Chapter 28 Chapter 27 A US-Jiangsu mixed fleet appears in the territorial waters. Will it be fought or not?Mao Zedong said: Only attack the Chiang Kai-shek warship, not the American warship

A US-Jiangsu mixed fleet appears in the territorial waters. Will they fight?Mao Zedong said: It is not wrong to hit it; only hit the Jiang ship, not the American ship; the American ship fires, and it is not allowed to return fire. (Xiamen-Kinmen, September 3-11, 1958) On the night of September 3, Ye Fei was waiting for Mao Zedong's instructions.From August 23rd to September 3rd, Kinmen has been sealed off.Mao Zedong said that one step ahead, one step ahead.The first step has been completed, what is the next step?He guessed that it was time for Mao Zedong to give instructions. September 3rd was already the second night of using searchlights.From the Yundingyan Command Headquarters on the west side of Xiamen Island, you can see the sea off Kinmen, and the beams of searchlights light up every ten minutes.The bright beam of light is like a sharp sword cutting towards the dark sea.Under the beam of light, the waves and floating objects on the sea surface are clearly illuminated.The searchlights had been used for the first time the night before, and they had caught sight of two transport boats smuggling cargo.The artillery group on the shore roared, under the beam of light, shells fell in front of the transport boat, and the splashed water column was beautifully illuminated by the light.The two smuggled boats did not dare to sail to Liuluo Bay, and turned around to flee overseas.

Late that night, Ye Fei finally got the news.Minister Yu Shangrong of the Operations Department of the General Staff conveyed the order of the Military Commission and Mao Zedong: Starting from September 4, the Fujian front line will stop shelling for three days, so as to observe the development of all parties. Ye Fei was very surprised, but he implemented it immediately, and quickly issued an order to all troops to stop shelling for three days. On September 4, hundreds of artillery pieces of the People's Liberation Army fell silent. In the early morning of the same day, in the news program of the Central People's Broadcasting Station in Beijing, the announcer announced to the world in a solemn voice that the government of the People's Republic of China has solemnly issued a statement on territorial waters.The statement declares that the breadth of China's territorial sea is twelve nautical miles, and that all foreign aircraft and military ships are not allowed to enter China's territorial waters and the air above them without the permission of the Chinese government.

As the main commander of the Fujian front line, Ye Fei faced the 80,000 Kuomintang army led by Jinmen and Hu Lian; Stop shelling. Many years later, when he served as the commander of the Chinese Navy and then the Minister of Communications of China, when the ocean had become his area of ​​responsibility, he felt particularly deeply: a country proposes its own territorial waters, which is a matter of sovereignty. A solemn act of integrity on the territory of the nation and its territorial waters.Over the past few hundred years, from the Manchu Qing government, the Beiyang warlord government to the Kuomintang government of the Republic of China, due to ignorance, corruption and incompetence lacking the concept of modern sea power, China, which has a sea area of ​​more than 10,000 kilometers, has never proposed its own territorial waters.The consequences are serious. Not only can foreign ships sail in my country's coastal waters, but our country's coastal resources, especially fishery resources, cannot be protected at all.In particular, the Japanese fishermen in the east, relying on large motorized boats, have been fishing in the main offshore fishing grounds of China for many years. However, the Chinese fishermen cannot compete with them, causing the country to suffer huge economic losses.The problem of Japanese invasion of fisheries has been a major problem in China's coastal areas since modern times.At the beginning of the founding of New China, the Central People's Government began to study the issue of the country's territorial waters under Zhou Enlai's instructions. Later, the country also established the Oceanic Bureau.However, due to the Kuomintang army's blockade along the coast and the subsequent outbreak of the Korean War, the US Navy's Sixth Fleet cruised in the coastal waters of China.The issue of territorial waters, which marks national sovereignty, has to be shelved for the time being.Mao Zedong, who attaches great importance to national sovereignty and territorial dignity, has always kept this matter in mind.After the Korean armistice, with the development of national economic construction and the easing of coastal tensions, the issue of territorial waters was brought up again on the agenda.

