Chapter 4 Chapter 3

At the beginning of 1950, our army still had only one army branch.Combat across the sea, not only without the cooperation of the sea and air force, but also lack of experience in sea combat.The Qiongzhou Strait is tens of kilometers wide, and artillery support cannot be provided across the shore.The tools for crossing the sea are all ancient wooden sailboats, and the most advanced ones are only motor sailboats with car engines installed on wooden boats.To break through the enemy's three-dimensional defense line consisting of land, sea, and air force (the enemy calls it the "Boling Line of Defense", and "Boling" is the nickname of Xue Yue, the commander-in-chief of the enemy), it is indeed necessary to overcome all difficulties.In addition to difficulties such as natural conditions and our army's backward equipment at the time, there were also ideological problems among the vast number of commanders and fighters, which had to be resolved with great effort.

Fighting on land, the 40th Army and the 43rd Army, the two powerful forces, fought from the banks of the Songhua River to the coast of the South China Sea, and they can be called invincible and unstoppable.But in the face of the rough sea, these Northland athletes have a lot of worries.One is that there is no wind and three feet of waves on the sea, and the waves are too small for the boat to cross the sea; the other is that the seasickness and vomiting will lose combat effectiveness; the third is that the boat will capsize in the sea and cannot swim and there is no life-saving equipment; The first is to worry that the water will not be deep enough for the ship to be beaten when landing; the sixth is to worry that enemy planes will bomb at sea and have nowhere to hide;In response to the above problems, the focus of political mobilization in the Hainan campaign was how to deal with this combat mission.According to the traditional practice of our army, we should first deploy inside the party and then outside the party, first cadres and then soldiers.Cadres and party members took the lead in exposing their thoughts, actively participating in discussions, and guiding everyone to correctly understand the great significance of this task.

In response to some people's misconceptions, the two armies organized a big discussion among the troops. The topics were: "Should we carry the Revolutionary War to the end, and what counts as the end?" Is it 'bad luck' or a rare honor?" Speaking of this, Wei Youzhu, director of the Political Department of the 127th Division of the 43rd Army, couldn't help but recall a past event.That was when the troops went south from Pingjin to educate them to carry out the revolutionary war to the end.After resting in Jiangxi, when marching to Guangdong, the troops circulated a jingle: "One thousand miles in a month, Guangzhou is the bottom." After the liberation of Guangzhou, in order to complete the strategic encirclement of the Guangxi group, the troops advanced to Guangxi again. Participated in the Battle of Guangdong and Guangxi.At this time, someone said in a joking tone: "The bottom is leaking!" Now, facing the task of liberating Qiongya, some people said strange things: "In the end, it will sink to the bottom of the sea!" Finally, Director Wei said that every time the troops When accepting important tasks, there must be some misunderstandings.The key lies in how leading cadres guide and educate.When discussing the first topic, leaders at all levels basically have a unified understanding, so the education of the troops is also very profound.

The comrades said: "This is the end, that is the end, and the end is the complete elimination of the enemy!" "The end is the liberation of all the territory of the motherland. The evil must be eliminated, and the new China must not be left behind. What about the comrades-in-arms and martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the revolutionary cause.” When discussing the second topic, there is controversy.Some comrades said: "When we went south, we took the lead, walked in the front, and pioneered the way; now that the battle is almost over, we will be the tail again, and it is time for others to take turns. Why are we always the ones who suffer? "There are not many people who have this kind of thinking and dare to speak out in public, but there are not a few people who do not speak out in their hearts.In order to unravel this knot, the cadres and party members took the lead in reviewing the previous battles that had taken on arduous tasks and made the troops honorable.

They said: "Without the courage to charge 7 times on Jiaojialing and see the red with the bayonet; without the courage to sneak into the enemy's den to block the east and west in the Battle of Liaoxi, how can we have the title of 'Steel Red Second Company'." "Without the record of destroying three high-level headquarters of the enemy in a row in Jinzhou City, how could it have the reputation of 'tiger attacking the fortification'." "As an army, whether it can undertake difficult tasks is the main indicator of its combat effectiveness." The more people talked, the more excited they became. Many cadres said: "The higher authorities entrusted us with the task of liberating Hainan because they trust us. They believe that we can defeat the ocean and create a miracle of the army fighting at sea."

