UNITED STATES ARMY IN THE KOREAN WAR
SOUTH TO THE NAKTONG,
NORTH TO THE YALU
(June-November 1950)
by
Roy E. Appleman
CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY
UNITED STATES ARMY
WASHINGTON, D.C., 1992
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 60-60043
First Printed 1961-CMH Pub 20-2-1
For sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office
Superintendent of Documents, Mail Stop: SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-9328
ISBN 0-16-035958-9
...to Those Who Served
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[Blank]
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UNITED STATES ARMY IN THE KOREAN WAR
Stetson Conn, General Editor
Advisory Committee
(As of 15 March 1960)
Fred Harvey Harrington Maj. Gen. Ben Harrell
University of Wisconsin U.S. Continental Army Command
Oron J. Hale Maj. Gen. Evan M. Houseman
University of Virginia Industrial College of the Armed Forces
W. Stull Holt Brig. Gen. Bruce Palmer, Jr.
University of Washington U.S. Army War College
Bell I. Wiley Brig. Gen. William A. Cunningham III
Emory University U.S. Army Command and General Staff College
T. Harry Williams Col. Vincent J. Esposito
Louisiana State University United States Military Academy
C. Vann Woodward
Johns Hopkins University
Office of the Chief of Military History
Brig. Gen. James A. Norell, Chief of Military History
Chief Historian Stetson Conn
Chief, Histories Division Lt. Col. James C. Griffin
Chief, Publication Division Lt. Col. James R. Hillard
Editor in Chief Joseph R. Friedman
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Foreword
At the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950, the U.S. Army combat units nearest the scene were the four infantry divisions performing occupation duties in Japan. When the Army of the Republic of Korea, supported only by U.S. air and naval forces, was unable to halt the North Korean aggressors, these divisions, seriously understrength and only partially trained and equipped for fighting, provided the troops that were committed initially to action in response to the call of the United Nations Security Council.
Colonel Appleman's narrative portrays vividly the grimness of "limited war" against a fanatical enemy, and the tragic consequences of unpreparedness. His writing recaptures the dismay that most Americans experienced in the realization that a small, little-known country could achieve military success against a coalition that included this, the world's most powerful nation.
Here is the story of how U.S. Army combat units, thrown piecemeal into the battle to slow Communist advances, fought a desperate and heroic delaying action, buying time until the United Nations forces could attain the military strength necessary to take the offensive. When that offensive was launched, it quickly crushed the North Korean forces, only to be met with the massive intervention of a more formidable adversary, Communist China.
This volume covers U.S. Army action in Korea from the outbreak of war to the full-scale intervention of the Chinese Communists. It is the first of five volumes now planned for inclusion in UNITED STATES ARMY IN THE KOREAN WAR, a series patterned on the much more voluminous UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II. Subsequent volumes will complete the Korean combat narrative as well as deal with related problems of command, strategy, logistics, handling of prisoners of war, and the armistice negotiations.
Washington, D. C. JAMES A. NORELL
15 March 1960 Brigadier General, U.S.A.
Chief of Military History
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The Author
Roy E. Appleman, a graduate of Ohio State University, magna cum laude, continued his education at Yale Law School and Columbia University, receiving from the latter the M.A. degree in History and completing all requirements for the Ph.D. degree except the publication of a dissertation.
He entered the United States Army as a private in the infantry in 1942 during World War II and after completing Officer Candidate School the following year was commissioned a 2d lieutenant. After a number of assignments, he was sent overseas to the Pacific theater in 1944, assigned as a combat historian with the United States Tenth Army and subsequently attached to the XXIV Corps. Coauthor of Okinawa: The Last Battle, first combat volume to be published in the series UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II, he received the Army Commendation Ribbon in 1945 for performance of duties as combat historian in the Okinawa campaign and his subsequent contribution to the Okinawa volume.
Early in 1951 Colonel Appleman (then a major) was ordered from reserve status to active duty with the Army and sent to Korea as a combat historian for the purpose of studying the action there and preparing the Army's history of the Korean War. A lieutenant colonel, he returned to civilian life in the autumn of 1954. Upon completion of the manuscript for the present work, he received the Secretary of the Army's Certificate of Appreciation for Patriotic Civilian Service.
Author of Abraham Lincoln: From His Own Words and Contemporary Accounts, published by the Government Printing Office; coauthor of Great Western Indian Fights, being published by Doubleday & Company, Inc.; and coauthor of History of the United States Flag and Symbols of Sovereignty, being published by Harper & Brothers, Mr. Appleman is presently Staff Historian in the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, and holds a commission as lieutenant colonel in the U. S. Army Reserve.
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Preface
William Napier, upon finishing after seventeen years of painful toil the six volumes of his Peninsular War, wrote in a parody of Chaucer:
"Easy ys myne bake to rede and telleth of moche fyte,
But then your easy rede is damned hard to wryte...."
