No-Name Ridge - M26 Pershings Break the Invincible Soviet T-34

After months of barely resisting the North Korean assaults, US forces in Pusan, the last South Korean bastion during the early phase of the Korean War, were ready to attempt their first counterattack.

The US forces were untrained and limited in numbers. Still, recent reinforcements had allowed them to move to an offensive position. More importantly, they received four M-26 Pershing Tanks, and the armored vehicles gave them the courage to face the Soviet T-34 tanks that the North Koreans were using.

The Soviet T-34 had been a significant issue for US and South Korean troops at the outset of the war, as the American M-24s had been systematically blown to pieces by the T-34's powerful 85-millimeter guns.

The American forces now prepared to take "No-Name Ridge" and strategically placed three out of their four tanks in the middle of the narrow road. If the tanks were destroyed by the T-34s as quickly as their predecessors, at least their burning husks would provide an obstacle for the Soviet tanks.

The battle started some distance ahead of the curve where the American tanks sat. US forces clashed with North Korean ones, and soon the colossal Soviet tanks were deployed to disperse the rebellious attack.

The Americans then started to retreat, hoping to lead the four Soviet vehicles into a surprise attack, as the North Korean troops could not see around the curve, and they were not expecting the American M-26s.

A tank battle of epic proportions that would shape the war's course then ensued, as the Soviets advanced along the curve to suddenly be confronted by three American tanks they had never seen before.

As they fired on each other for the first time, one tank would prove to be much superior to the other…


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