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003 - The Chinese intervention Part 1 · Korean War - Brief Histories

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  Speaker 1: Section three of the Korean War Brief Histories by various
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  Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. The Chinese
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  Speaker 1: Intervention Part one three November nineteen fifty through twenty four
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  Speaker 1: January nineteen fifty one by Richard W. Stewart introduction. The
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  Speaker 1: Korean War was the first major armed clash between free
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  Speaker 1: World and communist forces as the so called Cold War
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  Speaker 1: turned hot. The half century that now separates us from
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  Speaker 1: that conflict, however, has dimmed our collective memory. Many Korean
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  Speaker 1: War veterans have considered themselves forgotten their place in history
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  Speaker 1: sandwich between the sheer size of World War Two and
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  Speaker 1: the fierce controversies of the Vietnam War. The recently built
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  Speaker 1: Korean War Veterans Memorial on the National Mall in the
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  Speaker 1: upcoming fiftieth anniversary commemorative events should now provide well deserved recognition.
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  Speaker 1: I hope that this series of brochures on the campaigns
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  Speaker 1: of the Korean War will have a similar effect. The
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  Speaker 1: Korean War still has much to teach us about military preparedness,
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  Speaker 1: about global strategy, about combined operations and a military alliance
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  Speaker 1: facing blatant aggression, and about the courage and perseverance of
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  Speaker 1: the individual soldier. The modern world still lives with the
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  Speaker 1: consequences of a devitic Korea and with a militarily strong,
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  Speaker 1: economically weak, and unpredictable North Korea. The Korean War was
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  Speaker 1: waged on land, on sea, and in the air over
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  Speaker 1: and near the Korean Peninsula. It lasted three years, the
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  Speaker 1: first of which was a seesaw struggle for control of
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  Speaker 1: the peninsula, followed by two years of positional warfare as
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  Speaker 1: a backdrop to extend its ceasefire negotiations. The following Essay
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  Speaker 1: Day is one of five accessible and readable studies designed
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  Speaker 1: to enhance understanding of the U. S. Army's role and
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  Speaker 1: achievements in the Korean Conflict. During the next several years,
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  Speaker 1: the Army will be involved in many fiftieth anniversary activities,
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  Speaker 1: from public ceremonies and staff rights to professional development discussions
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  Speaker 1: and formal classroom training. The commemoration will be supported by
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  Speaker 1: the publication of various materials to help educate Americans about
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  Speaker 1: the war. These works will provide great opportunities to learn
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  Speaker 1: about this important period in the Army's heritage of service
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  Speaker 1: to the nation. This brochure was prepared in the U. S.
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  Speaker 1: Army Center of Military History by Richard W. Stewart. I
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  Speaker 1: hope this absorbing account, with its list of further readings,
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  Speaker 1: will stimulate further study and reflection. A complete listing of
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  Speaker 1: the Center of Military Histories available works on the Korean
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  Speaker 1: War is included in the Center's online catalog www dot
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  Speaker 1: Army dot mill slash c M, H hyphen pg slash catalog, slash,
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  Speaker 1: brochure dot ht M. John S. Brown, Brigadier General, USA
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  Speaker 1: Chief of Military History the Chinese Intervention three November nineteen
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  Speaker 1: fifty through twenty four January nineteen fifty one. They came
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  Speaker 1: out of the hills near Usan, North Korea, blowing bugles
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  Speaker 1: in the dying light of day on one November nineteen fifty,
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  Speaker 1: throwing grenades and firing their Burke guns at the surprised
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  Speaker 1: American soldiers of the eighth Cavalry Regiment, First Cavalry Division.
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  Speaker 1: Those who survived the initial assaults reported how shaken the
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  Speaker 1: spectacle of massed Chinese infantry had left them. Thousands of
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  Speaker 1: Chinese had atten northwest and west against scattered US and
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  Speaker 1: South Korean Republic of Korea or ROK units moving deep
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  Speaker 1: into North Korea. The Chinese seemed to come out of
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  Speaker 1: nowhere as they swarmed around the flanks and over the
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  Speaker 1: defensive positions of the surprised United Nations UN troops. Within hours,
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  Speaker 1: the Rok fifteenth Regiment on the Eighth Cavalry's right flank collapsed,
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  Speaker 1: while the first and second battalions of the eighth Cavalry
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  Speaker 1: fell back in disarray into the city of Unsan. By morning,
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  Speaker 1: with their position being overrun and their guns falling silent,
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  Speaker 1: the men of the eighth Cavalry tried to withdraw, but
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  Speaker 1: a Chinese roadblock to their rear forced them to abandon
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  Speaker 1: their artillery, and the men took to the hills in
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  Speaker 1: small groups. Only a few scattered survivors made it back
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  Speaker 1: to tell their story. The remaining battalion of the eighth Cavalry,
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  Speaker 1: the third, was hit early in the morning of to November,
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  Speaker 1: with the same human wave assaults of bugle blowing Chinese.
