On August 23, 1958, a continuous burst of artillery fire rang out on Kinmen Island, and it was midday. The bombardment was so intense and dense that in just one hour, tens of thousands of shells rained down, leaving Chiang Kai-shek's troops stationed at Kinmen unprepared.
When they came to their senses, all they had to do was flee in all directions. Hu Lian, as the commander of the Kinmen Defense Department, could not avoid this fate. In stark contrast to the chaotic situation in Kinmen, the front-line combat units in Fujian were loading and firing shells in an orderly manner.
The smoke of artillery fire formed a thick cloud on the river surface, which did not disperse for a long time. After receiving the news, Ye Fei, the commander of the operation, was full of satisfaction in his eyes. What is the connection between him and the shelling of Kinmen?
This well-planned military operation was not a sudden. On the eve of liberation, the communist field army fought with an unstoppable momentum from the northeast to Hainan, forcing the Kuomintang troops to retreat to Taiwan.
Although New China was born, Chiang Kai-shek's ambitions had not disappeared. He has been sending troops to guard Kinmen, Matsu and other places near Fujian, but due to the difference in strength, he can only sigh with admiration.
However, his eagerness has been exploited by those who have a heart. In this struggle over the Kuomintang-Communist question, there was a "third party" active in it, inciting the Kuomintang-Communist civil war and making unrealistic promises to Chiang Kai-shek.
His aim was to make the Kuomintang and the Communist Party kill each other, so as to take advantage of the opportunity to invade China's territory. This "third party" is the United States. Chiang Kai-shek, who was blinded by ambition, gladly accepted the olive branch thrown by the United States, took the initiative to get close to it, and appointed ** who had close ties with the United States.
This made the United States happy and its ties with Chiang Kai-shek even closer.
Chiang Kai-shek was wary of cooperation with the United States, which he knew was tantamount to a tiger hunt. Every step he takes, he thinks carefully. Soon after, the United States advised Chiang Kai-shek to withdraw the Kuomintang troops from Kinmen and Matsu, but Chiang Kai-shek firmly refused.
The strategic position of these two islands is extremely high, and the real intention of the United States is only to find a pretext for its intervention. Kinmen and Matsu have always been within the territory of China, and if the United States enters the war here, it will cause international controversy.
The United States repeatedly demanded the withdrawal of troops, but Chiang Kai-shek's attitude was always resolute, which frustrated the American plan and brought the relationship between the two sides to a freezing point. Nevertheless, the United States has not given up, they are still looking for new tactics.
In 1955, the United States used New Zealand to submit a proposal to the United Nations Security Council in an attempt to elevate the action between China and Taiwan to the international level for the Security Council to consider, a move that Chiang Kai-shek did not expect.
Chiang Kai-shek immediately issued a statement stating his position and accusing the United States of its actions. He stressed that he would resolutely not abandon Kinmen and Matsu, and began to send additional troops to Kinmen and Matsu.
In Chiang Kai-shek's view, these two islands were the best bases for operations, and he was determined to hold on. And Kinmen Island, under the long-term management of the Kuomintang, has become a strong military fortress.
Although all the actions of the Kuomintang and the United States were under the control of the Communist Party, New China had just been established and needed to deal with the challenges of the Korean War and domestic economic construction, so no military action was taken against Chiang Kai-shek's small actions.
However, China did not allow the situation to develop according to Chiang Kai-shek's expectations, and at the Bandung Conference in 1955, ** personally expressed its willingness to negotiate with the United States and change its policy toward Taiwan.
This series of actions has made the United States somewhat fearful, and it has not taken further action against Taiwan. Chiang Kai-shek was dissatisfied with this and began to think about how to force the United States to send troops to aid Kinmen and Matsu.
However, as the international situation has changed, so has the mentality of the United States. In 1957, the United States planned to occupy the Middle East by strong military means, which caused dissatisfaction in the international community.
Chiang Kai-shek took the opportunity to harass the mainland in the waters near Kinmen, triggering a military campaign by the US military in the Middle East, and at the same time sending a part of the army to assist Chiang Kai-shek in the war against the mainland.
