BATTLE OF KOREA: To the Border

Advance elements of the U.S. 7th Division could see the cold, hazy-blue mountains of Manchuria. This week, after capturing the crossroads town of Kapsan, the 7th pushed a tank-led spearhead all the way to the border. The G.I.s reached the south bank of the Yalu near Hyesanjin, a major Communist crossing point on the river’s wide southerly bend.

Kapsan, defended by North Koreans, was not given up without a fight. The Reds were dug in and well concealed on a slope overlooking a blown bridge. They expected to shoot up the approaching U.S. force when it stopped to ponder ways & means of getting across the stream. But the U.S. column was armor-tipped, and the tanks apparently panicked two of the waiting North Koreans; they broke from their foxholes and ran. That gave the Red play away. The U.S. tanks splashed across the stream while doughfeet swarmed across the bridge’s torn girders. The Reds who stayed in their holes were killed by grenades or crushed under tank treads; those who broke and ran were mowed down by rifle and BAR fire. When the firefight was over, some 130 enemy dead were counted.

Oxcarts & Airdrops. The 7th’s men, although equipped with parkas and other arctic garb, were suffering in the coldest weather anywhere along the Allied front. For a while their supply road to the east-coast port of Iwon was blocked by snowdrifts ten or twelve feet deep. They resorted to oxcarts and airdrops. Said Major General David Barr, cheerfully: “There is nothing to worry about.” This week the supply road was reopened.

At the south end of the Changjin Reservoir, the 1st Marine Division entered the abandoned town of Hakalwoo, three-fourths destroyed by Allied air attacks. The marines pushed north along both sides of the reservoir without finding the enemy. The 24th Division, entering Pakchon (near the west coast), were told by villagers that the Reds had departed northward four days earlier.

The only serious counterattacks by the enemy during the week were launched in the Tokchon area, near the center of North Korea’s narrow waist, and on the northeast coast. In both cases R.O.K. units bore the brunt. At Tokchon R.O.K. troops were driven to the south of the Taedong River, but bounced back across it and seized 3,000-ft. Wolbong Mountain, commanding several miles of lateral road along the front. On the east coast the Reds were stopped with the help of Allied airplanes and naval gunfire, from the cruiser Rochester and a destroyer. This week the South Koreans were again rapidly pushing toward the Red-held port of Chongjin. They also shoved a force inland to threaten the flank of the enemy units facing the U.S. 7th Division.

Behind the Front. General MacArthur’s headquarters finally admitted that North Korean guerrillas were becoming a serious nuisance. They seemed to operate under a central command that coordinated their attacks with Communist front-line activity. G.I.s had started calling the Wonsan-Majon road, 50 miles behind the front, “Ambush Alley,” and marine planes were diverted from front-line missions to protect supply convoys. The guerrillas burned the town of Kapyong and seized and terrorized Chunchon. Near Seoul they ambushed a trainload of Turkish troops, killing one, wounding two. Syngman Rhee’s Minister of Home Affairs averred that no less than 40,000 guerrillas were operating below the 38th parallel.