When the Chinese Communist armies came piling down from Manchuria to drive General Douglas MacArthur's United Nations forces back from the Yalu river dams in North Korea in 1950, the first U.S. Marine Division at the icy Chosin Reservoir was cut off and quickly surrounded. Elsewhere the U.S. 8th Army retreated southward to the 38th parallel which had earlier divided North and South Korea prior to the move northward. The Marines, however, dug in to repel the communists. The attack that followed has ever since been known as a classic in military operations . Materializing out of the darkness and snow of the mountainside, the Marines struck the unsuspecting Chinese forces, killing and routing the defenders in a brilliantly coordinated infantry, artillery, and air onslaught. The bridge was quickly repaired, and the road South to Hungnam and safety was reopened. The Chosen River campaign was over. -- From the book jacket.

Includes "CCF in the attack, by S.L.A. Marshall": pages 233-265.

Return to war -- Retreat to Pusan -- Inchon -- Seoul -- The move to North Korea -- Trouble at Kojo -- Enter the Chinese -- We battle the cold -- Into the mountains -- Smith's dilemma -- Sung Shih-lun's trap -- The real world of North Korea -- Block-parts -- On the eve of battle -- The attack -- The battle for the big hill -- The return -- Back to the bean patch -- Reflections -- Appendix : "CCF in the attack" (parts one and two) / by S.L.A. Marshall.