Chapter 22 Chapter 21 Liberation of Zhoushan

When the Sanye Tenth Corps marched into Fujian and liberated Fuzhou, the Seventh Corps fired shots to attack the Zhoushan Islands. Zhoushan Archipelago is located in the northeast of Zhejiang Province, in the East China Sea outside Hangzhou Bay. There are 1,339 large and small islands distributed in a sea area of ​​2.22 million square kilometers.The main island, Zhoushan Island, covers an area of ​​532 square kilometers and is the fourth largest island in the country. There are more than 400 outer islands such as Daishan, Putuo, Changtushan, Dengbu, Taohua, Jintang, Daxie and Liuheng. .The nearby waters are rich in yellow croaker, cuttlefish and hairtail, and it is one of the famous fishing grounds in China.The Zhoushan Islands are not only the traffic hub of China's sea, but also the barrier of Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou.During the Opium War, the British invaders once occupied the main island of Zhoushan. When the Japanese invaders invaded Jiangsu and Zhejiang in 1939, they also occupied the Zhoushan Islands and built airports and naval bases on Zhoushan Main Island and Daishan Island.It can be seen that the strategic position of the Zhoushan Islands is very important.

Although Chiang Kai-shek was always defeated, every time he planned a battle, he still adopted a cautious attitude of taking one step at a time.After the People's Liberation Army occupied Nanjing, Hangzhou, and Shanghai, he set his sights on the Zhoushan Islands, and wanted to build this into a base for counterattacking the mainland, and use this as a starting point to attack the mainland.Therefore, after the eastern Zhejiang mainland was occupied by the People's Liberation Army, he commanded the remnants to flee to the Zhoushan Islands.The troops that fled to the Zhoushan Islands included most of the 75th Army and the 21st Army, the remnants of the Temporary First Army, and most of the 87th Army led by Zhou Yan, chairman of the Kuomintang Zhejiang Province.By the first ten days of July 1949, the Kuomintang army in the Zhoushan Islands had the designations of 4 armies and 13 divisions, with an actual strength of about 60,000 troops. In addition, there were fifty or sixty naval ships and some combat aircraft. In late July, Chiang Kai-shek established the "Zhoushan Defense Command" with Shi Jue as the commander and Zhou Yan as the deputy commander, and reorganized and adjusted the defense.Its deployment is: use the 75th Army to defend the west of Zhoushan Main Island and Jintang, Daxie and other outlying islands; use the 87th Army to defend the east of the island and Liuheng, Taohua, Dengbu and other islands; use the temporary First Army to defend Daishan Waiting for the island.At the same time, the Kuomintang guarding the island also actively recruited pirates and miscellaneous troops, built fortifications, expanded Daishan Airport, increased combat aircraft, stepped up blockade, bombed and harassed coastal areas, and seriously endangered the safety of people's lives and properties in Shanghai, Nanjing, and Hangzhou.The bustling Jiangxia Street in Ningbo was bombed and burned to the ground at that time.Shanghai, China's largest industrial city, was blocked, bombed and destroyed by the Kuomintang army, and 70% of the factories were paralyzed.Therefore, the liberation of the Zhoushan Islands has become a top priority.

On July 24, Wang Jian'an, commander of the Seventh Corps, and Ji Luo (Ji Pengfei), the deputy political commissar, held a combat meeting in Ningbo to convey the orders and instructions of the Central Military Commission and Sanye on the liberation of the Zhoushan Islands.The meeting analyzed the geographical conditions of the Zhoushan Islands and the situation of both the enemy and the enemy. It was determined that the big ones should be eaten first and then the small ones. The Eleventh Division carried out this task. Sun Jixian, commander of the 22nd Army, Ding Qiusheng, political commissar, and leaders of the 21st Army immediately organized troops to attack the Zhoushan Islands from Zhenhai, Zhejiang, to the Chuanshan Peninsula and the coastal areas on both sides of Xiangshan Port, and fought intensely. pre-prep.

