The Korean War Part III
The Communist forces were relentless. When they destroyed a bridge across a deep gorge which prevented the U.N. forces from moving south, emergency bridging equipment had to be flown in to keep the evacuation in progress.
On December 23rd, General Walker died in a Jeep accident and Lt. General Ridgeway became the new commander of the U.N. forces.
On January 1, 1951, Chinese and NK troops crossed the 38th. By this time the Chinese forces had grown to 400,000, and the NK troops had reached 100,000. General Ridgeway's direction halted the North Korean Army south of Seoul, the ROK capital. A limited strike campaign pushed back the enemy forces, and by March 31, the Eighth Army had again crossed the 38th. On April 11, 1951, General Ridgeway replaced General McArthur and Lt. General Van Fleet assumed command of the Eighth. His scattered battles allowed for the general retirement of Chinese aggression beyond artillery range, therefore leaving North Korea open on the east coast. However, the Joint Chiefs of Staff halted Van Fleet's northward expansion, in fear of the Soviet threat of a nuclear standoff. By the end of May, 1951, the battle line of the war approached the line that the Demilitarized Zone is today.