Synopsis E, Korea - Retreat from the Yalu, December 1950-January 1951

C S. INATIONAL AND U.S. KOREA - Synopsis E: Retreat from the Yalu, (Page 1) December 1950 - January 1951 The Retreat The "entirely new wart referred to in MacArthur's communiqué of Begins November 28th (see the end of Synopsis c) developed rapidly in the first days of December. The Communist drive to the south was accelerated on the 2nd, as thrusts were made at UN positions on all fronts. Songshon, on the right flank of the western defense lines, was captured by the enemy; farther east, on the central front Yangdok was lost. US troops in the northeast cut their way down the eastern shore of the Changjin Reservoir from Sinhung to Hagaru, at the southern extremity of the reservoir. Collins left on the 2nd by air for the Far East to confer with MàcArthur and "to obtain a personal view of the situation." Advancing Communist troops on December 4th compelled UN forces to begin a general withdrawal from the Pyongyang area in preparation for evacuating the city. A release issued by MacArthur's head- quarters on the 4th said, in part: "It is estimated that the Chinese Communist forces now opposite the UN forces in North Korea now total 268,000. A further breakdown on this fugure gives 194,000 Communist troops under the 4th Field Army on the western side of the Korean peninsula and another 74,000 on the Eastern front. These troops form the forward combat echelon. In their rear, stretching back to and across the Yalu River, is the second supporting echelon, which is available for a momentary mass buildup in the direction of projected operations. The composition of this latter echelon includes Thus, a minimum of 550,000 men are available as a huge reservoir in this second supporting echelon. The remainder of Communist C hina constitutes other echelon in reserve. Including all categories the C hinese Communists have about 4,000,000 under arms "The presence of these large Communist Chinese forces in Manchuria and North Korea was not the result of a sudden impulse, but must have been preceded by a long period of planning, followed by a considerable time necessary for troop movement, since some of these soldiers came from Central China. Preparations were made long ago. Possibly, the decision to commit them came after it was apparent that the military forces of the North Korean People's Republic had been decisively defeated. Pyongyang On December 5th the UN Command withdrew its last troops from Evacuated Pyongyang and abandoned the former North Korean capital to over- whelming Communist forces. Heavy enemy pressure continued in the vicinity of the Changjir Reservoir and the Communists succeeded in cutting UN lines of communication between Hungnam and Wonsan on the east coast. US Marines isolated at the southern end of the reservoir broke out of the Communist trap at Hagaru on the 6th and began to fight their way to the east coast.