The Korean War: The Untold Truth

Chapter 45 Incheon Gambling Win (8)
该师一个由罗伯特·贝克中尉率领的侦察连奉命与第7师建立联系，它的进展更为神速。贝克的特遣队由3辆谢尔曼坦克和3辆吉普车组成，他们沿着经乌山至水原的公路急速北进。他的射手们消灭了在路上的北朝鲜士兵，一名美军保留着现场记录：“晚9时05分——2个；又2个；又7个。9时35分——3个赤军，2辆大车；又2个；2辆驴车，满载赤军；1辆吉普；又6个……”在11个小时的时间里，贝克前进了106.4英里。

On the outskirts of Daejeon, a machine gunner composed a ditty about the city he and his comrades were forced to abandon in July:

The last time I saw Datian, I was bored and unlucky;

Come to Daejeon today and I will destroy it.

With mounting pressure from United Nations and South Korean forces, the enemy forces were helpless and forced to retreat in broad daylight as the air force swept the enemy with machine-gun fire and deadly napalm bombs.Robert Adelson of the counterintelligence team was traveling north with the 8th Army headquarters. He saw a charred object a few yards from the side of the road. Literally burned to ashes, he was still standing, with his rifle thrown at his feet. We called him 'Old Charlie'".

During the last week of September, the North Koreans began a general retreat. On 9 September, soldiers of the 9th Cavalry Regiment of the 27th Army established contact with the 8st Infantry Regiment of the 7th Division near Suwon.At the same time, South Korean forces rushed northward along the east coast, and other American forces pushed northward on the coastal plain to the west.

The day before the landing, MacArthur told reporters on the "McKinley Hill" that it was impossible for the North Koreans to hold the Incheon-Seoul area and crucify the 8th Army in Pusan. "They have to choose one," MacArthur said.The North Koreans chose Seoul.

MacArthur urges the Marines

In the words of General Oliver Smith, the United Nations advance on Seoul "was one of those operations that seem easier than they are to be done."As General Almond told Smith, MacArthur hoped to capture Seoul on September 9, "that's exactly three months after North Korea invaded South Korea."Almond mentioned that MacArthur very much wanted to issue a "communication" on this, and that the Marine Corps should strictly adhere to his timetable.

Smith did not want to subject his troops to arrangements dictated by public relations. "I told (Almond) that I couldn't guarantee anything, it depends on what happens to the enemy. We will do our best to move forward as quickly as possible."

However, Almond was not willing to be interfered with by Smith, and despite the protests of the Marine Corps, he still intended to implement MacArthur's agenda. When the UN forces reached the south bank of the Han River on September 9, Almond asked Smith to cross the river "immediately", apparently to comply with MacArthur's timetable.

The Marines would have been much more comfortable if they had been allowed to mow out small bands of remnants as they advanced, instead of rushing toward Seoul.In Colonel Alpha Bowser's view, the army's generals were "poisoned by the European style of large corps assaulting and sweeping the enemy's lines."The Army "failed to understand the fact that a defeated Oriental does not quit the game. He is not German or Italian, he does not run down the road and throw up his hands. He carries a sack of rice and a few He fired bullets, got in holes, and killed anyone he could get at the first chance."The Marines and the Army "babbled and argued" with each other about the trouble the North Korean guerrillas were causing in the rear and on the wings.

Almond and X Corps staff, however, could not tolerate any delays or revisions to the Grand Corps Assault strategy.For example, the Marine Corps hopes to bypass Seoul from the west, and then attack Seoul from north to south, which will help prevent reinforcements from North Korea.In addition, the Marines estimated that since the bridges on the Han River had been destroyed, it would be easier to cross the Han River a few miles from Seoul than to cross it under the fire of the capital's defenders.But Almond ordered a frontal attack.Almond and Smith also quarreled over the supply of bridging equipment.Almond "always thought there were five or six intact bridges on the Han River, and there weren't any," Bowser said.Smith categorically refused to cross the Han River without the support of tanks. He finally succeeded in this problem: the Marines managed to use a single-section pontoon bridge as an impromptu ferry to transport the tanks across the Han River, despite fierce enemy resistance. .

