| Battle Of Inchon |
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The Battle of Inchon ( during the Korean War . The battle began on September 15 , 1950 , and ended around September 28 . During the Amphibious Operation , United Nations (UN) forces secured Inchon , and broke North Korea n control of the Pusan region through a series of landings in enemy territory. The UN ground forces were predominantly U.S. Marines , and were commanded by U.S. Army General Douglas MacArthur . The Battle of Inchon ended a string of victories by the invading North Korean People's Army (NKPA) and began a Counterattack by United Nations forces that led to the recapture of Seoul . The northwards advance ended when, near the Yalu River, China 's People's Volunteer Army entered the conflict in support of North Korea, and defeated UN forces along the Ch'ongch'on River and at the Battle Of Chosin Reservoir , forcing them to retreat all the way back to South Korea. PLANNING The idea to land UN forces at Inchon was suggested by MacArthur after he visited the Korean battlefield on June 29 1950 , four days after the war began. MacArthur thought that the North Korean army would push the South Korean Army back far past Seoul. He decided that the battered, demoralized, and under-equipped South Koreans couldn't hold off the NKPA's advances even with American reinforcements. MacArthur felt that he could turn the tide if he made a decisive troop movement behind enemy lines. He hoped that a move near Inchon would allow him to recapture Seoul, the capital and a vital supply point. MacArthur decided to use the Joint Strategic And Operations Group (JSPOG) of his Far East Command (FECOM). The initial plan was met with skepticism by the other generals because Inchon's natural and artificial defenses were formidable. The approaches to Inchon are two restricted passages, Flying Fish and Eastern channels, which could be easily blocked by Mine s. The current of the channels was also dangerously quick — three to eight Knot s. The anchorage was small and the harbor was surrounded by tall Seawalls . Commander Arlie G. Capps noted "We drew up a list of every natural and geographic handicap — and Inchon had 'em all." These problems, along with the then advancing North Korean army, forced MacArthur to abandon his first plan, Operation Blueheart, which called for an Inchon landing in July 1950. Despite these obstacles, in September MacArthur issued a revised plan of assault on Inchon: Plan 100-B, codenamed Operation Chromite. A briefing lead by Admiral James Doyle concluded "the best that I can say is that Inchon is not impossible." Officers at the briefing spent much of their time asking about alternative landing sites such as Kunsan . MacArthur spent 45 minutes after the briefing explaining his reasons for choosing Inchon. He said that because Inchon was heavily defended the enemy wouldn't expect an attack there, that victory in Inchon would avoid a brutal winter campaign and that by invading a northern strong point the UN forces could cut off North Korean lines of communication. Inchon was also chosen because of its proximity to Seoul . Admiral Forrest P. Sherman and General J. Lawton Collins returned to Washington, D.C. and had the invasion approved. The invasion at Inchon was not the first large scale amphibious operation in the Korean War. The distinction of being the first massive amphibious operation since (page 3) BEFORE THE LANDING .]] Seven days before the main attack on Inchon, a joint Central Intelligence Agency - Military Intelligence reconnaissance operation codenamed Trudy Jackson placed a team of Guerrillas in Inchon. The group, led by Navy Lieutenant Eugene Clark , landed at Yonghung-do , an Island in the mouth of the harbor. There they relayed back to U.S. forces. With the help of locals, the guerrillas gathered information about Tide s, Mudflat s, seawalls and enemy Fortification s. The mission's most important contribution was the restarting of a Lighthouse on Palmi-do . When the North Koreans discovered that the Allied agents had entered the peninsula, they sent an attack craft with 16 infantrymen. Eugene Clark mounted a Machine Gun on a Sampan and sunk the attack boat. In response the North Koreans killed up to 50 civilians who helped Clark. For his actions Clark later received the Silver Star and the Legion Of Merit . As the landing groups neared, Cruiser s and Destroyer s from several UN navies shelled Wolmi-do and checked for mines in the Flying Fish Channel. The first Canadian Forces entered the Korean War when HMCS ''Cayuga'' , HMCS ''Athabaskan'' and HMCS ''Sioux'' bombarded the coast. The Fast Carrier Force flew Fighter Cover , Interdiction , and Ground Attack missions. Destroyer Squadron Nine, headed by the USS ''Mansfield'' , sailed up Flying Fish Channel and into Inchon Harbor where it fired upon enemy gun emplacements. The intensified period of attacks tipped the North Koreans off that a landing might be imminent. The North Korean officer at Wolmi-do assured his superiors that he would throw the enemy back into the sea. THE LANDING The flotilla of ships that landed during the battle was commanded by (page 1). Green Beach At 6:30 a.m. local time on placed on the only bridge kept the North Koreans from launching a significant