General historical viewpoints believe that the Battle of Chipyong-ni in the early stage of the fourth campaign of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea had a far-reaching impact. From February 13 to 15, 1951, the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army carried out a large-scale offensive battle in the Chipyong-ni area of Yangpyeong County, Gyeonggi Province on the eastern front of the Korean battlefield. In this battle, the Volunteer Army besieged the 23rd Regimental Combat Team of the U.S. Army, the Regimental Tank Company, the 37th Field Artillery Battalion, the French Battalion of the "United Nations Army" and some anti-aircraft artillery and engineering units with 8 regiments (4 of which were partial forces). After a bloody battle for 2 days and 2 nights, the Volunteer Army once broke through the U.S. military’s defensive positions. However, due to various reasons, such as the U.S. military’s strong positions, well-equipped, resolute resistance, and the arrival of reinforcements, the Volunteer Army was eventually forced to withdraw from the battle. This failure in the offensive battle against the enemy’s strong field positions left a profound lesson for the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army, allowing it to accumulate valuable experience. It also made the opponent once again appreciate the powerful power of the Chinese army and forced it to rethink it.
Fear of being surrounded - the fatal weakness of the US military
After the three previous battles, the US military officers and soldiers on the front line were already quite frightened by the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army. John F. Antal, a retired US Army colonel, has been engaged in research and summary of the experience of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea for a long time after the war. He described the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army as "tough and tenacious peasant fighters, accustomed to hardships, and have experienced the test of war in the civil war, but poorly equipped. Despite the lack of modern equipment, they caught the "United Nations Army" off guard, causing it to flee southward in chaos again." As for the US military, he had to admit: "Despite having huge technical and organizational advantages - modern weapons, strong logistical supplies, and complete naval and air forces - the entire "United Nations Army" ground forces found themselves in an unfair contest with an extremely powerful opponent." The "United Nations Army" was afraid of being surrounded, and many troops found that their retreat routes were blocked by the Chinese army and immediately fell into panic. ”
As Antar concluded, the U.S. military "depends on a continuous front both tactically and psychologically, just as in Europe." According to his observations, the "United Nations" and U.S. troops often attack along a road, but the Chinese army can advance quickly in the rugged mountains, even the complex terrain of the moon’s surface is no problem. "When launching an attack, the Chinese army often conducts one or two frontal charges, and at the same time sends a large-scale force to go around the side to cut off the main retreat of the attacked party. They are good at seizing ridgelines or high ground close to the road, firing from a high position to block the attack. "Because they were forced to march and deliver supplies on the narrow roads of the Korean Peninsula, the U.S. military could only defend a single position for a few hours. Close air support was only effective during the day, and the Chinese army often took advantage of poor visibility to attack. At night, the Chinese army infiltrated the U.S. positions in squads, platoons or entire companies. Their tactics often made the U.S. military relax its vigilance, and then suddenly launched a surprise attack to crush the U.S. defense.
According to the U.S. military history, the "United Nations Army" was divided and surrounded piece by piece and annihilated.
Before the battle
With the start of the fourth battle, by the end of January 1951, the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army had A brilliant victory was achieved, Seoul was recaptured, and the front line was pushed more than 40 miles south of the South Korean capital. Due to lack of confidence in stopping the Chinese army’s offensive, Washington once secretly planned to withdraw all US troops from the Korean Peninsula. At that time, the "United Nations Army" continued to retreat southward under the pressure of the Chinese army, and the 2nd Infantry Division of the US Army sent the 23rd Regimental Combat Team to be responsible for the rear guard. On February 3, 1951, the 23rd Regimental Combat Team of the US Army arrived in Chipyong-ni. The main force of the "United Nations Army" was busy breaking out all the way to the south to escape, and Chipyong-ni became a conspicuous salient on the left side of the front line.
