landed in a country and played well! Our military's first joint operation was successful. —— Mao Zedong
Yijiangshan Island Campaign, with the East China Military Region Chief of Staff Zhang Aiping as the former commander. The campaign started at 7 o'clock on January 18, 1955 and ended at 2 o'clock on the 19th. It lasted 19 hours. Our army has a total force of more than 10,000 people, and an army landing force of more than 3,000 people, including 4 infantry battalions, 9 artillery battalions, and more than 1,000 KMT troops. In the battle, 519 Kuomintang troops were killed, 567 were captured, 5 enemy ships were blown up or injured, and 16 enemy planes were shot down or injured. Our army suffered 1,417 casualties, of which 416 were sacrificed, 1 frigate, several landing craft, and 8 aircraft were injured.
Yijiangshan Island landing operation is the first joint landing operation by sea, land and air in the history of the People's Liberation Army. It is also the only time in the history of the People's Liberation Army that the army, navy, and air force joint landing operations.
Aerial photo of Yijiangshan Island
Why choose Yijiangshan Island
1. Political factors
On December 2, 1954, the US government and the Taiwanese Kuomintang Chiang Kai-shek authorities signed the "Mutual Defense Treaty." The United States then sent a huge fleet of 5 aircraft carriers, 3 cruisers, and 40 destroyers to the Seventh Fleet to conduct investigations and patrols along the southeast coast of China, directly covering and responding to the Kuomintang forces' harassment and sabotage activities on the mainland.
On the same day, Su Yu, Chief of the General Staff of the People’s Liberation Army, sent a telegram to Deputy Commander Xu Shiyou of the East China Military Region on the issue of operations in East China: ... the purpose of our military operations is to liberate coastal islands in a planned and stepwise manner, and then continue to liberate Taiwan and Penghu. The islands complete the national liberation.
On December 12, Zhang Zhen wrote a report to Su Yu and Chen Geng: ...especially after the signing of the US-Jiangsu Treaty, not attacking two or three small islands next year is a sign of weakness, and it is easier to encourage the enemy's fierce flames.
Under the international situation at that time, the attack on Yijiangshan Island could be regarded as a tough response to the signing of the "Mutual Defense Treaty" by the US and Chiang authorities and also a strategic mission requirement for the liberation of China.
2. Military factors
One Jiangshan Island is in the middle of the sea route between our army’s forward station and Dachen Island. In order to capture Dachen Island, it must pass. If our army bypasses Yijiangshan Island and land on Dachen Island, one The voyage is relatively long. Second, our army is vulnerable to enemy navy and air force attacks during the voyage.
Yijiangshan Island location map
Yijiangshan Island is only 9 kilometers away from Toumenshan Island controlled by our army, and there are many small islands around us, such as large and small Camellia Islands. Before the war, heavy artillery can be transported above it in secret Location, set up temporary artillery positions.
There are only more than 1,000 defenders on Yijiangshan Island, while the strength of Dachen Island is 10 times that of Yijiangshan Island. Concentrating superior forces to attack the weak points of the enemy has always been a magic weapon for our army.
After the liberation of Yijiangshan Island, the hearts of the defenders on Dachen Island and other islands will be shaken, which is conducive to the subsequent liberation of other islands.
On January 11, 1955, the General Staff Department issued instructions to the East China Military Region: …We should select several islands occupied by the Kuomintang along the coast of Fujian and Zhejiang as targets, and concentrate our efforts to attack and occupy small islands that are weakly fortified and close to the coast to gain experience. And continue to carry out sure attacks.
As a result, the East China Military Region first determined the target of the attack, which is Yijiangshan Island, 16 kilometers northwest of Dachen Island on the Zhejiang coast.
On January 16, 1955, the General Staff replied to the Eastern Zhejiang Province and pointed out: ... agree to start attacking Yijiangshan Island on the 18th. Full preparations must be made, and the attack time can be chosen when the weather is good and sure.
Defence overview of Yijiangshan Island
Yijiangshan Island is located in the southeast of Taizhou Bay, Zhejiang Province. It is about 30 kilometers northwest from Haimen Town (now Jiaojiang City), 16 kilometers southeast from Dachen Island, and 9 kilometers north from Toumen Mountain. . Yijiangshan Island is divided into two islands, namely the south and the north, namely the south and the north. The two islands are about 200 meters apart. Among them, Jiangshan Island in the north is slightly larger, 1900 meters long from east to west, and 100-700 meters wide from north to south, covering an area of about 1 square kilometer; Jiangshan Island in the south is about 1,000 meters long from east to west, and 300 meters wide from north to south, with an area of about 0.3 Square kilometers. If Dachen Island is the northern gate of Taiwan, then Yijiangshan Island is the latch of this northern gate. Chiang Ching-kuo once said: Yijiangshan Island is the gate to counterattack the mainland. We must not only guard this one.The door, but also from this door to counterattack the mainland. The strategic position of Yijiangshan Island can be seen from this.
