On July 18, 1958, Huairentang was brightly lit, and the luxury cars crossed Chang'an Avenue one after another and drove into Zhongnanhai. It seems that the ** Military Commission is about to hold an emergency enlarged meeting.
So, what were the important topics discussed at this meeting? What kind of thorny problem did Tao Yong, the commander of the East China Sea Fleet, encounter?
Tao Yong will share with you the history of the bombardment of Kinmen, and at the meeting, it was decided to bombard Kinmen, and the generals and marshals in the conference room kept coming in. Including Su Yu, Huang Kecheng, Chen Geng, Xiao Jinguang, Liu Yalou, Chen Shiyu, Xiao Hua, Hong Xuezhi, etc.
Take a match in the conference room, light a cigarette, take a deep breath and call the meeting open. This emergency meeting was related to the Kuomintang.
In July 1958, the United States and Britain brazenly sent troops to interfere in the liberation struggle of the Middle East people in order to safeguard their colonial interests in the Middle East. At the same time, in order to cooperate with the actions of the United States and Britain, the Kuomintang began to frequently harass our coastal areas, and also organized naval exercises, especially in the Kinmen and Matsu areas.
In the face of such provocations, we must resolutely fight back! As a result, major cities began to hold 24-hour demonstrations, with a staggering 1.5 million participants.
With a flick of the cigarette ash, he continued: "Our demonstrations are a moral support and a political blow to imperialism. But we can't stop there, we need to be supported by action.
The Politburo has already made a decision to shell Kinmen. The new copy retains the core idea of the original text, that is, China has resolutely countered with demonstrations and practical actions in the face of US and British interference in the Middle East and the Kuomintang harassment of our coastal areas.
**'s proposal was endorsed by ***, and he made a decisive decision. Between 100,000 and 200,000 shells will be fired in the first wave of shelling, after which a thousand more rounds per day will be fired, and a three-month shelling operation will be ready.
Immediately after the meeting, the PLA General Staff began combat deployment. At the enlarged meeting of the Navy Party Committee, Xiao Jinguang made it clear that this battle may be a direct confrontation with the United States.
In the end, Xiao Jinguang decided to set up the naval command post in Xiamen, and Peng Deqing was specifically responsible for the operation.
Tao Yong encountered a thorny problem, and it was imperative to bombard Kinmen. The command post of the front line is ready and is located in Ziyunyan, Xiamen City. This command post is composed of Ye Fei, Zhang Yixiang, Liu Peishan, Liao Haiguang and Shi Yichen, and directly obeys the orders of the ** Military Commission.
The command post consists of two command posts of the Air Force and the Navy, and the commander of the Air Force Command Post is Nie Fengzhi, which is located in Jin** Shangshan; The naval command post was set up on the basis of the Xiamen Naval Marine Police District.
After Peng Deqing organized a coordinated naval and air attack exercise, he received the Navy Headquarters** and immediately flew to Beijing to accept the mission. Back in Xiamen, he reported to Ye Fei the chairman's intention to attack Kinmen instead of Matsu, and together with Ye Fei, he analyzed the current difficulties and worked out solutions.
Then, Peng Deqing summoned the naval commander non-stop to convey the deployment task.
Peng Deqing stressed the importance of this battle at the Ye Fei meeting and warned that if anyone violates, he will be severely punished. At the same time, Xiao Jinguang also decided to send a torpedo boat unit to cooperate with the three armed forces to complete the operation, and emphasized the importance of concealment.
This is undoubtedly a huge challenge for Tao Yong, commander of the East China Sea Fleet. Torpedo boats had to sail at least 700 nautical miles from Shanghai, while also being hidden from the enemy.
This forced Tao Yong to come up with a way to solve this problem by land.
In Tao Yong's transportation plan, although the train is fast and confidential, land transportation is not an ideal choice when the Yingxia Railway is curved and there are many tunnels. In order to solve this difficult problem, the Nanjing Military Region, the East China Sea Fleet, and the Shanghai Railway Bureau worked together to formulate a plan for carrying two torpedo boats on three train flatbeds.
In order to avoid attracting attention, Tao Yong also borrowed an army uniform to confuse the pearls. In the end, the train traveled day and night and successfully transported the torpedo boat to Xiamen.
