Bloody Wednesday

Battle of Gimhae and Sariyeong (Bloody Wednesday)
Part of the Third Joyonghean-Quenminese War
Quenminese troops engaging Wook-yun's Joyonghean troops in Sariyeong, May 1941
Date 21 May 1941 Location Gimhae and Sariyeong, Chug-an Province, Joyonghea Result Quenminese victory
Belligerents
Joyonghea United Kingdom Concordia	Quenmin Hamyong Government
Commanders and leaders
Namgung Wook-yun Ryom Hae-il Douglas Tecumseh Stilwell	Quách Khánh Thắng Due Liễu Huy Sõn Thủy Dạt Su Eun-gi

The Battle of Gimhae and Sariyeong was a major battle that occurred during the Chug-an Campaign. From 19 to 20 May 1941, the Quenminese army under General Count Quách Khánh Thắng Due marched to fend off a Joyonghean-Commonwealth counteroffensive as a consequence of the Allied victory in the Battle of Tokchon, as per Hồ Danh Sĩ Quốc's orders in containing the unintended fissure in Quenminese lines. With Due gaining a strategic advantage of convincing the Allies to divide their forces at the Battle of Yeongcheon, he quickly took advantage of seizing key terrain that was overlooked by Allied commanders. During the battle, Due managed to take advantage of the gap in the Allied lines as a result of the division of the latter forces near Sariyeong and nearly cut off Chae Hwa-young's field army at Sariyeong, which accelerated with haste to inflict further defeats against the Quenminese. At Gimhae with the terrain to the Quenminese advantage and with the quick reaction of Thủy Dạt's 19th Corpps and Eun-gi's 2nd Hamyong Army inflicted heavy casualties on a trailing combined Joyonghean-Commonwealth force consisting of Ryom Hae-il's XIII Corps, Okita Hanamura's Lucians, and Fabian Miranda's 21st Infantry Division, the latter of which was almost wiped out. The fighting caused the Allied forces to retreat back to Dangcho by nightfall.

The battle saw the Allied forces suffer more than twice as many losses than the Quenminese, marking the engagement as one of the worst defeats in the theater. The battle also firmly convinced the Joyongheans to start adopting Commonwealth arms and equipment, in particular the mass replacement of the Gimcheok rifles with the Lena-Elfields. Regarding the high amount of casualties befallen on the Allies, the battle earned the nickname Bloody Wednesday.

The battle

Gen. Quách Khánh Thắng Due, Count of Rach Trang, handed the Allies their worst defeat in 1941

Aftermath

A commemorative monument was instilled by the Joyonghean government at the middle of the road between Gimhae and Sariyeong in 1948.

The battle's nickname is still remembered in military textbooks and works from all participating Allied nations.