counterattack. The second wave came from landings at Red Beach and '''Blue Beach'''. The North Korean army had not been expecting an invasion at Inchon. After the storming of Green Beach they thought, probably because of American counter-intelligence, that the main invasion would happen at Kunsan. As a result, only a small force was diverted to Inchon. Even those forces were too late, and they arrived after the UN forces had taken the Blue and Red Beaches. The troops already stationed at Inchon had been weakened by Clark's guerrillas and Napalm bombing runs had destroyed key Ammunition Dump s. In total 261 ships took part in the landings at Inchon. Red Beach (center) grasps General J. Lawton Collins (the Army Chief Of Staff , left) and Admiral Forrest P. Sherman (the Chief Of Naval Operations , right). MacArthur used their meeting to convince other military leaders that the assault on Inchon was necessary.]] The Red Beach forces, made up of the Fifth Marine Regimental Combat Team , used ladders to scale the sea walls. After neutralizing North Korean defenses they opened the causeway to Wolmi-Do, allowing the tanks from Green Beach to enter the battle. Red Beach forces suffered just eight dead and 28 wounded. Blue Beach Under the command of Colonel Lewis "Chesty" Puller , the First Marine Regiment landing at Blue Beach was significantly south of the other two beaches and reached shore last. As they approached the coast, several NKPA gun emplacements sunk one LST. Destroyer fire and bombing runs silenced the North Korean defenses. When they finally arrived the North Korean forces at Inchon had already surrendered and so the Blue Beach forces suffered few casualties and little opposition. The First Marine Regiment spent much of its time strengthening the Beachhead and preparing for the inland invasion. AFTERMATH Beachhead awarded the Medal Of Honor .]] Immediately after the North Korean resistance was put out in Inchon, the supply and reinforcement process began. Seabee s and underwater demolitions teams that had arrived with the U.S. Marines constructed a pontoon dock on Green Beach and cleared debris from the water. The pontoon dock was then used to unload the remainder of the LSTs. Documents written by Kim Il Sung and recovered by UN troops soon after the landing said, "''The original plan was to end the war in a month, we could not stamp out four American divisions...We were taken by surprise when United Nations troops and the American Air Force and Navy moved in.''" On September 16 , the North Koreans, realizing their blunder, sent six columns of T-34 Tank s to the Beachhead . In response, two flights from the F4U Corsair squadron VMF-214 bombed the attackers. The air strike damaged or destroyed half of the tank column and lost only one plane. A quick counter-attack by M26 Pershing tanks destroyed the remainder of the North Korean armored division and cleared the way for the capture of Inchon. On September 19 , the U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers repaired the local railroad up to eight miles (13km) inland. The Kimpo Airstrip was captured and transport planes flew in gasoline and ordnance for the aircraft stationed at Inchon. The Marines continued unloading supplies and reinforcements. By September 22 , they had unloaded 6,629 vehicles and 53,882 troops, along with 25,512 Ton s (23,000 Tonne s) of supplies. Ground war during the battle for Seoul in late September 1950. The American soldiers are carrying M1 Carbine Semi-automatic Rifle s and Browning Automatics . On the street are Korean casualties. In the distance are M4 Sherman Tank s.]] In contrast to the quick victory at Inchon, the march to Seoul was slow and bloody. The NKPA launched another T-34 attack, which was trapped and destroyed, and launched a Yak bombing run in Inchon harbor, which did little damage. The North Koreans were trying to stall the UN offensive to give them more time to reinforce Seoul. MacArthur personally oversaw the 1st Marine Regiment as it fought through North Korean positions on the road to Seoul. At this point, control of Operation Chromite was given to Major General Edward Almond , the X Corps commander. It was Almond's goal to take Seoul on September 25 , exactly three months after the beginning of the war. On September 22 , the Marines entered Seoul to find it heavily fortified, and began Siege operations. Casualties mounted as the forces engaged in house-to-house fighting. On September 25 , Almond declared Seoul liberated despite the fact that gunfire and Artillery could still be heard in the northern suburbs. The last North Korean elements in South Korea were defeated when Walker's 8th Army joined the X Corps and attacked the forces surrounding Pusan . Of the 70,000 NKPA troops around Pusan, more than half were killed or captured. The remaining 30,000 soldiers retreated across the 38th Parallel , exhausted and demoralized. The Allied assault continued north until the People's Republic Of China sent troops into the war. In popular culture The battle of Inchon was the subject of the 1981 movie '' Inchon '', which did poorly at the box office amid controversy over its being partially financed by Unification Church leader Sun Myung Moon . REFERENCES
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