Fourth Battle of Seoul
Immediately after completing the withdrawal from Seoul Ridgway set about improving the morale and combat readiness of his command. Ridgway adopted the policy of attrition, meaning that the superior numbers of the enemy would be met with superior firepower from artillery, naval bombardment, and air power supporting the combat troops. Two smaller offensives in January and February 1951 pushed the Chinese troops back to positions above the Han River, which flows through Seoul. These offensives demonstrated to the troops of the Eighth Army that the policy of attrition worked, and Chinese casualties were high.
The Chinese were having problems of their own with morale, as UN bombing, primarily by the US Air Force, were pounding their logistics capability and the troops in Korea were inadequately equipped for winter combat. Food and medical supplies were becoming scarcer by the day. Although Stalin had provided the Chinese with heavy trucks and other support vehicles the US bombing destroyed roads and bridges, and UN air forces strafed and bombed supply columns whenever they were found. Many of the supplies had to be moved all the way from the Yalu River by bicycle. Each combat with the Americans reduced the fighting ability of the Chinese, since as material was expended it could not be replaced.
In March the largest artillery bombardment of the Korean War began Operation Ripper, designed to force the Chinese to withdraw from Seoul and push them back over the 38th parallel. Following Ridgway’s policy of attrition the plan was for UN forces to move forward in steps, arriving at preplanned positions and then stopping. This allowed for the support of heavy artillery to move forward with the front and placed into position to break up Chinese counterattacks. As the UN troops moved forward, the Chinese abandoned their positions rather than launch counterattacks which would expose their dwindling military resources.
The Chinese defense was strong in some areas, especially in the mountainous regions, where they used the terrain to establish defensive positions which required time to reduce. As UN troops threatened to surround Seoul the Chinese abandoned the city and withdrew to the north. It was the fourth and final time that Seoul changed hands during the 1950-53 Korean War, which at the time was less than one year old. Operation Ripper continued to push the Chinese and North Korean troops north towards the parallel.
When Ridgway called a halt to the advance, which in little under a month advanced the UN forces about thirty miles from their lines when they began, all of the objectives of Operation Ripper had been met other than the complete destruction of the Chinese and North Korean armies, who withdrew in order under the UN attack. US troops had borne the brunt of the operation and had sustained casualties including 566 dead and more than 3,000 wounded. The total number of Chinese and North Korean casualties is unknown, but the number of Chinese dead was probably in the thousands.