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The return of Hong Kong Island is definitely one of the most influential events in modern China, and the return of Hong Kong Island marks that the days of great powers acting as a blessing in China are gone forever, and also marks that the Chinese people have the will and ability to protect their territorial sovereignty.
On June 28, 1997, less than three days before the official time of Hong Kong's return, the people of the motherland were already anxious for the return of Hong Kong, and the people of Hong Kong had long been like an arrow in their hearts about returning to the motherland.
In order to oppress China by force and prevent China's determination and will to reclaim Hong Kong, Britain sent an aircraft carrier fleet of 34 warships to blatantly break into the territorial waters of the mainland in the South China Sea in an attempt to prevent the mainland from recovering Hong Kong Island.
In the face of the rampage of 34 British warships, the frigate "Yibin", which belongs to the South China Sea Fleet of the Chinese Navy, did not show weakness and charged at the enemy ship with a posture of death.
What was the final result of this battle between Chinese and British ships? What happened to the No. 522 "Yibin" ship? On that day 26 years ago, on the eve of Hong Kong's return to the motherland, how dangerous was the story above the South China Sea? Today we will talk about the fearless charge that related to the dignity of the country, and the little-known undercurrents before and after Hong Kong's return.
On the Return of Hong Kong: Comrade Xiaoping's "Fight and Talk"
In front of and behind the scenes of Hong Kong's return, the biggest contributor, apart from the Hong Kong Island compatriots who had a strong desire to return and mainland citizens who actively campaigned for propaganda and appeal, were the supreme leader of the country at that time, Comrade Xiaoping.
On the matter of Hong Kong's return, Comrade Xiaoping taught Margaret Thatcher a lesson with a great demeanor that was not inferior to that of the previous state leader Chairman Mao, and fully demonstrated Chinese's attitude on the matter of "fighting and talking": It is possible to talk, but we are not afraid of fighting.
What did he say at the time? Let's take a good look.
The return of Hong Kong Island affects the interests of many European and American countries, as well as many British people on the island, these people are more or less related to British politics, or the British economy, so Margaret Thatcher represents both Britain's national interests and many European and American countries.
It is precisely because there are so many pairs of eyes staring, watching, and exerting pressure that Hong Kong's return to the motherland has not been so calm and smooth from beginning to end.
From 1982 to 1984, the mainland and the British side held more than 20 talks and negotiations at various levels on major international affairs concerning the respective interests of China and Britain, and the principal of the conversation was at least the head of a certain department, and then the foreign minister or defense minister, and Comrade Xiaoping personally attended more than five dialogues.
On September 22, 1982, then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher visited Beijing.
On the ground, Comrade Xiaoping and other top leaders are already waiting to be welcomed.
After all, it is the prime minister of a country, the top leader of the government is visiting, even if we know that the negotiations will be quite unpleasant, we are fully prepared in good faith, not only Comrade Xiaoping personally greeted him, but also the premier and foreign minister of the State Council attended as observers, which raised the standard of this meeting.
When the plane landed, Margaret Thatcher appeared on the gangway of the plane, full of spring breeze and a bright smile.
Thatcher couldn't help but smile, because it seemed to her at the time that it would be easy to prevent China from taking back sovereignty over Hong Kong Island.
In fact, before that, China, in terms of international sovereignty, was indeed a lot of forbearance, really surrounded by enemies, especially in the serious period of bad relations with the Soviet Union, internal and external troubles, troubled autumn, so it did not mention to recover Hong Kong Island.
Then there is the economic pressure of European and American countries, and China is even more low-key and tolerant, which makes Britain think that China's talk about taking back Hong Kong Island is a habitual struggle, or a political trick for China's new leader to show his presence and position.
Thatcher's understanding of China and its leaders basically stopped at just knowing that China was fighting very badly, and Japan, the United States, India, Vietnam, etc. have suffered losses from China.
For the rest, Thatcher was actually in a state of black eyes.
As the chief architect of reform and opening up, Comrade Xiaoping's foresight and wisdom cannot be easily measured -- the recovery of Hong Kong Island is what Comrade Xiaoping proposed and is also the goal he must resolutely implement.
After actually sitting at the negotiating table, Thatcher immediately felt the strength of Comrade Xiaoping - after the negotiations, Thatcher had just made clear the attitude of the British Government that "would not let go" on the matter of Hong Kong Island, and Comrade Xiaoping immediately said that "in a war, Chinese is not afraid of death"!
Without a word, it was as straightforward as a blade to the throat, and it was difficult for Thatcher not to be shocked by Comrade Xiaoping.
She couldn't understand where Comrade Xiaoping, or China's confidence that was not afraid of that, came from.
