2/01/2022

Korean War Revisited movie - Battle of Chosin Reservoir/Lake Changjin

Happy Chinese New Year to everyone. Today is a good time to enjoy a good movie. Below is the link to the Battle of Changjin Lake or Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War. 2hr 48 minutes of entertainment and a history lesson. This is a new production jointly put together by 3 of the best directors of the Chinese film industry.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlgHDopG6Xw


 A dramatic chapter of the Korean War when the PLA Volunteers Army fought the mightiest military power, the USA, and also the -40C weather. This nearly 3 hours movie is now the top grossing movie screening in China with many footages of American soldiers and generals, including Gen MacArthur, Smith, Walker etc.

The Battle of Lake Changjin aka Chosin Reservoir, was the turning point in the Korean War when the PLAV mounted a massive attack on the American forces on the eastern and western parts of the reservoir and forcing the Americans to retreat back to the 38th parallel.

The movie related how out gunned and poorly equipped the PLAV were and how heavy were the casualties for taking on the mighty elite American forces with mainly mortars, hand grenades, machine guns and small arms. No air force, no navy, no big artillery, no food, no winter clothings, running and marching with their two feet, except the will to fight to defend their country. 

1950 Oct was just one year after China defeated the KMT and became a republic and faced with insurmountable problems of rebuilding a very poor and broken country. Fighting the Korean War was something they did not want and could not afford to but had to when the enemies were on their border at the Yalu River, and threatening to cross into China.

It was a war against all odds, 197,000 PLAV were killed in action and many more maimed for life.

A timely movie to show the difference in the PLA then and today and how far they had come, and to honour the brave soldiers that offered their lives for the love of their motherland, to win a peace for the rejuvenation of a new China today, a war that won China 70 years of peace.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

In Vietnam the Vietnamese were out bombed, out gunned, out sprayed with biological weapons and yet the final defeat of the USA comes at the hands of human tenacity and patriotism.

Logistical advantage exist only at the beginning of a war and troops have to go in after that. Then the face of battle changes. The North Vietnamese had no more targets to be bombed in the later stages, so the aerial advantage dissipates.

Moreover, those tunnels they dug are the secret to their final victory. They protect the combatants against aerial assaults, prevents USA soldiers from taking out the North Vietnamese and demoralised the more well equiped US soldiers.

Saddam lost because of his dictatorial behavior that puts his own people against him. and even His soldiers fled rather than fight unlike the North Vietnamese. The Vietnamese were fighting for a cause, while the Iraqis have lost their cause to fight for Saddam.

Yet it was a hollow victory, that more than years down the road, with Iraq still mired in conflict.

southernglory1 said...


I wish all my fellow Chinese brothers and sisters wherever they may be ( except the traitors ) a very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous Chinese Lunar New Year - Spring Festival of the Zodiac Year of the Tiger.

Let all we Chinese people march forward in unity and mighty strength to ever greater progress and prosperity.

China and the Chinese people must never be bullied and humbled again by the Western countries, the evil United States and Japan. In unity and strength we will surely destroy and annihilate all our enemies.

The Chinese national revolutionary songs " The March of The Volunteers " and " The Ode to The Motherland " must forever be embeded in Chinese minds both for now and for endless generations to come.

Southernglory1
Tuesday, 1st February, 2022.

Queen of Hearts said...

To RB and All,

Wishing you all a very happy, healthy, peaceful and prosperous Chinese Lunar New Year of the Victorious Tiger, 2022!

May the Best of All Wishes Materialise in YOUR Favour Along YOUR Journey of This Precious Lifetime!


Queen of Hearts.
1st February of the Year 2022.

Anonymous said...

https://www.project-syndicate.org/onpoint/china-and-xi-jinping-facing-growing-challenges-at-home-by-george-soros-2022-01

Soros at it again

Anonymous said...

About to disappear from this world and he has still not acquired any wisdom with all the money he has.

Anonymous said...

All the money he cheated from the small timers investors in the Malaysian and Singapore stock markets, initially. Using that as capital, he went round cheating in other stock markets of the world. This bastard if I ever meet him in person, I will skin him alive.

Anonymous said...

Soros is angry with Xi because he tried to crash the Hong Kong market to make a killing but China stepped in with more cash than to stop him from his wicked scheme.