True it is that a historian's first business is grinding toil and drudgery. All of this it has been to the writer of this book. Nevertheless it was a labor willingly undertaken, but accompanied throughout by the apprehension that he might fail in doing justice to the story of his countrymen who fought in Korea.
First and always, within the limits of his knowledge and ability, the author has neglected no effort nor passed over any evidence that seemed likely to further his purpose of writing a true history of the Korean War. He accepted Parkman's dictum that faithfulness to the truth of history involves far more than research, that one who is to write it "must study events in their bearings near and remote; in the character, habits, and manners of those who took part in them . . . and must himself be, as it were, a sharer or a spectator of the action he describes."
During the first four of the nine years he devoted to writing this book, from 1951 to 1954, the writer was on active duty in the United States Army and completed a first draft of the manuscript. In the following five years, as a civilian in Army reserve status, he devoted the time he could salvage from earning a living to several revisions and final completion of the work.
The writer was not entirely a stranger to Korea when he arrived there early in July 1951. Six years earlier, as a staff officer, he had accompanied Lt. Gen. John R. Hodge's U. S. XXIV Army Corps from Okinawa to Korea in early September 1945. This was at the beginning of United States commitment in Korea, when General Hodge accepted the surrender of the Japanese there at the end of World War II and began the occupation of that country below the 38th Parallel. But it was in 1951 that the writer saw Korea's hills at close quarter and felt his knees tremble and buckle as he climbed the steeply pitched ridges.
Korea was at the same time both beautiful and sordid. The green hills and patchwork-patterned rice paddies have an enchanting beauty when seen from a distance or the relative comfort of a vehicle on the roads. Slogging over this same ground carrying a load of weapons and pack in scorching
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heat or pelting rain, or in the numbing cold of a Siberian-type winter, with the enemy waiting around the next bend or over the next rise of ground, is another matter. Then the landscape loses its charm and becomes harsh and deadly to the spirit and exhausting to mind and body.
From Pusan in the south to the United Nations line north of the 38th Parallel, from the Imjin River in the west to the Iron Triangle, to. the mountain line above the Hwach'on Reservoir, to Heartbreak Ridge and the Punchbowl, and on to the high Taebaek Mountains near the east coast in the ROK sector, the writer traveled from command post to command post and often up to battalions and rifle companies on the line. His companion during these travels in Korea was Capt. (now Major) Russell A. Gugeler, an experienced soldier who subsequently wrote Combat Actions in Korea. Whenever possible the earlier, 1950 battlefields were visited. Where lack of time or other circumstances did not permit this, critical terrain was studied from liaison planes that could dip low and circle at leisure around points of interest.
The writer came to know the stifling dust, the heat, the soaking rains, the aching legs, the exhausted body that was the common experience of the men who fought in Korea, although he seldom had to run any risk of known personal danger as did they, and he could always look forward to food at night and a safe place to sleep at some command post, which most of them could not. It is easy for him now to close his eyes and see the rushing torrents in the mountain gorges and everywhere the hills, scantily covered, if at all, in the south, and green with pine in the higher mountains of the north. In the lower ground were the rice paddies, small vegetable patches, the mud-walled and thatched-roof huts. How could one forget this Asiatic land where so many of his countrymen died or were maimed, where they enacted their roles of bravery and fortitude. In a sense, the Korean War experience became a part of him.
Official records are indispensable for fixing dates and time of major events and troop movements. But anyone familiar with the way the records of combat units during battle are made up will know that they seldom tell the essential facts of what happened, and how, and why. They are often the products of indifferent clerks transcribing, at places remote from the scene of action, a minimum of messages for something-anything-that will satisfy the official requirement for a report. Those who know the most about an action or an event seldom take the time to tell, or write, about it. They are too tired, or too nearly dead, or they are dead.
In the early months of the Korean War there was little time for the military organizations committed there to keep adequate records of what they did, even had there been the desire to do so. Always they were stopping only briefly, fighting hazardous rear-guard actions, and then on the run again. No one had time to write down what had happened and why, even if he knew. And no one in the various headquarters had the time or the energy or the will to search out those who survived each action and from them learn firsthand of the event. Everyone was too much concerned with survival
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or of getting a moment of respite from exhaustion. A record for posterity, for history, weighed the least of many things on their minds. Even when reports of military organizations are models of official records, the author agrees wholly with Marshal Erich von Manstein, who believes that a historian of military matters and campaigns "cannot get the truth from files and documents alone . . . the answer . . . will seldom be found-certainly not in a complete form-in files or war diaries."
