In Battlefields: Surrender or Fight to Last Bullet and Man?

choi

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(1) I have been in US for a quarter century. A decade ago, I came to  notice
that US does not punish its generals for losing battles or prisoners of war
(POWs) for having been captured--or surrendered.

In Soviet Union during World War II, a marshal might be executed for losing
battles. PRC was said to mistreat its POWs who had returned from Korean War-
-and Soviet Union mistreated its POW captured in WW II. (I do  not know if
the same fate visited upon Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's generals, who
lost so many battles.)

Still a year ago I became interested in Korean War and read quite a few
books. Often GIs were besieged by Chinese communists; still the former
fought bravely to break out, rather than surrendered. The personal accounts
did not explain why (but only described heroic efforts to fight for escape).

(2) China is another country to me. Nonetheless, I feel sad for the soldiers
of Republic of China who lost lives in fighting communists. I read quite a
few books written by Americans about the civil war in China (1945-1949)
depicting what communists observed after months-long sieges and battles. ROC
soldiers either died or were starving. Having been Americanized, I
preferred them to capitulate than to die a hopeless cause.

Different from the beginning,* Taiwanese have never accepted "Chinese do not
fight Chinese" even when many Taiwanese considered themselves Chinese (most
now do not, therefore more willing to fight).

* This may in part explain the outcome of Battle of Kuningtou 古寧頭大捷 at
Kinmen Oct. 25-27, 1949, one of the most decisive wins in Generalissimo's
lousy military leadership.

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