Decisive Victory in Korea

MacArthur proceeded to the Yalu with the thought that there was no more organized resistance and that the PRC would not intervene. Thus, the troops going north were not prepared for real, prolonged combat with a strong enemy.

If the US gave real consideration that the PRC would intervene, then the drive to the Yalu would be very different. It means there is no sudden surprise that overwhelms the front lines, and that defensive lines could be formed north of the 38th parallel. UN troops might inflict horrendous casualties in such a scenario, and might even be able to counter attack and regain some lost ground. I don't know if they could reach the Yalu, but it's at least a possibility.

At that point, negotiations would begin. I don't know if Mao or Stalin would consider a rump North Korean state viable or desirable, and they might be convinced to allow a united Korea provided certain things happened. Perhaps no-US troops after the war, and a neutral Korean state not allied to the US, like in Austria.

The problem lies with MacArthur and his ego.

I concur, avoiding the headlong rush northward, leaving a defensive line across the narrow part of the peninsula and simply having an awareness of the multiple Chinese incursions that preceded their invasion would have done wonders for the US position.
 
only problem being that there wasnt..and he never became president..

America at the time was not all that gung-ho to have WW III.. conventional or nuclear.. ok MacArthur was .. but most others not so much.. that little conflict called WW II had just ended 7 years prior. The American populace just didnt have the stomach for it at that point. If America went all in .. and i mean ALL in (yeah i know we pretty much were all in.. but it was a POLICE ACTION, not a DOW against NK and PRC and as such was hampered)...sure they could have beat the NKA back into China, They were doing that conventionally.. but they were not going to go trying to take China down.. to damn big, to damn many people with sharp chop sticks.. and guns and tanks.. ( ask Japan how that went... and they did that during a civil war) and if .. if we went nuclear.. Russia would surly come to the rescue of its buddies then you have a much much bigger mess. and that was what was trying to be avoided ..

Nuclear bombs were the game changer and no one wanted to escalate to that, except again MacArthur :)

Disagree.

Strongly.

Stalin knew perfectly well how big the disparity was between the USA and CCCP stockpiles. He knew the USA had delivery systems that exaggerated even that trend. He even knew that a split with the independent-minded Chinese was likely.

Given that the man's entire foreign policy tended to avoiding risk, there's not a chance in heck he'd risk nuclear retaliation against the US. He knew quite well he'd lose. He also was well aware of the advantages of a Chinese defeat - they'd toe the Moscow line that little while longer.
 
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