How easy it would have been to write a story of the war based on the records alone, never stopping to get beneath that gloss! Such a book might have read smoothly and had a tone of plausibility to all except those whose personal knowledge would have branded it as inadequate at best and as almost wholly false at worst. Rather than produce such a book, the author chose the nine years of work that resulted in this one.
Since it was only from survivors of the early battles in Korea that one could hope to reconstruct the narrative of the first months of the conflict, the writer undertook to get their story. When he arrived in Korea in early July 1951, on active duty with the Army, he had orders from Maj. Gen. Orlando Ward, then Chief of Military History, to study the terrain of the action and to interview as many participants, of all ranks, as he could find. He began then a process continued almost to the hour that this manuscript went to press. He talked with hundreds of soldiers, from privates to three- and four-star generals, about particular actions and decisions affecting the action of which each had personal knowledge in some degree. One interview would result in leads to others. Thus the snowball grew. Many officers and soldiers who had information were now in distant lands on reassignment, or otherwise out of reach for personal discussion. To them went letters. Over the years, information came back from many corners of the globe. The response was remarkable. The author had only to ask and he received. The men were eager to tell their story-from the private in the ranks to General of the Army Douglas MacArthur. Without this willing help of those who toiled, suffered, bled, and lost their comrades the story of the Korean War in 1950 could never have been told satisfactorily. If this narrative carries the mark of truth, it is to these men largely that it is due. My debt to them is great.
Some major events almost defied comprehension. Such was the battle of Taejon. The author spent seven years in attempting to solve that puzzling and bizarre action. The first draft of the Taejon chapter, based on the official records, was nothing. Knowing this, the author sought out survivors and throughout the years searched for, and gradually accumulated, more information. Missing pieces of the puzzle came to light that made it possible to fit others into place. The author rewrote this chapter eight times. Finally he obtained from Maj. Gen. William F. Dean his comments on the manuscript and a statement of his contemporary thoughts and actions bearing on the events described. Some of them were not calculated to raise him to the level of an all-seeing military commander, but they marked Dean as a man of truth and honor. Then, with General Dean's contributions, the author felt
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at last that he had salvaged about all that ever would be learned concerning Taejon from American sources. Many other chapters reached their final form in much the same manner as this one.
The scope and scale of treatment change as the narrative proceeds. At first only two reinforced rifle companies were committed to battle, then a battalion, then a regiment, then a division, finally the Eighth Army and the reconstituted ROK Army. Against them was the might of the initially victorious North Korean Army, and later the light infantry masses of the Chinese Communist Forces. Gradually, United Nations troops from many parts of the world entered the lists, usually in small numbers to be sure, but in the case of Great Britain the force rose from two battalions to a Commonwealth division. As the larger forces came into action against each other the focus of action necessarily broadened and detail diminished. Task Force Smith, for example, in the first week of July 1950, received a detail of treatment that could not possibly be continued for all of the Eighth Army late in the year, nor even in August and September at the Naktong Perimeter. The use of detail necessarily had to be more selective. The ROK Army is treated in less detail than the American organizations, but enough is told to relate its part in the over-all operations. Reliable information on ROK action was nearly always very difficult to obtain, and sometimes impossible.
Throughout, the writer's sympathies have been with the troops who fought the battles at close range-the men who handled the rifles, who threw the grenades, who caught the enemy's bullets, who fought their own fears in the face of the unknown, who tried to do their duty as United States soldiers even though they were fighting for a cause they did not understand, and in a country to whose culture and interests they were strangers. He tried to be there with them.
The writer is indebted to many officers who, while serving in the Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army, have read the manuscript in its various stages and offered comments and criticisms. They include Maj. Gen. Richard W. Stephens, a leading participant in the action; Col. George G. O'Connor; Col. S. W. Foote; Col. Carl D. McFerren; Col. Joseph Rockis; Col. Warren H. Hoover; and Lt. Col. Eugene J. White.
The sympathetic and generous viewpoint of Dr. Kent Roberts Greenfield, who gave valuable help in directing the critical panel review of the manuscript and evaluating needed final revisions, is gratefully acknowledged. Dr. Louis Morton gave detailed and critical review to the manuscript. Dr. Stetson Conn, who succeeded Dr. Greenfield as Chief Historian, and his Deputy, Dr. John Miller, jr., have been most helpful in reviewing the final draft of the manuscript.
To Miss Ruth Stout, the editor, and Mr. Thomas J. Seess, the copy editor, the writer especially wants to express his appreciation for their friendly, necessary, and painstaking editing of the manuscript and guiding it through the printer. Mr. Joseph R. Friedman, as Editor in Chief, has contributed from his wide editorial experience and wisdom. Mrs. Norma
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Heacock Sherris assisted in finding suitable illustrations for the volume.
