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ALLIES CLOSE GAP
INCENTRALKOREA
Enemy Drive In West;
Threat To Seoul
TOKYO, April 25: Undaunted by the enemy's
shock tactics and numerical superiority, the United
Nations forces closed the yawning gap in their
c"entral Korean lines today but the Chinese
Communist advance across the Imjin River to the
west is a growing threat to Seoul.
The Communists, who
had advanced 25 miles in
less than three days,
were driven back three
miles from the Seoul
Chunchon highway in
hard fighting last night
and this morning.
The enemy offensive was re
sumed in the west early today
and the Communists broke
through the Allied lines south
of Choksong. There was heavy
action at every point on the
durving western front, but
staff officers said that there
was no immediate danger to
the Allied forces.
The objective of the Com
munist offensive apparently
was to cut the Chunchon
Seoul highway in central
Korea and then to s v.ng in be
hat d the Allied forces to the
west. The Communists had
surged nearly 20 miles south
ward through the Allied lines
and torn a hole ten miles wide
through the south Korean posi
tions before they were stopped.
Chinese Poised
Warnings of new threats to
Seoul came in dispatches from
the western end of the battle
linie. One United Press corre
spondent said that the Chinese
had swarmed across the lm
jin River as "thick as fleas."
The enemy forces were now
poised for assaults down the
Chorwon-Uijongbu-Seoul high
way and down the Kaesong
Munsan-Seoul road.
Although the Chinese drive
appears to have been halted at
least temporarily on the cen
tral front, the enemy is re
ported to be pouring large
numbers of troops into the area
to try again to shatter the
none Help
United Nations defences. Al
lied officers estimated :hat
three Chinese corps-about
105,000 troops-were trying to
exploit what had seemed to be
a disastrous break-through. One
Allied staff officer ,aid that
the United Nations fo ces faced
about 320,000 Chinese and
North Koreans on the western
half of the battlefront.
Tactical Move
An Eighth Army communique
today .said that south-east of
Yonchon a Communist regi
ment launched an attack early
last night, forcing a United
Nations withdrawal of about
two miles. In the Hwachon
area. on the eastern flank of
the gap. the Chinese continued
to advance as the United
Nations troops dropped back
to new defensive positions.
Company-size attacks on the
eastern tip of the Hwachon
reservoir, where the Commun
ists had failed to press the
offensive, were driven back.
Allied officers said today that
the U.N. troops were falling
back a considerable distance on
the west, but that the with
drawals were tactical to give
the United Nations a better de
fence line. There was no in
crease in Communist pressure.
they said. In the central sector
the Communist offensive ap
peared to be diminishing.
Farther east a United Nations
tank force drove off a tank
busting team of about 100
Chinese equipped with bazoo
kas, recoilless guns, anti-tank
charges and 70 mm. guns. The
tanks killed 75 Communists
and knocked-out three guns.
Hard Fighting
A thin line of British forces
fought hand-to-hand with
Chinese break-through forces
south of the parallel yesterday
without yielding an inch. nla
fierce day-long engagements
north of Kapyong. on the main
Seoul-Chunchon hignway. at
least one unit was surrounded
and cut off for over eight
hours as the British fought on
to contain the deep Chinese
penetration.
Support came to the British
soldiers at dawn. Jet fighter
bombers attacked the advanc
ing groups of Communists
with napalm rockets and
machine-gun fire, while behind
the infantrymen massed artil
lery poured thousands of
rounds into the Communist
concentrations, covering the
hills, gulleys and ridges with
blanket-high explosives. Soon,
hundreds of Chinese lay slain
alongside the roads and along
the brush-covered hills.
"Collaborators"
The South Korean Govern
mnent said today that a South
Korean battalion commander
had executed 187T villagers on
the spot after a summary court
martial at Kochang. 35 miles
south-west of Taegu. They had
been accused of collaboration
with Communist guerillas.
The villagers had allegedly
been sheltering the guerillas
and providing them with arms,
food and information. The
Government statement was
made as a result of a Govern
ment investigation into what
has been called the "Kochang
incident."
The statement said that the
trial followed a ten-hour battle
in which 39 guerillas were
killed and 68 wounded. "In
anger at the villagers, the army
and police continued the furi
ous battle, killing 200 Com
munists, including the villagers
who collaborated."-A.A.P.
Reuters.
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