General situation of operation in Yijiangshan Island
Yijiangshan Island is located in the middle of Jiaojiang Estuary, Taizhou Bay, Zhejiang Province, China. It is more than 30 kilometers away from the mainland in the west, 9 kilometers away from Toumenshan Island in the north and 1 km away from Chenda Island in the south. The total area of the island is less than 1.3 square kilometers, but it is an important outpost of the Kuomintang army. With 154 fortifications as the backbone, the Kuomintang army has built a complete defense system, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack. On Chenda Island, not far from Yijiangshan Island, there are more than a dozen Kuomintang naval vessels with large tonnage and strong firepower. 1954, the central military commission made a decision to liberate the coastal islands in eastern Zhejiang, and the army, navy and air force jointly fought to liberate Jiangshan Island.
After full preparation, the East Zhejiang Frontline Command reported to the Central Military Commission for approval and decided to launch a landing operation at 1955 1.08. 18 10/8 18, the landing troops assembled in the waters near Toumen Mountain, and used four frigates and 12 torpedo boats to cover the landing waters and carried out destructive shooting on the front and wings of Yijiangshan Island. The fire support team, consisting of 2 gunboats, 8 escort boats and 4 armed fishing boats, is responsible for covering the sudden landing of landing troops; The four infantry battalions and materials and equipment transportation tasks are composed of various types of ships and transport ships. Six rockets modified by fishing boats are responsible for suppressing fire before land assault. At 8 o'clock on June 5438+08, four bomber brigades and three fighter brigades of our Air Force launched fierce assaults on Yijiangshan and Chen Da respectively. At 9 o'clock, the support artillery began to prepare for firing, and more than 50 artillery pieces deployed on the island near Yijiangshan accurately covered the target area on Yijiangshan Island. 12:08 15, three landing transport brigades from three battalions of the first echelon of the transport landing force began to sail to Yijiangshan Island. 13: 00, 16: 00, the campaign cover team fired destructively. At 13- 14, rockets and fire support teams fired at the intended target. By 14: 05, the fire was ready to be completed as planned. With the cooperation of the second echelon, the organized resistance of the defenders was crushed at 17: 30. By 19, the defenders were completely annihilated. At this point, the landing campaign of Yijiangshan Island was successfully concluded.
Operational characteristics of Yijiangshan Island
Our army won the battle of Yijiangshan Island, and wiped out Wang Shengming's troops 1086, the commander on the defensive in Yijiangshan Island, among whom 5 19 were killed and 1082 guns were seized. Our army suffered casualties 14 17, including 393 casualties. The casualty ratio is 1: 1.3. We can see some new features from this movement.
The spearhead refers to the "* * * defense treaty" between the United States and Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang Kai-shek tried to drag the United States into the water and realize the delusion of "counterattacking the mainland", while the United States tried to occupy Taiwan Province Province for a long time, making it an "unsinkable aircraft carrier" and unwilling to promise to help defend the coastal islands occupied by the Kuomintang. As early as 1953, 1 1, when US Vice President Nixon visited Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek Group put forward the proposal of establishing defense conditions with the United States. 1954 In May, US Secretary of Defense charles wilson visited Taiwan, and Jiang mentioned this matter again, but none of them got a response from the US government. Later, the United States pursued a "containment strategy" in Asia. On September 18 of that year, the United States, Britain and other eight countries signed the Treaty on Collective Defense in Southeast Asia in Manila, expanding the "nuclear umbrella" and pursuing the "war brinkmanship policy" in an attempt to bring Taiwan Province Province into the strategic chain of the Western Pacific. To this end, US Secretary of State Dulles visited Taiwan Province on September 9 and planned to sign the so-called "* * * defense treaty" with Chiang Kai-shek.
In view of the above reasons, the Central Military Commission issued an order to the East China Military Region in mid-July: "In September, the air force and navy will attack Chen's enemy, and an army unit will capture Jiangshan Island, in order to combat the conspiracy of the United States and Chiang Kai-shek, spy on the attempts of the United States and create favorable conditions for liberating the enemy-occupied islands." On this basis, the East China Military Region issued a preliminary order to capture Yijiangshan Island in August 10, and determined to concentrate the air force to assist the naval torpedo speedboats and coastal guns in attacking enemy ships patrolling Chenda Port and attacking important military targets on the ground of Chenda Island. With the cooperation of the navy and air force, the 60th Infantry Division completed the task of capturing a Jiangshan Island. 1October 30, 165438, the General Staff Department issued a battle order: "In order to force the so-called" * * * defense treaty "to be signed by the United States and Chiang Kai-shek not to include our coastal enemy-occupied islands, in order to further promote the coastal defense struggle against the enemy, defend the socialist construction of the motherland, liberate the coastal enemy-occupied islands and finally liberate Taiwan Province Province and Penghu, the East China Military Region should/kl. Therefore, the East Zhejiang Frontline Command was opened on February 6th 15.