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  Speaker 1: In the confusion, one company sized Chinese element was mistaken
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  Speaker 1: for South Koreans and allowed to pass a critical bridge
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  Speaker 1: near the battalion Command Post CP. Once over the bridge,
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  Speaker 1: the enemy commander blew his bugle and the Chinese throwing
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  Speaker 1: satchel charges and grenades overran the cp elements of the
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  Speaker 1: two other regiments of the first Cavalry Division, the fifth
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  Speaker 1: and seventh Cavalries, tried unsuccessfully to reach the isolated battalion.
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  Speaker 1: The fifth Cavalry, commanded by then Lieutenant Colonel Harold K. Johnson,
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  Speaker 1: later to be Chief of Staff at the Army, led
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  Speaker 1: a two battalion counter attack on the dug in Chinese
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  Speaker 1: positions encircling the eighth Cavalry. However, with insufficient artillery support
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  Speaker 1: and a determined enemy, he and his men were unable
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  Speaker 1: to break the Chinese line. With daylight fading, the relief
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  Speaker 1: effort was broken off and the men of the Eighth
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  Speaker 1: Cavalry were ordered to get out of the trap any
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  Speaker 1: way they could. Breaking into small elements, the soldiers moved
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  Speaker 1: out overland over cover of darkness. Most did not make it.
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  Speaker 1: In all, over eight hundred men of the Eighth Cavalry
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  Speaker 1: were lost, almost one third of the regiment's strength in
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  Speaker 1: the initial attacks by massive Chinese forces, forces that only
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  Speaker 1: recently had been considered as existing only in rumor. Other
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  Speaker 1: elements of the Eighth Army were also attacked in the
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  Speaker 1: ensuing days, and it fell back by six November two
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  Speaker 1: defensive positions along the chung Chong River. However, as quickly
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  Speaker 1: as they had appeared, the Chinese Communist Forces c c
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  Speaker 1: F disappeared. No additional attacks came. The Chinese units seemed
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  Speaker 1: to vanish back into the hills and valleys of the
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  Speaker 1: North Korean waste Lands as if they had never been.
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  Speaker 1: By six November nineteen fifty, all was quiet again in
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  Speaker 1: Korea strategic setting. The large scale Chinese attacks came as
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  Speaker 1: a shock to the Allied forces. After the breakout from
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  Speaker 1: the Pusan perimeter and the Inchon landings, the war seemed
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  Speaker 1: to have been won. The desperate defensive fighting of June
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  Speaker 1: was a distant memory, as were the bloody struggles to
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  Speaker 1: hold the Noktang river line in defense of Pusan in August.
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  Speaker 1: In early September, General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, the
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  Speaker 1: Far Eastern Command, Theater commander, had triumphed against all the
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  Speaker 1: odds by landing the Tenth Corps, consisting of the first
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  Speaker 1: Marine Division, the seventh Infantry Division, and elements of Rok Marines,
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  Speaker 1: at the port of Incheon, your Soul on fifteen September.
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  Speaker 1: Breaking out from the Pusan perimeter. Four days later, Eighth
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  Speaker 1: Army defeated and then pursued the remnants of the North
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  Speaker 1: Korean People's Army n k PA up the peninsula by
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  Speaker 1: many of the same roads over which they had retreated
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  Speaker 1: a mere two months before. On twenty ninth September, Seoul
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  Speaker 1: was declared liberated as the victorious UN forces pursued the
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  Speaker 1: fleeing n k P. A. MacArthur was authorized by President
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  Speaker 1: Harry S. Truman to go north of the pre June
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  Speaker 1: boundary the thirty eighth Parallel, while enjoying to watch for
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  Speaker 1: any indications that the Soviets or Chinese might enter the war.
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  Speaker 1: Korea was seen by most at the time as just
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  Speaker 1: part of the overall struggle with World Communism, and perhaps
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  Speaker 1: as the first skirmish in what was to be World
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  Speaker 1: War Three. MacArthur, convinced that he could reunify all of Korea,
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  Speaker 1: moved his forces north. Lieutenant General Walton H. Walker's Eighth
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  Speaker 1: Army advanced up the west coast of Korea to the
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  Speaker 1: Yalu River, while Major General Edward M. Ned Alman's Independent
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  Speaker 1: tenth Corps conducted amphibious landings at Wusan and Iowan on
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  Speaker 1: the east coast, ALMONDS units moved up the coast into
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  Speaker 1: the northeast and center of Korea to the border with
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  Speaker 1: China until the attacks by the CCF at Unsan. The
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  Speaker 1: war thus seemed on the verge of ending, with the
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  Speaker 1: UN forces merely having to mop up NKPA remnants. In retrospect,
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  Speaker 1: the events on the battlefield in late October and early
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  Speaker 1: November nineteen fifty were harbingers of disaster ahead. They had
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  Speaker 1: been foreshadowed by ominous signals from China, signals related to
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  Speaker 1: the United States through Indian diplomatic channels. The Chinese, it
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  Speaker 1: was reported, would not tolerate a US presence so close
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  Speaker 1: to their borders, and would send troops to Korea if
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  Speaker 1: any UN forces other than ROK elements across the thirty
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  Speaker 1: eighth parallel with the United States seeking to isolate communist China.
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  Speaker 1: Diplomatic there were very few ways to verify these warnings.