Mr. Billy-Mossman, assisted by Mr. Elliot Dunay and the draftsmen who worked under his supervision, produced the maps in this volume. The author turned over to Mr. Mossman a large number of sketch maps and overlays which he had prepared while writing the text. Mr. Mossman, a former infantry officer with World War II experience in the Pacific Theater, and later on active duty in Korea during the Korean War, has a wide knowledge of military matters and of Korea itself. This background combined with his training in military cartography made him an ideal choice for the layout and supervision of the map work on this volume.
Mr. Israel Wice and his staff in the General Reference Section, Office of the Chief of Military History, cheerfully and efficiently gave their services in obtaining official records and other materials requested by the writer for his use. Mr. Stanley Falk prepared a useful digest of the Far East Command Daily Intelligence Summary, July through November 1950, relative to the Korean War. In an early stage of the work, Mrs. Gwendolyn Taylor as typist and general assistant gave valuable help.
The writer is much indebted to Mrs. Joy B. Kaiser. Many a complicated troop movement she has reconstructed on an overlay from coordinate readings given in S-3 and G-3 journals and periodic reports. The author never tried to write up the story of an action until after it had been plotted on a terrain map. Thus, Mrs. Kaiser in a two-year period saved him much labor, doubling as typist for an early draft of the manuscript, preparing overlays from journal co-ordinates, and otherwise contributing to the work.
Another whose dedication benefited the writer is Mrs. Edna W. Salsbury. She assumed the task of typing what turned out to be the last two revisions of the manuscript, and she performed that task ably. Throughout the tedious work of typing a heavily footnoted manuscript she made many suggestions that resulted in improving readability and her careful attention to detail contributed much in maintaining accuracy.
Notwithstanding the considerable assistance given the author by so many individuals and organizations, he alone is responsible for interpretations made and conclusions drawn in this volume as well as for any errors of omission or commission.
The person to whom the author owes most is Maj. Gen. Orlando Ward. As Chief of Military History, Department of the Army, in 1951, he ordered him to Korea to start this work. He opened the door for him to all commanders in Korea and the Far East Command. His experience as Secretary of the General Staff from 1938 to 1941, and subsequently as commander of the 1st Armored Division in North Africa, had given him broad knowledge of military matters and firsthand experience of battle and how it affects men.
General Ward's constant injunction to the author was to seek the truth of the Korean War and to tell it, no matter whom it might touch unfavorably. He wanted the facts made known, because only from them, he thought, could the United States build a better army for its defense. How well the
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writer remembers his statement one day in casual conversation, "Truth is the first casualty in battle." He has tried not to have it the first casualty in this account of the Korean War.
Washington, D.C. ROY E. APPLEMAN 15 March 1960 Lieutenant Colonel, USAR
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Contents
Chapter Page
I. KOREA AND THE BACKGROUND OF CONFLICT ......................... 1
II. ARMED FORCES OF NORTH AND SOUTH KOREA ....................... 7
The North Korea People's Army ........................... 8
The Republic of Korea Armed Forces ...................... 12
III. INVASION ACROSS THE PARALLEL ............................... 19
Invasion ................................................ 21
The ROK Counterattack at Uijongbu ....................... 28
The Fall of Seoul ....................................... 30
IV. THE UNITED STATES AND THE UNITED NATIONS REACT .............. 36
U.S. and U.N. Action .................................... 37
Evacuation of U.S. Nationals From Korea ................. 38
KMAG Starts To Leave Korea .............................. 40
ADCOM in Korea .......................................... 42
MacArthur Flies to Korea ................................ 44
The President Authorizes Use of U.S. Ground Troops in
Korea ................................................ 46
V. THE NORTH KOREANS CROSS THE HAN RIVER ........................ 49
Deployment of U.S. Forces in the Far East, June 1950 .... 49
The River Crossing ...................................... 52
ADCOM Abandons Suwon .................................... 55
VI. AMERICAN GROUND FORCES ENTER THE BATTLE ..................... 59
Task Force Smith Goes to Korea .......................... 60
Task Force Smith at Osan ................................ 65
VII. DELAYING ACTION: P'YONGT'AEK TO CHOCH'IWON ................. 77
The Retreat From P'yongt'aek ............................ 79
Night Battle at Ch'onan ................................. 82
The 21st Infantry Moves Up .............................. 88
The Fight at Chonui ..................................... 90
Choch'iwon .............................................. 96
VIII. IN THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS AND ON THE EAST COAST ............ 101
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Chapter Page
IX. EIGHTH ARMY IN COMMAND ...................................... 109
General Walker Assumes Command in Korea ................. 110
Troop Training and Logistics ............................ 113
The Port of Pusan and Its Communications ................ 116
American Command Estimate ............................... 117
X. DISASTER AT THE KUM RIVER LINE ............................... 121
The N.K. 4th Division Crosses the Kum Below Kongju ...... 123
The 63d Field Artillery Battalion Overrun ............... 126
The N.K. 3d Division Crosses the Kum Against the 19th
Infantry ............................................. 130
Roadblock Behind the 19th Infantry ...................... 137
XI. TAEJON ...................................................... 146
