and its defenses were further hampered by the flat terrain surrounding Wonju. However, given the strategic importance of Wonju in controlling central Korea, Ridgway declared that the village was "only second to Seoul" in importance, and therefore must be defended at all cost. In accordance with Ridgway's instructions, Almond ordered the US 2nd Infantry Division to defend the hills north of Wonju, yet Division commander Major General Robert B. McClure believed that the salient was untenable due to the terrain and the low morale of his division. On January 7, two infantry battalions from KPA V Corps launched an attack against the US 2nd Infantry Division. One KPA battalion managed to infiltrate the American positions disguised as refugees while another battalion launched a frontal assault. Yet the weak attack was soon repulsed due to the lack of coordination between the KPA units, and about 114 infiltrators were later captured. Although the KPA attack inflicted little damage, the disruption caused by infiltrators in US 2nd Infantry Division's rear convinced McClure to abandon Wonju on January 7. Almond concurred with McClure's decision on the condition that the US 2nd Infantry Division would only retreat so that Wonju could be controlled by UN artillery fire. Regardless, McClure ordered the division to retreat more than south, putting the village out of artillery range. With Wonju under KPA control, the PVA declared that the Third Phase Campaign had reached a successful conclusion. Second Battle of Wonju Hill 247 Hill 247 was located among the hill mass south of Wonju, and was a critical height that commanded Wonju. With the loss of Wonju on January 7, Almond was furious at McClure for disobeying the order to hold it, and this later resulted in Major General Clark Ruffner replacing McClure on January 13. On January 8, Almond ordered the US 2nd Infantry Division to retake Wonju. Following his orders, the US 23rd Infantry Regiment, under the command of Colonel Paul L. Freeman, attacked towards Wonju on January 8. The 23rd Infantry Regiment managed to reach within at the south of Wonju and caught a sleeping KPA regiment by surprise at Hill 247. About 200 KPA soldiers were killed in the ensuing battle, however the alerted KPA forces soon counterattacked by outflanking the 23rd Infantry Regiment to the east, and the Regiment was forced to retreat to avoid encirclement. Encouraged by the heavy KPA losses during the initial