The 22nd Army, which was determined to be the main offensive task, is a heroic force that is good at tough battles.They once galloped across the battlefields of East China and the Central Plains, made repeated military exploits, and defeated the Japanese invading army and the ace army of the Kuomintang.Among them are the "Luoyang Camp" which was the first to attack the city when Luoyang was liberated, the "Kaifeng Model Assault Battalion" which was the first to storm into the city when Kaifeng was liberated, and the railway guerrillas who beat the Japanese invaders to their knees in central and southern Shandong.The 61st Division of the 21st Army is a unit that is good at field combat and has made outstanding military exploits in previous revolutionary wars.However, most of the commanders and fighters of the participating troops could not swim and were not familiar with the sea conditions, and some of them saw the rough and boundless sea for the first time.Therefore, some people have some concerns about crossing the sea and lament that "heroes are useless".Some comrades said, "The sea is boundless and the water has no bottom. There is no wind and three feet of waves, but there is wind and ten feet." You can only help the enemy as a living target."

In order to overcome the fear of difficulties of the officers and soldiers and inspire their fighting spirit, the troops have adopted a series of practical and effective measures to complete the combat preparations. Some people were afraid of seasickness due to strong waves at sea, so Commander Sun organized cadres and soldiers to exercise and train on the sea far away from Daxie Island by boat.Once, someone found a large black thing. When the boat approached, it turned out to be jellyfish, and everyone happily went to fish for it.The soldiers were no longer afraid of the mysterious sea. In order to cooperate with political education and further dispel concerns, each regiment organized small troops to conduct a practical exercise.Wang Guangfu, the commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 190th Regiment, led 2 squads of the 7th Company to cover the rice harvesting of the common people, and took 4 small boats to attack the enemy-occupied Mouse Mountain after dusk on July 8 under the cover of artillery fire.Mouse Mountain is located in the strait between the mainland and Daxie Island, only 150 meters away from the mainland.Our army captured Mouse Mountain with ease.Under the deterrence of our army's 60 artillery and the explosive packs mounted on the grenades, a squad defending the island was frightened and retreated. A few abandoned their weapons and escaped, and the rest were captured.The battle lasted only 15 minutes, and our army suffered no casualties.A small battle received great results, and the commanders and fighters raised their courage and submitted letters of invitation to their superiors one after another.

The primary problem of pre-war preparations is to solve the ships and sailors.At that time, the Navy of the East China Military Region had just been born, and everything started from scratch.The army itself had no sailors or warships, and the uprising troops of the Kuomintang navy were being reorganized. The dilapidated ships left behind by the Kuomintang navy had not had time to repair, so they could only recruit civilian ships to replace the ships.As a result, the troops participating in the war transferred a large number of cadres to engage in the recruitment of ships and sailors.However, because the Kuomintang snatched a large number of civilian ships and sailors when they fled Zhejiang, and some people with boats had concerns, so the recruitment work was very difficult.In order to meet the needs of sea-crossing operations in a timely manner, the people's governments at all levels in Zhejiang Province mobilized vigorously, and the troops also deployed cadres to cooperate with the propaganda, and made clear regulations such as carefully registering the collection of ships, returning them after use, and compensation for damage.Through education, the general public understood the truth that the liberation of the Zhoushan Islands was closely related to their own interests, and they enthusiastically donated ships, vying to be sailors, and actively supporting the PLA's cross-sea operations.By mid-August, the 190th Regiment of the 64th Division, which was responsible for the main attack on Daxie Island for the first time, had recruited and repaired nearly 200 wooden boats of various sizes that could cross four assault battalions. The Sixth Division also recruited more than 600 ships in a short period of time, basically solving the transportation means for crossing the sea.Ying Wenlan, a boatman in the Andong salt area of ​​Ningbo, propped up his only sailboat with a load of 60 tons.It was this ship that became the command ship of the assault regiment when attacking Jintang Island.Ying Wenlan personally sailed and took the helm to ensure the command of crossing the sea. After the war, she was named a first-class hero.

According to the characteristics of crossing the sea and landing operations, the participating troops raced against time to conduct arduous and intense water training.Daxie Island is located in the north of the Chuanshan Peninsula and in the southwest waters of Zhoushan Main Island. It faces Jintang Island across the sea. It is less than 4 nautical miles away from Zhoushan Main Island and only 32 nautical miles from the mainland. It is the gateway from the Zhejiang mainland to Zhoushan Main Island. Guarding Daxie Island is the 48th Regiment of the 16th Division of the 75th Army of the Kuomintang, with a total of more than 1,000 troops.They built bunkers connected to traffic trenches in frontier positions and deep sections, set up barriers such as deer villages and bamboo sticks on the beach, and often dispatched gunboats to cruise the sea to carry out demonstrative shelling on the mainland.The Kuomintang Air Force at Daishan Airport and Dinghai Airport also often dispatched planes to bomb and straf the Chuanshan Peninsula and Ningbo.The defenders of Daxie Island are confident that they have a large coastline as a barrier and rely on mountains full of fortified fortifications. It is expected that the PLA will not be able to cross it.Zhou Yan, deputy commander of the Zhoushan Defense Command, once said contemptuously: "The communist army has no planes, no warships, and only relies on small wooden boats to occupy Daxie Island. Isn't it just a daydream?"