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  Speaker 1: While aware of some of the dangers, US diplomats and
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  Speaker 1: intelligence personnel, especially General MacArthur, discounted the risks. The best
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  Speaker 1: time for intervention was past, they said, and even if
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  Speaker 1: the Chinese decided to intervene, Allied air power and firepower
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  Speaker 1: would cripple their ability to move or resupply their forces.
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  Speaker 1: The opinion of many military observers, some of them had
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  Speaker 1: helped train the Chinese to fight against the Japanese in
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  Speaker 1: World War II, was that the huge infantry forces that
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  Speaker 1: could be put in the field would be poorly equipped,
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  Speaker 1: poorly led, and abysmally supplied. These experts failed to give
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  Speaker 1: full due to the Revolutionary zeal And military experience of
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  Speaker 1: many of the Chinese soldiers that had been redeployed to
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  Speaker 1: the Korean border area. Many of the soldiers were confident
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  Speaker 1: veterans of the successful Civil War again against the nationalist
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  Speaker 1: Chinese forces. Although these forces were indeed poorly supplied, they
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  Speaker 1: were highly motivated, battle hardened, and led by officers who
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  Speaker 1: were veterans in some cases of twenty years of nearly
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  Speaker 1: constant war. Perhaps the most critical element in weighing the
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  Speaker 1: risk of Chinese intervention was the deference paid to the
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  Speaker 1: opinions of General MacArthur, America's pro consul in the Far East.
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  Speaker 1: MacArthur was the American public's hero of the gallant attempt
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  Speaker 1: to defend Patan and Corregidor in the early days of
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  Speaker 1: World War II. The conqueror of the Japanese in the
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  Speaker 1: Southwestern Pacific in the Foreign Shogun of Japan during the
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  Speaker 1: occupation of that country. It was also the architect of
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  Speaker 1: the lightning stroke at Inchon that almost overnight turned the
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  Speaker 1: tide of battle in Korea. When he stated categorically that
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  Speaker 1: the Chinese would not intervene in any large numbers. All
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  Speaker 1: other evidence of growing Chinese involvement tended to be discounted MacArthur.
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  Speaker 1: In his Far Eastern Command, FEC Intelligence Chief Major General
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  Speaker 1: Charles A. Willoughby continued to insist, despite the CCF attacks
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  Speaker 1: at Unsan and similar attacks against tenth Corps in northeastern Korea,
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  Speaker 1: that the Chinese would not intervene in force. On six November,
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  Speaker 1: the FEC continued to list the total of Chinese troops
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  Speaker 1: in theatre as only thirty four thousand, five hundred, whereas
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  Speaker 1: in reality, over three hundred thousand CCF soldiers organized into
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  Speaker 1: thirty divisions had already moved into Korea. The mysterious disappearance
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  Speaker 1: of Chinese forces at that time seemed only to confirm
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  Speaker 1: the judgment that their forces were only token volunteers. The
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  Speaker 1: overall situation in early November nineteen fifty one was unsettled,
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  Speaker 1: but UN forces were still optimistic. The North Korea Army
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  Speaker 1: had been thoroughly defeated, with only remnants fleeing into the
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  Speaker 1: mountains to conduct guerrilla warfare or retreating north towards sanctuary
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  Speaker 1: and China. Eighth Army positions along the chung Chong River,
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  Speaker 1: halfway between the thirty eighth Parallel and the Yalu were strong.
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  Speaker 1: The First Cavalry Division had admittedly taken a beating, but
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  Speaker 1: two regiments were still in good condition, while the twenty
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  Speaker 1: fourth and twenty fifth Infantry Divisions had generally recovered from
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  Speaker 1: their earlier trials. On the eighth Army's right flank, the
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  Speaker 1: second Infantry Division was in a position to backstep the
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  Speaker 1: vulnerable ROK sixth and eighth divisions in northeastern Korea. The
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  Speaker 1: units under tenth Corps were fresh and, in the case
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  Speaker 1: of the first Marine Division, at full strength by the
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  Speaker 1: first week of November. Despite the surprise attacks by what
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  Speaker 1: were still classed as small Chinese volunteer units, the United
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  Speaker 1: Nations as a whole were well positioned and looking forward
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  Speaker 1: to attacking north to the Yalu to end the war
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  Speaker 1: and being home by Christmas operations, perhaps the most critical
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  Speaker 1: element in weighing the risks of Chinese intervention. The US
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  Speaker 1: led United Nations Command UNC at extensive forces. At its
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  Speaker 1: disposal in Korea in November nineteen fifty. The major UNC
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  Speaker 1: ground combat strength consisted of eighth Army headquarters, a ROK
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  Speaker 1: Army headquarters, six Corps headquarters, three US three ROK, eighteen
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  Speaker 1: infantry division equivalents, ten ROK, seven U S Army and
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  Speaker 1: one U S Marine, three Allied brigades, and a separate
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  Speaker 1: airborne regiment. The total combat ground forces were around four
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  Speaker 1: hundred and twenty five thousand soldiers, including some one hundred
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  Speaker 1: and seventy eight thousand of MINS Americans. In addition, of course,
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  Speaker 1: the UNC had major air and naval components in support.
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  Speaker 1: Forces opposing the UN and early November were organized under
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  Speaker 1: a combined headquarters staffed by North Korean and Chinese officers.
