the PVA forces further north, but the 17th Infantry was spared of heavy attack, retreating along the Korean coastline, out of range of the offensive. By the time X Corps ordered a retreat, most of the 7th Infantry Division, save the 17th Infantry Regiment, had suffered 40 percent casualties. The scattered elements of the division saw repeated attacks as they attempted to withdrawal to the port of Hungnam in December 1950. These attacks cost the division another 100 killed before it was evacuated on 21 December. The division suffered 2,657 killed and 354 wounded during the retreat. Most of the dead were members of Task Force Faith. The division returned to the front lines in early 1951, spearheaded by the 17th Infantry, which had suffered the fewest casualties from the PVA offensive. Division elements advanced through Tangyang in South Korea, and blocking PVA offensives from the northwest. The division reached full strength and saw action around Chechon, Chungju, and Pyeongchang as part of an effort to push the KPA and PVA forces back above the 38th Parallel and away from Seoul. The 7th Infantry Division engaged in a series of successful "limited objective" attacks in the early weeks of February, a series of small unit attacks and ambushes between the two sides. It would continue slowly advancing and clearing enemy hilltop positions through April. By April the entire Eighth Army was advancing north as one line stretching across the peninsula, reaching the 38th Parallel by May. The division, now assigned to IX Corps, then assaulted and fought a fierce three-day battle culminating with the recapture of the terrain that had been lost near the Hwachon Reservoir just over the 38th Parallel in North Korea. In capturing the town bordering on the reservoir it cut off thousands of PVA/KPA troops. The division fought on the front lines until June 1951 when it was assigned to the reserve for a brief rest and refitting. Stalemate When the division returned to the lines in October, after another assignment in reserve, it moved to the Heartbreak Ridge sector recently vacated by the 2nd Infantry Division, where it was supported by the 3rd Infantry Division and 1st Cavalry Division. During this new deployment the division fought in the Battle for Heartbreak Ridge, to take an area of staging grounds for the PVA/KPA armies. It remained static in the region until 23 February 1952 when it