On the evening of August 18, as soon as the northwest wind stopped, the battle to attack Daxie Island began.All the cannons on the artillery position flew towards the enemy's position. In an instant, Daxie Island was shrouded in billowing black smoke and turned into a flaming mountain.The enemy was at a loss. The ground was splashed with mud, sand, broken corpses, and flesh. The waves of scorching air forced the enemies to stay in the bunker and fled one by one.The head of the regiment, Zhou Zhicheng, saw all this through the binoculars and felt that it was time for the infantry to attack, so he fired a white signal flare into the sky.The 4 battalions and 132 warships that were ready to go quickly set sail from the west coast of Chuanshan Town and headed towards Daxie Island.In just 15 minutes, the fleet flew over the 1,500-meter sea and landed on Daxie Island.As soon as the soldiers landed, they rushed to the enemy's position.Half an hour later, the first line of defense was breached.Our army did not give the enemy a chance to breathe. Battalion Commander Zhang Xiuliang, the Iron Hero of the 2nd Battalion of the 190th Regiment, led the entire battalion of athletes from the southwest coast of the island to the northeast of Guancun Ferry. They blocked the attack with bayonet grenades. Guard the back door for the enemy to escape.As a result, the bandit army on this isolated island was like a fish caught in the net, bumping around and desperate.Their squad leader couldn't find a soldier, the battalion commander lost his regiment leader, and how many funny comedies were performed by the embarrassed bandit army.

Some enemies were captured for a whole company, and even bluffed in a daze: "Which part do you belong to?" The messenger of the 48th regiment of the Kuomintang defenders delivered the retreat order of the regiment commander to the soldiers of our army, and said: "You have to be responsible!" When the three enemy ships that came for reinforcements from Jintang Island were repulsed by our artillery fire, the 191st Regiment occupied the Chuanbi Mountain and Inner and Nei Shenma Mountains in the southeast of Daxie Island, as well as the ships advancing to the northeast coast of Daxie Island. The 2nd Battalion of the 196th Regiment responded across the sea and controlled the sea on the right wing of the island.

After the enemy on Daxie Island was wiped out, the 18th Regiment of the 75th Army and the 18th Regiment of the enemy on Dinghai Island, escorted by aircraft and warships, forced civilian ships to send them to "relieve the siege". On the afternoon of the 19th, enemy reinforcements landed at the foot of Jiangshi Mountain at the northern end of the island.The 2nd Battalion of the 190th Regiment immediately adopted the policy of "luting the enemy to go deep and then attack and annihilate them". After dusk, with concentrated and sudden firepower, most of the enemy's wooden boats were sunk, and the enemy was compressed on a hill with no way out. .The assistant instructor Gong Wenming led the second class to speak out.Under the political offensive of our army, the enemy's platoon commander came out and surrendered, the battalion commander came out and surrendered, and the deputy regiment commander also came out and surrendered.

