Operation Chromite – MacArthur’s Invasion At Inchon
The Second Battle Of Seoul
The 7th Marines - First Blood
The ROK I Corps And II Corps Invade North Korea
The US Eighth Army Invades North Korea
The Race To The Yalu
Operation Yo-Yo – The 1st MarDiv Enters North Korea
Marching Orders
Operation Chromite – MacArthur’s Invasion At Inchon
General MacArthur had begun planning a landing at Inchon within a few days of the NKPA invasion in June. He named his plan ‘Operation Chromite” and kept it very secret. After the NKPA took Seoul, most of it continued south toward Pusan, a distance of about 200 miles. To MacArthur, the NKPA resembled a big head at the end of a very long, very thin neck. He wanted to chop it off. Initially, the Pentagon chiefs opposed this action, but soon saw it as the best course and quite feasable. They gave the OK. However, they did not give MacArthur permission to go into North Korea.
MacArthur immediately reactivated a unit called X (10th) Corps and gave its command to his chief of staff from Japan, Major General (later Lieutenant General) Edward “Ned” Almond. X Corps initially consisted of two divisions – the 1st MarDiv and the Army’s 7th Infantry Division, about 50,000 troops in all. It also included 8,600 ROK Army soldiers. Later on, in early November, the US 3rd Infantry Division and the ROK I Corps would be added to X Corps.
On September 15, X Corps came ashore in an amphibious landing at Inchon, at that time a small fishing village on the northern west coast about twenty miles from Seoul. Inchon was a very difficult place to mount an amphibious assault. The difference between low tide and high tide was very great – about 25 feet. The coastline was either sea-walls or mud flats. Sea-walls would require the invading troops to use ladders to get from pitching landing craft up stationary walls. NKPA commanders were sure an invasion was coming, but they thought that it would come up from Pusan. For these reasons, there were relatively few NKPA troops in the Inchon area.
There were some casualties during the actual landings, mostly caused by the adverse conditions. It took three days to get the entire X Corps onshore. Once ashore, there were some skirmishes with NKPA troops in the Inchon area, but they were relatively light. Inchon itself suffered greatly. Pre-landing bombardment and shelling had leveled most of the town. Inchon is seen as General MacArthur’s last triumph. In less than a year he would be fired.
The Second Battle Of Seoul
After the landing, the 1st Marine Division – still minus the 7th Marines – advanced straight toward Seoul. The division was temporarily under the personal command of General MacArthur. As they got closer to Seoul, they encountered stiffer resistance and the fighting got harder and bloodier. When the NKPA heard about the Inchon landings, they moved two fresh and well-trained units, a regiment and a brigade, about 7,000 troops in all, into the area just west of Seoul. These units vigorously opposed the Marines’ advance.
The other major constituent of X Corps, the 7th Infantry Division, was covering 1st MarDiv’s right flank. While the 1st MarDiv was advancing straight toward Seoul, the 7th Infantry Division was moving around the city on its south side. They had two tasks. They were to enter Seoul from the south, and to intercept and stop any NKPA forces trying to do the same thing.
General MacArthur, ever PR-conscious, wanted very much to be able to announce that he had recaptured Seoul from the Communists on September 25, the three month anniversary of the NKPA invasion. He liked anniversaries and emotionally significant dates. On September 22, the 1st and 5th Marines entered Seoul. They encountered strong fortifications and had to engage in house to house combat. It was tough fighting.
This artificial goal of September 25 was one source of enmity – there were many others – between General Smith, the 1st MarDiv’s commander, and General Almond, his immediate superior for Operation Chromite. Simply put, they despised one another. Smith and Almond (and MacArthur as well) had very different ideas of how the advance on Seoul should be done.
The Army wanted to flank Seoul on both the north and the south, then enter the city from the flanks. This was typical Army doctrine. The Marine Corps was an amphibious force. Their doctrine had them hitting the beach, establishing a beachhead, and going straight at the enemy. Army brass thought the Marines’ way of doing things was crazy.
