HAMMER: As UN forces marched north, there was evidence of the Chinese joining the conflict. Despite the evidence, General MacArthur and his staff believed “the Chinese would not dare intervene” They assessed that they lacked the Military capability to bring significant forces into the conflict and even if that was possible the US air superiority would make quick work of them. What do you think we are “wishing away”? What are capability or piece of equipment are we putting too much reliance on?

In my opinion, MacArthur’s forces were “wishing away” any kind of large armed conflict with a large ground based army. It was extremely evident that the UN forces that continued to push north, especially the Infantry, had lost sight that they were still in a war.  Thus,  a general lack of motivation, discipline, and overall experience for warfare continued to decrease because of statements like “We’ll be out of here before Christmas” drove the organization into a state of vulnerability. it was stated in the book that the men would not carrier the necessary combat loads because of the weight, and the general care of the of their equipment demonstrated that force lost the will to fight.  This lack of Will, Fighting Spirit, and discipline combined with a complete lack of intelligence analysis from the CIA and or other intelligence organizations in the region, and a communications network that left the two Corps, that were divided by rough terrain, in a precarious position.    As stated several time about by multiple people that the UN forces had become over reliant on the use of air assets destroying the supply line, armored formation, and or directly engaging the enemy in the open.  This reliant came back to haunt the UN forces once they had finally came in contacted the several Chinese Armies to the north.