Chapter 9 Chapter 8 Mao Zedong and Stalin held talks and deployed in Moscow to attack Hainan Island

While meeting with Stalin, Mao Zedong deployed to attack Hainan Island in his villa on the outskirts of Moscow. (Moscow-Beijing, December 18, 1949-March 5, 1950) Mao Zedong's special train rumbled through the cold winter. This was the first of the only two overseas trips in his life, and it was also the longest one, which took nearly three months including the trip.He visited in the first winter after the founding of New China.At that time, the war was about to end, and a thousand wastes were waiting for prosperity.The liberation of Guangxi launched by the People's Liberation Army and the roundabout encirclement of the Sichuan Kuomintang Army to liberate the Southwest are coming to an end.This is the last battle between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party on the mainland.Chiang Kai-shek had been driven from Chongqing to Chengdu.When he left Zhongnanhai and boarded the special train, he had already received the battle report that the Eighteenth Corps of the People's Liberation Army had moved from north to south and approached Chengdu, and Chengdu was just around the corner.The Kuomintang army has only a corner of Xichang as its base on the mainland, and its destruction is just a snap of the fingers.

It was December 6th, 1949.Mao Zedong left Beijing by car to visit the Soviet Union. It is expected that he will cross the long and trans-Eurasian Trans-Siberian Railway and will not arrive in Moscow in the middle of this month.Just in time for December 21, 1949, to celebrate Stalin's birthday.In preparation for Mao Zedong's visit to the Soviet Union to meet with Stalin, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided on December 1 that Yang Shangkun would be in charge of organizing the congratulatory gifts for Stalin's birthday.At that time, in order to keep it secret, it was code-named as a congratulatory gift to "Comrade Filipov".Jiang Qing had just been to Moscow this summer and had been treated courteously by Stalin, so he was particularly enthusiastic about making suggestions.These gifts include Chinese cabbage, scallions and pears from Shandong, and 5,000 catties each from Weifang radishes, which she advocates; followed by a statue of Stalin embroidered in Hunan, ceramics from Jingdezhen, Longjing tea and silk from Zhejiang, bamboo shoots from Jiangxi, lacquerware from Fujian, etc. Wait.

At that time, the new regime had just been established, and the Kuomintang spies and bandits were still sabotaging and making trouble everywhere.Mao Zedong took special security measures along the railway lines in our country when he went on a long trip this time, and arranged guards along the entire line to ensure safety.Along the railway from Beijing to Manzhouli, sentries were placed at intervals, and tens of thousands of troops, soldiers, public security personnel and railway employees were mobilized.According to Shi Zhe, who followed Mao Zedong as a translator at the time, recalled, “When the special train passed Tianjin, because a grenade (actually worn out) was found on the railway line, the Minister of Public Security Luo Ruiqing got off here to investigate.” “When passing through Shenyang , Gao Gang and others boarded the car and escorted Chairman Mao to the border station Manzhouli." Gao Gang was the commander and political commissar of the Northeast Military Region at that time.

Mao Zedong’s visit to the Soviet Union this time, of course, did not go all the way to celebrate Stalin’s birthday; Mao Zedong wanted to go to the Soviet Union to sign a treaty of friendship between the two countries out of political, military, and economic considerations at that time, as well as national sovereignty and national interests. alliance treaty.Mao Zedong considered that the Soviet Union had concluded a treaty of friendship with the Kuomintang government after the victory of the War of Resistance. Now that New China had been established, the Soviet Union should abolish that treaty and sign a new and further alliance treaty with New China.

When Mao Zedong traveled long distances for this treaty, he did not forget the urgent and difficult matters in the country.When the special train left Manzhouli and entered the territory of the Soviet Union, he had already received new news. In the past two days, on December 8, the Kuomintang government moved to Taiwan; on December 10, Chiang Kai-shek also fled from Chengdu to Taiwan by plane. Taiwan.After the main force of the Kuomintang army on the mainland was wiped out, the main tasks faced by the PLA were to wipe out bandits, march into Tibet, and liberate Taiwan and the southeast coastal islands. Among them, the most difficult and most important combat task was to attack the islands across the sea.

