Following the Battle of Inchon and subsequent Second Battle of Seoul, the North Korean Army was largely defeated, and the 19th Infantry was one of the units of the Eighth United States Army which pursued the fleeing North Koreans north of the 38th Parallel with the intention of reuniting the country. However, beginning in October 1950, the People's Republic of China conducted the First Phase Offensive, a surprise attack against the advancing United Nations forces, which were unprepared to counter the offensive. By early November, Red Cloud and his unit had advanced to the Ch'ongch'on River.