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  Speaker 1: Kim Il sung, the leader of North Korea, was also
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  Speaker 1: commander of the North Korean Armed Forces, based at Kangji
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  Speaker 1: Deep in the mountains of north central Korea. On paper,
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  Speaker 1: the North Korean forces consisted of eight corps, thirty divisions,
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  Speaker 1: and several brigades, but in fact, only two corps totaling
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  Speaker 1: some five week divisions and two depleted brigades, were in
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  Speaker 1: active operations against Yuan forces. The fourth Corps, with one
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  Speaker 1: division and two brigades, opposed the ROK first Corps in
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  Speaker 1: northeastern Korea, while the second Corps with four scattered and
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  Speaker 1: weakened divisions, was engaged in grill operations in the Taibek Mountains.
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  Speaker 1: Both above and below the thirty eighth Parallel, the remainder
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  Speaker 1: of the surviving North Korean Army elements were resting and
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  Speaker 1: refitting in the sanctuary of Manchuria or along the border
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  Speaker 1: in north central Korea, away from the main lines of
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  Speaker 1: Ewan advance along the east and west coast of the peninsula.
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  Speaker 1: Most of the enemy's striking power was contained in the
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  Speaker 1: three hundred thousand strong Chinese People's Liberation Army p LA.
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  Speaker 1: They had entered Korea during the last half of October
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  Speaker 1: undetected by FEC intelligence assets. The stage was set for
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  Speaker 1: the near destruction of Eighth Army and the abandonment of
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  Speaker 1: the military attempt to reunify Korea. Convincing himself in his
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  Speaker 1: Far Eastern Command's staff that the Chinese would not intervene
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  Speaker 1: in force. General MacArthur was determined to reunify Korea and
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  Speaker 1: change the balance of power in Asia. The Joint chiefs
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  Speaker 1: of Staff, impressed by MacArthur's stunning triumph at Incheon and
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  Speaker 1: the collapse of the the NKPA during the following month,
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  Speaker 1: were in no position to argue. Despite some misgivings, they
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  Speaker 1: allowed MacArthur a generous, although not unrestrained, latitude to pursue
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  Speaker 1: his vision of winning the war before the year was out.
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  Speaker 1: Even President Truman, not a man to defer easily to anyone,
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  Speaker 1: apparently felt that MacArthur should be allowed to carry on
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  Speaker 1: the war and finish off the North Koreans. To imploment
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  Speaker 1: MacArthur's objectives, General Walker drafted plans for his eighth Army
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  Speaker 1: to advance quickly against the crumbling opposition all the way
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  Speaker 1: to the Yalu River on the Chinese frontier. Meanwhile, General
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: Ahmand and his tenth Corps, separated from eighth Army by
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: the virtually impassable Taepek Mountains, planned a similar series of
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: widely scattered offensive spearheads on the eastern side of the peninsula.
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: In order to be eighth Army to the Yalu beginning
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  Speaker 1: in mid October, each major force sought to take as
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  Speaker 1: much terrain as possible. Eighth Army units occupied Pinanyang, the
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  Speaker 1: North Korean capital about seventy five miles north of the
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  Speaker 1: thirty eighth parallel, on nineteen October. Almand's Tenth Corps came
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  Speaker 1: ashore at guan San on the other side of the
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: peninsula on twenty five October, and moved quickly inland. Only
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  Speaker 1: the unforeseen incidents at un San, about sixty miles north
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  Speaker 1: of Pyangyang at the end of October caused both forces
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  Speaker 1: to pause and reconsider the wisdom of such an all
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: out offensive. With the cessation of Chinese attacks on six November,
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  Speaker 1: Walker and Almond began planning to resume the offensive. Elements
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  Speaker 1: of Tenth Corps units even reached the Yalu River at
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: hai Sanjin on twenty one November and Singala Pajin on
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  Speaker 1: the twenty eighth, although these were only minor reconnaissance in
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  Speaker 1: four settlements. Both Walker and Alman planned to follow through
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  Speaker 1: with major offenses of all forces, beginning on twenty four
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  Speaker 1: and twenty seven November, respectively. In the West, eighth Army
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: began its offensive north of its positions along the chan
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  Speaker 1: Chung River, some fifty miles north of Pioanyang on twenty
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  Speaker 1: four November. Its initial objective was to re establish contact
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  Speaker 1: with any remnant North Korean forces or Chinese volunteer units.
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  Speaker 1: The First Corps, twenty fourth Infantry Division, ROK first Infantry
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  Speaker 1: Division and British twenty seventh Commonwealth Brigade was on eighth
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  Speaker 1: Armies left. Ninth Corps twenty fifth Infantry Division, second Infantry
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  Speaker 1: Division and the Turkish Brigade was in the center, while
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: the ROK Second Corps with its sixth, seventh and eighth
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  Speaker 1: Infantry Divisions was on the eastern flank. The first Cavalry
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: Division and the British twenty ninth Infantry Brigade were in reserve,
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  Speaker 1: along with the US one eighty seventh Regimental Combat Team Airborne.
