An hour after last light on 5 November the PVA attacked C Company 3 RAR—the forward Australian company occupying positions astride the Pakchon road north of Maenjung-dong—with mortars and machine-guns. Meanwhile, machine-gun fire also fell on Support Company and Battalion Headquarters, to the south. Walsh decided to relocate his headquarters further to the rear. The PVa infantry launched a strong attack against C Company assaulting them across the paddy fields in darkness, while simultaneously also falling upon A and B Companies holding the hills they had captured during the afternoon. In the face of the heavy PVA counter-attack Walsh feared the loss of his entire force, and at 20:00 he ordered a general withdrawal, pulling them back off the ridgeline in order to concentrate the battalion on the road, without informing Coad. Ordered in the dark and with one company still under attack, a disorganised night withdrawal occurred. The decision proved to be a serious tactical error, for as was to be demonstrated often in the months that followed, the PVA were skilled at moving across the hills to outflank road-bound UN forces who often failed to hold the ridges on either side of the roads only to be confronted by strong concentrations in front and behind them as a result. The withdrawal threatened to open the 27th British Commonwealth Brigade's left flank; recognising the danger this posed, Coad ordered Walsh to immediately reposition his companies on the ridge. Ultimately this proved unachievable.