How American and French Troops Held Off A Chinese Force Five Times Their Size in this Epic Battle

Wyatt Redd - March 14, 2018

In 1950, the communist regime in North Korea under Kim Il-Sung launched a surprise attack against the democratic South. Caught completely off guard, the South Korean Army and the few United States troops in the country were pushed back towards the sea. Though at first, it looked like the communist troops might completely take over the country, the Allied troops managed to hold onto a defensive line near the city of Busan. As the intense fighting ground to a stalemate, troops from around the world poured into Korea to take up the fight against the communists. The Korean War was now in full swing.

Officially, the effort to save South Korea was led by the United Nations. But effectively, the American troops under General MacArthur were taking the lead. And MacArthur had a daring plan to turn the tide of the war. In September, MacArthur launched a surprise amphibious assault on the city of Inchon. The risky attack was a spectacular success. And within two weeks, the UN troops had recaptured the city of Seoul. At the risk of being completely surrounded, the North Korean troops were forced to flee back to the North.

The UN troops pursued the retreating North Koreans, engaging in fierce fighting and heavy bombing campaigns that left a trail of destruction all the way to the border with China. As UN troops approached the Yalu River, the boundary between Korea and China, the Chinese Communist Party began to worry about the possibility of a US-allied Korea on their border. The Chinese Civil War had ended with a communist victory just one year before, and now Chairman Mao thought that US troops might not stop at the Yalu, but instead decide to invade China to restore the Nationalist government.

Meanwhile, President Truman worried that the Chinese might decide to enter the fight on the side of the North Koreans. He ordered MacArthur not to come to close to the Yalu and provoke the Chinese. However, MacArthur was skeptical that the Chinese would risk an all-out war with the US and began preparing a final offensive to finally crush the North Koreans. Already, the UN troops had met small units of Chinese troops in battle. But MacArthur argued that these were just volunteers, not troops acting on the official orders of the government. But by November, 300,000 Chinese troops had gathered near the border.

On November 25th, China officially entered the war. Hundreds of thousands of troops launched brutal human wave assaults against the UN forces. In spite of horrendous losses, the Chinese attacks began to overwhelm the defenders. Soon, MacArthur’s troops were being driven back to Seoul. Things looked bleak, and plans were made to withdraw from the country completely. But for one unit, the 23rd Regimental Combat Team, the real fight was just beginning. The regiment decided to make a final stand by the tiny city of Chipyong-ni, and it was now up to them to hold the line against a force that outnumbered them 5-to-1.

NEXT >>

Composed of troops from France and the US, the unit had been fighting for months now. They had even taken part in the brutal fighting at the infamous battle of Heartbreak Ridge. The exhausted troops reached Chipyong-ni on February 3rd, and their commander, Paul Freeman, realized that the Chinese troops pursuing them had come too far to be resupplied and decided it would be the perfect place to hold the line. Over the next 10 days, the UN troops began fortifying their position. Along with a small number of artillery, the regiment had just 4,500 men.

By the 13th, Chinese attacks had driven back the units defending the regiment’s flanks at Wonju and Hoengsoeng. The 23rd was now close to being completely cut off and surrounded by hostile troops. To make matters worse, a force of close to 25,000 Chinese soldiers took up positions on the heights surrounding the city that afternoon. Precise artillery fire kept the Chinese troops from advancing on Chipyong-ni. But Freeman told his men to expect the Chinese to attack that night under the cover of darkness. At 10 PM, the attack the 23rd had been waiting for all afternoon finally came.

The attack began with a mortar and small arms attack on positions all along the UN lines. The UN troops managed to repel the Chinese. But this wasn’t the main offensive, this was just a test to see how strong the defensive positions were. Around an hour later, an intense barrage of artillery shells came screaming into the UN lines. Moments later, thousands of Chinese troops streamed over the hills toward Chipyong-ni. Mortars exploded and machine guns barked as the defenders fought desperately to avoid being overrun. Every company of the unit except for one was directly attacked.

