Chapter 371 8. Storm the Sea Garden

On October 13, the head of the 10th Corps issued the "Deployment Order to Attack and Annihilate Xiamen and Defend the Enemy". With the 91st Division and 93rd Division of the 31st Army, a reinforced regiment, they stormed Gulangyu Island, and then launched an attack on downtown Xiamen.After the liberation of Xiamen, the army captured Xiaojinmen with 1 division.The 85th and 86th Divisions of the 29th Army and the 92nd Division of the 31st Army used smuggling methods to capture the northern half of Xiamen.After succeeding, they marched north and south with the 91st Division and other departments, and wiped out the Kuomintang army on the island.At the same time, the 28th and 29th armies were located in Da, Xiaodeng Island, Lianhe, Weitou and other places to suppress Kinmen with artillery fire and contain it. After the battle in Xiamen was launched, if the Dajinmen defenders reinforced or retreated, then Immediately launch an attack on the Golden Gate.If after the capture of Xiamen, the Dajinmen defenders have not yet retreated, then use 4 regiments of the 28th Army and command a division of the 29th Army to attack Dajinmen.

Zhou Zhijian, the commander of the 31st Army, and Chen Huatang, the political commissar, decided to use the 271st Regiment of the 91st Division and the 277th Regiment of the 93rd Division as the main offensive. Gulangyu Island is a small place, and it is known as the "Garden on the Sea" because of its beautiful and picturesque scenery.After the Opium War, imperialist powers came here one after another, competing to set up concessions, open foreign firms, build churches, and set up consulates here, which became the "Concession of All Nations".The Kuomintang army first defended the island with two regiments, and then added another regiment, with a total strength of more than 5,000 people.

On October 15, the 31st Army first launched an attack on Gulangyu Island. At 15:40, artillery preparations began. At 18:00, the fleets of the 271st and 277th regiments in the first echelon set off from the river beaches of Haicang and Haicheng (now Longhai County) respectively, and headed for the southwest of Gulangyu Island in two routes. Soon, the southeast wind suddenly turned to the northeast wind, and it became more and more violent.The fleet sailed against the wind in rough waves.Some masts were broken, and some sails were scratched.The former boatmen and soldiers cooperated closely to fight the wind and waves and move forward bravely.When it was 150 meters away from the shore, the Kuomintang army blocked it with fierce artillery fire, and the boatmen and soldiers were not afraid and paddled forward.Zhang Jinniang, a 50-year-old boatman who took her 3 boats and 5 people to the battle, took over the rudder and steered the boat regardless of her husband and young son being shot and fell, encouraging the soldiers to row hard and fight the enemy bravely.In the end, all five members of the family died heroically.Boatman Ou Jishi, father and son Ou Qingfang were rowing a boat together. When the boat was about to dock, Ou Jishi was shot, but he continued to row forward enduring the severe pain. Unfortunately, he was shot again and died for his country.Ou Chunfang, with deep hatred for Chiang Kai-shek's army, endured the great pain of losing her father, and continued to row for the commando with tears of revenge.

After 21:30, a small number of ships in the assault fleet began to arrive at the beach sporadically. Most of the ships failed to land at the scheduled breakthrough point due to the strong wind and waves. , Only 7 platoons broke into the forward positions of the Kuomintang army.When the ships of the 3rd Company of the 271st Regiment were about to dock, the warriors couldn't help but think of the revolutionary heroism contest with the 1st Company before the war in the hail of bullets: see who can put the red flag on Gulangyu Island first!The warriors have repeatedly urged Xu Dejian, who is responsible for the task of planting the flag: "Old Xu! Be ready! You must insert it!" Now that the ship has rushed to the shore, it is time for the heroic troops and heroes to fulfill their oath .Some were even blown back to the original shore.

Xu Dejian, a member of the Communist Party, looked at Gulangyu Island in front of him more nervously. He knew clearly that the time for him to complete his glorious mission was coming, and he could not help but hold the red flag tightly in his hand.He remembered that when he accepted this task, he jumped up and down like a child. He also said to his comrades who told him: "Don't worry! I, Xu Dejian, promise not to smear the face of the 3rd company!" The boat docked, and the warriors jumped onto the beach. Huang Youshan from Class 7 rushed towards the barbed wire fence with explosives in his arms. There was a loud noise, and the barbed wire was blown open. Huang Youshan continued to blast, and the three packs of explosives drove away Facing the enemy in the reinforced concrete bunker, he turned around to greet Xu Dejian, only to see a red flag unfurling from the smoke.Xu Dejian ran over quickly, grabbed the gasoline barrel on the beach, climbed up, and the red flag was firmly planted on Gulangyu Island.The 8th Squadron of the 1st Company of the 271 Regiment, which won the title of "Youth Combat Model Squad" in the Battle of Jinan, was severely damaged by enemy fire when it arrived on the beach. Squad leader Cong Huazi shouted: "Comrades! We are a heroic army, even if there is only one person left, We have to go to Gulangyu Island too!"