My heroic 190th Regiment and 196th Regiment, with only 4 battalions of troops, flew across the strait for more than 1,500 meters in this way, wiped out 2 regiments of the 75th Army, and planted the bright red flag Daxie Island. After the battle of Daxie Island, the 22nd Army was ready to attack Jintang Island. Jintang Island is located between the mainland and Dinghai. It is the second largest island in the Zhoushan Archipelago, and it is the biggest obstacle for our army to attack Dinghai, the main island of Zhoushan.If our army captures Jintang Island, it will open the door to Zhoushan. At the combat meeting held by the military headquarters, Commander Sun Jixian handed over the task of capturing Jintang Island to the 66th Division and the 190th Regiment of the 64th Division.After the meeting, Wang Mingli, commander of the 66th Division, and Shi Yichen, deputy commander of the division, took cadres above the battalion to the Zhenhai Yongjiang Estuary opposite Jintang Island to survey the terrain.Commander Zhou Zhicheng of the 190th Regiment of the 64th Division had experience in capturing Daxie Island, so he told Commander Wang Mingli that looking at Jintang Island across the sea is like looking at flowers through fog, and we can't see clearly.If you don't enter the tiger's den, how can you get tiger cubs?Only by arriving by boat for reconnaissance can we find out the situation.He asked for permission to bring someone disguised as a fisherman to reconnaissance on Jintang Island.Wang Mingli felt that his words were very reasonable, so he approved his request.For the sake of safety, Wang Mingli asked the commander Zhou not to go to the island, and he was only allowed to take a boat to scout around Jintang Island. On a drizzling afternoon, Commander Zhou set off by boat with the battalion and regiment commanders.They all dressed up as fishermen, imitating fishermen, casting and collecting nets from time to time, but their eyes were fixed on Jintang Island, and they walked around Jintang Island to look at the terrain. Wang Mingli and Shi Yichen organized cadres from other regiments to go to the beach to observe the sea conditions and record natural conditions such as tides, current speeds, and weather changes. They basically mastered first-hand information on the natural environment of Jintang Island, which provided a reliable basis for formulating combat plans.As long as the weather is good, the commanders at all levels take turns to look at the terrain. They look to the left and then to the right, they look at the beach and then run to the top of the mountain, and they look at the low tide and then the high tide. They study while watching.They observed and studied repeatedly in this way for a month, and finally figured out the situation of the enemy's fortifications and obstacles.There are as few as four or five obstacles on the beach, and as many as seven or eight.In the area more than 200 meters deep, the enemy is full of wooden stakes, barbed wire, bamboo sticks, deer villages, mines, bunkers and the like.On the small high ground behind, the enemy also built many bunkers as the main points of the front line.There are some group fortifications behind the bunker, which are obviously the preset positions for the enemy to counterattack on the beachhead. While the commander was studying the plan, the troops were busy preparing ships and training troops, and were scheduled to launch an attack on October 2.However, it was raining heavily from morning to night, and the sea was covered with fog and rain, and nothing could be seen clearly, so the ships could not sail. On the morning of the 3rd, the weather still did not improve.The commander was extremely anxious, because according to the local meteorological characteristics and tidal laws, if the high tide and flat tide period on October 4 passed, the ships would not be able to dock, the battle would be postponed for half a month, and the progress of the Zhoushan Battle would be affected. influences.In order to capture the fighter planes, the commanders ordered the artillery to prepare for shooting, and the assault echelon boarded the ship to stand by. At the same time, they invited experienced local fishermen to observe and analyze weather changes.At 17:30 on the same day, the continuous rain stopped suddenly, the wind and waves on the sea calmed down slightly, and Jintang Island emerged from the dense fog.According to the estimation of the old fisherman, such weather can last for several hours.So, Deputy Commander Shi immediately reported to Deputy Commander Zhang Xiulong by phone: "Now the battle can begin." Deputy Commander Zhang slapped the table and said, "Hit!" Deputy Division Commander Shi's phone was on the air, and all artillery regiments and infantry regiments heard the order to "fire" at the same time. The 49 artillery pieces on Daxie Island opened fire immediately.Suddenly, the sound of the artillery rumbled, and the ground trembled. Thousands of shells poured down on the enemy's beachhead, and the enemy's front line instantly turned into a sea of ​​flames. At 18:30, more than 300 ships of the commando set sail with the wind and headed for Jintang Island from various outlets.The heroic soldiers on the ship couldn't help singing together, and the majestic singing and the roaring waves