The total strength of the 23rd Regimental Combat Team of the US Army is about 6,000 people, with 4 infantry battalions under its jurisdiction (One of them is the French Battalion, which uses all US military equipment and is under US military command), a Ranger Company, a Tank Company with 14 M4 Sherman tanks (tanks are assigned to each infantry battalion), a 37th Field Artillery Battalion equipped with 105mm howitzers, plus a 155mm heavy artillery company, an anti-aircraft company (a total of 6 M16 and 4 M19 self-propelled anti-aircraft machine gun carriers) and an engineer company. The 23rd Regimental Combat Team has a large number of experienced veterans who know that the Chinese army is an opponent that cannot be underestimated. Commander Colonel Paul L. Freeman, born in 1907, graduated from West Point Military Academy in 1929. He has rich work experience and combat experience. He also served in China in 1936 and is a China expert. He is known for his command ability. He is well-known for his beauty and has a high reputation among his subordinates.
Chipyong-ri is just a village located in a small basin. The small basin is about 5 kilometers in diameter and 18 kilometers in circumference, surrounded by low hills. These low hills are good defensive terrain. But if a defensive position is established on the mountain, the diameter of the defense zone will be about 6 kilometers, and the circular defense line will be 18 kilometers long, and the defenders are not strong enough to defend such a long defense line. Therefore, Freeman decided to arrange the infantry in the lowlands at the foot of the mountain to form a circular defense with a diameter of 1.6 kilometers. As he said: "Try to defend the largest defense circle around those low hills as much as possible, and leave a small number of reserves-try to defend the largest range as much as possible, in order to make full use of the troops and prevent the defense circle from being broken."
The US soldiers who participated in the war later said: "We have nowhere to go. You can’t walk for a few minutes. The defense circle of the entire regiment is not much larger than the Pentagon. "Colonel Freeman’s command level has long been recognized in the US military for being able to organize effective defense in such a narrow range. Freeman carefully deployed the defense for 10 days. The front of the US military’s circular position was surrounded by trenches, two barbed wire fences were laid, and anti-infantry mines and tripwire flares were densely arranged. The junctions between the various positions were tightly blocked by M16 self-propelled anti-aircraft machine guns and tanks as mobile firepower. Freeman equipped the artillery in the circular position, and built bunkers, shelters, shelters and communication trenches in the main position. Roads that could pass jeeps were repaired between the positions, and a field military airport that could land small aircraft was built. All gaps were controlled by artillery fire.
The battle started
On February 13, the US military observation post The movement of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army was discovered and reported quickly: the Chinese army marched south in large numbers, cutting off Highway 23A behind the U.S. troops, and Chipyong-ni was completely surrounded. Colonel Freeman summoned his battalion and company commanders and conveyed the order to hold on and wait for reinforcements. According to the recollections of U.S. officers and soldiers who participated in the war, the French battalion gave the U.S. troops a great morale boost that day. The French battalion was full of experienced veterans who volunteered to fight. They were older than U.S. soldiers and had participated in World War II and the colonial war in Indochina. The 60-year-old French General Ralph Monclar voluntarily lowered his rank and commanded the battalion as a lieutenant colonel, under the command of the 23rd Regimental Combat Team of the U.S. Army. Monclar participated in the Battle of Vers in World War I as early as 1916 and in the Battle of Vers in World War II in 1940. The Battle of Nakvir in World War II was fought in Ethiopia in 1941. It was freezing cold at the time, and the French camp lit a fire to keep warm and tried to melt the frozen soil a little to facilitate digging fortifications. The U.S. military was terrified, fearing that the fire would attract the attack of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army. Colonel Freeman ordered Monclar to put out the fire, and the old French general arrogantly replied: If the Chinese army knew that the French were here, they would attack this side, and we could just fight them.
