User:Jim101/Battle of Chosin Reservoir
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Battle of Chosin Reservoir | |||||||
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Part of the Korean War | |||||||
A column of the U.S. 1st Marine Division move through Chinese lines during their breakout from the Chosin Reservoir | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
China | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Douglas MacArthur Edward Almond Oliver P. Smith |
Mao Zedong Peng Dehuai Song Shi-Lun | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Nominal: 103.520[1] Committed: 30,000[2] |
9th Army[nb 1] Committed: between 80,000[4] to 55,000[2]; general consense is at 60,000[5] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
US sources: 1,029 killed, 4,582 wounded, 4,894 missing, 7,338 nonbattle casualties,[6][nb 2] 15 tank losses.[7] Chinese estimation: 13,900[3] |
Chinese sources: official data state 19,202 casualties by fighting, 28,954 by hunger and frostbite;[3] unoffical estimations suggest the casualties could be higher than 60,000[4][nb 3] US estimation: at least 29,800 killed or wounded.[8] |
The Battle of Chosin Reservoir, also known as Battle of Changjin Lake (Chinese: 长津湖之战; pinyin: Cháng Jīn Hū Zhī Zhàn), was a decisive battle in the Korean War. Shortly after the People's Republic of China entered the conflict, the People's Volunteer Army 9th Army[nb 1] infiltrated the northeastern part of North Korea and surprised the US X Corps at the Chosin Reservoir area. A brutal seventeen day battle in freezing weather soon followed. In the period between November 27 and December 13, 1950, 30,000 United Nations troops (nicknamed "The Frozen Chosin" or "The Chosin Few") under the command of Major General Edward Almond were encircled by approximately 60,000 Chinese troops under the command of Song Shi-Lun. Although Chinese troops managed to surround and outnumber the UN forces, the UN forces successfully broke out of the encirclement while inflicting crippling losses to the Chinese. The evacuation of the X Corps from the port of Hungnam marked the general withdraw of UN troops from North Korea.