Mao Zedong deployed the shelling of Quemoy in the summer of 1958 to facilitate the resolution of the Taiwan issue, including the issue of China's territorial waters.After the shelling of Kinmen began on August 23, Mao Zedong personally convened people from all walks of life in Beidaihe to study the issue of China's territorial waters sovereignty, and solicited the opinions of some experts and scholars familiar with international law.According to the Hague Agreement, Western countries have determined the territorial sea line of three nautical miles and asked all countries in the world to abide by it.In fact, this territorial sea line of three nautical miles is only beneficial to countries with strong sea power, so that their ships can easily conduct military and economic activities in the coastal waters of other countries.Because of this, some countries in the world do not recognize this unjust territorial sea line of three nautical miles. For example, some countries in South America announced a territorial sea line of 200 nautical miles in the 1940s, while the Soviet Union implemented a territorial sea of ​​12 nautical miles. Wire.During the discussion in Beidaihe, some domestic experts and scholars stuck to the prevailing international law in the West and advocated that China should implement a territorial sea of ​​three nautical miles, thinking that no matter how wide it is, it might cause war.On the basis of everyone’s free speech, starting from China’s economic and national defense interests, with an attitude of independence and not being afraid of the threat of imperialist war, Mao Zedong finally determined the width of 12 nautical miles based on the international situation and China’s national conditions. Officially announced on September 4th.Facts so far have proved that the territorial sea line of twelve nautical miles.It is suitable for the specific situation of our country. It does not affect the economic interests of other countries' coastal areas, but also protects some resources in our country's coastal waters. Moreover, this width is within the effective control of our country's military power.At that time, the effective range of our navy's coastal artillery was more than 12 nautical miles, and the manpower of the coastal artillery could guarantee a powerful blow to foreign ships that invaded this water area.

Mao Zedong chose the climax of the bombardment of Quemoy as the date for the declaration of the territorial sea line, precisely to show that when the whole world pays attention to the tiny place of Quemoy, if anyone dares to despise China's territorial sea line, then he must be prepared to invite It has a taste of shelling Kinmen. Three days after Mao Zedong announced the territorial sea line, he ordered the Fujian front line to stop the artillery battle, just to see how the US warships and planes would treat China's territorial waters.From September 7th of this year, every time a U.S. warship or aircraft crossed China's territorial waters, the Chinese government spokesperson issued a serious warning and made representations at the China-U.S.-level talks in Warsaw.Although the U.S. agreed to the investigation, it also claimed: We will not recognize the 12 nautical miles territorial waters you declared, but our warships will never enter the 12 nautical miles either.Ye Fei has already noticed that the United States paid attention to this territorial sea line in its operations after the subsequent Golden Gate escort ended.When U.S. military aircraft and ships operating along the coast of China intentionally or unintentionally brushed the territorial sea line, their ground control stations would always yell and curse on the radio, and the PLA Fujian frontline monitoring station could hear them clearly.

The three-day deadline for Mao Zedong to order the Fujian front to stop shelling Kinmen has passed.What will happen on September 7th?Ye Fei watched closely from Yunding Rock, and told the artillery groups to get ready, but he didn't order the artillery not to fire. The Kinmen sea is immersed in an unusual calm. Near noon, the maritime observation post sent a report that a huge fleet of 14 ships appeared on the sea and was heading towards the waters of Jinmen.After a while, it became clearer that this was a fleet composed of a mixed formation of warships from the United States and Taiwan. The formation included two cruisers and five destroyers from the U.S. Navy, and the rest were two transport ships and five combat ships from the Kuomintang Navy.The American Stars and Stripes on the U.S. ships are clearly visible.At noon, the U.S. warship stopped in the sea near Kinmen, making a cover gesture; two transport ships of the Kuomintang Navy sailed to Kinmen Liaoluowan Wharf to unload.

