Battle for a Beachhead

The Korean war was reaching a decisive stage. For six weeks outgunned and outnumbered U.S. and South Korean troops had fought a heroic but heartbreaking delaying action against the Communists--trading space for time, in the phrase of the military experts. After the landing of reinforcements, including the 1st U.S. Marines, the U.S. was now in a position to make a solid stand around the vital supply port of Pusan. If the Communists did not manage to strike a decisive blow this week, their chances of driving the U.S. into the sea would be virtually gone.

The Communists surely knew it. They were massing on the southern and western fronts for two major drives: one straight at Pusan, the other to take Taegu, the communications hub of the northern half of the U.N. defense line. The Reds had already established several small bridgeheads east of the Naktong River near Taegu, and the city itself was under enemy artillery fire.

While the Reds massed for their all-out drive, U.S. marines and infantry last week launched a counterattack to try and keep the enemy off balance in the south. Meanwhile, there would probably be further but limited U.N. withdrawals on the north and northwest fronts, which are defended only by lightly armed South Korean troops.

There was little doubt that the final U.N. beachhead in Korea would be smaller than last week's 140-mile defense perimeter. But U.S. troops have held small beachheads before. In 1944, at Anzio, 62,000 U.S. troops crowded onto a beachhead 18 miles wide and 13 miles deep, held it until they had massed enough strength for a breakthrough.

This week the U.S. had reason to hope that the Battle of Korea would be another Anzio or Salerno--not another Dunkerque or Bataan.

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