Battle of Inje-Chuncheon Road

Battle of Inje-Chuncheon Road
Part of the November Offensive
Zanarkian and Joyonghean Troops advance on the Inje-Chuncheon Road
Date 30 November - 22 December 1943 Location East Joyonghea, North Asianna Result Strategeic Imperial-Archadian Success (December 10 - December 19) Allied Victory (From December 19 onwards)
Belligerents
United Kingdom Joyonghea Zanarkand New Akiba	Empire of Quenmin Hamyong Government Archadia-Archedes
Commanders and leaders
Albert Crocker Chae Hwa-young Rang Seong-hun Edward Samegawa Roy Peterson Hikaru Komaki	Hồ Danh Sĩ Quốc Ong Thao Pin Quách Khánh Thắng Due Hugo Cavallero Juan Alfredo Jodel
Strength
105,000 troops 150 tanks 100 guns 170 aircraft	159,000 troops 240 tanks 150 guns 190 aircraft
Casualties and losses
9,785 wounded or killed 69 tanks 47 guns 58 aircraft	15,978 wounded or killed 121 tanks 79 guns 86 aircraft

The Battle of Inje-Chuncheon Road was a military action lasting from November 30 to December 22. The plan was to secure a flank for the attack on the Quenminese-occupied city of Chuncheon through the Inje-Chuncheon road by Christmas then sweep the country side before New Year's Eve.

The task of clearing the route fell to Generals Chae Hwa-young and Edward Samegawa. Chae requested that she'd lead the charge to Chuncheon, a move which Samegawa consistently opposed. Despite his counterarguments, Chae put her forces to take the point. There were several defensive points and outposts along the highway, which hampered the Joyongheans push. One of which was the constant harassment of Allied columns advancing through the route, which at one point dissuaded Chae's push. Nonetheless, the Joyongheans took the battle to the Imperial defenders and were able to flush out several defensive positions and nests. Marshal Quoc then moved to outflank several portions of the Allied column along the way, which only served to slow down the Allies. By 10 December, the Allied push to Chuncheon grounded to a halt. Crocker remained determined to reach Chuncheon before Christmas and ordered several sapper and engineer formations to the front. Crocker decided to counter Quoc's guerrilla-style warfare with scorched-earth tactics and airbourne operations, calling in the 1st and 6th Airborne Divisions to paradrop behind enemy lines and harass enemy forces. The plan worked and Marshal Ho was forced to divide his forces to take care of the paratroopers. Despite these attempts, the advance was still slow. The Allies were in a dangerous position when on 16 December, General Chae's formation had advanced too far from the main Allied push and found themselves nearly cut-off. Samegawa then sent Colonel Rang Seong-hun had managed to blunt further Quenminese attacks but was unable to deny the Quenminese encirclement of General Chae and the 3 regiments, maintained by units of the 105th Infantry Division, which included the 39th Mactongese Infantry Regiment and the 178th Infantry Regiment. Seeing this, Samegawa ordered the 9th Zanarkian Division, which had been ordered by Chae in reserve to immediately give race to relieve Chae and her formation. Komaki sent in his 8th New Akiba Division to prevent any attempt by the Imperials to reaffirm their encirclement. The ZANACs defeated the Quenminese and subsequently relieved the Joyongheans and ensured General Chae's safety. Samegawa subsequently took over the lead from Chae. The ZANACs inflicted heavy casualties and managed to link up with elements of the 2 Airborne Divisions. By 22 December, Samegawa's formation finally reached the outskirts of Chuncheon.

According to many, During the closing days of the battle, Zanarkian commander Edward Samegawa, who was the rear guard of Hwa-young's faltering Joyonghean force by the 20th of December had left his Zanarkian force to his aide, Roy Peterson, giving him orders to reinforce Hwa-young while he rushed to the scene on his jeep. He was the first Zanarkian to arrive in Joyonghean lines and for the sake that he could prevent her from sacrificing herself to allow her own troops to escape and was prevented by Edward, who dissuaded her by his heartfelt admission of love.