Chapter 404 10. Inventory

The Hainan Island campaign lasted 57 days from the smuggling of the first batch of strengthened battalions on March 5, 1950 to the capture of Beili and Basuo on May 1.The People's Liberation Army wiped out more than 33,000 Kuomintang troops, seized 418 artillery pieces, 17,209 guns, 4 aircraft, 7 tanks and armored vehicles, shot down 2 aircraft, damaged 5 warships, and sunk 1 ship.The People's Liberation Army suffered 4,614 casualties and lost people.After the battle, the People's Liberation Army took in another 18,000 Kuomintang troops who had collapsed. The liberation of Hainan Island removed the main bases of the remnants of the Kuomintang in the South China Sea. It is of great strategic significance for defending the motherland's territory and sea areas, consolidating national defense, and safeguarding the motherland's economic construction.At the same time, it created some experience for the People's Liberation Army to cross the sea and land in the future.Regarding the strategic meaning of the liberation of Hainan Island by the People's Liberation Army, the Kuomintang's war history wrote: "If Hainan Island is in the hands of the national army, it will pose a great threat to the bandit troops in South China." In addition to the threat of South China, it will indirectly affect the battle at the mouth of the Guangdong River. It will make the attack on the southern Guangdong Islands easier." (Volume 6 of "The History of the Battle of the National Revolutionary Army - Fighting the Rebellion", Volume 6, p. 460)

The Battle of Hainan Island was a successful island offensive operation in which the People's Liberation Army used wooden sailboats as the mainstay and some motorized sailboats as means of crossing the sea to break through the three-dimensional defense of the Kuomintang's land, sea and air force.Its main experience is: First, drawing on the experience and lessons of the defeat in the Kinmen battle, comprehensively strengthened the pre-war preparations and the organization and command of the campaign. Second, correctly analyze and judge the situation, make full use of the favorable conditions of the Qiongya column to cooperate with it, and formulate a campaign guideline that combines active smuggling, small crossings in batches, and large-scale forced landing.

Regarding the battle of Hainan Island, the Kuomintang army's war history wrote: "The main reason for the defeat of the battle on Hainan Island was that Feng Bandit Baiju was not eliminated in advance." "Feng Bandit's Baiju Department occupies Wuzhi Mountain in the center of Hainan Island, causing the national army's base to be unstable, and the anti-landing operations are limited in depth." "Using Feng Bandit's Baiju Department as an internal response is the main reason for the successful landing One" (Volume 6 of "National Revolutionary Army Campaign History - Fighting the Rebellion", pp. 459 and 464).

On May 5, Xinhua News Agency broadcast a congratulatory message from the Chinese People's Revolutionary Military Commission to all commanders and fighters participating in the Hainan campaign: "Our People's Liberation Army on the front line in Guangdong overcame the resistance of the enemy's land, sea and air force. Landed on Hainan Island, quickly wiped out the remnants of the enemy, and completed the liberation of the entire island. The Chinese People's Revolutionary Military Commission would like to extend warm congratulations to all the commanders and combatants who participated in the battle of liberating Hainan Island and the Guangdong Military Region that supported the battle. Chinese People's Liberation Army We should use the experience of the Hainan Island campaign to actively prepare to fight for the liberation of Taiwan and Tibet and the complete elimination of all bandits!"

On May 1, Comrade Zhu De was delighted to hear about the day when Hainan Island was liberated, and wrote this passage himself: "Comrades who have long persisted in the revolutionary struggle of Qiongdao and fought across the sea! You are the best sons and daughters of the Chinese nation. Your heroes The deeds played an indelible role in the liberation of Qiongdao and the whole of China. The achievements of the martyrs will be immortal!" This passage was engraved on the monument in Haikou Park in 1954. In June of the same year, after the outbreak of the Korean War, the United States intervened to prevent me from liberating Taiwan.When Mao Zedong summoned Deng Hua, he said: "The battle of Hainan Island was well fought! Some things seem to have been calculated in advance. If we fight two months later, it may become the second Taiwan."