. The area of Wolmido Island in the flying fish channel is only 0.6 square kilometers. Not only is there a 600-meter-long seawall directly connected to the Incheon Port, but also the terrain is high (the highest point is above sea level). 105 meters) overlooking the entire flying fish channel and Incheon Harbor, is the key to the success or failure of the landing. From September 10, the F4U carrier aircraft of the 212th and 323rd Fighter Squadrons taking off from the aircraft carrier bombed Wolmido Island for three consecutive days, and all used napalm to burn off the camouflage of the defense positions of the People's Army. As a result The fire burned on the island for three full days, destroying 90% of the buildings on the island.
At 7:00 on September 13, the naval artillery support fleet consisting of 6 destroyers and 4 cruisers of the United Nations entered the flying fish channel, and the air was covered by 4 F4U carrier aircraft.
At 12:20, the four light cruisers could not go further due to the limited draft, and could only anchor at about 15,000 meters south of Incheon.
At 12:45, 6 destroyers arrived at the scheduled shelling positions one after another. The nearest destroyer Galkai was only 720 meters away from Wolmi Island!
At 12:55, five minutes ahead of schedule, the destroyer Dehaben suddenly started firing without authorization. It turned out that the ship found that a cannon of the People's Army was entering the gun position and started firing decisively. Then, each ship started firing separately. A few minutes later, the People's Army's 75mm coastal artillery began to fire back, and the destroyer Collette bore the brunt of the roaring shells. The first round of the roaring shells was far away, the second round was too close, and the third round accurately landed on the sailor's quarters at the front of the port side. The cabin, the middle of the waterline of the fourth engine, caused a large breach with a diameter of 66 cm, and the warship began to enter the water. The fifth round hit the sergeant's cabin, but it didn't explode, and the warhead rolled onto the sofa. The sixth shot hit the engine compartment, blowing up the steam pipes and firing controls... In just a few minutes, the destroyer Collette had hit nine shots in a row and was forced to withdraw from the battle.
At 13:47, the other five destroyers were forced to withdraw from their firing positions one after another in view of the intense artillery fire of the People's Army, firing a total of about 1,100 127mm artillery shells.
At 13:52, the four cruisers moored in the distance opened fire, and the artillery bombardment was carried out for a full hour and a half. Then carrier-based aircraft bombed targets on the island. Finally, the cruiser shelled for another half an hour, and it was not until 16:40 that the fire preparation of the first day was over.
During the pre-fire preparations on the first day, many U.S. destroyers were injured by the coastal artillery of the People's Army, 1 was killed and 8 were injured.
2. The arrival of D-day: North Korean military fortifications vs. U.S. Spitfire tanks
On September 14, the artillery fleet entered the flying fish channel again. At 11:00, the carrier-based aircraft began to bomb Wolmi Island; at 11:16, the cruiser began shelling; at 12:55, the destroyer began shelling. The naval artillery bombardment was shot at an average of 20 rounds per minute. Coupled with a large number of napalm bombs dropped by the carrier aircraft, the entire island was churning with flames, and almost no green vegetation could be seen. At 14:10, the destroyer ended the 76-minute shelling, withdrew from the flying fish channel, and fired a total of 1,732 127mm artillery shells. However, the coastal artillery of the People's Army did not return as violently as yesterday, only sporadic shooting, so I participated in the second round. The warships that were shelled by the sky were not damaged.
On September 15th, the landing finally started!
At 5 o'clock, the fleet arrived at the designated position, and the fire caused by yesterday's bombing and artillery bombardment on Wolmido Island was still burning, and the unpleasant smell of burnt odor filled the air. At the same time, eight F4U carrier-based aircraft flew over the Moon Island on time to bomb targets on the island. The People's Army realized that the landing was about to start, and the deep coastal artillery in the Incheon area, which had never fired before, suddenly opened fire. The United Nations' carrier-based aircraft and naval artillery immediately suppressed and bombarded it. In order to avoid the bombardment of the deep coastal artillery, the landing fleet sailed. 800 meters north of Wolmido Island.
At 6:15, the three rocket boats headed for Wolmido Island and started barrage of rocket launchers. Each of these rocket boats was equipped with 10 rocket launchers, and the firepower was so intense that they poured into Wolmido Island in a very short time. 4400 rockets! ——Under the ferocious firepower of aircraft, naval guns, and rocket launchers, Wolmido Island was submerged in a thick layer of smoke.
