The General vs. the President: MacArthur and Truman at the Brink of Nuclear War by H. W. Brands

Author:H. W. Brands [Brands, H. W.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9780385540575
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2016-10-10T16:00:00+00:00

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AND SO HE went forward. On November 24 he issued a communiqué announcing an offensive he proclaimed would end the war. “The United Nations massive compression envelopment in North Korea against the new Red armies operating there is now approaching its decisive effort,” he declared. His air wing had interdicted enemy lines from the north, he said, without mentioning China specifically. “Further reinforcement therefrom has been sharply curtailed and essential supplies markedly limited.” He described how the eastern and western components of his pincers were closing in on the enemy. “If successful, this should for all practical purposes end the war, restore peace and unity to Korea, enable the prompt withdrawal of United Nations military forces, and permit the complete assumption by the Korean people and nation of full sovereignty and international equality.” To reporters who accompanied him to the front, MacArthur declared, “I hope to keep my promise to the G.I.’s to have them home by Christmas.”

John Muccio later had a distinct memory of MacArthur at this moment. The general was characterizing the offensive as a mop-up operation, and he dismissed concerns about large-scale Chinese intervention. “His exact words as I remember them were, ‘There may have been twenty-five thousand Chinese cross the Yalu, but there cannot be more than thirty thousand, otherwise my intelligence would know about it.’ ” Muccio continued, “I can still picture him posturing with his corncob pipe. The two of us were alone at the time. MacArthur was a very theatrical personality. I think that John and Lionel Barrymore were theatrical amateurs compared to MacArthur.” Muccio reflected a bit more. “I don’t think MacArthur even blinked his eyes without considering whether it was to his advantage to have his eye blink or not. Everything was thought through, but it became so a part of his nature, and his personality, that it seemed to be automatic.”

The end-the-war offensive began with great promise. Seven divisions of American Eighth Army and ROK troops, with a brigade of British troops, advanced on a sixty-mile front in northwestern Korea, crossing frozen rivers and encountering minimal resistance. American B-29 bombers pounded rail lines and depots, drawing only sporadic and ineffectual anti-aircraft fire. MacArthur’s forces gained eight, ten, as many as fifteen miles in mere hours. “The giant U. N. pincer moved according to schedule,” he announced after flying over the front and along the Yalu, where he instructed his pilot to dip the wings to salute the first American troops to reach the river. “Our losses were extraordinarily light,” he told reporters. “The logistic situation is fully geared to sustained offensive operations. The justice of our cause and the promise of early completion of our mission is reflected in the morale of the troops and commanders alike.”

And then, on the night of November 25, the offensive hit a hidden wall. The Chinese troops had not gone away; they had gone to ground. And they were augmented by many more of their comrades, who had slipped into Korea undetected by MacArthur’s reconnaissance and intelligence.

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