It should be affirmed that this discussion has had a significant effect.The first slogan of maritime training, "Don't bow to the sea", was chanted on the basis of this idea. Just when our army's sea training was in full swing, the Qiongya column sent comrades to welcome our army. They risked great dangers to smuggle across the strait. Great encouragement.One of the folk songs is very exciting. The song sang: "If the dragon does not turn over, it will not rain. If the rain does not sprinkle flowers, the flowers will not be red. The liberation army cannot cross the sea, and the people of Hainan cannot turn over!"

Everyone said: The Qiongya column has fought hard on the island for 23 years, and it is still fighting bloody.In order to eliminate this "confidential trouble", the enemy army is concentrating its forces to besiege them.After most of the mainland was liberated, the people of Hainan looked to the north of the sea, eagerly looking forward to our army crossing the sea as soon as possible.They are all our class brothers, can we bear to watch them still suffer and seek comfort and enjoyment by ourselves? The arrival of comrades in the Qiongya column turned into a further political mobilization of commanders and fighters.Many comrades were really moved and said excitedly: "We also suffered in the old society, and we know what it is like to live in that kind of life. Now we have turned over, have land, and live a good life, regardless of the fact that we are still suffering." I'm a poor buddy, can this be justified?"

The Communists said even more sadly: "Chairman Mao taught us that even if the war is over, it is only the first step of the long march for the revolutionary cause. Now that the first step has not been completed, we want to retreat. , went to my own little life. How does this look like a Communist Party!" This kind of self-education activity is called "confused" by the commanders and fighters.Since then, the troops have become more enthusiastic about training at sea.Everyone said: "It is a rare honor to fight the last battle. Not only must you dare to fight, but you must also be able to fight, fight beautifully, and fight with the prestige of an army fighting a naval battle."

The deepening of political mobilization and the progress of training at sea have boosted the troops' confidence in victory. Maritime training uses the sea as a playground and wooden boats as a classroom.At the beginning, the commanders and fighters were unfamiliar with the sea, and even a little afraid.It is inevitable for people to have some doubts about things that they are not familiar with before they have figured out the details of it.But our army has never been intimidated by any difficulties. "Victory over the ocean!" is another slogan shouted during the training at sea, and it is with this fearless spirit that the whole army throws itself into the embrace of the ocean.

To learn how to use a boat, you must first have a boat, and you must also have a master who teaches how to use a boat—a boatman.It is not easy to recruit a large number of boats and hire enough master boatmen in a new district just established by the local government. Changing a civilian ship into a warship and going to sea to fight, in the eyes of those who have no combat experience, of course, there is no return; using a wooden boat to compete with a huge iron-clad warship is like hitting a stone with a pebble; It is difficult to save people and ships if they land next time.It was precisely because of the above-mentioned worries that when it was heard that the army would use ships, fishermen and transport ships along the coast were hidden, and it was rare to see ships at sea.