The People's Army on Wolmi Island is an artillery company of the 918th Field Artillery Regiment equipped with 5 75mm coastal guns and a company of the 3rd Battalion of the Independent 22nd Marine Regiment. It has been lost under heavy artillery fire for two days. Organized command, but the people's army isolated in various positions still rely on the broken fortifications and the island's natural caves to carry out tenacious resistance. 2 platoons (9 M-26 tanks) of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Regiment, 1st Marine Division, and A Company, 1st Marine Tank Battalion (9 M-26 tanks) of the Marine Corps landing on Wolmido The most powerful force, although the 5th Marine Regiment is the most powerful regiment in the 1st Marine Division, but facing the 1st company of the People's Army Coastal Defense Force, it is the remnant after consecutive days of bombardment and artillery. The battalion of marines was still unable to clear it, so they had to drive up the second wave of 9 tanks (3 of which were Spitfire tanks and 3 were equipped with bulldozers), or blocked them with bulldozers. The entrance of the hole, or spray flames into the hole with a fire-breathing tank. After nearly an hour of fierce fighting, the U.S. military finally occupied Wolmido Island. The People's Army defenders on Yuewei Island totaled about 400 people. More than 200 people were killed in the battle, of which more than 100 were buried alive by tanks or burned in caves, and another 136 were captured.
According to this historical fact, the North Korean 28 Film Studio filmed the film "Wolmi Island" in 1983, which became a classic of North Korean military films.
3. The U.S. carrier-based aircraft completely blocked the North Korean reinforcements route
. Shortly after the battle on Wolmi Island ended, the unique tide of Incheon Port began to ebb. Due to the limitation of draft, the landing fleet had to retreat to the open sea. Only the 3rd Battalion of the 5th Marine Regiment was killed Left alone on Woolmi Island - a sense of unease, worry and anxiety began to spread among the United Nations forces, because now the People's Army had known the United Nations army's attempt to land in Incheon all too clearly, and before the high tide at dusk, In addition to air support, the United Nations army can only wait, and no one knows how the People's Army will react during these ten long hours.
At every moment since then, the United Nations military has always maintained a density of 20 aircraft over Incheon, of which 8 are used for direct air support to the landing beachhead, and 8 or more aircraft are responsible for the traffic line around Incheon. Stop the bombing to isolate the Incheon area. A total of more than 300 sorties were dispatched that day to attack any suspicious targets within a 40-kilometer radius with Incheon as the center, and reserve aviation forces and naval artillery firepower were called at any time. The battleships and cruisers in the landing fleet bombarded all roads leading to Incheon with their large-caliber main guns almost continuously - when the United Nations army landed on Wolmido Island, the People's Army immediately attacked the 22nd Regiment of the 18th Division in Seoul. Reinforcements were quickly dispatched to Incheon, but the reinforcements of the 22nd regiment were completely blocked by the violent air blockade of the United Nations forces, and the troops could not move on the road at all during the day! Relying on its strong naval and air superiority, the United Nations army cut off all support from the People's Army to Incheon, and passed the most dangerous time between the two high tides of morning and evening safely!
4. The North Korean army is weak and the US military quickly advanced in depth
at 17:30. The first wave of US troops landed on the shore, and the US artillery preparations continued for 45 minutes until 17:29:45 - the first landing. The wave stops 15 seconds before it hits the shore!
In Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, on the far left of the entire landing area, the soldiers used ladders, ropes and even human ladders to climb up the steep coast more than one meter high. As soon as they washed up on the coast, the People's Army hidden in the fortifications rushed over. Coming out, they had a fierce melee battle with the 3rd platoon of the US Army A Company who first went ashore. The two sides threw grenades at a very close distance. Although the 3rd platoon finally broke through the defense of the People's Army, they were unable to fight against the most important people of the day due to heavy casualties. The main target of the cemetery heights continued to attack. The 2nd Platoon of Company A was much more fortunate. They washed up on the coast from the gap in the seawall that was blown up by the shells, so they attacked from unexpected places of the People's Army. It was resolved, and the platoon's target, the Asahi Brewery, was easily captured from the dead end of Cemetery Heights with little resistance. Company A turned around and attacked the cemetery high ground from the southeast with 2 platoons. The People's Army on the high ground was fighting the attack of 3 platoons. It never expected that the 2 platoons would kill from the side and behind.
Since the People's Army was too weak in person, Company C of the 1st Battalion quickly broke through the coastal defenses and advanced to the north side of the tourist mountain. Lieutenant Colonel Newton, the battalion commander of the 1st battalion, immediately jumped into Company B and overtook Company C and attacked the highlands on the north side of Tour Mountain. Company B cleared the highland on the north side of the tourist mountain around 0:00 on the 16th after a hard fight in the middle of the night, and completed the scheduled mission of the 1st Battalion on the landing day.
