What if MacArthur, fearing a Chinese intervension, decided not to advance towards the Yalu River?
So, a U.S.-China proxy war between the Norks and the Souks?The US/UN forces would pass ammo to the ROKs as they sat taking their ease around Seoul, & the Chinese would do the same north of the Yalu.
The pressure might still be there due to him being a war hero.Would Ike even run though, if the Korean War had been reduced to a lower-level fight between the South and North Koreans north of the 38th?
Ike was under heavy pressure from both parties to run for president due to his popularity as a war hero, and I don't forsee any normal post-WWII POD that Ike doesn't run in some way.Would Ike even run though, if the Korean War had been reduced to a lower-level fight between the South and North Koreans north of the 38th?
This is probably what I was misremembering as MacArthur's orders versus his expectations.Checking my copy of Fehrenbachs 'This Kind of War' the following points emerged: 1. The ROK government & Army were uninterested in US policy and orders. They continued to advance north with short pauses for logistics improvements.
2. The Chinese government dropped a hint or two to the US that they would intervene 'if' US combat units advanced north of the 38th paralle.
If Ferhenbach is correct on this the the recovering ROK Army & NKPA remnants are free to shoot it out all the way north to the Yalu as they are inclined and able. The US/UN forces would pass ammo to the ROKs as they sat taking their ease around Seoul, & the Chinese would do the same north of the Yalu.
I think the key point in Feherenbachs account is the Chinese were not going to intervene if the battle were only a Korean fight. What they did not want was a US controled army close to their Industry in. Manchuria.
2. The Chinese government dropped a hint or two to the US that they would intervene 'if' US combat units advanced north of the 38th paralle.
Probably not, but they were rebuilding the NKPA, so it would have been down to two difficult to control proxy armies. The ROK would likely have had UN air support, the NKPA Chinse volunteers, tho probablly not the entire 300,000+ sent OTL.
And somewhere along the way, the message either wasn't delivered or wasn't believed.Not just drop a hint, they outright told India about their intentions to intervene if UN forces continue north (ROKA was free to continue) and asked the message be delivered to the US.
Losing pyongyang, I don't think DPRK would survive 1991.And somewhere along the way, the message either wasn't delivered or wasn't believed.
IIRC, MacArthur was flat told not to go north of 38 for fear of PRC intervention.
So, if he listens, & it ends up a Korean CW (of sorts), with the southern border of NKor (presumably) something like 40 North, what happens to the "rump" NK after they get tired of shooting each other? How long does it, can it, survive?
IIRC, MacArthur was flat told not to go north of 38 for fear of PRC intervention.
I do recall him getting a stop order, & ignoring it, tho. So where, or when? In ref approaching (or crossing?) the Yalu?That's incorrect. The U.S. government sought and obtained a UN Resolution authorizing UN forces to occupy North Korea prior to UN forces crossing the 38th Parallel, so MacArthur was authorized to do that.
That sounds sensible.Maybe, while UN forces trapped the NK army, he should have sent the ROK troops north to capture Pyonygyang, then US/UN fortifing along the 38th.
My thinking exactly. (BTW, I've seen this very idea offered as a serious scholarly proposal.)The logical place to stop is about the waist of Korea, north of Pyongyang. Hold there, and also Wonsan on the east coast you can establish a line not too broken by mountains in the middle and not so long as to make the troop density too thin.