General Almond did in fact declare on September 25 that Seoul had been recaptured, satisfying MacArthur’s requirements, but it wasn’t secured yet. Firefights occurred throughout the city and buildings continued to be destroyed until about September 29.
The 7th Marines - First Blood
The 7th Marines arrived at Inchon and came ashore on September 19. It joined up with the rest of the division, already enroute toward Seoul. It was originally tasked with protecting the division’s left flank against attacks from the north as it moved into Seoul. After about two days it was diverted from this task and ordered to head toward the northeast to cut off enemy escape routes north of Seoul. The Regiment encountered NKPA troops for the first time on September 23, a little to the north of Seoul.
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Please note that a regiment didn’t generally fight as an entire unit. It was too large and cumbersome to do so. Traveling was often done as a regiment but fighting were generally done at the battalion or company level. As we shall see throughout these diaries, regimental advances in North Korea were done along small, poorly maintained mountain roads. The regiment’s greater part would move on the roads , but companies would be sent along the hills on both sides of the road to clear out any enemy troops on the hilltops — in effect a three-pronged attack
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Over the next few days, the 7th Marines were involved in battles with retreating NKPA forces streaming out of Seoul and heading north. After Seoul was secured on September 29, the 7th Marines were given a new task, the capture of the town of Uijongbu. Uijongbu is a small town about fifteen miles north of Seoul – about halfway between Seoul and the North Korean border. It was an important rail and road junction and its location was strategically significant – it was in a defile through the mountains that allowed passage north and south between Seoul and the north. It had been used as an invasion route both ways for centuries. The largest NKPA force had come through here during the initial invasion. Now it was a major route through which NKPA troops could escape from Seoul back to North Korea.
The drive to capture Uijongbu was the last phase of Operation Chromite. It began on October 1 and ended two days later with the capture of the town. The first excerpt from “Colder Than Hell” describes action encountered by Baker/1/7 on its way to Uijongbu. The narrator is Lieutenant Owen, who led the company’s mortar section. Tactical air control personnel are bolded the first time they are mentioned.
We were halfway up a difficult hill, an early morning attack, and the North Koreans were giving us a hard time. I had Lunney’s squad behind me, behind Hank Kiser’s platoon. [Sergeant Lunney is one of Lieutenant Owen’s mortar squad leaders. Lieutenant Hank Kiser is 3rd Platoon leader.]
We weren’t moving because above [us] were well dug-in machine guns protected by a platoon of rifles and automatic weapons. Hank had taken casualties and I couldn’t get a decent shot with mortars. As usual, the walkie-talkies weren’t communicating. Captain Wilcox came up to see it he could get us moving but the North Koreans were raking the hill with their machine guns and small arms fire. [Captain Wilcox was commandeer of Baker/1/7.]
The regimental air control officer, 1Lt Danny Holland, reached our position under heavy fire. He had his radioman, Tony Tinelli, with him, as well as an observer to help him spot targets. The fighting for Seoul had ended and the Corsairs were now available to support our front. Danny was a fighter pilot, and he and I had worked training operations together back in the States. “Hey, Joe, “ he called, “We’re here to rescue you. Air power the captain and I were scanning the hill with our glasses.
“About time you start earning your pay,” said the skipper, who also knew the earthbound aviator from way back. “What can you do for us?”
Danny threw a mock salute at the company commander. “I’ve got a flight coming on station,” Danny said. He and his observer both had their glasses trained on the hill. Tinelli set up the radio, and its antenna glistened in the morning sun.
“Can you drop some smoke up there for a marker?” Danny asked me.
I called to Sergeant Lunney, who was near the mortar. Hugo Johnson was on the gun, already elevating the sights in anticipation of the mission. [Corporal Johnson was a mortar gunner.]
“Stand by to fire willie peter.” [“Willie Peter” aka WP is white phosphorus. Mortar shells with WP were used as smoke markers.]
“We don’t have any WP up here,” Lunney responded.