Dean's Plan at Taejon ................................... 147
Taejon—The First Day .................................... 151
Taejon—The Second Day ................................... 155
Withdrawal From Taejon—Roadblock ........................ 164
The 24th Division After Taejon .......................... 179
XII. THE FRONT LINE MOVES SOUTH ................................. 182
Yongdok and the East Coastal Corridor ................... 182
Reorganization of the ROK Army .......................... 188
The U.S. 25th Division at Sangju ........................ 190
The 1st Cavalry Division Sails for Korea ................ 195
The 1st Cavalry Division Loses Yongdong ................. 197
The 27th Infantry's Baptism of Fire ..................... 199
Retreat ................................................. 203
"Stand or Die" .......................................... 205
XIII. THE ENEMY FLANKS EIGHTH ARMY IN THE WEST .................. 210
Walker Acts ............................................. 211
The Trap at Hadong ...................................... 215
The N.K. 4th Division Joins the Enveloping Move ......... 222
The N.K. 4th Division Seizes the Koch'ang Approach to
the Naktong .......................................... 225
Chinju Falls to the Enemy—31 July ....................... 227
Three Pershing Tanks at Chinju .......................... 231
Colonel Wilson Escapes With the 1st Battalion, 29th In-
fantry ............................................... 233
XIV. BLOCKING THE ROAD TO MASAN ................................. 285
The Two Roads to Masan .................................. 235
The Battle at the Notch ................................. 239
Colonel Check's Reconnaissance in Force Toward Chinju ... 242
The Affair at Chindong-ni ............................... 244
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Chapter Page
XV. ESTABLISHING THE PUSAN PERIMETER ............................ 248
The 25th Division Moves South ........................... 248
United Nations Forces Withdraw Behind the Naktong ....... 249
The Pusan Perimeter ..................................... 252
U.S. Air Action and Build-up in the First Month ......... 255
Strength of the Opposing Forces at the Pusan Perimeter .. 262
XVI. THE FIRST AMERICAN COUNTERATTACK—TASK FORCE KEAN ........... 266
Who Attacks Whom? ....................................... 270
The 5th Marines on the Coastal Road ..................... 274
Bloody Gulch—Artillery Graveyard ........................ 276
Task Force Kean Ended ................................... 286
XVII. THE FIRST BATTLE OF THE NAKTONG BULGE ..................... 289
The Naktong Bulge ....................................... 290
The N.K. 4th Division Attacks Into the Naktong Bulge .... 291
The Enemy Gains Cloverleaf—Obong-ni ..................... 298
Yongsan Under Attack .................................... 302
Battle at Cloverleaf—Obong-ni ........................... 304
Marines Attack Obong-ni ................................. 310
24th Division Attack Gains Cloverleaf ................... 313
Obong-ni Falls .......................................... 315
The Enemy Bridgehead Destroyed .......................... 316
XVIII. BATTLE FOR THE EASTERN CORRIDOR TO PUSAN ................. 319
The Kyongju Corridor to Pusan ........................... 319
The North Koreans Reach P'ohang-dong .................... 320
The Air Force Abandons Yonil Airfield ................... 329
The ROK 3d Division Evacuated by Sea .................... 330
The North Koreans Turned Back From the Kyongju Corridor . 331
XIX. THE TAEGU FRONT ............................................ 334
The North Koreans Cross the Naktong for the Attack on
Taegu ................................................ 335
Triangulation Hill ...................................... 340
The Enemy 10th Division's Crossing at Yongp'o ........... 342
Hill 303 at Waegwan ..................................... 345
Tragedy on Hill 303 ..................................... 347
Carpet Bombing Opposite Waegwan ......................... 350
Bowling Alley—the Sangju-Taegu Corridor ................. 353
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Chapter Page
XX. STALEMATE WEST OF MASAN ..................................... 364
The Southern Anchor of the Army Line .................... 364
The N.K 6th Division Regroups West of Masan ............. 365
Enemy Attacks at Komam-ni (Saga) ........................ 366
Battle Mountain ......................................... 368
XXI. AUGUST BUILD-UP AND SEPTEMBER PORTENTS ..................... 376
The Far East Air Forces in August ....................... 376
Ground Build-up ......................................... 379
Korean Augmentation to the United States Army ........... 385
Eighth Army Realignment and Extension Eastward .......... 389
The North Korean Plan ................................... 392
XXII. PERIMETER BATTLE .......................................... 397
Action in the East—Task Force Jackson ................... 397
Enemy Breakthrough at Yongch'on ......................... 408
Back on Taegu ........................................... 411
Crisis in Eighth Army Command ........................... 415
The 7th Cavalry's Withdrawal Battle ..................... 417
Troopers in the Mountains—Walled Ka-san ................. 421
Hill 314 ................................................ 432
XXIII. NORTH KOREAN BREAKTHROUGH IN THE SOUTH ................... 437
Midnight Near Masan ..................................... 438
Agok .................................................... 443
Task Force Manchu Misfires .............................. 446
The North Koreans Split the U.S. 2d Division ............ 448
General Walker's Decisions on 1 September ............... 451
XXIV. THE NORTH KOREAN GREAT NAKTONG OFFENSIVE .................. 454
The End of Task Force Manchu ............................ 456
The Battle of Yongsan ................................... 459
The 23d Infantry in Front of Changnyong ................. 466
A North Korean Puzzle ................................... 469
The 35th Infantry—The Rock of the Nam ................... 470
Counterattack at Haman .................................. 479