On the right wing of the 2nd Battalion of the 5th Marine Regiment, after breaking through the coastal defense of the People's Army, Company E quickly advanced in depth and captured the highland on the west side of the tourist mountain at 18:11, but the liaison team dispatched by Lieutenant Jeskirka Failing to get in touch with D Company on the left flank, Lieutenant Jeskirka was worried that D Company was slow to move and delayed the fighter plane, and decisively ordered the reserve platoon to attack the highlands in the middle of the mountain. After half an hour of fighting, they were also lost. Company D was mistakenly attacked by its own warship during the landing. One person was killed and 23 others were injured. The formation of the entire company was completely disrupted, so it was unable to organize an effective attack. The battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Royce, quickly entered the second echelon of F Company, and finally seized the pier relatively completely before the People's Army destroyed the pier. In this way, the 5th Marine Corps landing on the Red Beach has successfully captured all the scheduled targets.
The 1st Marine Regiment landed at Blue Beach. The landing time was one minute earlier than that of Red Beach. Since the People's Army had too few troops in the Incheon area, the coastal defense could only be deployed at a few key points, so the 1st Marine Regiment There was almost no People's Army in front of them, but it was too time-consuming to climb the steep stone embankment. By the time the troops passed the stone embankment, it was late at night.
5. The 8 U.S. tank landing ships rushed directly to the beach to unload the cargo
. Shortly after landing, the 1st Marine Corps found that a small tank detachment of the People's Army was speeding towards the Blue Beach. Since the landing force only carried 89mm anti-tank rocket launchers, the anti-tank The ability is relatively weak, so the 1st Marine Corps immediately summoned the firepower of the naval guns. The destroyer Galkai quickly approached the beach and launched a rapid fire with the 127mm main gun. The entire warship was dyed orange-red, so that it looked like the warship was on fire from a distance - the People's Army tank detachment was completely covered by rapid and violent artillery fire almost in an instant! Failing to attack the U.S. ground forces at all, it was wiped out by naval artillery fire. This was also the only counterattack organized by the People's Army against Lantan. The 1st Marine Regiment advanced to the Seoul-Incheon Highway at 1 am the next day, successfully achieving the goal of the regiment's landing day.
After the first landing wave landed and controlled the beachhead, according to the plan, 3,000 tons of supplies must be immediately unloaded at the Red Beach to ensure that it was needed for operations at night and in the early morning of the next day. Due to the unique tide of Incheon Port, it was impossible to achieve this before the low tide. Therefore, the United Nations decided to take extraordinary measures to force the tank landing ship full of supplies to the shore of Red Beach and stay there until the high tide caused by the next day. The tank landing ship was simply parked on the beach as if it were stranded, and it was definitely expected to suffer losses under the threat of artillery fire from the People's Army, and it was even possible that they were all destroyed. So the U.S. military deliberately chose 8 of the oldest and oldest landing ships to carry out this arduous task.
At 18:30, the tank landing ship began to dock. The first and second ships went smoothly. The third landing ship No. 972 just started to dock, and the mortar of the People's Army roared, and a shell hit the center. The gasoline barrels piled up at the head of the landing ship, the burning gasoline flowed out of the damaged oil barrels, and spread everywhere. There were mountains of ammunition nearby. The situation was extremely urgent. Fortunately, the damage control personnel performed well and quickly extinguished the fire. The fourth ship that followed was also hit by artillery fire, and when the last ship, No. 799, approached the beach, it was already dark, and suddenly came under the violent mortar and machine gun fire of the People's Army, causing 2 deaths and 2 injuries, and caused The confusion of the sailors on the landing ship resulted in the confused sailors taking the troops landing on the shore as the incoming enemy. The 20mm and 40mm cannons were swept away. When the shooting stopped, the 5th Marine Corps had already been swept away. 1 battalion D company killed 1 person and wounded 23 people, and completely disintegrated the company's post-landing combat operations. After some confusion, No. 799 failed to land before the high tide receded and ended up stranded on the beach.
