The Battle of Yijiangshan Islands () 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 China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, over one of the last strongholds of

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

(ROC) forces near

mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

on the

Yijiangshan Islands The Yijiangshan Islands () are two small islands eight miles from the Dachen Islands, located off the coast of Taizhou, Zhejiang in the East China Sea. During the First Taiwan Strait crisis the islands were captured in January 1955 by the People's ...

. The conflict occurred from January 18 to January 20, 1955, during the

First Taiwan Strait Crisis The First Taiwan Strait Crisis (also the Formosa Crisis, the 1954–1955 Taiwan Strait Crisis, the Offshore Islands Crisis, the Quemoy-Matsu Crisis, and the 1955 Taiwan Strait Crisis) was a brief armed conflict between the Communist People's ...

, and resulted in a PLA victory and the complete destruction of the ROC garrison.

Prelude

Geography

The Yijiangshan Islands consist of two islands, the Northern Yijang () Island and the Southern Yijiang () 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 Zhejiang ( or , ; , Chinese postal romanization, also romanized as Chekiang) is an East China, eastern, coastal Provinces of China, province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable citie ...

, it had become a forward base for the

defense of Chinese coastal islands centered on

Dachen The Dachen Islands, Tachen Islands or Tachens () are a group of islands off the coast of Taizhou, Zhejiang, China, in the East China Sea. They are administered by the Jiaojiang District of Taizhou. Before the First Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1955, ...

Island, as well as a base for launching guerrilla attacks on

Opposing forces

The

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.

Battle

When the fight began on January 18, 1955, the

air force and navy did not participate due to overwhelming Communist firepower. The battle started at 08:00 with People's Liberation Army (PLA)

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped from an air ...

s from three groups and

ground attack aircraft An attack aircraft, strike aircraft, or attack bomber is a tactical military aircraft that has a primary role of carrying out airstrikes with greater precision than bombers, and is prepared to encounter strong low-level air defenses while pres ...

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

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 (), Queerao (), Toumenshan Island () 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 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 from two machine-gun nests manned by 2 families. Air strikes and massive artillery bombardments eventually knocked out these two positions. As the demoralized defenders retreated into their tunnels, the attackers changed their tactics by fighting in small groups, and using recoilless rifles and flamethrowers to gradually burn the NRA soldiers to death, including the tunnel complex of the Nationalist 4th Assault Group. By 17:30, the battle on the islands subsided with the PLA having taken 95 hills over 132 meters, and the decimation of the NRA defenders was almost complete with 567 killed (mostly burned to death by the flamethrowers) and 519 captured alive according to the often exaggerated PRC source; or 712 soldiers and 12 political warfare female students (aka nurses) died in the line of duty according to Taiwan source. The Communist forces were then ordered to assume a defensive position for the next day, to prepare for a possible Nationalist counterattack that never materialized. Wang Shen-Ming (), the NRA commander was on the phone mentioned he was 50 yards (45 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 The Dachen Islands, Tachen Islands or Tachens () are a group of islands off the coast of Taizhou, Zhejiang, China, in the East China Sea. They are administered by the Jiaojiang District of Taizhou. Before the First Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1955, ...

about 13,2 kilometers (8.12 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.

Aftermath

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 supplies from Taiwan were difficult with its old propeller-driven air force and a lack of Navy ships. The Nationalists lost a destroyer escort, ''

Taiping __NOTOC__ Taiping, Tai-p’ing, or Tai Ping most often refers to: Chinese history * Princess Taiping (died 713), Tang dynasty princess * Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864), civil war in southern China ** Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (1851–1864), the re ...

'' to a PLAN torpedo boat squadron. The Korean War by then was over, and the PLA had moved military resources including MiG fighter jets and warships to combat Nationalist resistance. This was the prelude to the eventual abandonment of

island with the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

urging Taiwan not to spread too thin. According to Taiwanese sources, the troop garrison consisted of mostly former fishermen/pirates and civil war refugees of the landlord class. Some of the female 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 in Taiwan. The 18,000 refugees, soldiers, and their decedents have retreated to Taiwan and some migrated to North America. 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, and long range artillery. Over 5,000 troops were landed with the mobilization of 30,000 civilians. It was considered an example of the PRC's modern warfare. The government of the Republic of China reported that all 720 NRA troops died while inflicting casualties of 1,000s enemy soldiers. This claim was proven otherwise in 2011, when a prisoner of war from the battle, Chen Hsiao-pin, visited Taiwan. The People's Republic of China reported that the PLA killed 519 and captured 567 NRA troops.

References

Citations

Sources

* Zhu, Zongzhen and Wang, Chaoguang, ''Liberation War History'', 1st Edition, Social Scientific Literary Publishing House in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, 2000, (set) * Zhang, Ping, ''History of the Liberation War'', 1st Edition, Chinese Youth Publishing House in

, 1987, (pbk.) * Jie, Lifu, ''Records of the Liberation War: The Decisive Battle of Two Kinds of Fates'', 1st Edition,

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and 0 ...

People's Publishing House in Shijiazhuang, 1990, (set) * Literary and Historical Research Committee of the

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...

Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, ''Liberation War'', 1st Edition,

People's Publishing House in Hefei, 1987, * Li, Zuomin, ''Heroic Division and Iron Horse: Records of the Liberation War'', 1st Edition,

Chinese Communist The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...

Party History Publishing House in

, 2004, * Wang, Xingsheng, and Zhang, Jingshan, ''Chinese Liberation War'', 1st Edition, People's Liberation Army Literature and Art Publishing House in

, 2001, (set) * Huang, Youlan, ''History of the Chinese People's Liberation War'', 1st Edition, Archives Publishing House in

, 1992, * Liu Wusheng, ''From

Yan'an Yan'an (; ), alternatively spelled as Yenan is a prefecture-level city in the Shaanbei region of Shaanxi province, China, bordering Shanxi to the east and Gansu to the west. It administers several counties, including Zhidan (formerly Bao'an) ...

: A Collection of Military Records and Research Publications of Important Campaigns in the Liberation War'', 1st Edition, Central Literary Publishing House in

, 1993, * Tang, Yilu and Bi, Jianzhong, ''History of Chinese People's Liberation Army in Chinese Liberation War'', 1st Edition, Military Scientific Publishing House in

, 1993 – 1997, (Volum 1), 7800219615 (Volum 2), 7800219631 (Volum 3), 7801370937 (Volum 4), and 7801370953 (Volum 5)

External links

PLA side story of the battle
{{Coord, 28.61, N, 121.82, E, region:CN_type:landmark, display=title Yijiangshan Islands 1955 Conflicts in 1955 1955 in China Military history of Taiwan