Operation Ripper, or the Fourth Battle of Seoul,
was a United Nations military campaign meant to eliminate as many enemies as possible
and recapture Seoul from the hands of the communist armies of China and Northern Korea.
The plan was conceived by General Matthew Ridgway of the US Eighth Army.
The main objective of the operation was to push the Chinese and Korean troops back to
the 38th Parallel, the place where the war originally began in 1950.
In a press conference, General Ridgway said that regaining the Parallel would stop the
encroachment of communism in Korea and would therefore be, [QUOTE]: "a tremendous victory."
Operation Ripper was formally launched on March 6, 1951, with a combined force of American,
South Korean, and other UN units. The campaign began with the largest
artillery bombardment of the three-year-long war.
Instead of making a direct assault across the Han river to recapture Seoul,
UN forces encircled the city through a series of flanking attacks that
overwhelmed the Chinese and Korean enemy soldiers, forcing them to withdraw.
At the end of March 1951, UN forces reached the 38th Parallel alongside the South Korean forces.
They managed to advance an average of 30 miles from their starting lines.
American forces could have gone further, but General Ridgway did precisely what
the United Nations Mandate ordered. Secure the border with North Korea.
The Korean War
By the end of World War 2, Korea was divided into two blocks. The Communist
North and the Democratic South. In 1948, at the recently created United Nations' suggestion,
Russia withdrew its troops from Korea. The US did the same the next year,
leaving only war equipment and advisors to train the South Koreans.
In 1950, China officially adopted the Communist regime. US Secretary of State Dean Acheson
outlined American policies in Asia and the actions to be taken within the American perimeter of
protected countries. South Korea was not one of them. In case of a communist threat, the country
had to rely upon its own Army before the United Nations decided to intervene with any support.
On the morning of June 25, 1950, North Korea launched a full-scale invasion
across the 38th Parallel. The South Korean Army was quickly overwhelmed
by the sheer scale of the treacherous assault. On June 28, 1950, the capital,
Seoul, fell to Communist hands after a disorganized and desperate resistance.
North Korea paid no heed to the UNs resolutions of a cease-fire and an immediate withdrawal.
According to an analysis of the Korean War by the US Army Center of Military History,
on June 27, the Security Council of the UN issued a second resolution that stated (QUOTE):
"Furnish such assistance to the Republic of Korea as may be necessary to repel the armed attack
and restore the international peace and security in the area."
US President Henry Truman knew that a slow response would significantly
affect the confidence of other countries that fell under American protection.
Truman instructed General Douglas MacArthur, the Pacific theater hero,
to support South Korea with weapons, armor, and US air and naval support to stop the Chinese advance.
Weeks later, the UN authorized the United States for a "boots on the ground" intervention
under a unified command led by a US commander. By the end of 1950,
the UN forces were finally ready to go on the offensive after continuous setbacks and retreats.
One of the most brutal encounters post World War 2 would take place in November:
the Battle of Chosin Reservoir.
Operation Killer
After UN forces furiously counter-attacked during the first weeks of 1951, the US commanders finally
got a taste of how the enemy operated, attacked, and defended itself. With all the intel gathered
on Chinese activities, UN forces began working on a possible second offensive.
At the Battle of Chipyong-ni that took place on February 15, 1951,
Americans and French troops were so successful at defending their ground against a Chinese attack
that military historians would later refer to this battle as the Gettysburg of the Korean War.
Simultaneously, another encounter between Communist soldiers and American forces took
place between the 13th and the 18th of February near the town of Wonju.
After repeated attempts to overwhelming the Allied troops, the Chinese and North
Korean soldiers retreated, forced to withdraw across the entire front.
With continuous victories achieved in various engagements and the withdrawal of Communist
forces, the United Nations Command decided it was time for a fourth full-scale offensive.
The result was Operation Killer, envisioned by General Matthew Ridgway. The objective was to
eliminate all enemy resistance located south of the Arizona Line in Chinese-controlled territory.
The operation took place between February 20 and March 6, 1951.
According to the Marine Corps Gazette, General Ridgway's basic directives for his operations were
resumed in a straightforward principle (QUOTE): "Inflicting maximum casualties while sustaining
minimum losses; maintenance intact of all major units; strict observance of lateral security."