Damn! I caught Wilcox’s sidelong glance of exasperation.
“Damn it Lunney!” I shouted. “All right, then, give me a man to run a message.”
Lunney sent Pfc Branek crawling over to me. “You want me, Lieutenant?” Branek was a burly farm kid from Kansas, His face streamed with sweat. [Pfc Branek’s position wasn’t defined. He seems to be a member of the mortar section.]
“Yeah, Branek. Get to Sergeant Wright, down by the road. Tell him to put a round of smoke on that outcropping of rocks up there.” I pointed, “Up there.” [Sergeant Wright was the mortar section sergeant – Lieutenant Owen’s second in command.]
Branek looked up the hill. “Yes sir, I got it. Willie peter on them rocks.”
“Take off! On the double!”
Without hesitation, the young Marine got up. “On the double,” he repeated and began to run, crawl, and tumble down the hill.
An alert North Korean machine gunner noted Branek’s movement and tracers streaked toward him. Branek went down. All of us watching him let out a chorus of curses. The curses turned to cheers when the lad rose to run again, and the tracers were safely over his head.
Branek’s movement plus Tinelli’s long, glimmering antenna had captured the attention of the enemy. Their blue-green tracers probed around us and a bullet spattered dirt in the captain’s face. “Dammit, Owen!” the skipper kept saying, and it seemed an eternity as I prayed for Wright to get a round of smoke in the air.
My aviator buddy, flat on the ground with his face in the dirt, turned toward me and raised a middle finger.
“That damned antenna of yours!” I yelled over at Danny. “Your people are drawing fire on us.”
Up ahead, Hank Kiser wasn’t moving and we heard cries from Ed Topell, the 3rd Platoon’s corpsman. The skipper’s walkie-talkie was drawing only squawks of static in response to his calls to the other platoons. I saw Danny Holland talking into his radio, as he and Tinelli huddled tightly together.
From the sky came the thundering racket of four Corsairs circling low. The noise of their engines drowned out all other sound.
Almost at the same time a plume of white smoke appeared far up on the hill. Branek must have reached Sergeant Wright because the smoke landed near the target I had designated.
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[The Corsairs attack the hill. The first one strafes it with machine gun fire. The next two use rockets. ]
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Then the fourth plane came in, this one dropping a pod of napalm. The big, black coffin-shaped cannister hit the ground , skipped a few feet above the surface, and exploded into a wall of flame that extended the length of the North Koreans’ position. Two hundred yards below, we felt the shock of the explosion and a wave of searing heat.
“Jesus!” exclaimed Hugo Johnson, now standing beside his mortar.
“Damn!” echoed Dean Westburg, Hugo’s assistant gunner, who was not given to profanity.
Danny Holland turned to me and the skipper. “Air power wins wars, “ he repeated.
Today, Uijongbu is famous for Uijeongbu budae-jjigae, which means “Uijongbu Troop Stew.” During and after the Korean War, food in South Korea was scarce. There were a lot of American military units stationed in the Uijongbu area. (There still are.) They generally had a lot of surplus food. Korean cooks took this surplus food and combined it with a traditional spicy soup flavored with gochujang (red chili paste) and kimchi. The most common American ingredients used in the stew were Spam and hot dogs. Today, in Korea, one can find many restaurants whose specialties include their version of budae-jjigae. Later on, this was also called “Johnson Stew,” named after President Johnson. If any reader of this diary has tried this dish, please let us know how you liked it.
The ROK I Corps And II Corps Invade North Korea
After the Pusan breakout on September 15, the UN and ROK troops raced north. The Eighth Army advanced toward Seoul and arrived there near the end of September. After the 7th Marines captured Uijongbu, the Eighth Army moved up to the 38th parallel, where it halted. The ROK I Corps and II Corps reached the 38th parallel on October 1. They crossed it immediately and entered North Korea. The ROK I Corps crossed the parallel near the east coast and rushed far north to capture Wonsan, North Korea's major seaport on October 10. The ROK II Corps advanced through central North Korea. Their intermediate goal was Pyong-yang, the capital of North Korea.
