Chapter 374 11. Inventory

In this campaign, the main force of the 10th Corps of the East China Field Army took the combat steps of clearing out the remaining enemies on land first, and then capturing the islands. It launched an attack on the enemies near Zhangzhou on September 19, 1949, and liberated Zhangzhou on September 25. Crossed the sea to attack Xiamen Island on October 15, and liberated Xiamen on the 17th. On October 24, they crossed the sea and attacked Kinmen Island. They fought hard for three days and nights and lost.In this campaign, a total of more than 57,000 people were wiped out from the 8th Corps Headquarters, the Key Command in Xiamen, the 55th and 68th Army Headquarters, 7 divisions and 6 regiments.Cleared up the remnant land enemies along the coast of Fujian, basically shattered the enemy's attempt to occupy the southern coastal areas of Fujian and continued to struggle, and laid the foundation for the consolidation of coastal defense after the founding of New China.

Two battles in Zhangzhou and Xiamen were seized: 400 guns of various types; more than 3,200 machine guns of various types; more than 260,000 rifles of various types; more than 1,500 short guns; more than 71,700 rounds of various artillery shells; Tanks, armored vehicles and other military supplies.Our army lost nearly 10,000 people, of which more than 9,000 were lost in the Kinmen battle, 6,000 were sacrificed as heroes, and 3,000 were captured. This campaign liberated the mainland of southern Fujian and all coastal islands except Kinmen, Matsu, Dongshan and other islands.Although the Kinmen Island landing operation was frustrated, it provided experience and lessons for the subsequent landing operations across the sea.

On October 29, the Central Military Commission issued a "Notice on the Lessons Learned from the Failure of the Attack on Kinmen" to all field armies and major military regions. "The loss this time is the largest since the War of Liberation. The main reason is that it underestimated the enemy and impatience." The Military Commission also pointed out: "When the end of the War of Liberation is not far away, leading cadres at all levels The main reason is that underestimating the enemy and impatience are easy to occur among leading cadres above the army level. The Jinmen Island incident must be taken as a deep warning. For the corps that are still fighting, we must refrain from underestimating the enemy and impatience, and steadily and systematically wipe out the remnants of the enemy. It is the most important." ("Mao Zedong's Manuscripts since the Founding of the People's Republic of China" Volume 1, Central Literature Publishing House, November 1987 edition, pages 100 and 101)

On the same day, the East China Bureau also called the 10th Corps, pointing out that the defeat in Kinmen was only a local problem and could not change the overall victory.It is hoped that the 10th Corps will sum up the positive experience of this battle, encourage morale, actively prepare, and attack Jinmen when the conditions are ripe. According to the instructions of the Central Military Commission, the East China Bureau, and the Sanye Front Committee, the 10th Corps held an enlarged party committee meeting from October 31 to November 2 to further summarize the Kinmen battle.The meeting decided to prepare for another attack on Kinmen with the strength of five divisions, and to attack Kinmen again when the conditions are ripe after all preparations are completed.The Political Department of the Corps also issued instructions to educate all commanders and fighters, pointing out: Although the Battle of Kinmen was defeated, the landing troops performed extremely bravely and tenaciously. , Highly developed revolutionary heroism and fearless spirit of sacrifice, their utter loyalty is enough to last forever.The commanders and fighters of the entire corps must learn from them, march forward on their bloodstains, avenge the fallen comrades and kill the enemy, complete their unfinished will, quickly and carefully prepare for battle, and must smash the golden gate and wipe out the enemy.