Peng Deqing built a 250-meter-long double-track railway at Heping Wharf ahead of schedule, which is not only the terminus of the Yingxia Railway, but also leads directly to the sea. Next, he brought in a 50-ton crane and smoothly lowered the speedboat into the water.
Peng Deqing successfully completed all the preparations and returned overnight to report to Xiao Jinguang. Xiao Jinguang inquired with concern about the readiness of the other ships, because 92 surface ships would be used in this Kinmen Campaign, and there was no room for error.
Peng Deqing's answer reassured Xiao Jinguang.
Xiao Jinguang believes that the preparations are ready, and only the final attack is left! The Kuomintang suffered heavy losses with a false shot, and the prelude to the war was about to begin, and Ye Fei also became very excited, because he knew that the more the war was, the more it could stimulate his fighting spirit.
However, at this moment, ** suddenly sent a telegram, interrupting Ye Fei's excitement. The telegram mentions that it was decided not to attack Kinmen for the time being. Although Ye Fei was a little puzzled by this at the time, he understood that the ** decision must have been carefully considered, and it was very likely to be an important decision that changed history.
Although he can't reveal more details at this time, he is looking forward to it.
In Taipei's "** Mansion", meetings are going on intensively, discussing possible scenarios. There are about three possibilities: first, the Communists will attack Kinmen first and then Matsu; Second, the Communist Party will attack Matsu first and then Kinmen; Third, the Communists may attack both Kinmen and Matsu at the same time.
After careful consideration and analysis, Chiang Kai-shek believed that the most likely target of the Communists was Matsu. However, this judgment was wrong. At the same time, at the **Military Commission,** an order had been issued for the Xiamen front-line command post to immediately assemble forces and strike a fierce blow at the Kuomintang in Kinmen.
The order was quickly executed, and at 17:30 on August 23, 400 artillery pieces of our army were aimed at the target on time and ready to be fired.
The deafening sound of artillery pierced the tranquility of Kinmen Island, and the firelight and gunsmoke were intertwined, and cannonballs fell on the island like hailstones. At the same time, the landing ship "Taisheng" in Liaoluo Bay was also hit by seven shells, and hurriedly started reversing and left the shore.
Other ** and small cargo ships also cut their chains, urgently lifted anchor, and fled to the southeast. This shelling of Kinmen made Xiao Jinguang very concerned, and he ordered his secretary to report to him on the situation on the front line in time.
And after the climax of the three shellings, Peng Deqing took the initiative to call, without waiting for Xiao Jinguang to urge. Gunsmoke, fire, and dust enveloped Kinmen Island, but that didn't stop them from paying attention and determined to war.
** Excitedly described the spectacular scene on the front line to Xiao Jinguang: "This meeting, I'm afraid I won't see each other twice in my life." Subsequently, Xiao Jinguang confirmed the battle situation through various channels, and confirmed that the "false shot" strategy was successful, killing and wounding more than 600 Kuomintang troops on August 23, and all three deputy commanders of the Golden Defense Department were killed.
After the shelling of Kinmen, the supply problem became an important problem for the United States and the Kuomintang. In order to reduce losses and maintain **, the Kuomintang decided to change the daytime transport to the nighttime unloading at anchorage.
On August 24, more than a dozen enemy ships were moored at the anchorage in Liaoluo Bay, and our coastal artillery fiercely shelled them. However, the problem of distance made it impossible for us to continue the attack.
Fortunately, the torpedo boat unit prepared by Xiao Jinguang in advance came into play. Peng Deqing immediately ordered the torpedo boats to attack, and ordered the commander Zhang Yimin to sink as many large landing ships as possible.
Zhang Yimin replied enthusiastically: "I will definitely try my best to fight for two ships!" ”
After receiving the task, Zhang Yimin resolutely issued an order to the torpedo boat group to attack, and the six torpedo boats immediately started and sailed to the war zone. Soon after, they succeeded in discovering two enemy ships, the "Taisheng" and the "Zhonghai", but the enemy had not yet noticed the presence of our troops.