On October 26, less than ten days after the defeat in the Battle of Kinmen, on November 5, the Seventh Corps of the Third Field Army captured Dengbo Island in the Zhoushan Islands and was also frustrated.On the night of November 3, the 61st Division of the Seventh Corps, with four battalions, took advantage of the heavy rain and the opportunity that enemy planes could not take off across the sea to attack Demb Island.After the wooden fleet set sail, the wind reversed, the tide receded, and the fleet was blown away in the waves. As a result, only seven and a half of the nine companies in the first echelon landed with more than 1,000 people.After all, this army is a strong force used to fighting tough battles. Although it is smaller in number than the Kuomintang army defending the island, it can hold light weapons and continuously break through the defenders' positions. After several hours of fighting, it has occupied a quarter of the entire island before dawn. Third, eight companies of the Kuomintang army were annihilated and more than 500 people were captured.In the early morning of November 4th, the situation on Dembo Island was already very favorable to the People's Liberation Army.However, the follow-up troops were unable to set sail due to changes in wind direction and tide; while the first echelon occupied too many positions and needed to be guarded separately, weakening the assault force.In addition, they failed to seize the ferry in the northern part of the island as originally planned to intercept the Kuomintang army's reinforcements at sea. The reinforcements from the four regiments of the Kuomintang army arrived on the morning of the 4th by warships and were able to go ashore smoothly. The situation on the island immediately reversed in favor of the Kuomintang army.After the Kuomintang reinforcements landed, they immediately counterattacked under the cover of artillery fire from the Navy and Air Force, forming a landing force of seven and a half companies of the People's Liberation Army on the island to face off against four entire regiments of the Kuomintang.The People's Liberation Army fought tenaciously and persisted until dark. Another seven and a half companies of the second echelon landed on Demb Island under the cover of night.The number of People's Liberation Army troops on the island has increased to more than 2,000, which is still less than the Kuomintang army on the island.With the advantages of the Kuomintang army in sea, land, and air, the PLA landing troops went through another five days of hard fighting during the day and held their position at the southern tip of Dengbu Island.The leader of the 61st Division of the People's Liberation Army decided to withdraw from the battle considering that no more reinforcements could be made.After nightfall on the 5th, the People's Liberation Army launched a feint attack on Liushuiyan with one part, causing the Kuomintang army to turn to defense.At this time, more than 1,000 people from the People's Liberation Army on Demb Island took the wounded aboard and retreated safely.

The People's Liberation Army fought bravely and tenaciously in the attack on Dembu Island, with little loss of troops, 1490 casualties and missing persons.The People's Liberation Army inflicted heavy damage on the Kuomintang defenders.According to more than 20 years later, Taiwan announced that the Kuomintang army had 2,825 casualties.However, the Seventh Corps did not complete its combat mission, and the operation on Demb Island was still considered a failure.The consecutive defeats of Jinmen and Dengbu revealed the particularity and complexity of cross-sea operations, and caused rethinking of the senior leaders of the PLA.One week after Dengbu’s setback, on November 14th, Mao Zedong in Beijing called Sanye based on the lessons learned from the battles at Kinmen and Dengbu Island, pointing out that the Zhoushan battle must concentrate enough troops and be fully prepared. time of attack.In this way, the People's Liberation Army's sea-crossing operations on the southeast coast temporarily stopped, and the troops turned to seriously sum up experience and lessons, and explore new rules for crossing the sea and attacking islands.The People's Liberation Army's cross-sea attack on islands has four targets, that is, four island areas-Taiwan Island of 36,000 square kilometers, Hainan Island of 32,000 square kilometers, and a size of 140 square kilometers. Kinmen Island, the 1,200-square-kilometer Zhoushan Islands.The distribution of troops of the Kuomintang army guarding the island is: more than 200,000 in Taiwan, 100,000 in Hainan Island, 60,000 in Kinmen, and 120,000 in the Zhoushan Islands.

When Mao Zedong's special train was passing through the Siberian snowy field, the Fourth Field Army followed Mao Zedong's deployment of long-distance detours to fight Bai Chongcao, and occupied Bai Chongxi's rear in a large circle, forcing Bai to fight the People's Liberation Army.The Four Field Forces wiped out more than 160,000 people from the Bai Chongxi Group in Guangxi.The People's Liberation Army occupied Nanguan (now Friendship Pass) on the Sino-Vietnamese border town on December 14, and more than 20,000 remnants of Bai Chongxi fled into Vietnam.Bai Chongxi also fled to Hainan Island.Lin Biao immediately asked the Central Military Commission for instructions to attack Hainan Island across the Qiongzhou Strait.After summarizing experience and lessons, the Third Field Army is also preparing to concentrate its forces to capture Zhoushan Islands first and then Kinmen.

