Hard ROK

At 0400, a thunderous barrage began along the rain-soaked 38th Parallel; war had come to the Korean peninsula. Despite assurances from American military advisers in South Korea, the Republic of Korea’s army was not match for the forces of the north. A Korean People’s Army force totaling 100,000 …

1950-06-25

203

At 0400, a thunderous barrage began along the rain-soaked 38th Parallel; war had come to the Korean peninsula. Despite assurances from American military advisers in South Korea, the Republic of Korea’s army was not match for the forces of the north. A Korean People’s Army force totaling 100,000 troops surged southward toward Seoul, led by 150 Soviet-made T34/85 tanks, against which the South Koreans had no effective defense. The U.S. had been unwilling to provide the government of Syngman Rhee with armor amid fears he would use it to launch an invasion of the North. World War II-era 2.36 inch bazookas and light anti-tank guns proved nearly worthless against these armored spearheads. The South Koreans, however, did not disintegrate in the face of the Communist onslaught; tough resistance was offered in a number of places, one being the village of Munsan-ni, 35 miles northwest of Seoul.

Munsan-Ni, South Korea

The Korean War, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953, was a war between North Korea (with military support from China and the Soviet Union) and South Korea (backed by personnel from the United Nations, principally the United States). The war began on 25 June 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea following clashes along the border and insurrections in the south. At dawn on Sunday, 25 June 1950, the KPA crossed the 38th Parallel behind artillery fire. The KPA justified its assault with the claim that ROK troops attacked first and that the KPA were aiming to arrest and execute the "bandit traitor Syngman Rhee". Fighting began on the strategic Ongjin Peninsula in the west. There were initial South Korean claims that the 17th Regiment captured the city of Haeju, and this sequence of events has led some scholars to argue that the South Koreans fired first. Whoever fired the first shots in Ongjin, within an hour, KPA forces attacked all along the 38th Parallel. The KPA had a combined arms force including tanks supported by heavy artillery. The ROK had no tanks, anti-tank weapons or heavy artillery to stop such an attack. In addition, the South Koreans committed their forces in a piecemeal fashion and these were routed in a few days.

North Korean

South Korean

Scenario Type = Standard