Soros was skinned by Xi and lost several billions in the process. He must be cursing and swearing everyday since, thinking that he could manipulate every stock market, especially poor Asian markets. He did it to Thailand and Malaysia.

He never counted that China would step in to save Hong Kong and the Hongkong investors.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

The final battle at Lake Chosin was a nightmare for the Americans. The Chinese soldiers were everywhere, like countless ants attacking a victim. There is no where to run.

This was how China's PLA fought against a superior enemy. They would number them and the sight was awesome to behold, was enough to make the enemy soldiers peed in their pants.

There were at least 3 PLA army strength units, several army corps and numerous divisions falling onto the American base. Chinese soldiers were not afraid to die for their country, and would not run or flee from the enemies. They would not drop their weapons and jump into freezing cold water to flee for their lives. Chinese soldiers need not brag about bravery. They proved it in battle fields.

Nearly 200,000 of the PLAV soldiers died in the Korean War gloriously, everyone a hero. They were the pride of China, the soldiers that told the world, do not invade China again. They would fight to death to defeat the enemies.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

The Americans, after being chased out of Vietnam by the Vietnamese could not believe the Chinese could whack the Vietnamese in the Sino Vietnam Border War like they whacked the Americans in Korea. So they went to spread the lie that the Vietnamese thought the Chinese a lesson at the border war. Anyone watching how the PLAV fought the Americans would have a good idea what happened in 1978, a repeat of the Sino Indian Border War in 1962. The Chinese PLA would simply overrun the enemy positions like they did at Lake Chosin/Changjin.

What happened after the Sino Vietnam War said it all. The Vietnamese believed they were invincible, the most powerful soldiers in Asia, after defeating the Americans. They occupied Cambodia and Laos with several divisions of their elite forces. Asean, especially Thailand and Malaysia were watching in horror. The dominoes were falling. They begged the Americans to come back to drive the Vietnamese out of Cambodia and Laos.

The defeated Americans did not have any will to fight the Vietnamese anymore. They told Asean, you die your business. Asean was so desperate and had to beg China, another communist country that they were against, for help. With the Vietnamese divisions peering across the Thai Cambodian border, Thailand would be the first to fall, followed by Malaysia.

China agreed as the Vietnamese were also acting aggressively in the Sino Viet border, wanting to seize Chinese land, claiming that they belonged to Vietnam. China gave Vietnam an ultimatum, get out of Cambodia and Laos or China would attack. The deluded Vietnamese thought they could take on the Chinese, continued to defy and acted more aggressively against China. The rest is history.

After the defeat by the PLA, the Vietnamese quietly withdrew all their forces in Cambodia and Laos. If the American lie was true, Vietnam taught China a lesson, would the Vietnamese be willing to pull out of Cambodia and Laos? Both would be part of their Indochina Federation dream. Still want to believe in the American lie that Vietnam beat up the Chinese PLA? The facts on the ground would not lie.

Cambodia and Laos regained their independence till today, no Vietnamese soldiers in their land. Deng warned the Vietnamese, China only needed to deploy two provinces, Yunnan and Kwangsi, to deal with Vietnam while the rest of China could go on life as normal. But Vietnam would be bogged down in a never ending war with China and its people would have to pay a very heavy price for it. Each of the two provinces is bigger than Vietnam in size and population. The stark reality settled the score.

Today we still heard of silly countries thumping their chests saying they have beaten the PLA or taught the PLA a lesson in minor skirmishes and wanting to test the fighting prowess of the the PLA, bragging that they could easily defeat the PLA.

Very likely smoking too much weed and high in hallucination.

Anonymous said...

With aerial bombardments and heavy machine gun manned towers, the Chinese were really at great disadvantage, but they go for the enemy, tide after tide of attackers storming the American base.

I read somewhere that the American soldiers were scared out of their wits when they saw the wave after wave of attackers going for them and they panicked and attempted to evacuate.

That was a war of unequal military might against human tenacity. Today, it will be a different theatre altogether, with drones and hypersonic missiles that can take out any military base without human involvement. And not just that. No homeland is safe unlike WW2, no matter how far away from the battlefield. There will not be any more comforting thought that being far away is safe and unreachable. The hypersonic missiles can come in from any direction.

North Korea is today China's unsinkable aircraft carrier!