MacArthur made a statement demanding the NKPA’s unconditional surrender. None came. Instead, the Chinese began planning to send their own troops into North Korea. Party Chairman Mao Zedong strongly favored intervention. He did not want the US Army or any of its allies occupying territory right up against the Chinese border. He believed that if US troops conquered Korea and reached the Yalu they could cross it at any time and invade China. (MacArthur was in fact entertaining pipe dreams of doing exactly this.) Many top officials in the Chinese government opposed intervention. They felt that the PLA (Peoples’ Liberation Army) was not strong enough to fight the US Army. However, Premier Zhou Enlai, the Head of State, strongly agreed with Mao.
Another strong supporter of Mao’s position was Marshal Peng Dehuai, a very senior military commander. Mao asked Peng to speak in favor of intervention to the rest of the Chinese leaders. After Peng vigorously made Mao’s case about the threat to China the Politburo agreed to intervene in Korea. Peng was appointed commander of all Chinese forces in Korea. On September 30, Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai threatened that China would "not stand aside should the imperialists wantonly invade the territory of our neighbor." General MacArthur had ample warning.
General MacArthur received somewhat mixed messages from Washington. On September 27, President Truman reminded MacArthur that US military actions north of the 38th parallel were authorized only if “at the time of such operation there was no entry into North Korea by major Soviet or Chinese Communist forces, no announcements of intended entry, nor a threat to counter our operations militarily...” Even six weeks later, in mid-November, when Chinese forces were clearly operating in North Korea in strength, and had destroyed some US and UN units, MacArthur still denied that Chinese troops in significant numbers were present.
The US Eighth Army Invades North Korea
On October 1, US Defense Secretary George Marshall sent an eyes-only message to MacArthur, advising him that “We want you to feel unhampered tactically and strategically to proceed north of the 38th parallel.” This was the message that MacArthur was waiting for. On October 7 he initiated the US invasion of North Korea.
Up to this point the war could have been brought to an end. I realize this is definitely a hindsight view, but it needs to be mentioned. The NKPA had been seriously defeated and survivors had returned to North Korea. Much of their equipment had been destroyed and the rest abandoned. The Chinese were still on their own side of the Yalu River. Had the UN, and more specifically, General MacArthur stopped at this point, none of the remaining two and a half years of war would have happened. With the border reestablished with a demilitarized zone, an adequately trained and armed ROK army, and a residual UN military presence to serve as backup, it is highly unlikely that North Korea would have invaded again. This has been the situation since 1953 and the Korean War has not resumed. It was only South Korea’s almost complete defenselessness that enticed North Korea to invade them on June 25.
But everyone’s blood was up. The UN Command had all the momentum now. MacArthur and the Joint Chiefs of Staff were being pushed to invade North Korea by the Truman Administration in Washington which was frantically trying to avoid being seen as “soft on Communism,” a very big deal in 1950. As it turned out, MacArthur didn’t need any pushing at all. He had intended to invade North Korea all along, destroy their government, and reunite Korea as one country, ruled by President Rhee of South Korea. MacArthur was himself considering a run for the US Presidency in 1952. He thought it would be very nice to have a huge (and recent) military victory over Communism forces on his resume.
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The Eighth Army, currently waiting at the 38th parallel north of Seoul, was ordered to cross the parallel and advance to the Yalu River. They would advance up the west side of North Korea, toward Pyong-Yang, the capital, and occupy it. After that they would continue their advance to the Yalu River. Their primary objective was to destroy what remained of the NKPA. Their secondary objective was to remove the North Korean government. The ROK I and II Corps, already in North Korea, continued their advance. The I Corps continued racing up the east coast. The II Corps was already headed toward Pyong-yang. There was still one more piece to MacArthur’s plan – X Corps.