Battle Mountain and Sobuk-san ........................... 483
XXV. THE LANDING AT INCH'ON ..................................... 488
MacArthur's Early Plans ................................. 488
X Corps Troops Assembled ................................ 489
The Landing Controversy ................................. 492
Naval Plans ............................................. 497
Intelligence Estimate ................................... 500
The Ships Load Out ...................................... 501
Preliminary Bombardment ................................. 502
Securing the Inch'on Beachhead .......................... 503
Capture of Kimpo Airfield and Advance to the Han River .. 509
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Chapter Page
XXVI. THE CAPTURE OF SEOUL ...................................... 515
The Capture of Yongdungp'o .............................. 516
Securing the Southern Flank ............................. 520
Seoul's Western Rampart ................................. 523
The 32d Infantry Enters Seoul ........................... 527
Battle of the Barricades ................................ 531
MacArthur Re-establishes Syngman Rhee in Seoul .......... 536
The Blocking Force South of Seoul ....................... 538
The X Corps Situation ................................... 540
XXVII. BREAKING THE CORDON ...................................... 542
The Eighth Army Plan .................................... 542
The Enemy Strength ...................................... 545
United Nations' Perimeter Strength ...................... 547
The 38th Infantry Crosses the Naktong ................... 548
The 5th Regimental Combat Team Captures Waegwan ......... 552
The 24th Division Deploys West of the Naktong ........... 554
The Indianhead Division Attacks West .................... 558
Encirclement Above Taegu ................................ 560
The Right Flank ......................................... 567
The Left Flank—The Enemy Withdraws From Sobuk-san ....... 568
XXVIII. PURSUIT AND EXPLOITATION ................................ 573
The 25th Division Crosses Southwest Korea ............... 574
The 2d Division Pushes West ............................. 579
Taejon Regained ......................................... 582
From Tabu-dong to Osan—Eighth Army Link-up With X Corps . 588
The ROK Army Arrives at the 38th Parallel ............... 598
The Invaders Expelled From South Korea .................. 600
XXIX. THE PLAN FOR COMPLETE VICTORY ............................. 607
MacArthur's Plan of Operations in North Korea ........... 609
Eighth Army Deploys for the Attack ...................... 612
The ROK I Corps Captures Wonsan and Hungnam ............. 614
The X Corps Prepares To Move Amphibiously to North-
east Korea ........................................... 618
XXX. EIGHTH ARMY AND X CORPS ENTER NORTH KOREA .................. 622
Eighth Army Crosses the Parallel—The Kumch'on Pocket .... 622
The X Corps Moves to Northeast Korea .................... 631
Mines at Wonsan Harbor .................................. 633
The X Corps Ashore ...................................... 635
XXXI. THE CAPTURE OF P'YONGYANG ................................. 638
The Logistical Situation ................................ 638
Sariwon Scramble ........................................ 640
Into P'yongyang ......................................... 646
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Chapter Page
XXXII. UP TO THE CH'ONGCH'ON .................................... 654
Airborne Attack: Sukch'on and Sunch'on .................. 654
The Enemy Blocking Force Destroyed ...................... 658
Death in the Evening .................................... 661
The Advance Continues ................................... 663
XXXIII. THE CHINESE INTERVENE ................................... 667
American Optimism at End of October ..................... 669
Continuation of the Pursuit ............................. 671
ROK Troops Reach the Yalu ............................... 672
Chinese Strike the ROK II Corps ......................... 673
Unsan—Prelude ........................................... 675
On the West Coastal Road ................................ 681
The X Corps' Changing Mission ........................... 684
The CCF Block Way to Changjin Reservoir ................. 686
XXXIV. UNSAN .................................................... 689
North of the Town ....................................... 691
Roadblock South of Town ................................. 696
Ordeal Near Camel's Head Bend ........................... 700
XXXV. EIGHTH ARMY HOLDS THE CH'ONGCH'ON BRIDGEHEAD .............. 709
Action North of the River ............................... 709
MIG's and Jets Over the Yalu ............................ 715
XXXVI. THE CHINESE APPRAISE THEIR FIRST PHASE KOREAN ACTION ..... 717
XXXVII. GUERRILLA WARFARE BEHIND THE FRONT ...................... 721
XXXVIII. THE X CORPS ADVANCES TO THE YALU ....................... 729
ROK I Corps Attacks up the Coastal Road ................. 729
U.S. 7th Infantry Division Reaches Manchurian Border .... 732
3d Infantry Division Joins X Corps ...................... 738
7th Marines Clear Road to Reservoir ..................... 741
The Gap Between Eighth Army and X Corps ................. 745
XXXIX. THE BIG QUESTION ......................................... 749
The Chinese Communist Forces ............................ 749
Eighth Army Estimate of CCF Intervention ................ 751
The X Corps Estimate .................................... 755
The Far East Command's and MacArthur's Estimates ........ 757
Actuality ............................................... 765
Conclusion .............................................. 769
The Pregnant Military Situation ......................... 770
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Chapter Page
SOURCES ......................................................... 777
GLOSSARY ........................................................ 779
BASIC MILITARY MAP SYMBOLS ...................................... 783
INDEX ........................................................... 785
Tables
No.
