On July 8, when the U.S. 34th Regiment was defeated and Cheonan was occupied by North Korean troops, Major General Dean of the U.S. 24th Division deployed the 21st Regiment to Jeonui and Jochiwon, the 34th Regiment, which had withdrawn from Cheonan, to Gongju, and the 19th Regiment from Daegu to Geumgang. Deployed in Daepyeong-ri at the southern end to support the 21st Regiment from the rear.
Major General Dean emphasized the importance of defending Jochiwon to Colonel Stevenson, commander of the 21st Regiment, saying, “If Jochiwon falls, the supply route for the Korean Army’s 1st Corps in Cheongju will be blocked.”
Accordingly, the 21st Regiment establishes the regimental headquarters in Jochiwon, establishes the first defensive position with the 1st battalion on Oyat Hill, south of Jeon, and establishes the second defensive position with the 3rd battalion on the ridge 1.5km to the rear. It also establishes an artillery position in Bodeok-ri, 5km to the rear.
On the morning of July 9, the 21st Regiment dug deep trenches, established a firepower plan for artillery and mortar operation, and carried out shooting to record specifications, while the Engineer Corps fought by blowing up bridges from Cheonan to Jeonui to delay the advance of North Korean tanks. Make every effort to prepare. Additionally, in order to receive air support in a timely manner, request and be assigned to a close air support team.
In the early morning of July 10th, a thick early morning fog covered the battlefield, and the soldiers of the 1st Battalion in the trenches could hear the sound of North Korean troops approaching the position and the sound of tanks rolling through the fog, but could not see them.
The North Korean army took advantage of the thick fog to secretly approach a small number of advance units and induce the U.S. military’s response fire with loud fire, and then identified the location of the defensive positions. Some of the troops maintained a secret position and bypassed the eastern flank of the 1st Battalion’s position to advance to the rear. At the same time, a North Korean tank secretly passed through the road in the fog, and North Korean infantry and tanks suddenly attacked and devastated the mortar position in the rear.
As the fog cleared at 9 a.m., the North Korean Army’s powerful artillery bombardment began toward the 1st Battalion’s position. The North Korean Army’s artillery fire destroyed the regimental commander’s vehicle radio and the artillery observer’s radio, so artillery support was halted (the mortar position had already been destroyed) and air support was provided. The attack was briefly halted due to bombing by US and US fighter planes, but when the fighter jets returned, the attack resumed.
Meanwhile, the rear artillery was unable to understand the emergency situation of the 1st Battalion. When communication was cut off and there was no communication from the 1st Battalion, the artillery decided that the 1st Battalion’s position had collapsed and was occupied by the North Korean army, and opened fire on the 1st Battalion’s position.
The 1st Battalion’s position was receiving intensive artillery fire from both North Korean and friendly forces, becoming a scene of brutal slaughter, and soldiers leaving the position one after another.
At Oyat Hill on the left side of the battalion, communication was cut off with the last message being “The position is surrounded and most of the members have fallen.” Colonel Stevenson, the regimental commander, ran around here and there encouraging battles and shouting to defend the position, but in the end, the regimental commander and a few others With only his officers and a few soldiers left, he had no choice but to order a retreat.
Colonel Stevenson and the 1st Battalion were withdrawing across overgrown rice fields and rivers because the rear road was blocked. This time, they were mistaken for North Korean soldiers by our fighter planes, not our artillery, and were brutally strafed and fell to the ground. This is how the 1st Battalion fell. is defeated and withdraws to Jochiwon.
On July 11, the North Korean army’s attack on the 3rd Battalion’s position, which was building the second defensive position, began. The North Korean army checked the 3rd Battalion’s troop deployment status and command post location in advance the night before, and then attacked the command post and the command post with field artillery and mortars at dawn the next day. The communication handling center and ammunition storage area were precisely bombarded, and as communication equipment was destroyed, the battalion’s command function was paralyzed. In addition, a shell hit the ammunition storage area, causing a series of explosions, killing more than half of the battalion headquarters troops.
With no artillery support due to a loss of communication, four North Korean tanks broke through the minefield, broke through the defensive position, and ran backwards along the road. The 3rd Battalion fell into confusion and ordered a retreat.
However, there were many soldiers who refused to come out of the trenches, saying, “Go alone. I have given up everything. You can become a prisoner.”
The 3rd Battalion, whose retreat route was blocked, individually dispersed and withdrew into the mountains and rice fields, and in the process, the battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Jackson, and an intelligence officer were killed, and the battalion operations officer, personnel officer, and A Company commander went missing.
After receiving reports of the crushing defeat of the 1st and 3rd Battalions, Major General Dean realized that the fall of Jochiwon was imminent and prepared for the withdrawal of Jochiwon by having the engineers set up obstacles on the road from Jochiwon to Geumgang.
Before the dawn fog covered
Light tanks have good mobility and heavy tanks have good protection, but in actual tank battles, light tanks with good mobility survive, and heavy tanks with slow movements are likely to fall behind and become food for the infantry (the reason why heavy tanks are eliminated).
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