China Strikes Back: UN Hopes Shattered at Chosin Reservoir

Three hundred thousand Chinese soldiers materialized from the frozen mountains of North Korea and slammed into United Nations forces that believed the war was nearly won. The Chinese counteroffensive at the Chosin Reservoir, launched on November 26, 1950, shattered General Douglas MacArthur's plan to finish the Korean War by Christmas and transformed the conflict into a grinding, three-year stalemate. MacArthur had been supremely confident. After his brilliant amphibious landing at Inchon in September, UN forces had driven North Korean troops back across the 38th parallel and advanced deep into North Korea. MacArthur assured President Truman that China would not intervene and pushed his forces toward the Yalu River, the Chinese border. American and South Korean units advanced in dispersed columns through mountainous terrain, their supply lines stretched thin in temperatures dropping to minus 35 degrees Fahrenheit. China had warned repeatedly that it would not tolerate hostile forces on its border. Mao Zedong made good on the threat, secretly moving over 300,000 troops across the Yalu in October and November, marching at night and hiding in forests during the day to avoid aerial detection. The attack, when it came, achieved near-total tactical surprise. Chinese forces struck the scattered UN columns simultaneously, surrounding several units and cutting off their retreat routes. The most famous engagement was the 17-day battle at the Chosin Reservoir, where 30,000 surrounded Marines and soldiers fought their way out through seven Chinese divisions. The fighting retreat covered 78 miles in brutal cold, with Marines carrying their wounded and dead. The breakout succeeded, but the broader campaign was a catastrophe. UN forces retreated below the 38th parallel, and Seoul fell to the Chinese in January 1951. The Korean War, which MacArthur had promised was almost over, would continue for two and a half more years.