Sure enough, as soon as it got dark, the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army began a small-scale infiltration and test operation. A small group of volunteer soldiers in During the infiltration, the tripwire flares set by the US military were touched, and the firepower killing area in front of the US military position was suddenly illuminated by the flares that flew into the air, making it as bright as day. The Chinese soldiers blew the charge horn, trying to lure the US military to shoot and expose the US military’s firepower points. The US veterans kept their ground and did not fire easily. Seeing that the Chinese army was getting closer and closer, Freeman gave an order and the US military launched full firepower. Freeman’s tactical air traffic control team performed hard and called for 40 sorties of fighter-bomber close support. After 22:00 in the evening, the Volunteer Army’s mortar shells also fell into the Chipyong-ni defense circle. The battle lasted from the 13th to the 14th. The Volunteer Army used artillery fire to prepare to cooperate with the infantry charge, and attacked the Chipyong-ni defense circle in the north (US 1st Battalion), northwest (French Battalion), and southeast (US 2nd Battalion and French Battalion). At 2:15 in the morning, the offensive was concentrated in the southeast and southwest directions. The Volunteer Army attacked in companies and platoons, looking for flaws in the US defense line, but failed to find any. The fight lasted until 7:30 in the morning, but the Volunteer Army failed to break through the U.S. defense line. When the sky brightened, the Volunteer Army’s attack was temporarily stopped. The U.S. Army barely held out for a night. The Chinese People’s Volunteer Army regrouped its forces and prepared to break through the defense zone of the French camp in one fell swoop. During the day on the 14th, the U.S. artillery in the defense circle of Chipyong-ni bombarded the Volunteer Army targets observed on the nearby hills, and the tactical air traffic control group also guided the Air Force to launch 5 air strikes to the south and airdropped 24 ammunition supplies. In addition to the continuous bombardment of 60 to 105 mm caliber artillery by the Chinese army, the 14th was generally a "calm day". In the intervals between the U.S. Seventh Army soldiers who were intensively reinforcing the fortifications with sandbags, they could also joke with each other: After this battle, it will be recorded in history as "Freeman’s Last Stand".
The Chinese People’s Volunteer Army was dispatched as soon as the sun set on Valentine’s Day. At 8 p.m., flares suddenly flashed in the night sky, and the cold air was filled with bugle calls and shouts. The Chinese army launched a fierce attack on the defense area of the C Company of the 1st Battalion in the north. Colonel Freeman described with satisfaction that the charge of the Chinese army dissipated like melting snow in front of his carefully arranged defense line. The K Company in the east also withstood a fierce attack, and the volunteers had already taken the foxhole only 15 feet away from the front line. The French army in the west once lost its position, and an infantry company that was transferred as a reserve force was recaptured with bayonet hand-to-hand combat.
In the middle of the night, the main attack direction of the volunteers turned to the south, and dense mortar shells hit the G Company of the 2nd Battalion of the US Army. The volunteers launched a charge in companies and platoons, and the artillery fire illuminated the night sky red. The U.S. military history describes: "The Chinese army began to infiltrate along the low hills, and the soldiers carried blasting tubes and explosive packs. The Chinese soldiers overwhelmed G Company, and many were killed by the explosives thrown into the foxholes. Hundreds of bodies piled up on the G Company position, but too many enemies were still approaching...
Every foxhole was fighting a desperate battle." G Company’s position was eventually lost, and the surviving U.S. soldiers retreated to the center of the defense circle.
The Chinese army realized that G Company was the key to breaking through the U.S. defense line. A large number of volunteers marched with torches and rushed to the breakthrough point of G Company. The 23rd Regimental Combat Team of the U.S. Army was about to collapse. Colonel Freeman threw the Ranger Company into the counterattack in the south. After several rounds of fierce fighting, the U.S. Ranger Company suffered heavy casualties and the counterattack failed. The U.S. tank guns had limited lethality against infantry, and there was a lack of coordination between infantry and tanks, and there was no counterattack plan, so the counterattack was doomed to fail. Chinese soldiers braved the overwhelming U.S. artillery fire and continued to pour into the G Company position under the cover of explosions. The U.S. military history records: "The enemy’s attack still showed no signs of weakening. This was not a carefully planned rapid occupation of the entire hill, but a continuous and repeated attack, advancing step by step from one foxhole to the next.
