**Note 1: The Taiwanese army deploys 240mm howitzers in Kinmen.
*Note 2: Taiwan's "Coast Guard" "Chiayi" patrol ship.
*Note 3: Taiwan officers and soldiers wrote on the beach, such as "There is no meat in the house of the Ma Defense Department, and they eat canned instant noodles when they are hungry."
This newspaper's special correspondent Chen Yang.
The vicious incident in which a warship of Taiwan's "Coast Guard" violently rammed into a mainland fishing boat, killing two fishermen, is still fermenting. After the mainland coast guard ships carried out law enforcement patrols in the Xiamen-Jin waters, the Taiwan military has demanded that the "Golden Defense Department" and the Taiwan Navy "draw up a possible conflict situation and how to deal with it, include it in peacetime drills, and make good preparations for conflict support," and "if the Coast Guard needs it, the Taiwan military will provide assistance according to the order." So what forces have been deployed by the Taiwan authorities around Kinmen that "may be used to deal with conflicts"?
Taiwan's "Coast Guard": the "second navy" that cannot be ignored
Taiwan's "Coast Guard" is the main culprit in the Kinmen collision incident, and it is also the main force on the front line in the fight against the mainland coast guard. According to reports, in January 2000, Taiwan's "Executive Yuan" integrated the "Coast Guard Command of the Ministry of National Defense," the "Maritime Police Bureau of the Police Administration of the Ministry of the Interior," and the "General Administration of Customs and Excise of the Ministry of Finance" to establish the "Coast Guard Administration of the Executive Yuan." In April 2018, after the establishment of Taiwan's "Oceanic Commission", the "Coast Guard" was reorganized into an organ under the association and renamed the "Coast Guard of the Oceanic Commission". According to the plan of the Taiwan authorities, Taiwan's "Coast Guard" will be included in the operational sequence in wartime, and it is a "second navy" that cannot be ignored.
In order to facilitate command and management, Taiwan's "Coast Guard" has set up 13 patrol area command centers. Specifically, the Ninth Coast Guard of the 12th (Kinmen) Patrol District Headquarters caused the trouble. According to the introduction of the island, the jurisdiction of the Ninth Coast Guard includes 12 islands such as Kinmen, Lieyu, Daring, Erdan, Dongding, and Beiding, and the ships equipped with them are all small speedboats, of which several 100-ton patrol boats are the absolute main force. For example, the PP-10083 patrol and rescue boat delivered in 2023 has a displacement of 174 tons, a maximum speed of 30 knots, a cruising range of more than 2,160 kilometers, and is equipped with a 20mm gun**. The CP1051 speedboat that hit the mainland fishing boat is a 10-ton coastal multi-purpose boat with a fiberglass hull and a maximum speed of 46 knots. The Ninth Coast Guard's deployment of these small speedboats may seem "unremarkable", but each year it conducts specialized live-fire exercises at sea.
In addition, Taiwan's "Coast Guard" ships that can quickly support the Ninth Coast Guard include the nearby 10th Coast Guard of the 11th (Matsu) Patrol District Headquarters and the 8th Coast Guard of the 13th (Penghu) Patrol District Headquarters. It is particularly worth mentioning that Taiwan's "Coast Guard" deliberately dispatched the 1,000-ton "Pingtung" patrol ship to the Eighth Coast Guard for a long time in 2020 on the pretext of "dealing with cross-border fishing vessels on the mainland." The captain 876 meters, 12 meters wide8 meters, the maximum speed of 24 knots, can carry light *** and speedboats, equipped with a 40 mm rapid-fire gun and a 20 mm cannon, there are also 2 machine guns on the left and right sides of the ship, and a horizontal range of 120 meters of high-pressure water cannon, in the same tonnage of patrol ships can be described as "armed to the teeth". Taiwan's Liberty Times mentioned in February 2023 that the "Pingtung" patrol ship "used water cannons to forcefully drive away" mainland fishing boats that had entered the waters of Penghu to take shelter from the wind.