After the 2nd company and 1st platoon of the 271st regiment landed alone under the rocks in the southwest of Gulangyu Island, under the command of the deputy head Tian Jun, they blasted the deer village and barbed wire continuously and broke into the beachhead bunker. Braving the crossfire from the enemy's front and sides, the warriors in the first row touched the root of the enemy's wall and quickly set up the ladder. Chen Shixing, a member of the Communist Party of the 3rd squad, was the first to climb the ladder. When he just climbed to the top of the wall, he was hit by a burst of machine gun bullets from the enemy and fell down.While pressing the wound on his stomach with his hands, he stood up silently and climbed up again.After fainting, he still murmured: "Comrades! Go up! Don't forget our pre-war plan of being responsible to the people..."

The warriors' eyes were red with anger, and they shouted loudly: "Avenge the 3rd squad leader and other comrades who died!" The deputy platoon leader Li Ronghe immediately led everyone to climb up again, although his neck was injured, and the blood was seeping out. , but still shouted loudly: "Destroy the enemy! Comrades! We can only go forward and not retreat!" At this time, the 2nd platoon of the 7th Company also fought up, and the 2 platoons joined forces to attack the enemy and captured one of the enemy's reinforced concrete fort. The 2 platoons had only 1 squad left, and while still chanting the slogan "Slightly injured, fight the enemy to the end", they rushed forward, captured 3 enemy bunkers in a row, and repelled the enemy tenaciously. After several counterattacks, most of them died heroically because they were outnumbered and their ammunition was exhausted.

After Zhao Shitang, the instructor of the 2nd Company of the Artillery Battalion of the 91st Division, was shot, two artillery pieces fell into the sea. He led 10 soldiers to forcibly waded and landed.After he was injured, he did not go to the front line of fire, and insisted on organizing battles on the ground.He said excitedly: "Comrades! We are revolutionary fighters! We cannot surrender in front of the enemy! If you run out of bullets, use grenades; if you run out of grenades, use stones to fight!" While mobilizing the soldiers, he also collected ammunition everywhere .When he hit only one grenade left, he pulled out the string buckle, and when the enemy touched him, there was a loud bang, and he heroically sacrificed his life for the people. Wang Xingfang, head of the 271 regiment, braved the rain of bullets and led the command ship to the beach to command the troops to land. Unfortunately, he was shot and died.

After 23:00, the 91st Division organized 2 echelons and 3 battalions to set off for the crossing, but they all failed due to too much wind and waves.At this time, the troops fighting on Gulangyu Island could not get support from the follow-up troops, and the situation became more and more difficult. At 12 o'clock on the 16th, the 31st Army ordered the 91st Division to suspend the attack, sum up experience, and prepare for another battle.The brave and tenacious fighting of the soldiers really caused Tang Enbo's misjudgment.He mistakenly believed that Gulangyu Island was the main direction of our army's attack, and immediately threw a division of the reserve team under his control into Gulangyu Island, surrounded our army's landing force, and transferred the mobile force that controlled the waist of Xiamen to the south.All the soldiers I attacked on Gulangyu Island were heroes and fought tenaciously until they all died heroically.Their blood-soaked positions were named "Heroes and Martyrs Mountain" after the war.

Although the battle to attack Gulangyu Island was frustrated due to insufficient preparations and failure to fully grasp the laws of tides and wind directions, Tang Enbo mistook Gulangyu Island as the main attack direction of the People's Liberation Army and urgently dispatched the reserve team for reinforcements. Southward transfer, which created favorable conditions for the People's Liberation Army to successfully smuggle in on the northern coast of Xiamen. When Tang Enbo mobilized his troops, the main forces of our 29th and 31st armies initiated smuggling in the north of Xiamen Island, and quickly approached the coasts of Saishang, Gaoqi, and Zhongzhai in the north of Xiamen, and successfully landed on the beach.

At 8 o'clock on the 17th, Gulangyu Island was liberated, and at 11 o'clock the Xiamen battle ended successfully. A total of more than 27,000 people were wiped out from the 8th Corps of the Kuomintang Army, all of the 55th Army, the remnants of the 68th and 96th Army, and the fortress garrison troops, including 25,000 prisoners. Yu people.The 10th Corps suffered more than 3,000 casualties.