In winter of '52 President-Elect
Eisenhower visited the front lines near Chorwon, and
then made it clear that he was only interested in
ending the war with an honorable peace. At this
time, about 700,000 CCF and NK troops were in the line
or in reserve, facing about 350,000 UN infantry. The
slaughter went on until July 27, 1953, during which
time the CCF continually probed our lines to find
points of weakness, and attacked wherever they thought
they could improve their positions before the
cease-fire. The Communists generally spent around 5
months digging large caves and underground locations
for their troops all along the line. This protected
them from UNC air and artillery, as well as the
weather. UNC generally relied on a bunker system.
Here, as a component of IX Corps, 25id
has strong bunker positions on the reverse slope
somewhere in the White Horse, Triangle Hill, and
Jackson Heights area, around October, 1952. 80% of
bunkers like these were usually underground, and could
be entered from the trenches which linked the entire
front. Thick logs and sandbags, covered by a layer of
loose sand, sticks and rocks gave protection from
artillery and mortar hits.
