Chosin Reservoir
Battle of Chosin Reservoir · November 27 - December 13, 1950 · South Hamgyong, North Korea
11 contours at 50 m, traced from SRTM 30 m elevation data. Every 5th line is drawn heavier.
What happened
Roughly 30,000 UN troops, most of them the 1st Marine Division, were surrounded by a Chinese force several times their size in the North Korean mountains in the worst winter on record. They broke out south down a single road, bringing their wounded and equipment with them.
Why the ground mattered
There was one road. It ran from the reservoir down through the Funchilin Pass to the coast, cut into mountainsides at 4,000 feet and above, and every ridge over it was a firing position. Being surrounded was not a metaphor - the Chinese held the high ground along the entire route and blew the bridge at the Funchilin gatehouse to seal it. The Air Force airdropped bridge sections so the column could rebuild the span and keep moving. Temperatures around -30F froze weapons, plasma and rations, and the ground was too hard to dig.
Watch
US Marines Surrounded By Communists - The Chosen Reservoir
The breakout told end to end - the cold, the single road, the airdropped bridge, and why the Marines insisted they were not retreating but attacking in a different direction.
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