters. Breaking through the wall of fire, the MIGs attacked the B-29s. In less than 20 minutes, the US Air Force lost 10 bombers and 4 fighters. The 64th Fighter Air Corps returned to the airfield that day without loss. US Air Force declared a week of mourning for the dead. For three months the "UN peacekeepers" bombers did not take to the skies. All subsequent time, the fearless Yankees preferred to fly out on bombardments at night. After April 12, Soviet pilots converted the "flying fortresses" into "flying sheds".

American Truth

In an effort to "save face", the American press wrote about the "superior enemy forces", increasing the number of MIGs participating in the battles by 2-3 times, and cited exorbitantly inflated data on losses among Soviet pilots. Even then, this caused violent indignation among Soviet pilots, direct participants in the battles. So, if you want to know the truth about those events, you should not look for it based on American sources - it is not there.

Results

For almost three years, the pilots of the 64th Fighter Air Corps shot down 1,525 aircraft, of which 170 were B-29s. 52 Soviet pilots returned from Korea as aces. Ace No. 1 is E. Pepelyaev, who shot down 23 aircraft in the sky of Korea, followed by N. Sutyagin, who scored 21 victories. Many returned home with orders and medals, and the chest of 35 pilots was decorated with Golden Star Hero of the Soviet Union. In total, about 1200 pilots passed the test of the Korean War.

As in any war, there were casualties. American pilots were by no means cowards, and were not afraid to engage in battle. 319 aircraft lost the air corps in three years of fighting, 120 pilots died in battle. Almost all of them are buried in the Chinese city of Dalian (former Dalniy), in the Russian cemetery, next to the defenders of Port Arthur.
Eternal memory to them!

In August 1945, the Korean Peninsula was liberated from Japanese occupation. In the northern part of Korea, which was entered by Soviet troops, a communist regime was established, headed by Kim Il Sung. And in the south of the peninsula, where US troops landed, Lee Syngman, one of the leaders of the anti-communist nationalist movement, came to power. Thus, two Korean states hostile to each other were formed. However, North and South Korea did not abandon the idea of reunifying the country. Enlisting the help of their main patrons - Moscow and Washington - they were preparing to solve the problem by force of arms. June 25, 1950 war broke out on the peninsula. Within two months, North Korean troops captured almost all of South Korea, including Seoul. The South Korean government remained in the hands of only the Pusan bridgehead. However, this was only the beginning of a bloody war. The South Korean regime was supported by a broad coalition of countries led by the United States.

"The Forgotten War" 1950-1953

This war is called "forgotten". In our state, before the collapse of the Soviet Union, nothing was reported or written about it at all. Our fellow citizens, who happened to take part in this war as pilots, anti-aircraft gunners, military advisers and other specialists, signed a non-disclosure agreement. In the West, many documents relating to the Korean War are still classified. Therefore, objective information is clearly not enough, researchers are constantly arguing about the events of that war.

There are several reasons for hushing up the problems of this war. The main reason is that the war is still not over. Only a truce has been concluded, formally the war continues. From time to time, armed clashes take place on the border of South and North Korea, some of them may become a pretext for the start of a new Korean war. The peace treaty between Seoul and Pyongyang has not yet been signed. The border between South Korea and the DPRK is one of the most fortified places on our planet, a real "powder magazine" threatening a new war. And until the war is finally over, a certain censorship cannot be completely absent. Both sides of the conflict and their allies waged an information war, voicing only information that was beneficial to them, or interpreting the facts in their favor. Another reason for the silence is the ratio of the number of human lives lost and the political and military results achieved. The Korean War is apparently one of the most brutal and fratricidal wars ever fought on the planet. A real civil war. The number of victims of the Korean War is still not known exactly, the spread in numbers is huge: you can find data from 1 to 10 million dead. Most sources agree on the figure of 3-4 million dead, the destruction of more than 80% of the industrial and transport infrastructure of both Korean states. The result of the war is the return of the opposing sides to their original positions. Thus, millions of lives were completely senselessly sacrificed to the Moloch of War, almost the entire peninsula was turned into ruins, a single people was divided into two hostile parts. However, no one was punished for these crimes. Therefore, many have tried to simply "forget" this unpleasant page of history. There is another reason - the war was extremely brutal on both sides. Both South Korean and North Korean troops often resorted to torture and execution of prisoners, and killed wounded enemy soldiers. The Americans had orders to shoot to kill at all people approaching their positions on the front line (North Korean soldiers could disguise themselves as refugees). Western troops pursued a strategy of destroying the industrial and human potential of the country, a policy that Air Force The USA and Great Britain tried it in the war against the Third Reich and the Empire of Japan. Airstrikes were carried out on irrigation facilities, on roads with refugees, on peasants working in the fields, napalm was massively used, etc. In South Korea, tens of thousands of people were killed without trial or investigation on charges of sympathizing with communism. Such crimes were a mass phenomenon.

