Chapter 325 7. The "Amethyst" incident

On the day when the battle of crossing the river began, that is, April 20, 1949, the People's Liberation Army originally estimated that the United States was most likely to find trouble when crossing the river, but it did not expect that the four British warships, including its escort destroyer Amethyst (Amethyst) , The nearly 10,000-ton flagship of the Far East Fleet broke into the defense zone of the People's Liberation Army one after another, which led to three "land and water battles" that lasted two days. This is the "Amethyst" incident. April 20, 1949 was a very important day in the history of the Chinese People's War of Liberation.

On this day, the peace negotiations between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party broke down. The Chinese People's Liberation Army's million-strong army was on the north bank of the Yangtze River, ready to go. The 750,000 Kuomintang troops guarding the south bank of the Yangtze River were also on high alert. The two sides were at war and decided the fate of the Nanjing government. The last big fight was inevitable. In the early morning of this day, there was no wind, no rain, and the Yangtze River in mid-spring was quiet.The huge energy accumulated is constantly approaching the critical point, waiting to erupt.Beginning at dawn, the East Road Army Command of the People's Liberation Army Crossing the River received a report from the forward troops: a foreign warship of unknown nationality was sailing upstream from east to west under the cover of the white mist and sailed through the waters of the Jingjiang River. Came to the waterway between Jiangyin and Baxu Port, and then drove to the waters of Sanjiangying 20 kilometers southeast of Yangzhou, and successively broke into the defense areas of the 10th Corps and the 8th Corps of the East Road Army of the crossing army.At this extraordinary moment and extraordinary place, what will the unpredictable "uninvited guest" do?

Xiao Yongfu, commander of the 3rd company of the 1st Battalion, 6th Battalion of the Sanye Special Forces Column, which was assigned to the 10th Corps, took Liu Yunquan, the leader of the observation platoon, and Gao Rizhang, the leader of the observation team, to cross Liuwei Port in a small sampan. After checking the situation at the flank observation post, board the sampan and return to the company headquarters.At this time, there was a layer of white mist floating on the surface of the river, and visibility was very low. According to the deployment of the artillery regiment leaders, the main task of the 3rd company happened to be to fight warships.On the same day, according to the instructions of the superiors, for the sake of secrecy and air defense, the artillery of the whole company was temporarily hidden in the small woods behind the position, and did not enter the built fortifications until night.After Xiao Yongfu received the battalion commander's order to approve the shooting, he quickly conveyed the order to the 1st platoon.A cannon immediately took off its camouflage, hung on a large truck, and went straight to the launch fortifications set up by the river.

pity!The morning fog has not dissipated, making long-distance observation difficult.In just a few minutes, this warship of unknown origin quickly crossed the front of the 3rd company's position, sailed towards Nanjing, and disappeared in a vast expanse of whiteness. The warning fired has lost its meaning. Battalion Commander Wang Kunting of the 1st Battalion promptly reported to Commander Ma Dawei that there was a warship sailing upstream.Commander Ma said: "It doesn't matter if you drive upstream. There are artillery positions along the river. As long as the fog clears, you can shoot at any time. You should strengthen your observation. Whenever there are new suspicious targets, try to find them early. If you are driving downstream We must identify the nationality of our warships as soon as possible. When encountering foreign warships, they fired warnings and did not respond, and even dared to fire at us. We must resolutely fight back. If it is a Kuomintang warship, we should not be polite, so as to sink it, we must not let it escape. "

Battalion Commander Wang Kunting quickly conveyed the commander's instruction to all battalion commanders and fighters. About an hour later, on the positions of the 1st Battalion and the 3rd Battalion of the 3rd Artillery Regiment adjacent to the west, rumbling artillery sounded successively.An unexpected "water and land artillery battle" began. As the fog on the river cleared, the national flag on the warship was finally revealed.At that time, no one thought that the warship that brazenly broke into our Yangtze River defense area and fired at our PLA troops crossing the river was neither a Kuomintang warship nor an American warship, but turned out to be an old sea king, the "Amethyst" of the Far East Fleet of the Royal Navy of the British Empire. ” escort destroyer.

"Amethyst" ignored our army's bombardment and continued to drive westward.So, our 3rd Artillery Regiment fired another shot, and the shell landed 30 meters in front of the "Amethyst".At this time, "Amethyst" fired, and it drove west while firing, and entered the Sanjiangying area at 9 o'clock. That morning, Li Anbang, head of the 3rd Artillery Regiment, and Kang Maozhao, a political commissar, were ordered to go to the headquarters of the 8th Corps to participate in the combat meeting. In the Command Post of the 3rd Artillery Regiment, Commander Li Anbang and Political Commissar Kang Maozhao followed the instructions of Commander Chen Ruiting and Political Commissar Zhang Kai, and clearly explained the countermeasures that should be taken to the duty commander of the regiment headquarters and the battalion and company cadres:

1. If foreign warships are found, if they do not listen to the warning of our army and stop sailing, they can stop warning and shoot immediately; 2. To shoot at enemy ships, use the artillery located in the center of each company as a benchmark, fire salvos, use crossfire, and strive to hit the target with the first salvo; 3. Howitzer shells should use full charge to enhance the rate of fire and penetration.Aiming and shooting actions should be fast, and the lead time can be ignored for important targets such as the conning tower and turret of the warship. The armor-piercing projectile mainly shoots at vital parts such as the engine room and ammunition compartment below the waterline.

According to these three specific instructions, the two artillery companies of the 3rd Artillery Regiment stationed at the Sanjiang Battalion did not hesitate to launch a fierce counterattack against the "Amethyst".At the same time, the adjacent Artillery 1 Regiment also took the initiative to join the battle. Sanjiangying extends into the Yangtze River in a milky shape, making the river narrow here.The 3rd Sanye Special Longitudinal Artillery Regiment attached to the 8th Corps is equipped with 1 battery and 7 guns here, equipped with a total of 3 Japanese-style 75 field guns and 105 howitzers.

When the "Amethyst" entered the narrow mouth and bend of Sanjiangying, it was immediately flanked by the 1st and 7th artillery companies. Although "Amethyst" is equipped with 6 large-caliber artillery, it cannot suppress the accurate shooting of the PLA artillery.After a fierce battle, the "Amethyst" turret was destroyed, the command platform was hit, the captain, Major Skinner, was seriously injured and died, and the deputy captain, Captain Weston, was also seriously injured. The "Amethyst" lost control of its course, crossed the channel and ran aground on the opposite bank of the Sanjiang Camp. A white shirt was hurriedly raised, and the PLA stopped its shelling.

After a while, "Amethyst" lowered its white shirt and hoisted the British flag again.The People's Liberation Army then continued shelling, forcing him to hoist the white flag again.This time, the "Amethyst" feared that the PLA would not be able to see it, so it hung three white flags, and the PLA stopped shooting.At this time, the ship had been shot more than 30 rounds, and more than 60 sailors on the ship abandoned the ship and jumped into the river, swam to the south bank, and then arrived in Shanghai by train. In this "Water and Land War", if it weren't for the PLA's lack of armor-piercing ammunition and delayed fuses, the "Amethyst" would have been sunk long ago!