mixed into a symphony of marching at sea. The fleet of the assault force passed by, and Deputy Commander Shi and other command post personnel sat on the same boat as Deputy Commander Zhang and set off immediately.As soon as they went out to sea, they saw the command ships of 9 assault battalions and 18 assault companies, because these ships were easily identifiable with a tail light as a communication signal. But the weather changed as it said. It was still cloudless and the sky was full of sunset just now. In a blink of an eye, a large black cloud flew from the southeast, and suddenly the clouds were densely covered. The sky and the earth were as black as the bottom of a pot.Then it rained again, and it fell harder and harder, and the waves threw the boat on top of the waves and into the troughs.The troops were valiant and marched on. At around 19:00, they approached Jintang Island and landed forcibly.The enemy discovered my landing force and immediately fired back. Liu Qixuan, the helmsman of the "No. 4 Ship", was suddenly hit in the arm by a shell. He gritted his teeth, leaned on the rudder, and continued to steer.As the ship approached the landing site, he was hit again.The son of a farmer who joined the army in Hebei, an outstanding Communist Party member, died heroically after completing his mission with perseverance. His sacrifice aroused the incomparable resentment of the soldiers. When the "Chuangmo" ship was only 2 meters away from the shore, it was blocked by reefs and could not get up.The enemy shells hit here in a panic.One soldier jumped in, the water was chest deep.In desperation, Xu Baotian, the squad leader of the sailors, immediately jumped into the water and built himself into a "human bridge".When a warrior in full armor stepped on Xu Baotian's shoulders, his shoulders were burning with pain, but he held back the severe pain and gritted his teeth. Seventeen commandos passed through this "human bridge", quickly occupied the position and won the victory. 4 regiments landed successively.At this time, it was raining cats and dogs and the wind was howling.Under the heavy rain, flash floods broke out everywhere, and the land was covered with a vast ocean. The troops braved the rain and waded into the hinterland of Jintang Island. The artillerymen carried heavy cannons through the waist-deep water, crossed the narrow mountain road with rolling sea water, and followed the infantry in battle.This is indeed a difficulty that artillerymen have never encountered in history. On the morning of the 4th, the southern part of Jintang Island was completely occupied by me. On the afternoon of the 4th, our army continued to attack the front-line enemies at the Lion Mountain at the northern end of the island and Huacheng Temple.Under the destructive blow of our army, the enemy panicked and fled by boat from Ligang Haikou.Our army took advantage of the victory and advanced, and wiped out all the remnants of the enemy who had not escaped in the early morning of the 5th. After the victory at Jintang Island, the enemies stationed on Liuheng Island and Xiazhi Island were terrified and abandoned the island and fled.Hu Wei, commander of the 61st Division of the 22nd Army, learned that the enemy's fortifications on Taohua Island had not yet been formed, and immediately decided to take the opportunity to attack Taohua Island. On the morning of the 18th, Master Hu ordered the attack.At 5:40 p.m., the four assault battalions responsible for landing set off from Xiazhi Island.Hundreds of boats flew towards Peach Blossom Island like arrows leaving the string.As soon as the ship docked, the enemy's bullets and grenades rained down like raindrops.As soon as the No. 2 Squad of the Ninth Company came ashore, they encountered a cliff. The soldiers climbed a section and fell down, fell down and climbed up again.Everyone yelled while climbing: "Climb, don't let the enemy run away!"The second battalion and the third battalion went ashore like tigers going up the mountain, boldly interspersed and divided, and when they lost contact, they would shoot wherever there was gunshots, which fully demonstrated the spirit of squads, platoons and small teams fighting alone.The soldiers of the Seventh Company, Zhang Jiyao, Zhang Qifu, Zhang Jingtian, and the third platoon leader of the Ninth Company, Zhang Yucai, were seriously injured and still stayed on the line of fire, insisting on fighting the enemy to the death.At the beginning, the Seventh Company did not capture a few prisoners, thinking that the enemy had escaped, but later saw that the Eighth Company had captured a lot, and felt angry.As soon as the troops arrived at the Hero Rock, they charged straight up and wiped out a platoon of enemies in just ten minutes.Fighting until dawn the next day, the second battalion occupied the Jiucaishan ferry, and the third battalion occupied the Maocaodai ferry, cutting off the enemy's retreat and compressing the enemy to the 282 highland. At 11 o'clock, the landing troops concentrated their forces and launched a fierce attack, completely annihilating the Kuomintang defenders on this high ground. The 61st Division's attack on Taohua Island was a quick victory. In less than 20 hours, more than 1,300 Kuomintang defenders were wiped out, and our army only suffered more than 100 