Key dates and events of the war

June 5, 1950 - the beginning of the war. North Korean troops launched a military operation against South Korea. The Soviet Union provided assistance in the development offensive operation. Her plan was approved in Moscow. Joseph Stalin for a long time did not give consent to the start of the operation, drawing attention to the insufficient combat training and weapons of the North Korean army. In addition, there was a danger of a direct conflict between the USSR and the USA. However, in the end, the Soviet leader still gave the go-ahead to start the operation.

June 27, 1950 - The UN Security Council passes a resolution that approved the use of US UN forces on the Korean Peninsula, and also recommended that UN member states voluntarily support these actions in accordance with Art. 106 of the UN Charter. The Union could not impose a ban on this resolution, since it was absent from the Security Council starting in January 1950 in protest against the representation of the Chinese state in the UN by the Kuomintang regime. The resolution was passed almost unanimously, with only Yugoslavia abstaining. As a result, the participation of Americans in hostilities became quite legitimate. The United States put up the most powerful contingent - from 302 to 480 thousand people (for comparison, up to 600 thousand people fought South Koreans) and Great Britain - up to 63 thousand soldiers. In addition, soldiers were provided by Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Turkey, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, France, Thailand and other states.

June 28 - North Korean troops capture Seoul. The capital of South Korea during the three years of the war 4 times passed from hand to hand and was turned into ruins. The North Korean leadership expected that the fall of Seoul would be the end of the war, but the South Korean government managed to evacuate.

September 15th. The landing of the UN landing corps in Inchon, the beginning of the counteroffensive of the troops of South Korea and the allies. To this moment armed forces South Korea and UN forces controlled only a small section of the peninsula near the city of Busan (Busan bridgehead). Busan managed to hold on, accumulate strength for a counteroffensive, starting it simultaneously with the landing in Inchon. American aviation played a big role - the United States at that moment completely dominated the air. In addition, the North Korean army was exhausted, having lost its offensive capabilities.

September 5 - Seoul is taken by UN forces. October 2, 1950 - Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai warned that if UN troops (except South Korean troops) crossed the 38th parallel, then Chinese volunteers would enter the war on the side of North Korea. October 7, 1950 - American and British units began to advance to the north of the peninsula.

October 16, 1950 - the first Chinese units ("volunteers") entered the territory of the peninsula. In total, 700-800 thousand Chinese "volunteers" fought on the side of North Korea. October 20, 1950 - Pyongyang fell under the blows of UN troops. As a result of the offensive by South Korean and UN troops, the North Koreans and Chinese were left with only a small foothold near the border with China.

November 26, 1950 - North Korean and Chinese forces. December 5, 1950 - North Korean and Chinese forces recapture Pyongyang. Now the pendulum of war has swung the other way, the retreat of the South Korean army and its allies was like a flight. December 17, 1950 - the first clash of Soviet and American combat aircraft took place: MIG-15 and Saber F-86. January 4, 1951 - North Korean and Chinese troops captured Seoul. In general, the participation of the USSR was relatively small (relative to China and the USA). Up to 26 thousand Soviet military specialists fought on the side of Pyongyang.

February 21, 1951 - the beginning of the second counter-offensive of the South Korean troops. March 15, 1951 - the capital of South Korea is recaptured by the troops of the southern coalition for the second time. April 10, 1951 - the resignation of General Douglas MacArthur, Lieutenant General Matthew Ridgway was appointed commander of the troops. MacArthur was a hardliner: he insisted on expanding military operation on the territory of China and even on the use of atomic weapons. At the same time, he expressed his ideas in the media without notifying the top management, as a result, he was removed from his post.

