[tinG]

During 15-24 June 1950, the North Korean High Command assembled some 90,000 men- 7 infantry divisions, 1 armored brigade, 1 separate infantry regiment, 1 motorcycle regiment, and 1 Border Constabulary brigade- supported by 150 Soviet T34 tanks near the 38th Parallel. At 0400 on 25 June the North Koreans launched a coordinated attack on South Korea that ran from coast to coast. The assault began on the Ongjin Peninsula on the western extreme of the parallel, but the North Koreans concentrated half of their forces on the Uijongbu Corridor, an ancient invasion route that led directly south to Seoul. The ROK 1st, 2d, 7th, and Capital Divisions defended the area north of Seoul, but the suddenness of the North Korean attack and the shock of enemy armor rapidly pushed the ROK Army back toward Seoul. In the early hours of 28 June the South Korean vice minister of defense ordered a premature blowing of the Han River bridges, located on the southern edges of Seoul, to slow the North Korean advance. This was catastrophic for the ROK Army. Much of the Army was still north of the river and had to abandon transport, supplies, and heavy weapons and cross the Han River in disorganized groups. The ROK Army numbering 95,000 on 25 June could account for only 22,000 men at the end of June.

The UN Security Council met on 25 June and passed a resolution that called on North Korea to cease hostilities and withdraw to the 38th Parallel. President Truman authorized ships and airplanes to protect the evacuation of American dependents in Korea and also use of American air and naval forces to support the Republic of Korea below the 38th Parallel. On 27 June the UN Security Council passed another resolution that recommended UN members assist South Korea in repelling the invasion. The Joint Chiefs of Staff issued a directive that authorized MacArthur to assume operational control of all American military activities in Korea. MacArthur then sent the General Headquarters Advance Command and Liaison Group in Korea (ADCOM), headed by Brig. Gen. John H. Church, from Japan to South Korea to administer KMAG and assist the ROK Army. On 29 June MacArthur personally inspected the situation at the Han River and urged the immediate commitment of American ground forces. President Truman then authorized the employment of Army combat troops to ensure a port and air base at Pusan, South Korea, and more importantly, approved sending two Army divisions from Japan to Korea and the establishment of a naval blockade of North Korea.

Kristian (ROK/UN) och jag (NK) kör OCS: Korea - The Forgotten War via ADC2. Det funkar gott och vi har nu 4-5 rundor bakom oss. Nedanför kan ni granska läget i början av 12 July rundan, NK vann initiativet och låter ROK/UN börja. Vädret är klart (50/50-chans under juli och augusti) vilket tillåter USAF/USN's flygstridskrafter att regera utmed vägarna och försvåra NKPA's annars i stort obestridda avancemang.

Målet för NK's offensiv är förstås ett ENAT KOREA, detta nås genom att kasta ut ROK/UN-styrkorna från koreahalvön. Hamnstaden Pusan ligger ca 20 hexes sydost om Waegwan...

Situationskarta #1 - Korea den 12 juli 1950

Following the breakdown of the ROK Army at Seoul, elements of the North Korean 3d and 4th Divisions captured the South Korean capital on 28 June. The North Koreans then repaired a railroad bridge over the Han River, and by 4 July these two divisions, with T34 tank support, were poised to resume their drive south. In Tokyo on 30 June General MacArthur instructed Lt. Gen. Walton H. Walker, Eighth U.S. Army commander, to order the 24th Infantry Division, stationed on Kyushu, to Korea at once. Maj. Gen. William F. Dean, commander of the 24th, was to send immediately to Korea by air a delaying force of about 500 men, and the rest of the division would soon follow by water. General Dean would assume command of USAFIK, reinstated as a provisional headquarters, upon his arrival. Lt. Col. Charles B. Smith, commander of the 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry, of the 24th Division, led the delaying force, called Task Force Smith. On 5 July he established a defensive position three miles north of Osan, assisted by elements of the 52d Field Artillery Battalion. Task Force Smith took on two regiments of the North Korean 4th Division and thirty-three T34 tanks. Badly outnumbered and without armor, effective antitank weapons, or air support, the U.S. force was overrun. The next day, Colonel Smith could assemble only 250 men, half his original force.

