In the 1950s, the first generation of revolutionary leaders of New China decided to build , two bombs and one satellite for national strategic security. The United States also quickly smelled our country's actions and decided to cooperate with the Kuomintang remnants entrenched in Taiwan, hoping that the Kuomintang would help them spy on intelligence.
Chiang Kai-shek was also in a desperate situation and urgently needed the United States' economic and military assistance to gain a foothold in Taiwan. To this end, Chiang Kai-shek sent his eldest son, Chiang Ching-kuo, and , to sign a contract with the US CIA. The two sides provided aircraft and equipment with the cover of "Western companies", and established the 34th Flight Squadron and the 35th Flight Squadron. The 34th Flight Squadron, also known as the Black Bat Squadron, is a low-altitude reconnaissance unit, and the 35th Flight Squadron is Black Cat Squadron, and is a high-altitude reconnaissance squadron.
These two flight squadrons are under the responsibility of the US Strategic Air Force, and the Kuomintang Air Force sends the best pilots to the US for study. Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang Ching-kuo and his son attached great importance to the Black Cat Squadron. Before the pilots of the Black Cat Squadron went overseas for training, Chiang Ching-kuo would definitely summon him and promise him a high-ranking official and a generous salary. In order to deal with the frequent reconnaissance operations of the Kuomintang Air Force, PLA Air Force also established the first surface-to-air missile force, code-named "543 Force ".
543 troops emerged from nowhere
Missile is a powerful modern weapon. The emergence of this weapon directly changed the situation of war, leaving the battlefield without front and rear. On December 20, 1957, China also had its own missile for the first time. On the morning of that day, 60 trains carried P-2 surface-to-ground missiles slowly entered the Manzhouli Railway Station . In addition to carrying two P-2 surface-to-ground missiles, these 60 trains also had 45 ground testing, launch, transportation, refueling and other equipment. The Soviet Union also sent 103 instructors to train students in China.
surface-to-surface missile arrived in China not long after it arrived in China. On October 6, 1958, China's first surface-to-air missile —the first battalion of surface-to-air missiles—was also established in Beijing. For the sake of confidentiality, the arrival of the troops was named Unit 543. On November 27 and 29, 1958, four Sam-2 surface-to-air missiles provided by the Soviet Union were transported to Beijing, and 95 Soviet instructors arrived along with the missiles.
The first battalion of the surface-to-air missiles is composed of elites from the entire air force. All soldiers are carefully selected from the anti-aircraft artillery, radar , searchlight , aviation , aviation aircraft, stations and other troops. The soldiers not only require good political background, but also have a certain level of education and technical level. All cadres entering the ground-to-air missile forces are all equipped with high vocational and low-level personnel. It turns out that the cadres who are the commanders of the anti-aircraft artillery regiments are battalion commanders, battalion commanders are the company commanders, and the company commanders are the platoon commanders, and the operators are all squad leaders and platoon commanders.
On December 26, 1958, Beijing Military Region Air Force established the Second Surface and Air Missile Battalion, and the battalion commander Yue Zhenhua. On January 18, 1959, the Third Battalion of Surface-Air Missiles was established by the Nanjing Military Region Air Force.
At that time, the Soviet Union only sent a ground-to-air missile force of an established battalion to China, so it could only teach one surface-to-air missile battalion in China. The battalion commander taught the battalion commander, the company commander taught the company commander, and the technician taught the technician. The Second and Third Battalions can only send cadres to listen. Soviet experts taught very seriously, but the Soviet side formulated strict confidentiality procedures. According to regulations, various majors cannot inquire about each other, and textbooks and notes cannot be brought out of the classroom. Moreover, the Soviet side does not allow Soviet soldiers and Chinese soldiers to talk separately.
In this case, the students of the 543 unit became very stressed, especially the cadres of the Second and Third Battalions. They just listened and could not ask questions. In this learning environment, let alone teaching soldiers after learning, they could not even guarantee the quality of their learning.
For this reason, Yue Zhenhua, the commander of the Second Battalion, came up with a solution, that is, each cadre remembers a knowledge point, write it down immediately after returning, put these knowledge points together, and form a complete record, thereby improving learning efficiency. Later, the First Battalion and Third Battalion also adopted this method, and the learning efficiency was greatly improved. The 543 unit completed the basic theoretical study and practical operation assessment in just four months. Even Soviet experts were very surprised.
