Ridgway Launches Operation Piledriver on the Iron Triangle
May 30th, 1951 – June 17th, 1951
The Iron Triangle was an area of land that housed much of the enemy’s power in three distinct villages: Chorwon, Kumhwa and Pyongyang. This area was home to many railways and highways which supplied the communist troops which allowed for the attacks on the South Korean and UN troops. Operation Piledriver theorized the capture Chorwan and Kumwha and the establishment of the defensive line, Wyoming, twelve miles north of the preexisting Kansas line. This operation was put into the hands of General Ridgeway. One major difficulty that was in the way of the completion of Operation Piledriver was the conditions brought about by frequent monsoons, which transformed highways and lakes into quicksand. The UN troops often ran into open combat with Chinese and North Korean troops. The Air Force could not assist the troops because of the fog and weather conditions. Some of the greatest threats to the offensive were central Korea’s rivers, which grew with the heavy rain; however these threats were fixed with the use of pontoons and engineers. On the 12th of June the army reached Chorwon and Kumhwa, which had been abandoned. The American forces pushed past the newly established Wyoming line and briefly held Pyongyang on the 14th of June; however Chinese forces retook the city three days later. During the course of this offensive 231 Americans were killed and 1,787 wounded. This operation forced communist forces out of their some of their strongest and most fortified positions. This was the last large scale offensive undertaken by America during the war and led to a cease fire on June 23rd and opened up communist leaders to peace talks.