By June 1951, the war had reached a stalemate. Despite the huge losses, serious destruction, each side kept the Armed Forces combat-ready, had an army of up to a million people. Despite some superiority in technical means, the Americans and other allies of Seoul were not able to achieve a radical change in the war. The expansion of the war into the territory of China and the USSR would lead to the beginning of a new world war. It became clear that it would be impossible to achieve a military victory at a reasonable price, so negotiations on a truce were necessary.

July 8, 1951 - Beginning of the first round of negotiations in Kaesong. During the negotiations, the war continued, with both sides suffering significant losses. On November 4, 1952, Dwight Eisenhower was elected President of the United States. On March 5, 1953, I.V. Stalin died. The new Soviet leadership decides to end the war. On April 20, 1953, the parties began to exchange prisoners of war. July 27, 1953 - a ceasefire agreement is concluded.

The proposal for a ceasefire, which was accepted by the UN, was made by India. The southern coalition was represented by General Mark Clark, since the representatives of South Korea refused to sign the agreement. The front line stopped at the 38th parallel, and a Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) was created around it. This zone ran a little north of the 38th parallel in the east and a little south in the west. The peace treaty that would have ended the war was never signed.

The threat of using nuclear weapons. It was the first war on Earth, which began with the presence of nuclear weapons from the warring parties - the USA and the USSR. Especially dangerous was the fact that by the beginning of the Korean War, both great powers did not have equality in nuclear weapons. Washington had about 300 warheads, and Moscow had about 10. The USSR conducted the first test of nuclear weapons only in 1949. This disparity in nuclear arsenals created a real danger that the American military-political leadership would use nuclear weapons in a critical situation. Some American generals believed that atomic weapons should be used. And not only in Korea, but also in China and against the USSR. It should also be noted that the American President Harry Truman (President of the United States in 1945-1953) did not have a psychological barrier of novelty in this matter. It was Truman who ordered the nuclear bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The possibility of using nuclear weapons by the American side was quite high. Especially during defeats at the front. So, in October 1951, the American Armed Forces carried out an imitation of a nuclear bombing, approved by President Harry Truman, a “practical atomic strike” on the positions of North Korean troops. Fake nuclear bombs were dropped on North Korean targets in several cities (Operation Port Hudson). Fortunately, Washington still had the sense not to launch a third, nuclear world war. Apparently, the Americans had an understanding of the fact that they were not yet capable of causing irreparable damage to the military-industrial potential of the USSR. And the Soviet troops in such a scenario could occupy the whole of Europe.

Prerequisites

fighting

War at sea

Fleet of the DPRK

mine war

Actions of coastal batteries

Actions of torpedo boats

South Korean Navy

US Navy activities

Participation of the fleets of other countries of the UN coalition

The results of the war

background

The invasion of the North Korean army into South Korea and the occupation of the main part of its territory (June 25 - August 3, 1950)

Battle of the Busan Perimeter (August 4 - September 14, 1950)

The landing at Inchon and the capture by UN troops of the main part of North Korea (September 15 - October 18, 1950)

Chinese intervention in the Korean conflict. Expulsion of Americans from North Korea (October 19, 1950 - January 24, 1951)

Ridgway's Counteroffensive (January 25 - April 21, 1951)

Battle of the 38th Parallel (April 22 - July 10, 1951)

air war

Peace talks and truce in Panmunjom

Losses

Results of the Korean War

background

The invasion of the North Korean army into South Korea and the occupation of the main part of its territory (June 25 - August 3, 1950)

Battle of the Busan Perimeter (August 4 - September 14, 1950)

The landing at Inchon and the capture by UN troops of the main part of North Korea (September 15 - October 18, 1950)

Chinese intervention in the Korean conflict. Expulsion of Americans from North Korea (October 19, 1950 - January 24, 1951)

Ridgway's Counteroffensive (January 25 - April 21, 1951)

Battle of the 38th Parallel (April 22 - July 10, 1951)

air war

Peace talks and truce in Panmunjom

Losses

Results of the Korean War

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