| Battle of Yijiangshan Islands | |||||||
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| Part of the Chinese Civil War | |||||||
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File:Yichiangshan.jpg 1954 Yijiangshan Islands |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 National Revolutionary
Army |
 People's Liberation Army |
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| Commanders | |||||||
 Wang Shen-Ming |
 Zhang Aiping |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 1000+ men | 5,000 men+ 137 warships 184 aircraft |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 567
killed 519 taken as prisoners |
393 killed 1024 wounded |
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The Battle of Yijiangshan Islands (一江山島戰役) was a conflict between forces of the Republic of China Army and the People's Liberation Army of the People's Republic of China, over one of the last strongholds of nationalist (ROC) forces near mainland China on the Yijiangshan Islands. The conflict occurred from January 18, 1955 to January 20, 1955 during the First Taiwan Strait Crisis, and resulted in a PLA victory and the complete destruction of the ROC garrison.
Contents |
The Yijiangshan Islands are consisted of two islands, the Northern Yijang (北一江) Island and the Southern Yijiang (南一江) Island, and the region is approximately 1.2 square kilometers. Due to its strategic location nearing the coast of Zhejiang, it had become a forward base for the nationalist defense of Chinese coastal islands that centered at Dachen Island, as well as the nationalist guerrilla base to launch attacks on mainland China.
The nationalist defense force consisted of the following units and totaled more than 1000: Yijiangshan Regional Headquarters
In addition, the nationalist defenders could call up the air and naval support when needed.
The Communist attackers totaled more than 5,000, with the landing force totaling one regiment and one battalion from the following units:
In addition, over 30,000 civilians and three dozen civilian ships were mobilized for logistic support.
When the fight began on January 18, 1955, the nationalist air force and navy did not participate due to overwhelming communist firepower. The battle started at 8:00AM with communist bombers from three groups and ground attack aircraft from 2 groups bombing and strafing the islands. At the same time, bombers from another group and ground attack aircraft from the second group began bombing and strafing the Dachen Islands as a diversion. At 9:00 AM, 50 long range artilleries shelled the Yijiangshan Islands.
Around noon, 70+ naval vessels carrying the landing force sailed from Gaodao (高岛)、Queerao (雀儿岙)、Toumen Mountain Island (头门山岛) in three formations in two waves, with more than 40 escort vessels. 2 hours later, the 10 specially converted naval vessels with rocket launchers bombarded Yijiangshan island in conjunction with bombers from 3 groups and 1 squadron, ground attack aircraft from 2 groups, before landing on 20 landing spots. However, the defenders took advantage of their fortifications and severely disrupted the attackers’ formation after their successful landing. As a result, most of the communist casualties suffered during the battle were at this initial stage.
The attackers immediately called for fire support after they met with fierce enemy fire, and the communist aircraft responded by attacking the enemy position by flying at the extremely low altitudes. As the first line of defense was quickly overpowered by the flame throwers, bombs and artillery, the PLA rapidly gained ground. Most of the communist casualties resulted from two machine gun nests with as many as 200 death and 400 casualties. Air strike and massive artilleries called in eventually knocked out these two positions. As the demoralized defenders retreated into their underground tunnels, the attackers changed their tactics by fighting in small groups, and using recoilless guns and flame throwers to gradually torch the Nationalist guierra forces to death, including the underground tunnel complex of the nationalist 4th Assault Group, the largest on the island.
By 5:30 PM, the battle on the islands subsided with the communist decimation of the nationalist defenders almost complete taken 132(meter), 95 hills killing (mostly burned by the flame throwers of 567 and capturing 519 alive according to the often exaggerated PRC source, or 712 soldiers and 12 nurses died in line of duty from Taiwan source. The communist force was then ordered to assume to defensive posture for the next day to prepare for the possible nationalist counter attack that never materialized. Wang Shen-Ming(王生民), the commander was on the phone mentioned he was 50 yards from the approaching communists. He committed suicide by a grenade, ended all the communication and resistance at his 121 hill cave headquarter. Also on the January 19, the communist force begun their shelling on Dachen Archipelago about 13 kilometers away, but these actions were still originally intended to prevent possible counter attacks. Finally, on January 20, 1955, the islands were formally declared to be firmly in communist hands.
The scale of the battle was minute, and the most important gain
of the Chinese communists was
demoralizing the Nationalist will power to continue holding on to
some of the islets difficult to defend. The Nationalists became
aware that the logistics to send support from Taiwan Island was
difficult with its antiquated air force and a lack of strong Navy.
The Nationalist lost a Destroyer, named Taiping. The Korean War
then was over. The PLA had ample military resources including MIGs,
warships to focused on wiping out anti-communist resistance. This
was the prelude to the eventual abandonment of Dachen island with US urging
Taiwan not to spread too thin. According to Taiwan sources, the
troops garrison consists of mostly former fishermen/pirates and
civil war refugees. Some of the casualties were female interns from
a Political Warfare College. There are a number of shrine, roads,
and even a restaurant today to commemorate the anti-communist
resistance on Taiwan. The 18,000 refugees, soldiers and their
decedents consider themselves to be fortunate to have relocated to
Taiwan.
Note: Most of the sources were taken from PRC sources with some
exaggerated claims. One example is the museum on site stating it
took only 2 hours to win the battle. At any rate, over 500 bombs
and 50,000 shells were fired over two little rocky islets. PLA
launched an amphibious assault with 182 aircraft, bombers, long
distance artilleries. Over 5,000 troops were landed with the
mobilization of 30,000 civilians. It was considered an example of
PRC's modern warfare.
| Chinese Civil War | ||
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| Main events pre-1945 | Main events post-1945 | Specific articles |
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Part of the Cold War
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Primary participants |
http://www.youth.com.tw/una/Military/M94.02.02-a.htm
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