On December 16, after Mao Zedong arrived in Moscow, he received the news of the liberation of Guangxi from the Four Fields and the telegram from the Four Fields asking for instructions. The cross-sea corps, under the unified command of Deng Hua, the commander of the 15th corps, and Lai Chuanzhu, the political commissar, went to Leizhou Peninsula to conduct an unprecedented cross-sea operation. Mao Zedong was extremely concerned about the four-field attack on Hainan Island. Hainan Island is the second largest island in China.It faces the Leizhou Peninsula in Guangdong Province across the Qiongzhou Strait with a width of 20 to 50 kilometers.The Qiongzhou Strait is one of the straits with the highest sea current velocity in the world.Among the four main islands occupied by the Kuomintang army at that time, Hainan Island was farther from the mainland than Kinmen and Zhoushan.Its area and strategic significance are second only to Taiwan.Judging from the difficulty of the wooden fleet crossing the sea, it is much more difficult than attacking Kinmen and Zhoushan.Kinmen and Zhoushan are less than ten kilometers away from the mainland. The attacking troops can sail and land under the cover of coastal artillery fire, and the Kuomintang warships dare not sail within the range of coastal artillery fire to intercept them.The attack on Hainan Island was different. Although the Fourth Field Army was the best equipped in the PLA, with long-range artillery, the strait was too wide, the voyage distance was too long, and the landing site was also outside the range of the PLA artillery, so it was impossible to provide fire cover.The Kuomintang navy can send warships to the strait to intercept.The Kuomintang Air Force is also stationed on Hainan Island with a complete airport. The Air Force can support the Kuomintang Army to defend the island at any time.Siye had no naval and air cover at all, and it was an unprecedented battle of crossing the sea with wooden sailboats facing the three-dimensional defense of the Kuomintang army, land, sea and air forces.It was a cross-sea operation much larger than the attack on Xiamen and Jinmen.Don't repeat the mistakes of Kinmen!

At 6:00 p.m. on December 16, Mao Zedong and Stalin held their first meeting in the small meeting hall of the Kremlin. Stalin held Mao Zedong's hand tightly, looked at it carefully and said: "You are young, rosy and radiant, and you are amazing!" Mao Zedong said: "I have been hit and excluded for a long time, and I have nothing to say." Before Mao Zedong finished speaking, Stalin immediately interjected: "The victors are not tried, and the victors cannot be condemned. This is a general axiom." Stalin's words prevented Mao Zedong from speaking out what was in his heart.Then, the two sides discussed a wide range of topics, from the military situation at the front to the harvest in the countryside, land reform, industrial construction, and mass work.Shi Zhe, the only translator at the time, felt that Stalin was trying to figure out Mao Zedong's intentions and wishes for this trip.The conversation lasted more than two hours.Stalin asked: "You have come so far this time, you can't go back empty-handed, should we do something?"