Our military commanders are well aware that the people's war must rely on the masses, and firmly believe that as long as the meaning of liberating Hainan is clearly explained and a reasonable compensation and pension policy is formulated, the masses will be reasonable and will definitely support our army with all their strength. A task force was formed to call for ships.With the cooperation of the local party and the government, they went through untold hardships. In a short period of time, they traveled all over the mountains and rivers along the coast of Guangdong. Through extensive and in-depth mobilization of the masses, many hidden ships were opened.Especially the poor fishermen who were bullied by fishing bullies also drove out the small boats they depended on for their livelihood. It is really "the hearts of the people are united, and Mount Tai moves." From small wooden boats with one mast to large wooden boats with three masts, from all directions, batch after batch drove to the maritime training ground.When the boat came, so did the master boatman. At the beginning of training at sea, there were many difficulties.Not to mention fighting at sea, the wind and waves are stronger. These big men from the north can't stand firmly on the boat, and if they accidentally fall into the sea, those who can't swim will be destroyed if they don't have life-saving equipment. In order to solve a series of problems such as seasickness and vomiting, life-saving equipment, maritime communication, setting up guns on board, aiming and shooting, and the tactical actions of forced landing in front of the enemy, everyone used their brains and contributed their ideas. With an idea, the cadres and soldiers put it into practice. How many people got red eyes for watching the tide and measuring the wind, and how many people scratched their hands and feet for the practice of boarding and disembarking.It is often practiced when there is some clues in the discussion, and new problems are found in practice and then come back to discuss.Feeling the rules and looking for tricks, to the point of restless sleep.Some comrades shouted in their sleep: "I found a way!" When we started drifting, almost everyone was seasick.Some people even spit out gastric juice.In order to prevent vomiting, people have made various experiments, such as chatting on board, telling jokes, singing in a low voice, closing eyes and not moving. After a period of hard exercise, fewer and fewer people get seasick.At the beginning, I drifted in the sea during the day near the shore, and later changed to night and long-distance drifting.The time of drifting in the sea is gradually lengthened, and we go out to sea as soon as the sun sets, until 3 o'clock in the morning.The hurdle of seasickness was finally overcome. After passing the seasickness level, you have to break through the sea shooting level.Because the wooden boat fluctuated in the dark, timing the shots became a problem.People practiced on the boat and on the wave bridge, and finally mastered this difficult movement proficiently.After solving the shooting problems of rifles and submachine guns, according to this rule, the shooting of light and heavy machine guns has also found a trick. At the same time, after continuous exploration, there is also a way to implement uninterrupted fire cover when landing.First, the heavy machine guns fired on the ship to cover the disembarkation of the riflemen, submachine gunners, and light machine gunners. After they seized the beachhead, they used firepower to cover the heavy machine guns to disembark and land. In order to deal with the enemy's warships, the small boats of the convoy installed guns on board, and after many tests, they also found their way.The 60 guns, mortars, and 90 rocket launchers have all found ways to erect them, and they have mastered the essentials of aiming and launching. The landing in front of the enemy is different from the charge on land, and there are special requirements for organization and command.Because the hull of the big ship is higher than the sea surface, it is easy to collide when jumping down when landing, the speed is also slow, and it is easy to cause formation confusion.To solve this problem, each company installed a set of landing skateboards, which solved the problem smoothly.The landing personnel slide down in sequence according to the pre-programmed sequence.Practice has proved that this method is not only conducive to the rapid deployment of firepower, reducing casualties, but also guarantees a successful landing. The military issues of maritime operations have been solved one by one.The vast number of commanders and fighters in our army, under the guidance of the boatmen, also learned a full set of skills for sailing at sea.They have worked very hard for this.In order to avoid the harassment of enemy planes, the drill lasted from 8:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. every day.His eyes were red and his hands were worn out.When I got off the boat in the morning, I was so tired that I couldn't straighten my waist, but I always maintained full enthusiasm. From departure to sailing at sea and landing in front of the enemy, all links were rehearsed over and over again. The stones in everyone's hearts fell to the ground one by one, and their confidence in victory was greatly improved.There is only one thing that is still a little reassuring, and that is whether the wooden boat can defeat the warship.It was a coincidence that at this time, a deputy platoon leader of the 2nd Battalion