Chapter 5 〇4. The Battle of Yijiangshan Island

The landing battle on Yijiangshan Island in 1955 has symbolic significance in the Taiwan issue, Sino-US relations, and the modernization of the Chinese military. Yijiangshan Island is located in the southeast of Taizhou Bay, Jiaojiangkou, Haimen, Zhejiang Province. It is 11 kilometers away from Dachen Island in the south, 8 kilometers away from Toumen Island in the north, 12 kilometers away from Gaodao in the northeast, 20 kilometers away from Langji Mountain in the southwest, and 35 kilometers away from Haimen in the northwest. , divided into two islands, Nanjiang and Beijiang.In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Kuomintang government occupying Taiwan believed that Dachen Island was "Taiwan's northern gate" and Yijiangshan Island was "the latch of the northern gate".Because the Kuomintang army continued to use the island as a springboard to harass the coastal areas of the mainland, and because the Taiwan issue has always been a territorial and political issue that the new Chinese regime is eager to resolve, the Chinese army launched the Yijiangshan Island Campaign in 1955.This is the most effective battle against the Taiwan issue, and it is also the first time that the Chinese army has adopted the method of coordinated sea, land and air operations.After the Battle of Yijiangshan Island, the Kuomintang's defense system for eastern Zhejiang islands was destroyed, and the army withdrew from Dachen Island without a fight. Subsequently, the United States strengthened its assistance in defending Taiwan.It is a key place to understand today's China, US and Taiwan issues.

On the evening of January 17, 1955, Zhang Aiping didn't close her eyes almost all night. Since he was transferred as the chief of staff of the Third Field Army and the East China Military Region three years ago, this experienced founding general has been planning to attack Dachen Island in the Taiwan Strait.The plan was pushed back and forth, because the Korean War involved a large number of troops, and it was inappropriate for China to start a new battle; because the attack on Dachen Island would definitely involve the reaction and attitude of the United States; because the opinions within the military were not unified.

But eventually this has to be resolved.Before Zhang Aiping took office, Chiang Kai-shek, who had retired to Taiwan, had already begun to use the dotted islands along the coast of East China to conduct air strikes and land landings to harass the coastal areas of the mainland.Chiang Kai-shek's air force bombed Shanghai 8 times, Nanjing 5 times, and Hangzhou 2 times in 1950 alone.Shortly before Zhang Aiping took office, on January 28, 1952, Kinmen's Kuomintang troops landed on Meizhou Island and captured more than 300 residents. Zhang Aiping, the 42-year-old new chief of staff of the East China Theater, proposed a solution to land on the island and fight. "Under the couch, how can you allow others to snore and sleep," he recalled later.

In the Kuomintang's deployment of the strait to the mainland, the two most critical horns are Dachen Island facing Zhejiang to the north and Kinmen Island facing Fujian to the south. How difficult is it to cross the strait, land on the island, capture it and occupy it? From October 24th to 28th, 1949, the 28th Army of the 10th Corps of the Chinese People's Liberation Army attacked Kinmen. As a result, 9086 people from 3 regiments of the Chinese People's Liberation Army were wiped out.Ye Fei, the commander of the 10th Corps, also experienced many battles, concluded that the most important lesson is that the Kuomintang army has a complete navy and air force, while the Chinese People's Liberation Army had no air cover in the air and no naval support at sea.Landing operations across the strait require not only the army's attack, but also the coordinated operations of the army, sea and air forces.And Zhang Aiping himself is the combatant of China's first naval force.

In the landing operation plan of Dachen Island, which island to attack first was also carefully selected.Dachen Island is the core of Taiwan's offensive and defensive system in the entire Dachen Island. If Dachen is captured, other islands will naturally be at your fingertips. However, Dachen has complete defenses and is far away from the mainland. It is difficult for the People's Liberation Army to form effective support for the landing troops. Yijiangshan Island, as the gateway to the Grand Exhibition Island, has become the most ideal choice.At that time, Taiwan's Minister of National Defense Yu Dawei once said that if one river cannot be protected, Dachen will be difficult to defend.Yijiangshan Island, which is closer to the mainland, is within the firepower attack range of the mainland shore artillery.Therefore, seizing Jiangshan Island in one fell swoop, thereby threatening, and then attacking Dachen, has become the best choice for the combat plan.

In order to choose a landing location, Zhang Aiping looked at the aerial photos one by one.Two protrusions in the northwest corner were eventually selected. Next is the choice of time.Once the time is determined, the plan to attack Yijiangshan Island and the entire Grand Exhibition Island will be determined.But any military action in the Taiwan Strait is equivalent to affecting the whole body.Any move by the Chinese Communist Party will need to take into account the U.S. response.No one wants to spark a confrontation between the two superpowers, despite their covert arm-wrestling in the Korean War.

After the first Minister of Defense Peng Dehuai asked Mao Zedong for his opinion, his reply to the East China Military Region and Zhang Aiping was: As for the timing of the attack on Yijiangshan Island, we should actively prepare. As long as we are ready and sure, we will launch an attack. Zhang Aiping and the East China Military Region chose January 18, 1955. According to the meteorological data collected for more than 20 years, the wind, waves, and tides on January 17, 18, and 19 are suitable for sea and air operations. After January 19, the weather may turn bad.Therefore, it is recommended to make all preparations on the 17th, launch an attack on the 18th, and end the battle on the 19th.