On 4 July General Dean assumed command of USAFIK and established his headquarters at Taejon. The 34th Infantry, another organic regiment of Dean's 24th Division, and the rest of the 21st Infantry arrived in Korea during the first week of July. During that week General MacArthur ordered General Walker to deploy from Japan and assume operational control of the campaign in Korea. Walker set up his headquarters for the Eighth U.S. Army in Korea at Taegu and on 13 July assumed command of USAFIK. Shortly thereafter, he also took command of ROK ground forces. Walker's objectives were to delay the enemy advance, secure the current defensive line, and build up units and materiel for future offensive operations. On 7 July the UN Security Council passed a resolution that recommended a unified command in Korea. President Truman then appointed MacArthur commanding general of the military forces under the unified command that became the United Nations Command. MacArthur's strategy in the early stages of the Korean War was first to stop the North Koreans and then use naval and air superiority to support an amphibious operation in their rear. Once he realized that the North Korean People's Army was a formidable force, MacArthur estimated to the Joint Chiefs of Staff that to halt and hurl back the North Koreans would require four to four-and-a-half full-strength infantry divisions, an airborne regimental combat team, and an armored group of three medium tank battalions and reinforcing artillery.

After the defeat of Task Force Smith, General Dean employed the 34th and 21st Infantries in additional delaying actions against the advance of the North Korean 3d and 4th Divisions along the corridor that ran south of Osan toward Taejon. Fighting occurred at P'yongt'aek, Ch'onan, Chonui, and Choch'iwon. Dean sought to delay the enemy's approach to the Kum River to support the ROK forces' left flank that was retreating through the central mountains of South Korea. By early July the ROK Army, which became badly disorganized after the fall of Seoul, had re-formed to some extent. From west to east, the ROK Army line was held by the 17th Regiment; the 2d, Capital, 6th, and 8th Divisions; and the 23d Regiment of the 3d Division. The major part of the NKPA conducted a main attack on a wide front against ROK-defended territory, which was everything east of the main Seoul-Taegu railroad and highway. Five divisions moved south over the two mountain corridors, while a sixth, the 2d Division, followed the road from Ch'ongju through Poun to Hwanggan where it entered the Seoul-Taegu highway. The North Korean 1st, 13th, and 15th Divisions moved over one mountain corridor and across the Mun'gyong plateau, while the 8th and 12th Divisions came down the eastern corridor. On the east coast along the Sea of Japan, the North Korean 5th Division and the 766th Independent Infantry Regiment marched south and met virtually no opposition. The trackless mountains of the Taebaek Range effectively separated the east coast of Korea below the 38th Parallel from the rest of the country.

Citat från en onlinekälla på US Army Center of Military History: The Korean War - The Outbreak.

[tinG]

In mid-July 1950 General Dean's 24th Division continued as the primary U.S. Army fighting force in Korea. Taejon, located 100 miles south of Seoul, served as an important road and communications center. The Kum River makes a semicircle to the north around Taejon that constitutes a protective moat. Dean placed his 24th Division in a horseshoe-shaped arc in front of Taejon—the 34th Infantry on the left, the 19th Infantry on the right, and the 21st Infantry in reserve. By positioning elements of the 34th at Kongju, located about twenty miles northwest of Taejon, Dean hoped to prevent the North Koreans from an early crossing of the Kum River and an immediate drive on Taejon. Since the division had only about 4,000 men at Taejon, the 24th could not effectively delay two enemy divisions. During 14–16 July the North Korean 4th and 3d Divisions, operating west to east, penetrated the 34th and 19th Infantries' forward defensive positions on the south side of the Kum River and inflicted substantial casualties. Dean then pulled his regiments into a tighter defensive perimeter around Taejon, and the North Koreans launched their attack on Taejon on 19 July. The men of the 24th at Taejon enjoyed one positive development. They had just received a weapon that was effective against the T34 tank, the new 3.5-inch rocket launcher. The five-foot hand-carried launcher fired a two-foot-long eight-and-a-half-pound rocket with a shaped charge designed to burn through any tank then known. U.S. Army soldiers destroyed ten enemy tanks in Taejon on 20 July, eight of them with the 3.5-inch rocket launcher.