casualties. After receiving the detailed report of the 61st Division's battle, Wang Jian'an, commander of the Seventh Corps, ordered the headquarters to send a congratulatory message. The congratulatory message pointed out: The Taohua Island battle was a model of seizing the opportunity, boldly assaulting, interspersed with quick and decisive actions, and winning victory. At 8 o'clock in the evening on November 3, the 4 battalions of the 61st Division of the 21st Army that occupied Taohua Island took advantage of the heavy rain when the enemy's planes could not take off, crossed the sea and launched an attack on Dengbu Island.Due to the victories in successive battles, our army had the idea of ​​underestimating the enemy, and did not really grasp the changes in the enemy's situation, water regime, customs, and climate, so this battle was not fought well.Peach Blossom Island is only 3 kilometers away from Dengbu Island. Shortly after setting sail, the wind reversed, the tide receded, and the fleet was blown away by the waves.After hard work, only 7 and a half of the 9 companies in the first echelon landed with more than 1,000 people.The formation of the troops on the island was chaotic, and heavy weapons could not be brought ashore.Although it was a bad start at the beginning, after my landing troops landed on the island, I immediately launched an offensive and was unstoppable.Soon, the landing troops broke through the barriers and fire blockades set up by the Kuomintang army on the seashore, and made continuous assaults, annihilating 8 enemy companies, capturing more than 500 enemies, and controlling three-quarters of the entire island.The Kuomintang army was forced to retreat to a corner of the island and stand by for help. In the early morning of November 4th, the situation on Dengbu Island was very favorable to me. If there were enough troops at this time, the Kuomintang defenders on the island could be completely wiped out.But at this critical moment, the wind direction and tide changed suddenly, and the wooden boats used by our army's follow-up echelon could not sail.The troops who had landed on the island failed to occupy and control the ferry at the northern end of the island as planned in time to block the Kuomintang army's sea reinforcements.As a result, reinforcements from 4 enemy regiments arrived at Dengbu Island on the morning of the 4th in warships.At that time, although the number of the People's Liberation Army on the island had increased to 2,000, it was still much smaller than the Kuomintang defenders. On November 5, the development of the situation gradually became unfavorable for our landing troops.Thanks to the support of the navy, the Kuomintang army on the island continued to increase, so its strength continued to increase and it continued to counterattack.The Kuomintang Air Force dispatched 55 sorties during the day on the 5th, violently bombing the People's Liberation Army positions on Dengbu Island, and at the same time suppressed the People's Liberation Army artillery supporting Dengbu Island with firepower on Taohua Island.After a day of continuous fierce fighting, the People's Liberation Army was in a critical situation on Dengbu Island, with more than 1,500 casualties. The 61st Division wanted to capture both Dengbu Island and the occupied Taohua Island, but the troops and firepower were insufficient, the transportation line was long, the supply was difficult, and there was no reinforcements. At noon on the 5th, Commander Hu Wei analyzed the situation on the battlefield. He felt that the disparity between the enemy and our forces was too great. impossible.After weighing it over and over again, he reported his thoughts to his superiors.The 22nd and 21st armies approved his retreat report.That night, Hu Wei commanded the troops to retreat alternately and in an organized manner.The next morning, when more than 5,000 enemies charged our army's position with the charge horn, there was no sign of the People's Liberation Army. Because our army failed to conquer Dengbu Island, and the Tenth Corps failed to attack Kinmen, Chiang Kai-shek used this to make a lot of publicity to stabilize the morale of the army.Since November 8, the Kuomintang has successively increased its troops to Zhoushan. The 52nd Army and the 19th Army have been transferred to Zhoushan successively, with a total strength of 120,000. On December 31, 1949, Chiang Kai-shek held a secret combat meeting and put forward the strategic policy of "offensive defense", ordering the navy to step up attacks on our army's sea transport team and cut off the mainland's supply to the liberated islands.At the same time, the Kuomintang dispatched the "Yongzi" warship to lay mines on the waterway south of the Yangtze River Estuary, and ordered the air force to continue bombing Shanghai and Zhejiang and other coastal cities. vehicle factory. On February 6, 1950, Kuomintang planes took off from Daishan and Dinghai airports to bomb Shanghai, seven times in one day.Four power plants in Shanghai were destroyed, killing and injuring more than 1,000 workers and people, hydropower and transportation equipment were seriously damaged, and more than 50,000 citizens were affected.This is the "Second and Sixth Bombing" in Shanghai that shocked the whole country.The spy chief Mao Sen