While the volunteers were frantically attacking the outer positions in Hajieyuli, the situation inside the airport was equally grim.

Mr. Smith was on the observation deck, looking at the red sky in the distant mountains with extremely quiet eyes.

"Sir?"

An officer walked over quickly behind him and handed over documents and reports.

Smith turned around and took it, flipping through it hastily:

"How is the situation on the front line?"

"It's still not optimistic. Our team fought for one day and two nights and is still slowly breaking through. Reports from various places are asking for reinforcements, but we have many reinforcements..."

"what happened again."

The officer said cautiously: "We were restrained by Chinese people who appeared out of nowhere again. The team heading to Gutu-ri, Zhenheung-ri, and Liutan-ri were blocked along the way and their progress was slow."

Smith put down the report, threw it on the table, and turned his gaze to the horizon in front of the observation deck window:

"Where's Lieutenant Colonel Richie?"

Ritchie was appointed by Smith as the supreme commander of the Hajieyuli area garrison and was responsible for unified command of all defensive skirmishers near the airport.

The officer also looked at the half-dark sky that was as red as blood, and quickly reported: "Sir Thomas Rich said through the radio that the defense situation is generally good. No Chinese troops have broken through Hajieyuli, and the airport is still safe."

He thought for a moment, then hesitated to speak: "But there is different news coming from the communications battalion detachment..."

"explain."

"They reported that Company E and Company F, which were at the forefront of the position, were knocked out by a Chinese vanguard force that killed several infantry platoons, resulting in heavy casualties. Fortunately, the machine gun company arrived in time. The firepower of one of our companies is equivalent to that of China.

The artillery battalion of one division still had the upper hand and prevented the Chinese from advancing."

"At the same time, the aviation control unit reported that the Chinese offensive was very fierce and hoped to request a fighter group to be prepared after the snow cleared."

"Okay, contact the Navy in advance."

Smith looked at the blowing snow at night and the sky slowly turning to dawn in the early morning, and nodded.

After he finished speaking, he continued:

"In addition, notify the entire Marine Division that we will immediately stop the damn plan to move north. The teams that are divided and surrounded everywhere must establish land-to-air contact after dawn. They must break through the encirclement of the Chinese army today!"

"yes!"

In fact.

Since the battle started by the Chinese on the night of the 27th, throughout the whole day of the 28th, their more than 50-mile-long northward force had been forced to transform into a full-line defense.

They just tried to break through the encirclement of the volunteers and spent more than a day without success.

Smith looked at the airstrip outside the glass. The defenders here were very vigilant. After hearing the sound of fighting in the distant mountains, the atmosphere in the base became even more tense.

"All medical staff, please assist the injured to the airlift point..."

"Repeat, urgent order, all wounded personnel retreat behind the west observation tower, waiting for boarding orders. Repeat, urgent order, all wounded personnel..."

The airport PA kept repeating the order to retreat.

One by one, soldiers carried the stretchers of the wounded onto the plane. Most of these wounded were wounded by homemade hand grenades made by the Chinese during the retreat, and the rest had frostbite and bullet scratches.

The firepower of the Chinese was not very powerful, but under intensive attacks, it still caused serious damage to the Marines.

Smith did not agree with the plan to advance northward from the beginning. The severe cold weather and the unpredictable Chinese people always made him suspicious.

Tonight, after the news came that the Polar Bear Regiment had lost contact or had been destroyed, many soldiers in the disorganized marine troops in various places were unwilling to fight. This scene made Smith even more determined to retreat.

He looked at the panic among the people below, turned his head, faced the busy crowd in the airport control room, and said loudly:

"Everyone, mobilize all your forces to defend the runway and make sure our planes fly!"

"Yes, sir!"

The staff in the hall fell silent, and the silence was somewhat exciting.

In fact, these people are the soldiers who have first-hand access to war reports from various places. They are actually the people who know the current urgent situation best.

No one wants the tragedies of fighting happening everywhere to happen to themselves, and they also don’t want the Chinese to hit them.

After Smith finished speaking, he called a correspondent:

"Put the phone on for me, I want to talk to Tokyo."

"Code 1034, cleared, General."

………

Tokyo.

In Chiyoda District, in the splendid Capitol Building, a special event is being held at the Emperor's Shrine.

Guests have arrived, reporters have gathered, dignitaries from the U.S. military and Japanese high-level officials from all over the world have gathered here.

They were celebrating, drinking, and talking. In the middle of the wine pool, a Japanese girl painted with white powder danced slightly. The Japanese were smiling and flattering the entourage who came here with General MacArthur.

