It is September of 1950 and the United Nation forces led by the US managed to drive back
the North Korean forces and are now in control of most of the Korean peninsula. Although,
Korean war seemed to be all but over at this point, the swift success of the American troops
changed the international situation and a counter-attack was on its way. Welcome to
the third episode of our series on the Korean War! If you are interested in the history
of this era, don’t forget to check out our second channel – The Cold War – the link
is in the top right corner.
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By October 1950 the UN and ROK forces were having the upper hand and drove the KPA forces
North of the 38th parallel and quickly occupied North Korea’s capital Pyongyang and headed
towards the Yalu river in the North, the border between Korea and China. The power of UN forces
was just too much to withhold for the KPA and it was very clear that very soon the whole
of Korea was going to fall under the control of the UN and ROK forces. The commander of
the UN forces General Macarthur wanted to move its forces to China to destroy supplies
for the North Korean army. President Truman was against this and unlike Macarthur he feared
that Chinese intervention might cause a significant challenge for American gains in the Korean
Civil War. The Chinese leadership was itself having difference
of opinions about possible intervention to Korea and confronting Americans. The Soviet
Union itself did not want to be personally involved in the conflict and persuaded China
to send 5-6 divisions to halt the UN progress. Eventually Mao was able to persuade the rest
of the leadership to intervene into Korea amid Stalin’s promises to provide support
to the Chinese intervention under the command of Peng Dehuai.
On 19 October the Chinese Army 13th Army Group crossed the Yalu River under secrecy, launched
their First Phase Offensive and on 25 October they confronted the ROK’s 6th infantry division,
which prior to that captured Onchong and aimed to move towards Kojang. The Chinese division
118 was the main force resisting the ROK advance with the support of 119th and 120th divisions.
The Chinese forces gained a decisive win, destroyed the 6th ROK division and inflicted
significant damage on the ROK II army, which weakened the right flank of the US 8th Army.
Around the same time the battle of Unsan commenced. Unsan was a strategic place of entrance to
the Yalu river area and was taken by the ROK 1st infantry division with the 6th infantry
division to its right and US 24th division to its left. They were opposed by 4 divisions
from the 39th and 40th Corps of the Chinese Army. The Chinese had noticed that the UN
frontline around Unsan was very thin and decided to make a pincer movement through breaking
up the line, surrounding Unsan with forces in it. Soon Chinese were able to surround
the ROK 1st division, defeat the South Korean forces around Unsan and American troops sent
to support them. The US suffered one of its largest losses in the Korean Civil War with
losing more than 1100 people during the battle of Unsan. ROK 15th infantry regiment and US
8th Cavalry regiment was lost during the battle. UN forces retreated back to the Ch'ongch'on
River. The next significant engagement between the
Chinese and the UN forces took place in the village of Pakchon on the Taeryong river.
Following their success in Unsan the Chinese 117th division pressed southward aiming to
cut off the withdrawal of the UN Forces. British and Australian forces supported by the American
artillery was able to halt the Chinese advance on November 5, while losing 300 men and inflicting
1500 casualties on the Chinese. Chinese and KPA forces had to withdraw North, while the
UN forces won some time to reinforce their line on the Chongchon line.
