July 20, 1950
Retreat after retreat

  Despite the help of U.S. land troops and UN military aid, things were not looking well for the South.  U.S. troops were forced to retreat from Juk-miryung, Chun-an , and the Kum River defense line, and today, they were engaged in another fierce battle with North Korean troops.  In the midst of all this chaos, the commander of the U.S. 24th Infantry Division, USA Army, code named Task  Force Smith was captured, and the city of Tae-jon went over to the North Koreans.  

However, things were different at the mid-eastern battlefront, where South Korean forces were in control.  Perhaps it was because the Korean soldiers there were mentally stronger than their U.S. counterparts.  They were defending their homeland with their lives.  

Although the North Korean army was tremendously well-equipped, the South’s aggressive tactics managed to wound the North considerably.  During the Battle of Dong-duk-ri, where South Korean forces destroyed one entire North Korean regiment, they discovered from the Soviet-made North Korean weapons that the Soviet Union was providing massive help to the North.  

For the entire month of July, U.S. and South Korean troops were forced to retreat many times, but they did their best to stall the North’s progressive attack.  It was a vicious cycle first, the U.S. troops would retreat, then the Korean troops would follow suit to keep up with their pace.

The North continued their attack with Yak9 fighter planes, but they were obliterated by the U.S. and UN troops.  U.S. and UN forces were clearly at an advantage on land and in the sky, and they were able to stall the enemy force’s southward march by cutting off supplies to the North.