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  Speaker 1: The First Corps attacked west and northwest towards chong Ju
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  Speaker 1: and tai Choung, while ninth Corps headed north toward un San,
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  Speaker 1: Unjiang and hui Chong. The Aroki Second Corps began moving
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  Speaker 1: toward the northeast and into the into the Tabak Mountains
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: on the eighth Army's right flank. That separated Eighth Army
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: from tenth Corps. All advancing units generally received only scattered
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: small arms fire, and in most instances they moved unopposed
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: toward their objectives. A few miles from Unsan, elements of
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: the twenty fifth Division discovered thirty U S soldiers missing
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  Speaker 1: since the Eighth Cavalry's battle with the Chinese weeks before.
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  Speaker 1: They had been captured and then released by the Chinese
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  Speaker 1: and suffered from wounds and frostbite, but they were alive.
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: By twenty five November, all units were reporting that they
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: had reached their objectives, although they had also reported increasing
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: enemy resistance and even some local counter attacks. However, optimism
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: still prevailed. Eighth Army thus planned to resume its offensive
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: in conjunction with the planned attack of tenth Corps in
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: the east, beginning on twenty seven November the battles along
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: the chung Chun. On the night of twenty five November,
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: the Chinese struck Eighth Army again. The first c SI
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: F attacks hit the ninth and thirty eighth Infantries of
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  Speaker 1: the U S Second Infantry Division, about eighteen miles northeast
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  Speaker 1: of kunru Ri along the Chun Chong River. Charging to
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  Speaker 1: the sounds of bugles, the Chinese fortieth Army found gaps
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  Speaker 1: between the units and struck their flanks. They hit units
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  Speaker 1: on both sides of the river, just south of a
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: low mountain called ironically Chinaman's Hat. Infiltrators also attacked elements
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  Speaker 1: of the twenty third Infantry just behind the ninth Infantry.
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  Speaker 1: The Chinese took heavy casualties and were forced to suspend
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  Speaker 1: their attack in the early morning hours, only to resume
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  Speaker 1: just before dawn. Vigorous US counter attacks restored most of
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: the main line positions. The attacks also were pressed against
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  Speaker 1: the U S twenty fifth Infantry division to the second
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  Speaker 1: divisions left, prompting a now alerted US command to cancel
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: the advanced plan for twenty six November. Suddenly, on the defensive,
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: U S soldiers dug in and consolidated their positions while
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: waiting for new Chinese attacks. Eighth Army situation was complicated
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: by the fact that the Chinese broke through elements of
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: the Rok second Corps on the army's right wing. They
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: penetrated the Rok front in several places, establishing roadblocks to
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: the rear of ROK units, cutting them off and creating panic.
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: By noon on the twenty sixth, the Rok second Corps
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  Speaker 1: front had folded, exposing Eighth Army's entire flank. Quickly, Walker
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: sent the first Cavalry Division that time guarding supply installations
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: and routes in eighth Army's rear, and the Turkish brigade
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: in ninth Corps Reserve forward to protect possible army lines
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: of retreat farther west. Walker halted the twenty fourth Division
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: and prepared to conduct an active defense all along his lines.
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: Although his intelligence officer G two raised the estimate of
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: Chinese troops in the area from fifty four thousand two
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: hundred and one thousand, Walker still did not realize the
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: size of the Chinese offensive. No one did. FEC headquarters
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: merely reported to Washington that a slowing down of the
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: UN offensive may result from these new attacks. Late on
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: the twenty sixth, Chinese forces struck again on the eighth
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: Army's right flank with a goal of exploiting the collapse
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: of the Rok second Corps while attempting to flight the
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: entire eighth Army from the east, attacking heavily in the
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: east and center sections of the Un line. The Chinese
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: threw five field armies into the fight while sending another
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: against the twenty fourth division to the west on a
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: holding mission. The attacks against the ro K first Division drove
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: that unit back and soon exposed the flanks of both
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: the U S twenty fourth and twenty fifth divisions. Only
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: a rapid readjustment of forces plugged this gap and stabilized
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: the situation by early evening on twenty seven November. However,
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: the situation was growing grim. By mid afternoon on the
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: twenty eighth, all U S and ro K units were
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: in retreat. Attempts by the second Division to hold the
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: line and by the first Cavalry Division and Turkish Brigade
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: to restore Eighth Army's right flank were in vain. Two
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: Chinese armies, the forty second and thirty eighth, were pouring
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: through the broken ro K lines to Eighth Armies east
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: and threatening to envelop the entire force. Walker's only hope
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: was to bring off a fighting withdrawal of his army
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: deep behind the Chanchun river line, below the gathering Chinese
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: thrust from the east. The withdrawal of Eighth Army units
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: was made more difficult by the thousands of fleeing Korean
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: refugees who blocked the roads. In addition, the hordes of
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: refugees gave excellent cover to Chinese and North Korean infiltrators,
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: who often dressed in Korean clothing, went through US checkpoints
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: and then turned an open fire on the startled Americans.
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: The tactics repeated those used by the North Koreans during
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: the initial invasion of the South and were often equally effective.
