|Battle of Inchon|
|Part of the Korean War|
Four tank landing ships unload men and equipment on Red Beach one day after the amphibious landings in South Korea.
|United Nations||North Korea|
| Douglas MacArthur
Arthur Dewey Struble
Oliver P. Smith
| Kim Il-sung
|40,000 total combat troops||1000 men on the beaches,5000 in Seoul and 500 in the near airport of Kimpo|
|222 killed||1350 killed,unknown captured|
The Battle of Inchon (also Romanized as "Incheon;" Korean: 인천 상륙 작전 Incheon Sangryuk Jakjeon; code name: Operation Chromite) was a decisive invasion and battle during the Korean War, conceived and commanded by U.S. General of the Army Douglas MacArthur. It was deemed extremely risky, but today is considered one of the most successful military operations of modern times.
The battle began on September 15, 1950, and ended around September 28. During the amphibious operation, United Nations (UN) forces secured Inchon and broke out of the Busan region through a series of landings in enemy territory. The majority of UN ground forces participating in this assault were U.S. Marines.
|Ongjin Peninsula – Uijeongbu – Munsan – Chuncheon/Hongcheon – Gangneung – Miari – Han River – Osan – Donglakri – Danyang – Jincheon – Yihwaryeong – Daejeon – Pusan Perimeter – Inchon – Pakchon – Chosin Reservoir – Faith – Twin Tunnels – Ripper – Courageous – Tomahawk – Yultong Bridge – Imjin River – Kapyong – Bloody Ridge – Heartbreak Ridge – Sunchon – Hill Eerie – Sui-ho Dam – White Horse – Old Baldy – The Hook – Pork Chop Hill – Outpost Harry– 1st Western Sea– 2nd Western Sea|
The Battle of Inchon reversed the near-total occupation of the peninsula by the invading North Korean People's Army (NKPA) and began a counterattack by UN forces that led to the recapture of Seoul. The advance north ended near the Yalu River, when China's People's Volunteer Army, faced with the complete loss of Korea from the communist camp as well as a perceived threat to China's security, entered the conflict by deploying approximately 150,000 Chinese troops in support of North Korea. Chinese forces overran UN forces along the Ch'ongch'on River and forced a withdrawal after the Battle of Chosin Reservoir to South Korea. After the Chinese entered the war, a stalemate generally ensued, resulting in the permanent division of the country into North and South near the 38th parallel. It remains one of the political hot spots in the world, and a dividing line between democracy and the remnants of communism.
The idea to land UN forces at Inchon was proposed by General MacArthur after he visited the Korean battlefield on June 29, 1950, four days after the war began. MacArthur thought that the North Korean army would push the South Korean army back far past Seoul. He decided that the battered, demoralized, and under-equipped South Koreans could not hold off the NKPA's advances even with American reinforcements. MacArthur felt that he could turn the tide if he made a decisive troop movement behind enemy lines. He hoped that a landing near Inchon would allow him to cut off the NKPA and destroy that army as a useful fighting force, thus winning the war.
To accomplish such a large amphibious operation, MacArthur requested the use of United States Marine Corps expeditionary forces, having become familiar with their ability to integrate amphibious operations in the Pacific during World War II. However, the Marines at that point were still recovering from a series of severe program cutbacks instituted by the Truman administration and Secretary of Defense, Louis A. Johnson. Indeed, Johnson had tried to eliminate the Marines entirely and slashed Marine expeditionary forces from a World War II peak of 300,000 men to just over 27,000. Much of the Marines' landing craft and amphibious carriers had been sold off, scrapped, or transferred to the exclusive use of the U.S. Army. After hastily re-equipping Marine forces with aging World War II landing craft, withdrawing Marine units from the Pusan perimeter, and stripping recruitment depots bare of men, Marine commanders were just able to mount a f