3.5-inch rocket launcher

I vår kampanj har Kristian valt att hittills inte engagera U.S. Army. Istället bygger 8:e armén upp sin styrka i och kring hamnstaden Pusan - slutstationen för NKPA's erövringståg... Under tiden rullar nordkoreanska armen vidare, de fåtal stödjepunkter som ROK armen valt att försvara decimeras tämligen lätt, den numerära överlägsenheten är total.

Vädret har fortsatt att vara gynnsamt för flyget. USAF's  F-80C och F-51 jaktbombare har kraftigt försvårat NKPA'a framryckning utmed vägarna mellan Seoul och Taejon. Samtidigt opererar nu Skyraider's, hangarfartyget Valley Forge(CV-45) i Japanska sjön utanför koreahalvöns östkust.

The superior numbers and relentless assault of the North Koreans forced the men of the 24th Division to abandon Taejon on 20 July and withdraw to the south. General Dean experienced one of the most dramatic adventures of the withdrawal. Moving down the road to Kumsan, Dean and a small party encountered an enemy roadblock. Forced back, Dean's party, with some wounded, set out on foot after dark. While trying to fetch water for the injured, Dean fell down a steep slope, was knocked unconscious, and suffered a gashed head and a broken shoulder. Separated from his men, Dean wandered alone in the mountains for thirty-six days trying to reach the American lines and was betrayed by two South Koreans to the North Koreans. He would spend the next three years as a prisoner of war.

Under natten mellan 18 och 19 juli faller Taejon... Nu står snart endast U.S. Army mellan nordkoreanerna och Pusan.

Will they fight?

Situationskarta #2 - Korea den 19 juli 1950

Dean was awarded the first Medal of Honor for service in the Korean War for his leadership and personal bravery with the 24th Division at Taejon. The division suffered a 30 percent casualty rate there and lost all of its organic equipment. The unit had endured many deficiencies since its arrival in Korea. Among them were new subordinate unit commanders who were unfamiliar with their men, poor communications equipment, a shortage of ammunition, outdated maps, and large numbers of young soldiers in the ranks who were inadequately trained for combat. As for the North Koreans, in five days they had executed two highly successful envelopments of American positions, one at the Kum River and the other at Taejon. Each time, they combined strong frontal attacks with movements around the left flank to establish roadblocks and obstruct the escape routes.

[A F]

Ser bra ut för de allierade. Norra flanken är säker och Neaktong ska nog gå att försvara.  

[tinG]

One of the major problems of the retreat was the volume of refugees moving through Eighth Army lines. Their numbers were greater during July and August 1950 than at any other time in the war. During the middle two weeks of July about 380,000 refugees crossed into ROK-held territory. The North Koreans often exploited the situation by launching attacks that began with herding groups of refugees across minefields and then following up with tanks and infantry. The enemy also infiltrated U.S. Army lines by wearing the traditional white civilian clothing and joining groups of refugees, thus enabling him to commit a variety of surprise attacks on American soldiers.

NKPA slåss med alla tillgängliga (tillåtna och otillåtna) medel. Infiltration snarare än frontalanfall. Intet annat att göra om ammunitionen är på upphällningen heller...

As the Eighth Army neared a natural defensive position along the Naktong River, the North Koreans accelerated their efforts to cut off elements of that army. After the fall of Seoul in late June the North Korean 6th Division had crossed the Han River and rapidly moved south over the western coastal roadnet. Eighth Army intelligence lost track of the 6th. The only UN forces situated at the time southwest of the Taejon-Taegu-Pusan highway were a few hundred ROK 7th Division survivors along with some scattered ROK marines and local police. On 21 July General Walker learned that a North Korean unit, presumed to be the 4th Division, was operating in the southwest area. Walker ordered the 24th Division, despite its deficiencies in manpower and equipment after the loss of Taejon, to serve as a blocking force in the area from Chinju in deep south central Korea northward to Kumch'on.

ROK/US styrkorna har nu i stort sett fallit tillbaka i skydd bakom Naktongfloden. The Pusan Perimeter är mer eller mindre etablerad. NKPA har stora underhållningsproblem, framför allt råder det brist på bränsle och artilleriammunition. Allteftersom avståndet till underhållsbaserna i Nord Korea växer ökar svårigheterna, detta samtidigt som motsatsen gäller för försvararna.
Så trots att NKPA har åsamkat sin motståndare svåra förluster och nu verkar stå på brinken till total seger i slaget om Sydkorea kommer inte slutstriden kunna avgöras innan NKPA har samlat sig och byggt upp nya förråd närmare frontlinjen. Järnvägslinjen Taejon-Seol-P'yongyang trafikeras hårt av de ålderstigna kinesiska "Lend Lease" loken...