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: One seventh Cavalry Company commander was killed in aid of
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: his men, wounded by enemy infiltrators throwing hand grenades. As
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: in the summer, Eighth Army orders directed that refugees be
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: diverted from main roads, escorted by South Korean police, and
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: routed around Allied defensive lines, although the strictures were often
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: difficult to enforce. The brunt of the renewed enemy attack
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: fell on the exposed U s second Infantry Division. With
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: his division almost cut off from the rest of the army,
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: Major General Lawrence B. Dutch Kaiser relied upon the Turkish
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: brigade to protect his right flank as he prepared to
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: withdraw from Kunnu Ri. The Chinese, however, by passed the
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: Turks who remained concentrated at Kai Chung, ten miles to
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: the west of Khan ru Rie, and established road blocks
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: on the second Division's withdrawal route to the south. These roadblocks,
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: combined with attacks against US and Roku troops north and
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: northeast of Khan ru Ri, proved a lethal combination. As
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: the second Division began its withdrawal under pressure on the
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: morning of the thirtieth, it found itself literally running the
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: gauntlet as its trucks and vehicles were trapped on a
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: con jest at Valley Road under fire from Chinese positions
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: on the high ground to the east and west. Air
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: strikes helped, but could not dislodge the Chinese troops as
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: they poured rifle and machine gun fire into the slow
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: moving American vehicles. Soldiers were often forced to crouch in
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: the ditches as their vehicles were raked with enemy fire.
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: While hundreds were killed or wounded. Others were forced to
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: proceed on foot down the long road to sun Chon,
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: almost twenty miles to the south of kunru Ri. Chinese
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: roadblocks halted the columns repeatedly as the casualties mounted. Some
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: artillery units were even forced to abandon their guns. The
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: thirty seventh Field Artillery Battalion, for example, lost thirty five
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: men killed, wounded or missing, and abandoned ten howitzers, fifty
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: three vehicles, and thirty nine trailers. As the road became
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: clogged with abandoned vehicles, men were forced to leave column
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: and make their way south as best they could. Unit
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: integrity in some places broke down under the murderous fire.
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: Finally led on thirty November, the last units closed on
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: sun Chon and the shattered Eighth Army established a hasty
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: defensive line from Soukchon to the west to Sinchengni in
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: the east, some twenty five miles south of their initial
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: positions on the Chunchon River line. The battles along the
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: Chunchon River were a major defeat for the Eighth Army
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: and a mortal blow to the hopes of MacArthur and
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: others for the reunification of Korea by force of arms.
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: The second Division alone took almost four thousand, five hundred
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: battle casualties from fifty to thirty November, most occurring after
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: the twenty fifth. It lost almost a third of its strength,
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: along with sixty four artillery pieces, hundreds of trucks, and
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: nearly all its engineer equipment. While the rest of Eighth
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: Army had not been hit as hard, with the possible
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: exception of the Rok units, whose total losses will probably
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: never be known, it was no doubt about the magnitude
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: of the reverse. The U S First Cavalry, twenty fourth
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: and twenty fifth Infantry Divisions, and the Rok first Infantry
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: Division were still relatively intact, but the U. S Second
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: Infantry Division, the Turkish Brigade, and the Rok sixth, seventh,
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: and eighth Infantry Divisions were shattered units that would need
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: extensive rest in refitting to recover combat effectiveness. Although not
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: closely pursued by the Chinese, Walker decided that his army
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: was in no shape to hold the Sinchengni line and
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: ordered a retreat farther south before his forces could be
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: enveloped by fresh Chinese attacks Tenth Corps. The Chinese offensive
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: of late November destroyed Eighth Army plans to push all
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: the way to the Yalu. They also stymied the other
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: arm of the offensive. The attack of tenth Corps and
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: the Rok first Corps up the eastern coast and center
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: of the peninsula. General Ahmand, following the intent of General
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: MacArthur to push vigorously against the retreating Foe, had planned
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: a multi pronged operation using these two corps. The Rak
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: first Corps, consisting of the ro K, third and Capital divisions,
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: was to proceed over the coastal roads over two hundred
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: miles north to chung Jin and then on to the
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: Yalu there to guard the tenth corps right flank. The
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: tenth Corps was to attack north and west of the
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: chung Jin Reservoir. Its seventh Infantry Division was to occupy
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: the center of the tenth Corps front and push to
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: the Yalu at haisen Jin, about one hundred and sixty
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: miles north of one Son. On the left of the corps,
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: the first Marine Division was to proceed up both sides
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: of the chang Jin Chosin Reservoir about half way to
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: the border, tie in with the Roke second Corps at
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: the eighth Army to the west, and then pushed sixty
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: more miles northward toward the Alu at Hucheng Gengu and
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: Singal Pajin. However, despite the urgings of the tenth Corps
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: commander for more speed. First Marine Division Commander, Major General
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: Oliver B. Smith, was leary about dispersing his division over
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: too broad a front. He ordered his units to attack cautiously,
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: maintaining unit integrity and within general supporting distances of each other.
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: The train. In this part of Korea, narrower roads, often
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: cut by gullies and valleys with imposing ridge lines and
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: mountains surrounding them, made it critical for units to stay together.
