The Frozen Hours

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The master of military historical fiction turns his discerning eye to the Korean War in this riveting novel, which tells the dramatic story of the Americans and the Chinese who squared off in one of the deadliest campaigns in the annals of combat: the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, also known as Frozen Chosin. June 1950. The North Korean army invades South Korea, intent on uniting the country under Communist rule. In response, the United States mobilizes a force to defend the overmatched South Korean troops, and together they drive the North Koreans back to their border with China. But several hundred thousand Chinese troops have entered Korea, laying massive traps for the Allies. In November 1950, the Chinese spring those traps. Allied forces, already battling stunningly cold weather, find themselves caught completely off guard as the Chinese advance around the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. A force that once stood on the precipice of victory now finds itself on the brink of annihilation. Assured by General Douglas MacArthur that they would be home by Christmas, the soldiers and Marines fight for their lives against the most brutal weather conditions imaginable--and an enemy that outnumbers them more than six to one. The Frozen Hours tells the story of Frozen Chosin from multiple points of view: Oliver P. Smith, the commanding general of the American 1st Marine Division, who famously redefined retreat as “advancing in a different direction”; Marine Private Pete Riley, a World War II veteran who now faces the greatest fight of his life; and the Chinese commander Sung Shi-Lun, charged with destroying the Americans he has so completely surrounded, ever aware that above him, Chairman Mao Tse-Tung watches his every move. Written with the propulsive force Jeff Shaara brings to all his novels of combat and courage, The Frozen Hours transports us to the critical moment in the history of America’s “Forgotten War,” when the fate of the Korean peninsula lay in the hands of a brave band of brothers battling both the elements and a determined, implacable foe. “A military story as dramatic and heroic as any that exists.”-- The American Interest “ The Frozen Hours . . . illustrates again Shaara’s mastery. . . . This is fiction and history at their blended best.”-- Marine Corps Gazette “Marvelously effective storytelling . . . that shows us what warfare feels like both to those who plan campaigns and those who execute them . . . gripping, precisely detailed historical fiction.”-- Booklist (starred review) ...

ldquo;A military story as dramatic and heroic as any that exists.”—The American Interest
 
“The Frozen Hours . . . illustrates again Shaara’s mastery. . . . This is fiction and history at their blended best.”—Marine Corps Gazette
 
“Marvelously effective storytelling . . . that shows us what warfare feels like both to those who plan campaigns and those who execute them . . . gripping, precisely detailed historical fiction.”—Booklist (starred review)

Autorentext
Jeff Shaara

Zusammenfassung
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The master of military historical fiction turns his discerning eye to the Korean War in this riveting novel, which tells the dramatic story of the Americans and the Chinese who squared off in one of the deadliest campaigns in the annals of combat: the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, also known as Frozen Chosin.

June 1950. The North Korean army invades South Korea, intent on uniting the country under Communist rule. In response, the United States mobilizes a force to defend the overmatched South Korean troops, and together they drive the North Koreans back to their border with China.

But several hundred thousand Chinese troops have entered Korea, laying massive traps for the Allies. In November 1950, the Chinese spring those traps. Allied forces, already battling stunningly cold weather, find themselves caught completely off guard as the Chinese advance around the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. A force that once stood on the precipice of victory now finds itself on the brink of annihilation. Assured by General Douglas MacArthur that they would be home by Christmas, the soldiers and Marines fight for their lives against the most brutal weather conditions imaginable—and an enemy that outnumbers them more than six to one.

The Frozen Hours tells the story of Frozen Chosin from multiple points of view: Oliver P. Smith, the commanding general of the American 1st Marine Division, who famously redefined retreat as “advancing in a different direction”; Marine Private Pete Riley, a World War II veteran who now faces the greatest fight of his life; and the Chinese commander Sung Shi-Lun, charged with destroying the Americans he has so completely surrounded, ever aware that above him, Chairman Mao Tse-Tung watches his every move. 

Written with the propulsive force Jeff Shaara brings to all his novels of combat and courage, The Frozen Hours transports us to the critical moment in the history of America’s “Forgotten War,” when the fate of the Korean peninsula lay in the hands of a brave band of brothers battling both the elements and a determined, implacable foe.

“A military story as dramatic and heroic as any that exists.”—The American Interest

“The Frozen Hours . . . illustrates again Shaara’s mastery. . . . This is fiction and history at their blended best.”—Marine Corps Gazette

“Marvelously effective storytelling . . . that shows us what warfare feels like both to those who plan campaigns and those who execute them . . . gripping, precisely detailed historical fiction.”—Booklist (starred review)

Leseprobe
Chapter One



Smith

East of Inchon, South Korea—­September 17, 1950

“Where’s Puller? I want to see him, see what’s going on. He’ll be in the thick of it.”

Mac­Arthur seemed to speak to all of them, but Smith had to respond.

“His men went in at Blue Beach, sir. He’ll be at his new command post there, certainly.” He glanced to one side, saw Ned Almond hanging on Mac­Arthur’s words like a sparrow on a telephone wire, a hint of anger toward Smith. Smith tried to avoid Almond’s glare, turned to Mac­Arthur again. “The jeeps are waiting. On your command, sir.”

“Well, let’s go. We delay any longer, this thing might be over before we get to see it.”

The aides behind Mac­Arthur laughed, his ever-­present audience, Almond laughing the loudest. Smith moved to the door of the crude hut, held out one hand.

“This way, sir.”

Smith backed away from the opening, allowed Mac­Arthur the lead, a tradition Smith had learned from their first meeting in Tokyo, a month before. He kept back, allowed the other staff officers to go as well, Almond first, the man ignoring Smith as much as he could. Smith shook his head, then stopped, clamped down any reaction at all, wouldn’t show any of them a response. The aides flowed past, the room emptying quickly. He glanced at Craig.

General Edward Craig was, by title, the assistant commander of the Marine division, and so Smith’s second in command, a combat veteran whom Smith respected enormously.

Craig said nothing, and Smith glanced at the simple accommodations Craig had established, Smith’s folding cot in one corner, the field desk where Craig had spread the all-­im…

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