also rushed to Zhoushan to strengthen the control of the "Southeast People's Anti-Communist National Salvation Army", and dispatched specially trained spies and small groups of armed forces to sneak into the coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang to carry out assassination and blasting activities. The Central Military Commission was very disturbed by the defeat of Kinmen and Dengbu Island. On November 14, the Military Commission sent a telegram to Sanye: You must pay close attention to issues such as troop deployment, preparations, and attack time for the Dinghai operation.If you are not ready, it is better to postpone the time. The troops participating in the war started preparations with the main goal of liberating Zhoushan Island.Sanye transferred the 21st Army, 23rd Army, and 24th Army to the coast of eastern Zhejiang, and was on standby to participate in the Zhoushan Battle. It also mobilized the newly established naval and air forces to cooperate with the infantry.In this way, our army has surpassed the Kuomintang army in terms of total strength and has an absolute advantage.The troops transferred to the front line, together with the troops who had experienced the landing battle, set off an upsurge of training at sea. The Front Branch Committee of Zhejiang Province dispatched 260,000 migrant workers to the front line, and migrant workers from southern Jiangsu, northern Jiangsu, southern Anhui, northern Anhui, and Shandong provinces and more than 20,000 boats also arrived at the front line. On February 26, 1950, Song Shilun, commander of the Ninth Corps, held a battle meeting for the Zhoushan Campaign in Hangzhou. On April 25, the East China Military Region held the Zhoushan Battle Conference again. On May 12, Su Yu conveyed the instructions of the Military Commission on the Zhoushan Battle, requiring all participating troops to complete battle preparations before June 10.The troops participating in the war stepped up preparations day and night, ready to accept the combat mission of marching into Zhoushan. On May 1, the news that the Fourth Field Army had successfully liberated Hainan Island caused panic within the Kuomintang like a thunderstorm.It was also learned that the Third Field Army, which possessed both the air force and the navy, was about to carry out a large-scale joint military operation against the Zhoushan Islands, and that it had already overwhelmed the territory and was ready to go. The defenders of Taiwan and Zhoushan were even more panicked and lost confidence.U.S. imperialism and Chiang Kai-shek saw that the situation was not good, and in order to preserve their strength and consolidate Taiwan, they urgently ordered the Kuomintang army to withdraw from the Zhoushan Islands. In early May, Chiang Kai-shek and some important military leaders of the Kuomintang personally carried out activities in the Zhoushan Islands. On May 7, Zhoushan Commander Shi Jue made a special trip to Taiwan to draw up a secret evacuation plan.While they were preparing to flee, they created public opinion to counterattack Jintang Island. They also frequently bombed and shelled the coastal areas of Zhejiang and the surrounding islands of Zhoushan, and strictly blocked the waterway. On May 12, Taiwan dispatched 44 large-scale heavy-duty ships to the Zhoushan Islands in preparation for evacuation. On May 13, under the cover of the navy and air force, Zhoushan defended the enemy and began to retreat urgently.When fleeing, they took 20,000 residents to Taiwan, and those who refused to go were shot dead on the spot.They not only carried out crazy and bloody suppression, but also robbed everywhere and committed all kinds of crimes. On May 15th, Commander Chen Yi sent a telegram to the Seventh and Ninth Corps: "The enemy defending Zhoushan may escape under the threat of our army. We must immediately find out the truth and take action." That night, the frontline troops sent scouts overnight Cross-sea reconnaissance confirmed Chen Yi's judgment. On the 16th, the Third Field Army immediately ordered the 21st Army, 22nd Army, and 23rd Army to launch an attack on Zhoushan Island and its outlying islands, chasing and annihilating the fleeing enemies.From the night of the 16th, on the sea surface of nearly 30 nautical miles from Dengbu Island in the east to Cezishan in the west, all boats launched a full-line pursuit. On the 17th, the 22nd Army and the 23rd Army occupied the main island of Zhoushan.Then, the 21st Army occupied Mount Putuo and Zhujiajian on the 18th; the 22nd Army occupied Daishan on the 18th and Changtu Island on the 19th.So far, all the Zhoushan Islands have been liberated.When our army occupied the island, the Kuomintang army had basically retreated, and only a few stragglers were captured.Throughout the Zhoushan Campaign, our army wiped out more than 8,000 Kuomintang troops. In early July, the Third Field Army liberated the Shengsi Islands with the Wusong Garrison Area and a part of the East China Navy. After the liberation of the Zhoushan Islands, the Central Military Commission sent a congratulatory message to the Third Field Army, pointing out that the liberation of the Zhoushan Islands broke the Kuomintang army's blockade of the Yangtze River Estuary and created favorable conditions for the defense of coastal defense.