signal to start the 23d's attack. The 3rd Battalion, under Lt. Col. Virgil E. Craven, led the way in a column of companies, followed by the 2nd Battalion, commanded by Lt. Col. Henry F. Daniels. As the assault troops moved north from Hill 702 up the Sat'ae-ri Valley to reach the east-west spur ridge that would serve as the approach to Heartbreak, the KPA spotted them. Heavy artillery and mortar fire from Heartbreak Ridge positions and from the heights around Sat'aeri town began to pour in on the men of the 23rd Regiment. Despite the growing number of casualties, Craven's forces pressed on, closely followed by Daniels' men. As the 3rd Battalion arrived at the east-west spur and headed up the hill to split the Heartbreak Ridge line, it ran into a hornet's nest. The KPA 1st Regiment, 6th Division manned a series of concealed, mutually supporting bunkers that covered the approach ridge with machine guns and small arms. Added to the artillery and mortar fire that the KPA observers were directing upon the two attack battalions, the automatic weapons and rifle fire forced the assault force to halt and dig in on the toe of the spur. The prospects for a swift penetration of the KPA lines vanished as night fell; the 23rd had come up against the KPA's main defenses and another Bloody Ridge experience loomed ahead. When reports of the 23rd's situation reached General de Shazo, he realized that he had underestimated the KPA's defensive capacity. Since the 9th Regiment, under Colonel Lynch, was already in position for its contemplated attack on Hill 728, on 14 September de Shazo directed Lynch to use his regiment against Hill 894 instead. A successful seizure of Hill 894 could relieve some of the pressure on the 23rd Regiment. The 2nd Battalion, 9th Regiment advanced from Yao'dong up the southwest shoulder of Hill 894 on 14 September, supported by tanks of Company B, 72nd Tank Battalion, the heavy mortar company, and a battalion of 155mm howitzers. By nightfall the 2nd Battalion had climbed to within of the crest of Hill 894 against light resistance. The attack continued on 15 September and by afternoon, the height was swept clear of the KPA. Up to this point the 2nd Battalion had had only eleven casualties, but the next two days cost the battalion over two hundred more as the KPA counterattacked fiercely and