and they rebuilt their strength at the end of 1950. In the aftermath of the Chinese successes, Chinese Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong immediately ordered another offensive against the UN forces on the urging of North Korean Premier Kim Il-sung. The offensive, dubbed the "Third Phase Campaign", was a border intrusion into South Korea that envisioned the total destruction of South Korean forces along the 38th parallel, and was aimed at pressuring the UN forces to withdraw from the Korean Peninsula. The western sector of the offensive was under the control of the PVA 13th Army, and the 13th Army's action would later result in capture of Seoul on January 4. With the PVA 9th Army decimated at the Chosin Reservoir, however, the eastern sector of the offensive was handed over to the rehabilitated KPA, under the overall command of Lieutenant General Kim Ung and Commissar Pak Il-u. On December 23, 1950, General Walton Walker, commander of the US Eighth Army, died in a traffic accident, and Lieutenant General Matthew B. Ridgway assumed command of the Eighth Army on December 26, 1950. Prelude Locations, terrain and weather The battle's main focus was around a road dubbed "Route 29", a strategically important line of communication to the UN forces in central Korea. Wonju was a critical crossroad village on Route 29 which ran north to south and connects Chuncheon on the 38th Parallel with Daegu. Another road, which ran from the northwest, connected Route 29 and Seoul at Wonju. Between Chuncheon and Wonju stood the town of Hoengseong, and from Wonju to Daegu were a series of towns such as Chechon, Tanyang, Punggi and Andong. The entire road network was situated within the rough hilly terrains of the Taebaek Mountain Range. The fighting around Wonju occurred during some of the worst Korean winter conditions, with temperatures as low as and snow as thick as on the ground. Indeed, the weather was so cold that metal on artillery pieces would crack, while water could take an hour-and-a-half to boil. At times the cold weather alone was enough to stall all military activities, while frostbite caused more casualties than combat during the course of the battle. Forces and strategy Just days before his death, Walker had tried to bolster the defences of the central and eastern sections of the 38th Parallel by stretching the ROK forces from Chuncheon to the Korean east coast.