According to Taiwan's "** Agency", the 3,000-ton "Kaohsiung" and 2,000-ton "Tainan" of the Southern Mobile Coast Guard of Taiwan's "Coast Guard" will also take turns to support Penghu and other sea areas to "maintain the sustainability of marine fishery resources with superior ships." According to reports, Taiwan's "Coast Guard" has adopted the deployment strategy of "light on the outside and heavy on the inside," and 16 coast guard units are equipped with small speedboats to carry out coastal patrol tasks, while there are more than 10 patrol ships of more than 1,000 tons and more than 10 large patrol boats of 500 tons in service, most of which are assigned to the mobile coast guard in the northern region, the mobile coast guard in the central region, the mobile coast guard in the southern region, the mobile coast guard in the eastern region, and the fleet directly under them, and are responsible for the so-called "law enforcement tasks in the exclusive economic sea area and on the high seas." For example, the "Kaohsiung" has a total length of 119 meters and a beam of 152 meters, with a displacement of 3719 tons, equipped with multiple rapid-fire guns and high-pressure water cannons, and can be equipped with *** and rotary-wing UAVs to expand the detection range. In recent years, Taiwan's "Coast Guard" has also started the construction of four 4,000-ton patrol ships, of which the first two "Chiayi" and "Hsinchu" will be commissioned in 2021 and 2022 respectively, and the third "Yunlin" will also be launched in 2022.
It is worth noting that in recent years, Taiwan's "Coast Guard" has begun to strengthen its "dual-use in peacetime and wartime," requiring that the newly built warships be used for civilian tasks such as patrols in peacetime, and that they can be converted into frigates or missile boats to carry out military tasks after they are equipped with weapons in wartime. For example, the four newly-built 4,000-ton patrol ships are built in accordance with the specifications of Taiwan's new-generation "self-produced Aegis ships," and will be equipped with anti-ship missiles and a "phalanx" close defense system in wartime. The 600-ton "Anping"-class patrol ship is built in accordance with the specifications of the "Tuojiang"-class patrol ship of the Taiwan military, and retains the first-class system space and lines on the ship. In 2022, an Anping-class cruiser successfully launched the Hsiungfeng-2 anti-ship missile during exercises. The "Kaohsiung" patrol ship also monitored the PLA frigate together with the ** boat in the Taiwan Strait. All this shows the military capability of Taiwan's "Coast Guard."
The Taiwan military's "Golden Defense Department" mainly plays the card of "holding on to and waiting for help."
The full name of the "Golden Defense Department," which was named by Taiwan's "Ministry of National Defense" as "preparing to deal with conflicts," is the "Kinmen Defense Command." Like the nearby "Matsu Defense Command," it was once the core of the Taiwan military's front line against the PLA.
In response to the "mainland" operational plan, the Taiwan army garrisoned as many as 120,000 troops in Kinmen at its peak. However, after 1996, the Taiwan military believed that the PLA had the ability to directly project firepower and landing forces onto the island of Taiwan, and that stationing too many troops on the outer islands would become "hostages" in wartime. Therefore, during Tang Yaoming's tenure as "chief of staff" of the Taiwan military, he began to demand that the garrisons on the outer islands be reduced in size and that the elite troops should be firmly held on the island. ** In the early years of the administration, the garrison of Kinmen continued to decline, about 550,000 people, 2 remaining in the Kinmen garrison in 199650,000 people, in November 2007, the Kinmen garrison abolished brigade-level units, and the strength was further reduced to 10,000 troops, and now the actual strength is only about 3,000. Matsu's garrison has also been reduced from 50,000 to about 2,000 today.
At present, the heaviest firepower of the Taiwan army stationed in Kinmen is the American-made 240-mm howitzer, and it is said that the long-range artillery positions of the Taiwan army on the Kinmen Islands are all configured and constructed according to the position of the artillery. The gun once participated in the famous Kinmen artillery battle, but decades have passed, its performance has long been outdated, not only the firing range is far inferior to the new generation of large-caliber howitzers, but also has the weakness of slow firing speed, poor maneuverability, and the survivability in wartime is doubtful. In addition, the Taiwan military has also deployed a large number of artillery pieces of different types in Kinmen and other places, and conducts live-fire drills every year. In 2007, the island revealed that the Taiwan military planned to deploy the "Hsiungfeng-2E" cruise missile with a range of 1,000 kilometers to Kinmen and other outer islands, but it was strongly opposed by the local people, and the Taiwan military had to issue a statement saying that "there is no relevant plan to build a missile base in the Kinmen area." In 2022, Taiwan's "Legislative Yuan" asked Taiwan's military to study the feasibility of deploying various precision missiles on Kinmen and Matsu and other outer islands based on the experience of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The Taiwan military has revealed that in consideration of the geographical conditions in the outer islands, the Taiwan military has deployed small and flexible twin-mounted US-made "Stinger" air defense missiles, and plans to increase the deployment of portable "Stinger" missiles in the future.