and 4th Company of the 382nd Regiment created the first miracle of a wooden boat defeating a warship. On February 20, 1950, the boatmen went home to celebrate the Spring Festival. The 4th company commander Su Hongting mobilized Lu Xiangyun, the deputy platoon leader of the 1st platoon, and others to practice sailing at sea without the help of the boatmen.After Lu Xiangyun and his ship went out to sea, they stopped at anchor due to the wind, and everyone spent the night at sea. At dawn on the 21st, the wind picked up, and the northeast wind blew fiercely.Lu Xiangyun excitedly asked the comrades to get up and prepare to return to the voyage.Everyone was very happy and moved very quickly. After a while, the anchor was lifted and the canopy was lifted to return. The boat sailed against the wind and could only move forward in a zigzag, at a very slow speed. It was just dawn, and soldier Wang Jinxiu suddenly noticed that there was a dark thing in the distance to the southwest of them. He asked in a questioning tone, "Look, what kind of guy is that?" Lu Xiangyun looked in the direction he pointed, feeling very strange, he didn't see this thing when he anchored yesterday, but it suddenly appeared today, could it be an enemy warship?Lu Xiangyun told everyone to take off their military caps first, and the soldiers in charge of raising the canopy should put down the half canopy and pay attention to observe the situation.He also ordered Meng Xianzhi and Wan Dian, the helmsmen and co-pilots, to tighten the rudder and grasp the direction.At the same time, he comforted everyone: "That dark guy may be a broken ship or a small island, don't worry about it." However, after a while, that guy was getting closer and closer.Warrior Wang Xinsheng said: "It's not a small island, nor a broken ship, but an enemy warship!" Lu Xiangyun took a closer look, and sure enough, it was an enemy ship.At this time, the soldiers were a little nervous.Can wooden boats defeat enemy warships?Lu Xiangyun also had no idea, because he had never heard that wooden boats could beat warships.At this time, Lu Xiangyun suddenly remembered the oath of joining the party: dedicate his life to the party and the people, and never surrender in front of the enemy.So, he said to everyone: "In order to liberate the whole of China, we have to go through mountains of swords and seas of fire! Warships are made of iron, so we have to ram them!" Everyone nodded to Lu Xiangyun with bright eyes.The Communist Party replied in unison: "Resolutely accept the party's test!" The enemy ship was getting closer and closer, only about two or three kilometers away from Lu Xiangyun and the others.Lu Xiangyun said to the helmsman Yu Xianzhi: "Take the helm well!" Then, he said to everyone: "Get your weapons ready, take your positions, and get ready to fight!" The soldiers quickly took out their weapons from the cabin, loaded them with bullets, and were ready to fight at any time.Lu Xiangyun thought, there are 8 people on board, 5 of them are party members, 1 light machine gun, 4 submachine guns, 3 rifles, 1 rifle grenade cartridge, 12 rifle grenades, and shoulders: a lot of grenades and explosive kits. strength against the enemy.Therefore, he encouraged everyone to say: "The enemy is nothing special, as long as we fight calmly, we will surely win!" The enemy ships approached our wooden boat, 1000 meters, 500 meters, 400 meters... Then they circled around my wooden boat, turned around and pointed their guns at Lu Xiangyun and the others, and began to shoot at my wooden boat with fierce artillery fire. Several shells landed beside the ship, setting off a column of water more than ten feet high. One shell broke the ship's awning rope and anchor car. With a bang, the canopy fell off and a piece of the rudder was also damaged. . The enemy was aggressive and crazy. While shooting at Lu Xiangyun and the others with high-level dual-purpose machine guns, they approached our wooden boat, but it was difficult for the bullets to hit Lu Xiangyun and his boat, because my wooden boat was small but very light.When a big wave came, the wooden boat was lifted so high that the bottom of the boat could almost be seen. Once the wave passed, the wooden boat was thrown into the valley of the wave again, and only a little swaying mast could be seen.Lu Xiangyun proposed to the soldiers: "We must be calm and brave, and no matter what happens, we must fight the enemy to the end!" Chai Yulin, a member of the Communist Party, immediately said: "Deputy platoon leader, don't worry, we will fight the enemy resolutely to the end! Resolutely fight, resolutely fight!" Everyone said in unison: "Fight! Tell the enemy to taste the power of our wooden boat!" Hearing the steel oath made by the soldiers, Lu Xiangyun's confidence became more firm. He said: "Don't worry, everyone. When it comes to you, we will catch it by surprise. The enemy thought that Lu Xiangyun's wooden boat was broken and lost the ability to resist, so they drove the warship over, shooting and approaching.In the face of a strong enemy, everyone did not have the slightest fear, but stared at the enemy closely. When the enemy ship was about 150 meters away from Lu Xiangyun and the others, they stopped firing.The enemy gunners left their positions, and the machine gunners also left their posts. Standing proudly on the deck, they shouted to Lu Xiangyun and the others to hand in their guns and surrender.The arrogance of the enemy exploded the lungs of the soldiers.Lu Xiangyun said to everyone: "We have never had the habit