after months of barely resisting the
north korean assaults u.s forces in
busan the last south korean bastion
during the early phase of the korean war
were ready to attempt their first
counter-attack
the u.s forces were untrained and
limited in numbers
still recent reinforcements had allowed
them to move to an offensive position
more importantly they received four m26
pursuing tanks and the armored vehicles
gave them the courage to fix the soviet
t-34s tanks that the north koreans were
using
the soviet t-34 had been a significant
issue for u.s and south korean troops
the outside of the war as the american
m24s had been systematically blown to
pieces by the t-34s powerful 85
millimeter guns
the american forces now prepared to take
no-name ridge and strategically place
three out of their four tanks in the
middle of the narrow road
if the tanks were destroyed by the t-34s
as quickly as their predecessors at
least their burning husks would provide
an obstacle for the soviet tanks
the battle started some distance ahead
of the curve where the american tank sat
u.s forces clashed with north korean
ones and soon the colossal soviet tanks
were deployed to disperse the rebellious
attack the americans then started to
retreat hoping to lead the four soviet
vehicles into a surprise attack as the
north korean troops could not see around
the curve and they were not expecting
the american m26s
a tank battle of epic proportions that
would shape the war's course than ensued
as the soviets advanced along the curve
to suddenly be confronted by three
american tanks they had never seen
before
as they fired on each other for the
first time one tank would prove to be
much superior to the other
unprepared for war
north korea's decision to invade south
korea had been sudden and overwhelming
the south's government and people were
not ready for an attack of that scale
even when backed by american forces the
limited resources the u.s had in the
peninsula would not be sufficient to
help the southern troops
by 1950 u.s presence in korea was
limited
after world war ii many of its divisions
had disbanded and the units that
remained in the asian country were both
inexperienced and technologically
outdated
the sudden onslaught led by the north
koreans took advantage of the south's
disarray while exploiting the fact that
they possessed soviet technology that
mostly surpassed the american resources
in just a couple of months north korea
conquered 90 of korea's territory and
forced the south koreans and american
troops into a tiny corner in the port
city of busan where they stood their
ground and bravely endured wave after
wave of north korean assaults while
desperately waiting for reinforcements
american strategists provided almost no
armored vehicles to support the troops
stationed in south korea as they
believed that the country's harsh
topography made the use of tanks highly
ineffective
but the north would teach the us troops
a hard lesson as they deployed over 120
supplied t-34s to spearhead the invasion
and the only armored vehicle that the
american troops had to slow down the
incoming soviet juggernauts was the t24
underweight
both the american t-24 and the soviet
t-34 were developed around the same time
during the first years of world war ii
the 31-ton soviet vehicle was classified
as a medium tank and was equipped with
an impressive 85 millimeter main gun
in contrast the american t24 was
designed as a light armored vehicle
weighing only 18 tons and armed with a
75 millimeter cannon
american authorities believe that
korea's mountainous terrain made it
impossible for any relevant tank warfare
to occur and thought that the lighter
the tank the better
however at the outbreak of the war north
korean troops would not only prove
heavier tanks could be used in korea but
they would also show how useless light
tanks were against them
although impressive for a light tank the
t24 75 millimeter gun turned out to be
primarily harmless against the two-inch
thick armored plates mounted on the
t-34s hull
unfortunately for the american soldiers
the one-inch armor fitted on their light
tanks was punctured like a sheet of
paper when impacted by the soviet tank's
85 millimeter rounds
in other words the american tank was
wholly outclassed and outweighed by its
soviet counterpart
and as the north koreans advanced
southbound they would leave numerous
husks and destroyed t24s as evidence of
their superiority
a fateful discovery
a whole america had much more combat
capabilities than most asian countries
put together but in 1950 though troops
were dispersed throughout the globe and
they had no way to quickly reinforce
their south korean posts
meanwhile north koreans were advancing
south at an alarming rate and if the
american and south korean troops could
not slow down the attack the entire
peninsula could be lost before the us
and the u.n could reinforce the area
still as much as the american troops in
busan desperately needed heavier tank
support the units they needed would take
weeks to arrive
however as luck would have it just as
the first marine provisional brigade
arrived at busan to reinforce the
scarcely holding defenses u.s military
personnel uncovered four dusty world war
ii m26 heavy tanks inside a depot in
tokyo
the vehicles were slightly damaged but
repairing them and sending them to busan
would be faster and more feasible than
waiting weeks for a tank division to