Although the Taiwan military stationed in Kinmen has limited strength and equipment performance and lacks the ability to "take the initiative to attack," after several decades of construction, the Kinmen area has built relatively complete ground fortifications supported by permanent and field fortifications and tunnels, and this is also in line with the Taiwan military's current strategy of "holding on to the outer islands and waiting for reinforcements."
It is worth noting that in recent years, the Taiwan military has continuously withdrawn troops from Kinmen, Matsu, and other outer islands, but the strategic position of Dongyi Island, which is located at the northeast tip of the Matsu Islands, has been greatly enhanced. The Taiwan military believes that the island is relatively far from the mainland, and that its coast is mostly composed of high mountains and cliffs, and that it is "an island where it is impossible to carry out an amphibious landing." Therefore, the Taiwan Army's "Eastward Command Headquarters," the Taiwan Air Force's "Tiangong-2" air defense missiles, the Taiwan Navy's "Haifeng" Brigade's Fifth Squadron, and the Taiwan Navy's "Haifeng" Brigade, as well as a warning radar and a repair shop, are deployed here, and are known as "a front-line stronghold with complete land, sea, and air force and super combat effectiveness, which can effectively control the sea and air within a radius of 200 kilometers." In addition, the Taiwan military has deployed larger, more advanced naval and air forces in the Penghu area. For example, the IDF fighter jets at the Magong Air Base in Penghu are mainly responsible for "alerting and broadcasting in the air" to drive away PLA military planes that enter Taiwan's "southwest airspace."
Taiwan's "United News Network" revealed on February 5 that according to the US "National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023", the United States will dispatch a "special operations cooperation group" composed of more than 10 officers and soldiers of the US special operations team with various military expertise from 2024 onwards, stationed in the amphibious battalions of the "army" in Kinmen and Penghu, and will be stationed in various special operations battalions from time to time for training.
The Taiwan Navy is overwhelmed with supplies.
Compared with Kinmen Matsu, which is close to the mainland and "always under the guns of the People's Liberation Army", the Penghu Islands located on the east side of the Taiwan Strait are "safer", so the Taiwan Navy chose Magong Port on Penghu Island as one of the four major bases, and it has also become the starting point for the fastest reinforcement of Kinmen and Matsu by ** boats in the Taiwan Strait.
The Taiwan naval forces currently deployed in Penghu include the 146th Fleet and the 6th Squadron of the "Haifeng" Group. The 146th Fleet has concentrated 10 "Chenggong" missile frigates currently in service with the Taiwan Navy, which are mainly responsible for reconnaissance and patrol missions in the Taiwan Strait. According to reports, the "Chenggong" missile frigate is designed and built on the basis of the US "Perry" class missile frigate, with a full load displacement of more than 4,000 tons, and is equipped with "Standard 1" air defense missiles and "Hsiung Feng 2 3" anti-ship missiles.
The "Haifeng" brigade is known as "one of the most mysterious units of the Taiwan military." Taiwan's ETToT News ** said, "Penghu hides a most mysterious 'Haifeng' brigade, which monitors the PLA 24 hours a day, and is equipped with land-based 'Hsiungfeng-2 3' anti-ship missiles that pose a great threat to the liberation boat." ”
In addition, Taiwan's navy also undertakes the task of providing logistical supplies for Taiwan military units stationed in Kinmen, Matsu, and other places. The transportation planning and ship deployment principles vary from island to island, and civilian contractors are usually responsible for daily necessities. As for military supplies, Penghu, which is closest to the main island of Taiwan, is mostly transported by ** boats in the Taiwan Strait, while the outlying islands such as Kinmen, Matsu, Dongyin, and Wukun are transported by chartered civilian boats according to their respective conditions, but in many cases they need to be escorted by ** boats in the Taiwan Strait.
It was disclosed on the island that the Taiwan troops stationed on the outer islands were often unable to receive supplies on time. In March 2023, due to the "lack of meat" in the Matsu garrison, the Taiwanese army had to eat white rice and canned food for several days. On the conspicuous beach in the defense area, Taiwan officers and men wrote the words "There is no meat in the house of the Ma Defense Department, and they eat canned instant noodles when they are hungry" (as shown below), which caused an uproar on the island. The Taiwan military later admitted that the military-chartered civilian ship responsible for transporting frozen non-staple food was delayed due to the poor walrus and was later unable to supply the Matsu garrison due to malfunction repairs. For this reason, Taiwan's "Defense Minister" Chiu Kuo-cheng was forced to apologize and sent a C-130 transport plane to airlift frozen meat to Matsu. ▲
February** Dynamic Incentive Program