The room has split into two: the Communist Bloc and the Western Bloc. 

The Communist Bloc favors a bold approach by submitting a directive in which they attack first. Their war plan? “More people, more firepower, and quicker”. What they lack in specifics, they make up for in enthusiasm. However, while the specificities of their wartime strategy elude them, they have a plan in the political chamber. The Soviet Union has ended its boycott of the United Nations, which it had initiated in protest of China’s exclusion from the Security Council. The Communist Bloc aims to prevent foreign intervention, and to achieve this, the Soviet Union plans to use its veto power to block any resolution proposed by the Americans. 

It is unclear if Chairman Mao Zedong is aware of this plan. He has been seen having a private meeting with the Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies, President Harry Truman, and President Syngman Rhee. While his comrades are planning attacks across the 38th parallel, Chairman Mao has been making reassurances to the West that he, at least, will do the very opposite. 

Mao has also secured a verbal assurance from President Truman that—at this point in time—American forces will not invade China’s territory. And if they do, the Chairman let slip “Operation Great Wall”, a plan that ensures that if foreign troops were to cross the Yalu River, “maybe something will be there to stop them”.

Author: Michaela Urbigkit