And rightfully so. MacArthur had badly neglected the training of the forces under his command. Incredibly basic and rudimentary soldiering skills like maintaining a tight perimiter at night, constructing mutually supporting positions, and digging in when halted for any length of time had been almost completely forgotten among army forces (although, not among the Marines, as their remarkable performance at Chosin would show). These were critical to the defeat of American troops by Chinese forces, who were otherwise at a disadvantage by every single quantitative measurement including, contrary to popular belief, numerically. Pretty much the only thing that can be said in his defense is that this wasn’t unique to MacArthur: every US army command in the late-40s had badly neglected training, discipline, and force readiness, partly because demobilization left the army with little will or resources for it. Had US forces been facing Soviet mechanized troops instead of Chinese light infantry, they likely would have been outright annihilated instead of mauled and routed.
. In reality, yes, he was removed because of insubordination - he wanted to extend the war into the PRC and use nuclear weapons to cut off the neck of Korea at the Yalu.
