stalkere
Banned
Well, hell, just to keep some good discussion going - here's another one to think about.
When I was a Staff Officer in Korea, we, perforce had to study the Korean War, just in case the NKA decided to try coming South again. For reason of geography, there are only a few good invasion routes. There's nothing "artifiicial" about the DMZ - that area has been a natural border between the Northern and Southern Kingdoms of the Kor'yo Peninsula for over a Millennium.
Now, you study the history of June 1950, and it kind of jumps out that, despite the surprise, the ROKA was not exactly the bumbling idiots that they are often portrayed in American Histories. There was one division that crumbled in the Chorwon Valley that pretty much released the NKA into the ROKA rear. Had they held the line, had they been reinforced properly, had the valley been somehow blocked - the retreat to the Naktong might not have happened.
What happens to history if the ROKA holds the NKA back without a lot of US help? What if Task Force Smith doesn't get chopped to dogmeat and the US and UN forces come flooding in. No retreat to the Naktong, no Inchon, no march to the Yalu, no "Frozen Chosin".
Something maybe as simple as the 3.5 inch bazooka, or hell, an RPG or improved Panzerfaust in the hands of the ROKA in June of '50 might have stemmed the tide. Man-made avalanches to block the passes even for a short time, could have given the ROKA what they needed.
There are a lot of legends that I've been told but not found in official histories. Martin Caidin told of an unconfirmed story of close to a hundred P-38s that were supposed to go to the ROKAF in 1949 - but they were destroyed, since that might tempt the ROKAF to go North. A couple of squadrons of P-38s in the fighter-bomber role might have done some serious damage to the T-34s coming South.
But, what do you folks think of that scenario?
Ed
When I was a Staff Officer in Korea, we, perforce had to study the Korean War, just in case the NKA decided to try coming South again. For reason of geography, there are only a few good invasion routes. There's nothing "artifiicial" about the DMZ - that area has been a natural border between the Northern and Southern Kingdoms of the Kor'yo Peninsula for over a Millennium.
Now, you study the history of June 1950, and it kind of jumps out that, despite the surprise, the ROKA was not exactly the bumbling idiots that they are often portrayed in American Histories. There was one division that crumbled in the Chorwon Valley that pretty much released the NKA into the ROKA rear. Had they held the line, had they been reinforced properly, had the valley been somehow blocked - the retreat to the Naktong might not have happened.
What happens to history if the ROKA holds the NKA back without a lot of US help? What if Task Force Smith doesn't get chopped to dogmeat and the US and UN forces come flooding in. No retreat to the Naktong, no Inchon, no march to the Yalu, no "Frozen Chosin".
Something maybe as simple as the 3.5 inch bazooka, or hell, an RPG or improved Panzerfaust in the hands of the ROKA in June of '50 might have stemmed the tide. Man-made avalanches to block the passes even for a short time, could have given the ROKA what they needed.
There are a lot of legends that I've been told but not found in official histories. Martin Caidin told of an unconfirmed story of close to a hundred P-38s that were supposed to go to the ROKAF in 1949 - but they were destroyed, since that might tempt the ROKAF to go North. A couple of squadrons of P-38s in the fighter-bomber role might have done some serious damage to the T-34s coming South.
But, what do you folks think of that scenario?
Ed