Evening star., 1950-08-10
U. 5. Force Traps Reds
To Close on Chinju;
North Drive Halted
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NVtIlI DIIVV ItOAuS0
CONTINUED From First Page)
about 7 pm. Is am. EDT) killing
300 Reds and capturing 20, the
communique said
Farther north on the 14o-mile
front, South Koreans captured
three Russian made tanks in close
fighting. Planes knocked out six
more.
The Allied gains on the south
coast were the biggest OF the
United Nations offensive which
jumped of Monday westward
from near Masan, south coast
port.
Reds Abandon Arms.
Hundreds of North Koreans
were forced to retreat toward
Chinju base SO fast they left guam
titles of arms and equipment be-
hind. They were of the North
Korean 9Th Division.
The Red high command seemed
determined to make the 9Th stand
to the death in the south.
In apparently sacrificing the 9Th
Division, the Red command di-
verted the North Korean 1St Di-
vision toward the Naktong River
barrier battle 20 miles north of
Chinju. The 1st Division had been
supporting the 9th Division
around Chinju.
United States 9th Army head
quarters said the 9Th may try to
nc',e a stand in high ground west
of Chinju.
Pockets of Reds Destroyed.
Don Whitehead, Associated
Press correspondent, reported
from the front that United States
reserve units destroyed pockets
of Reds whose guns had stalled
the southern thrust from Monday
until yesterday.
Resistance on the road to Chin
ju was described as light" by
general officer. The Americans
captured high ground 6 miles east
of Chinju after a sharp skirmish.
American patrols of the 5th and
35Uh Army Regimental Teams
were within miles Of Chinju.
Tom Lambert, Associated Press
correspondent, reported advanced
units Spurted IS miles to join
forces with the 35th Combat Team
II miles east of Chinju. That
snapped the steel trap.
Red BattaliOnS Reduced.
The link-up cut of an estimated
100 square miles of rugged land
and pocketed remnants of two
Red battalions. In the fighting |
for Chinju the battalionS are
estimated to have been reduced
from 1000 men to 1000.
United States 5th Regiment ,
Marines entered Kosong, a south
coast village. Mr.. Lambert re-
ported the spirits of the Leather
necks and the Doughboys just to
the north of them were high.
An American general staff Off
Ger said the retreat of the North
Koreans toward Chinju was "inI
the nature of a rout." The main
body of United States Army
troops was five miles out of
Chinju last night.
Flyers Knock Out Tanks.
Marines flyers supporting the
Chinju drive reported knocking
out two 50-ton Russian tanks.
The Marines said they flew so
low that North Korean mortars
fired at them from heights of
ridges above them.
Twenty miles north of Chinju
the Communists had fought into
the Allied east bank of the Max
tong and established a mile-long
battle line. A breakthrough by
the estimated 5000 Reds could i'm
peril Taegu. % miles northwest of
the bridgehead.
Forces of the oath division, the
veteran American outfit of the
Korean war, were repulsed in at
tacks on the Reds, Associated |
Press Correspondent o. H. P.
King reported.
900 Red Bodies Counted.
The cavalrymen and South Ko-
rean troops disposed of two small
er Red forces that crossed the
Naktong about Is miles north
west of Taegu. In addition to the
300 Reds the cavalrymen killed,
the South Koreans counted 900
Communist bodies on their river
side battlefield of yesterday.
The larger of these two river
crossing forces was at Nosok vii
lage, about 2 miles south of Waeg- |
wan. At Opyong, the Reds turned
their own artillery on their own
men to make them stand and
fight. Opyong is Z miles north
of NoSok.
A spokesman at Gen. MacAr-
thurs headquarters said this type
of persuasion bombardment"
has been used before by the Reds
in efforts to drive their troops
forward into battle.