Battle of Heartbreak Ridge

Part of the Korean War

Date	September 13 – October 15, 1951
Location	38°18′N 128°1′E / 38.300°N 128.017°E / 38.300; 128.017Coordinates: 38°18′N 128°1′E / 38.300°N 128.017°E / 38.300; 128.017 in Yanggu County, Gangwon Province, South Korea
Result	United Nations victory

Belligerents

United Nations

North Korea

China

Casualties and losses

3,700

25,000

United Nations

The Battle of Heartbreak Ridge (Hangul: 단장의 능선 전투; Hanja: 斷腸의 稜線戰鬪; French: Bataille de Crèvecœur), also known as the Battle of Wendengli (Chinese: 文登里战斗; pinyin: Wéndēnglǐ Zhàndòu), was a month-long battle in the Korean War which took place between September 13 and October 15, 1951. The Battle of Heartbreak Ridge was one of several major engagements in the hills of North Korea a few miles north of the 38th parallel (the pre-war boundary between North and South Korea), near Chorwon. For the Chinese, this battle is often confused with Battle of Triangle Hill, which occurred a year later.

After withdrawing from Bloody Ridge, the Korean People's Army (KPA) set up new positions just 1,500 yards (1,400 m) away on a seven-mile (11 km) long hill mass. If anything, the Communist defenses were even more formidable here than on Bloody Ridge. The US 2nd Infantry Division's acting commander, Brig. Gen. Thomas de Shazo, and his immediate superior, Maj. Gen. Clovis E. Byers, the X Corps commander, seriously underestimated the strength of the North Korean position. They ordered a single infantry regiment, the 23rd, and its attached French Battalion, to make what would prove to be an ill-conceived assault straight up Heartbreak's heavily fortified slopes.

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Wikipedia