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Schematic plan · Korean War

Battle of Pusan Perimeter

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A schematic plan, generated from the statistics of the CAA Database of Battles: the armies' size and width, the hours of fighting, the plan of attack and the outcome are as recorded; the ground and the positions are not.
CentreCentreLeft wingLeft wingRight wingReserveGunsCommand05 km10 kmN

North Korea (Nkor Corp, 11,000 men under unrecorded commanders) attacked USA (US Div, 15,200 men under unrecorded commanders) in Korea. The CAA Database of Battles records 0.6 hours of fighting on a front of 39 km, a frontal attack against hasty defense, and that USA held. Losses: North Korea 110 (1%), USA 430 (3%).

This plan is generated from those figures. It shows the shape of the battle the database describes: the size and width of the armies, the plan of attack and the outcome. It does not show where the units actually stood.

The armies

North Korea

UnitArmMen
North Korea left wingInfantry2,381
North Korea centreInfantry3,174
North Korea right wingInfantry2,381
North Korea reserveInfantry1,984
North Korea artillery (72 guns)Artillery1,080
North Korea commandCommander—
In this plan11,000

USA

UnitArmMen
USA left wingInfantry3,131
USA centreInfantry4,174
USA right wingInfantry3,131
USA reserveInfantry2,609
USA artillery (72 guns)Artillery1,080
USA armour (215 tanks)Armour1,075
USA commandCommander—
In this plan15,200

What the sources report

North KoreaUSA
Strength, this plan11,00015,200
Losses, this plan110430

In the CAA Database of Battles

CDB90 no. 626, “Pusan Perimeter”, compiled for the US Army to study what decides battles. These are the figures a what-if engine can be calibrated against.

Fighting
0.6 hours
Winner
the defender
Weather
Wet, Light precipitation, Temperate, Autumn, Temperate
Defender’s posture
Hasty defense
Front width
39 km (attacker), null km (defender)
ForceStrengthLossesHorseGunsPlan and outcome
North Koreaattacker11,000110072Frontal attack; Penetration; Repulse
USAdefender15,200430072Stalemate

Attacker’s advantages none recorded

CDB90 (US Army Concepts Analysis Agency, 1990), tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold; data under ODC-BY 1.0.

Notes

On this reconstruction

Generated automatically from the statistics in CDB90. Frontages, depths, distances, the order of events and the terrain are schematic: they follow the recorded strengths, front widths, hours of fighting, tactical plan and outcome, not maps or accounts of the battle. The sources give no hours; the timing is conjectural.

Sources

Facts gathered from Wikidata (CC0), Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Wikimedia Commons (licence per file); the plan and its text are timeastra’s own.