Battle of the Ch’ongch’on River
The Battle of the Ch’ongch’on River was a decisive battle in the Korean War. It took place from November 25 to December 2, 1950, in the northwestern part of North Korea. The PVA 13th Army first launched a series of surprise attacks along the Ch’ongch’on River Valley on the night of November 25, 1950. This effectively destroyed the Eighth United States Army’s right flank while allowing PVA forces to move rapidly into UN rear areas.
About Battle of the Ch’ongch’on River in brief
The Battle of the Ch’ongch’on River was a decisive battle in the Korean War. It took place from November 25 to December 2, 1950, in the northwestern part of North Korea. The PVA 13th Army first launched a series of surprise attacks along the Ch’ongch’on River Valley on the night of November 25, 1950. This effectively destroyed the Eighth United States Army’s right flank while allowing PVA forces to move rapidly into UN rear areas. In the aftermath of the battle, the US Eighth Army’s heavy losses forced all UN forces to retreat from North Korea to the 38th Parallel. General Douglas MacArthur launched the Home-by-Christmas Offensive on November 24 to rout the remaining PVA and KPA forces and to end the war. The UN front line stretched horizontally from the Taebaek Mountains in central Korean coast to the Chosin Reservoir, while the PVA line stretched along the north coast of the country. The battle was fought along the UN line around the Chongchon River and its tributaries, which is located 50mi south of the Sino-Korean border. It is located at 39. 700°N 125. 883°E (39. 700; 125.883 United Nations Official data: 10,000+ battle casualties~20,000 non-battle casualties30,000 + total casualties. As a part of a deception plan to push back the UN forces, Peng Dehuai ordered all units to rapidly retreat north while releasing POWs along the way. With 230,000 troops at his disposal, Peng authorized the start of the Second Phase Campaign on November 22, 1950 and the battle was started on November 25.
The battle ended on December 2 with the end of the First Phase Campaign and the beginning of the Third Phase Campaign, which began on December 7. PVA Commander Peng De Huai outlined the Secondphase Campaign, aimed at pushing the UN Forces back to a line halfway between Ch’on and Pyongyang. As part of the deception plan, Peng ordered all. units to retreat north and release POWs while releasing another 150,000, heading to the Chosin Reservoir. In the subsequent battles and withdrawals, although the US. Eighth Army managed to avoid being surrounded by PVA Forces, the P VA were still able to inflict heavy losses onto the retreating UN forces which had lost all cohesion. Although PVA was ordered to maintain a defensive posture in North Korea until Soviet weapons could arrive in the spring of 1951, its earlier successes convinced the Chinese leadership that the Pva was capable of turning the tide of UN advance. Alarmed by this development, Chinese Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong ordered the PPA to intervene in Korea and to launch the Firstphase Campaign against the UN. Unbeknown to the UN planners, there were already 180,000 PVA troops stationed in Korea, with more reinforcements infiltrating across the border.
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This page is based on the article Battle of the Ch’ongch’on River published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 03, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