The Marines met fierce North Korean resistance as they entered Seoul from its southern suburbs.About 1 well-equipped cutting-edge troops rushed from the north, built solid fortifications based on the terrain, and prepared to fight to the death.More than 5 members of the 2500th Regiment, the main force of the Marine Corps, have been fighting non-stop since landing in Incheon.Seeing that the deadline was approaching, Almond warned Smith bluntly: If the Marine Corps did not take decisive action within 24 hours, he would hand over the task of attacking Seoul to the 7th Division of the Army led by General David Barr. , the division is advancing north from the original territory of the Eighth Army.An enraged Smith wrote in his diary that if Almond thought it necessary to drive the Marines into battle, "it would show that he knew nothing about the fighting qualities of the Marines."

By the evening of September 9—the deadline for MacArthur's request to recapture Seoul—the capital of South Korea had been reduced to rubble.In order to destroy the strong defensive positions, the United Nations forces carried out heavy shelling and air strikes on the buildings and streets of the city. (Bowser argued that if the Marines were allowed to attack from the north, as they wished, "then we could take Seoul without moving a brick.") A frontal attack, however, would have destroyed most of the city's buildings. Just after 25 o'clock, Bowser received Almond's order by field phone.

The U.N. pilots reported that North Koreans were leaving Seoul along the road north of Uijeongbu, the order said, and provided map coordinates of areas where they found the retreating troops. "You attack now, repeat, start now, and do everything in your power to achieve your objective to ensure maximum destruction of the enemy forces. Almond, sign."

The telegram puzzled Bowser.At once he checked his map, contemplating it in the flickering light of a gas lamp.The cables said the North Koreans were moving north of a town 16 miles north of Seoul; his troops still fighting in the streets of Seoul reported that the North Koreans were not retreating.On the contrary, they seem to be determined to live and die with the position.The coordinates didn't make any sense either, it referred to a place on the Seoul-Kasong road where the 7th Marines had reported a few hours earlier that they were still encountering staunch resistance.As Marine Corps historian Colonel Robert Debs Heiner noted in his account of the Battle of Seoul: "The battle was largely indicative of the effectiveness of the Tenth Corps command—after issuing a A crucial attack order, without realizing that it contained such a low-level error."

Bowser, a combat-experienced officer, thought the order was incredible.Attacking at night requires careful coordination and planning.The raid will take place in the winding, dark streets of an unfamiliar city, all intersections blocked by concrete barricades.

Bowser called Colonel John Chiles, the operations officer of Tenth Corps, Almond's subordinate.They quickly corrected the mistake by checking coordinates, but when Bowser asked to reconsider the order to attack immediately, Chiles refused to consider it.The order was given by Almond and must be carried out, and the Marines must attack immediately.

Bowser hurried to General Smith's command tent, interrupting his C-ration dinner.Smith shook his head, in disbelief, and called Almond's chief of staff, Major General Clark Loughner.He told Loughner that his troops on the front had seen no signs of North Korean advance and reminded Loughner that throwing troops blindly into night combat was not an option.Raffner sympathized with this, but had no other choice: Almond himself had issued the order, which should be carried out without delay.

At the time, Smith's men were being counterattacked by North Korean tanks and troops.He looked at Bowser, then shook his head and said, "I have no choice but to pass the order to the 1st and 5th Marine Regiment." Be careful to coordinate and don't make a quick push."

进攻于9月26日凌晨1时45分左右开始，尽管事先有15分钟的炮火准备，但进攻立即遭到北朝鲜在10辆坦克支援下的300名步兵的猛烈反击。一名陆战队员把敌军反攻的疯狂程度与太平洋战争时日军自杀式冲锋相提并论。陆战队所能做的只是把榴弹炮和机关枪的致命火力倾入漆黑的城市，仅一个机枪组一晚上就打了3万发子弹。

(End of this chapter)