An old white man who is in charge of hosting the ceremony is joining in:

"Ladies alemen! Today is our special day. This is the fifth year of peace in the world since 1945. On this special day, we have one person to thank, that is - our MacArthur Five Stars

Will!"

While introducing, he urgently winked at the people next to him. Because MacArthur himself could not be seen for a long time, he had to continue to slowly describe his achievements:

"Mr. MacArthur has always been committed to international peace. From the Pacific War to the present, he has won high reputation from the people of Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries. We always believe that his far-sightedness has achieved this great achievement..."

"Sir, there is an emergency call from the front line!"

Douglas MacArthur, who was upstairs in the side hall at this time, received the call.

"This is MacArthur."

"what?"

"You want to retreat?"

"I said we must fight on, no retreat, absolutely no retreat! The little Chinese are never a problem, Smith...Shut up! If you can't hold Xiajieyuli, you have to defend it for me. This is war.

Damn war, this is not your child’s play!”

"This is an order. No retreat is allowed. Retreating is treason! Let me say it again - retreating is treason. Stop all retreat actions! If you hear this clearly, don't call again. Understand..."

In the large living room, the reporters and guests who were waiting for General MacArthur himself to speak looked at each other in confusion.

"There was a rumor in the international headlines this morning that the war situation in the Far East was not ideal. I didn't expect it to be true..."

"Has it reached the point of retreat?"

"Does he know we can hear him?"

One reporter looked incredulous.

The senior reporter next to him was desperately trying to take pictures of the figure who was talking on the phone upstairs: "Hey, what do you care about him? Don't even take a picture - this is international news!"

"No shooting, no shooting!"

Immediately, an officer saw something was wrong with the atmosphere and stepped forward to stop these crazy reporters from taking pictures and recording.

"Play music, keep playing music! Turn up the volume..."

This reception hall, which originally had a harmonious atmosphere, became a little restless at this time. The reporters were the ones who were restless, and the officers were the ones who were restless.

The Japanese present felt even more complicated when they heard that the country in the Far East seemed to have resisted the Americans' aggressive war. Their entire country was now groveling at the feet of the Americans. This is the case now, and it will still be the case decades later.

In the hall, there were noises, shouts, shutters, whispers, and the sound of a symphony orchestra, and the source of it all came from the tall white man upstairs.

…

It's midnight in North Korea, but it's around ten o'clock in the morning in the United States.

In fact.

Starting from the 28th, war reporters on the Korean side have been working one after another. Manuscripts and battlefield reports that cannot be ignored have been spread to the United States, Europe, and even the entire Western world.

The Associated Press reported: "This is not a rumor, this is not alarmism - this is an international event that is happening around you that you don't know about! Without our knowledge, under Mr. MacArthur's 'wise guidance', we

The ace army’s ‘Polar Bear Regiment’ seems to have disappeared from the US military’s order of battle forever!”

A telegram from News International Morning Post clearly threw the criticism directly on MacArthur’s face:

"After learning about our reporter's frontline message, everyone in the newspaper office was lamenting and in disbelief. Now the soldiers of the entire Far East Expeditionary Army are uneasy in an atmosphere of terror from bottom to top. They are under the control of the Chinese

During the horrific attack, I realized that the hope of returning home for Christmas is so far away! And now only our Mr. MacArthur is unaware of it. He himself is still in Tokyo at the moment. He doesn't know what will happen to his "friends in Tokyo" when they know this news.

How to react? But there is no doubt that this is the biggest lie told by MacArthur this century, and it is also the worst war situation the United States has suffered since World War II."

The headline in Time magazine was even more horrifying: “We lost the battle—yes, you read that right, for the first time the Americans lost a battle on Chinese heads full of potatoes and grenades.”

The British "Guardian" was pleased to hear this, and their reporters' reports on North Korea were also piling up.

They were so gloating: "This is the most severe winter that Americans have ever suffered. General Douglas is leading the entire Allied Forces, seemingly heading towards an irreversible dark abyss. Our frontline reporters in Japan have received the latest news, and the general himself seems to be

Not willing to retreat, the officers of the frontline British troops have protested. The continuous flow of aircraft and tanks did not bring a sense of security to the army. MacArthur seemed to want to use the lives of our British soldiers to make up for the mistakes he made..."

The Soviet Union's "Pravda" in a secluded area of ​​Eastern Europe only published a funny black and white cartoon on the front page: a bald eagle with half of its wings broken off, holding an American flag in its mouth and retreating crazily in the sky. The eagle wore MacArthur's distinctive star and white stripes.
To be continued...