Heroes of the Korean War: Colonel Paul Freeman, Part-2

James Dietz Print of the Battle of Chipyong-ni

Preparing for Battle

COL Freeman’s 23INF Regiment after winning the fight at Twin Tunnels followed by the securing of the village of Chipyong-ni stood at about 70% combat power when he was given the order to hold Chipyong-ni from about 5 Chinese divisions located in the surrounding hillsides. COL Freeman’s combat power consisted of three battalion’s of infantry and augmented with B Battery 503 Field Artillery which was equipped with 155mm guns, plus B Battery 37th Field Artillery regiment which was actually an Air Defense Artillery unit equipped with tracked gun systems, an Engineer company, a Ranger Company, and a medical company. What made the 23INF Regiment so different from the other US infantry regiments in Korea was the fact they were also augmented with a 1,000 man all volunteer battalion from the French military led by one of my all time favorite military leaders, LTC Ralph Monclar. COL Freeman’s regiment totaled 4,500 soldiers with only 2,500 of the soldiers being dedicated infantrymen to face approximately 20,000 Chinese troops in the surrounding hillsides.

COL Freeman knew that his limited man power meant that he could not hold positions on the high hillsides that surrounded Chipyong-ni because it would spread his regiment out too thin. So instead he consolidated his frontlines on smaller hills near the village that overlooked the surrounding rice paddies. COL Freeman put his engineers to work improving the fighting positions around the village and stocking up on supplies needed for the expected Chinese siege of the village. A siege is what COL Freeman got from the Chinese. The week before the pivotal battle beginning on February 13, 1951, the Chinese consolidated positions around the 23INF and cut off all supply lines to the city. The Chinese commanders were intent on destroying the hated 23INF who had inflicted heavy casualties on the Chinese during the retreat from Kunu-ri in North Korea and the battle of Twin Tunnels just two weeks prior.

This map gives a pretty good generic look at what the frontlines at Chipyong-ni looked like during the battle:

Colonel Freeman positioned his units in a circular defense with one battalion covering each possible Chinese direction of approach to the village. As the 23INF soldiers worked hard to construct their defensive lines the Chinese could be seen moving on the hillsides and preparing for the expected assault on Chipyong-ni. On the night of February 13th bugles could be heard and glow in the dark numbers taped to the backs of Chinese spotters could be seen by the 23INF’s soldiers that were being used to move Chinese forces into position for that nights assault on the 23INF’s frontlines.

These low hills seen today are where the French battalion’s positions were located.

February 13, 1951, The Chinese Attack Begins

The first attacks were launched against the 2nd Battalion in the south and the French battalion in the west. The attack was not a massive human wave assault as the allied soldiers had been accustomed to seeing from the Chinese which indicated this was a probing attack to identify the 23INF foxhole locations and the positioning of their heavy machine guns before the final Chinese assault. Recognizing this the French forces launched their own assault back at the Chinese by fixing bayonets and charging directly at the Chinese forces advancing across the rice paddies to the front of the French battalion’s frontlines. The French assault came complete with the playing of an air raid siren to mock the use of the Chinese bugles being played to direct the Chinese troops. The French soldiers, many of them Algerians with red turbans were outnumbered four to one by the Chinese, but they so intimidated the Chinese that many of them ran back towards the Chinese frontlines and a few even surrendered to the French.

Here is a view from the French frontlines looking towards the two Chinese controlled hills. Notice the flat rice paddies the Chinese had to cross in order to engage the French soldiers. It really isn’t surprising that the Chinese decided not to use this axis of advance as the main effort of their attack.

The 2nd Battalion’s G & F Company as well deterred the Chinese probing attacks that night, but with some difficulty. The two companies were positioned along a ridge line that included a spur of land that shot up the side of the large 397 meter Mangmisan mountain. Unlike the French who had the advantage due to the Chinese having to cross a large rice paddy, the US soldiers had to fight four different assaults on their position that night by Chinese forces primarily using this spur of land from Mangmisan mountain. 1LT Thomas Heath the G Company Commander, had a fougasse bomb, which is a barrelled napalm mixture, installed at the bottom of his hill. As the Chinese charged his hill 1LT Heath initiated the defense by blasting the napalm bomb that incinerated the charging Chinese. However, more Chinese continued to pour down the mountain directly towards the G Company lines, but the defenders continued to hold off the Chinese assaults.

This soldier died during the Chinese night assault that captured the saddle he was on.  Photo by Otto Schmaltz.

Chinese continued to probe the entire regiment’s defensive lines the rest of the night, but the next morning all the Chinese withdrew just after first light and COL Freeman sent out recon teams around the perimeter to look for any remaining Chinese soldiers and determine the number of dead. The patrols killed and captured a few Chinese soldiers that had been left behind from the night time assault. The patrol had counted approximately 500 dead Chinese bodies around the regimental lines with an unknown number of dead and wounded from artillery strikes in the surrounding hill sides. A light snow started to fall the morning of February 14, which eerily covered the dead Chinese soldiers; it was Valentine’s Day.

Next Posting: A Bloody Valentine’s Day

Prior Posting: Making a Stand