Kinmen Island
When New China was founded on October 1, 1949, strictly speaking, the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party was not over yet. Tibet in the southwest, Zhoushan Islands and other coastal islands in the east, as well as Hainan Island and Taiwan Island All are still controlled by the Kuomintang troops.
By 1950, except for Taiwan Island, victory was basically guaranteed elsewhere. Due to the sudden outbreak of the Korean War, our party was forced to postpone the war to liberate Taiwan, mobilized elite troops across the country, and began the struggle to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea.
After the Korean War ended in 1953, the liberation of Taiwan was once again put on the schedule. However, because Chiang Kai-shek had the support of US imperialism, the matter of liberating Taiwan became very complicated.
In 1954, the Kuomintang and the United States signed a series of military cooperation agreements, which threatened to separate the island from the motherland. Under such an urgent situation, our party decisively launched a military strike against Taiwan. .
However, in terms of the military strength of our party at that time, Taiwan itself could not be hit. The final choice was Kinmen Island, which is closest to the mainland. This was the first Kinmen bombardment after the founding of New China . The time was On September 3, 1954, history was known as the "9·3" artillery battle.
From September 3 to September 22, the Kinmen bombardment lasted for a total of 19 days, sinking 3 ships, damaging 4 Kuomintang ships anchored in Kinmen Port, and destroying 11 ships on the large and small Kinmen Islands. There are artillery positions and 6 military warehouses.
It should be said that from the perspective of military operations, this Kinmen bombardment did not gain much, but its political significance was very important. On the one hand, it dealt a blow to the arrogance of the United States and Chiang Kai-shek. On the other hand, the most important thing was that it solemnly and publicly announced Our party’s determination and position to liberate Taiwan.
After this, our party actually carried out multiple shelling operations on Kinmen, but they were all relatively small-scale and only pursued the role of political propaganda and warning.
However, the "8·23" Kinmen bombardment in 1958 was particularly large-scale and long-lasting, and it caused the greatest military blow to the Kuomintang.
The scale of the Kinmen bombardment after that was very small, and the artillery shells were replaced with propaganda bombs, and the frequency was relatively small. Occasionally on weekends and holidays, the bombardment was stopped by default. Until the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States in 1979, Kinmen The bombardment war was finally over.
The question I want to talk about here is about the "August 23" artillery battle in 1958. It was the most special and significant of all the Kinmen artillery battles. Why did the scale suddenly become so huge? What is the main purpose and intention​?
In 1958 of the last century, there was a vigorous "Great Leap Forward" and the People's Commune Movement in China, and everyone was focused on building a new socialist China. However, what was more lively at that time was abroad.
What attracted the most attention in the world at that time was the Arabs in the Middle East region. At that time, there was a country called the "United Arab Republic" ("UAE" for short). Many people in this country have never heard of it. , because it no longer exists. From its establishment in early 1958 to its dissolution at the end of 1961, its lifespan was only more than three years.
The then president of Egypt was Nasser . He launched a coup to overthrow the Egyptian king and established the Egyptian Republic . Then this man highly praised "Pan-Arabism", which is why he strongly called on the Arab people to Only by uniting can we resist the threat of invasion from European and American forces.
So in February and March 1958, Egypt, Syria, Yemen, three countries that were not connected on land, officially announced their merger into one country - The United Arab Republic, which was later renamed the United Arab States. .
The flag of the "UAE"
China is very supportive of the establishment of the "UAE" because we also established our own country after overthrowing the colonial rule of the foreign powers.
The establishment of the Arab League set off a huge anti-British and American wave in the Middle East. Immediately afterwards, Iraq and Jordan also expressed their wish to join the "UAE". However, they were a step late and suffered strong interference from the United Kingdom and the United States. In the end, the wish was not fulfilled.
After the establishment of the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and other Middle Eastern countries seemed ready to make a revolution, and a revolution was ready to take place.
In July 1958, the Iraqi Revolution suddenly broke out. The most pro-Western Iraqi Hashemite regime was suddenly overthrown and destroyed. This was no less than a thunder for the United Kingdom and the United States, and then Jordan and Lebanon. The revolutionary momentum is also growing.
The entire Middle East has shown a very strong anti-imperialist attitude. This desire for national independence has made China and other socialist countries in the Eastern camp extremely excited.
On July 18, 1958, the front page of " People's Daily " published a news item supporting the revolution in the Middle East. "Six hundred million people stand together with the people of the Middle East." "Half a million people demonstrated in the capital and shouted, 'American troops get out. Lebanon'"​.
July 18, 1958 "People's Daily"
In order to show support for the situation in the Middle East, on July 17, 1958, a demonstration meeting of 500,000 people was held in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. The then Beijing Mayor Peng Zhen , he said enthusiastically at the meeting: "The victory of the Iraqi people... is a great victory for the Arab people and all peace-loving people around the world. This is a victory over imperialist colonial rule in the Middle East. A heavy blow. "
It should be said that the anti-British and American revolutions that broke out in the Middle East in the spring and summer of 1958 were like a shot in the arm for the tense domestic political situation, which greatly enhanced our confidence in fighting European and American hegemony. At the same time, it also lit the fuse of the war against Chiang Kai-shek's peace negotiation.
On July 18, 1958, Chairman Mao made the decision to launch a large-scale bombardment of Kinmen, and stated that the artillery battle at Kinmen was intended to attack the United States and support the Arab people's anti-aggression struggle with practical actions. (Quote from Zhang Aiping's "Chinese People's Liberation Army")
At this time, the decision was made to bombard Kinmen. On the one hand, it was to test the defensive bottom line of the U.S. policy in Taiwan and combat Chiang Kai-shek's arrogance. On the other hand, it could greatly draw the attention of the U.S. to the East. Reduce the pressure on the people of the Middle East in their anti-aggression struggle, and support the national liberation of the Arab people with practical actions.
On August 23, 1958, the Kinmen bombardment finally broke out. It had been postponed for a month in consideration of combat preparations and the pursuit of suitable fighter aircraft.
At around 5 pm that day, the People's Liberation Army troops stationed on the front lines of Fujian suddenly launched a large-scale howitzer attack on the Kuomintang troops stationed in Kinmen. In less than 2 hours, more than 30,000 artillery shells were fired at once, catching the Kuomintang troops by surprise. , the losses were very heavy.
Taiwan's "Minister of Defense" Yu Dawei, who was inspecting Kinmen, was injured. The three deputy commanders of the Kinmen Defense Department - Zhao Jiaxiang , Ji Xingwen, and Zhang Jie were also severely injured by dense shrapnel and died soon after. The entire Kinmen Island has turned into smoke. and sea of ​​fire.
From August 23, 1958 to October 5, 1958, this large-scale bombardment of Kinmen lasted for a total of 44 days, and hundreds of thousands of artillery shells were fired at Kinmen.
On October 6, 1958, Peng Dehuai, the then Minister of Defense of the People's Republic of China, published a "Message to Compatriots in Taiwan" in the media, calling on the two parties to negotiate peacefully, jointly resist the hegemony of US imperialism, and safeguard the inviolability of the territorial unity of the motherland.
