bloodycrackdown6

`Operation Showdown' aims to push Chinese off Triangle Hill.

Oct. 10-16, 1952 - The ROK 9th Division reports early on Oct. 10 that it has regained control of White Horse Hill, but that doesn't mean the Chinese have given up. The Reds keep throwing masses of troops at the South Koreans, regardless of the huge losses.

The 9th also may have been lucky. A Chinese prisoner now reveals that on Oct. 9 part of a Chinese division was forming to attack them when a flight of Fifth Air Force planes attacked them, wreaking heavy casualties and damage. The enemy troops had to reform after that, keeping them out of the fighting.

Through Oct. 11 the Chinese keep attacking White Horse and many other hills in the I Corps zone, but they seem fanatically dedicated to taking White Horse.

On Oct. 12 the enemy seems to take a break and ROK 9th Division troops use the lull to go on the offensive themselves. The 30th Regiment passes through the dug-in 29th Regiment and attacks the Chinese. Then the fresh 28th Regiment moves through the 30th and continues the attack.

The regiments keep leapfrogging like this, sometimes with fresh troops, until Oct. 15, when enemy forces are cleared off the hill, and the 9th Division is in complete control.

The Chinese do manage to take ROK positions on Hill 391 Oct. 13, about seven miles northeast of White Horse, after six days of fighting. On Oct. 13 a company from the 7th Infantry Division tries to regain the lost ground, but is repulsed by the enemy. Then on Oct. 16, a battalion from the 9th Division's 28th Regiment clears the heights, but has to defend against counterattacks.

U.N. officials estimate the Chinese began the offense against White Horse with a fighting force of about 15,000 soldiers. Over 10 days they lost about 10,000 troops while the 9th suffered about 3,500 casualties.

While the South Koreans hold onto White Horse, the 7th Infantry Division begins Operation Showdown Oct. 14 aimed against well-dug-in Chinese atop the Triangle Hill mass that has a series of heights on it. If the 7th I.D. can push the enemy off, the next defensive positions are about 1,250 yards away. That would be a lot of territory for an attacking force to cross with U.N. guns trained on them.

Gen. Mark Clark, U.N. supreme commander, who doesn't like the losses involved with fighting for hills, thinks the goal of Showdown is worth the effort. He's also been told that the heights can be taken from the Chinese who hold them.

Triangle Hill is V-shaped and pointing south. Pike's Peak is at the end of the left leg. Along the right leg are Jane Russell Hill and Sandy Ridge.

The hills receive very little air and artillery preparation Oct. 14 because most of those assets are still being used to support the ROK 9th ID. However, the Chinese seem to have plenty of artillery and mortars to spare against the Americans.

The 1st and 3rd Battalions of the 31st Infantry Regiment are assigned to assault the hill mass that is Triangle Hill Oct. 14. The soldiers make it to the precipices of a couple of hills, but are thrown off, and all attacking battalions are back at friendly lines that night.

However, two companies make it to the top of Jane Russell Hill. As they wait for the counterattack, they see an eerie sight. The counterattacking Chinese soldiers moved through their own artillery and mortar fire as if they're not aware of it, and repeat the action as they go through American defensive fire. Observers think the enemy troops had been drugged for the assault. They close to hand-to-hand fighting. The Americans are almost out of ammunition so they withdraw.

On Oct. 15, E Company, 2nd Battalion makes it to the top of Hill 598 with surprisingly light resistance. Then the soldiers move on to the bottom of Pike's Peak. There they find the Chinese in an intricate cave and tunnel system that will be difficult to clear.

On Oct. 16, the 2nd Battalion, 17th IR, minus a company, takes Jane Russell Hill against unexpected light resistance. The 2nd Battalion, 31st IR, is attacking the Reds in the tunnel complex at the base of Pike's Peak with no success. As darkness falls, the American units undergo a second night of pounding by enemy artillery and mortars.

The Chinese hit the 2nd of the 31st in a series of strong counterattacks throughout the night, but the GIs hold on.

As the week ends, the 7th ID has a battalion on Hill 598, another on Jane Russell Hill and the battalion facing the fortified Pike's Peak. Casualties have been heavy.

In other war developments, the Air Force and Eighth Army announce Oct. 12 that reports of accidental bombing of Greek troops by American planes Sept. 28 were not true.

A staged Asian and Pacific Peace Conference closes in Peking Oct. 13. A statement is released condemning the U.S.' "unjustifiable conduct ... in unilaterally adjourning" truce sessions. It demands returning "all prisoners of war ... in accordance with the Geneva Convention of 1949" and says that "all foreign troops, including the Chinese People's Volunteers, must be withdrawn and the Korean people left free to settle their domestic affairs in their own way."

Lt. Gen. William K. Harrison, U.N. chief delegate, sends a letter to North Korean Lt. Gen. Nam Il Oct. 16. He says the U.N. team is ready to come back to the negotiating table anytime the communists have a "constructive" proposal for ending the POW repatriation question. He accuses them of using "half-truths, lies and distortions" in the propaganda accusing the U.N. of breaking off truce talks.


Oct. 12-14 -- French paratroops, backed by artillery and aircraft, attack the Viet Minh guerrillas in Vietnam, or Indochina, Oct. 12. They continue the first-ever winter offensive against the rebels that started on Oct. 5. On Oct. 13 the French say they killed 300 guerrillas and captured 325 in the drive to trap the rebels between Ninhbinh and Phat Diem 65 miles southeast of Hanoi. Bad weather slows the French forces Oct. 14 and the Viet Minh slip away.


Oct. 15 -- The weekly tally of American casualties by the Defense Department through Oct. 10 is up to 121,154, including 21,233 dead.

On the closing day of the All-Union Communist Party Congress meeting in Moscow, Soviet Premier Josef Stalin tells foreign communists they must support the USSR as the best way to advance their countries' "best interests." He says they should fight for "bourgeois democratic freedoms" and "national sovereignty" and oppose "exploitation" of ordinary citizens by "those who have capital."

The speech, scheduled for 10 minutes, takes 35 minutes because of frequent, prolonged, noisy ovations. Stalin ends it by yelling "Down with the warmongers."


Oct. 16 -- Winter gear was issued to troops in Korea earlier this month a spokesman reveals. It includes "Mickey Mouse" all-rubber boots the Marines tested last year.

Secretary of State Dean Acheson delivers the first major speech in a new session of the U.N. General Assembly with a "moderate" statement on U.N. involvement in Korea. There are rumors that other delegates from countries persuaded Acheson not to threaten increased military pressure to get the communists to agree to an armistice in Korea. Acheson urges the U.N. to meet the "crucial test" by fighting as long it takes to bring peace in Korea. U.S. spokesmen say that there were no concessions in Acheson's speech. Such tough talk is reserved for the Security Council, they say.