General Almond had ordered 7th Division's 31st Regimental Combat Team (RCT) to relieve the 5th Marines on the east side of the frozen Chosin Reservoir so 1stMarDiv could concentrate their drive to the north and west. The 31st RCT was widely scattered, the roads treacherous, and the battalions and artillery only slowly began to assemble. east of the reservoir. The 1st Battalion, 32d Infantry, Lt. Col. Donald C. Faith, Jr., relieved 5th marines on 25 November, and the 31st Infantry and two artillery batteries arrived on the twenty-seventh. With the rest of the RCT still en route, that night the Chinese struck the U.S. forces on both sides of the Chosin Reservoir nearly simultaneously. Two CCF Divisions, the 79th and 89th, attacked in the west at Yudam-ni, and the CCF 80th Division hit 31st RCT's spread-out positions. 31RCT fought bravely, but was destroyed.
