North Korea's surprise attack
had devastated the much weaker ROK army; the US
and the UN had stopped the murderous NK assault
at the Pusan Perimeter; we struck behind the NK
lines with MacArthur's brilliant assault at
Inchon, routed them, and drove to the Yalu; China
entered the war with hundreds of thousands of
veteran foot soldiers, ambushed and routed us in
turn and themselves invaded South Korea; we
stopped them in turn, and began a slow, savage
drive north and had about reached the original
lines along the 38th parallel.
East of the Hwachon Reservoir a
key segment of the Kansas Line ran through the
southern rim of the Punchbowl, on its way to the
coastal town of Kojin-ni, five milies above
Kansong. This section of the line lay well above
Route 24, so both X Corps and ROK I Corps could
use that road as their MSR, and also receive
supplies through the port at Kansong.
Val Fleet had wanted to use this
area to stage for further advances north, using
1stMarDiv as the closing pincer of a trap to
encircle NK troops caught in defending against
the advance. However, at this stage of the war,
political considerations prevented Eighth Army
from any more significant offensive moves, and so
began the terrible two year "Stalemate"
in which the Army bled while truce talks dragged
endlessly on.
