The Navy and Air Force were founded relatively late compared to the Army, lacked combat experience at the beginning, and were relatively weak. However, when they were first formed, they all showed a fighting spirit of "newborn calves are not afraid of tigers", and many of the warriors showed great bravery in their first engagement, daring to go it alone and defeat the strong with the weak, and won unexpected victories. For example, in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, Li Hansheng, captain of the 10th Regiment of the Air Force, rushed into the US military plane group alone, shot down an F84, and then successfully broke away from the enemy group. The Navy also has many similar examples, such as the "Liberation" gunboat in the Battle of Wanshan Islands. In May 1950, although Hainan Island had been liberated, there were still remnants of enemy forces controlling the Wanshan Islands, and the battle became a successful battle in which the few won more and the weak defeated the strong.
The People's Navy was formed on April 23, 1949, with only a small number of captured small gunboats, a converted landing ship "Guishan", and the remaining 10 small landing craft and transport ships. On the other hand, the hostile forces have the destroyer "Taihe," minesweepers, and dozens of gunboats, large and small, and the situation is extremely unfavorable. However, in mid-May, our troops discovered that the enemy ship had anchored on Junkytail Island and decided to launch a surprise attack. In the early morning of 20 May, the naval landing force assembled at Tangjiawan and attacked the Wanshan Islands at night. The two naval commanders were Guo Qinglong, deputy commander of the 392nd Regiment on the "Guishan" landing craft, and Lin Wenhu, deputy captain of the gunboat of the Jiangfang Fleet on the "Jiefang" gunboat. However, due to lack of experience, the crew of the Liberation sailed too fast and gradually broke away from the formation.
An hour later, the signalman Mao Pengze found out about the situation and reported: "The boats behind us are gone, and nothing can be heard!"."We're the only ones left. Lin Wenhu hurriedly acted in accordance with the prescribed procedures. A strong will drove them on, and the ship broke the waves. After an hour, at four o'clock in the morning, the eastern sky shimmered with light, illuminating the course ahead. Suddenly, the lights flickered, and Lin Wenhu raised his binoculars and found that a ship was signaling in the distance. Enemy ships!Lin Wenhu immediately realized that there was an enemy military port in front of him, and he ordered: "Ignore them and move on!""Liberation" did not hesitate to rush into the enemy group. The gunboat "Liberation" had a displacement of only 28 tons. When the ship approached a few thousand meters, Lin Wenhu found a piece of black pressure in front of him, and after a closer look, it turned out to be Jiang Jun's fleet, dozens of warships lined up neatly.
Lin Wenhu announced to all the staff: "We are fighting alone at the moment, and we have no other way but to move forward bravely!.""Lin Wenhu, with his rich combat experience, was able to fight the entire fleet with a small gunboat. With an order, the ship's guns began to roar. Due to the sudden attack, Chiang's ** team suddenly fell into chaos, the ships collided with each other, scrambling to flee, and ships of all sizes lifted anchor and fled. The destroyer "Taihe", the flagship of Chiang's Third Fleet, was light and nimble in navigating through the ship group. In the dark night, the enemy could not distinguish the target, so he could only fire indiscriminately, as a result, the shells hit his own people, the "Zhonghai" and "Taihe" ** burned, and the Jiang troops on the deck ran and shouted, and there was chaos. The commander of the Third Fleet, Qi Zhihong, was seriously injured by the "Liberation", and after the commander was wounded, the enemy fleet lost command and fell into a state of uncontrollable chaos. The entire military port was in flames, and thick smoke was billowing out.
At the same time, the gunboat "Liberation" had damaged one tank landing ship and two minesweepers in succession, killing dozens of Chiang troops. The enemy finally recognized the identity of the attacker, which turned out to be a small gunboat. Chiang's army immediately gathered more than 20 ships and shore firepower to aim at the "Liberation" and launched a fierce artillery bombardment. The "Liberation" was constantly bombarded by enemy fire from all sides, and the sound of shells passing through the steel plates was heard in the cabin, as well as the sound of bullets hitting the steel plates on the mountain, and the gunboats swayed from side to side under the enemy's strong firepower. Lin Wenhu was an outstanding warrior, and under the siege of more than 20 enemy ships, he was extremely calm, and he steered the ships to flexibly avoid the enemy's fire, and skillfully fought back. In this fierce battle, he performed very well. The heroic performance of the "Liberation" in the naval battle became an oil painting of the naval battle of Garbage Tail Island.
During the battle, the ships were almost half-sunk, but still held out to sail. The commanders and fighters were ** heavy, 19 out of 13 people were wounded, including the victims. Captain Liang Kuiting still insisted on driving, successfully bypassing the enemy's fire and breaking through under siege. With the arrival of the landing ships, the People's Navy and Chiang's ** team engaged in a fierce battle. During the battle, the Guishan became a key target of the enemy, and finally had the fuel ** and was forced to dock and run aground. However, the People's Navy was not discouraged, and they changed their tactics and converted large-caliber cannons and mountain guns onto transport ships, approaching Island Bay and aiming directly at enemy fire points. With the support of artillery, the 509 landing ship carried a battalion of fighters successfully seized the island of Triangle Mountain. Subsequently, the People's Navy launched another artillery bombardment, sinking Chiang's ships. The heavy losses of Chiang's army forced them to abandon the Wanshan Islands and evacuate in a hurry.
By August 4, our army had captured Dangan Island and completely annihilated the defenders on the island. In the Battle of Wanshan Islands, the enemy forces were completely wiped out. This battle, which is known as the first battle of the People's Navy, can be described as a fierce battle. In the whole campaign, more than 700 enemy troops were annihilated, 4 enemy ships were sunk, more than 10 ships were damaged or captured, and more than 40 islands were liberated one after another. At the same time, Qi Hongzhang, commander of the enemy's Third Fleet, had one of his arms broken by our army's gunboat "Liberation."