A topographic map of Jiangshan Island
The defense of Jiangshan Island is commanded by the head of the Kuomintang Dachen Defense District Command, and Liu Lianyi, commander of the Dachen defense area, is the former lieutenant commander of the Kuomintang 67th Army. It was transferred to Dachen by Chiang Kai-shek in August 1953. island. Liu Lianyi deployed more than 1,100 troops on the 1.3-square-kilometer island of Yijiangshan. Under his command, Wang Shengming, the commander of the "Yijiangshan Regional Command", led the assault on the 4th Battalion and the 1st Artillery Squadron to stick to Beiyijiangshan Island. The 2nd and 4th Battalions stick to the southern Jiangshan Island. Both islands have complete fortifications, independent defenses, and mutual support. The defense of
Yijiangshan Island was personally designed by American military consultants. The north one Jiangshan Island was supported by 190 highlands and 203 highlands, and the south Jiangshan Island was 180 highlands and 160 highlands as supporting points. There are strong circular fortifications on the periphery of the island, with 154 permanent and semi-permanent bunkers with medium fortifications; 51 artillery pieces, with an average of 2 artillery and 2 machine guns per 100 meters of the front, forming 3 defensive positions and Four layers of firepower nets, these firepower points can fire directly, but also side-fire, oblique fire and reflection, almost no dead ends.
Yijiangshan Island is surrounded by rocky shores, the shore is 10 to 40 meters high, and the slope is 40 to 70 degrees. The surrounding waves beat, the wind is high and the waves are high, and the terrain is easy to defend and difficult to attack.
Pre-battle preparations
1. Struggle for air supremacy
On March 18, 1954, several Kuomintang planes flew into the waters near our Zhejiang province. Naval aviation pilots Cui Wei and Jiang Kai drove MiG-15 fighter jets into the air to meet the enemy. After fierce fighting, they shot down the Jiangjun Air Force 2 A P47 fighter jet. Since then, naval aviation has bombed Dachen Island and Yijiangshan Island six or seven times, dropped 70 or 80 tons of bombs, destroyed or injured 5 enemy ships, and shot down or damaged 16 enemy aircraft. Positions and personnel also suffered varying degrees of loss, and our army only slightly injured one aircraft. After many fierce battles, the People's Air Force and Naval Aviation squeezed the Kuomintang aircraft out of Yijiangshan Island. At this time, our army can effectively control the combat airspace.
MiG-15
in the Battle of Jiangshan Island 2. Sea Domination Struggle
In July 1954, the PLA established a radar observation station on the newly liberated Takashima Island in the Dongji Islands. In the early morning of November 14, 1954, four torpedo boats of the People's Liberation Army sank the Kuomintang "Taiping" frigate under the guidance of a radar station. On January 10, 1954, the naval aviation carried out continuous bombings on the Kuomintang warships parked on Dachen Island, wounding and destroying 4 Kuomintang warships, and sunk the tank landing ship "Zhongquan". That night, East China The naval torpedo boat sank the KMT “Dongting” gunboat in the southwest of Dachen Island. Since then, the Kuomintang naval ships no longer enter the waters around Dachen Island.
The navy in the battle of Yijiangshan Island
3. Tactical feint
The battle of Yijiangshan Island was a cross-sea landing operation. The enemy discovered that our motives for landing operations were taboo. In order to effectively conceal our combat attempts and achieve the suddenness of landing, the Zhedong Frontier and the participating troops flexibly combined the deployment of troops and firepower to strike a series of "combined punches" to deceive the enemy.
As early as in the pre-war training activities, our artillery group carried out irregular shelling on the enemies on the islands of Yijiangshan, Dachen, Yushan, and Pishan. The enemy was panicked all day long, hiding in anti-cannon holes all day long. . After the battle to seize air supremacy and sea supremacy began, our bombers, attack planes, and fighter jets sometimes bombed Yijiangshan Island and Dachen Island, sometimes attacked Yushan Islands and Phishan Island, sometimes raided the anchoring enemy ships in the harbor, and sometimes attacked the invading enemy aircraft. . After more than a month of irregular bombing and artillery, the enemy simply couldn't figure out where our army was attacking. The training of our landing troops is conducted in Yueqing Bay, which is far away from Yijiangshan Island and closer to Phishan Island. Even if it is discovered by the enemy, the target of landing operations can easily be judged as Phishan Island. Before the launch of the
landing operation, Liu Lianyi, commander of the Chen Defense Command of the enemy, believed that the PLA’s artillery, navy, and air force’s shooting and bombing were only “disruptive” attacks. On the afternoon of the 17th before landing, our army again adopted the approach of "pretending to be acting here and acting on the other", organizing aviation troops to carry out violent bombings on Phishan Island. The fighter aviation command post repeatedly called the false takeoff method by radio. To lure the enemy air force away from meCoastal airspace of eastern Zhejiang. On the night of the 17th, our army organized troops to carry out a large-scale battle on Phishan Island. Based on this judgment, the commander-in-chief of the enemy’s Dachen Defense Command Liu Lianyi determined that the target of our army’s attack was Phishan Island. This provides the best cover for the landing fleet that truly points to Yijiangshan Island.