arrive
the tanks were quickly prepared for
service to provide a counter to the
enemy's t-34s
the two armored vehicles had never met
in battle before as their originating
nations were allies when they were first
deployed
still american troops in busan hoped the
m26's 90 millimeter main cannon and
copious armor plates would prove a match
for the soviet medium tank
leveling the playing field
the m26 pershing heavy tank featured a
set of characteristics much more apt to
tackle a confrontation with the soviet
t-34s
to start the person weighed over 40 tons
due primarily to the 4-inch armor
mounted on the vehicle
the t-34 had doubled the armor of the
m24 at this time the m26 had two times
the armor of the t-34
south korean and american troops in
busan hoped the hefty steel plates would
be enough to render the t-34's
85-millimeter gun useless
as if four inch armor plates weren't
enough the pursing tanks had been fitted
with additional plates in the vehicle's
front section giving them a tremendous
advantage when facing other armored
vehicles
and on top of that the american heavy
tanks were fitted with a powerful 90
millimeter main gun that seemed more
promising than the m24 75 millimeter
cannon
however not everything was ideal for the
american crews manning the old pershings
the tanks had been hurriedly repaired
and they suffered from constant
overheating and many other engine
performance issues
in addition to their mechanical
shortcomings the american tanks were
cumbersome and slow making them hard to
maneuver and deploy in the rugged korean
terrains
despite all the persons advantages the
incoming battle was not assured and if
the american troops wanted to succeed in
their first attempt at a counter-strike
they had to maximize their tanks
strengths while diminishing their
weaknesses
preparing for battle
north korean pressure and busan had
steadily diminished as american
reinforcements improved and by august
they were ready to throw the north
koreans back
the fifth marine division was tasked to
take the obongni ridge or as the troops
knew it no name ridge supporting them
was lieutenant granville sweet commander
of the small platoon with the four tanks
initial fighting had fallen on the
infantry units and by sundown the
soldiers retreated to set up defenses
for the night the tanks also withdrew to
refill but they received the urgent code
flash purple signifying an imminent tank
strike on their position
just as the tanks were finishing
refueling lieutenant suite ordered them
forward to meet the incoming t-34s
head-on
he designated a remote location in the
highway ahead and placed three of the
tanks side by side
if the mighty t-34 proved to be too much
for the old pershings their wrecks would
block the road and derail the enemy
assault
due to a mechanical fault sweet's tank
could not join the other three so he
stayed back
the designated defense location was
placed on a curve in the road and the
advancing enemy tanks would be well
within the range of the m26s before they
could spot them
down the road four t-34s trailed closer
overwhelming american infantry and
almost cutting lines between two
different platoons
american troops used bazookas and rifles
to try to damage the incoming
juggernauts all to no avail
the american efforts only managed to set
the t-34's external fuel tanks ablaze
but they continued to advance towards
the curve
as the four burning tanks came around
the corner they were suddenly met with
three m26 tanks
the stage was set for a historic tank
clash
engulfed by fire
the american troops used the element of
surprise to strike first with technical
sergeant cecil fullerton's a34 tank
using its main gun
fullerton complained to gunner sergeant
stanley tarnowski after the shot
appeared to miss the target but
tarnovsky was confident he hadn't missed
and his rounds had wholly penetrated the
soviet t-34
the soviet vehicle was then forced to
stop in the middle of the road
meanwhile as the american tanks fired
their initial rounds the muzzle flashers
from their main gun set their own hulls
aflame
american personnel had spilled fuel over
the pursing's decks in their rushed
effort to finish refueling and now all
eight tanks were engulfed by fire
with one soviet tank disabled a second
t-34 moved around just to be immediately
met by 90 millimeter rounds
one of the shots struck its main turret
causing it to lose control and fire on
the side of the hill completely missing
its mark
the third soviet t-34 desperately fired
back at the pershings from behind the
wrecks of its two comrades
however the smaller rounds bounced
harmlessly off the m26's armor plates
the pershings returned the fire hitting
the enemy vehicle seven times and
completely disabling the unit again
the fear struck crew abandoned its
vehicle and fled to the nearby jungle
but the american troops soon neutralized
them
after witnessing the fate of the other
t-34s the last soviet tank attempted to
retreat in a panic
still it was intercepted and destroyed
by an anti-tank infantry unit
the victorious pershings then continued
firing at the disabled t-34s until they
were completely obliterated
america had just won its first
counter-offensive and the t-34's aura of
invulnerability was forever shattered
from then on american and south korean
forces would advance north unhindered
and supported by their powerful and
superior tanks
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