User:Jim101/Battle of Ch'ongch'on River
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Battle of Ch'ongch'on River | |||||||||
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Part of the Korean War | |||||||||
Chinese forces swarm a UN position. | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
China | |||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Douglas MacArthur Walton H. Walker Laurence B. Keiser Yu Jai Hung Paik Sun Yup Tahsin Yazıcı Basil Aubrey Coad[3] |
Mao Zedong Peng Dehuai Han Xianchu | ||||||||
Strength | |||||||||
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13th Army[nb 1] | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
US: 218 killed 455 wounded 94 missing[7] Total UN casualties: 11,000+[8] Chinese estimation: 23,000[9] |
Official data: ~20,000 battle casualties ~20,000 nonbattle casualties[10][nb 3] |
The Battle of Ch'ongch'on River, also known as the Battle of Ch'ongch'on or the Second Phase Campaign Western Sector (Chinese: 第二次战役西线; pinyin: Dì Èr Cì Zhàn Yì Xī Xiàn), was a decisive battle in the Korean War. In the aftermath of the successful Chinese First Phase Campaign against the United Nations forces, General Douglas MacArthur launched the Home-by-Christmas Offensive in an effort to evict the Chinese forces from Korea and to end the Korean conflict. Anticipating this reaction, the People's Volunteer Army Commander Peng Dehuai planned a series of counterattacks, dubbed the "Second Phase Campaign", against the advancing UN forces. In what has been called "one of the great surprises in military history",[11] the Chinese 13th Army[nb 1] defeated the US Eighth Army in a series of battles along the Ch'ongch'on River Valley from November 25 to December 2, 1950, forcing the United Nations forces to evacuate North Korea and to withdraw to the 38th parallel.