Page 131 - NS-2 Textbook

124 MARITIME HISTORY

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LANDING AT INChON
I'Stpt.19SO
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A schematic drawing of the Inchon landing, showing Green Beach on Wolmi-Do, Red Beach on the seawall of the city, and Blue Beach to the
south. Blue Beach became the main logistics beach after the initial landings.

serious opposition, but by that time the troops ashore route along the east coast road under steady naval bom-
were securing eI1€Iny strong points and advancing to- bardment, the North Koreans had no means of logistic
ward their first objective line, 1,000 yards inland. By 2000 support. When the Inchon invasion force turned south-
they had moved beyond their objective. 111e landings went ward and met the Eighth Army coming north from
on during the night and the next day, as bulldozers tore Pusan on 26 September, for all practical purposes the war
down the seawall to facilitate landing heavy equipment. in South Korea ,vas over. On the hventy-eighth Seoul fell.
The marines at Blue Beach landed against light resistance All fighting had not ceased, but the North Koreans had
and seized the main rail line to Seoul, but their LST support no hope of victory. All that remained was" mopping up."
did not arrive until the following moming's high tide. h1 that process, over 125,000 North Korean soldiers were
Twenty-four hours after the landings at Inchon taken prisoner.
started, the marines shifted their command post ashore After much debate in the United Nations, that body
and declared the landing phase of the operation con- authorized General MacArthm to proceed north of the
cluded. Before the enemy could regroup, Kimpo Airfield thirty-eighth parallel to destroy the remnants of the
outside Seoul was captured on 18 September, and the North Korean forces. While the Eighth Army advanced
marines ""ere closing in on Seoul. The Inchon operation agamst heavy opposition toward Pyongyang, the ROK
proved to be one of the most successful amphibious as- army, now reorganized, reequipped, and trained in the
saults in military histOlY. "The Navy and Marines have hardships of wal~ roared 100 miles northward in ten days
never shone more brightly," General MacArthur re- along the east coast against little opposition.
marked. Another major amphibious assault behind North Ko-
rean lines was planned to assist the ROK forces by cut-
ting off the enemy's route of escape and to hasten the fall
BREAKOUT AT PUSAN
of Pyongyang. MacArthur embarked the X Corps in an1-
On the day after the Inchon landing, General Walker and phibious ships for transportation from Inchon to the east
his Eighth Army began a major offensive to break out of coast of North Korea for an assault on Wonsan. The con-
the Pusan Perilneter. The North Koreans 'were 11mv in an cept was similar to the Inchon landing. The reh'eating
untenable military situation. With their main supply North Koreans would be encircled, and their capability
route through Seoul severed and their only other supply to resist ,vould be reduced even more.