Interlude

"I walk in," said a U.S. officer last week, moving his unit carefully forward. "The walk-in scares me worse than a fire fight. We must be going to be hit a good one in a few days."

But the lull in the ground action went on for four days, except for sputtering local fights. After chewing up seven of the nine Chinese regiments which had surrounded them, the marines were in sight of Changjin reservoir. The final crust of enemy resistance in that area was broken by fierce Allied air attacks with rockets and jellied gasoline. Within a few miles of the reservoir, the marines sat down. All four of the Changjin power plants were in their hands.

The Chinese seemed to be shifting strength eastward. The Allies, who all week long tried vainly to close a gap in their lines east of Unsan, feared a massive attack aimed at splitting their forces farther apart. These fears deepened when the Communists finally came to life with an artillery and mortar barrage. But no enemy attack followed the shelling. This week the Allies at last established a continuous line with the help of the newly landed U.S. 3rd Division.

The U.S. 24th Infantry Division and the British brigade then launched a limited attack of their own, to deepen and widen their bridgehead over the Chong-chon. The charging doughfeet made gains up to four miles, and found 600 enemy dead, presumably killed by Allied artillery. East of the marines, the 7th Division's commander, Major General David Barr, said his reconnaissance indicated he could go forward 30 miles, but he was not going to do so until his flanks were secure. On the east coast, the R.O.K. Capitol Division, operating with horse cavalry, scored a long advance north of Kilchu, but finally ran into heavy resistance and was driven back five miles.

.North Korean guerrillas were increasingly harassing the Allied rear. They attacked supply trains and raided stations, and caused many Korean villagers whose Allied sympathies were too well known to flee their homes. At Yongyong, the guerrillas destroyed six U.S. 155-mm. guns.

The guerrillas, as well as the Chinese Communists, presaged an ugly winter in Korea.

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