Battle of Pyongtaek The Battle of Pyongtaek was the second engagement between United States and North Korean forces during the Korean War , occurring on July 6 , 1950 in the village of Pyongtaek in western South Korea . The fight ended in a North Korean victory following unsuccessful attempts by American forces to inflict significant damage or delays on advancing North Korean units , despite several opportunities to do so . The United States Army ' s 34th Infantry Regiment , 24th Infantry Division was assigned to delay elements of the North Korean People ' s Army ' s 4th Infantry Division as it advanced south following its victory at the Battle of Osan the day before . The regiment emplaced at Pyongtaek and Ansong attempting to form a line to hold the North Koreans in an area where the terrain formed a bottleneck between mountains and the Yellow Sea . Half of the regiment ' s strength was ordered to retreat from its position before the North Korean force was encountered , leaving the flank open for the remaining force , 1st Battalion at Pyongtaek . The battalion encountered North Korean forces the morning of July 6 , and after a brief fight , was unable to repel them effectively . The battalion then mounted a disorganized retreat to Cheonan several miles away , having failed to significantly delay the North Korean forces in their movement south . Background . Outbreak of war . On the night of June 25 , 1950 , 10 divisions of the North Korean People ' s Army launched a full - scale invasion on the nation ' s neighbor to the south , the Republic of Korea . The force of 89 , 000 men moved in six columns , catching the Republic of Korea Army completely by surprise , resulting in a disastrous rout for the South Koreans , who were disorganized , ill - equipped , and unprepared for war . Numerically superior , North Korean forces destroyed isolated resistance from the 38 , 000 South Korean soldiers on the front , advancing steadily south . Most of South Korea ' s forces retreated in the face of the invasion , and by June 28 , the North Koreans had captured Seoul , South Korea ' s capital , forcing the government and its shattered forces to withdraw south . The United Nations Security Council voted to send assistance to the collapsing country . US President Harry S . Truman subsequently ordered ground troops into the nation . However , US forces in the Far East had been steadily decreasing since the end of World War II five years earlier . At the time , the closest forces were the 24th Infantry Division of the Eighth United States Army , which was headquartered in Japan under the command of Major General William F . Dean . However , the division was under strength , and most of its equipment was antiquated due to reductions in military spending following World War II . In spite of these deficiencies , the 24th Infantry Division was ordered into South Korea . Battle of Osan . From the 24th Infantry Division , one battalion was assigned to be airlifted into Korea via C - 54 Skymaster transport aircraft and move quickly to block advancing North Korean forces while the remainder of the division could be transported to South Korea on ships . The 21st Infantry Regiment was determined to be the most combat - ready of the 24th Infantry Division ' s three regiments , and the 21st Infantry ' s 1st Battalion was selected because its commander , Lieutenant Colonel Charles B . Smith , was the most experienced , having commanded a battalion at the Battle of Guadalcanal during World War II . On July 5 , Task Force Smith engaged North Korean forces at the Battle of Osan , delaying over 5 , 000 North Korean infantry for seven hours before being routed and forced back . During that time , the 24th Division ' s 34th Infantry Regiment , with 2 , 000 men organized into the 1st and 3rd Battalions , was the second US unit into Korea , and was sent by rail north from Pusan . The 1st Battalion , 34th Infantry emplaced at Pyongtaek , south of Osan , to block the next North Korean advance . Pyongtaek was a village consisting mostly of wooden huts and muddy roads In the meantime , 3rd Battalion , 34th Infantry was emplaced at Anseong , several miles east . The two battalions were assigned to form a line to block any North Korean advance . Terrain south of the Ansong – Pyongtaek line was substantially more open , meaning the line sat on a bottleneck , with mountain ranges to the east and an inlet of the Yellow Sea to the west . Therefore , Dean considered the line vital to his defensive plans . The 1st Battalion was unprepared for a fight as it was poorly trained and had no tanks or anti - tank guns to fight North Korean armor . Shortages of equipment hampered the entire division ' s efforts . Shortages in heavy guns reduced artillery support