2nd Battalion took about 30 prisoners. The KPA 2nd Division pushed forward in spite of the casualties, and that afternoon elements of it were flanking the 27th Infantry's main position. Michaelis issued an order about 22:00 for another withdrawal to high ground near Hwanggan. The withdrawal started near midnight with heavy fighting still in progress on the right flank. Murch took control of all nine US tanks and put them on line facing north, where they attacked North Korean troops approaching on the road. Mortar fire fell along the battalion line and the road behind it. F Company and the nine tanks covered the 2nd Battalion withdrawal. Second defensive line On July 26, the US 1st Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment arrived on the 27th Infantry's right flank. However, the next day the regimental left flank came under attack where a large gap existed between C Company, the westernmost unit of the 27th Infantry and the US 7th Cavalry Regiment, the nearest unit of the 1st Cavalry Division. C Company lost and regained a peak three times during the day. More than 40 casualties reduced its strength to approximately 60 men. B Company also lost heavily in action, falling to a strength of about 85 men. By the morning of July 28 the North Koreans had penetrated the 1st Battalion's line, forcing C Company to withdraw in the face of heavy KPA infantry attack. At this point Colonel Michaelis went to the 1st Cavalry Division command post in Hwanggan and asked division commander Major General Hobart R. Gay for permission to withdraw his regiment through that division. Gay telephoned the Eighth Army headquarters and asked if he should attack in an effort to relieve the pressure on the 27th Infantry or if that regiment should withdraw into the 1st Cavalry Division's area, move south to Kumch'on, and then turn toward Sangju to rejoin the 25th Division. The Eighth Army decided the 27th Regiment should withdraw, as Gay feared it would quickly be surrounded if it tried to hold its position. Before dawn on July 29, the 27th Infantry Regiment withdrew through the 1st Cavalry Division lines at Hwanggan to a position about east of Kumch'on. That afternoon Michaelis received orders from Eighth Army to move to Waegwan on the Naktong River near Daegu, as army reserve, instead of joining the 25th Division in the Sangju area. Aftermath The 27th Infantry Regiment