Stalin's words meant making a treaty, but he was unwilling to propose it first, lest someone say it was imposed on others in the future; it may also be that Stalin had some incorrect ideas about the Chinese revolution in the past, so he was very cautious. Mao Zedong also refused to say clearly that he believed that the Soviet Union should offer to help China, and it would be insincere not to mention it.With oriental wisdom, he said humorously: "I'm afraid we need to negotiate something between the two parties. This thing should be both good-looking and delicious." Stalin and the leaders of the CPSU present could not understand and were all dumbfounded.Bella laughed out loud. The two sides met for the first time and encountered difficulties.Neither Mao Zedong nor Stalin could guess the other's psychology and intentions, which created estrangement and unhappiness.After the talks, Stalin did not show up again, and all formal talks stopped.The Moscow news media stopped reporting on Mao Zedong's activities. When Mao Zedong was left out, he was not idle.Mao Zedong lived in Stalin's second villa in Sister River on the outskirts of Moscow.This is where Stalin lived during World War II.There is a large underground headquarters.Mao Zedong directed domestic affairs by telephone and telegraph in this Stalin command villa on the outskirts of Moscow. On December 18, the third day after Mao Zedong arrived in Moscow, Mao Zedong himself drafted a telegram of instructions to Commander Shino Lin Biao about attacking Hainan Island: "Crossing the sea is completely different from all previous combat experience of our army. That is to say, we must pay attention to the direction of the tide and the wind, we must gather all the troops capable of carrying at least one army (40,000 to 50,000 people) at a time, carry food for more than three days, land in front of the enemy, establish a solid beachhead, and then attack independently without relying on backup.” The Tenth Corps of the Third Field Army "After occupying Xiamen, without knowing the above situation, three and a half regiments of 9,000 men attacked the 30,000 enemy on Kinmen Island. They had no reinforcements and no food. They were besieged by the enemy and the entire army was wiped out. You must study this A lesson." At the same time, Mao Zedong asked Lin Biao to investigate and understand all the experience of crossing the sea from Sanye Suyu, so as not to repeat the mistakes of Jinmen.Mao Zedong's telegram is called by some war history books as "it is the first systematic summary of the law of cross-sea combat by the commanding authority of the People's Liberation Army". In Mao Zedong's villa in Moscow, he also decided on two important issues of naval construction.On the eve of Mao Zedong's departure from Beijing in early December, he once again summoned Xiao Jinguang, the commander of the 12th Corps of the Four Fields, who had been designated as the commander of the navy.Mao Zedong sought Xiao Jinguang's opinion on solving naval equipment.Xiao Jinguang knew Russian and had studied in the Soviet Union. Mao Zedong also asked him about the situation in the Soviet Union.After Mao Zedong went to the Soviet Union, Xiao Jinguang was ordered to organize the leadership of the navy. He first encountered two problems: first, what kind of organization is the leadership of the navy?Is it a strategic decision-making unit, or a business department of the General Staff of the Military Commission?Is it a branch of the military, or a branch of arms?Second, where is the naval leadership located?Is it located in Beijing, or in a city along the coast?This is a question related to the future of the new Chinese navy.Xiao Jinguang thinks that the two major navies of the Soviet Union and the United States each have their own independent systems and leadership organizations.China is also a big country, with such a long coastline and vast sea area, the construction of the navy must take a long-term perspective, not just the short-term. Therefore, from the very beginning, Xiao Jinguang insisted that the navy should be an independent military branch, not a military branch , much less a business unit.The leading organ of the Navy should be located in Beijing, so that it can maintain close contact with the Party Central Committee and the Military Commission, receive timely instructions from the Central Committee and the Military Commission, and facilitate communication and negotiation with various departments of the central government.However, at that time, some senior leaders believed that the Navy could serve as a business department of the General Staff, and there was no need to set up an independent leading agency; .A conflict arose, and Xiao Jinguang stated his opinion to Nie Rongzhen, acting chief of staff.Mr. Nie felt that the matter was of great importance and that Mao Zedong had to make decisions; so he went to Moscow to make a long-distance call to Mao Zedong.Mao Zedong replied clearly that the navy should be a strategic decision-making body and a branch of the military, and a separate command should be established.The naval leadership should be located in Beijing.Only in this way have two important issues been identified. Mao Zedong still commanded the country here, solved the issue of establishing diplomatic relations with Myanmar, preventing the remnants of the Kuomintang army from retreating into Myanmar, the issue of Vietnam, and the establishment of diplomatic relations with Vietnam. After Mao Zedong arrived in Moscow, the press had reported it; since then, the newspapers have never disclosed Mao Zedong's activities.As a result, a British news agency made rumors while speculating, saying, "Stalin has put Mao Zedong under house arrest." After the news spread, the Soviet side was indeed a little panicked.After the founding head of a neighboring country came to live in Moscow, there was no news for more than ten days, which indeed seemed abnormal.This will inevitably lead to various speculations in the world. Both parties are in a hurry.At the suggestion of Wang Jiaxiang, the Chinese ambassador to the Soviet Union, an announcement was made in the form of Mao Zedong answering questions from TASS reporters, and the purpose of Mao Zedong's visit to the Soviet Union was announced in the newspaper. The reporter asked: "Mr. Mao Zedong, how long will you stay in the Soviet Union?" Mao Zedong's answer was firm and clear, "I plan to stay for a few