Tonder, Gerry van Korean War. Allied Surge. Pyongyang Falls, UN Sweep to the Yalu, October 1950

Cold War crescendo: in the author's first three volumes in a series on battles of the Korean War, North Korean forces cross the 38th Parallel, rolling back U.S. and South Korean forces into a small corner of the Korean peninsula. Months later, commander of the United Nations Command (UNC) in Korea, General Douglas MacArthur, launches a daring counteroffensive invasion at Inchon, enveloping North Korea.Despite a warning from Beijing that it will intervene if U.S. forces cross the 38th, MacArthur uses the UN's conditional authorization to land elements of the U.S. X Corps at Wonsan and Riwon in North Korea. The Eighth U.S. Army and South Korean forces capture the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, while American paratroops make the first combat jump of the conflict at Sunch'on and Sukch'on, cutting the road to the Chinese border. While MacArthur's ground forces edge closer to the Yalu River, and the general having designs of chasing the retiring North Koreans across the river into China, in October 1950 the Chinese politburo immediately deploys 200,000 members of the 13th Army Group of the newly titled People's Volunteer Army (PLA) on a preemptive "defensive" operation into North Korea.

Despite a warning from the Chinese to the USA not to cross the 38th parallel, General MacArthur used the UN's conditional authorisation to land elements of the American X. Corps in Wonsan and Riwon in North Korea. The U.S. 8th Army and South Korean forces captured the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, while American paratroopers made the first combat jump of the conflict at Sunch'on and Sukch'on, cutting the road to the Chinese border. While MacArthur's ground troops headed for the Yalu and the general intended to chase the retreating North Koreans across the river into China, the Chinese Politburo immediately dispatched 200,000 soldiers from the 13th Army Group in October 1950 for a pre-emptive "defensive" operation in North Korea.