 At 03 : 00 , 1 September , the 9th Infantry Regiment ordered its only reserve , E Company to move west along the <unk> @-@ <unk> River road and take a blocking position at the pass between <unk> Hill and <unk> @-@ <unk> Ridge , 3 miles ( 4 @.@ 8 km ) from the river and 6 miles ( 9 @.@ 7 km ) from <unk> . This was the critical terrain where so much heavy fighting had taken place in the first battle of the <unk> <unk> . Fighting began at the pass at 02 : 30 when an American medium tank of A Company , 72nd Tank Battalion , knocked out a T @-@ 34 at <unk> , also called <unk> . E Company never reached its blocking position . A strong North Korean force surprised and delivered heavy automatic fire on it at 03 : 30 from positions <unk> the road east of the pass . The company suffered heavy casualties , including the company commander and <unk> 's aide who had accompanied the force . With the critical parts of <unk> Hill and <unk> @-@ <unk> Ridge , the best defensive terrain between <unk> and the river , the North Koreans controlled the high ground . The US 2nd Infantry Division now had to base its defense of <unk> on relatively poor defensive terrain , the low hills at the western edge of the town . 
