Fifty years after the Korean conflict, what is a forgotten war for
some Americans is an aching memory for China. With over a million
casualties out of the three million soldiers sent into battle, that
war looms as large for the People's Republic of China (PRC)-barely
a year old when North Korea invaded the South-as World War II does
for most other countries. It was the first international war fought
by the Chinese Communist regime to halt counterrevolution; it was
also a war that the Chinese fully expected to win, by virtue of not
only superiority of numbers but also their soldiers' superior
"political quality."
This book presents a mosaic of memoirs by key Chinese military
commanders from that war, drawing not only on their personal papers
but also on still-classified archives and on Chinese-language
sources unavailable in English. It offers an uncensored,
behind-the-scenes story of the Communist campaign, from the
decision to intervene through the truce negotiations, that
discloses new information on such facets of the war as strategy and
tactics, use of propaganda, and mobilization of the Chinese
population. It also reveals the generals' concerns about the
possible use of nuclear force and the alleged use of biological and
chemical weapons by the United States.
The book contains a wealth of new materials on the Chinese
intervention, including combat operations, logistics, political
control, field command, and communications. Among those whose
recollections are recorded, then-acting Chief of Staff Nie Rongzhen
reveals how party leadership decided on intervention, Commander in
Chief Peng Dehuai provides personal accounts of major battles and
communications with Mao, and General Yang Dezhi shares secrets of
Chinese military strategy and tactics, discussing how the army
orchestrated each battle to contend with the better equipped UN
forces. The volume also features an updated short history of the
PRC's conduct of the war based on Chinese sources, plus rare photos
from Chinese archives that put readers behind the lines from the
Chinese side.
"Mao's Generals Remember Korea" demonstrates that the PRC
continues to draw military, diplomatic, and strategic lessons from
the war it fought fifty years ago with the world's most powerful
military force. It offers valuable insight into the Chinese way of
war and the military mind of Mao that will be a rich resource for
Asian and military scholars.
General
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