of handing over our guns, you dog, just wait and see!" The enemy ship is getting closer and closer, and it can be seen clearly. There are 4 guns on the ship, and two dual-purpose machine guns.Some of the enemies are wearing boat caps, some are wearing navy suits, navy caps and big caps.The officers stood on the bridge and gesticulated, while the soldiers were in a hurry, dreaming of pulling Lu Xiangyun and his wooden boat back to receive the reward.When the enemy ship was eighty or ninety meters away from Lu Xiangyun and the others, Wan Dianshen, the deputy squad leader of the 3rd squadron, said: "Vice platoon leader, let's fight!" With that said, Wan Dian Shen raised his submachine gun and was about to fire.Lu Xiangyun immediately stopped him and said: "No! Only close combat can give full play to the power of our firearms. We will fight again when the enemy approaches!" At this moment, the enemy ship had advanced to about 50 meters away from our wooden boat. Lu Xiangyun saw that the comrades were all ready to fight; and seeing that the enemy was crowded on the deck and was not ready to fight, he shouted One sound: "Hit!" In an instant, all the firearms on the wooden boat roared at the same time.The special shooter Ye Ying and the machine gun shooter Liu Qi had already aimed at the fat guy who was commanding on the bridge podium.Following Lu Xiangyun's order, the unlucky commander shook his fat body and fell down with the sound of gunfire. The soldiers continued to straf the enemy with accurate firepower.Chai Yulin's submachine gun failed after only one round of bullets, so he quickly picked up the rifle and fired again; the soldier Wang Jinxiu set up a grenade cartridge at the hatch of the ship, and fired 4 rounds of grenade in a row, all of which were fired at the enemy ship. flowers.Helmsman Meng Xianzhi and assistant helmsman Wan Dianshen fixed the rudder, then also took up their submachine guns and fired. All the submachine guns and rifles of our soldiers spewed out flames at the same time, and the bullets rolled onto the enemy ships like a storm.The enemy was in a hurry, dizzy, dead, wounded, some enemies didn't know what was going on, just followed, Lu Xiangyun and his gunshots rolled into the sea, and were swept away by the raging waves up.Seeing that the situation was not good, the enemies on the deck all shrank back into the cabin with their heads in their hands. The enemy was shocked for a while, and immediately turned the rudder and fled to about 500 meters away from my wooden boat, and fired at my wooden boat frantically for about 20 minutes. Go to the northeast of my wooden boat, aim at my wooden boat with full power, and try to smash my wooden boat into pieces.The soldiers of our army saw through the enemy's plot, unscrewed the cover of the grenade one after another, and prepared the explosive package. Lu Xiangyun encouraged everyone to say: "Comrades, the time has come to make meritorious service, and the time has come for the party to test us!" At the same time, Lu Xiangyun told the helmsman and co-helmsman to tighten the rudder, pay attention to observe the enemy's actions, and obey the command. When the enemy ship approached our wooden boat for about 70 meters, Lu Xiangyun immediately ordered the helmsman to turn the rudder to the right.It was so dangerous, the menacing enemy ship passed by the boat.Regardless of the danger of the boat being overturned by the huge waves pushed up by the enemy ship, our soldiers took advantage of the situation and threw a row of grenades at the enemy ship.With the sound of the explosion, thick smoke rose from the deck of the enemy ship.At the same time, Lu Xiangyun beat the enemy severely with all their firearms.The enemy ship fled to about 1,000 meters away from Lu Xiangyun and the others, fired a burst of deflated guns, and fled southeast in embarrassment. In this way, Lu Xiangyun and the others fought fiercely with the enemy at sea for more than an hour. With the bravery and wisdom of the revolutionary fighters, they used small wooden boats and light weapons to defeat the American warships equipped with guns and machine guns. Miracle. After the news that the wooden boat defeated the enemy warship spread among the troops, it boosted the morale and fighting spirit of the troops and strengthened everyone's confidence in liberating Hainan Island.The superior awarded Lu Xiangyun the title of "Hero Ship" to their ship, and also rewarded Lu Xiangyun and the others with a new ship, and at the same time awarded Lu Xiangyun the title of combat hero who first created a wooden boat to fight a warship. Through this battle, the doubts of the soldiers were further eliminated and their confidence was further improved.The mood of the army to fight is rising day by day. In the past, they were afraid of crossing the sea, but now they are fighting for crossing the sea, lest they be left in Haibei.Whoever is left will cry.The commanders and combatants refused to stay, and neither did the orderly personnel.It seems that whoever is left behind becomes a "ghost afraid of death" and is regarded as a great shame. The telephone platoon of the 379th regiment wanted to leave a few people because the ship was overloaded, and those who were left refused, crying and asking to board the ship.Some people were afraid of being left behind, so they secretly boarded the boat and hid.In the end, even the wounded and sick in the hospital couldn't lie down anymore, and they asked to be discharged from the hospital to participate in the battle to liberate Qiongya.