Allies Near Kumsong as Reds Fall Back
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U. S. EIGHTH ARMY HEADQUARTERS, KOREA, Thursday, Oct. 18, 1951, - (AP) – Retreating Reds were pushed to within rifle-range of the big Communist supply center of Kumsong on the Central Front by American and South Korean troops Wednesday.
In Western Korea, however, the U. S. First Cavalry Division was fought almost to a standstill when it attacked behind a smoke screen.
The U. S. Eighth Army Command Wednesday night reported Chinese troops were “slowly withdrawing” south and southeast of Kumsong and offering only light resistance. That Red rail and supply center is 30 miles north of the 38th Parallel.
In the West, the communiqué said cavalry troops used flame throwers and grenades in storming entrenched Communist positions on high ground northeast of Yonchun (?). They met fierce and bitter resistance. Only “minor gains” scored in this Sector, some 35 miles north of Seoul.
In the East, two South Korean Divisions fought toward high ground in the Punchbowl Mountain area southwest of Yanggu(?). The opposition was termed light to moderate.
If Kumsong falls it would be the first town captured by the Allies since last June. Chorwon and Kumhwa fell then, admitting the Allies into the area known as the Iron Triangle. Kumsong, ringed by hills, is 12 miles northeast of Kumhwa.
Kumsong is the last major link in the Central Korean railroad that runs from Seoul northward and northeast to Changdo (?) a few miles northeast of Kumsong.
It is now admitted at Eighth Army Headquarters that the lack of resistance to the sweep of three Allied Divisions on the 22-mile Central Sector came as a great surprise. The U. S. 24th Division and the South Korean Second and Sixth Divisions have gained seven miles in the last five days.
Every preparation had been made for the severest kind of action.
The three Allied divisions Wednesday smashed forward from 1,500 to 2,000 yards against retreating Red formations.
AP Correspondent Sam Summerlin reported than the 24th Division’s sweep had trapped up to 700 or 800 Chinese soldiers around a “hill fortress.” Some of these may have escaped in the darkness, but Allied officers expected a band of 400 to 500 Reds when the net is finally pulled tight.
It was another story in the West where the First Cavalry has been battling since Oct. 3.
AP Correspondent George McArthur said that the cavalry troopers were brought to a standstill in a battle of artillery, flamethrowers and smokescreens.
The troopers jumped off in two separate attacks. One three-hour attack northwest of Yonchon was thrown completely back on its heels. The other succeeded in taking only one of several hills attacked.
The Reds poured in 1,800 rounds of artillery and mortar fire on the attacking troops.