板门店白杨树之战 与 远距离武器

-- 发达国家与落后国家的军事较量

I read the news about Panmunjom tree-trimming incident 30 years ago when I was an elementary school boy. In the incident, North Korean guards grabbed axes from Americans and killed two officers. It was a hand-to-hand combat. I was impressed by North Korean soldiers toughness then.

Many years later, I met a colleague in US who used to serve in US 8th Army in South Korea during mid-70s. His name is Mike. The first question I asked him was whether he knew that tree incident. Mike told me that he was in communication unit there and on duty that day. He learnt the whole incident through communication between DMZ and Army headquarter. Wow, I felt like I knew a witness of this historical incident I knew when I was a kid.

 

Mike is very nice man. The more I knew him, the more I understood why US soldiers couldn’t beat North Koreans in a hand-to-hand combat. US GIs are more civilized. However, as part of a poor nation's Army, North Korean soldiers are tougher, mentally stronger, and ruthless if you want call, don’t follow the rules. Infantry to infantry, it's hard to beat North Koreans unless you have superior weapons. That’s why the so-called Long Distance Weapons are so popular here – “I can kill you even before you can reach me”.

Did I hear someone said “Cheating”? J