This brought the First Phase Offensive to an end. The Chinese were able to gain considerable
success by halting the UN advance and momentum, pushing its forces South. While the Chinese
advance took the UN forces by surprise, the UN military leadership believed that Chinese
had not intervened with large forces and General Macarthur launched the Home by Christmas offensive
on 24 November. Prior to their offensive the intelligence was sent to the Chinese lines
and all they could observe was small number of forces, with withdrawal being made from
numerous positions which were earlier taken by the Chinese and KPA forces. This brought
the UN command to a wrong conclusion that the Chinese had brought only 70k troops, while
the actual number was closer to 300k. China had 9 armies and 3 infantry divisions sent
into Korea. Plus, there were more than 70k KPA troops still ready to fight. The UN Forces
had 723k men at the start of the offensive. Macarthur’s plan was to push north to the
Korean border with US I Corps on the west, US IX Corps in the center and ROK II Corps
on the east in the army zone. the PVA VIII Army Group's six armies were located 10–15
miles (16–24 km) north of the Eighth Army front. The 50th and 66th Armies stood opposite
I Corps in the west; the 39th and 40th Armies were centrally located north of IX Corps;
the 38th and 42nd Armies were above ROK II Corps in the east. While the UN Command was
planning its offensive, the Chinese command was also doing the same. It was preparing
for the Second phase offensive, which aimed to lure the UN forces towards the Chinese
and KPA lines and confront them there in order not to overextend their supply lines and fight
in the territory they know better given their inferiority with respect to firepower, artillery
and air support vis a vis the UN forces. On 25 November the UN advance was met by the
Chinese and KPA forces. Despite numerous Chinese forces being present in the US, the wrong
intelligence caused the UN forces to have a wrong perception about the strenght of the
Chinese force. the PVA 13th Army[nb 3] first launched a series of surprise attacks along
the Ch'ongch'on River Valley on the night of November 25, 1950 at the western half of
the Second Phase Campaign. With a reconstituted ROK II Corps placed on the Eighth Army's right
flank, the advance was led by US I Corps to the west, US IX Corps in the center and ROK
II Corps to the east. A massive frontal attack was launched against the entire UN line from
Yongsan-dong to Yongdong-ni. To the west, the ROK 1st Infantry Division of US I Corps
was attacked by the PVA 66th Corps at Yongsan-dong. In the center, strong probing actions by the
PVA 39th and 40th Corps were carried out against US IX Corps at Ipsok and Kujang-dong. In the
east, the PVA 38th and 42nd Corps broke through ROK II Corps' line at Tokchon and Yongdong-ni.
The right flank of the UN forces was identified as the weakest link, since ROK armies lacked
the manpower of the US troops and the most difficult terrain at that point. The Chinese
were able to defeat the ROK troops on the right flank and take Tonchon and Yongdong-ni,
forcing the US forces to commit to that part of the frontline too. In Kujang-dong the American
offensive was also first stalled and then pushed back more than 30 km. The American
advance along the Kuryong River was also stalled, when the PVA 39th Corps confronted the US
25th Infantry Division and forced to withdraw South after numerous losses.
On 27 November 1950, the Chinese force surprised the US X Corps at the Chosin Reservoir area.
Between 27 November and 13 December bloody battle in freezing weather took place. 120K
Chinese troops were able to encircle 30k UN troops. The UN troops were able break through
also thanks to the support of the US Army Task Force Faith to Hungnam, while inflicting
significant casualties to the Chinese. The UN Command ordered the 8th Army to withdraw
from North Korea, which is considered the longest withdrawal in the American military
history. Simultaneously, the American X Corps and the Korean I Corps were being evacuated
from Hungnam surprisingly without any interference of the Chinese and KPA forces. More than 100k
troops, approximately 100k refugees from North Korea, 17500 vehicles from North Korea were
evacuated from Hungnam, what became known as A Christmas Miracle.
Prior to the involvement of the Chinese forces in the war, everything looked very good for
the UN forces and South Koreans and it looked like the war would be over soon and Korea
would be united under pro-Western forces. But the Chinese interference reversed the
fortunes completely. The UN Command was very wrong about the scope of Chinese participation
in the War and believed that the Chinese forces were not fit to oppose the UN advance. The
UN losses forced it to propose a ceasefire along the 38th parallel to the Chinese leadership.
Some even proposed the US forces to leave Korea and were concerned that China had enough
manpower to overpower the UN Forces. The UN strategy from now on was to defend the gains
they had already had and ensure defense of South Korea. The UN Ceasefire offer was interpreted
by Mao Tsedung as a sign of weakness and ordered to continue the advance with a final aim to
occupy the rest of Korea, despite the opposition of the army command.
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We are planning to talk more about Korean War both on the Kings and Generals channel
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the next one.