Simultaneously, Company B’s position on Hill 109 was struck hard by two platoons advancing up the draw to the west. Heedless of illuminating shells fired by 1/5’s 81-mm. mortars, the enemy assaulted methodically by alternately throwing small groups of grenadiers and submachinegunners against Marine positions. The NKPA infantrymen were covered by a heavy volume of automatic weapons fire pouring down from Hill 117. An enemy squad emerged from the gully west of the saddle between peaks 102 and 109, attempting to divert strength from Fenton’s main defensive effort to the south. Failing in this effort, the group fell back to fire harassing shots. Company A’s 2d Platoon slugged it out with three times its own numbers for a full half hour. This stand was due largely to the courage and leadership of Lawson, who stuck to his guns and refused evacuation, though wounded three times. About 0300, with Marines on the right devoting more attention to the heavier attack against Hill 109, the exhausted survivors of the 2d Platoon were overrun and the Brigade line penetrated. For some unknown reason, enemy troops did not pour down the eastern slopes after the breakthrough. Only one squad drove through, and it split Company A in half by invading Stevens’ CP, directly behind the 2d Platoon’s lines. The company commander and his headquarters were slowly forced down the draw by the methodical grenade and submachinegun fire from above. The remainder of the North Korean platoon which had hit Company A remained on the crest for a joint effort with the larger force striking Hill 109. Stevens’ 1st Platoon, with its left flank now exposed on the saddle, gradually fell back and curled around the southern face of 109. Although Company B’s left front held firm against the two-platoon assault, a few Reds slipped by the Marine foxholes and charged into Fenton’s CP on Hill 109. Rocket gunners, mortarmen and clerks responded to the challenge and quickly eliminated the attackers. When Fenton became aware that the saddle south of Hill 109 had been taken, he tightened his left flank by drawing it in to his 3d Platoon’s reverse slope positions. This portion of his defense now took the shape of a football, and successfully withstood pressure from the south.