But the General Staff still recommended that the attack be postponed.In desperation, Zhang Aiping directly called Chen Geng, the deputy chief of the General Staff Department.Chen Geng asked Zhang Aiping: Are you absolutely sure? Zhang Aiping replied: There must be certainty, as long as the US military does not intervene, but it is definitely hard to say. Chen Geng and Su Yu, Chief of the General Staff of the General Staff Department, quickly reported to Peng Dehuai who was attending the Politburo meeting in Zhongnanhai.Peng Dehuai then reported to Mao Zedong that the East China Military Region proposed to land and attack Yijiangshan Island on January 18.After consulting Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, and Liu Shaoqi, Mao Zedong authorized Peng Dehuai to make a decision.Peng Dehuai immediately stated that he must "trust the frontline commanders", "We have all fought wars, we will follow Aiping's opinion, and the battle will proceed as originally planned!"

But Zhang Aiping, who went to inspect the coast, felt uneasy.The wind was howling along the way, and on the night of the 16th, the ships assembled to participate in the battle swayed in the wind and waves and collided with each other.Until the evening of the 17th, the sea wind was still very strong.Zhang Aiping called the Air Force Meteorological Section in the middle of the night to inquire about the weather conditions. The Meteorological Section concluded that it was a short-term strong wind and it was about to end. "It was still so big in the middle of the night. I thought there was no hope. Instead of looking forward to it, it was better to sleep. I went back to the tent below, but I couldn't fall asleep. Maybe I was sleepy. I don't know when I fell asleep all at once. I opened my eyes suddenly, it was dawn, and I was startled, so I ran outside," Zhang Aiping recalled.

He wanted to go outside to check the weather and see if there was still wind. The weather forecast of the day said: On January 18, 1955, the cloud amount in the Dachen sea area was 0-3, and the cloud height was 3500 meters. The wind direction was north to northwest before noon, and turned easterly in the afternoon. The war started at 8 o'clock in the morning, and the planes roared and began the first air strike.Peng Dehuai said: "Tell Zhang Aiping to kill chickens with a sledgehammer!" At noon, the artillery group began to bombard Yijiangshan Island, and almost at the same time, the ships of the landing troops set sail.Next, the naval forces and the air force carried out fire attacks on Yijiangshan Island in turn.Until 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the two infantry regiments all landed with the cooperation of the navy and air force, and then quickly occupied the favorable terrain.

The capture of Yijiangshan Island quickly triggered a strong reaction from Taiwan and the United States.The three fleets of the U.S. military in the Philippines, the Taiwan Strait, and Japan quickly laid down and assembled on Dachen Island. Commander of the 7th Fleet Pride said: "Any attack on Dachen Island at present will be interpreted by the United States as interference with the Seventh Fleet. tasks. Such interference could be met with reprisals from the United States.” But in private, the United States encouraged Taiwan's military to withdraw from Dachen Island. Secretary of State Dulles called Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov, asking the Soviet side to ease China's attack. On the Kuomintang side, the prince Jiang Jingguo personally organized a retreat called "King Kong Project" by Dachen. Within 9 days, Taiwan withdrew all 33,777 soldiers and civilians from Dachen Island, and the United States provided carriers. On February 12, the mainland army landed on Dachen Island.In the next few days, all the Dachen Islands were captured by the mainland army.The battle of Yijiangshan Island achieved the effect of Dachen Island winning without a fight. This may also be the result Peng Dehuai wanted to achieve by asking Zhang Aiping to kill chickens with a sledgehammer. Later, some people described the battle of Yijiangshan Island as China's Normandy landing.This is the first war launched by the Chinese People's Liberation Army, and it may be the only war so far in which the three armed forces of the sea, land and air fought together to conquer an island on the sea. The battle of landing on Yijiangshan Island has not been publicized on a large scale. Some people think that this is related to the intensification of the contradiction between Peng Dehuai and Mao Zedong.But the significance of the battle has been hotly debated within a limited circle.Undoubtedly, it first brought tranquility in the Taiwan Strait, at least superficial tranquility.The endless invasion of the mainland by the Kuomintang troops stopped with the capture of Dachen Island one by one.It also shows the offensive capability of the air force and navy that the Chinese People's Liberation Army began to build after 1949, and the ability of the three armed forces to operate in coordination. More importantly, it is a break. The military initiative in the Taiwan Strait began to shift to the mainland side of the island, and Taiwan and the mainland entered a stalemate.Concerned about the involvement of the United States, the mainland is seriously considering a military attack on Taiwan. Compared with Yijiangshan Island, it is a much larger three-military coordinated combat plan; and Taiwan has also begun to restrain itself and no longer frequently invade the coastal areas of the mainland. Since then, although the Chinese People's Liberation Army had bombarded Kinmen in 1958, there has never been a large-scale military confrontation.Although the Taiwan Strait has fallen into crisis several times, and war seems to be on the verge of breaking out, they have all been resolved in the end.The danger that China and the United States, the two major powers, may be involved in the war makes everyone who is on the scene tremble with trepidation and walk on thin ice. In Bill Emmott's 2008 book "Rivals," which deals with relations and competition between China, Japan and India, former editor-in-chief of The Economist, Emmott listed areas in Asia where large-scale confrontation could ignite, including China's Taiwan Strait .But Emmott believes that the possibility of detonating a crisis in the Taiwan Strait is less than that of North Korea and Pakistan, because in a possible crisis in the Taiwan Strait, China, the United States, and Taiwan will carefully consider the gains and losses of all parties and the possible consequences.After all, the problem in this region has been suspended for such a long time, and the three parties are aware of its serious consequences, and have considered countless times how to deal with the crisis, and, for a long time in the past, they have Discussing how to respond when a crisis occurs creates an effective communication mechanism. The battle of Yijiangshan Island may therefore become the last battle in the Taiwan Strait.Of course, this is the luckiest result.