As a result, Zhang Yimin decisively gave the order to attack: the first squadron attacked the "Taisheng", and the second squadron attacked the "Zhonghai". When he was only four chains away from the enemy ship, Zhang Yimin gave an order: "Launch!" ”
Under the command of the old torpedo boats, one after another torpedoes galloped out and went straight to the enemy ships. I only listened to the two sounds of "boom, boom"."Taisheng"A raging fire broke out in less than 20 minutes"Taisheng"The trumpet sank in the flames. "
China Shipping"The ship was also hit hard and was almost on the verge of survival. The beginning of this Battle of Kinmen was thrilling! Not long after, Xiao Jinguang, who had been thinking about the front line, finally got on the southbound train and came to Xiamen.
He was accompanied by Zhang Xuesi and several other staff officers. After arriving, Peng Deqing welcomed Xiao Jinguang to the front line to inspect the state of the navy, and then accompanied him to inspect the torpedo boat unit and condolences to the front-line commanders.
When Hua Keyi walked towards the 556 boat, Xiao Jinguang said excitedly after seeing him: "Although we haven't met, I have already heard about your deeds in Beijing." Hua Keyi modestly answered Xiao Jinguang's question, and the atmosphere was very harmonious.
After that, Xiao Jinguang answered everyone's questions. It turned out that on September 1, a gale of magnitude 8 blew on Kinmen Island, and the Kuomintang Navy believed that the Chinese communist ships could not resist, so they decided to take this opportunity to provide supplies to Kinmen Island.
However, our army naturally did not sit idly by, so it sent 3 high-speed gunboats to fight. Despite the strong firepower of the reinforced "Tuojiang", due to its bulkiness, it was quickly found weak by our lightweight high-speed gunboats and fiercely attacked by taking advantage of the dead ends of the shooting.
As expected, a few minutes later, the "Tuojiang" began to enter the water due to rupture, and ten minutes later, it sank near Magong Port.
Xiao Jinguang has great ambitions and hopes to go to the front line to observe the battle situation. However, Tao Yong and others, considering the danger, dissuaded him from this idea. How could Xiao Jinguang give up easily?
Early the next morning, he woke up Zhang Xuesi, and the two drove over several hillsides, and finally found a place where the traces of the battlefield could be clearly seen. Soon, Peng Deqing hurried over, shouting loudly as he walked: "Commander Xiao, you frightened me and didn't say hello."
Fast-forward the masking section. However, Xiao Jinguang seemed unusually calm, and he persuaded Peng Deqing that since he was here, let's take a good look at Kinmen Island together.
In Peng Deqing, shrouded in mist, the ruins and ruins of Kinmen Island after the shelling gradually became clear, and it looked embarrassed. At this time, the enemy began shelling again, dozens of shells on the nearby hill**, and a cloud of smoke rose.
Peng Deqing decisively ordered two coastal artillery batteries to return fire, and the time limit was ten minutes. Soon after the order was issued, the naval shore artillery began to counterattack, and the vibration of the artillery fire even made Xiao Jinguang feel a little unstable on his feet.
Until the evening, Xiao Jinguang, Zhang Xuesi, Peng Deqing and others walked down the mountain.
At the Xiamen meeting the next morning, Xiao Jinguang frankly answered the question that the cadres were most concerned about: Why only carry out artillery bombardment and not carry out landing attacks to recover the enemy-occupied islands?
He explained that the blockade of Kinmen was aimed at containing the US forces and punishing the Kuomintang Taiwan authorities. He stressed that the operation was not an ordinary military operation, but of great political significance.
He firmly said that China's affairs can only be settled by the Chinese themselves, and foreigners are not allowed to interfere. Xiao Jinguang's explanation made everyone present understand the true purpose and meaning of this shelling operation.
Fighting continues on the island of Kinma, but no substantial progress has been made. However, the military and political victory of our army has become indisputable. We can defeat you, but we will not kill you, but we will continue to threaten you forever.
In December 1961, according to the instructions of the ** Military Commission, the artillery units of the Fujian front changed from single-day live ammunition to only propaganda shells, and the live shelling was stopped, and the main fire was carried out propaganda shells.
On January 1, 1979, China and the United States established diplomatic relations, and the United States severed relations with Taiwan. In order to realize the general policy of peaceful reunification of the motherland, the Minister of National Defense issued a "Statement on Stopping the Shelling of the Big and Small Kinmen Islands."