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A 155-mm howitzer acting as "base gun" for Battery A, 92nd Armored Field ArtilleryBattalion, U.S. Eighth Army, firing adjusting rounds near Kumhwa, Korea. 8 June 1952.

Mostly the infantry suffered the terror of general bombardments while huddled in heavily protected dug-outs. The secret of using these incredible bombardmentsfor offensive action ... usually desperate struggles to capture a single outpost like Old Baldy ... was to register artillery of all sizes over a few days, a few rounds fromeach weapon hours or days apart. If Intel didn't recognize what was happening, the sudden assault by hundreds of artillery pieces continuously firing with great accuracy on perhaps a hundred yardsof ground would stun and crush all opposition, allowing attacking troops who had quietly staged as close to the target as possible, to overwhelm anysurvivers.

Unlike nearly all of the previous wars waged by the United States, the conflict in Korea brought no military victory; in fact, during the last two years of the struggle neither side sought to settle the issue decisively on the battlefield. More important fighting, in both cases, went on at the peace table than on the field of combat.

The Chinese enemy was well and courageously led at the small unit level, was thoroughly disciplined and industrious. He fought effectively in spite of UN superiority in air, and in communications. amd with a hodge-podge of equipment. American troops were also brave, but during the first 10 months or so of the war we were not well organized, or well disciplined.We were not well led at the company and field grade levels, or above. But, we learned. We re-defined and re-established the leadership requirements of our officer corps. Our combat units again developed into teams, as we had in WWII. We fought the Chinese to a standstill, and then drove them back to about the original national boundaries.The limited operations the UN allowed immediately following the start of the Truce Talks without question showed the overall superiority of our forces.

For example, in October 1951 the Eighth Army had inflicted upon the enemy the highest monthly total of casualties for the negotiations period and had won valuable defensive terrain as well. Still, political considerations welcomed the inconclusive final result.


Causes of the Korean Tragedy ... Failure of Leadership, Intelligence and Preparation

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