The Battle of Taegu was an engagement between United Nations Command (UN) and North Korean forces early in the Korean War, with fighting continuing from August 5–20, 1950 around the city of Taegu, South Korea. It was a part of the Battle of Pusan Perimeter, and was one of several large engagements fought simultaneously. The battle ended in a victory for the UN after their forces were able to drive off an offensive by Korean People's Army (KPA) divisions attempting to cross the Naktong River and assault the city.
Five KPA divisions massed around the city preparing to cross the Naktong River and assault it from the north and west. Defending the city were the US 1st Cavalry Division and Republic of Korea Army (ROKA) II Corps. In a series of engagements, each of the KPA divisions attempted to cross the Naktong and attack the defending forces. The success of these attacks varied, with attacks in the 1st Cavalry Division sector repulsed while attacks in the ROK sector were more successful.
During the battle, KPA troops were able to surprise US troops on Hill 303 and capture them. Late in the battle, these US troops were machine gunned in the Hill 303 massacre. The UN forces were successful in driving most of the KPA off and the city was finally secured in the Battle of the Bowling Alley.
Background
Outbreak of war
Following the invasion of South Korea by North Korea and the outbreak of the Korean War on June 25, 1950, the United Nations Security Council voted to send armed forces to defend South Korea. The United States, a permanent member of the Security Council, immediately deployed armed forces (US Navy and US Air Force (USAF) units) to southeastern South Korea because of their immediate availability from their bases in Japan and Okinawa, where the military occupation of Japan was still in effect. Countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom all quickly contributed naval ships in support of the UN action.
The initial goal of the American armed forces was to support the remnants of the ROKA in stemming the North Korean invasion (but only in the southeastern part of South Korea, around the major seaport of Pusan) to prevent the complete collapse of the ROKA and of the South Korean Government. However, the UN commander, General Douglas MacArthur, after an inspection trip to South Korea, realised US Army ground forces would need to be committed.
At the time of the North Korean invasion, the closest US ground force was the 24th Infantry Division, which was based in Japan. This division had fewer than its normal contingent of soldiers, and most of its equipment was rather old due to the U.S. Congress's reductions in military spending. In any case, the 24th Infantry Division was the only part of the US Army that was available to quickly reinforce South Korea.
Thus, the 24th Infantry Division was the first American armed force sent to South Korea with the mission to blunt the advance of the KPA and to set up a defensive perimeter around Pusan (the Pusan Perimeter) with the aid of USAF, US Navy and United States Marine Corps aviation forces. MacArthur decided to have his US and ROK troops to dig in around Pusan and hold on until he could assemble a powerful force (the X Corps) to make an amphibious counterattack at Inchon on the northwestern coast of South Korea, near Seoul, later on in 1950. The 24th Infantry Division, along with the ROKA held out inside the Pusan Perimeter and awaited reinforcements and counterattacks against the KPA.
Among the US units that reinforced the Pusan Perimeter as soon as they could arrive were the 1st Cavalry Division, the 2nd Infantry Division the 7th Infantry Division and the 25th Infantry Divisions, along with other units of the US Eighth Army that provided logistical, medical, and intelligence support. Advance units of the 24th Infantry Division were badly defeated in the Battle of Osan on July 5 in the first encounter between US and KPA troops. For the first month after the defeat at Osan, the 24th Division was repeatedly pushed back and forced southeastward by larger numbers of KPA troops equipped with rugged Soviet-made T-34 tanks.
The troops of the 24th Division were systematically pushed southeast in the Battle of Chochiwon, the Battle of Chonan, and the Battle of Pyongtaek, as well as in smaller engagements. The 24th Division made a desperate stand against the KPA in the Battle of Taejon, where it was badly battered, but it delayed the KPA advance until July 20. By that time, the Eighth Army's force of combat troops was roughly equal in numbers to KPA forces attacking the Pusan Perimeter, with new UN forces arriving from America, Australia, New Zealand, etc., nearly every day.
North Korean advance
With the city of Taejon captured, the KPA began surrounding the Pusan Perimeter on the north and the west in an attempt to crush it. The KPA 4th and 6th Infantry Divisions advanced south in a wide flanking maneuver. These two KPA divisions attempted to turn the UN left flank in order to capture Pusan from the southwest, but they became dispersed in the process. They were also exposed to repeated air attacks from the USAF and the US Navy. The KPA attacked the US troops with superior numbers at first, and with T-34 tanks, but despite local defeats, the UN troops, with the help of aviation and naval units were able to extend the Pusan Perimeter all the way south to the East China Sea and to blunt all KPA attacks toward Pusan. American air supremacy over the Pusan Perimeter was a significant factor in helping the UN ground forces maintain their positions.
UN forces were pushed back repeatedly before finally halting the KPA advance in a series of battles around the edges of the Pusan Perimeter. Forces of the 3rd Battalion, 29th Infantry, newly arrived in the country, were wiped out at Hadong in a coordinated ambush by KPA forces on July 27, opening a pass to the Pusan area. Soon after, KPA forces took Chinju to the west, pushing back the US 19th Infantry Regiment and leaving routes to the Pusan open for more KPA attacks. US formations were subsequently able to defeat and push back the KPA on the flank in the Battle of the Notch on August 2. Suffering mounting losses, the KPA force in the west withdrew for several days to re-equip and receive reinforcements. This granted both sides a reprieve to prepare for the attack on the Pusan Perimeter.
