of the 8th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division under the command of Brig. Gen. Joseph S. Bradley, the 2nd Division's assistant commander. Task Force Bradley was tasked with defending P'ohang-dong from the KPA 766th Independent Regiment, which was infiltrating the town. On 11 August Task Force Bradley struck out from Yonil Airfield to counterattack the KPA forces around P'ohang-dong while Task Force P'ohang attacked from An'gang-ni area. Both forces immediately met resistance from KPA units. By that time the KPA had captured P'ohang-dong. What followed was a complicated series of fights through the large region around P'ohang-dong and An'gang-ni as ROKA forces, aided by US air power, engaged groups of KPA units operating all around the vicinity. The KPA 12th Division was operating in the valley west of P'ohang-dong and was able to push back Task Force P'ohang and the ROKA Capital Division. At the same time the KPA 766th Infantry Regiment and elements of the KPA 5th Division fought Task Force Bradley at and south of P'ohang-dong. US naval fire was able to drive KPA troops from the town, but it became a bitterly contested no man's land as fighting moved to the hills around the town. UN forces pull back By 13 August KPA troops were operating in the mountains west and southwest of Yonil Airfield. USAF commanders—wary of enemy attack—evacuated the 45 P-51s of the 39th and 40th Fighter Squadrons from the airstrip, despite complaints from UN commander General Douglas MacArthur. However, the airstrip remained under the protection of UN ground forces and never came under direct KPA fire. The squadrons were moved to Tsuiki on the island of Kyushu, Japan. As the battles at P'ohang-dong raged to the south, the ROK 3rd Division faced increasing pressure from the KPA 5th Division, which continued to attack the ROK unit hoping it would collapse, and the KPA troops were able to slowly erode the ROK division's defenses, forcing it into a smaller and smaller pocket. The ROK 3rd Division was forced further south to the village of Changsa-dong, where US Navy planners began preparations to evacuate the division by LSTs and DUKWs. The division would sail south to Yonil Bay to join other UN forces in a coordinated attack to push the KPA out of the region. This evacuation was carried out on the night of 16 August under heavy support from the US Navy. In all, 9,000