Captain Battalion Commander
October 1, 1959 is the 10th anniversary of the founding of New China, and it is also a period of high incidence for the Kuomintang Air Force. In order to ensure the air safety of the capital during the National Day, the three battalions of the 543rd Force began to enter , the suburbs of Beijing, , and began to carry out combat readiness tasks to prevent the harassment of the Kuomintang Air Force. The three battalions of the
543 unit have been staying outside Beijing for half a month, and have never waited for the reconnaissance aircraft of the Kuomintang Air Force. On October 6, the 543 unit was lifted from combat readiness. After half a month of nervousness, the officers and soldiers of each battalion asked to go out, but the second battalion commander Yue Zhenhua left a complete set of combat teams in case of accidents.
September 7, 1959, the last day of National Day, Fujian Front Radar Force reported that an RB-57D high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft took off from Taipei, rushed into the mainland from Wenling, Zhejiang, and flew towards Beijing, with an altitude of 19,000 meters. The Air Force Aviation Force sent several fighter jets, , to intercept, but due to insufficient flight altitude, they could only watch the Kuomintang Air Force's high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft flying towards the capital.
At 11:50 on October 7, 1959, the Second Battalion of the Surface-to-Air Missiles opened the guided radar antenna, and the three missiles were electrocuted. When the enemy plane was 60 kilometers away from the second battalion's position, the second battalion commander Yue Zhenhua decisively ordered the launch, shooting down the high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft of the Kuomintang Air Force in the southeastern area of Tongzhou . After the Soviet experts arrived at the scene, they said in surprise: "The missile belongs to the Soviet Union, but you have become the first country to use ground-to-air missiles to shoot down high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft." Shortly after the war, Yue Zhenhua was promoted from major to lieutenant colonel.
KMT Air Force's high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft was shot down, but instead caused a more advanced U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft from the United States, which can perform reconnaissance missions at an altitude of more than 20,000 meters. Starting from mid-April 1961, U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft began to perform reconnaissance missions. The reconnaissance locations include sensitive areas such as Jiamusi , Shenyang Aircraft Manufacturing Plant, Lop Nur atomic bomb test site. What is even more hateful is that in order to make Chiang Kai-shek happy, the Kuomintang Air Force pilot also took photos of Chiang Kai-shek's hometown Xikou , and took all Chiang Kai-shek's ancestral tombs clearly.
At that time, China had only three surface-to-air missile battalions. It was tantamount to finding a needle in a haystack to capture the U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft on a vast territory. To this end, the Air Force Command sent the Second Battalion to the Nanchang area where enemy aircraft frequently operated, and continuously transferred bombers from all over the country to Nanchang to attract U-2 to reconnaissance. The enemy aircraft was indeed deceived. On September 9, 1962, Yue Zhenhua shot down the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft that came to reconnaissance. After the war, Yue Zhenhua was awarded the rank of colonel.
On November 1, 1963, Yue Zhenhua used the "near-fast tactic" to shoot down the second U2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft. Half a year later, Yue Zhenhua shot down the U-2 again. In July 1964, Yue Zhenhua was promoted to the rank of colonel and became the first colonel battalion commander in the history of the People's Liberation Army and the only colonel battalion commander.
Due to his military achievements, other cadres of the Second Battalion were promoted very quickly. The food in the Second Battalion was mainly guaranteed by the Air Force Logistics Department. In the era when food and clothing had not been resolved in the 1960s, the officers and soldiers of the Second Battalion could eat eggs as food. According to the recollections of veterans in the Second Battalion, due to their many contributions, the Air Force sent Quanjude's master to the army to make roast duck, and the officers and soldiers of the Second Battalion were tired of the roast duck. On July 23, 1964, Chairman Mao, Premier Zhou and Commander-in-Chief Zhu met with this heroic unit in Beijing. From battalion commander to cook , this unit was surrounded by the older generation of revolutionary leaders, leaving behind eternal glory.