to the entire division . Communications equipment , weapons , and ammunition was largely absent , large amounts of equipment were " en route " but the division had been under - equipped in Japan . Most of the radios available to the division did not work , and batteries , communication wire , and telephones to communicate among units were in short supply . The division had no tanks : its new M26 Pershing and older M4A3 Sherman tanks had not yet arrived . One of the few weapons that could penetrate the North Korean T - 34 , high explosive anti - tank ammunition , was in short supply . The paucity of radios and wire hampered communication between and among the American units . The battalion ' s new commander , Lieutenant Colonel Ayres , was apparently given faulty intelligence , and he told his command that the Koreans advancing south were poorly trained and poorly equipped . The battalion formed a line north of Pyongtaek , in a series of grassy hills and rice paddies where it dug in and prepared for advancing North Korean forces . The soldiers of the battalion were equipped with only M - 1 Garand rifles or other weapons , C - rations , and less than 100 rounds of ammunition each , whilst Only one M2 Browning machine gun was available to each platoon . There were no grenades and little to no ammunition for any of the heavier weapons which could be used against North Korean tanks . Additionally , only a few of the soldiers of the regiment had any combat experience from World War II , and they had been hastily transferred from another division the day before . Battle . Opening moves . A reconnaissance team sent north on the evening of July 5 reported seeing tanks south of Osan . The team attempted to destroy a tank it spotted in the village of Sojong but was unsuccessful ; it suffered one killed ( Private Kenneth R . Shadrick ) and was forced to return to Pyongtaek . Shortly after , several survivors from Task Force Smith arrived at 1st Battalion ' s command post telling stories of their defeat at Osan , but Ayres did not believe they were accurate . Brigadier General George B . Barth , acting division artillery commander for the 24th Infantry Division , stopped by the command post and ordered that the battalion hold only as long as it could , and not to risk being flanked or surrounded , wary of the defeat at Osan . Barth then moved to the 34th Infantry Regiment ' s command where he ordered regimental commander Colonel Jay B . Lovless to consolidate the Regiment at Cheonan to the south . Lovless subsequently moved 3rd Battalion south , without having ever engaged the enemy . Barth believed the 34th Infantry would not be able to defend Pyongtaek as long as the 21st Infantry defended Osan . From 3rd Battalion , L Company was detached and ordered to hold south of Pyongtaek to cover the 1st Battalion when it retreated . This order was not carried out , and L Company left for Chonan . Having pushed back Task Force Smith at Osan , the North Korean 4th Infantry Division , supported by elements of the North Korean 105th Armored Division , continued their advance down the Osan - Pyongtaek road , up to 12 , 000 men strong under division commander Lee Kwon Mu in two infantry regiments supported by dozens of tanks . Barth , who had been with Task Force Smith as an observer , had ordered the 1st Battalion , 34th Infantry to hold until the North Koreans threatened to envelop them , then to fall back to successive positions south , delaying the North Korean force as long as possible . At midnight on July 5 , several more survivors of Task Force Smith streamed into the battalion ' s lines . At 0300 on July 6 , the battalion destroyed a small bridge over a stream north of its position . North Korean attack . Rain and fog were heavy throughout the morning of July 6 , and visibility was limited for the emplaced troops . Just after daybreak , 13 North Korean T - 34 tanks were spotted stopped at the bridge . Following them were two columns of infantry . The American forces originally believed that they might be survivors of Task Force Smith until they realized the forces were deploying in numbers too great , and began preparing to attack the unsuspecting North Koreans . The battalion ' s commander ordered mortar fire on the North Korean forces , causing them to disperse as the lead tank began firing on the positions of A Company , on a hill southwest of the road . Mortar fire destroyed a truck , but a round from a North Korean tank stunned the artillery observer and no - one took his place in the confusion , ending the American mortar attack . North Korean forces immediately began advancing on A Company ' s position , but the company was not able to return fire effectively , with fewer than half of its soldiers using their weapons . For several minutes only squad and platoon leaders shot back while the rest of the soldiers hid in their foxholes . Within fifteen minutes , B Company was able to return fire effectively , and by this time the North Korean forces had advanced steadily toward 1st Battalion ' s position . Later examinations found many American soldiers ' weapons were assembled incorrectly or were dirty or broken . The Americans had nothing with which to fight the tanks , and were unable to do anything to stop them . As North Korean soldiers advanced , they began to envelop both A and B Companies , and 30 minutes after the first shots were fired , both companies were ordered to withdraw , one platoon at a time . C Company , kept in reserve during the engagement , retreated without coming in contact with North Korean forces . A Company , under the heaviest attack , attempted a gradual withdrawal which quickly became disorderly , as men ran from the hill , some without weapons and ammunition , being strafed by North Korean machine guns the entire time . Panic quickly overtook many of the men of the battalion , and they started running past the designated rally points , all the way to Pyongtaek . Others , too scared to retreat , remained in their foxholes and were captured by the North Korean forces . One officer attempted to stay behind and search for survivors , before he and three others were allegedly captured and executed by North Korean forces . Company commanders gathered what men they could and began moving south , though one - fourth of 1st Battalion was killed , missing or captured immediately after the brief fight . The retreating elements left a trail of equipment behind , littering the road back to Pyongtaek with ammunition , helmets , and rain gear . In the disorderly retreat one platoon from A Company was left behind , and had to retreat through a railway for cover . American withdrawal . The battalion regrouped at Pyongtaek itself , mostly a mass of disorganized soldiers without leadership . Engineers with the battalion demolished a bridge north of the town before moving south . The remains of A Company then headed for Cheonan , regrouping there with the rest of the 1st and 3rd Battalions which had also withdrawn . Though a few jeeps and trucks were found and commandeered , most of the retreat was carried out on foot . A few scattered artillery shells landed around the retreating force , but North Korean soldiers did not aggressively pursue them . By noon the disorganized remains of the 34th Infantry had outrun all enemy fire and were out of immediate danger . The soldiers , most of their equipment missing , made no attempt at further delaying actions , and were unable to communicate with other units because their radio equipment had been lost . As they were retreating , an American aircraft accidentally strafed the column , injuring one South Korean soldier moving with them , further demoralizing the soldiers . The 34th Infantry Regiment began to set up a new line south of Chonan by nightfall , even though many of its men no longer had equipment to fight with . Aftermath . General Dean , the divisional commander , was angered by the poor performance of the 34th Infantry Regiment during the battle . He allegedly was upset that the regiment retreated so quickly without attempting to further delay the North Koreans . He considered ordering the regiment back north immediately but did not do so for fear of ambush . Dean replaced the commander of the 34th Infantry , Colonel Lovless , and ordered the 3rd Battalion back north , but when it encountered North Korean resistance it immediately became disorganized and was forced to withdraw . The engagement at Pyongtaek had caused a significant decline in morale among American forces fighting on the peninsula , and this would continue until victories at Inchon and the Pusan Perimeter allowed them to go on the offensive . Dean took the blame for the defeat himself , and historians consider him at least partially at fault for expecting one inexperienced battalion to hold the line against a numerically superior enemy who was well - trained . The regiment was forced to regroup at Cheonan and oppose the North Korean forces again , and it suffered heavy casualties before being forced to withdraw after the Battle of Cheonan . The 24th Infantry Division would continue to fight in delaying actions such as this one for two more weeks until it was overwhelmed at the Battle of Taejon , however by that time the Pusan Perimeter would be in place , and other US divisions would be able to hold the line for several more months during the Battle of Pusan Perimeter until the Inchon Landings , when American forces would finally defeat the North Korean Army , ending the first phase of the war .