Before reading this article, I sincerely invite you to click the "Follow" button, so that you can continue to push such articles in the future, and it is also convenient for you to discuss and share, your support is the driving force for us to insist on creating~
Text: Xie Xiansheng
Edit|t
introduction
As we all know, since the People's Liberation Army launched the three major campaigns, the defeat of the Kuomintang has become a general trend, and finally under the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek, it retreated to Taiwan and retreated to a corner.
However, in addition to occupying the island of Taiwan, the Kuomintang actually occupied many of China's overseas islands at this time, and used them as a base to often raid the People's Liberation Army, causing serious interference to our army.
(Chiang Kai-shek)
Just along the southeast coast, the Kuomintang occupies the Wanshan Islands, which are composed of 70 large and small islands, entrenched between Hong Kong and Macao.
So, how much strength is left of the Kuomintang? What did our army do, and did it finally recover this strategic land?
1. The Kuomintang that has not changed its mind
These Kuomintang who fled to Taiwan not only did not want to accept the reality of defeat, but even hoped to eventually re-attack the mainland by using Taiwan as a base and using these islands as a springboard. In this Wanshan Islands, the Kuomintang has deployed as many as 3,000 troops!
(Location of Wanshan Islands)
In addition, the Kuomintang also has military, economic and other support from the United States, although it was defeated and retreated to Taiwan, its comprehensive strength is still very strong!
In order to liberate the Wanshan Islands, lift the routes between Hong Kong, Macao, Shandong, and Cham, which were blocked by the Kuomintang, and further restore the national economy, our army is ready to move south and take control of the Wanshan Islands back to our army!
However, it is still very difficult to do in practice, at least in terms of weapons and equipment, the gap between the strength of the enemy and the enemy is very large!
(Islands)
2. Difficult operational conditions
After the decision was made to liberate the Wanshan Islands, the People's Liberation Army, the river defense units of the Guangdong Military Region, and other units were dispatched to form an army and navy, with a total number of about 10,000 troops.
However, in terms of naval military strength, because the mainland has just been established and the country is poor and white, let alone building a submarine by itself, even if it can't afford to buy it, it can only use the Kuomintang ships and civilian ships that it received before as transportation equipment.
Anyone who has visited the ship should know that the ship needs to prepare a lot of equipment, especially some professional navigation equipment, in the vast sea these are not only cold instruments, but also can save people's lives!
(Nautical Instruments)
And those ships of our army are not only of low quality, but they also do not have some nautical instruments, sea maps and communication tools for the ships, which shows how difficult the conditions are!
On the other hand, the Kuomintang not only has more than 30 warships, including frigates, landing ships, gunboats and other ships with strong firepower, but also ships from the United States to support!
So, under such difficult conditions, how did the officers and men of our army deal with the enemy? What were some wonderful moments in this battle?
(Naval Battle)
3. Small artillery overturns large warships
In the face of such difficult conditions, the heroic soldiers of the People's Liberation Army of our army not only did not flinch, but on the contrary, their fighting mood was high, and under the guidance of the spirit of "striving to fight as soon as possible" and "taking the Wanshan Islands, occupying the southern gate, and liberating the whole of South China", all officers and men were gearing up and preparing to show their strength!
This battle was later called the "Surprise Attack on Phishan Island", also known as the "Phishan Island Landing".
From the early morning of May 25, 1950, this battle officially began, our army attacked the Kuomintang naval warships in two ways, and transported a large number of infantry to land in garbage tail, Triangle Mountain and other places, and launched a fierce attack on the sleeping enemy!
(Web image)
In the early morning of the 27th, this small-scale event ended, and the garbage tail islands were finally successfully conquered and occupied by our army, and the soldiers became more and more courageous, and under the command of the party, they continued to launch fierce attacks on the rest of the islands of the Wanshan Islands, and the situation was very good!
It was not until August 3 that the battle of landing on Phishan Island was officially declared over, and our army liberated a total of 45 islands, including Daxiaowanshan and Wailingding Island, and also killed Qi Zhihong, a senior commander of the Kuomintang, killed and captured more than 700 Kuomintang soldiers, and also captured many enemy ships, which dealt a severe blow to the arrogance of the Kuomintang!
And in this battle, the most commendable thing is a military miracle of "fighting a big boat with a small boat".
(View)
At 4 o'clock in the morning of 25 May, under the cover of darkness, the gunboat "Liberation" of our warship, like a bolt of lightning, took the lead in rushing into the anchorage at Mawankou on Junkwei Island, where more than 20 Kuomintang naval vessels were moored.
With the tacit approval of party representative Wang Daming, Captain Lin Wenhu commanded the "Jiefang" lonely boat with a displacement of only 28 tons to rush towards the enemy ship like a tiger descending from the mountain, preparing to launch a surprise attack on the enemy warship.
Lin Wenhu and the soldiers on the ship carried out a burst of intense artillery fire on the enemy with their machine guns and shells, hoping to make the enemy lose strength in the shortest possible time.
(Gunboat "Liberation")
In this battle, the flagship of the command of the Third Fleet of the Kuomintang Navy's coastal defense, the frigate "Taihe" and the landing ship "Zhonghai", were shot and caught fire in the dense artillery fire. Qi Zhihong, acting commander of the Third Fleet and commander of the Wanshan Defense, was seriously wounded and lost his ability to command.
In the dark, the enemy ships were in disarray, panicked, and even collided with each other. And the defenders on Garbage Tail Island also blindly shot at the sea, adding to the chaos of the situation.
The battle lasted for more than an hour, and when the morning dawn dawned and the fog cleared, the Kuomintang troops discovered that only a PLA gunboat and a small landing ship were maneuvering with them in the harbor.
(PLA landing)
In addition to being stunned, the enemy began to counterattack with all his might, although our soldiers were brave and fearless and fearless of sacrifice, but the enemy's bullets were still accurately aimed at the "Liberation", the small ship was heavily shelled, and Lin Wenhu died bravely.
There were 19 people on the "Liberation" boat, and 16 people were killed and wounded in this battle, while the rest of the people broke out of the siege under the leadership of captain Liang Kuiting and returned safely.
Another landing ship, "Guishan", was fiercely attacked by enemy artillery fire when it broke through, and finally the captain Chi Jingzhang died bravely, and the soldiers on board rushed to land on the beach under the leadership of the soldier Guo Qinglong, and captured a bunker of the enemy, and also organized a counterattack action of two companies of the enemy.
(Landing ship "Guishan")
Most of the officers and men of the "Katsurayama" also died heroically like their captains!
epilogue
This "surprise attack on Phishan Island" battle demonstrated the heroism, fearlessness and tenacious fighting spirit of the PLA soldiers. Despite the difficult operational conditions and the huge disparity in the strength of the enemy and ours, the officers and men of our army did not flinch and marched forward bravely.
In particular, in a military miracle of "fighting a big boat with a small boat," the crews of the PLA ships "Jiefang" and "Guishan" defended the interests of the country with their own lives and displayed their heroism and loyalty.
Their feat will forever be remembered in the hearts of the Chinese people, they are great PLA soldiers!
(In memory of the martyrs)
Resources
The People's Navy's surprise attack on Phishan Island: the first victory of the East China Military Region Navy since its establishment. [OL].2019.09.21.
Section 3 Liberation of Phishan Island. [OL].2019.03.26.
Guangdong Provincial People's Government. Seventy-one years ago, the battle to liberate the Wanshan Islands began, and the People's Navy smashed the enemy blockade by "fighting big ships with small boats". [OL].2021.06.11.