At the end of the offensive, UN forces took over the line. The American IX Corps
reported that over 7,500 enemy soldiers had fallen, with more than 1,000 captured.
The 1st Marine Division occupied various hills located north of Hoengsong with a highly efficient
Kill/Death ratio, inflicting more than 1,800 casualties to the enemy with minimum losses.
After this short campaign, General Ridgway decided
it was time for another furious advance deep into enemy territory.
Operation Ripper
This campaign was the follow-up of Operation Killer. Like its predecessors,
this fifth offensive's main objective was to deal as much damage as possible
to the Chinese People's Volunteer Army and the Korean People's Army.
Valuable intel confirmed that the invading armies were concentrating
their forces to launch a full-scale attack. Thus, General Ridgway decided
to move on further North to disrupt the enemy lines before they had time to regroup.
In the words of retired US Marine author Major Allan C. Bevilacqua
(QUOTE): "Lt. Gen. Ridgway wanted blood, not land."
As such, the secondary objective of the mission was to outflank Seoul if possible
and force the Chinese to a withdrawal,
securing not just the city but also the Idaho Line, which was located 8 miles east of Seoul.
If UN forces could secure the line, they would be one step closer to the 38th Parallel.
Also, within the zone, the towns Hongch'on and Ch'unch'on were considered vital objectives.
Intel suggested that the enemy had substantial stashes of supplies in those locations.
According to the USMC Gazette from the Korean War (QUOTE): "On the eve
of Operation Ripper the UN forces held a line extending from Incheon to the south of Seoul,
then across the peninsula by way of Hoengsong, to the east coast in the vicinity of Chumunjin."
Operation Ripper began on the morning of March 7, 1951, with a steady advance of
two Marine regiments from the 1st Division whose objective was The Hoengsong-Hongchon
road. With a steady advance from all UN forces, most units reached the Albany Line
on March 12 after encountering Chinese troops who fought with hit and run guerilla tactics.
On March 14, UN troops took over a destroyed Seoul with a sick and starving population of 200,000.
One day later, the town of Hongcheon was taken after Communist forces retreated,
leaving mines scattered throughout the zone. Marine engineers had to clear the
way of explosives so that the rest of the town could be occupied and secured.
After consecutive nights of Chinese and Korean soldiers retreating from their positions,
General Ridgway ordered the IX Corps to take Chuncheon,
which they surrounded and took on March 22. With this last strategic capture, all three
secondary objectives of Operation Ripper were completed with a territorial gain of 30 miles.
During this campaign, the Korean Marine Corps, or KMC,
proved themselves worthy of being called Marines. Under the guidance of NCOs of the USMC,
the South Korean troops showed what they were made of when securing key locations
such as Hill 381 and 975 and every other offensive taken by the 1st Marine Division.
On-field reports documented in the Marine Corps Gazette, Lt. Kim Sik Tong recorded that (QUOTE):
"Our indomitable spirit which finally recaptured Hill 975 after hand and hand combat...will
brilliantly decorate our KMC history."
After this brave action, Lt. Tong proudly said (QUOTE): "The KMC ideal is to complete
the mission, regardless of receiving strong enemy resistance, with endurance and strong
united power, and always bearing in one's mind the distinction between honor and dishonor."
The safety of South Korea was secured without completely destroying the enemy. Based on a
report from the Eight Army, documented in the book "Korea: The Limited War" by author David Rees,
Ridgway emphasized (QUOTE): "We didn't set out to conquer China."
Violence And Momentum
After Operation Ripper concluded, the constant fear of the Communist forces launching another
offensive forced Gen. Ridgway to keep pushing on to deplete the enemy as much as possible.
More operations were launched with the same objective but under different names.
In the end, all of them, including Ripper, were just an extension of Operation Killer.
Since early February, UN forces had been uninterruptedly on the move,
forcing the Chinese and Korean forces to pull back to retake the 38th Parallel and secure the border.
When, after a quick break, UN forces resumed attacks in April 1951,
Gen. Ridgway emphasized all troops of his fundamental principles of war (QUOTE):
"Coordination, maximum punishment, and maintenance intact of major units."
The Korean War lingered on for two more years. It finished where it once started,
at the 38th Parallel. Cultural differences between the two Koreas never healed. Until this day,
tensions can still be felt at the border that divides two ideologies, two governments,
and one population that was once united before the conflicts that arose in the 20th century.