Chosin Reservoir

There was hard intelligence that the Chinese Communist Forces were across the Yalu but CLNCFE in Tokyo at first denied and then minimized their presence, insisting that it was too late for the Chinese to intervene effectively in the war. The 1st Marine Division was to advance northwest of Hungnam along a mountain road to Chosin Reservoir, site of an important hydroelectric plant, and thence to the Yam.

Hungnam and Hamhung, the names are confusingly similar. Hungnam is the seaport. Hanihung is the road and railroad nexus, some eight miles to the northwest. The 7th Marines under Litzenberg moved out of Hamhung on 2 November and by midnight were in heavy contact with the 124th CCF Division near Sudong-ni. The fight now went uphill through tortuous Funchilin Pass to a high plateau. The 124th broke contact on 7 November and on 10 November the 7th Marines entered Koto-ri. Three days later they were in Hagaru-ri at the southern tip of Chosin Reservoir. Marine engineers began to scrape out air strips at Koto-ri and Hagaru-ri. General Almond, X Corps commander, planned to bring his flag forward to Hagaru-ri and some Army engineers and signal troops were detailed to begin the construction. The brief autumn was almost over and the weather was turning bitterly cold. The nearest Eighth Army unit was eighty miles to the west.

On 24 November, the day after Thanksgiving (special holiday menu including roast turkey, cranberry sauce, fruit cake, and mincemeat pie), the 7th Marines moved out along the road west of Chosin Reservoir, through Toktong Pass, to Yudam-ni. Fox Company was dropped off at Toktong Pass to keep it open. Two days later the 7th Marines were joined at Yudam-ni by Murray's 5th Marines. Puller's 1st Marines had been relieved at Wonsan by the newly arrived 3d U. S. Infantry Division and his battalions were strung out along the road to keep the lines of communication back to Hungnam open: 1st Battalion at Chinhung-ni at the foot of Funchilin Pass, 2d Battalion and the regimental command post at Koto-ri, and 3d Battalion at Hagaru-ri.

On 24 November, Smith had received a warning order that his Division would make a wide sweeping envelopment to the west to form the northern arm of a giant pincer of which the Eighth Army would be the southern arm. H-Hour was to be 0800 on the 27th. This gave the 1st Marine Division the bleak prospect of crossing the near-roadless and mountainous backbone of Korea in weather that was already subzero.

Then, on 25 November, the II ROK Corps, forming the Eighth Army's right wing, was struck seventy miles southwest of Yudam-ni by a Red Chinese counterattack. The ROK Corps gave way, the right flank and rear of the 2d U. S. Infantry Division was exposed, and by the twenty-sixth the Eighth Army advance had come to a disastrous halt.

On the twenty-seventh, with the X Corps operation order unmodified, the 5th Marines dutifully attacked to the west from Yudam-ni, went a mile, and were stopped. That night it snowed and the temperature went down to 20⁰F. below zero. General Sung Shih-lun came out of the mountains with eight CCF Divisions in a carefully planned counter stroke with the express mission of destroying the 1st Marine Division. Three CCF Divisions hit at the 5th and 7th Marines at Yudam-ni. Other elements cut the MSR to Hagarn-ri and struck at Fox Company holding Toktong Pass. Another division attacked Hagarn-ri, defended by two-thirds of 3d Battalion, 1st Marines, two batteries of lOSs, and odds and ends of service and combat support troops. The road south to Koto-ri was also cut and Koto-ri attacked by still another division.