Evening star., 1951-05-19
Chinese Forces
Pose New Threat
In West Korea
sv the Associated Press

VICIOUS dIIdSho Ny
Chinese Reds on the bloody Gen.
tral Korean front.
The front quieted this after
noon.
Some officers said they believed
four days of slaughter by the
Allies finally had sapped the
strength of Communists trying to
crack the central front.
A briefing officer at 9th Army
headquarters sounded the first
optimistic note since the Reds
launched their second spring Of
fensive. ii
"The situation is shaping up
he said.
The I'd Division and its French
and Dutch componentS fought out
of a Red trap yesterday. Field
dispatches said they killed 10000
or more Reds.
Tells of Slaughter.
Col. John C. Coughlin. who led
one regiment back to Allied lines
after SO hours of entrapment,
said:
I'VE slaughtered so many their
blood covers our boots because we
had to walk over them to get
into the new perimeter."
The I'd was f1anked and sur
rounded for a time because South
Korean forces on it's right col
lapsed under the first impact OF
the new Red smash.
If the South Koreans hadn't
been forced back, Col. Coughlin
said, I'VE would have piled so
many Chinks on the minefields to
our front that our own troops
would not have been able to climb
over the hills of bodies"
Col. Coughlin addtd that cap
fL1ed Red said the Communists
hac special orders to destroy the
I'd Division.
They wanted revenge for the
defeat we handed them at Chip
yong and Wonju when we smashed
their offensive last winter"
Tanks Pick OFF Reds.
In meeting one of the renewed
Red attacks today, the ID Divisionl
troops let Reds advance within
close machinegun range. Then.
while the rapid firing guns poured
out a withering fire, tanks roared
out and picked off surviving Reds.
The main Red blows were struck
east and west of Hangye, SIS miles
northeast of Seoul.
To the west, Chinese troops
crossed the Hongchon River in
force in front of American and
South Korean lines, posing
threat of new attack. Some wore
the traditional white clothes OF
Korean civilians. Many led pack
animals burdened with supplies.
The Reds surrounded a South
Korean force which held high
ground in the Hongchong reser-
voir area, but the South Koreans
fought clear with the support OF
Navy planes.
American patrols ran into heavy
enemy automatic weapons and
mortar fire in the area, but pulled
back without losses.
Considerable Buildup."
Allied officers said the Reds
still had a considerable" buildup
on the central front and could
be expected to renew their at
tacks at any time.
There was little fresh word from
the critical eastern front, where
the Reds had surged southwark
through a gap in the line left by
the withdrawal of two South ko-
rean divisions.
The two divisions. however,
were reported still fighting as a
unit.
The Red chain-reaction offen-
sive spread today to the western
front. A battalion of Communists
attacked South Koreans north
west of Seoul. 1t was the strong
est Communist attack in weeks in
that sector.
Red troops last night entered
the abandoned road hub Of
Uijongbu, II miles north of Seoul,
the Korean capital.
A Chinese patrol of 10 or Is
men ran into barbed wire this
morning on Scouts outer defense
perimeter. The patrol was fired
on Immediately
An 9th Army briefer said the
I'd Division regiment fell back
before heavy pressure" from Chi
nese who slipped through a gap
left by South Korean withdrawal
on the 2nd's right.
, Nothing was heard from the
South Korean division crumpled
by the Reds on the first day OF
their drive.
An officer said this could be
explained by the fact that most
communications have been dis
rupted in the Allied withdrawal
and by the fierce battles along
the front.
The Red penetration was aimed
down the eaSt-central road from
1nje southwestward toward Han.
eye and Yongchon.
The I'd Division was bearing the
brunt OF Communist drive fol
the fifth time in the war. Once
more it escaped a death trap sci
by the Reds. just as it did al
Kunu. Womb, Chipyong and ir
Massacre Valley"
Chinese troops made three at.
tacks today against South Korean
troops southwest of Changgong
Is miles northeast of Seoul.
A United States Army task forct
operating in the same area brok,
through a Communist minehele
(see KOREA. Page Asp
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