Roads from the west, north, and
southeast met just outside Yudam-ni near the southwest
corner of the Chosin Reservoir. First Marine
Division's G2 expected only weak opposition when
the 5th Marines attacked west. In fact, ten veteran
Chinese divisions were about to spring a trap that
required the utmost in endurance and fighting heart for
the Marines to fight through.
The beginning of the 35 mile fight-out from the Chosin
Reservoir
The 1st Marine Division landing at
Wonsan formed the cutting edge of X Corps, and
surprised China's Chairman Mao Zedong. He fully
committed China's vast, veteran army to the Korean
War, ordering the entrapment and destruction of the
entire Corps; the ROK Capital and 3rd Infantry
Divisions, and the US 1st Marine and 7th Infantry
Divisions.
The resulting battles began late
November, at Yudam Ni, with the Marines fighting their
way out of the trap in a series of savage tactical
victories amidst overwhelming strategic defeat over
some of the roughest terrain during some of the
harshest winter weather conditions of the Korean
War.