The X Corps (still consisting of only the 1st Marine Division and 7th Infantry Division) was to be backed out of its positions around Seoul, put back on Navy ships at Inchon, and taken all the way around the Korean peninsula to the city of Wonsan, the largest port in North Korea. This was regarded by as ridiculous by many at the time, and to accomplish it timely required a lot of effort, but it was necessitated by Korean topography. The Korean peninsula is mountainous. The Taebaek Mountains are very rugged and run north to south. They cut North Korea and part of South Korea in half. The only natural corridors for travel in North Korea also run north to south – in 1950 there was nothing east to west but dirt roads winding through the mountains. There was no easy overland route to get X Corps – about 50,000 men, plus all their vehicles, arms, and supplies – from Inchon on the west coast to Wonsan on the east coast. MacArthur’s nickname for this action was “Operation Tailboard.” The Marines had a different name for it, as we shall see.
The Race To The Yalu
While X Corps was being shipped to Wonsan, the other forces were making real progress. The ROK I Corps continued moving north, along the coast, toward Manchuria. By October 19, they had captured Wonsan and had advance units as far as Iwon. They had also detached the ROK 26th Infantry Regiment and sent it toward the Chosin Reservoir. Its task was to keep the road open for the 1st MarDiv, which would follow them there soon. Unfortunately, this regiment would run into the PVA 124th Division in early November and be shattered.
The ROK II Corps and the US Eighth Army had joined together and were nearing Pyong-Yang. The NKPA had disappeared, as had the government of North Korea. The combined forces captured the nearly deserted city on October 19. Within a few days, some elements of the ROK II Corps reached the Yalu River, into which some of the soldiers urinated. A bottle of water was collected from the river (hopefully upstream from those soldiers) and sent to South Korean President Rhee.
While at sea, the X Corps was split into two groups. One group was the 1st MarDiv. They were to land at Wonsan, as planned. The other group was the 3rd and 7th Infantry Divisions. (The 3rd Infantry Division had just been added to X Corps while it was at sea.) They were to land at Iwon, which was about one hundred miles further up the coast. Once there they would join up with ROK I Corps and continue toward Manchuria (northeastern China) on a broad front.
Operation Yo-Yo – The 1st MarDiv Enters North Korea
The 1st MarDiv had been forced to remain as sea outside Wonsan for about two weeks. The North Koreans had mined the harbor, and a total of five US Navy minesweepers had struck mines and sunk. The Marines were very frustrated by this delay, and nicknamed it “Operation Yo-yo.” Finally, on October 26, the 1st MarDiv landed at Wonsan, after three weeks on board Navy ships. It was a full scale amphibious landing. (It was called an “Administrative Landing” since it was unopposed. The Marines had to do this – it was the only way to get themselves and their equipment ashore from Navy ships.)
Despite its necessity, the landing was rather embarrassing for the 1st MarDiv. ROK I Corps had already come through, established control of the Wonsan area, and continued on. There was a Marine Air Wing already set up at an Wonsan airfield. Even Bob Hope was there. He had put on a USO show the night before. The Marines were razzed considerably as they came ashore. In Lieutenant Owen’s words…
The amtracs let us out one hundred yards inland. The troops came off running and whooping the war yells they had learned going up to Uijongbu. Almost to a man, they staggered and fell to the ground. Under heavy combat loads and softened by three weeks of inactivity, and accustomed to hard steel decks, their legs wobbled against the soft earth.
Our landing was a spectator event. The 1st Marine Air Wing had already set up an airfield at Wonsan and the “flyboys” lined Blue Beach [the landing point on the north side of Wonsan’s harbor] to witness our assault from the sea. We went through a gauntlet of derision as we regained our feet and staggered into formation. Further insult was added by troops of the 6th ROK Division who had spearheaded the drive up the east coast of the peninsula. They had learned the middle-finger salute, which they rendered to us with great enthusiasm.
