Ep 7 "An Entirely New War" (ENGLISH SUBTITLES)

3 months ago
36

Korean War
10 PLA divisions slam into the 8th Army in the west, sending them back to the south. The war is going very badly for the UN forces, as a major Chinese intervention was not forseen (although the Chinese DID warn them about crossing the 38th parallel). President Truman considers the use of atomic weapons, and says that their use is up to the field commander (MacArthur). However, as MacArthur increasingly infuriates the president by questioning his orders, Truman considers sacking MacArthur in order to have a more reliable field commander in place in case the president authorizes the use of atomic weapons. Prime Minister Atlee and Truman meet in a show of solidarity, and to discuss the possibility of attacking China. An interesting moment in this episode is when former Secretary of State Dean Rusk admits that the reason the atomic bomb was not needed in Korea was because there were no atomic targets in North Korea, as the US Air Force had already bombed "everything that moved, every brick standing on top of another." (This segment was censored from the version of this documentary shown in the USA). US, UK and South Korean troops near the Changjin (Japanese name: Chosin) Resevoir are cut off. Troops in the Chinese Army suffer horribly from cold and starvation. The US Marines of the 10th Corps fight their way out of the Chinese envelopment, helped by uncontested control of the air. The retreat was orderly, unlike the "bug-out" in the west. On December 6, 1950, the UN abandons Pyongyang. Large numbers of North Koreans leave the north and retreat with the UN army. They left due to the radical nature of the the regime in the north, and because of the danger created by the US Air Force's non-stop bombing campaign in the north. Many atrocities are carried out by armies fighting on the side of the United Nations in their brief occupation of North Korea. General Walton Walker is killed in a jeep accident in North Korea. The X Corps leaves North Korea. Humiliated, the UN forces destroy as much as they can in their retreat out of North Korea.

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