In the face of the threat of the two forces, the decisive decision to carry out a military attack on Kinmen can severely thwart Chiang Kai-shek's attempt on the one hand, and on the other hand, it will also help contain the US military and buy time for the Middle East region.
In 1958, the United States and Chiang Kai-shek began a series of preparations for war. The United States set up a military aid command for Taiwan, and then conducted military exercises with South Korea to test their "Matador" missile, which is said to have a range of several hundred kilometers and can deal a major blow to the mainland's hinterland.
By July, Chiang Kai-shek had canceled all the military vacations, and all the soldiers were put into a state of readiness. These signs indicate that the date for the start of war between the two sides is not far off.
While the United States and Chiang were carrying out these military operations, the target of this operation was Kinmen, which Chiang Kai-shek was very concerned about. The shelling of Kinmen was the most powerful response to Chiang Kai-shek's army.
So, who was in charge of the command of this operation?
After the meeting, the commander of the Kinmen bombardment has not been decided. One day, **found *** to discuss the matter. **After thinking about it, it was decided to let Ye Fei take on this important role.
He considered a variety of factors, including abilities, fighting style, and knowledge of Kinmen. After smoking his last cigarette, he finally found the right person. ** said that Ye Fei is a person who can do this task.
Hearing Ye Fei's name, ** also smiled, he said that he had the same idea, and there were other people who also recommended Ye Fei. **Very curious about this, he asked***Who else recommended Ye Fei.
**Tell *** that it was ** Marshal who personally came to him a few days ago to recommend Ye Fei.
In order to persuade *** to accept his suggestion, the marshal talked about Ye Fei's heroic deeds, believing that Ye Fei was the most suitable candidate. Ye Fei had already thought of him before this, but the marshal's recommendation had another purpose, that is, he hoped that Ye Fei could wash away the shame of the past.
In fact, the relationship between Ye Fei and Jinmen began a long time ago. In 1949, the communist army launched an attack on Kinmen, and the head of the operation was Ye Fei.
Ye Fei led his troops from Changzhou all the way to Fujian, and as a Fujianese, he fought on his home turf, and soon defeated the local Kuomintang army, successfully liberated Xiamen, and was appointed commander-in-chief of the Fujian Military Region.
However, this operation is not over yet, and Ye Fei needs to completely clear the Kuomintang troops in Kinmen and liberate Kinmen. Ye Fei accepted the challenge and successfully completed the mission, which made his position in the communist army even more secure.
Ye Fei was full of regrets about this Kinmen operation, because although Kinmen was sparsely populated and not large, and there was no main army of the Kuomintang on the island, only a ragtag army with weak combat ability, this operation became a lingering regret in his heart.
At that time, Xiamen had just been liberated, and Ye Fei was appointed commander-in-chief, so most of his energy was focused on the post-war reconstruction of Xiamen, and he paid little attention to the Kinmen operation.
After receiving instructions from ***, he handed over the task of fighting to the 28th Army. In his opinion, there should be no problem with the 28th Army against the remnants of the army on Kinmen Island.
However, Chiang Kai-shek sent additional troops to Kinmen, and ordered Tang Enbo to arrange for the air force to patrol the waters near Kinmen day and night, and blow up all ships if they found them.
At the same time, Hu Lian also sent the 12th Corps under his command to carry out strategic deployment in Kinmen.
Ye Fei did not expect the difficulties, and Xiao Feng, who was the deputy commander of the 28th Army, discovered an abnormality when he organized the army to land on the island. Since the commander and political commissar of the 28th Army were not present at that time, Xiao Feng was responsible for commanding the battle.
Originally, he thought that attacking a small island like Kinmen would be enough to deal with with his strength. However, in the process of collecting boats for soldiers to cross the river, he encountered unprecedented difficulties.
The original date of the attack was not even half of the number of ships. Xiao Feng realized that something unusual must have happened on Kinmen Island. If the soldiers were to be disembarked in batches with such a small number of ships, it was clear that the forces were not superior.
