Seoul falls to the Chinese and North Koreans
On New Year’s Eve 1950 the Chinese began their third offensive in the war. Earlier in December the commander of the US Eighth Army, General Walton Walker, had been killed in a traffic accident caused by a wayward South Korean Army weapons carrier which collided with his Jeep. Walker was replaced with General Matthew Ridgway. The Chinese attacked his positions around Seoul using encirclement tactics at night, attacking with superior numbers. The attacks were heralded with bugles and gongs, which disrupted communications between positions and inflicted terror and panic.
In early January the United Nations proposed a cease fire with both sides withdrawing behind the 38th parallel. At the same time MacArthur was planning a withdrawal of all UN forces to the Pusan area. Eighth Army had retreated to defensive positions around Seoul and MacArthur ordered Ridgway to hold Seoul as long as possible in order to facilitate the withdrawal of troops in other areas. Although Eighth Army was still relatively well equipped, most of their heavy equipment and guns were ineffective due to the bitter cold. Gun oil became thick from the cold and hampered operation.
China did not have the resources to press a full invasion of South Korea in place, but Seoul is located only 30 miles south of the 38th parallel, and the Chinese leadership believed they could capture it while the UN troops were still recovering from the shock of the December retreats. Ridgway’s troops were positioned along the parallel, supported by South Korean troops, most of whom were recently conscripted and with little or no combat experience. Eighth Army was suffering from the cold, the low morale caused by their recent defeats, and a belief that they were to be evacuated soon. This belief led them to avoid contact with the Chinese.
On New Year’s Eve the Chinese attacked the South Korean positions protecting Ridgway’s flank, destroying one division, routing another, and forcing the whole of the South Korean Army Corps along the parallel into a headlong retreat. Ridgway tried to intervene to stop the withdrawal to no avail, the South Koreans simply threw away their weapons and fled. “I’d never had such an experience before, and I pray to God I never witness such a spectacle again,” Ridgway said of the retreating army. Without the South Koreans to protect his flank Ridgway’s UN troops were at risk of being surrounded in Seoul.
On January 3 1951 Ridgway ordered the Eighth Army and other UN forces around Seoul to abandon the capital for the second time and withdraw to defensive positions. The Chinese attacked the evacuating UN troops and US and British units engaged them in a fighting withdrawal. The combat in the brutal cold was often hand to hand between UN and Chinese troops. The city of Seoul was left largely in flames during the withdrawal and most of its citizens fled before the Chinese entered the city. The Chinese began planning for another offensive when the weather improved in the spring.