FSC: Discuss the three advantages the CCF possessed over UN Forces. What can we learn from them?

Advantage #1: The Chinese troops were very well-trained and tactically sound. They owned the night. They would only attack at night and hide during the day. This allowed them to stay hidden from US air assets. During battles, Western forces were unable to accurately estimate the size of the CCF force. There V tactics allowed them to achieve fire superiority very quickly and cut off any resupply to the fight. They closed in on western forces with great violence of action and were very confident. The CCF also were very good at probing and infiltration. They were able to infiltrate deep within our lines and attack command posts and artillery positions.

Advantage #2: The Chinese troops were disciplined. They were good at using the terrain to mask there positions. Even aerial imagery analyzed by the S2 shops could not spot their positions.  “It was not only cunning and hardihood, but this perfect march and bivouac discipline that caused UN aircraft to fly over the CCF hundreds of times without ever once seeing anything suspicious. Even aerial photography revealed nothing.” This allowed them to maneuver a large amount of their forces across the Yalu river without being detected. Without any belief that the Chinese were coming, they had the art of surprise on their side.

Advantage #3: The Chinese knew how to fight in the rugged terrain. “Their minds were conditioned by the vast, flowing landscapes of China itself; they would move over the land as if it were the sea, caring little whether they were before the enemy or behind him, for on the sea all position is relative.” American forces relied on roads for resupply and there mechanized formations. American forces were simply not used to fighting in the mountains and when winter came they were very ill-equipped. The Chinese forces were fierce and tough and ready to attack when Lin Piao decided.

The biggest lesson I learned from the CFC is the importance of knowing and exploiting your enemy weakness. Lin Piao understood that US forces had air superiority but neutralized that threat by attacking largely at night when US planes were ineffective (due to limited night vision technology at the time). Lin Piao knew how to cause disorder and chaos by attacking command posts and cutting off resupply liens. Lin Piao also implanted Chinese prisoners of war with fake plans and unit names to throw off US intelligence. As a commanding general, Lin Piao was able to use the limited assets he had to slaughter Western forces on numerous occasions.