Although the Chinese army took a foothold, as the night gradually faded, the Chinese army’s attack weakened. As the U.S. military history said, a phenomenon that can be repeatedly observed on the Korean battlefield: "They can break through a line of defense, but as an army lacking mechanization, air power and rapid supply capabilities, they cannot win a complete victory against an army that has all three. "Because they were unfamiliar with the terrain and the U.S. military’s defenses, the Chinese Volunteer Army’s reinforcements got lost in the dark. The Chinese Army’s fire support consisted of 76mm howitzers and 120mm mortars, but their shooting accuracy and infantry-artillery coordination were not high. The Chinese Army’s command system was out of touch, and the offensive became a fueling tactic. The charge and trumpet could not deliver orders in time, allowing the troops to seize the opportunity to quickly advance and expand their results. In the process of eating up the U.S. military positions piece by piece, the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army failed to achieve a breakthrough with mobility before dawn. The U.S. military history commented: "The Chinese army failed to act quickly enough at the critical moment in the dark."
As the sun rises, the view in the air becomes clear. The U.S. Tactical Air Traffic Control Group calls for air support and intensively bombs the Chinese troops assembled at the G Company position. U.S. aircraft covered the hill where the G Company position was located with napalm bombs. The Chinese army began to withdraw from the battle, and Colonel Freeman seized the opportunity to launch a counterattack and must recapture the G Company position. The 2nd Battalion B Company was ordered to counterattack, and both sides knew that the most important moment in this battle had arrived. The U.S. military history states: "Until 14:00 in the afternoon, B Company’s counterattack was unsuccessful. At that time, air strikes and napalm bombs followed the enemy as soon as they left the position." This time, Colonel Freeman launched a counterattack with infantry, tanks and artillery in close coordination, and finally recaptured most of the G Company’s position. At least within today, the danger of the U.S. military position being broken through by the Chinese army is temporarily over. But the Chipyong-ni defense circle is still surrounded by the Chinese army, and the U.S. 23rd Regimental Combat Team needs reinforcements to rescue it.
US troops come to the rescue
The 5th Cavalry Regiment of the 1st Cavalry Division of the US Army, under the command of 50-year-old Colonel Marcel Gustave Crombez, launched a reinforcement and relief operation to Chipyong-ni. The commander-in-chief of the "United Nations Forces", General Ridgway, ordered the regiment to infiltrate the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army’s front line along a narrow north-south road. Aerial reconnaissance showed that 24A kilometers were available for tank operations. The Chinese army was everywhere, but no mines or roadblocks were found on this road.
At 7 a.m. on February 15, Crombez led the 5th Cavalry Regiment to set off. The regiment’s column was 1 mile long, with two heavy M26 Pershing tanks in the team and the rest were lighter M4 Sherman tanks. In typical cavalry combat style, the 5th Cavalry Regiment of the US Army rushed all the way along Highway 24A, but was forced to stop halfway. Finding that the bridge in front of him had been blown up, Cromby ordered the combat engineers to build a pontoon bridge as quickly as possible. One hour later, the 5th Cavalry Regiment continued to rush to Chipyong-ni. When arriving at Qushui-ri, the US military encountered fierce resistance from the Chinese army stationed on Hill 152 east of Highway 24A. In order to allow the infantry to attack the hill, the US column had to slow down its advance. This place is only 6 miles south of the Chipyong-ni defense circle, and the Chinese army’s mortar shells and machine gun fire are pouring down on the US military.
As night fell, Cromby knew that he had no time to wait for the infantry to eliminate the threat of the hill. He changed his plan and removed an assault force of only 23 tanks from the column, with two Pershing tanks with 90mm guns leading the way and light M4E8 Sherman tanks in the rear. Cromby attempted to lead the tanks to rush through first, followed by the main force. In order to strengthen the task force, Cromby ordered the infantry of the L Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 5th Cavalry Regiment to move forward on tanks. Fearing that their own infantry might be injured by mistake and in a hurry, the US military did not prepare artillery fire, but the aircraft carried out bombing and low-altitude strafing in advance. Cromby telegraphed Freeman: He was on the way and the main force would arrive soon. Freeman replied: "Come on, trains or no trains!)