During the time that the Marines were floating aimlessly outside Wonsan, the Eighth Army and ROK II Corps were moving up the western side of North Korea and the ROK I Corps the eastern side. The only thing that was happening in the central mountains was the northward movement of the ROK 26th Infantry Regiment, all by itself, in the Sudong Valley, south of the Chosin Reservoir.
Marching Orders
Once ashore at Wonsan, the 1st MarDiv got its orders. As I mentioned earlier, te division’s three infantry regiments were reorganized as regimental combat teams (RCTs) . The artillery assets of the 11th Marines and other assets from division were divided among the regiments. The three regiments were now referred to as RCT-1, RCT-5, and RCT-7.
RCT-1 was to remain in the Wonsan area for an unspecified period to provide security for X Corps. General Almond’s CP was located there. X Corps’ own two divisions were still at sea, but were scheduled to come ashore at Iwon on September 29.
RCT-5 and RCT-7 would advance north. They were to start this by marching forty miles to Hungnam, carrying full combat packs and weapons, in the heat and humidity of late summer. This was meant to get the Marines back into fighting shape after their three-week float in Wonsan Harbor. The two RCTs arrived in Hungnam on Sept 28. The next morning they split up, with separate orders.
RCT-7 would head up the MSR to meet the ROK 26th Regiment, which was on the road near Sudong-ni. RCT-7 would relieve the regiment, which would return to the ROK I Corps. RCT-7 would then continue north, occupy Koto-ri and Hagaru-ri, then move past the Chosin Reservoir to the Yalu River. The Yalu was about forty miles north of the reservoir.
RCT-5 would leave the MSR at Oro-ri, eight miles northwest of Hungnam, and head north into a valley the Marines referred to as Sinhung Valley. The maps indicated that there might be a road from the top of the valley which climbed through a pass and led to up to the Fusen Reservoir, which was about twenty miles east of the Chosin Reservoir. They were to find this route and proceed to the reservoir, then pass beyond it and continue to the Yalu river.
These orders (if RCT-5 were successful) would put the two RCTs on roughly parallel paths about twenty miles apart. Their movement would echo what the 7th Infantry Division and the ROK I Corps would be doing – splitting into RCTs and then each one moving north toward the Yalu on parallel tracks. On paper, it looked pretty, but it was a lot of front for four divisions – two US and two ROK – to cover, more than 200 miles wide. (The 3rd Infantry Division was very green and was being held in reserve at this point.) Intelligence reports stated that NKPA was on the run, and that it was disorganized and would offer only token resistance. The Marines got one indication right away that this was a grave underestimate.
On October 27, the day after the division arrived in Wonsan, the 1/1 battalion was on patrol in the town of Kojo, a few miles to the southeast. They came under strong attack by three NKPA battalions. The Marines were outflanked and outgunned. They had to call in air support and artillery. The fighting continued for two days and nights, before action broke off and the NKPA withdrew into the mountains. They still had some fight in them.
General Smith wrote about this…
[Near] Wonsan we are fighting by-passed remnants of the North Korean Army which are making their way north. There are several thousand of these. There has been time for them to get some semblance of organization. They are armed with rifles, sub-machine guns, heavy machine guns, mortars, and on occasions have produced anti-tank guns.
We have had several vicious contacts with the better organized elements of this force, which totals between 3,000 and 5,000 men. They move through the mountains and periodically cut in on our supply routes, probably for food. We have been spread so thin that it has been impossible to assemble sufficient force to go out and corner these people.
Kojo was the first such battle; he lists three more.
On Oct 29, RCT-5 and RCT-7 set out from Hungnam on their divergent paths. Before they did this, they had received some unsettling news. In the west, the ROK II Corps had encountered a strong enemy force a few days earlier and had apparently suffered a serious defeat, losing a division and a regiment to this enemy. All appearances were that the enemy force was Chinese, but no one was sure of that yet.
On this same day the rest of US X Corps landed at Iwon and disembarked. They too began heading north and northwest. But everyone was concerned about what was happening to the US Eighth Army and the ROK II Corps far to the west, and what it might portend for X Corps.
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