After careful consideration, Xiao Feng decided to seek advice from Ye Fei. However, due to the situation on the front line, Ye Fei did not have a full grasp of it, and he felt a little incredulous when he heard Xiao Feng's predicament.
In the small land of Kinmen Island, the strength of the Kuomintang was weakened, Ye Fei did not take it seriously, and decided to continue the landing operation. However, the result of the battle caught Ye Fei by surprise.
originally thought that the intercepted Hu Lian's distress telegram was true, but it was actually Hu Lian's ploy. After the 28th Army landed on the island, most of the personnel were infringed by the 12th Army Corps. Ye Fei held a grudge against Hu Lian and vowed to make him pay.
Ten years later, the Battle of Kinmen was staged again, and this time it was again the two of them. When Ye Fei received the order to be in charge of this Kinmen bombardment, he felt incredulous and repeatedly confirmed whether this was the best arrangement.
He consulted a large amount of information, personally arranged the position, angle, range and number of artillery troops, and drew up a detailed and meticulous plan for the shelling. He mobilized a division of artillery to enter the front line of the Fujian operation, and all the guns were aimed at Kinmen Island.
At the same time, the Air Force and Navy also provided cooperation. After everything was ready, Ye Fei took a plane to Beidaihe, met with *** and reported to him the combat plan and preparations for the Kinmen shelling.
However, after listening to the report, ** did not immediately agree, because there was a concern in his heart: there might be Americans on Kinmen Island, and could they be avoided during the shelling?
**Considering the impact of the international situation, it is hoped that the problem will be resolved domestically. Ye Fei believed that the shelling could cause ** to the army on Kinmen Island, so it could not be avoided.
**After careful consideration, Ye Fei's battle plan was approved, and the shelling was scheduled to begin at 12 noon on August 23. Ye Fei commanded remotely in Beidaihe, and he had already made comprehensive arrangements.
At the same time, Hu Lian believed that Kinmen's military strength and the support of the United States would undoubtedly win.
During Chiang Kai-shek's inspection, Hu Lian did his best to create a face-saving project. In order to cater to Chiang Kai-shek's homesickness, when he was 70 years old Chiang Kai-shek inspecting the army, he arranged for artillery to open fire in the direction of Xiamen, which stimulated Chiang Kai-shek's inner anger.
However, on the day of the shelling, they were holding a banquet to catch the wind for Yu Dawei. The high-ranking generals gathered to feast, unaware of the impending danger.
Before the feast began, the sound of cannons came from outside the door, and before everyone had time to react and investigate, the cannonballs fell directly on their heads. In just two hours, the island was under heavy fire with 30,000 shells, and the troops stationed here were defenseless.
Deputy Commanders Zhang Jie and Zhao Jiaji died on the spot, while another deputy commander, Ji Xingwen, did not die immediately, but after being treated in the hospital for a few days, he was unable to save his life.
If the shelling had started five minutes late, Hu Lian would have died. ”
The shelling of Kinmen continued unabated, putting tremendous pressure on the Kuomintang troops on the island. Chiang Kai-shek firmly guarded Kinmen and waited for American support, and for this purpose he also sent his son Chiang Ching-kuo to supervise the war.
The United States did nothing in the face of our artillery bombardment because they failed to understand our purpose. After a few days of thinking, Eisenhower judged that our target was Taiwan, so he transferred back a part of the fighting army in the Middle East to ease the situation in the Middle East.
The U.S. military entered the war and gave Chiang Kai-shek a shot in the arm, and both sides gathered in Kinmen to supply the defenders.
In the face of the provocation of the US ** ship, Ye Fei reported the situation to *** and asked for instructions. **Resolute and decisive, ordered the shelling of the US ** ship. The shells rained down, and the US ** ship was so frightened that it immediately fled back to Taiwan, and Chiang Kai-shek's ** was completely disorganized.
This proves once again that whenever the country's bottom line is challenged, ** always stands firmly by the side of the people. However, there is no such thing as a free lunch, and the promises of other countries often hide ulterior motives.
Therefore, we must keep our eyes open, have a clear understanding of the situation, and make the right decisions. Remember, the interests of the country and the people are closely linked.