Christmas was far from the joyful celebration expected by United Nations soldiers and many lost heart. It was particularly painful for them to note that despite their superior armament they had been unable to contain the Chinese advance. of modern warfare, took the brunt of the shock when they discovered that their sophisticated equipment was an obstacle rather than an asset. awkward and cumbersome monsters. Heavy guns and aircraft were losing their effectiveness against enemies who, like the Chinese, were masters of camouflage and cunning enough to stay out of their reach or sight.
Northeast Korea's rugged terrain, tailor-made for guerrilla warfare, obviously favored the lightly armed Chinese, whose main strength lay in their multitude of daring and self-sufficient infantry.
Their weakness, still little apparent at this stage of the war, was due to their primitive methods of supply. When they ran out of food and ammunition generally every 5 to 6 days, they had to interrupt the fight while waiting for a new arrival. Also, their combat techniques, while nerve-wracking, had the downside of being too predictable.
But on that sad Christmas of 1950, it was not the weakness of the Chinese that occupied the minds of the United Nations troops, but the chilling specter of the Chinese fighter, an indomitable warrior capable of marching and waging war indefinitely without anything anything else for sustenance than a daily bowl of rice and a handful of soy. Indifferent to wounds, to cold, to fatigue, and even to death, constant in his determination, this superman seemed truly invincible to many of the United Nations soldiers, which contributed greatly to their demoralization.
Reviving the morale of the troops, such was the task of Lieutenant-General Matthew Ridgway who replaced, at the head of the Eighth Army, General Walker who was killed in a road accident on 23 December. But Ridgway inherited greater responsibilities than his predecessor. Until then the United Nations forces in Korea were divided into two commands placed under the authority of General MacArthur.
After the near-disaster of the November offensive, which MacArthur refused to recognize as a failure, the commands were united and the 10th Corps became part of the VIII Army. Supreme command of the land, sea, and air armies remained in MacArthur's hands. Ridgway therefore became responsible for all, not just a portion, of ground operations in Korea.
When he arrived in Korea on December 26, Ridgway was appalled at the mood and disenchantment that prevailed at all levels. For 2 days, he crisscrossed the front trying to restore optimism and hope to men who, he knew perfectly well, would have to face a new Chinese offensive. He made frequent use of the old and tasty military adage:"Find them!" Stop them! Fight them! Exterminate them! But his recipe for optimism had no time to act:the new Chinese offensive took place on December 31.
On that last night of 1950, 400,000 Chinese and about 100,000 North Koreans rushed into battle shouting, "Kill the G.I.s!" »; they crossed the 38' parallel and swept en masse upon the Eighth Army. Units of South Koreans broke off the fight and fled, abandoning rifles, pistols, cannons, mortars, machine guns, in short everything that could hinder their progress. Ridgway himself surprised a column of fugitives just north of Seoul on January 1, 1951. He jumped out of his jeep and jumped into the middle of the road in an attempt to stop the trucks full of South Koreans. orders for posts to pick up the fugitives to be set up further in. Eventually the South Korean rout was halted.
American units had also retreated before the Chinese offensive. Demoralized, they found nothing to comfort them in the hasty withdrawal of Ridgway, threatened with being outflanked.
The Eighth Army abandoned Seoul on January 4 and blew up the bridges -pontoons on the nearby Han River. Inchon was evacuated the same day. The sight of the red flag of North Korea flying above the Capitol Palace in Seoul was very hard felt by the men of the Eighth Army who had just realized that their retreat of 450 km in 4 days was the longest of the history of the United States. To top it off, 13,000 men had perished and significant amounts of material had been lost.
Despite everything, Ridgway managed to stay south of Seoul, which forced the Chinese to turn east. There they concentrated their efforts on Wonju where they managed to break through, seriously threatening units of the American 2nd Division. But this impressive display of Chinese power was short-lived.
Ridgway plugged the breach with his reserves, dissipating the danger.
January 15, thanks to the 'indisputable superiority of his air force, Ridgway had stabilized the front along a line crossing the peninsula from east to west, from north of Ansong to north of Samchock passing slightly south of Wonju.
At this time, the Chinese armies, short of supplies, had to interrupt their actions. At the same time, they had to face an even more serious problem:the weakness of their increasingly long lines of communication and vulnerability to the air attacks of the United Nations.
The United Nations Air Force, which since 18 December had had the powerful jet-powered fighter-interceptor, the F86 Saber, did much to protect the Eighth Army during its long retreat, pounding the Chinese and slowing their advance. Now that Ridgway's troops were firmly entrenched on their defensive line, the Chinese, forced to move more openly, once again suffered the blows of the air force. Their advance in South Korea had, in fact, reached its limit.
It was then that Ridgway planned a series of limited-target attacks that would make better use of modern weaponry. The long, slow motorized columns, unsuited to the terrain of Korea, were abandoned in favor of what Ridgway himself called:"Strong legs and strong firepower".