ABSTRACT
The movement to make a token occupation of the principle cities and capitals of the provinces of North Korea was under way in late October 1950. A Republic of Korea battalion moved north through Kangye toward Mapojin and disappeared. The Eighth Cavalry Regiment of the First Cavalry Division, which was moving to the northwest, was suddenly overrun by a Chinese Communist cavalry division mounted on Mongolian ponies. The Chinese Communists had massed many armies along the Manchurian border. Reports had come in of the capture of occasional Chinese volunteers. When the Eighth Cavalry was overrun and the Korean battalion had disappeared, the survivors indicated they were being fought by organized Chinese forces, which obviously had entered North Korea; a new war was under way. The Japanese had constructed gigantic dams at Chonju and Huichon and a series of dams and power plants, called the Suiho, along the Yalu River.
