Battle of Taejon
The Battle of Taejon was an early battle of the Korean War, between U.S. and North Korean forces. Forces of the United States Army attempted to defend the headquarters of the 24th Infantry Division. The 24th Infantry Division was overwhelmed by numerically superior forces of the Korean People's Army at the major city and transportation hub of Daejon. The 24th Infantry Division's regiments were already exhausted from the previous two weeks of delaying actions to stem the advance of the KPA.
The entire 24th Division gathered to make a final stand around Taejon, holding a line along the Kum River to the east of the city. Hampered by a lack of communication and equipment, and a shortage of heavy weapons to match the KPA's firepower, the outnumbered, ill-equipped and inexperienced U.S. forces were pushed back from the riverbank after several days before fighting an intense urban battle to defend the city. After a fierce three-day struggle, the U.S. withdrew.
Although they could not hold the city, the 24th Infantry Division achieved a strategic victory by delaying the North Koreans, providing time for other U.S. divisions to establish a defensive perimeter around Pusan further south. The delay imposed at Taejon probably prevented a U.S. rout during the subsequent Battle of Pusan Perimeter. During the action, the KPA captured Major General William F. Dean, the commander of the 24th Infantry Division, and highest ranking U.S. prisoner during the Korean War.
Background
Outbreak of war
Following the invasion of the Republic of Korea by its northern neighbor, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the United Nations committed forces on behalf of South Korea. The United States subsequently sent ground forces to the Korean peninsula to contain the North Korean invasion and to prevent the collapse of the South Korean state. American forces in the Far East had steadily decreased since the end of World War II, five years earlier.When forces were initially committed, the 24th Infantry Division of the Eighth United States Army, headquartered in Japan, was the closest U.S. division. The division was under-strength, and most of its equipment dated from 1945 and earlier due to defense cutbacks enacted in the first Truman administration. Nevertheless, the division was ordered into South Korea.
The 24th Infantry Division was the first U.S. unit sent into Korea to absorb the initial North Korean advances, and disrupt the more numerous North Korean units. The 24th Division effectively delayed the North Korean advance to allow the 7th Infantry Division, 25th Infantry Division, 1st Cavalry Division, and other Eighth Army supporting units to establish a defensive line around Pusan.
Immediately preceding the Battle of Taejon, some of the Bodo League massacres took place around Taejon, where between 3,000 and 7,000 South Korean leftist political prisoners were shot and dumped into mass graves by South Korean troops, partially recorded by a U.S. Army photographer.
Delaying action
, an advance element of the 24th Infantry Division, was badly defeated in the Battle of Osan on 5 July, during the first encounter between American and North Korean forces. Task Force Smith retreated from Osan to Pyongtaek, where U.S. forces were again defeated, in the Battle of Pyongtaek. The 24th Infantry Division was repeatedly forced south by the North Korean force's superior numbers and equipment in engagements at Chochiwon, Chonan, Hadong, and Yechon. Most of the Americans were out of shape, untrained, undisciplined and had no combat experience.On 12 July, the division's commander, Major General William F. Dean, ordered the division's three regiments, the 19th Infantry Regiment, 21st Infantry Regiment, and the 34th Infantry Regiment, to cross the Kum River, destroying all bridges behind them, and to establish defensive positions around Taejon. Taejon was a major South Korean city south of Seoul and northwest of Pusan, and was the site of the 24th Infantry Division's headquarters. Dean formed a line with the 34th Infantry and 19th Infantry facing east, and held the heavily battered 21st Infantry in reserve to the southeast.
The Kum River wrapped north and west around the city, providing a defensive line 10 to 15 miles from the outskirts of Taejon, which was surrounded to the south by the Sobaek Mountains. With major railroad junctions and numerous roads leading into the countryside in all directions, Taejon was a major transportation hub between Seoul and Taegu, giving it great strategic value for both the American and North Korean forces. The division was attempting to make a last stand at Taejon, the last place it could conduct a delaying action before the North Korean forces would converge on the unfinished Pusan Perimeter.
