Madison County Democrat. (London, Ohio) 19??-1958, 1951-04-10
ALLIES NEAR RESERVOIR.
FLO0DGATE ETRICK FAILS
BY olen Clements

lied troops reached the southern
shores of the sprawling Hwachon
Reservoir today but heavy mortar
fire stopped them short of the
big North Korean dam and Hy-
dro-Electric plant.
AP Correspondent Tom Brad
shaw reported from the central
front battle-ground that the water
behind the dam still is about 200
feet deep. The Reds opened 10 of
the reservoirs 18 floodgates Mon
day in a try to halt the Allied
drive But water quickly subsidized
to near-normal levels in the Puk-
han River, reservoir outlet.
American units paced the AL
lies assault on the dam The Com
munists fought back with steady
barrage of mortar shells.
Bradshaw said it was believed
the Chinese lacked the equipment
necessary TO blow the darn.
TOKYO, APRIL 10 Rl -
Allied tanks and infantrymen
blasted their way closer to the
huge Hwachon Reservoir today
on the central Korean front.
Chinese Reds fought back with
artillery and mortar barrages.
A relentless Allied air and artil-
lery bombardment forced COM
munist troops guarding the reser-
voir's massive dam to give
ground.
The Reds trick of opening 10
of the reservoirs 16 floodgates
Monday proved a tactical failure.
The swollen Pukhan River SUBJ
sided to near-normal levels; the
thousands of tons of water il
spilled down the river had failed
to halt Allied troops.
In the air, American F-86 Sabre
jets shot down one Russian-type
MIG-15 jet fighter and damaged
another. The air battle was fought
at low level over Mig Alley
near Sinuiju in northwest Korea
Bitter Communist resistance
was reported from the western
front as Allied patrols probec
deeper into Red Korea. Intelli'
gence reports said the Reds were
sending more troops to this sec
tor.
On the east coast Allied war
ships hammered communist sup
ply dumps and traffic routes
There was no report of grounC
contact on this front.
AS the Allied offensive punched
northward, informed sources il
Tokyo said General Macarthur
had asked for more troops anC
greater latitude in fighting th'
Korean campaign.
Tuesdays heaviest fighting
swirled near the Hwachon Reser
voir.
American tanks rumbled north
ward on the Chunchon-HWachol
road through the narrow Pukhal
River gorge. They were putting
the squeeze on 100000 Reds whl
had been driven back into mar
row neck of land between tn
western end of the dam and tn
river.
On a 15-mile front to the east
Allied infantrymen ran into die
hard communist forces. The Red
opened up with mortar, machin
gun and artillery fire.
About 800 Reds dug in soutl
of the reservoir threw a heav,
mortar barrage at advancing
American troops. Other Red unit
attacked French troops divin
on the reservoirs eastern tip.
Farther east strong and stub
born communist forces bitterl
resisted an American advance i
the Yanggu area.
American and South Korean pa
trolls thrust inside communis
lines ON the western front Tues
day against strong resistance fror
dug-in Red troops.
American patrols pushing mort
from Yonggong withdrew unde
heavy mortar and machine gu
fire. Artillery pounded the Re
positions.
General MacArthur's commit
niques reported the Reds wer
trying to build up their forces a
along this front.
EI...n~I GxnsssaAu