Already the artillery group called and asked Ye Fei: Do you want to fight? Will we fight or not?Ye Fei couldn't make up his mind. Ye Fei felt that this was not a purely military operation. How to deal with this mixed fleet of the US and Chiang Kai-shek involved Sino-US relations and even the overall global strategy. Mao Zedong returned to Beijing from Beidaihe in early September.Ye Fei immediately reported to Mao Zedong the situation of the US warships escorting the Kuomintang ships and asked for instructions on how to deal with it. Mao Zedong replied: It is not wrong to type. Ye Fei asked for instructions again: Should we fight the US ships together?

Mao Zedong replied: Only attack the Chiang Kai-shek warships, not the American warships. Ye Fei asked again: We don't attack US ships. If US ships fire at me, will we fight back? Mao Zedong replied: Without an order, you are not allowed to fight back.According to Ye Fei's later recollection, when he received Mao Zedong's order, he and the artillery group were extremely surprised—— The order was conveyed to me by Comrade Wang Shangrong, chief of operations of the General Staff, through a direct military line.When I received this call, I was extremely surprised. I was afraid that the order conveyed by the call was inaccurate, which would be a big mistake. Then I asked Comrade Wang Shangrong: If the US ship fired at me, would I not return fire?The answer is that Chairman Mao ordered not to fight back, clearly.So I said: Got it, I strictly follow Chairman Mao's orders.This time I became extremely nervous, because it was very difficult to strictly implement Chairman Mao's order to only attack Chiang Kai-shek ships and not to attack American ships.The distance between the US ship and Jiang's ship is only two nautical miles. If any of the artillery groups is not aimed accurately, and if there is a slight error, it will hit the US ship.As for the Rumei ship firing at me, I will not fight back, which is easier to handle.In order to accurately implement Chairman Mao's order, I personally issued an order to the 31st Army and the artillery groups: the US-Jiangsu joint formation arrived at the port of Liaoluowan in Kinmen, and Beijing gave the order before firing; the artillery groups were only allowed to attack Jiang. U.S. warships are not allowed to hit U.S. warships; if U.S. warships fire at me, I will not fight back!All the artillery groups were surprised when they received my order, and asked questions one after another.I repeated Chairman Mao's order again, and asked all the artillery groups if they heard clearly?Understood?The artillery groups answered clearly and understood, and strictly followed Chairman Mao's orders.

On September 8, Taiwan's Kuomintang army was very proud of being transported safely by the escort of the US ships the day before, and dispatched four landing ships, escorted by a US cruiser and four destroyers, and sailed towards Kinmen again.The US ship stopped off Kinmen again, and the Kuomintang's landing ship sailed to the shore to unload. Ye Fei reported the situation directly to Beijing from the Yundingyan headquarters.As soon as Beijing received the call from the front, Mao Zedong gave the order to open fire. At 12:43, the PLA consisted of forty-three ground artillery battalions and six coastal artillery companies.

The powerful artillery group opened fire suddenly, firing 21,700 shells in a row, fiercely shooting at the military targets on Kinmen Island and the landing ships sailing into Liuluo Bay.During the shelling, the "Mile" landing ship was hit immediately and caught fire, detonating the ship's ammunition and sinking. The "Mei Zhen" fled to the open sea after being shot heavily, and the other two landing ships also fled after being shot.At this time, the U.S. warships did not care about the Kuomintang ships at all, and hurriedly retreated to the waters nearly 12 nautical miles away from Liuluo Bay, lingering and watching, but never fired a single shot.

