Victory At High Tide

Odin & Aesop

The Korean peninsula was split into two countries after the Second World War. The Soviet backed North and the U.S. backed South. North Korea tried to unify the two by invading South Korea in June 1950. Initially North Korea had great success. It pushed South Korea's small military aside and rushed down the peninsula while the United States tried to get forces onto the peninsula. The North Koreans were finally stopped around the port of Pusan at the very bottom of the Korean peninsula. While fighting around Pusan was going on, the U.S. commander, General Douglas MacArthur, contemplated his next move. Instead of using his growing force to reinforce Pusan, MacArthur chose to do something far more risky. He would conduct an amphibious landing deep in the rear of the North Korean army, cut its logistics, and cause it to collapse. The place he picked for this landing was the port of Inchon. Robert D. Heinl, Jr. tells the story in "Victory at High Tide: The Inchon Seoul Campaign."