Engagement process
At 8:00 on January 18, 1955,
8:00, the 3 groups of the bombing aviation group 27 Tu-2 bombers and the 2 groups of the assault aviation group 24 Il-10 fighters formed a mixed group of aircraft, towards Dachen Island and Yijiangshan The island jumped and returned at 8:20. During the 15-minute bombing process, 127 tons of explosives were thrown in at once.
At 12:07, the coastal artillery began firing, and the targets were directed at Yijiangshandaozui Village, Huangyan Reef, and Haimen Reef.
At 12:20, the artillery group fired a salvo of 55 artillery, directly attacking the military target on Yijiangshan Island. By 14:34, the entire artillery firepower prepared for a total of 157 minutes. It was divided into 7 rapid fires and 6 surveillance shots. More than 12,000 rounds of various artillery shells were fired, destroying most of the military targets on Yijiangshan Island.
Artillery position
in the Battle of Yijiangshan Island at 14:29, the fifth and sixth companies of the first wave of the second battalion of the 178th regiment respectively boarded Yijiangshan Island in the Yueqing Reef and Beishan Bay sections. Among them, the fifth company only slightly injured one person, while the sixth company suffered heavy losses due to the three-sided fire from the enemy due to the unauthorized change of the landing point. Then the seventh company of the second wave of the battalion followed up with the fifth company, and the eighth company broke through on the right flank of the sixth company. The battalion command post charged towards the main peak 203 of the northern Yijiangshan Island.
At 1433, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd companies of the 1st Battalion of the 178th Regiment landed at Huangyan Reef, Haimen Reef, and Shanzui Village respectively in the first wave. They were intercepted by enemy fire and suffered heavy casualties. The company-level cadres only had deputy instructors. 1 person. The second and third companies landed smoothly. Then the battalion commander and instructor succeeded in landing the second wave.
At 14:37, the first wave of the fifth and seventh companies of the second battalion of the 180th regiment broke through the enemy's defenses on the west side of Shengli Village and in the Tianao Bay area, and then joined forces to attack the enemy at 160 Heights, successfully occupying 160 Heights.
After 15 o'clock, the third battalion of the 178th regiment of the second echelon of the landing force landed on the Haimen Jiao section.
Landing troops in the Battle of Yijiangshan Island
At noon on the 18th, the 1st Battalion of the 178th Regiment conquered North Yijiangshan Island 190 highland; the 2nd Battalion of the 178th Regiment conquered North Yijiangshan Island 203 highland; the second battalion of the 180th Regiment conquered Nanyijiangshan Island 180 High ground.
Wang Shengming, commander of the Kuomintang Defender Yijiangshan District, committed suicide by detonating a grenade. Catch Wang Fubi, the captain of the 4th lieutenant colonel of Nanyi Jiangshan Assault Group.
By 2 o'clock on January 19, 1955, the remnants of Yijiangshan Island were completely eliminated and Yijiangshan Island was liberated.
Schematic diagram of coordinated operations in the battle of Jiangshan Island
summary
After our army won a complete victory in the battle of Jiangshan Island, the People's Liberation Army made great efforts to fight against Dachen Island. In late February, the United States reiterated that it would not participate in the defense of Taiwan’s outer islands. In desperation, from February 8 to 11, 1955, the Taiwan authorities of the Kuomintang ordered Liu Lianyi to withdraw the soldiers and civilians from Dachen Island and nearby islands in batches with the assistance of the US military. At this point, the only islands occupied by the Kuomintang army on the mainland coast were Jinmen and Matsu.
Although the scale of the Battle of Yijiangshan Island was small, the victory of this battle effectively shattered the conspiracy of the United States and Chiang Kai-shek "Mutual Defense Treaty", forced the Taiwan authorities to withdraw from the Taizhou Islands, and tempered and improved the joint cross-sea and landing operations of the land, sea and air forces. Ability, accumulated experience for our army.
However, because the terrain of Yijiangshan Island was not fully considered, it was believed that as long as the superior force was concentrated, it could be destroyed in one fell swoop. The attitude of the enemy's fortifications and negative corners was underestimated. When our army concentrated a large number of troops on the island and broke through, it encountered the enemy. The strong fortresses, hidden side-shooting firepower points, cave firepower points, and resurrection firepower points have greater damage, which is worthy of deep thinking by later military experts.
The flaws are not concealed. On November 5, 1955, Mao Zedong inspected the Huangpu River and said happily when talking about the battle of Yijiangshan Island: The landing operation on Yijiangshan Island was very good! The first joint operation of our army, land, navy, and air forces was successful. Chairman
’s words are the best summary of the battle of Yijiangshan Island.