Obviously with the characteristics of "local war". The military achievements created by our army in this campaign are obviously characterized by what later generations call "local wars." Although the international military theory about local wars was not mature at that time, our army had long had practical experience in this form of combat. Only under the guidance of the "Great War" strategy in the past, it failed to put it in its proper position and make a theoretical summary. The militancy of this campaign is obviously restricted by political and diplomatic factors, and its development outcome, like most local wars, cannot be carried out in full accordance with the usual laws of the campaign.
In this campaign, strategy, campaign and tactics are highly coordinated and unified, and the level of campaign command is high. In this campaign, our army's operational objectives, timing, scope and some methods of play were directly commanded or approved by the headquarters, the Military Commission and the Central Committee. On the other hand, it also directly affected the President and Congress of the United States and the highest authorities of the Kuomintang. Many of these battles caused an uproar in the United States, Chiang Kai-shek, the ruling and opposition parties, and even Britain and other allies. The US Senate and House of Representatives held a four-day meeting on whether and to what extent the US military was involved. As for the decision to withdraw troops from Chen Da, this seemingly ordinary campaign was also made by the President of the United States after arguing with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense.
There are many arms and services participating in this campaign, and the campaign organization is more flexible than the traditional campaign. At the same time, the combat intensity is high, the battle is fierce, and the campaign consumption and casualties are also great. This time, our army participated in the war with three services, 17. During the whole campaign, a variety of combat styles were implemented, such as the battle of air superiority, the battle of destroying the enemy at sea, the night battle at sea, the coordinated operation of sea and air, the battle of blocking the enemy island, and the joint landing operation of the three armed forces. Extraordinary efforts have been made in campaign preparation, especially in the battle of campaign breakthrough, technical weapons and firearms have greatly surpassed the enemy. This campaign realized Peng's instruction of "killing the chicken with one knife" and laid a solid foundation for the quick decision of the campaign. In this landing operation, the enemy firmly built a base on the dangerous steep shore, and the defenders were extremely reactionary politically, stubbornly resisted, and received fire support from Chenta Island, so the battle was extremely fierce. In the battle, the consumption of ammunition and materials is far greater than that of our army in previous battles, and the proportion of casualties of landing soldiers is also high.
Enlightenment of the Battle of Yijiangshan Island to Our Army's Landing on the Island in the Future
The Battle of Yijiangshan Island was the first joint operation of the army, navy and air force to seize the island. Although the scale of this campaign is not large and the experience has certain historical limitations, some laws reflected in this campaign still have many useful lessons and inspirations for our army to organize and carry out island offensive operations in the future.
Seizing and mastering the air and sea control rights is the premise of seizing the initiative to land on the island. Yijiangshan Island was one of the enemy outposts along the eastern coast of Zhejiang at that time, and it was the barrier of Chenda Island, the main base of the enemy. The enemy troops on the defensive are an assault brigade, an assault squadron and an artillery squadron under the jurisdiction of the command of the Yijiangshan Military Region of the Kuomintang Army, with more than 1 100 people, who can get the cooperation and support of the navy and air force. In order to weaken the defense capability of Yijiangshan Island, expel the enemy naval and air forces, seize the air and sea control rights in this area, and create favorable conditions for us to capture Yijiangshan Island in the future, the East China Military Region, in accordance with the instructions of the Military Commission and the headquarters, started from June 1949 1 1, with some naval and air forces and some artillery,1March 1954. 165438+ 10, since October, our air force has shot down and injured the Kuomintang aircraft 16. After these air battles, the Kuomintang air force suffered a heavy blow and was forced to stop patrolling in the Chen Da sea area during the day, and our army mastered the air superiority in this sea area. 1954165438+1On 4 October, the torpedo boat unit of the PLA Navy ambushed and sank the frigate Taiping, one of the main ships of the Kuomintang Navy, in the northeast waters of Yijiangshan Island. 1955 65438+ 10/0 Our army took advantage of the favorable opportunity of the enemy's return to Hong Kong to take shelter from the wind in windy weather, dispatched various types of aircraft 130 sorties, bombarded the Kuomintang warships in Chen Da anchorage for four times, and achieved a major victory in sinking and injuring five enemy ships. At the same time, the navy torpedo boat unit sank the enemy gunboat cave. At this point, the ships that often move in this area are sunk and wounded by more than half, and the activities of Kuomintang naval vessels in the waters near Chen Da have been greatly reduced, and they dare not anchor in Chen Da during the day. Our army has mastered the right to control the sea in the theater. Therefore, when our army landed on the island and carried out a surprise attack on the island, the air and sea control rights were basically in my hands, and the enemy's air and sea threat was very small. This is an important condition for my smooth landing on the island. In the future, our army will carry out island offensive operations under high-tech conditions. Because of the enemy's strong military strength, complete defense system, more high-tech weapons and equipment, and strong ability to resist landing operations, whether the enemy's military strength on the defensive can be weakened to the maximum and the local air and sea control rights can be seized first will have a decisive impact on reducing the difficulty of landing on the island and the initiative in the battlefield, and even on the success or failure of offensive operations on the whole island.
