Lieutenant General Cutter was nervous as he looked at the details of the ground operations for Operation Hammer. While the ROK Army would be the spearhead for the offensive, and would likely be the ones to sustain the largest percentage of casualties, the current plan also called for a large amphibious assault to open a second front. That assault would have to be carried out by his Marines, followed by additional ROK Marines. They would assault North Korea’s west coast, and land their forces near the cities of Namp'o and Onch'ŏn, placing them less than twenty miles from the enemy’s capital. There was also an alternate seaborne invasion plan to land forces on the east coast if the west coast could not be secured or it looked like China might join the festivities.
The west coast assault was a risky invasion in that the first several kilometers inland was mostly rice paddies with limited roads. This would bog down his heavy armor from getting ashore quickly. Intelligence also had very little information about what possible forces or defenses that may be on the small island of Ch’o-do, which would have to be secured prior to the main amphibious assault.
Vice Admiral Dan Kinkaid, the 7th Fleet Commander spoke up next. “Ok, I know any plan is going to have its downfalls, but do you realize that we will have to sail the bulk of our naval force up the Yellow Sea? That is going to place us precariously close to the Chinese mainland at a time when the Chinese have just relocated the bulk of their air force to that region. It’s going to leave my fleet little room to maneuver, and place us in range of land-based anti-ship missiles, in addition to the Chinese Air Force.”
LtGen Cutter nodded in agreement, and then pointed to some of the interactive maps. “Admiral Kinkaid is right. As you can see, the Chinese navy is still steaming towards Taiwan, and the bulk of the PLA is also marshaling around that area. What concerns me most though is the presence of Chinese fighter aircraft in the Jiangsu Province, and the increase in submarines in the Yellow Sea. Both of those factors could have a huge impact on our amphibious assault.”
The debate over the risks went on for some time; ultimately, however, despite the concerns they had, they concluded that this was the best possible plan if they wanted to end this conflict quickly. General Bennet was convincing as he argued, “We can’t let Korea turn into a meat grinder that lasts for months or years…. The war with Russia could resume at any time, and the Chinese look as if they might join in. We need to end this conflict, and quick.”
At this assertion, any hesitancy that had been present melted away. All that was left was the resolve to win, by whatever means necessary.
The leaders still had many details to work out, and the conversation went on for some time. Just as it seemed that the meeting was wrapping up, a Japanese naval admiral and air force general walked into the room.
General Bennett signaled for everyone to pause their conversations, so they could discuss what the Japanese part in all of this will be. The Korean generals eyed the Japanese with a bit of suspicion, but they were not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. They knew they would need all the help they could get in dealing with the North.
The Japanese admiral said whatever polite niceties are required in that situation, and then got right down to business. He informed the group, “The Japanese navy will be taking up positions in the upper portion of the East China Sea to help act as a guard against any potential Chinese intervention. Our air force will be on standby to assist the US navy, should they need it. We have also placed 50,000 soldiers on alert, which could be quickly moved to South Korea to aid in its defense. We want to assure the alliance that Japan will stand strong with the US and the South Koreans, should the Chinese intervene.”
A sense of renewed hope filled the room. The leaders continued to work out details for another hour, but they all left feeling that they at least had a fighting chance of achieving victory.
Opening Salvos
It was early October, and though the weather was starting to turn cold, the skies were relatively clear and the seas smooth. Rear Admiral James Lomas looked up to the sky and said a small thank you to the Big Man Upstairs for this little bit of good fortune as his naval task force began to steer towards North Korean waters.
Lomas took a deep breath. He was nervous but also anxious to start the action. Nearly 60 U.S. warships had started their trek into uncertainty, flanked by another 22 ROK ships. All told, the combined fleet was escorting nearly 70,000 U.S. and ROK Marines to carry out the largest amphibious assault since the last Korean War.
The Rear Admiral felt confident in his men and ships. He hoped that he was right, and this assault behind the North Korean lines would help lead to a quick defeat of the enemy. He felt some comfort as he remembered that despite being one of the largest armies in the world, the average North Korean soldier was underfed and under-equipped, which should play to their advantage.
When the DPRK launched their surprise invasion of South Korea in 1950, the US and South Korean Forces were caught completely by surprise. In a matter of months, the allied forces were pushed to the Sea of Japan, and it looked like certain defeat. Then, General Douglas McArthur (who was the overall commander of US Forces in the Pacific), launched Operation Chromite, storming the shores with 75,000 soldiers at Inchon, less than 30 miles from Seoul and deep behind enemy lines. By threatening the Communists rear area, the allied forces had forced them to withdraw or be completely cut off. This tremendous victory had saved the war from almost certain defeat. Now the Americans were hoping to pull a page from history and secure Pyongyang quickly, possibly ending the war before it could really get going.
As the ships moved slowly forward in the night, one of the biggest concerns Admiral Lomas had was the proximity to the Chinese mainland and the possibility of so many warships being near each other. If they wrongly identified a submarine or aircraft threat, it could easily lead to an accident. Submarines were their greatest fear; they had been tracking several Chinese subs for days, but now they also had to be leery of North Korean submarines.
Captain Yong-ju’s Sang-O (Shark) class submarine had sailed out to meet the American fleet almost a week ago, after being told that war with the Americans would start soon. His orders had been to move to their attack position and then wait until the appointed time. After days of waiting and mentally preparing themselves, they were now down to less than six hours before they would move to engage the Americans. For the past day, Captain Yong-ju’s crew had been tracking the American fleet as it began to change course and start to head towards them; it looked like they would not have to maneuver very far to get a shot off at the Americans… they were sailing right into the trap.
As the captain reviewed information in Control, the voice of one of the sonar operators suddenly came over his headset. “Captain, this is Conn. Submarine identified less than 5,000 yards from our position.”
“We’ve been sitting still in this position for more than a day, so it’s unlikely that we made any noise that should have given away our position,” thought Yong-ju. “Still… I can’t be certain.”
As the captain was calculating his response, the sonar operator suddenly yelled, “Sir! I just identified the sound of a torpedo door-it sounds like the submarine is getting ready to launch!”
Captain Yong-ju panicked. “It’s not time to launch our attack against the Americans, and now our submarine might be destroyed before we even get our chance.”