weeks. The length of my stay in the Soviet Union is partly determined by the time required to resolve various issues concerning the interests of the People's Republic of China." The words clearly contained " The meaning of "non-return if the purpose is not achieved". After that, the Soviet Union began to arrange for Mao Zedong to visit Leningrad.Mao Zedong’s trip to the Soviet Union was not in accordance with the protocol of the head of state, and he was not accompanied by senior government officials. He was only received by the local leaders of Leningrad. When he returned to Moscow, he was only greeted by Deputy Foreign Minister Gromyko.Stalin seemed to be setting up difficult problems to test and ponder what kind of character Mao Zedong was. According to the latest "Memoirs of Molotov" published in 1991: At that time, Stalin ordered Molotov, vice chairman of the Council of Ministers: "Go and see him, find out what kind of person he is." Molotov was ordered to visit Mao Zedong in the villa.Mao Zedong talked to Molotov broadly about the history of the Chinese revolution and about the struggle within the party for a long time.But Molotov remained silent, did not ask questions, did not express his opinion, just nodded and listened, showing a look of disinterest. Molotov went back and said to Stalin: "Mao Zedong is a very smart man with a lot of brains. He is a peasant leader. He is China's Pugachev." Pugachev was the hero who led the peasant uprising in Tsarist Russia.In the Soviet Union, he was a well-known and highly respected figure. Stalin backed down! Stalin took the initiative to send someone to consult Mao Zedong's opinions on matters such as the signing of the Sino-Soviet Treaty.Mao Zedong also specifically arranged for Zhou Enlai to lead a government delegation to Moscow for specific negotiations. During this period, Mao Zedong was also thinking about the preparations for the four field forces to attack Hainan Island at the far southern tip of the motherland.In the previous telegram, he emphasized to Lin Biao the lessons of Kinmen's defeat; he felt that he should also see the favorable conditions of the Hainan Island operation compared with Kinmen, so that the troops could build confidence.Therefore, on January 10, 1950, Mao Zedong sent a telegram to Lin Biao in Moscow, "Strive to resolve the Hainan Island issue within the spring and summer." At the same time, he analyzed the difference between the Hainan Island operation and the Kinmen operation. "The situation on Hainan Island and Kinmen Island is different. One is Feng Baiju's cooperation, and the other is that the enemy's combat effectiveness is weak. As long as 20,000 people can be transported to land at one time, and a military-level command organization is accompanying them, a foothold can be established. Wait for the follow-up troops to advance." "Please ask the 15th Corps to establish direct radio contact with Feng Baiju, and order Feng Baiju to be under the command of Deng Laihong." Deng, Lai, and Hong refer to the main leaders of the 15th Corps, Deng Hua, Lai Chuanzhu, and Hong Xuezhi.Feng Baiju is the commander and political commissar of the Qiongya Column, an armed force led by the CCP on Hainan Island.This army had a history of armed struggle on the island for more than 20 years, and established the Wuzhishan base. At that time, the strength of the column had grown to 15,000.Having the Qiongya column as an internal response is one of the most favorable conditions for fighting on Hainan Island.Although the Kuomintang army on Hainan Island has more troops than Jinmen, due to the large island, long coastline and scattered defense, there are many gaps for landing.The Kinmen garrison's Hu Ban troops are the strongest in the Kuomintang army, and the five 100,000-man troops of the Kuomintang army on Hainan Island are mostly troops from the old Cantonese army, but they were all rebuilt after they were annihilated. And the equipment is not as good as Hu Bo's troops. In the later period of Mao Zedong's stay in Moscow, he also received a report from the Front Committee of the Fourth Field Army on the guidelines for combat operations on Hainan Island.In early February, Ye Jianying, secretary of the South China Branch Bureau, commander and political commissar of the Guangdong Military Region, presided over the Guangzhou Conference on Hainan Island operations.The commanders of the Crossing the Sea Corps, the Fortieth Army, the Forty-third Army and the Qiongya Column attended the meeting.The meeting combined the enemy's situation, sea conditions and terrain of Hainan Island, and after a comprehensive analysis, it was believed that how to cross the strait on a wooden sailboat and break through the sea blockade of the Kuomintang navy and air force was the key to the success of the Hainan Island campaign.The meeting felt that "if one army lands at a time, the problem of ships will be extremely difficult to solve, and at the same time it will not be able to deal with the disturbance of the enemy's sea and air", so it was decided to adopt the campaign guideline of "combining active smuggling, small crossings in batches and final landing", that is, First of all, small troops were used to smuggle in batches to strengthen the island's strength and provide strong support for large-scale forced migration; then, the main force was used to force a landing under the support of the Qiongya column and the early landing troops.In fact, this telegram did not agree with Mao Zedong's method of "transporting 20,000 people to land at one time" in his previous telegram, but proposed a more practical method.On February 12, 1950, Mao Zedong replied happily to Lin Biao in Moscow, saying: "If this method is effective, Hainan Island may be liberated early." On February 17, the same day as the end of his visit to the Soviet Union, before boarding the special train, Mao Zedong sent a telegram instruction based on the report of the Siye Crossing Corps: "The principle is to act after the transportation preparation is sure, and avoid hasty and reckless mistakes. " On the evening of March 4, Mao Zedong returned to Beijing safely on the special train.Near dawn, Mao Zedong and Lin Biao made a long-distance call. At 19 o'clock in the evening on March 5, the first cross-sea advance battalion set off from Dengloujiao at the southwestern tip of the Leizhou Peninsula in 13 wooden sailboats, and began the smuggling operation to attack Hainan Island.