page_title: The Great Naktong Offensive
section_title: Second Naktong Bulge
hierarchical_section_title: The Great Naktong Offensive / Battle / Naktong Bulge / Second Naktong Bulge
caption_attribution_description: UN defensive positions along the Changyong area during the Second Battle of Naktong Bulge, 1950.
context_page_description: The Great Naktong Offensive was a North Korean military offensive against United Nations Command forces early in the Korean War, taking place from September 1–15, 1950. It was the North Korean Korean People's Army's unsuccessful final bid to break the Pusan Perimeter established by the UN forces.
  For the first several months of the war, the KPA successfully defeated and pushed back the UN forces south at each encounter. However, by August the UN troops
context_section_description: During the KPA September 1 offensive, the US 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division was heavily engaged in the Battle of Nam River north of Masan. On the 35th Regiment's right flank, just north of the confluence of the Nam River and the Naktong River, was the US 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. There, in the southernmost part of the 2nd Infantry Division zone, the 9th Infantry Regiment held a sector more than 20,000 yards (18,000 m) long, including the bulge area of the Naktong where the First Battle of Naktong Bulge had taken place earlier in August. Each US infantry company on the river line here had a front of 3,000 feet (910 m) to 4,000 feet (1,200 m) and they held only key hills and observation points, as the units were extremely spread out along the wide front.
  During the last week of August, US troops on these hills could see minor KPA activity across the river, which they thought were North Koreans organizing the high ground on the west side of the Naktong against a possible US attack. There were occasional attacks on the 9th Infantry's forward positions, but to the men in the front lines this appeared to be only a standard patrol action. On August 31, the UN forces were alerted to a pending attack when much of the Korean civilian labor force fled the front lines. Intelligence officers reported an attack was coming.
  On the west side of the Naktong, KPA Major General Pak Kyo Sam, commanding the 9th Division, issued his operations order to the division on August 28. Its mission in the forthcoming attack was to outflank and destroy the US troops at Naktong Bulge by capturing the Miryang and Samnangjin areas to cut off the US 2nd Division's route of supply and withdrawal between Taegu and Pusan. However, the KPA were not aware that the US 2nd Infantry Division had recently replaced the 24th Infantry Division in positions along the Naktong River. Consequently, they expected lighter resistance; the 24th Division troops were exhausted from months of fighting but the 2nd Division men were fresh and newly arrived in Korea. They had only recently been moved into the line. The KPA began crossing the Naktong River under cover of darkness at certain points.
  
  The first KPA crossing at the Paekchin ferry caught a Heavy Mortar Platoon unprepared in the act of setting up its weapons. It also caught most of the D and H Company, 9th Infantry men at the base of Hill 209, 0.5 miles (0.80 km) from the crossing site. The KPA killed or captured many of the troops there. The first heavy weapons carrying party was on its way up the hill when the KPA attack engulfed the men below. It hurried on to the top where the advance group waited and there all hastily dug in on a small perimeter. This group was not attacked during the night.
  From 21:30 until shortly after midnight the KPA 9th Division crossed the Naktong at a number of places and climbed the hills quietly toward the 9th Infantry river line positions. Then, when the artillery barrage preparation lifted, the KPA infantry were in position to launch their assaults. These began in the northern part of the regimental sector and quickly spread southward. At each crossing site the KPA would overwhelm local UN defenders before building pontoon bridges for their vehicles and armor.
  At 02:00, B Company was attacked. The hills on both sides of B Company were already under attack as was also Hill 311, a rugged terrain feature a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the river and the KPA's principal immediate objective. On Hill 209 the KPA drove B Company from its position, inflicting very heavy casualties on it.
  At 03:00, 1 September, the 9th Infantry Regiment ordered its only reserve, E Company, to move west along the Yongsan-Naktong River road and take a blocking position at the pass between Cloverleaf Hill and Obong-ni Ridge, 3 miles (4.8 km) from the river and 6 miles (9.7 km) from Yongsan. This was the critical terrain where so much heavy fighting had taken place in the first battle of the Naktong Bulge. Fighting began at the pass at 02:30. A strong KPA force surprised and delivered h
caption: Changyong defensive positions, 1950.
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