[212] Brig Periodic IntelRpt No. 6.
That afternoon Company D was relieved by an Army unit when 2/5 turned over responsibility for the hill to the 2d Battalion, 24th Infantry. The fight had made veterans out of the men Zimmer led down to the road, but the company paid with 8 dead and 28 wounded.[213]
[213] Zimmer, 18 Feb 54; and Annex How.
Documents taken from enemy dead disclosed that the defenders of Hill 342 had been opposed by elements of the 13th and 15th Regiments of the NK 6th Division. Lieutenant Cahill qualified his report of 150 enemy dead as “conservative,”[214] and 2/5 set the total at 400 after its fight.[215] The actual number of fatalities inflicted by Marine-Army infantry and supporting arms probably lies somewhere between these two estimates.
[214] Cahill, 9 Dec 53.
[215] Annex How.
At any rate, the Red Korean commander had committed at least two rifle companies supported by machineguns, mortars and artillery. The force thrown against Yaban-san could be estimated at 500 to 600 troops, and they had failed in their attempt to cut the MSR.[216]
[216] Ibid.; and Brig Periodic IntelRpts Nos. 5 and 6.