Taegu
In the meantime, Eighth Army commander Lieutenant general Walton Walker had established Taegu as the Eighth Army's headquarters. Right at the center of the Pusan Perimeter, Taegu stood at the entrance to the Naktong River valley, an area where KPA forces could advance in large numbers in close support. The natural barriers provided by the Naktong River to the south and the mountainous terrain to the north converged around Taegu, which was also the major transportation hub and last major South Korean city aside from Pusan itself to remain in UN hands. From south to north, the city was defended by the 1st Cavalry Division and the ROKA 1st and 6th Divisions of ROKA II Corps. The 1st Cavalry Division was spread out along a long line along the Naktong River to the south, with its 5th and 8th Cavalry Regiments holding a 24 km (15 mi) line along the river south of Waegwan, facing west. The 7th Cavalry Regiment held position to the east in reserve, along with artillery forces, ready to reinforce anywhere a crossing could be attempted. The ROKA 1st Division held a northwest-facing line in the mountains immediately north of the city while the ROK 6th Division held position to the east, guarding the narrow valley holding the Kunwi road into the Pusan Perimeter area.
Five KPA divisions amassed to oppose the UN at Taegu. From south to north, the 10th, 3rd, 15th, 13th, and 1st Divisions occupied a wide line encircling Taegu from Tuksong-dong and around Waegwan to Kunwi. The KPA planned to use the natural corridor of the Naktong valley from Sangju to Taegu as its main axis of attack for the next push south, so the divisions all eventually moved through this valley, crossing the Naktong at different areas along the low ground. Elements of the 105th Armored Division also supported the attack.
Battle
On the night of August 4 to 5, the KPA 13th Division began crossing the Naktong River at Naktong-ni, 40 miles (64 km) northwest of Taegu. The crossing was not discovered until August 5 when ROKA artillery and mortar fire was called on the crossing. Over the course of three nights, KPA soldiers from the division's three regiments crossed the river on rafts or by wading, carrying their weapons and equipment over their heads. The entire division was across by August 7, and assembling several miles from the ROKA 1st Division's prepared defenses.
At the same time, the KPA 1st Division crossed the river on barges between Hamch'ang and Sangju, in the ROK 6th Division's sector from August 6 to 8. This attack was discovered quickly by US reconnaissance planes and the KPA 1st Division was immediately engaged by the ROKA forces. The two divisions locked in battle around Kunwi until August 17, with the KPA division facing stubborn resistance, heavy air attacks, and heavy casualties.
Opening moves
ROKA troops attacked the 13th Division immediately after it completed its crossing, forcing scattered KPA troops into the mountains. The division reassembled to the east and launched a concerted night attack, broke the ROKA defenses, and began an advance that carried it 20 mi (32 km) southeast of Naktong-ni on the main road to Taegu. Within a week, the KPA 1st and 13th Divisions were converging on the Tabu-dong area, about 15 mi (24 km) north of Taegu.
The KPA 15th Division, the next of the KPA divisions in the line to the south, received 1,500 replacements at Kumch'on on August 5, which brought its strength to about 6,500 troops. On the next day, its 45th Regiment marched northeast toward the Naktong River. This regiment passed through Sonsan on August 7 and crossed the river southeast of that town while under attack by US aircraft. Once across the river, this regiment headed into the mountains, initially encountering no opposition. Its other two regiments, the 48th and 50th, departed from Kumch'on later and began crossing the Naktong between Indong and Waegwan before dawn of August 8, constructing underwater bridges for their vehicles. The KPA supported this crossing by direct tank fire from the western side of the river. These tanks next carried out their own river crossing during the day. The KPA 15th Division seized Hills 201 and 346 on the east side of the river at the crossing site before advancing eastward into the mountains toward Tabu-dong, 7 mi (11 km) away. On the next day, the ROKA 1st Division regained the high ground at the crossing sites, driving the KPA forces further eastward into the mountains. From August 12 through 16, the three regiments of the KPA 15th Division united on the east side of the Naktong River in the vicinity of Yuhak-san, 5 mi (8 km) east of the crossing site and 3 mi (5 km) northwest of Tabu-dong. The KPA 13th Division quickly locked in combat on Yuhak-san with the ROKA 1st Division.
South of Waegwan, two more KPA divisions stood ready to cross the Naktong in a coordinated attack with the divisions to the north. The experienced KPA 3rd Division, concentrated in the vicinity of Songju, and the untested KPA 10th Division, concentrated in the Koryong area, and both mobilized for an attack. These two divisions crossed in the 1st Cavalry Division's sector. The KPA 3rd Division's 7th Regiment started crossing the Naktong at about 03:00 on August 9 near Noch'on, 2 mi (3 km) south of the Waegwan bridge. After discovering this crossing, units of the 5th Cavalry Regiment directed automatic-weapon fire against the KPA units and also called in pre-registered artillery fire on the crossing site. Although the KPA regiment suffered some casualties, the bulk of it reached the east bank and then moved inland into the hills. About 30 minutes later, the 8th and 9th Regiments began crossing the river to the south. The 5th Cavalry Regiment and all its supporting mortars and artillery, now fully alerted, spotted and decimated the troops of the two regiments and turned them back to the west bank. Only a small number of KPA reached the eastern side. From there, they were either captured by the UN troops or hid out until the next night – when they retreated across the river.