Liu Yifu, a war correspondent on the flagship of the Kuomintang army at that time, once described the performance of the US ship—— This is the time for the American warships to suppress the communist army. At the very least, they should also fire their guns and show their expressions!I stood next to the flagship Yao Daoyi, the captain of the detachment, watching my four helpless repair ships under fire, and looked back at the American warships with indescribable eyes. They seemed to be completely indifferent, as if they were ordered Come to Kinmen for a visit, and the euphemistic name is "escort", hey, what a shitty escort! This attitude of the US warship also surprised Ye Fei, who directly directed the shelling.He later recalled: "At that time, I was in the frontline command post in Yundingyan, Xiamen, and I was preparing to deal with the US warships firing on our army. When I saw the US warship slipping away under my fierce artillery fire through the binoculars, I was really surprised. .” On September 11, four U.S. warships once again covered four transport ships and seven warships of the Kuomintang army and sailed towards Kinmen.At that time, Mao Zedong had already left Beijing to inspect the southern provinces, and Zhou Enlai was in Beijing to arrange the battle against the escort formation.The People's Liberation Army artillery bombarded the Kuomintang army transport ship approaching Liuluo Bay and Kinmen Island again.The transport ships fled out to sea as soon as they were hit, and only one was damaged.The attitude of the U.S. warships remained the same, and the PLA immediately retreated to the open sea as soon as it fired a shot, but still did not fire a single shot. Through the two bombardments on September 8 and 11, Mao Zedong finally figured out the strategic chassis of the United States. After Ye Fei experienced the attack on the US-Jiangsu joint formation, he finally realized: What is the significance of our army's daring to fight the US-Jiang joint formation on the front line in Fujian?What victory?He understood that the significance and victory of this contest did not lie in sinking or injuring many ships of Jiang's army, but in finding out the seemingly powerful American trump card.It only cares about itself and does not care about others. As long as its own interests are involved and it wants to risk a war with China, it will not do it.At that time, in the propaganda, "U.S. Chiang and U.S. Chiang" were grouped together and cursed. It turned out that the U.S. and Chiang Kai-shek were not monolithic.He felt that the situation in the Taiwan Strait was very clear at this time. Chiang Kai-shek tried every means to drag the United States into the water, while we tried our best to avoid direct conflict with the United States, and the United States also tried its best to avoid direct conflict with China. This formed a very delicate situation in the Taiwan Strait. The tripartite situation between China, the Taiwan authorities and the United States. This was something Ye Fei hadn't thought of.He once said with deep understanding: "Since then, I have taken a step further to realize that the Fujian front facing the Taiwan Strait is not just a struggle between us and Jiang, but a sharp and complicated struggle between us, Jiang and the United States. The struggle is not only a military one, but also a political one, and a diplomatic one, and a little carelessness and mistakes will have serious consequences. I am more careful and cautious.” After Mao Zedong figured out the strategic chassis of the United States, he found a very important basis for making major decisions at the top of the country.The significance of the Golden Gate Artillery Battle has become more apparent with the development of history.At that time, Mao Zedong immediately adjusted the policy.Knowing that the United States avoided war with China, in 1958 and 1959, New China decided to drastically reduce the number of troops, and the proportion of military expenditure in the national financial expenditure was the lowest in the thirty-five years since the founding of the People’s Republic of China. , the total number of personnel in the army fell to the lowest point since the founding of the People's Republic of China.Mao Zedong also considered easing the tense confrontation between China and the United States.On September 9, Mao Zedong specially received Wang Bingnan who was about to return to Warsaw to participate in the Sino-US talks in Fengze Garden on the eve of his inspection trip to the south.Mao Zedong said to Wang Bingnan: In the talks with the Americans, you have to use one more method of persuasion. For example, your United States is a big country, and our China is not small. How about making enemies of the 600 million Chinese people?What are the benefits of your current approach to the United States?Mao Zedong also instructed Wang Bingnan to use more brains in the talks, be modest and prudent, and not to use overly stimulating language like the Panmunjom negotiations with Americans when speaking, and not to hurt the feelings of the American nation.The Chinese people and the American people are great nations and should be reconciled. More than ten years later, in April 1971, when the U.S. table tennis team requested to visit China in Nagoya, Japan, the opinion of the State Sports Commission at that time was: disagree.Zhou Enlai also approved the opinion of the Sports Commission.The report was presented to Mao Zedong's desk.Mao Zedong decided to invite the American table tennis team to visit China by no means on a whim. His far-sighted decision-making thinking can be traced back to the Jinmen artillery battle in the summer of 1958. Mao Zedong was Mao Zedong after all.