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: Rounding out ten Corps was the newly arrived third Infantry Division,
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: which landed at one Son between seven and fifty team
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: November and was augmented by a Rok Marine Regiment. These
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: units were to guard the corps rear, relieve the Marines
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: of any port protection duties, and prepared to conduct defensive
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: operations in support of Corps operations as needed. The Third
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: Division faced some challenges with making a fighting team out
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: of its subordinate units. The sixty fifth Infantry Regiment, filled
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: out with hundreds of mobilized Puerto Rican National guardsmen had
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: only recently been assigned to the division and had not
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: worked with the division staff officers before. In addition, while
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: training at Japan, the Third Division seventh and fifteenth Regiments
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: had been assigned thousands of minimally trained Korean augmentees called
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: kat USA's Korean Augmentees to the United States Army. Nevertheless,
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: the division was fresh and constituted the major reserve available
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: to tenth Corps. Seemingly minor change in plans, Alman ordered
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: the thirty first Regimental Combat Team RCT of the seventh
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: Division to leave the fifth Marine Regiment on the east
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: side of the Chosin Reservoir so the Marines could concentrate
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: their forces on the west, reorienting their drive to the
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: north and west of the frozen reservoir. Although the unit
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: was called the thirty first RCT, the thirty first regimental commander,
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: Colonel Allan D. Mack McLain, was to command the first
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: battalion of the thirty second Infantry, along with his second
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: and third battalions of the thirty first Infantry. The first
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: Battalion thirty second Infantry, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Donald C.
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: Faith Junior, was first to reach the new positions, relieving
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: the Marines on twenty five November. Faith's battalion was alone
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: on the east side of the reservoir for a full
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: day before other elements of Task Force t F McLain,
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: the third of the thirty first Infantry and two artillery
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: batteries arrived on the twenty seventh. The second battalion, thirty
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: first Infantry, the other artillery battery, and the thirty first
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: Tank Company were still missing. The tanks were on the
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: road just outside the marine perimeter at hagarou Re at
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: the southern end of the reservoir, and the second of
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: the thirty first was still en route. Nevertheless, McLain confidently
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: prepared to launch his attack the next day. Allman's offensive
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: was not to be late. On twenty seven November, the
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: Chinese struck the US forces on both sides of the
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: Chosen Reservoir. Nearly simultaneously. Two c CF divisions, these seventy
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: ninth and eighty ninth, attacked the Marines west of the
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: reservoir in the Yu Damni area. The Marines killed the
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: Chinese by the hundreds, but were in danger of being
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: cut off from the division headquarters at hagarou Re at
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: the southern end of the reservoir. In a simil or maneuver,
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: the CCF eightieth Division struck the spread out positions of
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: Task Force McLain while simultaneously moving around its flank to
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: cut it off from the Marines at hagaroot Re. Initially successful,
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: the Chinese were finally stopped just before dawn. During the
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: day on twenty eight November, General Ahmand and his aide,
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: First Lieutenant Alexander haig helicoptered in to the perimeter of
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: t F McLain. Despite all the evidence of massive Chinese intervention,
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: Almand exhorted the soldiers to begin the offensive. We're still attacking,
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: he told the soldiers, and were going all the way
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: to the Yalu. The CORP commander then flew back to
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: Hagaru Ree, convinced that Task Force McLain was strong enough
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: to begin its attack and deal with whatever remnants of
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: CCF forces were in their way. That evening, the Chinese
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: remnants struck again. The CCF eightieth Division hit the desper
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: Us units with waves of infantry. Despite the reassuring presence
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: of tracked anti aircraft weapons forty millimeters killing machines, the
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: sub zero cold and constant Chinese attacks began to take
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: their toll. The fighting was often hand to hand. Convinced
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: now that launching any kind of attack on the twenty
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: ninth was futile. Clonel McLain abruptly ordered a pullback to
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: form a more consolidated defense that accomplished. He proposed waiting
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: for the arrival of his missing third Battalion before resuming
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: any offensive operations. However, during the withdrawal operations, his troops
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: came under renewed enemy attack, and in the confusion, McLain
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: was captured by the Chinese, with no hope of rescuing
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: his commander, Colonel Faith took command of the Task Force.
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: Clonel McLain in fact died of wounds four days after
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: his capture. The epic struggle of Task Force Claim, now
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: called Task Force Faith, was drawn to a close. Its
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: separated tank company, augmented by a pickup force of headquarters
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: company soldiers and clerks, attempted twice to relieve the beleaguered force. However,
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: the tanks foundered on the icy roads and the attacks
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: were further hindered by misdirected air strikes. The tanks withdrew
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: into the safety of Hagarui. Faith, unaware of this attempt
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: at rescue because of faulty communications, was running short of
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: ammunition and had over four hundred wounded on his hands.
