Battle of the Twin Tunnels

Coordinates: 37°26′35″N 127°40′19″E / 37.443°N 127.672°E / 37.443; 127.672
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Battle of the Twin Tunnels
Part of the Korean War
Date1 February 1951
Location37°26′35″N 127°40′19″E / 37.443°N 127.672°E / 37.443; 127.672
Result UN victory
Belligerents

 United Nations

China
Commanders and leaders
Ralph Monclar
China Peng Dehuai
Units involved

United States X Corps

China 42nd Army

  • 125th Division
Strength
3,000 10,000[2]
Casualties and losses

France:32 killed
100 wounded[3]

United States:13 killed
1,300 killed (counted)
3,600 killed (estimated)

The Battle of the Twin Tunnels (French: Bataille de Twin-Tunnels) took place during the Korean War. In which the UN forces inflicted heavy casualties on the People's Volunteer Army (PVA). The "Twin Tunnels" refer to a series of railroad tunnels along the Central Line in eastern Jije-myeon, Yangpyeong County, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea.

A series of battles, including Twin Tunnels, the Battle of Chipyong-ni and the Third Battle of Wonju between January and February 1951 marked a turning point in many ways for the entire Korean War.

Background

When U.S.

Eighth Army commander General Matthew Ridgway on 30 January for a X Corps - Republic of Korea Army (ROK) III Corps operation similar to Operation Thunderbolt
, he was in the process of extending X Corps’ diversionary effort ordered earlier by Ridgway. Having achieved the
Pyongchang. At the same time, the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division, due to move north along the Corps' left boundary as far as Chip’yong-ni, 8 miles (13 km) east of Yangp’yong, could protect the right flank of IX Corps as Operation Thunderbolt continued.[4]

In the recent course of protecting IX Corps' right, a joint motorized patrol from the 2nd and

: 248–9 

Battle

Army University Press presents Korea: Twin Tunnels. This documentary addresses how the U.S. Army fought in the Korean peninsula, while accentuating doctrine pertinent to today’s U.S. Army.

Near dawn on 1 February the 375th and 374th Regiments attacked from the north and northeast, respectively, and after daylight the 373rd Regiment assaulted the perimeter from the northwest and southwest. In hard, close-in fighting lasting all day, the defending battalions, relying heavily on artillery fire and on more than eighty air strikes finally forced the PVA to withdraw. Freeman's forces counted 1,300 enemy bodies outside their perimeter and estimated total PVA casualties at 3,600. Their own losses were 45 killed, 207 wounded, and 4 missing.[4]: 249 

Aftermath

Judging from the two sharp actions at the twin tunnels, the PVA appeared determined to retain control of Chip’yong-ni. They had good reason. The town was so situated that the force occupying it could control movements over Route 2 to the west, over Route 24 to the northeast, over Routes 24 and 24A below town, and thus through the

Hongcheon, at the intersection of Routes 24 and 29 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Chip’yong-ni and 15 miles (24 km) north of Hoengsong. This force, apparently part of the KPA V Corps, could be preparing to advance southwest on Route 24 through Chip’yongni, then down the Han valley toward Yoju and Ch’ungju. Or the V Corps might again push forces south on Route 29 through Hoengsong toward Wonju. To spoil either move, Almond considered Hongcheon the proper main objective of a X Corps attack. To disrupt both the KPA V Corps and II Corps, he outlined a coordinated X Corps-ROK III Corps advance, Operation Roundup.[4]
: 249 

References

  1. ^ "Korean War timeline 1951". Archived from the original on 2007-10-05.
  2. ^ Army University Press (2019). "Korea: Twin Tunnels". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2022-07-22. Retrieved 2022-07-22. 34:54
  3. ^ "Batailles de Twin-tunnels et de Chipyong-Ni" (in French). 2013. Archived from the original on 2021-01-17. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  4. ^ a b c d Mossman, Billy (1988). United States Army in the Korean War: Ebb and Flow November 1950-July 1951. United States Army Center of Military History. p. 248. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

Bibliography

External links