1000 War Mysteries

Author: Shan Jingzhou
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-09-01
Features: Over a century of wars have left the world with many mysteries that have been solved and unsolved: Why did the Russo-Japanese War break out on Chinese territory? How many atomic bombs did the United States drop on Japan during World War II? Why did Iraq's elite Republican Guard suddenly "disappear" during the Iraq War? Where did Saddam Hussein hide? In this book, the author uses the backdrop of major wars that have occurred in the world since the 20th century, adopting a question-and-answer format to introduce young readers to various war mysteries. The book also features sections like "Celebrity Debates on War" and "Military Games," presented in a lively and engaging manner with rich illustrations, aiming to popularize military science knowledge, strengthen national defense awareness, and enable young readers to realize: backwardness invites humiliation, and only a prosperous nation can have a strong army. Only by using just wars to eliminate unjust wars can humanity win peace.
When Germany launched its invasion of the Soviet Union, it initially set capturing Leningrad as one of its primary objectives. The Soviet army was determined to hold Leningrad, aiming to tie down and weaken German forces, stabilize the northern front, and reduce pressure on Moscow. On September 8, 1941, Leningrad was besieged. The Soviet army launched several offensives but failed to break the siege. By late 1942, the situation on the Eastern Front had changed. The Germans suffered heavy defeats in the Moscow Campaign and the Battle of Stalingrad, and Stalin believed the time had come to lift the siege of Leningrad. The "Spark" breakout operation began at 9:30 AM on January 12, 1943. The Soviet army concentrated 2,000 artillery pieces and mortars to launch a fierce artillery barrage against German positions for two hours, followed by assaults by the 61st Army and the 2nd Shock Army from the south and north, respectively. After seven days of fierce fighting, they broke through 14 kilometers of German lines. On January 18, the Leningrad and Volkhov Fronts met in victory at the 1st and 5th Workers' Villages, breaking the 17-month siege of Leningrad by German forces.
On January 14, 1944, three Soviet armies launched a large-scale counteroffensive against German forces in Leningrad and Novgorod. By January 27, the Soviet army advanced 150 to 200 kilometers west and southwest, destroying two German divisions and defeating 23 others, recapturing cities such as Krasnoye Selo, Uritsk, Pushkin, Novgorod, and Luga. This reopened the October Railway Line connecting Leningrad to Moscow, completely liberating the city from the Germans' long siege. That day, the heroic city of Leningrad celebrated its victory with 20 cannon salutes.
Leningrad was besieged for 900 days, with 642,000 people dying of starvation and cold, and 21,000 killed in German air raids and artillery attacks. Yet the heroic people of Leningrad showed unwavering resilience, fighting tenaciously and frustrating the Germans' strategic goal of occupying the city. They also tightly pinned the powerful German Northern Army Group to the Soviet northern front, providing strong support for the Soviet army's victories in other theaters.
The Patriot missile, developed by Raytheon Company for the U.S. Army starting in 1967, is a high-altitude, long-range surface-to-air missile. It entered mass production in 1980 and was deployed to U.S. Army units in Europe in 1984. During the Gulf War, the U.S. military deployed 60 Patriot missile launchers in Saudi Arabia. During the Gulf War, the United States claimed that Iraq fired 81 Scud missiles at Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Israel. The coalition forces fired 158 Patriot missiles to intercept 47 Scuds, with 45 successful intercepts, achieving a 96% success rate. Those not intercepted either landed in the sea or the desert. Only a few were hit due to failures in the early warning system. For a time, the Patriot missile became world-famous, with the U.S. military calling it the "Scud slayer."
At that moment, stunning news emerged in the United States: after reviewing 140 video tapes of Patriot missile engagements, the Army announced that out of 47 intercept attempts, only 24 destroyed Scud warheads. However, Professor Postol of MIT, after studying the Army's report, concluded that in the 47 intercept attempts, only 4 actually destroyed Scud warheads, with only 9 having solid evidence.