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: General Smith, commander of the first Marine Division, was given
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: operational control of the cutoff army unit, but apparently had
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: his hands full withdrawing his marines in an orderly fashion
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: into hagar Uree. The seventh Division commander, Major General David G. Barr,
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: flew into the perimeter of T. F. Faith on the
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: thirtieth but had only bad news for Colonel Faith. The
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: Marines could provide little more than air support. Continued Chinese
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: attacks during the night of the thirtieth and into the
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: morning of first December left T. F. Faith in a
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: dangerous situation with no help in sight. Chinese assaults had
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: almost destroyed the perimeter that night, and the number of
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: wound it went up to nearly six hundred, virtually one
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: fourth of the entire formation. Believing that one more Chinese
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: attack would destroy his force, Faith decided to withdraw and
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: run the Chinese gauntlet down the frozen road along the
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: east side of the reservoir in hopes of reaching the
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: marines at Hagarui. On the morning of one December, the
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: exhausted men of T. F. Faith formed into a column
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: with the wound it piled into about thirty overcrowded trucks.
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: Taking a while to get organized, the column began to
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: pull out in the early morning, just as their marine
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: air cover arrived. Tragically, the lead plane dropped its napalm
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: short and the thick jellied gasoline exploded near the head
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: of the column, badly burning over a dozen soldiers. Many
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: of the men ran for cover, destroying what little order
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: the column had left. Colonel faith rallied the men and
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: got the movie again, but near panic had set in
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: and the men began to gather in leaderless groups. The CCF,
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: noting the withdrawal, began to pour and fire from the
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: high ground to the east of the column. As it advanced,
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: the column encountered a destroyed bridge on the road. Bypassing
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: the ridge was possible, but only one vehicle at a
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: time could be winched up the steep slope on the
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: other side. The CCF clustered along the column, directing fire
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: into the exposed trucks. Farther south, the column was stopped
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: by a Chinese roadblock near Hill twelve twenty one. Some
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: brave soldiers under the command of a few officers, stormed
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: up the slopes and despite severe casualties, managed to take
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: most of the hill, gaining valuable time. For the column
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: was getting dark, and the lights of Hagarootri could be
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: seen in the distance over the ice covered reservoir. However,
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: the Chinese roadblock stood between the column and safety. Desperately,
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: Colonel Faith gathered a few men and charged the Chinese defenses,
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: seizing the position. The American soldiers managed to disperse the enemy,
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: but Faith was mortally wounded. Although his men managed to
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: prop him up on the hood of his jeep and
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: the convoy began moving again, the retreating force began to
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: give up hope. Despite the desperate attempts of the few
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: remaining leaders, the convoy began to come apart. Just miles
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: from safety, the column hid another blown bridge. The few
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: unwounded men began moving out over the ice, thick enough
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: for foot travel but not for vehicles, leaving the stranded
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: convoy behind by dark. Task Force Faith thus ceased to exist.
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: As the CCF fire intensified with heavy machine guns and grenades,
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: the remaining able soldiers abandoned their trucks and fled to
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: Hagourie over the ice. Colonel Faith, later awarded the Medal
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: of Honor posthumously, remained behind with his men to die
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: in the cold. All during the night of one through
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: two December, shattered remnants of Task Force Faith trickled into
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: the marine positions at Hagaru Ri. A few were rescued
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: by marine jeeps racing out over the ice to pick
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: up dazed, frostbitten survivors. Some three hundred and nineteen Americans
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: were rescued in this manner by individual marines. Many of
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: the worst wounded were airlifted to safety. Of the two
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: thousand five hundred men of Task Force Faith, one thousand
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: were killed, wounded, captured, or left to die of wounds.
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: After the air evacuation, about five hundred seventh Infantry Division
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: soldiers were left to accompany the first Marine Division as
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: it began its withdrawal from Hagaru Ri to the point
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: of hung Nam, fifty miles southeast and evacuation by sea.
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: The men of Task Force Faith did not die in vain.
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: They had virtually destroyed an entire Chinese division and prevented
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: any possible attack south by the Chinese for four critical days.
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: They had not been able to hold out as long
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: as they had. The eightieth Division might have hit the
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: First Marine Division perimeter at Hagaru Ri in force before
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: the fifth and seventh Marines could have withdrawn. Those units
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: might then have faced dug in Chinese roadblocks in their
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: rear instead of a safe perimeter and a reasonably open
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: road to the south. The entire fate of Tenth Corps
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: may well have been different if not for the bravery
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: and stubborn defense of the area east of the Chosun
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: River by the men of Task Force Faith. Faced with
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: the renewed Chinese attacks on Tenth Corps and Eighth Army,
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: General MacArthur finally admitted that the Chinese intervention had changed everything,
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: announcing we faced an entirely new war, summoning both Walker
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: and Almond to Japan even as their units were fighting
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: off the mass of Chinese attacks. MacArthur grappled with ideas
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: to save as units. He considered establishing a defensive line
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: or perhaps two encliffs along the coast to prevent the
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: destruction of Eighth Army and Tenth Corps and the loss
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: of all that had been gained since September. Another plan
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: had the third Infantry Division attacking directly east from Juan
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: San into the Chinese flag, but the units involved considered
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: it far too risky, and besides, the terrain made it
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: nearly impossible. Arthur next asked Washington for augmentation by troops
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: of Chen Kai Shek, the defeated ruler of China now
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: in exile with some of his army on the island
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: of Taiwan. Viewing this scheme as a dangerous escalation of
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: the war, Washington would have nothing to do with it.
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: Sensing disaster, MacArthur began imagining the total destruction of his
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: forces in Korea or an evacuation of the mainland end
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: of Section three.