His new command, which had less 10,000 men, was withdrawn to Daegu to rest, but then Lieutenant General Walton Walker, the commander of the U.S. Eighth Army, decided that he needed the 24th to guard the southwest sector, known as the Naktong Bulge, of the Pusan Perimeter. On 6 August, during the subsequent battle, the North Korean 4th Division inflicted more losses on Church's division, breaking though its 34th Infantry Regiment. He had believed initially that the attack was just a probe and only belatedly requested reinforcements from Walker, who had few reserves. Finally, Church, by now promoted to major general, was able to regroup his men and by 18 August had largely destroyed the North Korean division, with the help of a brigade of marines.