1. ROK Combat Divisions, 1 June 1950 ............................ 15
2. ROK Army, 26 July 1950 ....................................... 191
3. Estimated U.N. Strength as of 30 September 1950 .............. 605
4. Postwar Tabulation of U.N. Strength in Korea as of
30 September 1950 ............................................ 606
5. Organization of the XIII Army Group .......................... 768
Maps
No. Page
1. The North Koreans Cross the Han, 28 June-4 July 1950 ......... 54
2. Task Force Smith at Osan, 5 July 1950 ........................ 67
3. Delaying Action, 34th Infantry, 5-8 July 1950 ................ 78
4. Delaying Action, 21st Infantry, 8-12 July 1950 ............... 91
5. The U.S.-ROK Front, 13 July 1950 ............................. 103
6. Defense of the Kum River Line, 34th Infantry, 14 July 1950 ... 124
7. Defense of the Kum River Line, 19th Infantry, 13-16 July 1950 131
8. Task Force Kean, 7-12 August 1950 ............................ 268
9. North Korean Forces Enter the Naktong Bulge, 5-6 August 1950 . 292
10. Destroying the Enemy Bridgehead, 17-19 August 1950 .......... 311
11. The Threat to the Eastern Corridor, 10 August 1950 .......... 322
12. Eliminating the Threat, 11-20 August 1950 ................... 328
13. The N.K. Attacks on Taegu, 4-24 August 1950 ................. 386
14. The N.K. Attacks in the East, 27 August-15 September 1950 ... 399
15. The N.K. Attacks on Taegu, 2-15 September 1950 .............. 412
16. The Inch'on Landing, 15-16 September 1950 ................... 504
17. Breaking the Cordon, 16-22 September 1950 ................... 549
18. The Kumch'on Pocket, 9-14 October 1950 ...................... 624
19. The Capture of P'yongyang, 15-19 October 1950 ............... 641
20. Airborne Attack on Sukch'on and Sunch'on, 187th Airborne RCT,
20 October 1950 ............................................. 655
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No. Page
21. Advance of United Nations Command Forces, 20-24 October 1950 665
22. The Chinese Intervene in the West, 25 October-1 November 1950 673
23. The Unsan Engagement, 8th Cavalry Regiment, Night, 1-2
November 1950 ............................................... 692
24. The Ch'ongch'on Bridgehead, 3-6 November 1950 ............... 710
25. X Corps Advances to the Yalu River, 25 October-26 November
1950 ........................................................ 730
Color Maps
No. Page
I. The North Korean Invasion, 25-28 June 1950 ................ 21
II. The Fall of Taejon, 20 July 1950 .......................... 150
III. The Front Moves South, 14 July-1 August 1950 .............. 182
IV. The Pusan Perimeter, 4 August 1950 ........................ 236
V. The North Korean Naktong Offensive, U.S. 25th Division
Sector, 31 August-1 September 1950 .................... 438
VI. The North Korean Naktong Offensive, U.S. 2d Division
Sector, 31 August-1 September 1950 .................... 443
VII. The Capture of Seoul, 19-28 September 1950 ................ 511
VIII. The Pursuit, 23-30 September 1950 ......................... 574
Illustrations
South Korean Troops ............................................. 14
Uijongbu Corridor ............................................... 25
Brig. Gen. John H. Church ....................................... 42
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur ........................... 45
Maj. Gen. William F. Dean ....................................... 60
American Combat Troops Arriving at Taejon ....................... 63
Road Leading to Suwon ........................................... 64
Task Force Smith Position ....................................... 66
Traffic Jam .................................................... 85
South of Ch'onan ................................................ 87
Lt. Gen. Walton H. Walker ....................................... 89
Defense of Choch'iwon ........................................... 97
General Walker and Col. Alfred G. Katzin ........................ 111
Main Rail Line out of Taejon .................................... 117
Moving Across the Kum River Bridge .............................. 125
Kum River Bridge Explosion ...................................... 127
Dike Position near Taep'yong-ni ................................. 152
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Chapter Page
Aerial View of Taejon Airfield .................................. 148
Machine Gun Emplacement ......................................... 149
Aerial View of Taejon City ...................................... 151
The A-Frame ..................................................... 183
Strafing Attack ................................................. 188
Naktong River at Andong ......................................... 189
Cavalrymen Preparing for Action ................................. 198
Hadong ......................................................... 218
Hadong Pass .................................................... 219
Moving Up From Chinju ........................................... 237
Pier 2 at Pusan ................................................. 260
60-Ton Crane at Pusan ........................................... 261
Fox Hill Position ............................................... 273