Situationskarta #3 - Korea den 24 juli 1950


- They fought like tigers!
Runt den 20 juli genomfördes det första amerikanska motanfallet. Nyanlända veteraner ur den 25. infanteridivisionen överraskar snabbt framryckande nordkoreanska kolonner och flera tusen soldater tillfångatas i området kring Anui, Koch'ang och Sanch'ong. Den nordkoreanska motreaktionen låter sig dock inte vänta på sig och inom kort anfaller den 107. tankbataljonen från norr och lyckas efter svåra förluster (non-rebuildable tankbn eliminerad) få amerikanerna att dra sig tillbaka mot Chinju och Masan.

On 29 July General Walker, with the support of General MacArthur, issued what the press called a "stand or die" order to the Eighth Army. Walker emphasized that the retreating must stop. The Eighth Army had been trading space for time and was running out of space.

Den historiska situationen vid månadsskiftet juli-augusti

[Parni]

Ser väldigt bra ut med ADC2. Det måste jag prova nu när jag flyttar till Stockholm och inte kan spela med Linköpingsspelarna "face to face".

OCS Korea är ett väldigt bra spel!

//Pär

[Andreas Lundin]

Ser väldigt bra ut med ADC2

Förbaskat dyrt är det dock.

Tacka vet jag gratisgrejer, såsom Cyberboard och VASSAL. Oftast lika snyggt, när det gäller användarvänligheten så vet jag inte. Vill man spela spel från the Gamers måsta man väl dock hålla sig till ADC2...(?)

Men the Gamers har ju varit i stagnation länge nu, så det gör ju inget...

Kan inte nån som har erfarenhet av samtliga system göra en jämförande recension?

[unic]

Vill man spela spel från the Gamers måsta man väl dock hålla sig till ADC2...(?)

OCS Korea finns det en Cyberboard gamebox för... har dock inte använt den så vet inte hur väl den fungerar.

[BigPapaBear]

Jag och en kamrat ska inom kort ge oss i kast med OCS:Korea för första gången. Vi tänkte börja med något mindre scenario för att blöta fötterna lite. Någon som har tips på bra scenarion?

[A F]

Jag och en kamrat ska inom kort ge oss i kast med OCS:Korea för första gången. Vi tänkte börja med något mindre scenario för att blöta fötterna lite. Någon som har tips på bra scenarion?

Alla där jag får vara med?

[BigPapaBear]

Alla där jag får vara med?

Vi tänkte bara börja med något litet pluttenuttscneario, typ 10 rundor eller så, för att lära oss spelet lite och få lite känsla för terrängen. Tanken är väl att vi ska ge oss i kast med något större scenario lite senare, då är du givetvis välkommen ombord - om det finns något som lämpar sig för tre spelare? Dock bör det påpekas att vi ibland spelar dagtid på vardagar.

[A F]

Dock bör det påpekas att vi ibland spelar dagtid på vardagar.

Samma vardag?

[BigPapaBear]

Dock bör det påpekas att vi ibland spelar dagtid på vardagar.

Samma vardag?

Det går säkert att ordna. Hur delar man upp trupperna om man kör tre pers?

[A F]

Det går säkert att ordna. Hur delar man upp trupperna om man kör tre pers?

Samma dag är inget krav. Bara man får lite förvarning.

Men tre spelare... Du kan köra Nordorea på två fronter i början. Kanske. Eller så kör du med de lite mer avancerade underhållsreglerna och låter en spelare sköta USA/FN. OCh sen drar du in en fjärde tills då Kineserna dyker upp.

[BigPapaBear]

Har nu spelat igenom halva den nordkoreanska invasionen av Sydkorea och det är spännande som tusan!

Betyget blir:          

[sfclinken]

 

Äntligen har jag fått tag på ett exemplar av Korea. Nu vet jag vad jag ska sysselsätta mig med ett tag!!