Company A had been unable to take Hills 117 and 143, still bristling with enemy automatic weapons. At 2030, shortly after the smashing victory over North Korean armor, Captain Stevens contacted his 1st Platoon and learned that it was on the saddle between peaks 109 and 117. Although tied in on the right with Company B, the platoon was separated by a 100-yard gap from Stevens’ other two platoons on the slopes to the left.[310] [310] Annex How; and Stevens and Fox, 24 Feb 54. The company commander called Fox, Lawson, and McMullen together near the base of the ridge to consult them on continuing the attack. All platoon leaders advised against it, since darkness was falling and their units needed rest, food, water, and ammunition. Moreover, the enemy’s bold tank attack had convinced the infantry leaders that a larger counterstroke by the Communists was imminent, and they wanted time for preparation.[311] [311] _Ibid._ Stevens informed Newton of the situation by radio, and the battalion commander ordered him to discontinue the attack and tie in with Fenton’s unit for the night. It was already dark when the 2d and 3d Platoons shifted to the right from their positions below Hills 117 and 143. Company B had been busily consolidating its high ground since the seizure of Hills 102 and 109 earlier in the evening. While Fenton’s machineguns dueled with those of the Reds on 117, his 1st and 2d Platoons deployed defensively on the forward slopes of the two captured peaks, and the 3d went into reserve on the reverse slope.[312] [312] Annex How; and Fenton, 8 May 54. Company A’s front extended left from the southern part of Hill 109--where the 1st Platoon was linked to Fenton’s unit--to the center of the saddle toward 117. There the line bent down in an arch, formed by the 2d Platoon, to the spur below the enemy-held peak. Able Company’s left was actually perpendicular to the ridgeline, for Fox’s 3d Platoon was deployed up and down Hill 117’s spur.[313] [313] Brig SAR; and Stevens and Fox, 24 Feb 54. To complete the Brigade front, Headquarters Company of 1/5 was to have extended across the rice paddy from Observation Hill and tied in with Company A’s left flank. Due to the casualties and workload of the headquarters troops, this connection was never made, with the result that Fox’s platoon remained dangling.[314] [314] _Ibid._ When General Craig returned to his CP near Yongsan on the night of 17 August, he was not unduly concerned about the tactical situation. Although the Brigade had been thinned by heavy casualties, Murray’s disposition in depth across a narrow front gave the Marines the advantages of concentrated strength and firepower. If the enemy attempted his usual night envelopment, both 2/5 and 3/5 could strike back from their reserve positions on Observation and Cloverleaf Hills.[315] [315] Craig, 17 Mar 54; and Col R. L. Murray, 20 Mar 54.