By Xiaoming Zhang Red Wings over the Yalu: China, the Soviet Union, and the Air War in Korea (Williams-Ford Texas A&M [Paperback]

Williams-Ford Texas A&M University Military History Series #80

by Xiaoming Zhang

The Korean conflict was a pivotal event in China's modern military history. The fighting in Korea constituted an important experience for the newly formed People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), not only as a test case for this fledgling service but also in the later development of Chinese air power.Xiaoming Zhang fills the gaps in the history of this conflict by basing his research in recently declassified Chinese and Russian archival materials. He also relies on interviews with Chinese participants in the air war over Korea. Zhang’s findings challenge conventional wisdom as he compares kill ratios and performance by all sides involved in the war.Zhang also addresses the broader issues of the Korean War, such as how air power affected Beijing's decision to intervene. He touches on ground operations and truce negotiations during the conflict. Chinese leaders placed great emphasis on the supremacy of human will over modern weaponry, but they were far from oblivious to the advantages of the latter and to China's technological limitations.Developments in China's own air power were critical during this era. Zhang offers considerable materials on the training of Chinese aviators and the Soviet role in that training, on Soviet and Chinese air operations in Korea, and on diplomatic exchanges over Soviet military assistance to China. He probes the impact of the war on China's conception of the role of air power, arguing that it was not until the Gulf War of the early 1990s that Chinese leaders engaged in a broad reassessment of the strategy they adopted during the Korean War.Military historians and scholars interested in aviation and foreign affairs will find this volume of special interest. As a unique work that presents the Chinese point of view, it stands as both a complement and a corrective to previous accounts of the conflict.

Genres: China, History, Aviation

Unknown Binding

First published August 9, 2002

Reviews

[Jerome Otte · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written and well-researched work.

Zhang looks at the extent of Soviet and Chinese involvement in the air war: the Chinese played the smaller role, and about two-thirds of communist sorties were flown by the Russians. He ably covers the experience of the pilots. A lot of the book also deals with how the Chinese air forces were organized, and how they were assisted by the Russians and North Koreans (The Russians provided almost all of the aircraft and training for the Chinese) He covers how Chinese military was initially oriented to fielding massive land armies, and how quickly it had to switch to creating a big air force as well. He also describes how both the Soviets and Chinese tended to restrict their air operations to defensive purposes since it seemed less provocative.

Zhang concludes that US air superiority had a devastating effect on communist forces, an argument he supports well. He also argues that battles between US and communist fighters weren’t that one-sided, but this wasn’t entirely convincing. Sometimes it seems like he takes Chinese statements at face value. Also, there isn’t much material on bigger themes like Sino-Soviet cooperation in general, or lessons they took from the war.

Still, a balanced and interesting work.

[Scottnshana · Rating 4 out of 5]

My home town has a small airport named after Colonel James Jabara, who became an Ace over MiG Alley, and I've always been fascinated by this air-to-air conflict that also kickstarted John Boyd's OODA Loop model. We have known for years that the Soviets were flying the MiG-15s from airfields across the Yalu, though they had painted Chinese insignia on the aircraft and put on Chinese uniforms before getting into the cramped cockpits. Many had learned to fly against the Luftwaffe in World War Two and most of them considered helping China set up its own air force as a hardship tour. In the Introduction, the author argues that "the Chinese regard [Korea] as their most memorable war, one symbolizing the restoration of China's pride" and the story of Soviet advisors taking the training wheels off their most modern aircraft and passing them on to a brand new Communist Chinese air arm is quite interesting. I think the author has delved deep into archives unavailable to most of us and emerged with a solid historical work. I found it interesting that, like the French in Indochina, the Peoples' Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) repaired surplus aircraft the Japanese left behind and used these as the nucleus against Chiang Kai-Shek's Nationalist military in the field. I liked the way Xiaoming Zhang clarified the dual-command model the Chinese adopted from their Soviet advisors, perching a political officer next to unit commanders to ensure ideological support to the fight against the UN from air bases like Antung. This is focal because the PLAAF, like our B-29 crews, were experiencing some serious morale problems in getting people into the airplanes every day to execute increasingly hazardous missions. My only gripe about this book--and it's my standard complaint--is that the included maps weren't great, but the photos somewhat make up for this. As the author says in the Conclusion, "The PLA not only endured the test of modern warfare, by the end of the war it also possessed one of the world's largest air inventories." "Red Wings over the Yalu" does a fine job of documenting this short but monumental journey, in my opinion.

[Raj Agrawal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zhang provides readers with a valuable perspective of the Korean War from a Chinese perspective. He gives readers a strategic look at how the Chinese adapted to the demands of the Korean conflict, and more importantly, how the Soviet Union kept the Chinese in the war by providing them with just enough resources (incentive) to do so. While the Chinese thought they were in a reciprocal partnership with the Soviets, they were in fact being used in what Mearsheimer might have considered a “buck-passing” strategy. Zhang paints it more as the Soviet’s fear that the Korean conflict would escalate into general war, which may very well have been the initial motivation. As the plan showed promise, the Soviets sat on the sidelines while China did most of the work to sap the US of power. In the meantime, the Soviets built up strength. The Chinese fought the Korean War to maximize victory while minimizing the chances for general war. The Chinese gained strength and doctrine through their partnership with the Soviets, retained a critical strategic asset, and developed a formidable air arm. At the strategic level, both China and the Soviet Union benefited from the Korean War.

This book provides a necessary perspective on the role of airpower, the interplay between great powers under the umbrella of the Cold War, and the PLAAF’s organization, culture, and doctrine. Information derived from interviews of former PLAAF members is particularly revealing of the Chinese perspective. Any strategist who hopes to understand the Chinese perspective on future wars would benefit from Zhang’s work.

[Michael Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well written account of the air war over Korea from a Chinese perspective. The research is excellent.

[Trav · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zhang argues that because the Korean War was the first and only exposure of the PLAAF to the conduct of a high intensity air war, it is necessary to understand the way in which the CCP and PLA approached the development and employment of air power. These were the formative years of Chinese military aviation, and whereas the United States and its allies have learned from numerous operations since, first hand Chinese experience remains limited.

Additionally, Zhang highlights that the treatment of the Korean War from the air side has been largely one-sided, with the experiences, claims and strategies of the Communist forces largely being overlooked, ignored or treated as inaccurate.
"Overall, the purpose of this book is to fill a vacuum in the literature of the Korean War based on research in recently declassified Chinese and Russian archival materials and Chinese oral histories." (p.8)

A useful book in providing another perspective to a conflict about which I do not know much. Worth the read.