The battle to liberate Hainan Island was the first successful example of our army's large-scale landing on the island, and it was of milestone significance in the history of our army.
However, this battle was far from as smooth as imagined. Because our army seriously lacked sea crossing tools and no air force cover, the always invincible and four fields armies were afraid of difficulties.
On December 24, 1949, Lin Biao sent a telegram to the Central Military Commission: "The key to this battle is to collect ships and deal with the enemy's sea and air problems, especially the enemy ships that hinder our crossing the sea. If we can send a navy and air force to directly cooperate, our difficulties can be reduced. This is the last and more important battle, and we should concentrate all our efforts to win."
However, Chairman Mao and the Central Military Commission did not agree.
A month later, on January 23, 1950, Lin Biao called Chairman Mao again: "In order to complete the preparations for crossing the sea in five or six months... In order to reduce the disturbance of the enemy sea, air force and Chiang Kai-shek's ships when we cross the sea, we must try our best to win the cooperation of our air force."
As a result, Chairman Mao still did not agree.
So, why did Chairman Mao never agree to Lin Biao’s request? What was the level of our navy and air force at that time?
In fact, the People's Liberation Army already has a navy and an air force in name, but the situation is a bit complicated. Let's look at the navy first.
As early as the Battle of Crossing the River , our army relied on the Second Fleet and the Fifth Patrol Team of the Kuomintang uprising to form a naval force, including 25 frigates and gunboats . The navy has a total of 183 warships of various types. Although the number
sounds good, in fact most of them are dilapidated ships. It is difficult for them to reach the Hainan front line, let alone deal with the Kuomintang's American warship .
What's even more unfavorable is that in modern naval warfare, air supremacy takes precedence over sea supremacy. The advantages of the Kuomintang's air force in Hainan are also unmatched by our air force.
When the People's Republic of China was founded, the People's Air Force had 159 large and small aircraft, but there were so few of them with real combat effectiveness that at the founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China, the air force being reviewed could only fly twice to get the number.
The Kuomintang Air Force was the force with the smallest losses in the War of Liberation. Its total strength remained at 100,000, with more than 1,300 pilots trained in the United States and more than 500 fighter aircraft.
Due to the great advantage of the Kuomintang Air Force, it dealt a heavy blow to our Navy. Our Navy originally had several advanced American warships, such as the "Chongqing" cruiser , the "Changzhi" frigate, and the "Anton" and "Yongsui" warships. However, because our air force was too weak to provide effective protection, they were successively blown up by the Kuomintang Air Force or had to be scuttled.
Just before the Hainan Island Battle, on January 25, 1950, the Kuomintang Air Force conducted another large-scale air strike. 26 warships, including the "Changzhou" and "Wanshouhua", were damaged or sunk. The lesson was not unbearable. Therefore, even if these remaining precious ships risked their lives to join the war, they would most likely suffer the same outcome and die in vain.
Therefore, when Lin Biao applied for naval and air force support twice, Chairman Mao did not agree. It was not that he did not dare, but that he was really powerless!
In December 1949, Chairman Mao visited the Soviet Union. One of his important purposes was to purchase a batch of warships and aircraft from the Soviet Union, and to send hundreds of people to the Soviet Union to study the air force.
Stalin also agreed to sell 200 fighters and 80 bombers to China, and agreed to send relevant coaches to China to train pilots.
However, even the most optimistic estimate is that it will take at least 1951 to have 300 combat-capable air forces, which is simply too late to meet the needs of the Hainan Island Campaign.
In terms of the navy, our country also decided to use half of the US$300 million Soviet loan to purchase Soviet warships. It also planned to purchase a batch of warships from the United Kingdom. However, this was later abolished by the United Kingdom due to the outbreak of the Korean War .
Therefore, from a military perspective, the conditions for liberating Hainan Island are very unfavorable, which is also an important reason why the Central Military Commission has been unable to make a decision.
Even under this very unfavorable situation, the officers and soldiers of the four fields still showed their fearless spirit and determined to use wooden sailboats as a means of crossing the sea to challenge the "three-dimensional defense position" built by the Kuomintang on land, sea and air!
Especially "Tornado Commander" Han Xianchu, he learned about Hainan's sea currents weather from local fishermen, and learned that Hainan only has favorable winds and favorable currents from spring to early summer every year. If he misses it, he will have to wait for the next year, and there will be more variables. Therefore, Han Xianchu made up his mind to launch an attack in the spring of 1950!
On March 5, 1950, our army officially launched the sea-crossing operation. The officers and soldiers rode wooden sailing ships and motorized sailing ships. Under the repeated bombings of the Kuomintang army's aircraft and warships, they moved forward bravely and refused to retreat. They finally won the victory in the sea-crossing operation and successfully liberated Hainan Island. created an unprecedented miracle in modern naval warfare!
(Reference materials: "Battle of Hainan Island", " The decisive battle of life and death between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party·Hainan landing battle ") #Headline Creation Challenge#
