Profit & Loss

On the scarred and blood-soaked central front last week, the tirelessly burrowing Chinese Reds eluded the full brunt of U.N. artillery and air by shrewd use of caves, tunnels, deep approach trenches. They attacked mostly at night, when U.N. close-support planes were on the ground. Flares, star shells, tracers and the full moon gave some light, but not enough for the day-loving U.N. The Chinese used mortar smokeshells to hide their movements by day. On attack, they advanced recklessly through their own or U.N. artillery fire, and when Communist and U.N. units were closely engaged, the Chinese put their barrages indiscriminately on both.

Last month, when the Eighth Army won Triangle Hill and Sniper Ridge, on the rugged sector north of Kumhwa, it was a joint effort by South Koreans and by Americans of the U.S. 7th Division (TIME, Oct. 27). Later, Triangle as well as Sniper was taken over by Koreans of the ROK 2nd Division, commanded by Lieut. General Chung II Kwon, who last week was appointed deputy commander of Major General Reuben E. Jenkins' IX Corps.* Chung's men stood fast against continuous Chinese probes, and General Mark Clark, on a tour of the front lines, praised them for "magnificent fighting."

Little Green-Clad Figures. But the Chinese were not through, by any means. At 1a.m. one night last week, they attacked Triangle with two or three battalions in line. This first sally was beaten off, but the ROKs on the crest were weakened. An hour later the enemy reformed and came on again; this time he overran the summit. Of three ROK companies which disappeared under the Red tide, 175 survivors were rounded up later. The Chinese were finally stopped at the southern foot of Triangle's steep slopes. If they advanced any farther, they would imperil the U.N. supply bases and communication lines around Kumhwa.

U.N. planes and artillery gave the hill mass a thorough working over, but failed to dislodge the dug-in Reds. The ROKs counterattacked in a rain, without air support; they slipped and floundered on the greasy slopes, and were pinned down just short of the top. Angrily they counterattacked again, supported by a tremendous U.N. artillery shoot. They were met by withering small-arms fire and showers of grenades, and the Red artillery caught them in the open. "Human flesh could stand no more." wrote A.P. Correspondent John Randolph. "The little green-clad figures leaped and ran again, but this time down the hill, away from the deadly shell fragments and screaming rock splinters."

Poor Posture. Elsewhere along the front, Red probes were beaten back, most notably by U.S. marines on a hill called the Hook. There was no sign of a major Communist breakthrough, but the U.N. had little to be cheerful about. The Communists were losing thousands of men, but probably not nearly so many as the Eighth Army's free-handed statisticians claimed. In any case, the enemy seemed to be fighting this phase of the war on a cold-blooded profit & loss calculation. He apparently felt that he could absorb his losses in men & material more comfortably than the Eighth Army could absorb its own losses. In number of guns he outmatched Van Fleet's artillery. Because of U.N. material shortages, especially in artillery, some well-trained ROK units could not be equipped for combat. The U.S., rearming at half-speed and overtaxed by global commitments, was in poor posture for a war of attrition, whereas the Communists had profited greatly from 16 months of buildup.

*The first time a South Korean has been given such high rank in a U.S. command.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.