CCF soldier at right
has an M2
carbine, probably captured at
Hoengsong
(In the overall KW to
date, Eighth Army had abandoned enough weapons to
arm several CCF divisions, at the
least)
Following the successful CCF
counter attack at Hoengsong, UN forces withdrew
to the Wonju Line. NK divisions forced withdrawal
of ROK divisions in the east to some extent, but
this area did finally stabilize. In the west, the
CCF exploited a gap in the line to threaten
encirclement of Chipyong-ni. Held principally by
the 23rd Regimental Combat Team (23d Infantry,
French battalion, 1st Ranger Company, 37th FAB,
and later supported by pressure on the CCF flanks
from the British 27th Brigade and Task Force
Crombez), they were attacked by four regiments
from four different CCF divisions. In severe
fighting, these forces did successfully defend
Chipyong-ni. Throughout the fighting, strong air
and artillery support inflicted heavy losses on
the attacking CCF and NK troops in both east and
west sectors. Early in the Chipyong-ni battle,
three CCF regiments from the 120th and 117th
divisions advanced in column toward Wonju in the
face of this scalding fire, taking very severe
casualties before finally faltering and ceasing
to attack. Such assaults were very successful
against the overextended Eighth Army in northwest
Korea, but against entrenched forces they were
little short of suicide.
General Ridgway considered the
battle and the overall defense of the Wonju Line
to be a turning point in the campaign, in that he
felt the successful defense by one isolated RCT
against numerically far larger forces symbolized
a revitalization of Eighth Army as a whole.