6. North Korean T-34 tanks and U.S. M-26 tanks exchanged fire
on the early morning of September 16. Company E, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Corps, entered the northern suburbs of Incheon and found that there was no People’s Army in the urban area. It turned out that the People’s Army had taken the initiative last night. Withdrew from Incheon. However, after 6 o'clock, 8 US F4U carrier-based aircraft took off from the aircraft carrier and found that on the Seoul-Incheon Highway 5 kilometers east of Incheon, a marching column of the People's Army, including 6 T-34 tanks, was heading for Incheon, The carrier-based aircraft immediately dived and attacked, blowing up three of the tanks. The People's Army also fought back violently with various light and heavy weapons, shooting down one carrier-based aircraft. The U.S. military immediately sent a second batch of 8 carrier-based aircraft to reinforce it, repeatedly attacked the marching column of the People's Army, destroyed all the remaining 3 tanks, and caused heavy damage to the accompanying infantry.
At the same time as the air attack, the 1st Marine Regiment also advanced east of Incheon with M-26 tanks as the lead. At 9 o'clock, the 1st Marine Regiment rushed to the area where the People's Army team was attacked by air. One of the People's Army's T-34 vehicles, which were blown up by planes but whose tank guns were intact, suddenly opened fire, and the shells accurately hit the first M-26 tank of the US military. The distance is too far, the kinetic energy of the shell will be exhausted, and it is unable to penetrate the armor of the M-26 tank. Only a clanging sound is heard. Shoot to prevent the same situation from happening again - if the People's Army tankers are more patient, wait for the M-26 tank to get closer and fire, and it will be destroyed.
Although the People's Army voluntarily withdrew from the urban area of Incheon, they still resisted stubbornly in the suburbs. The 1st and 5th Marine Regiments went through fierce battles, and only advanced about 10 kilometers before sunset, and pushed the 2 regiments. The landing beachheads are linked together.
At 5:50 a.m. on September 17, two Soviet-made Yak fighter jets of the People's Army suddenly launched an air strike on the United Nations fleet outside Incheon Port. The No. 1 aircraft dived towards the USS Rochester heavy cruiser and dropped 4 bombs. One of them hit a carrier-based aircraft crane at the rear of the warship, but it did not explode. The bomb dropped by the No. 2 aircraft landed near the port side, and the near-missing bomb that was almost close to the warship caused some casualties and damage to the hull. From top to bottom, the UN Army never thought that the People's Army would dare to challenge the absolute air supremacy of the United States and send planes to carry out air strikes, so they were not prepared psychologically and materially. Facing the sudden attack of the People's Army planes, they were only dumbfounded, but not at all. Any counterattack! When the two planes completed their attack, pulled up the plane, and dived towards the British cruiser Jamaica, the anti-aircraft guns finally came to their senses, and shot it down. Although this was the only air strike by the People's Army during the entire Inchon landing, and its results were quite limited, it gave the United Nations a huge psychological shock!
7. The Korean Army's small units continued to launch counterattacks with limited effect.
At about 18 o'clock, the 5th Marine Corps overcame the resistance of the People's Army and arrived at the south side of Gimpo Airport. It was found that the People's Army garrison on the airport was not ready to destroy the airport. The 2nd Battalion, the vanguard, immediately launched an attack, and fought fiercely with the People's Army's garrison from dusk until midnight before completely occupying the airport.
Starting at dawn on the 18th, the People's Army continued to launch a counterattack against Gimpo Airport with a small force of one or two hundred people. However, the People's Army counterattack force was small in number and had no heavy weapon support. The airport can only increase casualties.
By the evening of the 19th, that is, 5 days after the landing, the US Marine Corps had lost 145 people, 20 people were seriously injured, 979 people were injured and 5 people were missing, and the total loss was 1,149 people. Under the suppression of such a powerful sea, land and air firepower by the U.S. military, the Korean People's Army, consisting of thousands of recruits, has already demonstrated extraordinary combat effectiveness. Even at Omaha Beach, where the legendary Normandy D-Day battle was the most brutal, the American casualties were only 2,374. Moreover, the German 352nd Division at the beachhead of Omaha has as many as 15,000 people, more than double the number of the North Korean army in Incheon, and its fortifications and heavy firepower are stronger.
8. Conclusion
With the fall of Gimpo Airport, the situation in the entire Incheon area has been irreversible. Although the People's Army in this area is weak and lacks naval and air force support, it still resists the landing troops of the US military to the death and gives the US military cause some casualties. In particular, the air strike on September 17 caused a huge psychological blow to the U.S. military, showing the people's army's will to resist and indomitable spirit. If the US military does not have a strong navy and air force, and if there is no overwhelming firepower advantage, the People's Army can still cause a lot of trouble to the US military. More importantly, this little-known history should not be buried in the dust of history like this.
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