At 15:45 in the afternoon, the Cromby Task Force began to attack again and immediately encountered dense light weapons fire in the small village of Qushuili. The firepower of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army cut across the sides of the US tanks like a razor, and a large number of US infantry sitting on the tanks were killed and wounded. The tanks stopped to fight back, and the US infantry jumped off the vehicles to seek cover. Without any advance warning, the US tanks accelerated out of the crossfire of the Chinese army and continued to move forward. Some of the US infantry were quick to climb back onto the tanks, but a large number of them were left behind. The US infantry that were left behind were completely trapped in a jar and surrounded by the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army. The same thing happened several times during the assault trip of the Crombet Task Force. A small number of the US infantry that were left behind were able to break out to the south and escape to the "United Nations" front line. Others were either killed or captured. Of the more than 160 infantrymen of L Company, only 23 reached Chipyong-ni. However, the US tanks successfully broke through the layers of resistance of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army.
Just south of Chipyong-ni, there is a narrow mountain pass guarding the main road. The Chinese army deployed all its strength on the steep mountains on both sides. As soon as the leading US tank rushed into the mountain pass, the Volunteer Army soldiers immediately fired at it with the captured American bazooka rocket launcher, hitting the tank’s turret. The tank burst into flames, and all the crew members including the commander Captain Johnny M. Hales were either killed or injured. The driver of the tank endured severe burns and insisted on driving the tank through the mountain pass under dense fire, keeping the road open for the tank column behind. If this tank was blocked at the mountain pass, the tanks behind would never reach Chipyong-ni. The US tank column rushed through the mountain pass while firing back at the mountains on both sides with machine guns. Now, the Volunteer Army was caught in the pincer attack of the US 23rd Regimental Combat Team and the Crombet Task Force. The US military history stated that the tanks of the task force "had tigers painted on the turrets and roared from the muzzles... rushed up the hill from behind and blew it up to the sky."
At the same time, Freeman used 4 tanks to cooperate with Company B to launch an attack to the south. In this way, the US infantry finally took the high ground south of the defense circle. Captain Sherman W. Pratt, commander of Company B, recalled: "The scene was almost as bad as it could be. The platoons reported that every time they stood up and launched an attack along the hillside, the enemy’s artillery fire would knock them down on the way to the charge. The platoon leaders insisted that it would be suicide to rush down and demanded to know what to do. ’Hold on’, I ordered the platoons... As the sun rose, we looked around and saw that the vanguard of the 5th Cavalry Regiment Task Force was just 100 yards away."
The Chinese army retreated. Some of the surviving American soldiers were so excited that they rushed out to kiss the front shield of the Cromby Task Force tank. At 17:57 on the afternoon of February 15, Colonel Cromby, with a yellow scarf wrapped around his neck, walked into the headquarters of the 23rd Regimental Combat Team, and the US military’s siege of Chipyong-ni was completely resolved.
After the War
Ridgway later praised the performance of the Cromby Task Force in the relief operation, saying that Cromby’s decision to abandon the infantry and organize a tank column to quickly assault and reinforce was "one of the best theater decisions" in this war. As for Freeman, he was hit in the leg by shrapnel in the Battle of Chipyong-ni, but he refused to withdraw from the front line, showing outstanding courage and boosting the morale of the U.S. Army. The US military history later stated: "The heroic defense of the 2nd Division in Chipyong-ni proved to be the turning point in blocking the Communist attack." The Korean military history even boasted: "The Battle of Chipyong-ni was the first tactical success of the US military in the battle with the Chinese Communist Army... It can also be said to be the ’Second Incheon’."
In fact, the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army took into account that the US military had already made deep defenses in the southeast of Chipyong-ni, and it would be difficult to hold on after capturing the more prominent Chipyong-ni point. In order to ensure that the follow-up troops of the Volunteer Army could enter North Korea to fight, they prepared to move the defense line back to the north of the Han River for mobile defense, so they made the decision to withdraw the troops attacking Chipyong-ni from the battle. However, this battle also left a profound lesson for the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army, allowing our army to further think about how to strengthen the planning and organization of campaign tactics and command under mechanized conditions, so as to mobilize all favorable factors to defeat the strong enemy. It can be said that the Battle of Chipyong-ni has accumulated valuable experience for our army.
