Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River
Chinese attacks collapse the ROK II Corps front north of the Ch’ongch’on River
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Original prompt & settings (JSON) ↗The listing files this day under Chosin Reservoir. The mass attacks there came on 27 November; what folded on the 26th was a corps front on the other side of the mountains.
By noon on 26 November, a corps front had folded
Chinese attacks begun the previous night struck the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division along the Ch'ongch'on River, about eighteen miles northeast of Kunu-ri. American counterattacks recovered most main-line positions during the morning of 26 November 1950.
The Republic of Korea II Corps front did not hold. Chinese forces penetrated it, placed roadblocks behind its units and cut some off; by noon the corps front had folded, exposing the Eighth Army's eastern flank.
Eighth Army intelligence revised its estimate of Chinese strength in the area that day from 54,000 to 101,000 troops.
Walker cancels the advance
General Walton Walker called off the Eighth Army's planned advance. He sent the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division and the Turkish Brigade forward to protect possible withdrawal routes and halted the U.S. 24th Division.
Late in the day the Chinese renewed their attacks across the Eighth Army's right and center, seeking to exploit the ROK collapse and turn the whole army's flank. Five Chinese field armies were committed, with another conducting a holding attack in the west.
"Retreat" compresses several decisions: on 26 November Walker canceled the advance and protected withdrawal routes, and the general Eighth Army withdrawal developed over the following days.
Chosin was still a day away
At Chosin on the 26th, U.S. units were still assembling and preparing to attack on 27 November. Marine records report only light probing attacks far south at Chinhung-ni that night; the mass assaults at Yudam-ni and east of the reservoir came late on the 27th.
The two operations were separated by the Taebaek Mountains and involved different Chinese and UN formations, so treating them as one simultaneous battle obscures what happened on this date. At Hagaru-ri that day, bulldozers hacked at frozen ground under floodlights to build an airstrip.
Chosin is the Japanese-derived name used on UN maps; the Korean name is Changjin, or Jangjin.
Sources
Researched 24 Aug 2026 5 sources not yet audited
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What the sources leave uncertain
- The listed event improperly combines two battle chronologies. The Ch’ongch’on offensive began on the night of 25 November and produced the ROK II Corps collapse on 26 November. The main Chosin Reservoir assaults began late on 27 November.
- Some broad chronologies label the entire Second Phase Offensive as beginning on 26 November, but the detailed U.S. Army history dates the opening attacks in the west to the night of 25 November.