Where does it come from? In fact, Chinese our own family knows their own affairs best, because our country has been in a state of "crisis" for a long time, so all our development purposes are for self-preservation, whether it is workers and civilians engaged in production, or soldiers and soldiers engaged in desperation.
Although "living in a dangerous country for a long time, everyone thinks about danger" is not written into our ideological guidance, but it is a principle that every citizen will abide by in the subtle, students grow up to become useful people, professors work hard to improve national defense, and then whether they are workers or farmers, they will work hard to produce, just to "accumulate grain and fight for a long time."
Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, after more than 30 years of silent development, China has accumulated sufficient economic and military capabilities - economic growth has steadily improved, and the benign growth of economic capacity has been funded, so that we are no longer afraid of economic blockade; The development and deployment of atomic bombs, hydrogen bombs, and long-range ballistic missiles have given us the confidence capital to counter and deter the enemy from acting rashly.
It is in this context that we have the courage and confidence to say the words "return my Hong Kong Island" to the UK, and dare to deal with the difficulties and negotiations of the British Government - whether it is literary talks or military talks!
Invasion of the task force
Margaret Thatcher suffered defeat at the negotiating table, and Comrade Xiaoping's statement that "when fighting a war, Chinese is not afraid of death," he lifted a heavy weight, but he was powerful.
Margaret Thatcher asked herself, did she really dare to have an armed conflict with China because of the Hong Kong issue? She couldn't afford this responsibility.
Don't look at Margaret Thatcher's strong life, known as the "Iron Lady" with iron heads and copper teeth, but as the British Prime Minister, Thatcher still has something she needs to care about, that is, the overall national environment of Britain at that time - the whole country thinks of peace and denounces war.
It is true that Britain has a very strong military strength, but this very strong military strength is enhanced by taxpayers' money, so Britain's military strength is not used to let Thatcher use force to oppress others, but to let Britain protect itself.
If taxpayers – that is, British citizens – are eager to fight, then Thatcher can naturally make a fuss about popular popularity, but the overall political environment in Britain has gradually leveled out, more and more doves are in power, and Thatcher, an eagle political leader, has become more and more unhappy.
If we want to fight China again, or even turn into armed conflict, not to mention how the international community will view Britain's hegemony, Thatcher's political reputation in Britain alone will probably fall again and again.
It was precisely for this reason that Thatcher finally relented after two consecutive years of negotiations and accepted the Hong Kong Island matter, which led to the final result of the return of Hong Kong Island to China.
Thatcher fell as she walked out of the Great Hall
However, Thatcher is not a habitual person who admits it, otherwise she would not have such a cold and hard political nickname as "Iron Lady", in the matter of Hong Kong's return, although she admitted it in her heart, her mouth was still hard, let China take back Hong Kong so easily, Thatcher was not very willing.
Another result of unwillingness is because the result of this matter is that her political reputation will also fall, after all, Hong Kong is a "link of interest" recognized by the United Kingdom, so let China take it back, what will the British think of Thatcher?
So Thatcher must "take a stand".
In early June 1997, on the eve of Hong Kong's return to the motherland, under Thatcher's statement of "turning a blind eye", the British Royal Navy temporarily formed a task force consisting of 33 destroyers, frigates, supply ships and submarines consisting of the "Invincible-class" light aircraft carrier "Excellence" as the flagship, and set off from the British military port of Portsmouth to Asia.
The task force sailed from Portsmouth and traveled all the way to the high seas, with few visits to sovereign countries, and always traveled low-key.
It was only when it was almost in the Asia-Pacific waters that the fleet "accidentally" turned its head and headed for the waters of the South China Sea.
On June 25, 1997, more than 30 ships of other countries brazenly intruded into the territorial waters of the mainland, and it seemed that they were going straight to the coast of Fujian, especially one of them was a light aircraft carrier.
The patrol ships of the South China Sea Fleet immediately issued an alert to the coastal bases of the South China Sea Fleet, and the coastal bases quickly forwarded the information to the Ministry of Defense and the Central Military Commission, and immediately dispatched the fleet group - in a special emergency, the forward generals have the right to send troops without being asked.
In June, in the early morning of the South China Sea, the waves were rough, and the warships of China and Britain faced each other in a row, and the high-lit searchlights patrolled back and forth, illuminating the unlit sky and illuminating a forest of sea steel jungles.
Opposite is the escort fleet of the "Excellence" light aircraft carrier, mainly the "Excellence" light aircraft carrier, surrounded by other ships, including the British Royal Navy Type 42 "Shesfield" class guided-missile destroyer, Type 21/23 frigates, and several integrated supply ships, no submarines were found, but it does not mean that there are no submarines, and the number of ships in the entire fleet reached 34, and the combat power was comparable to the number of ships dispatched by the British in the Battle of the Falklands.
