User:Jim101/First and Second Battle of Wonju
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First and Second Battle of Wonju | |||||||
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Part of the Korean War | |||||||
US 2nd Infantry Division move through a mountain pass at the south of Wonju | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
China North Korea | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Matthew B. Ridgway Edward Almond Lee Hyung Koon[1] Yu Jai Hung Robert B. McClure Clark Ruffner |
Peng Dehuai Kim Ung Pak Il-u Ch'oe Hyon Pang Ho San | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
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II Corps III Corps V Corps 42nd Corps[nb 1] 66th Corps | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
US: 79,736[2][nb 2] South Korea: Unknown | ~61,500[3] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
US: ~600[4][nb 3] South Korea: Unknown | ~18,000 (est.)[3] |
The First and Second Battle of Wonju, also know as the Wonju Campaign or the Third Phase Campaign Eastern Sector[nb 4] (Chinese: 第三次战役东线; pinyin: Dì Sān Cì Zhàn Yì Dōng Xiàn), was a series of engagement between North Korean and UN forces during the Korean War. The battle took place from December 31, 1950 to January 20, 1951 around the South Korean town of Wonju. In coordination with the Chinese capture of Seoul on the Korean western front, the North Korean People's Army attempted to disrupt the road network near the Wonju area in an effort to destabilize the UN defenses along the central and the eastern front.
After a joint Chinese and North Korean attack breached the UN defenses at Chuncheon on the New Year Eve of 1951, the North Korean V Corps attacked the the US X Corps at Wonju while the North Korean II Corps harassed US X Corps' rear by engaging in guerrilla warfare. In response, the US X Corps under the command of Major General Edward Almond managed to cripple the North Korean forces at Wonju, and the UN forces later carried out numerous anti-guerrilla operations against the North Korean infiltrators. In the aftermath of the battle, the North Korean forces at the central and the eastern front were effectively decimated, allowing the UN front stabilized at the 37th parallel.