first one battalion, and later two battalions, of the 27th Infantry fought toward it through the estimated 3,000 KPA operating in its rear areas. Although the 25th Division generally was under much less pressure after September 5, there were still severe local attacks. Heavy rains caused the Nam and Naktong Rivers to rise on September 8 and 9, reducing the danger of new crossings. However, KPA attacks against 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry occurred nightly. The approaches to the Namji-ri bridge, one of their key targets to protect, were mined. At one time there were about 100 KPA dead lying in that area. From September 9 to 16, there were limited attacks on the 35th Infantry's front, but most of the KPA momentum had been broken and they could not muster strong attacks against the regiment again. Evacuation of Masan Civilians in Masan posed an unexpectedly dangerous problem for the UN forces. The town had a large community of Communist sympathizers and agents. At the peak of the KPA offensive, Han Gum Jo, manager of the Masan branch of the Korean Press Association, confessed that he was chief of the South Korean Labor Party in Masan and that he had been funneling information to the KPA through a Pusan headquarters. Additionally, the chief of the Masan prison guards was found to be the head of a Communist cell that included seven of his subordinates. This, and other counterintelligence information, came to light at a time when the most intense fighting was in progress only a few miles away. Kean considered the situation so dangerous that he ordered Masan evacuated of all people except police, public officials, railroad and utility workers, and necessary laborers and their families. Evacuation was to be completed in five days. On September 10 and 11 alone the 25th Division evacuated more than 12,000 people by Landing Ship Tank (LST) from Masan. North Korean withdrawal The UN counterattack at Inchon collapsed the KPA line and forced them back on all fronts. On September 16 the Eighth Army began its breakout from the Pusan Perimeter however, the 25th Infantry Division was still fighting KPA forces behind its lines, and KPA strongpoints existed on the heights of Battle Mountain, P'il-bong, and Sobuk-san. Kean felt that the division could advance along the roads toward Chinju only when the mountainous center of the division front was clear. He therefore believed that the