24. A General Whose Brilliant Maneuver Turned the Tide of a Seemingly Lost War
When the Korean War broke out in 1950, the North Korean army got off to a good start. In seemingly no time, it routed the South Korean army and American forces in their path, en route to overrunning most of South Korea. Within a few months, all that was left in South Korean and American hands was a small sliver of territory around the port city of Pusan. Things seemed hopeless until American General Douglas MacArthur reversed the tide of the war with a brilliant maneuver.
He outflanked the North Koreans with an amphibious landing in September of 1950 at Inchon, near the South Korean capital city of Seoul. That placed American forces north of the North Korean army trying to take Pusan, and severed their main supply line. That sudden turning of the tables led to the collapse of the North Korean invasion, and a panicked retreat of the invaders that swiftly turned into a rout. MacArthur vigorously pursued the demoralized enemy northward up the Korean Peninsula.