The fighting intensified into the early hours of the morning. The shooting soon became so intense that ambulances couldn’t get in to evacuate the wounded. At one point, C Company was driven back from their position. The line was now in danger of breaking. Realizing the situation, the company made a desperate counter-attack, driving the Chinese troops back. G company now came under a concerted attack that lasted almost three hours. Sustaining heavy casualties, the unit was close to being completely overrun. Luckily, Freeman ordered a tank unit to support the company. The heavy armor managed to drive off the attackers.

The attacks finally began to die down as the sun rose over the horizon. Freeman now took stock of his losses. Over 100 men had been either killed or wounded. Freeman himself had been seriously injured by a mortar shell. And though the UN troops had inflicted heavy losses on the attackers, they were now running low on ammunition. The Chinese had withdrawn, but their new positions were much closer, and they showed no sign that they were ready to give up. They still outnumbered the 23rd by a huge margin. And as the sun went down, the weary troops prepared themselves for another desperate fight for survival.

<< Previous

NEXT >>

At nightfall, another intense artillery barrage began. A mortar attack followed as Chinese troops launched a fierce attack on the lines. Once again, the attack was just an attempt to test the defensive positions. The main attack came at midnight when the Chinese launched a concentrated attack against A Company. Meeting fierce resistance, the Chinese broke off and began assaulting the French units farther down the line. In spite of attempts by the Air Force to resupply the soldiers, ammunition was still dangerously low. And the Chinese attacks began to wear down their positions.

At 2:30 AM, the Chinese attack broke through the lines. With one more push, the Chinese could shatter the defenses and begin cutting off each company from their allies. Once again, the defenders launched a daring counter-attack with machine gun support. Over the next three hours, the UN troops fought desperately as Chinese soldiers swarmed into the gap. Fighting broke down in hand-to-hand combat with rifle butts, bayonets, and even the shovels the troops were issued to dig foxholes. By dawn, the situation looked bleak. The Chinese still held their positions past the perimeter.

The counter-attack had been driven back. After a few hours, Freeman threw everything he could spare at the Chinese positions, including four tanks. Now the Chinese were the ones under siege. For the next two hours, the Chinese managed to hold off the tanks and attack soldiers. Then at 2 PM, the Air Force arrived. American planes began raining napalm from the sky onto the Chinese troops. At the same time, B Company began an all-out attack on their positions. Soon, the Chinese unit had lost almost half of its men. Still, they held out for another two and a half hours.

By late afternoon, twenty tanks from a nearby cavalry regiment arrived to flank the Chinese. In the face of overwhelming odds, the Chinese units finally withdrew. The larger Chinese force began a retreat from Chipyong-ni as UN troops began arriving to reinforce the 23rd. The battle was finally over. The 23rd had somehow managed to survive. 51 men had been killed, and another 250 were wounded. 42 were missing in action. Meanwhile, the Chinese had lost 1,000 killed and 2,000 wounded. The defense was a resounding victory. More importantly, word of the 23rd’s success helped boost morale for the rest of the army.

The Chinese had steadily been driving the UN troops south since they entered the war. With the defense of Chipyon-ni, the allies now knew that the Chinese could be beaten. The Chinese now found themselves being driven back. Over the next year, UN offensives forced the Chinese to the negotiating table. In the years after the war, many historians have argued that the force at Chipyong-ni was exaggerated and that only around 8,000 Chinese troops were actually at the battle. But even if that’s true, the courage shown by the men at Chipyong-ni was still one of the finest defensive actions in military history and in many ways helped save the entire war effort for the South Korean cause.

Where did we find this stuff? Here are our sources:

“Leadership in Battle: The Siege At Chipyong-ni”. Lt. Col. Keith Alan Landry. Army Magazine. September 2002.

“Korean War”. Allan R. Millett. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. September 27, 2017

“The Korean War: Restoring the Balance 25 January 8 July 1951”. John J. McGrath. US Army Center of Military History. October 3, 2003.

<< Previous