Chinese Historical War: Battle of Yijiangshan Island
The Battle of Yijiangshan Island took place in January 1955. The Army, Navy and Air Force of the East China Military Region of the Chinese People's Liberation Army defended the Kuomintang troops. An offensive operation was carried out on Jiangshan Island in eastern Zhejiang Province.
This battle was under the unified command of Zhang Aiping, Chief of Staff of the East China Military Region. It was the first coordinated operation of the PLA's army, navy and air force. After less than a day of fighting from 8 a.m. on January 18 to 2 a.m. on January 19, 1955, the People's Liberation Army occupied the island. Wang Shengming, the commander of Yijiangshan Island, was killed and deputy commander Wang Fubi was captured.
Launch the campaign
At 8:00 on January 18, 1955, under the unified command of Zhang Aiping, Chief of Staff of the East China Military Region, our army concentrated about 10,000 people on land, sea and air. The troops launched a battle on Jiangshan Island. This battle was the first coordinated operation of the People's Liberation Army's land, sea and air forces. It was also the first time in world military history that a three-service landing operation was launched during the day. ?
Landing operations
The People's Liberation Army Air Force was the first to attack, with 4 bomber groups and 3 attack aircraft groups carrying out the first round of bombing on Yijiangshan Island and Dachen Island. At 9 o'clock, the People's Liberation Army began artillery test firing. After that, more than 200 artillery pieces and rocket launchers poured more than 12,000 rounds of artillery shells on Yijiangshan Island with 7 gap shots and 5 sudden attack shots. At 12:15, more than 70 landing craft carrying more than 5,000 of our landing troops, under the cover of more than 40 combat ships and 51 fighter planes, headed for Yijiangshan Island. At 13:30, the People's Liberation Army launched a second round of bombing on Yijiangshan Island.
At the same time, the warship also approached 3,500 meters offshore and directly bombarded the positions and bunkers on the island. At 13:55, the enemy artillery on Dachen Island opened fire on our landing troops, but was immediately counterattacked by our Baiyan Mountain coastal artillery. Five minutes later, the enemy defenders on Dachen Island stopped shelling. ?
Total annihilation of the defenders
At 14:20 on January 18, 1955, the offensive troops of the People's Liberation Army landed on Yijiangshan Island. Under the cover of naval and air force firepower, they seized the main peak of Yijiangshan Island in just 35 minutes, and then quickly attacked in depth. By 17:30, most of the enemy defenders on the island were wiped out, commander Wang Shengming was killed, deputy commander Wang Fubi was captured, and the battle ended.
The battle was launched at 8 a.m. on January 18 and lasted for 10 hours. The Japanese killed and captured 1,086 Kuomintang troops, sank 3 warships, and damaged 4 warships. The People's Liberation Army suffered 393 casualties. By 2:00 on January 19, all remnants of the Kuomintang army had been eliminated.
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