HMS Excellence, a light aircraft carrier of the British Royal Navy
So many ships rushing into the territorial waters of the mainland are obviously not here for sightseeing, but no matter what the purpose of the other party is, it is definitely not an excuse such as a "peaceful visit" that can be summarized.
This is the consideration of the leaders of the Military Commission, in case there is some riot on the eve of Hong Kong's return, so that Britain has an excuse to postpone the return of Hong Kong, then it is difficult to say the development of the matter, after all, late changes, just to the responsibility of delaying the return, no one can afford it.
It seems that Britain is really unwilling to return to Hong Kong Island.
But so what, the return of Hong Kong Island is a major event that China hopes for, and Britain's tricks are just a mantis as a car!
In order to deal with such an armed threat as Britain, the South China Sea Fleet almost poured out, but all the ships on duty in combat readiness, no matter what type of ship, went out as soon as possible, and other ships that were still under maintenance and patrol also continued to rush to the front line in the follow-up time.
The commander of the fleet issued an order: even if you block it, you must stop the other side, China's territorial waters are sacred and inviolable!
Captain of Ship 552: Bump in
With the continuous "increase of troops" of our army, more and more warships are gathered on the surface of the South China Sea, the Type 053H frigate is the most, there are many destroyers of the same class, the main force of cruisers is basically dispatched, and even the gunboats that are about to be decommissioned have come out, if only the number of warships is not comparable to the combat quality, we are more than the opposite.
The two sides confronted each other like this, and they continued to face each other for three days and three nights.
During this period, our army constantly transmitted messages to the British ships: This is China's territorial waters, please automatically withdraw from China's territorial waters, otherwise it will be regarded as an armed invasion!
In the face of solemn representations from our side, the British fleet all remained radio silent.
The heavy atmosphere was always tense, and everyone in our army kept their breath to the minimum, because war could break out at any moment!
In the early morning of June 28, the last trace of darkness before dawn, the British fleet suddenly made a move--the Type 21 frigate "Chaham", which was cruising on the periphery of the British vanguard fleet, suddenly rushed out of the vanguard fleet group and continued to rush north, that is, the south coast of the mainland.
One of our army's avant-garde ships, the Type 053 missile frigate, the warship "Yibin" with the number 552, caught up with the "Chaham" and gave an armed warning and drove away - the "Yibin" ship approached the "Chaham" at the same speed, and immediately sounded the battle alarm.
The muzzle of the gun was diverted, the live ammunition was put into the warehouse, and the "Yibin" ship, which was fully armed and combat-ready, was like a lion about to get angry, staring at the "Chaham" without saying a word.
The "Chaham" was forced to stop, but then, as if embarrassed or foolish, the British warship drove straight towards the "Yibin" at high speed, looking at the situation, it was to collide with the Chinese warship!
In the face of the enemy's lifeless fight, every officer and soldier on the "Yibin" ship was very nervous, but everyone's eyes were like death, and the captain shouted an order: Don't be afraid of death, bump into it!
The black waves illuminated the hull, as if the fire melting of the sponson No. 552 was clearly visible, and the warship was facing the British warship and crashing at high speed without evasion, the same fighting style of death!
The narrow road met, just at the moment when the two ships were about to collide, the British warship was immediately provoked, the helmsman of the "Chaham" immediately hit the steering rudder, with a general direction of rudder angle emergency evasion action, hard to avoid the collision of the 552 "Yibin" ship, from the starboard side of the 552 "Yibin" ship, the closest distance between the two ships can be ten meters, very thrilling!
A bold attempt ended in failure, the British warships withdrew in ashes, and the "Yibin" returned safely, but it was a return with honor.
Subsequently, as one of the "scouts", the "Yibin" ship was deployed on the periphery of Hong Kong Island with the naval vigilance force during the return ceremony of Hong Kong Island on July 1 to continuously track and reconnoiter the British fleet that was running away from the ashes, ensuring that there would be no mistakes and threats in Hong Kong's return, and became one of the heroes behind the smooth return of Hong Kong.
The 552 "Yibin" ship docked in the port
The defense of territorial waters was won by the heroism and tenacity of the Chinese navy, and the British armed deterrence from the sea was of little use in the end, and three days later, Hong Kong officially returned to the mainland of the motherland, long live China's territorial sovereignty.
epilogue
As the last of the old 053H ships with backward equipment and reduced practicality, the 522 "Yibin" ship finally underwent a retirement ceremony in 2012, and was dismantled shortly after its retirement, and joined the research and development and manufacturing of new ships of the Chinese Navy in the form of reconstruction materials.
Dismantling operations of the 552 ship
However, the story of the 552 ship has been preserved, as a typical battle example of the Chinese Navy, it has been praised by generations of Chinese navy personnel, and from generation to generation, the torch has been passed down and the spirit is unswerving.