Battle of Yijiangshan Islands

Battle of Yijiangshan Islands
Part of the Chinese Civil War
Communist troops assaulting Nationalist positions
Date January 18–20, 1955 Location Yijiangshan Islands, Zhejiang Result PLA victory
Belligerents
National Revolutionary Army	People's Liberation Army
Commanders and leaders
Wang Shen-Ming†	Zhang Aiping
Strength
1000+ men	5,000 men+ 137 warships 184 aircraft
Casualties and losses
567 killed 519 POWs	393 killed 1024 wounded

The Battle of Yijiangshan Islands (Chinese: 一江山島戰役) was a conflict between forces of the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Republic of China and the People's Liberation Army (PLA) 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 to January 20, 1955 during the First Taiwan Strait Crisis, and resulted in a PLA victory and the complete destruction of the ROC garrison.

Geography

The Yijiangshan Islands consist 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 (0.46 square miles) in area. Due to its strategic location near the coast of Zhejiang, it had become a forward base for the Nationalist defense of Chinese coastal islands centered on Dachen Island, as well as a base for launching guerrilla attacks on mainland China.

Order of battle

The Nationalist defense force consisted of the following units and totaled more than 1000: Yijiangshan Regional Headquarters

• The 2nd Assault Group
• The 4th Assault Group
• The 4th Assault Squadron
• One artillery squadron

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:

• The 178th regiment of the 60th Division of the 20th Army
• The 180th regiment of the 60th Division of the 20th Army
• 137 naval vessels, (including more than 70 landing vessels, and more than 40 escort vessels).
• 184 aircraft from a total of 22 groups, 7 artillery battalions, and 2 anti-aircraft artillery regiments assigned to support the landing force.

In addition, over 30,000 civilians and three dozen civilian ships were mobilized for logistic support.

The battle

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 08:00 with People's Liberation Army (PLA) 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 09:00, 50 long range artillery pieces 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 Communists immediately called for fire support after they met with fierce enemy fire, and PLA aircraft responded by attacking enemy positions at extremely low altitude. With the first line of defence was quickly overpowered by flamethrowers, bombs, and artillery, the PLA gained ground rapidly. Most of the PLA casualties (as many as 200 dead and 400 wounded) resulted from attacks on two machine gun nests. Air strikes and massive artillery bombardments 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 rifles and flamethrowers to gradually torch the NRA soldiers to death, including the underground tunnel complex of the Nationalist 4th Assault Group—the largest on the island.

By 17:30, the battle on the islands subsided with the PLA decimation of the NRA defenders almost complete taken 132(meter), 95 hills killing (mostly burned by the flamethrowers 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 forces were then ordered to assume a defensive posture for the next day, to prepare for a possible Nationalist counterattack that never materialized. Wang Shen-Ming(王生民), the NRA commander was on the phone mentioned he was 50 yards (45.7 meters) from the approaching Communists. He committed suicide with a hand 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 (8.1 miles) away, but these actions were still originally intended to prevent possible counterattacks. Finally, on January 20, 1955, the islands were formally declared to be firmly in Communist hands.

Outcome

The scale of the battle was minute, and the most important gain of the PLA was demoralizing the NRA 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 by then was over. The PLA had ample military resources including MiG jets, warships to focused on wiping out anti-Communist resistance. This was the prelude to the eventual abandonment of Dachen island with the United States 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 shrines, roads, and even a restaurant today to commemorate the Nationalist resistance on Taiwan. The 18,000 refugees, soldiers and their decedents consider themselves to be fortunate to have relocated to Taiwan.

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.

References

• Zhu, Zongzhen and Wang, Chaoguang, Liberation War History, 1st Edition, Social Scientific Literary Publishing House in Beijing, 2000, ISBN 7-80149-207-2 (set)
• Zhang, Ping, History of the Liberation War, 1st Edition, Chinese Youth Publishing House in Beijing, 1987, ISBN 7-5006-0081-X (pbk.)
• Jie, Lifu, Records of the Libration War: The Decisive Battle of Two Kinds of Fates, 1st Edition, Hebei People's Publishing House in Shijiazhuang, 1990, ISBN 7-202-00733-9 (set)
• Literary and Historical Research Committee of the Anhui Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Liberation War, 1st Edition, Anhui People's Publishing House in Hefei, 1987, ISBN 7-212-00007-8
• Li, Zuomin, Heroic Division and Iron Horse: Records of the Liberation War, 1st Edition, Chinese Communist Party History Publishing House in Beijing, 2004, ISBN 7-80199-029-3
• Wang, Xingsheng, and Zhang, Jingshan, Chinese Liberation War, 1st Edition, People's Liberation Army Literature and Art Publishing House in Beijing, 2001, ISBN 7-5033-1351-X (set)
• Huang, Youlan, History of the Chinese People's Liberation War, 1st Edition, Archives Publishing House in Beijing, 1992, ISBN 7-80019-338-1
• Liu Wusheng, From Yan'an to Beijing: A Collection of Military Records and Research Publications of Important Campaigns in the Liberation War, 1st Edition, Central Literary Publishing House in Beijing, 1993, ISBN 7-5073-0074-9
• Tang, Yilu and Bi, Jianzhong, History of Chinese People's Liberation Army in Chinese Liberation War, 1st Edition, Military Scientific Publishing House in Beijing, 1993 – 1997, ISBN 7-80021-719-1 (Volum 1), 7800219615 (Volum 2), 7800219631 (Volum 3), 7801370937 (Volum 4), and 7801370953 (Volum 5)

See also

• List of Battles of Chinese Civil War
• National Revolutionary Army
• History of the People's Liberation Army
• Chinese Civil War
• Chekiang Province, Republic of China

External links

• PLA side story of the battle
• ROCA side story of the battle