Battle of Yijiangshan Islands
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| Battle of Yijiangshan Islands | |||||||
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| Part of the Chinese Civil War | |||||||
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| Combatants | |||||||
 National Revolutionary Army |
 People's Liberation Army |
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| Commanders | |||||||
 Wang Shen-Ming (王生明) |
 Zhang Aiping |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 1000+ men | 5,000 men+ 137 warship 184 planes |
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| Casualties | |||||||
| 567 killed 519 taken as prisoners |
393 killed 1024 wounded |
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| Chinese Civil War |
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| Major engagements in bold Encirclement Campaigns (First - Second - Third - Fourth - Fifth) - Long March (Luding Bridge) - Intermission (Wannan) - Shangdang Campaign - Longhai Campaign - Dingtao Campaign - Zhengtai Campaign - Liaoshen Campaign (Changchun - Jinzhou) - Huaihai Campaign - Pingjin Campaign - Island campaigns (Quemoy - Denbu - Nanri - Dongshan - Yijiangshan - Dong-Yin) |
The Battle of Yijiangshan Islands (一江山島戰役) was a conflict between forces of the Republic of China Army and the People's Liberation Army 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, 1955 to January 20, 1955 during the First Taiwan Strait Crisis, and resulted in a PLA victory and the complete destruction of the ROC garrison.
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[edit] Geography
The Yijiangshan Islands are consisted of two islands, the Northern Yijang (北一江) Island and the Southern Yijiang (南一江) Island, and the region is approximately 1.7 square kilometers. Due to its strategic location nearing the coast of Zhejiang, it had become a forward base for the nationalist defense of Chinese coastal islands that centered at Dachen Island, as well as the nationalist guerilla base to launch attacks on mainland China.
[edit] Order of battle
nationalist defense force was consisted of the following units totaled more than 1000: Yijiangshan Regional Headquarter
- 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.
Communist attackers totaled more than 5,000, with the landing force totaled 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 aircrafts from a total of 22 groups, 7 artillery battalions, and 2 anti-aircraft artillery regiments were assigned to support the landing force.
In addition, over 30,000 civilians and three dozen civilian ships were mobilized for logistic support.
[edit] The battle
When the fight begun on January 18, 1955, the nationalist air force and navy did not participate due to the overwhelming communist firepower. The battle started at 8:00AM with communist 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 bombed and strafing Dachen Islands as a diversion. At 9:00 AM, 50 long range artilleries shelled 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 attackers immediately called for fire support after they met with fierce enemy fire, and the communist aircraft responded by attacking the enemy position with great accuracy by flying at the extremely low altitude, in fact, most of the aircraft in the air support mission flew below the trajectory of artilleries, and the psychological effect on the defenders was far more greater than the actual precision strikes, resulting in the total collapse of the morale. As the demoralized defenders retreated into their underground tunnels, the attackers adjusted their tactics by fighting in small groups, and by using recoilless guns and flame throwers to gradually neutralize the enemy’s positions, including the underground tunnel complex of the nationalist 4th Assault Group, the largest on the island.
By 5:30 PM, the battle on the islands subsided with the communist decimation of the nationalist defenders complete, killing 567 and capturing 519 alive. The communist force was then ordered to assume to defensive posture for the next day to prepare for the possible nationalist counter attack that never materialized. Also on the January 19, the communist force begun their assult on Dachen islands, but these actions were mainly to prevent possible counter attacks. Finally, on January 20, 1955, the islands were formally declared to be firmly in the communist hands by the victor.
[edit] Outcome
The scale of the battle was a small, and the most important gain of the Chinese communists was obtaining the joint fighting experience by the army, air force and navy. For the nationalists, the battle was the prelude to the eventual abandonment of Dachen island.
[edit] See also
- List of Battles of Chinese Civil War
- National Revolutionary Army
- History of the People's Liberation Army
- Chinese Civil War