The establishment of an integrated joint command organization of various services and arms and the implementation of centralized and unified command are important conditions for ensuring the smooth implementation of joint landing operations. The troops participating in the Battle of Yijiangshan Island include the army, navy and air force, as well as some public security forces and militia. In order to command the above-mentioned troops in a unified way and ensure the smooth implementation of joint operations, the East China Military Region, according to the instructions of the Military Commission, mainly sent personnel from the East China Military Region, with the participation of relevant leaders of the military air force, navy and Zhejiang Military Region. The East China Army Command is composed of Zhang Aiping, chief of staff of the East China Military Region, as commander and political commissar, Nie, deputy commander of the East China Military Region Air Force, and Wang Deren, deputy chief of staff. The former refers to the air force, navy, landing command post, political working group and rear logistics department, which are responsible for the unified command of air, sea and island landing operations and rear support respectively. Actual combat has proved that the establishment of such a relatively perfect command organization with integrated services and the highly centralized and unified command of all participating troops are conducive to the formation of an overall joint force and the realization of the campaign objectives. In the future, the island offensive operations carried out by our army under high-tech conditions will have the characteristics of large scale, many troops participating in the war, multi-dimensional combat space and complex organization and command. In order to ensure smooth command, improve command efficiency and give full play to the overall effectiveness of participating troops, it is even more necessary to establish and improve the joint command organization with the integration of various services.
Carefully organizing and coordinating the actions of participating troops is an important guarantee for quickly realizing the attempt to land on the island. One of the important experiences of the Yijiangshan Island campaign to quickly achieve the campaign objectives is to carefully organize the coordinated actions of various arms and services. Before the war, the front finger of eastern Zhejiang focused on the key point of ensuring the smooth implementation of landing troops. Through holding various coordination meetings, organizing map work, sand table deduction, organizing collaborative training, etc., the coordination and cooperation of various arms and services from top to bottom were carefully practiced. The front finger is mainly responsible for organizing the coordinated actions between the army, navy and air force and between the main attack, auxiliary attack and feint direction of landing on the island; The command post of each service is responsible for organizing the coordinated actions within the service and between its related departments (detachments). Therefore, in the whole process of landing on the island, all services and arms always cooperated with each other to ensure the rapid realization of landing on the island. In the future, our army will carry out island offensive operations under high-tech conditions, with many arms and services participating in the war and complicated campaign preparation, and it will be more difficult to organize and maintain coordinated actions. In order to ensure the coordinated action of the participating troops, it is necessary to maintain political unity and follow the unified operational thinking when organizing and coordinating.
Strengthening the assault on the island and improving the speed of landing on the island are the keys to ensure the success of landing on the island. The victory of the Battle of Yijiangshan Island is inseparable from the sudden launch of the island assault and the rapid landing speed of the landing troops. In order to enhance the surprise attack on the island and improve the speed of troops landing on the island, the eastern Zhejiang front has taken many measures. For example, the method of "all arrows are fired at one time and landed at multiple points at the same time" is adopted; Organize all kinds of feints; Organize all kinds of firepower to implement accompanying cover; Make full use of the favorable conditions of tides to go to the island. After the surprise attack on the island, the troops on the island went forward bravely in the spirit of overwhelming the enemy and rushed to the shore in one go, quickly breaking through the enemy's defense. In the future, our army will carry out island offensive operations under high-tech conditions. Considering the enemy's emphasis on the chances of winning the beachhead campaign, the two sides will launch fierce confrontation around approaching and opposing approaching, landing and opposing landing, and standing on the beach and opposing the station.
Choosing good meteorological and hydrological conditions is an important factor to ensure the success of island offensive operations. In the Battle of Yijiangshan Island, the front line in eastern Zhejiang attached great importance to meteorological and hydrological support, and closely organized meteorological and hydrological observation and meteorological evolution research in the theater. On the morning of 65438+1October 16, when Commander Zhang Aiping learned that the weather was fine from 17 to 19 (18 is the best, and it may start to get worse after 19), he immediately decided to change the assault time on the island from the original 20. In the future, our army will carry out island offensive operations under high-tech conditions, and our island-landing operations group will need to make a long voyage. The complex marine meteorological and hydrological conditions have a direct and significant impact on the actions of the cover support forces such as the landing group. Therefore, in order to win the battle of landing on the island, we must closely organize the meteorological and hydrological support, and thoroughly study the meteorological and hydrological details of the enemy-occupied island and related sea areas and their influence on the battle of landing on the island.
(The author is the director of the Memorial Hall of the Birthplace of the Navy in Taizhou, Jiangsu)
Excerpted from Tiejun Media Network, thank you.