30. Map Showing Battle at Funchilin Pass

On 4 November the 370th and 371st CCF Regiments withdrew some three miles from Sudong to a defense line established by the 372nd Regiment north of Chinhung-ni. The three regiments of the 124th Division had paid a heavy price for their actions against the Marines. The 371st had lost the equivalent of 5 Companies of infantry and the 370th 2 Companies. It was a wobbly 124th CCF Division, then, that dug in with heavy machine guns and mortars on two massive Hills, 987 and 891, flanking the road about two miles north of Chinhung-ni. As 1/7 dug in on the heights flanking Chinhung-ni, Recon Company advanced in a motorized column about a mile into the pass. The road veers sharply to the right and then after a hairpin turn climbs on a parallel line almost back to its starting point. Company I advanced toward Hill 987 and G towards 891. Both units were hit hard by small arms and machine-gun fire; and for the remainder of the day the advance was negligible. Supporting fire from 3/11 poured 943 shells into the enemy positions and the Marine air flew 37 sorties of close support. Captain Cooney, commander of G Company had been wounded twice in the previous day leading Company G against the trenches and foxholes on the southern tip of Hill 891.

The Chinese on Hills 987 and 891 had taken a terrible pounding from artillery and air strikes. It was later estimated that the 124 Division was rendered useless for a year. The next morning, November 9, the 3rd Battalion led the Regiment up the pass on the way to Koto-ri. November 10, 1950, the 1st Battalion, 7th Regiment passed through the 3rd Battalion and occupied the village of Koto-ri. They then encountered an enemy far more deadly than the Chinese: blasts so fierce that some men were blown to the ground.