Point of a Combat Column ........................................ 305
Marines on Hill 311 ............................................. 317
Aerial View of P'ohang-dong ..................................... 326
Triangulation Hill .............................................. 341
Waegwan Bridge .................................................. 346
Maj. Gen. Paik Sun Yup .......................................... 350
The Bowling Alley ............................................... 356
Tank Action in the Bowling Alley ................................ 358
Enemy Side of the Rocky Crags ................................... 872
Rocket and Napalm Attack ........................................ 378
Exploding Phosphorus Bombs ...................................... 379
South Korean Recruit ............................................ 387
Assault Troops of Company K ..................................... 403
1st Cavalry Observation Post .................................... 413
General Walker Crossing the Naktong ............................. 418
Ruins of Ancient Fortress on Ka-san ............................. 422
D Company, 8th Engineer Combat Battalion ........................ 423
Mountain Mass West of Haman ..................................... 439
Defensive Position in Front of Changnyong ....................... 451
U.N. Troops Cross Rice Paddies .................................. 463
Battle Trophy ................................................... 471
2d Battalion, 27th Infantry ..................................... 474
27th Infantry Command Post ...................................... 481
Veteran of the 5th Regimental Combat Team ....................... 486
Wolmi-do ........................................................ 505
Landing Graft and Bulldozers .................................... 507
Marines on Wolmi-do ............................................. 508
Destroyed Enemy Tanks ........................................... 510
Kimpo Runway .................................................... 513
Top-Level Briefing .............................................. 514
Marines on Hill 125 ............................................. 517
American Troops Move on Seoul ................................... 526
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Chapter Page
Seoul as Seen From the Air ...................................... 529
Tanks Entering Seoul ............................................ 533
The Battle for Hill 201 ......................................... 552
Crossing the Kumho River ........................................ 557
Ponton Treadway Bridge .......................................... 558
Advancing to the Crest of Hill 201 .............................. 560
View From the Crest of Hill 201 ................................. 561
40-mm. Antiaircraft Battery ..................................... 564
Enemy-Held Area ................................................. 569
Kumch'on From the Air ........................................... 584
On the Outskirts of Kumch'on .................................... 585
Col. Lee Hak Ku ................................................. 589
Captured Enemy Equipment ........................................ 601
Tank Troops of 1st Cavalry Division ............................. 613
3d ROK Division Officers and KMAG Advisers ...................... 617
ROK Troops ...................................................... 618
Kumch'on, North Korea ........................................... 631
Landing Craft Approaching Beach ................................. 636
Tank-Supported Convoy ........................................... 648
Burning Enemy Tank .............................................. 649
5th Cavalry Troops .............................................. 650
Capitol Building in P'yongyang .................................. 651
Kim Il Sung's Desk .............................................. 653
Mass Airdrop Near Sunch'on ...................................... 656
Artillery Airdrop Near Sukch'on ................................. 657
North Korean Atrocity Site ...................................... 662
The Middlesex 1st Battalion ..................................... 664
Supply by Air in Unsan Area ..................................... 678
The 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry ................................ 734
Looking Across the Yalu ......................................... 735
On the Banks of the Yalu ........................................ 738
Ox-Drawn Sleds .................................................. 739
Chinese Communist POW's ......................................... 743
Chinese Communist Flag .......................................... 751
Chu Teh ......................................................... 752
Lin Piao ........................................................ 753
Chou En-lai ..................................................... 758
Kim Il Sung ..................................................... 767
Peng Teh-huai ................................................... 769
General MacArthur ............................................... 771
Insignia of Major U.S. Ground Force Units ....................... 775
Illustrations are from Department of Defense files.
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