The way most Marines would come to view it, the decision to push to the Chosin Reservoir had been strategically disastrous. But the battle, once set in motion, had unfolded as an impressive succession of tactical victories. Whether one called it a fighting retreat or an attack in another direction, the First Marine Division had sliced its way through seven Chinese divisions and parts of three others. General Song’s Ninth Army Group had been rendered ineffective as a fighting force. Two of his divisions were entirely destroyed, never to be seen on a battlefield again.