Prelude
U.S. 24th Infantry Division
The 24th Infantry Division's three infantry regiments, which had a wartime strength of 3,000 each, were already below strength on their deployment, and heavy losses in the preceding two weeks had reduced their numbers further. The 21st Infantry had 1,100 men left, having suffered 1,433 casualties. The 34th Infantry had only 2,020 men and the 19th had 2,276 men. Another 2,007 men stood in the 24th Infantry Division artillery formations. These counts placed the division's total strength at 11,400. This was severely reduced from the 15,965 men and 4,773 vehicles that had arrived in Korea at the beginning of the month.Each of the regiments had only two battalions of infantry as opposed to the normal three. Large numbers of men had to be pulled from the lines from combat fatigue. Morale was extremely low for the soldiers, who were exhausted from days without sleep. Casualties among the division's commissioned officers were extremely high, forcing younger officers and non-commissioned officers to take leadership positions normally occupied by more experienced men.
In addition to casualties, shortages of equipment hampered the 24th Infantry Division's efforts. Losses from earlier fighting reduced artillery support to two battalions. Communications equipment, weapons, and ammunition were limited and large amounts of equipment had been lost or destroyed in previous engagements. 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, with some company formations having only one radio for one squad.
The division had no tanks: its new M26 Pershing and older M4A3 Sherman tanks were still en route. One of the few weapons that could penetrate the North Korean T-34 tanks, the 3.5-inch M20 "Super Bazookas" firing M28A2 HEAT rocket ammunition, were scarce. The paucity of radios and wire hampered communication between and among the American units.
North Korean units
North Korean planners intended for three divisions to attack Taejon from three directions, supported by tanks. The North Korean 3rd Division was ordered to attack from the north, against the flank. The North Korean 4th Division would attack across the Kum River from the east and south, to envelop Taejon and the U.S. 24th Infantry Division with it. Eventually they would also be supported by elements of the North Korean 105th Armored Division. Although the North Korean 2nd Infantry Division was ordered to attack from Chongju against the American right flank, it was slow to move and arrived too late to participate in the battle.The North Koreans advanced on the town with the 3rd and 4th divisions supported by over 50 T-34 tanks. Each North Korean division, normally operating with 20,000 men, was at 60 to 80 percent strength, giving them nearly a two to one numerical superiority over the American forces. The morale of the two divisions was low, owing to repeated air attacks on equipment and overall exhaustion from continuous combat. Political officers promised the divisions they would be able to rest in Taejon after they took the city.
Battles
Battle of the Kum River (14–16 July)
First North Korean attack
On the morning of 14 July, American soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 34th Infantry, on the heights above the Kum River Line spotted T-34s across the river. The T-34s fired on the 3rd Battalion's position from across the river, to no effect. By mid-morning, North Korean infantry were spotted crossing the river by boat and mortar and artillery fire began hitting the 34th Infantry's lines. In the confusion and resulting poor communication, the North Korean infantry managed to move around the American lines. The 1st Battalion, further north, also came under heavy attack by advancing North Korean forces, and though it repulsed the attack with the help of artillery, it was forced to withdraw to safer positions.In the early afternoon, another attacking force, an estimated 1,000 North Korean troops, crossed the river. The North Koreans captured an outpost of the 63rd Field Artillery Battalion, supporting the 34th Infantry with 105 mm howitzers. They turned a captured machine gun on the battalion's HQ battery and began to fire, taking it by surprise. Artillery fire aimed at the battery destroyed communications and vehicles, and inflicted heavy casualties.
Its survivors retreated on foot to the south. Meanwhile, only away, a battery of the battalion also came under attack, by 100 North Korean infantrymen, resulting in similar casualties and retreat. B Battery was attacked by 400 North Koreans, but an advance of South Korean horse cavalry spared the battery from heavy losses, allowing it to make an organized retreat. The 63rd Field Artillery lost all of its guns and 80 of its vehicles, many still intact for North Korean forces to use.
Later in the evening, 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry, counterattacked the positions but was unable to take them back in the face of machine gun and small arms fire, and was forced to withdraw by nightfall. After this failed attempt to retake the equipment, Dean ordered the positions where the captured equipment was located to be destroyed by an airstrike. With the 1st Battalion having taken heavy casualties and the 3rd Battalion forced to move to counter North Korean attacks, the northwest flank of the American line had been beaten back. The North Korean 4th Division began crossing the river, only slightly impeded by U.S. aircraft attacking its boats.